6 Ways to Beat the Flu (With Stuff You Already Have)

Collective Bias, Inc. and Bigelow Tea, are compensating me for this post. But girl, just so you know, I only write about products I already use and love. (In fact, the tea I’m sharing today was already in my pantry.) All opinions are mine alone. #AmericasTea #CollectiveBias

Soooo, I kid you not: my family has literally gotten the flu, in some form, once a month for the last 5 months. Flu, barfies, whatever you want to call it. (And for me, morning sickness to boot.) Here are my favorite tips on how to beat the flu naturally.

1. Hot lemon water

I love this stuff. It feels great on the throat, it flushes the toxins and it just gives me an overall feeling of just pushing the “refresh” button on my diet. It’s actually great to drink even if you’re not sick. (In fact, during one of my recent boot camp challenges, my instructor had us drink it every morning, with a pinch of cayenne pepper, to jumpstart the metabolism.)

2. Homemade chicken soup

What I love about this soup is it takes ingredients that I always have in my kitchen anyway, and it’s also a great way to clean out your veggie drawer. All you need is chicken, carrots, celery and any other veggies you like (sometimes I throw in onion, spinach, rutabaga, potatoes). First, brown the chicken in a pot with some olive oil, salt and pepper. (No need to cook it all the way through.) Once the outside is browned, take the chicken out of the pot, and throw in your veggies. Let the veggies cook for a few minutes, and then put the chicken back in the pot and throw in the chicken stock. (I like to use my homemade chicken stock, but if I don’t have any, you can use store-bought, or just add water.) Then, let the soup simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. That’s it! My boot camp instructor also likes to add dill at the end, which is an herb I never thought I liked, but I love it in this soup. To bulk it up, you can add in some rice or noodles at the end too. I always freeze half of it, so I have a frozen batch of soup for the next time the flu hits our house. (You know, next week.)

3. Bigelow mint medley tea

I almost wrote about green tea for this one, but I wanted to talk about mint tea instead because I love how the mintiness in Bigelow’s mint medley tea seems to help ease the nausea and stomach ickiness instantly (kind of like peppermint gum does when I’m morning sick). I grabbed a box when I was on my latest no-kid Walmart shopping spree (i.e. my Saturday Momcation). All hail the kid-less cart.

Then, when the hubby got hit with strep throat last weekend, I busted it out like a champ, and I’m pretty sure he downed 3 different mugs of it.

(Actually, I know he did because I had to pick them up from various places in the house.)

When I’m not sick, I also love to add mint tea to some sparkling water, and it becomes a refreshing spritzer that helps me stave off my afternoon sugar cravings. Throw in some fresh blueberries, and you’re basically having a Mom party during naptime. (Yes, I lead an exciting life.) But seriously, a friend of mine actually serves this at parties and baby showers. It’s a simple, inexpensive way to feel like you’re having a festive treat. #justaddbubbles

4. BRAT

No, not what you want to call your toddler when he’s 3 timeouts past no afternoon nap. This is what you need to have on-hand when the barfies hit your house. Once people around here can start keeping food down, bananas, rice, applesauce and toast (BRAT, for short) are my best friends. Saltines are also a staple. I also like to have diet ginger ale on-hand too, or at least some of my favorite cherry sparkling water.

5. Sliced lemons

I know I already talked about lemons and water, but I learned with this pregnancy that if you slice a lemon in half and hold it up to your nose, it curbs nausea instantly. Plus, it smells fresh and citrusy, unlike your nasty bathroom that now needs to be cleaned by a Hazmat crew.

6. Vinegar and baking soda

Speaking of that Hazmat crew (you), we should probably talk about what you’ll be cleaning with. When you can finally stand upright long enough to bust out the rubber gloves and start scrubbing, vinegar and baking soda are an awesome, all-natural couple that can help disinfect your whole house. (Yes, commercial products and bleach also work too.) I always have a spray bottle, filled with 10% white distilled vinegar and 90% water, to use in place of Windex, and a paste of vinegar and baking soda can scrub out any nastiness we’ve got goin’ on in the toilet area.

Hang in there, Mama. Flu season is almost over. (Not really. We have 4 more months to go. But at least your kitchen is ready for the next round.)

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