The best way to get down the garlic

When I have a cold or infection, I try to consume raw garlic. I've found it to be helpful for nose and throat issues. However, in can be a little hard to get down, and sometimes it bothers my stomach. I've tried mixing it with quite a few different things, but my new favorite is... gazpacho! I make an extra garlicky batch, and sip it all day. I more or less follow this recipe, but added more garlic. http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/authentic-gazpacho-recipe/ It really helped with the sore throat and congestion I had this weekend, after ignoring my sinus issues for weeks. What's your favorite way to get down the garlic? And any hints for a really stubborn sinus issue?

Comments

  • pamelamackenzie
    pamelamackenzie Posts: 143 ✭✭✭

    Sometimes I just mash raw garlic and quickly eat it. Or add some raw garlic to my bowl of soup. Other times I mix with honey. Last fall I made fire cider with garlic and sipped a little of that each day before eating. I believe Marjorie or someone wrote that they use fire cider or similar also as a dressing.

  • DeeperEating
    DeeperEating Posts: 63 ✭✭✭

    Soups are the best way for me too. We're a pretty healthy bunch at my house, but when we do get sick I make garlic soup! I'll add both roasted and boiled garlic in it and you can add just a smidge of garlic salt and fresh herbs when serving. Works great!

    I don't typically work with recipes because I'm always just throwing together what's on hand, but it's basically roast a head of garlic and while that's roasting combine stock of your choice, a chopped head of garlic, some onion, some white beans, and other veggies if you want in a pot and get it cooking. At some point add the herbs you want (thyme and oregano are regulars for this soup for me). When the roasted garlic is done squeeze those in and mash or blend everything. At the very end add a couple pats of butter. Eat with a nice bread and the garlic salt/herb garnish! We've also added a grated cheese as a garnish sometimes.

    Also, I'll note that sometimes we end up with a few small heads of garlic in our harvest. If I'm working with a small head I'll add additional garlic.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    Great question, @blevinandwomba ! There were a lot of good suggestions in a similar thread a while back -- you can check them out here: https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/604692/help-how-do-you-eat-raw-garlic-without-gagging/p1

  • DeeperEating
    DeeperEating Posts: 63 ✭✭✭

    Ah I should have realized you meant raw garlic. Whoops!

  • Great suggestions! Thanks.

    I make raw flax crackers with lots of garlic that are really good. They are dehydrated at a low temp, so the garlic is still raw.

    Basic recipe is something like this:

    1/3 C flax, powdered

    1/2 C sunflower or pumpkin seeds

    1 lg clump of garlic cloves

    1/2 celery bunch

    1 medium onion

    1t salt

    1/2 C dried nettles

    1 C water

    Put it all in the food processor and mix it up good. Spread it on dehydrator sheets and score the individual crackers with a pizza cutter. Dehydrate for a day, then flip over and dehydrate for another day. It may take another day, depending upon weather, temperatures, etc.

    Change up the spices, too! I like pesto and curry ones also.... mmmmm

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Thanks, Merin.

  • Jannajo
    Jannajo Posts: 173 ✭✭✭

    Cedar tea is good for sinus, boiled water, steep cedar five mins....clears the throat.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019

    The best thing I've used to get rid of a sinus infection is colloidal silver. I bought one of those saline nasal sprays and dumped out the saline and replaced it with the silver. Then sprayed it up my nose the same way I would do with the saline solution. A few times of that a day should get rid of it in just a few days, depending on how bad it is. It works faster if you use it when you first start getting sick. I use it for an extra few days after I think the infection is gone to make sure I get it all. Colloidal Silver, like garlic, is antibacterial.

    By the way, I only had to use the silver on one occasion. I haven't had another infection since. 😊

    If you want to learn more about colloidal silver here's a link to an excellent resource - https://thesilveredge.com

  • tammyrichardsmt9
    tammyrichardsmt9 Posts: 109 ✭✭✭

    I just chew it up - it stings, but it is short term. Probably not the best way...

  • Karyn Pennington
    Karyn Pennington Posts: 71 ✭✭✭

    If I want the raw benefits, I mix raw garlic with goat cheese and it's awesome with spelt pretzels (or any kind of pretzel).

    For colds/sinus infections, I would heat up some bone broth and throw it in raw after it's heated -- you'll still get most of the benefit as you're not "cooking" it. Plus, you get all the bone broth goodness.

    My best solution for sinus infections is to open a probiotic capsule and dump it in your mouth, swish it all around, mixing with your saliva and swallow it. You want to do this at least at bedtime and then not drink anything afterwards. Another, more pleasant solution is to open a licorice capsule and do the same thing. My new found savior this past winter was XLEAR it's an all natural nose spray made with Xylitol, grapefruit seed extract, salt and distilled water. They also make a packet for your Neti-Pot, which I also highly recommend for sinus issues.


    Also, this tea was very beneficial this past Winter/Spring (can you tell I've been there and done that?)

    https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Medicinals-Organic-Seasonal-Sampler/dp/B0016B63S0/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=yogi+tea+breathe+deep&qid=1567690104&s=gateway&sr=8-7

    I hope you feel better soon.

