Germ season just doesn’t want to end this year. Just when I finally think we’re all healthy, bam…someone starts a fever or complains of a sore throat. Adding insult to injury, we’re expecting snow again this week. Isn’t today the first day of Spring?
Over February break, we took a trip to visit family in Ireland. As we were in the thick of germ season, we were dosing up on elderberry syrup for weeks before hand. Our goal was to rid ourselves of all the colds and various ailments before we jumped on an airplane, but also to fortify ourselves for exposure to many more germs we’d encounter along the way. Routine was key, we got into the habit of taking our dose every day and managed to get healthy and stay healthy for the trip. Woohoo!
Cut to a few weeks later and the home again blues, and we have fallen off the wagon. Two out of three kids have sniffles and we have also encountered a mild stomach bug. Queue the elderberry…I’ve been making our own because it’s not cheap, and it’s a fairly quick 45 minute project. You know, when you’re sitting around with nothing better to do. Honestly, I usually manage to create a batch when I’m in the midst of another cooking project. Just set the pot on the stove to simmer and remember to check back every so often. Here‘s the recipe I’ve been using.
It’s crazy how our brains so easily jump out of the good habits as soon as the “danger” has passed. Let’s be honest, if we kept up ALL THE THINGS, we’d never have to breathe so it’s perfectly normal to drop things as they no longer seem necessary. But man, I should have known we weren’t out of the woods yet with all this cold weather.
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