Herbal Allergy Tea

i.cant.stop.sneezing.

I'm about to go crazy. I made two of my $32 air purifiers. One sits on Arianna's dresser. One follows me where I go. Living room during the day, bedroom at night. I take Zyrtec, Sudafed, Advil, and do nasal washes and sprays. I'm still sneezing, stuffy headed, and feeling wretched.

While on Pinterest, I found a recipe for a sore throat/allergy tea. The website is down now, but I was able to pick up a cached copy of the recipe. I tried it out and it's clearing me up fast!

 Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon dried sage

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried lavender

juice of 1/4 lemon

honey to taste (local, raw honey is best for allergies)

KITCHEN TIP: Freeze your ginger! Yeah, I know fresh is better, but I have had trouble grating ginger before, so when I picked up the frozen ginger I had saved from a recipe, I figured I'd try grating it frozen. It did so much easier!!

 Steep the ginger, sage, pepper, and lavender in a tea ball for five minutes. 

Add the honey and lemon juice which makes it quite pleasant. This tea is light but spicy, but has a kick that is kicking my allergies' butt (oops, bottom)!! Sinuses are clearing, no more sneezing, and I feel like I can get some stuff done today!

Rebirth

I've been going through a sort of rebirth as a Christian, wife, mother, and woman in general over the last few months...

I downloaded an app on my phone "Daily Bible". It gives me a daily verse, and an option for reading through the Bible plan. I've enjoyed taking a few minutes before the house wakes up to read, pray, and meditate on the Word.

LJ and I purchased three books last night and at least I am chomping at the bit waiting for them to come in the mail. Two topical studies (one on parenting and one on couples), and a book going through history and geography of the Bible. The big question: where do we start?!

I've never been a "good" homemaker. I knit, sew, etc. etc., but I am a lousy housekeeper. I am kicking my own bottom (we've had to stop saying "butt" in the house) into gear using "Large Family Logistics" as a resource. Slowly but surely I am getting into a stricter routine of housekeeping, homemaking, and getting everything presentable. I'm cutting down on clutter. My mom will be coming over to help me get rid of all of the kids' baby clothes that I've held on to for years. Many I've already gotten rid of, but some I have held on to for nostalgia or some meager hope of a future fourth. While I know that will never happen biologically (unless God intervenes), it may not even happen through adoption. My three are fine with me though, and I need to cut the clutter out of my life.

I'm taking more time to read to the kids. I homeschool Arianna (and occasionally let Jonas and Josiah sit in on it too until they get bored), and usually I let LJ read each unit's book. I'm starting to get into a habit of reading more to the kids. More Bible than the homeschool Bible time and our family Bible time. More books casually read than with Daddy. I want to be that mom. I want my kids to remember me reading to them.

I've also dug my "crunchiness" a little deeper. Before our trip to Colorado (see Help For Arianna for more info on that) I purchased some herbal books. I have fallen in love more and more with herbalism and herbal healing. God has given us a beautiful world, and we have natural gifts that He has given us that can work amazingly with our body systems to mend bones, heal disease, and improve our quality of life. I have used several herbal remedies and plan to do more. I have joined the "nopoo" movement as of tonight. I will write more on that soon too! I have seen an improvement in my chronic pain issues with the use of more herbal remedies as well as removing toxic chemicals from items I use in my daily life.

So it's a new me. More natural, less clutter, more devoted to God, my husband, my family, and myself than ever before.

My $32 Air Purifier

I love the spring. And I hate it. The colors are absolutely beautiful. The pollen... not so much.

My allergies hate me. They make my life miserable at times. It's more than sneezing. Yesterday I woke up sneezing and went to bed sneezing. And sneezed all day in between. More than sneezing it's the itchy, watery, eyes that swell up to the point where I can't see straight. Wheezing, coughing, stuffy nose, I'm completely and utterly miserable. The best thing I can do is take two antihistamines and go to sleep. Not so easy when you've got three kids running around! A friend in my wonderful allergy mamas group on facebook shared a video from a university that showed how to make your own air purifier. With yesterday making the second severe attack in less than two weeks, I decided to go ahead and make this thing work...

The Ingredients:

 20 inch box fan in the seasonal area of WalMart $16.

Allergen Reduction HEPA filter $16.

Tape (I used masking tape, but I suppose you could use duct tape or anything that will hold for 3 months).

This is way too easy. You just tape the filter with the arrow pointing toward the fan to the back of the fan. Plug in and go. Within 30 minutes I could feel a difference! 

If you or your kids have allergies (3/5 of our family does) and you don't have the huge amount of money a big expensive air purifier costs, this is a great alternative!