24hr Pickles

I found this recipe on Honest Fare about 5 years ago. This is the second time I've done this. They say cucumbers, but why not beans too?!? :)

6-8 pickling cucumbers
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar (optional or use less if you don’t want any sweetness)
1 ½ Tablespoon salt
½ -1 teaspoon *red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon celery seed

1 Tablespoon mustard seed or stone ground mustard
1 ½ teaspoon horseradish
A LOT of dill (like 1/3 cup diced)
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup sliced **white onion
2-3 Tablespoons water

*I altered the recipe a bit by only adding the *red pepper flakes to the beans and using **purple onions instead, as that's all I had at the time.

Slice about ¼ of an onion into thin slivers. Peel and smash garlic with your knife (but don’t chop or dice though). Put garlic and onion in a pot with vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seed, red pepper flakes, splash of water and half your dill. If you have mustard seed, you can add that to the pot too. But if you’re using mustard powder or stone ground mustard as an alternate, don’t add it yet.
Bring contents in pot to a nice simmer and then immediately turn off heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash and half your cucumbers. (wash and cut the ends off the beans) Line them up in a reused pickle jar.

Use a large soup ladle to add your brine to the cucumbers in the jar (try not to loose too much in the process). You can also use a funnel if you have one, but just make sure you get the onion and all the dill in there too.

Add the remaining fresh dill and mustard or horseradish if you like. Then put the lid on tight and give it a few nice shakes before storing it in the fridge over night.
Give the jar a stern shake every few hours if you remember.

Morning Ginger Drink

I found this morning drink a few weeks ago and it is a variation of something I already do. I have a weird nasal thing going on this year (started after my dental surgery) and this seems to help quite a bit. I actually can breathe through my nose when I get up in the morning! That is BIG!

This was found on Young and Raw

1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ginger juice
1 tbsp grade b maple syrup or Agave (optional)
*Pinch of cinnamon
Half cup of hot water
Add a tiny bit of room temp water to cool it down

 * I have been using Turmeric in place of cinnamon to help with inflammation

Juice your ginger by running it through a slow or cold press juicer. If you don’t have a juicer that will properly juice ginger or small roots, then you can slice a large knuckle of ginger and boil it on the stove with 1 cup water. Boil it down until the water is mostly ginger, and then store it in a jar in the fridge.

Prepare and drink BEFORE you have your green juice or other breakfast.

This Elixir May Lend Various Health Benefits:

Gallstones/kidney stones – may help flush them out
Clear skin
Cleanse blood
Balance blood sugar
Decongest liver
Warming
Helps stimulate the digestive system
Cleanses the colon
And with me, helps with nasal congestion!