Have you ever put herbs and chocolate together in a recipe before? If you have not, oh boy are you missing a great way to take your medicine!!!
Chocolate, Cocoa, Cacao….however you say it, it is delicious!
First of all if you did not already know, Chocolate or Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is medicinal all in itself. It elevates mood, stimulates (only half the caffeine of coffee), increases seratonin levels, high in nutrition when eaten as raw cacao and here is a new one that I had no idea about: Chocolate relaxes bronchial spasms! WOW! So yes your chocolate can be in your cough syrup too!
Here is a cough syrup remedy that is decadently delicious that mixes herbs and chocolate together.
Chocolate Cough Syrup
2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
2 Tablespoons Raw Honey
120 drops of a Lung Support Tincture I used one from Sprout’s – here is a pic to show the herbs in it:
Mix it all together and voila!
Start to finish, about 2 minutes. Dose is 1 teaspoon 3 times a day to help coughing. Children can take this too but depending on age, you would have to reduce the dosage.
A good rule for children’s dosages is: Add 12 to the child’s age then divide the child’s age by that number. Example: 4 year old child. Add 4 to 12 = 16 Divide 4/16 = .25 so a four year old’s dose is 1/4th an adult dose.
At a recent Herbal Chocolates class, we made Infused Chocolate that was to die for! 🙂
It has dark chocolate, butter, damiana, black pepper, rosemary and sea salt.
INFUSED CHOCOLATES
1 cup butter
3 cups dark chocolate chips
about 1/4 cup dried damiana
about 1 good sprig of fresh rosemary (6-8″)or 1- 2 tsp. dried
1 Tablespoon lavender – dried
**The herbs are approximate because you want the butter to cover the herbs completely so you may need to add a little more of each but be careful to not add too much lavender!
Use a double boiler, bring water in the bottom to a simmer and put the butter in the top bowl. Once melted, add the herbs. Do not let the butter simmer or boil – infuse for 1 hour.
Strain herbs, add butter back to bowl along with the 3 cups of chocolate chips. Heat gently until melted. Eat as a fondue or pour into candy molds and freeze until hard. Sooooo good!!!
Our next chocolate creation was Stress Balls!!!
Chocolate Stress Balls – recipe adapted from Rosemary Gladstar’s Zoom Balls
These are a great way to take your herbs – and to hide them from our family in delicious chocolately form. 😉 Herbs and chocolate = yumminess!
- 3 cups Tahini
- 1 cup almond butter
- 2 cups honey
- 2 ounces Eleuthero Root powder – helps stress, increases stamina and endurance, good for adrenal fatigue and strengthens the immune system.
- 1 ounce Nettle leaf powder – high in vitamins, protein and iron, for energy, hair loss and is a blood tonic
- 2 ounces Ashwagandha powder – for fatigue, reproductive health, longevity, hypothyrodism
- 1 ounce Hawthorn Berry powder – heart tonic!
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 2 tsp. cardamom powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped dried fruits
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped nuts
- 2 ounces cocoa powder – enough to thicken
- ½ cup dried or toasted coconut
Mix tahini & almond butter. Add honey – you want it sweeter than you think at this point. Add the herbs one at a time and mix well. This does take awhile. Add the cocoa powder but not all at once! You want it thick, good consistency to roll but not gooey. Add fruits and nuts. Roll into balls – 1″ size or golf ball size. Roll in cocoa, coconut or hawthorn berry powder. Eat two small ones or 1 large one per day. Keeps in airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple weeks. Makes approximately 80-90 balls.
Remember to eat your chocolate – it IS good for you!
Anne-Marie
