Yuck. After having a fever on and off for the past five days and coughing so much I’m waiting for a lung to plop onto the floor with the next hack, that’s about all I can say. Yuck.

I am partially to blame for my misery. After all, I haven’t taken the time to really take care of myself since I’ve been sick (this weekend, when it all started for me, The Hubs was violently ill with something and The Munchkin is still recovering from her ear infection/cold and I’m too slammed at work to miss a day). As a working mom, I have too much on my plate to lay in bed for a day. As a breastfeeding mom, there aren’t a lot of options in terms of cold medicine that I can take to relieve my symptoms. They all either threaten to pass into your milk, or dry it up. Neither of which is going to work for us at the present.

In my quest to find something besides ibuprofen to make me feel better, I did discover one magical little remedy that I am excited to share. It’s a simple (and honestly tasty) tea. Somewhere in my desperate search for relief, I read that honey and strong tea and lemon juice can all help with sore throat and congestion. I had all of these on hand and figured I had nothing to lose by throwing them all together and gulping it down.

My expectations were low. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Shortly after finishing my steaming mug of tea, I began to breathe out of both nostrils. Something I haven’t been able to do since Friday.  My throat, while still sore, seemed to be less irritated, and, I even feel like it helped loosen some of the goop in my chest (sorry if that’s gross for you, but I’m excited to share). It even tasted yummy (I’m referring to the tea, not the previously mentioned goop I just grossed you out by mentioning).

Now don’t get me wrong, this tea is no Sudafed, but when you’re looking for a natural way to bring some relief to your cold, it can help.

Here’s how I made it:

• Boil water for one cup of tea
• Add 1 tbsp honey to the bottom of the mug
• Pour water into your mug
• Brew a strong black tea using (at least) two tea bags – I used naturally decaffeinated black tea
• Add 2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh or the kind in the bottle both are fine)
• Add 1 pinch of salt (this might sound weird, but it helps counteract the bitterness of the tea – Alton Brown on the Food Network just did an episode about salty/sweet and bitterness if you don’t believe me)
• Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon
• Enjoy!

I will be sipping on this, my own personal version of Theraflu, until this damn cold goes away (hopefully soon)!