There are numerous tonic recipes floating around FB and blogs. They are all designed to create a super boost for the immune system that will be both anti-viral and anti-bacterial. Using mostly local and organic ingredients and fermenting the mixture makes it even better. For those of us who live in the north and or in small communities where access to things like fresh organic turmeric and horse radish in the middle of winter is rather unlikely, here is my take on it with substitutions you can use and still make an awesome tonic that will chase away the winter bugs.
This is my 
take on it. I bottled it today. I’ll let you know in 2 weeks how it comes out.
½ cup Onion
2 large fingers Turmeric grated or chopped finely (Substitute 3 tablespoons organic spice powder)
¼ cup Ginger grated or chopped finely (Substitute 4 tablespoons organic ginger powder)
4 tablespoons grated horse radish (Substitute 4 tablespoons pure horse radish from a jar-not creamed or mixed with mustard)
3 heads organic garlic chopped finely. (Substitute 1 sm bottle organic garlic chopped including the juice)
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 hot red pepper or 1 tablespoon dried hot pepper flakes
About 2 cups raw apple cider vinegar
1 quart jar with lid
I used my mini food processor from the blender to chop most of the ingredients. A grater is just fine. You want all the pieces about the same size. If you are handling the hot pepper you may want to use plastic or rubber gloves to save your fingers and your eyes. I used the hot peppers from my garden last summer
that I dried myself.
Chop all the ingredients and mix in your glass jar. Add the raw apple cider vinegar leaving about 1.5-2 inches space at the top. If you are using powders instead of chopped ingredients fill about half full or until everything mixes into a soup.
Stir well to mix the vinegar into all the spices. Put the lid on and let sit for two weeks on the counter to ferment it. In two week pour the mixture through a fine cheesecloth in a strainer into a fresh bottle. Squeeze and drain to release as much liquid as you can. Keep the pulp in the fridge and use to spice homemade salad dressing, use in stews and soups (careful a little will go a long ways), or mix into stir fry dishes.
The new jar of tonic will keep forever. Drink 1 tablespoon daily to prevent flus, cold, and infections.
Mix 2 tablespoons of the tonic into an oil and vinegar carafe for a lovely spicy salad dressing.
Notes: If you are using jars of garlic and horse radish, be sure to choose ones with the least extra ingredients. It should be organic garlic and oil-
nothing else. Horse radish will have water, vinegar, and salt. The less “extra” stuff the better.
The black pepper is required because it is what increases the availability of the turmeric.
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