As we continue to fight off colds and other viruses in the thick of the Winter, I have found one thing that seems to speed up me and my family’s recovery time.  For a long time, we have used ginger and lemon as a tea, but I had always been thinking how I could make it even more potent.

It suddenly occurred to me that so many recipes that I have used in the past that call for lemons as the ingredient specifically require the use of the lemon rind.  Just in the small amount of the rind, we know that we get a powerful amount of flavor.  Well it’s not just the benefit of the added flavor from this small amount of the rind ingredient, we also gain:

• 5-10 times more vitamins and minerals in the rind than in the juice of the lemon
• Cancer fighting protection from a phytonutrient called salvestrol Q40 as well as limonene.
• Flavenoids also found in the rind help to slow down the division of cancer cells
• Due to the amount of calcium and vitamin C, lemon rinds are excellent for promoting bone health and all sorts of joint conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory polyarthritis.  It even helps with osteoporosis
• Decrease in cholesterol (LDL in particular).  This is the cholesterol that is not healthy for us.  This in turn will lead to better circulation and heart health.

So, I thought to myself, why not use the entire lemon in a tea with my usual ginger, but instead of using in the form of chunks, blend it  ALL up.  Here is what you will need:

• About enough ginger root to fit into the palm of your hand or about the size of a medium sized lemon. Peel it and rinse it with water.
• About 1/4 cup of brown sugar (and 1/2 cup of white sugar , or use all brown sugar if you please)
• 4 tea bags of whatever type of tea you would like (optional)
• About a tablespoon of honey
• 1&1/2 liters of boiled water (filtered or good quality bottled water, not tap)
• A medium or large lemon, washed with soap and water

1. Once you gathered your ingredients, chop the washed lemon and the peeled ginger root into chunks as seen above.
2. Place the chunks of ginger, chunks of lemon, honey, sugars and about 1/3 of the boiled water into your blender.  Blend the ingredients for about a minute.
3. Meanwhile, put the tea bags (optional) and the rest of your boiled water into a medium sized pot and pour the blended contents into this pot and stir a few times (above uppermost right picture).
4. Let the ingredients steep by covering the pot with a top for about 5-10 minutes.
5. After steeping, strain all at one time or one serving at a time as seen above.
6. Save the strained ingredients in a tupperware and use it once more if you desire but within 1-2 days.  Store in the fridge.
7. Enjoy your Immune System Boost and hopefully a quicker recovery!

Leave a comment and share your experience if you tried the recipe.