Home Remedies - Lemon and Honey

Everyone has his or her cold and sore throat remedies passed down from mom or a relative. Some westerners like Chinese cures. Some Chinese cures just don't work for me (not even psychologically). I'd take chicken noodle soup over strangely sweet herbal tea any day.

Since people I know have been feeling under the weather lately, I've also been trying to stay healthy. In this entry I will share my favorite cold and sore throat remedy involving honey and lemon. Whether they work or not, they're tasty treats!

Remedy One: Honey Lemon "Tea"
1. Pour hot water into mug
2. Take out seeds from a lemon slice, squeeze juice, then drop the lemon slice in the water
3. Add honey. Stir and serve
This remedy not only smells good and tastes good, it's also packed with vitamin C and nutrients. You can of course make a mug of real tea before dunking the lemon and honey inside. I sometimes just like it plain so I taste the lemon and honey more.

Remedy Two: Mango Lemon Nectar

My newly discovered recipe. Since I had a lot of mango sitting around and did not feel like making crepes (recipe link), I thought, "why not make a smoothie or something out of it with my blender?" Since I also happened to have a lemon in my fridge and a bag of Bee Folks honey dust [from their site: Honey Dust is honey, virgin cane sugar, and virgin molasses crystallized together] from Bob, I thought I'd use them to add some vitamin boost and sweetness. This is good even if you're not suffering from a cold and/or sore throat.

//Ingredients
-1 mango
-Juice of 1/3 or 1/2 lemon, depending on size
-1/4 cup or water, or more, depending on whether you want more coarse or smooth
-1 tablespoon or more of honey dust (you can substitute with sugar or whatever sweetner you wish)
//Directions
1. Peel and slice mango, discard pit and peel
2. Roll the lemon back and forth on your counter under your palm before you slice it. This will bring out the juice easier. *Tip from food network, it really works!* Squeeze juice of 1/3 of a lemon, discard lemon slice
3. Place mango, water, lemon juice, and honey dust (or sugar) into blender
4. Chop, puree, then liquefy. Play with the settings as you see fit.
5. Consume immediately or you can chill it before serving.
You really can't beat mango and lemon, two of my favorites.

Remedy Three: Chilled Lemon Slices

1. Slice a lemon, remove seeds
2. Pour a tablespoon (eye it) of sugar on each slice. If you want to put sugar underneath the slice as well, go on ahead.
3. Cover and chill in fridge
4. Serve after 15 min or more, eat it like an orange slice. The sugar will be absorbed into the lemon and the flesh part is sweet and sour.
You can of course use honey or sweetener of your choice as well. Honey just doesn't get absorbed well, which gets kind of annoying. This is not really a remedy, but I suppose lemons and sugar can't hurt!