Garlic is a powerful natural antibiotic (thanks to the allicin it contains).
I consume raw garlic throughout the year, but usually increase the amount taken during the cold and flu season. While I don’t mind eating it raw, my daughter really doesn’t like its bite and so I mix hers with other food.
One way she will eat raw is in a fermented honey garlic. After a few months, the garlic loses its bite. It will still smell like garlic but without the sharpness that she dislikes and it will taste like garlic honey. She munches on a few cloves of the fermented garlic honey at night. Why? By morning the garlic smell has left her body.
I made another batch about an hour ago. I put my garlic cloves in a mason jar, and submerge it with honey. I leave about 2″ head space. The cloves won’t stay covered so be sure to shake daily to insure the garlic stays coated. I usually just turn the jar upside down on the next day and continue to rotate until ready. We consume the honey garlic alone and I also drizzle it over stir fry, add a dollop to already prepared soup and I use it in many other ways too.
While I do love my garlic – and I do have some pickled garlic from a local shop in my frig – I had not thought of it being placed in honey. Neat idea!
I know you do a lot with honey and your bees – but I do know you are vegan, too…but your daughter isn’t. Do you consume honey or just make it for your family and friends? So I guess my question is…are you vegan or beegan? teeheee
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@Jennifer, You should try it, all the benefits of raw garlic and you get the added bonus of honey too.
I would not consider myself to be vegan anymore. In fact, I never was comfortable with the term. I still don’t eat meat. I will say that the “rules” always seemed a bit rigid to me, especially when it came to beings not being killed. Take for example wool… you have some vegans that show the extreme end of sheep shearing and that always annoyed me, especially since I knew better. One of our church members owned sheep and the cutting of skin they showed in some pictures/videos never happened.
I also have a similar feeling about honey. I haven’t harvested honey this year, but honeybees don’t have to starve in the process. If one does harvest responsibly I don’t see too much of an issue. Even before I had honeybees I knew some of the rantings I saw from animal rights folks were from someone that was completely ignorant of how the process worked, not all beekeepers are that way. I would say, we have a harmonious relationship with the animals in our area. They take foo from our garden, but not enough to drive us nuts. 😉
@Opal,
I totally know what you mean. Eventho I am vegan diet-wise I feel weird about calling myself vegan because of the strictest of strict vegans out there. I strive to eat vegan but even if I ask while out their kitchens could still slap butter on something. I try to avoid it but sometimes – if it’s out of my control – at least I attempted, ya know!?
Eventho I prefer agave or other natural sweeteners – I did try some raw honey a few months ago – so I guess since that one was ‘on me’ I should probably say ‘beegan’ LOL – but yeah! I know what you mean about that vegan label!
I totally understand what you mean about wool – especially when it comes to smaller mom and pop farms! I think that harshness is mostly in the factory farm world.
I have heard both sides of the bee debate as well. I agree – that if we support small family beekeepers who actually CARE about the bees that is something I can usually get behind. I guess for those reasons – I feel weird about calling myself vegan – you and I have chatted about that 🙂 Most of the time I will say ‘mostly vegan’ but then you have the hardcore vegans who say…then you are ‘not vegan’ which is true, in my case, but I guess it’s one of those things…sigh…
I know you know what I mean 🙂
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