  • Foodgardenguy
    Foodgardenguy Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    I really like to crush garlic (with garlic crusher) and spread it on sourdough rye bread with some seasoning salts, pepper and shredded coconut. It tastes delicious and clears up my sinuses, but only momentarily.

    Another way I like to use raw garlic is to crush both raw garlic and ginger into a cup. Then add lemon juice from half a lemon and fill the rest of the cup with filtered water. I've read that this is also a power morning elixir for those who would like kickstart their metabolism, detoxify the liver and reduce inflammation in the body.

  • sarah121
    sarah121 Posts: 129 ✭✭✭

    @Karyn Pennington mixing it with goats cheese actually sounds really nice! I bet drizzled with some olive oil it could be eaten like a dip? Mostly I macerate it in honey and then take it right off the spoon.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Thanks for all the ideas. @circleoflifeunlimited those crackers sound really good. I do seed cycling, so it sounds like a great way to incorporate that.

    @Karyn Pennington I'll have to look into the nasal spray. Which of the teas in collection did you use, or did you mean all of them?

    @Foodgardenguy the garlic coconut spread sounds good. I'll try that soon.

  • hmsadmin
    hmsadmin Posts: 123 admin

    @bejer19 Your garlic soup recipe sounds good enough to eat even when not sick.. I'm going to have to remember it over this winter!

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    My favorite way is to crush and mash with a fork a clove of garlic, then let it sit while I toast a slice of sourdough bread. When the bread is ready, I rub the garlic into the toast and dress with olive oil. Fresh tomato, oregano, parsley or parm are nice additions. Oregano has anti-biotic properties, so it is good with garlic for infections.

    Another way I eat raw garlic is crushed, as above, on crackers with cream cheese.

    Oh, and of course, pico de gallo - 3-4 cloves crushed garlic, one medium onion chopped fine, fresh tomatoes and hot peppers (usually jalapeno or serrano) chopped fine, cilantro, salt, pepper, lemon (and usually a little habanero for extra heat if I'm the only one eating it). I always put raw garlic in guacamole, too. Actually, if I think about it, I probably use a lot more raw garlic than I am really ware.

  • Foodgardenguy
    Foodgardenguy Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    @judsoncarroll4 Yes!!😃😃 This is exactly how we use garlic often.

    Another way we love to use garlic is to make our own salad dressing. We've been using the following recipe for many years, and still love it on all our salads and greens. It takes less than 3 minutes to make.

    Simple Homemade Garlic Salad Dressing

    • 1 Lemon
    • Extra Virgin Cold-Pressed Olive Oil equal to half the volume of the lemon juice.
    • 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of seasoning salts (to your taste)
    • 1 medium sized clove crushed with garlic crusher.

    Shake up all the above ingredients together and ready to use right away. You can substitute above apple cider vinegar for the lemon and other types of healthy oils for the olive oil to experiment.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Very cool - thanks! I also do home made Caesar dressing. Egg, oil, a bit of dry mustard, lemon juice.... whisk... (make a mayo) a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and several crushed garlic cloves.... it is life changing!

  • Foodgardenguy
    Foodgardenguy Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    @judsoncarroll4...thanks for this...I'll have to try adding some egg, mustard and some sweet and sour sauce. Thanksgiving is just right around the corner.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    I had not thought of sweet and sour sauce... but I have done Caesar dressing on sliced pork loin over a salad., and it was amazing. My grandmother taught me to cook. I left college when she had a heart attack - spent about 3 years caring and cooking for her and running the farm. She was a great southern cook! One day though, she had no appetite. She said maybe she could eat a little bite of meat and some salad greens. But everything sweet was turning her stomach. On a whim, I made her a small chef's salad with hoe made Caesar and chicken breast. She LOVED it! She ate more that day than she had the entire week. SO, I made a lot of salads with chicken, ham, pork tenderloin, poached oysters, shrimp, etc. Nearly any vegetable, lean meat, fish and bread on the side worked - probably extended her life an extra year. She died due to medical error - docs prescribed conflicting meds Who knows but she may have recovered.....

  • one.ette
    one.ette Posts: 54 ✭✭✭

    Thanks for this timely discussion about garlic!

  • Foodgardenguy
    Foodgardenguy Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    @judsoncarroll4 I mention sweet and sour because the closest thing to Mayonnaise that we liked growing up was Miracle Whip, but we stopped that after learning what that was made of, and try to make our own sweet and sour sauces.

    It's good your grandmother taught you to cook. I have memories learning also to cook from my grandmother.🙂

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    I,also grew up on store bought mayo and hated it! In my teens, I was even part of a sort of... punk band.... called The YAMS... "Youth Against Mayonnaise". Only in my 20s did I taste the real thing. Real mayo is profound. It is a noble French sauce.... the stuff in the grocery store is not.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    I, also, grew up hating store bought mayonnaise. I was even part of a …. sort of... punk band called The Yams... Youth Against Mayo! I was in my 20s before I finally experienced real mayonnaise... home made, especially with back yard eggs. Real mayo is a noble French sauce and it is profound. The store bought stuff... just isn't.

  • Foodgardenguy
    Foodgardenguy Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    @judsoncarroll4 , you got that one right.👍️