Sore Throat Care

These are a couple of my favourite herbal remedies to make when we’re feeling under the weather. I made them again recently in anticipation of Lily’s tonsillectomy. Imagining the worst case scenario meant having as many throat soothing remedies ready as possible. These recipes come from A Kid’s Herb Book, a wonderful book that has seen a lot of use in this house. Here’s what I did:

Slippery Elm is not only healing to sore throats, but also soothing to the stomach. It’s as nutritious as oatmeal! It’s a great herb for kid’s use because it’s mild and safe.

Slippery Elm Throat Lozenges

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp shredded Liquorice Root
• 1/2 cup Slippery Elm Powder

1. In a small pot, bring the water and liquorice root to a boil. Lower heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Strain. You should have 1/4 cup of tea. If less, add a little more water to make 1/4 cup.
2. Put slippery elm powder in a small bowl. Make a well in the powder and pour the tea in the centre. Gently mix into a smooth dough.
3. Sprinkle a little slippery elm powder on the counter and roll out dough. Cut into small pill sized circles with a tiny bottle cap. Or my preferred method is to roll small pill shaped balls between my palms.
4. Allow lozenges to dry uncovered on a sheet of wax paper overnight or for a day or two until completely hardened. Store lozenges in a small, preferably dark jar in a cool, dry, dark place.

For even stronger acting lozenges, use 1/4 cup cough syrup (see below) in place of the liquorice tea. Other useful herbs to add to the cough syrup for these lozenges are elder, ginger and echinacea. For this syrup I used mostly liquorice with a little lemon balm because liquorice is so soothing to the throat and lemon balm is perfect for coughs, fever and colds. Raw honey, of course is also healing and nutritious.

Cough Syrup