Blog — Honey

The immune system...it’s a hot topic these days, right? Everyone is talking about staying healthy and safe, especially as we enter the colder months of the year. Our families are the most important things to us, and while we can’t necessarily “see” our immune system, we need to care for it as one of our highest priorities when we think about caring for our family. Don’t let your life get so busy that you forget these 5 easy and natural ways to keep your family healthy this winter:

1. Let them sleep! Aim to give your kiddos, at minimum, 8 hours of sleep...10 is even better. That means to turn off screens at least 1 hour prior to bed and set consistent bedtime and wake up routines. 
2. Limit sugar. I know, this isn’t a popular one. My kids ask for a “special treat” every night and are shocked when I tell them they can’t have one (what makes it special if you get one every day??). But sugar is the enemy to our immune systems. Cutting back on soda, sweets, candy, baked goods and processed foods in general will put your family at a significant advantage when it comes to strong immune systems. Raw honey is a GREAT alternative (in moderation of course). Here’s our entire line of raw and infused flavored honey. They are so so good.
3. Put a whole food on every plate. Ok, I’m not the best at eating 100% whole foods but I guarantee you can’t afford NOT to eat whole this winter, as our bodies need these vital nutrients from plants. So as a busy mom, I make it my daily goal to get at least one whole food on everyone’s plate. Our go-to foods? Apples, bananas, bell peppers (red ones are the best!), carrots, broccoli and strawberries. For an amazing smoothie recipe, check out our blog here. 
4. Take elderberry daily. Ok, I know this may seem like a shameless plug for my own product, but I’m so serious. Taking elderberry syrup or gummies daily can give your family the support their immune systems need, especially when they may be exposed to illness around them. My kids love both our syrup and gummies, but I try my best to keep them taking the syrup because it contains raw honey that contains natural enzymes to help their bodies fight infection. Just 1 teaspoon or 1 gummy daily for kids, 1 tablespoon or 2-3 gummies daily for adults. It’s so easy and so delicious.
5. Get outside and get moving. Our Vitamin D levels tank in the winter so getting at least 30 minutes of direct sunlight can help. Also, a goal to get at least 30 minutes of exercise 3x weekly can significantly support your body’s overall health and wellness. For your kiddos, that means a walk to the park, a game of tag in the front yard...get creative! One of my good friends has an amazing woman-owned small business called OKO Weekly where you can get videos of workouts designed specifically for kids age 3-5 years old. For those cold winter months, it’s the perfect way to make sure your kids are getting regular exercise!

I’m a BIG proponent of not overloading our schedules and responsibilities with unnecessary busy-work, so I hope these 5 natural ways to build strong immune systems don’t feel like extra work, but empowering ideas to help your family to experience a healthy winter. As always, feel free to comment below with any other tips you use to keep your family healthy. Happy fall everyone!

Customer service team here!

Getting to work as the customer service representatives is seriously such a fun job. We sincerely are so blessed to get to talk to all of you and hear about how we are able to help in any way possible. We find joy in meeting our customers right where they are and explaining any and everything we can with a clear sense of communication. Communication is huge to us. That’s how many of us work best, knowing the things we need to know before committing ourselves to something.

A ton of you are returning customers, and we are so thankful that you let us help be your support when it comes to keeping your family healthy! We wanted to step into some of these questions and answer them for those of you who are new or are needing a little refresher. Here are some common questions we can answer for you now that we get asked often.

1. Can you use this as a syrup on pancakes/waffles?
No, our Elderberry Syrup is not thick like maple syrup. We do not use any preservatives or glucose; therefore, our syrup is a juice-like consistency. If you were to put it on your pancakes, it would make them a bit soggy and not give your pancakes the ooey gooey sugary syrup consistency we all love! Instead, most of our customers will take their daily serving of elderberry syrup in one of our shot glasses.

2. How do you keep your syrup cold during shipment?
We don’t ship our syrup cold. We take great care in packing each jar, and we ship them at room temperature. We test our batches to ensure they are safe out of the fridge during the 6-7 days of transit. We do recommend getting it in the fridge when it arrives to ensure the longest shelf life.

3. Do you use a canning process?
We don’t use a canning process because we want to keep our honey raw (awesome health benefits from raw honey). We have a lidding machine that screws the lids on tightly, followed by a heat seal band around the top of the jar to ensure it hasn’t been tampered with.

4. Is your honey local?
Our honey is local to the Southern Indiana/Ohio valley area and located about 15 minutes from our shop.

5. Do you have any sugar free products?
Yes! Our Elderberry Syrup Kits are a great way to make a sugar free version of our Elderberry Syrup. Instead of adding honey to your kit, you can add an alternative sweetener or omit the sugar altogether.

6. What if I take too much Elderberry?
The only adverse effect of taking too much Elderberry Syrup is it could take on a mild laxative (think prune juice). Other than that, our syrup is simply a natural blend of berries, spices and honey so feel free to take more or less than our recommended serving size!

7. What do I do with your syrup?
Take one tablespoon (for adults) as a daily immune booster for overall health or you can add it to other recipes to enhance it both with taste and health! We have many customers who add their daily dose to their water, tea, or even coffee!

