Mama's Special Tea

Little Mr. came down with a cold, so I mixed up some cold care tea using herbs from my big order. I used a 25.5 oz jar (old marinara sauce jar) and approximately these amounts of the following:

about 1 cup of linden flowers and leaves

about 3/4 cup of elder flowers

about 1/4 cup of peppermint leaves

about 1/2 cup chamomile flowers (may cause an allergic reaction in those with allergies in the daisy family)

about 1/2 cup meadow sweet (apparently acts enough like aspirin you shouldn't give to children with chicken pox or to anyone with an allergy to aspirin.)

I've provided some informative links to the ingredients so you can know more about them should you try this mix on your own. There are also plenty of books out therethat tell more about herbs. (Just a disclaimer, I am not dispensing medical advice, just telling you what worked for us. :) )

When I took the picture, I'd already made a batch of the tea, so my amounts were a pretty good guess for filling the jar in any case. First, I poured the ingredients in a large bowl, mixed them up, and then made a funnel out of a piece of paper to pour it in the jar, about a cup at a time (using the measuring cup I used to scoop out the herbs from their bags... when I used a measuring cup, that is. :)

My proportions were largely based on what we had the most of and the fact that the peppermint is very aromatic, so I assumed the mix didn't need much. However, since Angelo was pretty stuffy, I used 1 tbs. of mix and 1 tbs. of peppermint in about a cup and a half of hot water. I used our small french press, which is so easy for loose tea, especially when you want more than one serving. Adding some raw honey to the infusion (once it's in the cup) makes it extra taste-y and you also get the anti-bacterial and mucus-clearing properties of the honey.

Since a box of Traditional Medicinals Kids' Cold Care Tea costs an average of $5, (which we really liked and where I got the idea to use linden flower and chamomile) I am guessing this jar of tea is equivalent to at least $20 worth of tea, and I know it did not cost me nearly that much. It only took a few minutes to mix up, so I'm not sacrificing convenience as far as I'm concerned and I also don't have to deal with any packaging.

Have a great weekend!