1. Homemade Elderberry Syrup
A few months ago, just as fall and winter were setting in, I heard about taking elderberry syrup everyday to help prevent colds and flu. You can also up the dosage if you do get sick and it helps you recover quicker. I bought a bottle at the drug store, but we quickly realized that is a fast way to go broke. Those drug store bottles are really expensive. That meant we weren’t keeping up with taking it.
I’d heard about making it homemade, but had no idea where to get the elderberries. It seemed complicated and not worth it. I was wrong. This is so easy – from ordering the elderberries off Amazon to actually making the syrup.
I used the recipe from Wellness Mama. I didn’t change anything in her recipe. The elderberries were about $16 on Amazon. I think I can make the syrup about three times with that amount of berries. The recipe also calls for raw honey. It is important to use raw honey and not the regular kind. Raw honey has a lot of healthy benefits. I found raw honey at the new Lucky’s Market that just opened in town. I’ve also seen it at Trader Joe’s.
Does it really help prevent colds and flu?
Studies have been done showing that it does. So far, we’ve had two rounds of bad colds circulate in the house. Despite taking elderberry syrup every day, I did come down with the first cold. Then I stopped taking the syrup because we were using store-bought and it was expensive. My son also got the cold, but he kept taking the syrup and he didn’t get nearly as sick as I did.
So far, I haven’t picked up the second cold to hit our house.
2. New Dishwasher Schedule
Ok, this is kind of pitiful, but I finally figured out a schedule to run our dishwasher. We usually run it twice a day, but we were waiting until we couldn’t cram another piece in before running. That meant it ran right before dinner sometimes, meaning we couldn’t put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher until later.
I finally realized that it works better to run it on a schedule versus when it’s absolutely full. We now run it after lunch and at night before bed. It’s still be mostly full when it gets run and we get to empty it at more convenient times.
A simple thing I should have figured out a long time ago.
On a related note, it makes me wonder where else in my life I’m trying to maximize something (like cramming the dishwasher full), but it’s actually complicating things. Hmmm…
3. Brie, Chicken and Bacon Stuffed Baked Potatoes
This happened on Sunday. Oh my! This was such a good combination. I’ll share the recipe on the blog soon. It’s an easy one!
What’s working in your kitchen this week?
I think it is best to not cram the dishwasher full. The dishes will be cleaner.
“Lucky” you to have a Lucky’s Market near by. There is one near my son. He bought bacon ends and cooked them with green beans. Apparently they smoke their own bacon. It was tasty.
I’ll have to try their bacon!
kudos to realizing it is much better to run your dishwasher after lunch and dinner :). I would love to read articles about how to properly load the dishwasher and some dishwashing tips and tricks too.