8. New vs. old gummies, why are they different?
When we first launched our gummies, we quickly learned that because of the extremely high vitamin C content, direct sunlight turned them BRIGHT blue. In order to keep them from turning blue, we needed to either switch to artificial colorants or lower our Vitamin C content. We HATE artificial colorants so we decided to lower the Vitamin C content slightly (it is still much higher than the recommended daily dose). In addition to the change in Vitamin C, we also listened to customer feedback and lowered our sugar content from 3.5g to 1g per gummy. 

9. Is your Wellness tea just as beneficial as your Elderberry Syrup?
Our Wellness tea is a customer favorite! While it has the benefit of elderberries, it is not as concentrated as our syrup. One tablespoon of our syrup would equal out (health benefit wise) to about 3 cups of our tea.

10. How else can you sweeten the kit?
While you can buy our raw honey separately, we have some customers who sweeten it with Stevia, Splenda or other sweeteners. 

Please let us know if you have any other questions as we are ready to answer them! Thank you for letting us serve you as we grow as a small business.

Written by Alex Dean & Kimberly Pavan

Jello is always a fun snack to have for the kids so why not add some Elderberry in there to add some health to the fun. We have found the perfect recipe to enjoy Elderberry Jello snacks for both in the house and on your way out of the house. 

Ingredients

Instructions

If you have been with us for a while, you might remember we used to make popsicles for our local customers and they were a fan favorite! For those of you who are new or haven’t been with us for as long, our popsicles served as a treat to make those hot summer days a little bit cooler. We get asked for the popsicles a lot, but have not found a way to make them shippable…. yet ;)

We know our customers are always looking for ways to support their immune system and keep their families healthy! We thought it would be fun to give you some recipes over the next few blogs as a way to bring a little fun to your daily dose of Elderberry Syrup! Whether that’s through popsicles, drinks, smoothies, and so on, we want you to be fully confident that you are staying healthy while being able to use our syrup in different ways. 

We have an AWESOME popsicle recipe for you to make your own popsicles with our Elderberry Syrup at home! 

Why Popsicles? We say, why not popsicles?

They’re a delicious treat everyone loves, ESPECIALLY kids! It’s a bonus that this recipe is a healthy one! 

5 items to make a tasty popsicle:

• 4 Tablespoons of The Elderberry Co. Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons of Our local raw honey if you would like it a little more sweet
• 1 cup of Organic Apple Juice (100%)
• ½ cup of organic Cranberry juice (100%)
• 1 cup of coconut water
• Juice of 1 lemon

Directions-

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher (Makes it easier to pour) and stir well.
2. Pour the mixture into Popsicle Molds and freeze for at least 6 hours until completely frozen. We’ve included a link to a BPA free silicone Popsicle mold from Amazon that we love! 
3. If you are using molds, you may run warm water over the molds for 15 seconds once they are frozen. This will help to release the ice pop.
4. Enjoy your tasty Elderberry Popsicle. 

Let us know in the comments what recipe kind of recipe you would like to see next!

https://black-elderberry.com/elderberry-ice-pops/

What sets us apart from other Elderberry Syrup brands?

This is a question we receive on a regular basis.  Now, I know we are biased, but there are several significant ways our Elderberry Syrup is above and beyond other brands out there...free shipping, no added sugar or preservatives, brewed fresh weekly and... (drum roll, please) aronia berries! Usually when I say “aronia berries”, people look at me like I have ten heads. Well, their common name is “chokeberry” and they are AMAZING.

When I first started making syrup in my home kitchen, I only used elderberries in the recipe. I didn’t even know aronia berries existed! Then a sweet older couple at our Farmer’s Market introduced them to me and asked me to make a batch using fresh ones from their farm. I eagerly went home and researched aronia berries. Once I learned all about the benefits, there was no way I couldn’t include them in my recipe! They enhanced the flavor, made our syrup a brighter pink and added so much strength in terms of immune support!

Aronia berries are a small, round fruit found in North America. They contain high levels of antioxidants which makes it one of the highest antioxidant content of any fruit (even elderberries)! When it comes to antioxidants, studies have shown they help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, inflammation, bacterial infections and many others. These berries also contain tons of vitamins and minerals, including zinc, magnesium, iron and vitamins C, B and K. 

If you are looking for ways to add aronia berries into your daily routine other than our elderberry syrup, here are some helpful ideas! They can be eaten fresh or as a dried snack, make a refreshing summer smoothie, easily add them into some sweet desserts, make a delicious jam, and they can also be found in some teas, coffee and even wine! 

Let’s break down the health benefits a little bit more here! As always, we recommend checking with your care provider when beginning any health regimen.

• Offer overall improvement of the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive  systems
• Help combat the growth of certain cancers
• Support the immune system and help fight diseases and infection

Be sure to check out some recipes below of how you can use aronia berries!

https://smoothiefairytales.com/aronia-berry-smoothie/

https://www.vibrantplate.com/aronia-oatmeal-crumble-bars-vegan/

https://www.ediblewildfood.com/aronia-berry-cookies.aspx

http://www.nonasnutritionnotes.com/aronia_berries/

https://mummysfastandeasy.com/2019/08/16/no-bake-aronia-berry-cheesecake/

Have you used aronia berries in a recipe that you love? Share the recipe with us, we would love to hear about it!