Facts You Need To Know About Honey

OIL & HONEY EDITION

Today I am sharing some honey facts with you! You may be surprised at the many benefits of honey.  I’m not referring to a bottle or jar of honey you purchase in a big box store…no, no, NO!  To be certain you are eating or using pure honey you should purchase from a local beekeeper or at your farmers market.  It’s easy enough to tell where honey comes from by reading the label or knowing who you are purchasing from.

It only takes about a teaspoon of honey per day ingested however you choose.  Stir it into your coffee or tea for a natural sweetener, drizzle some over your bowl of oatmeal or yogurt, pour a bit over fresh colorful berries or citrus fruits, or the easiest way is to enjoy it on a spoon!   Yes, that’s right, just dip a teaspoon into your jar of honey and find your inner child, lick said honey off of spoon!  Delicious!

I love to cook with honey, especially in the sweets department, but find it equally as delicious in entries and appetizers.  Here are links to a few of my favorite “Honey Recipes” .

Honey-Jalapeno Glazed Salmon

Honey Flan

Spicy Honey Cider Syrup

Goat Cheese with Honey-Pepper and Fig Balsamic Drizzle

Benefits of Honey

Honey is made up of sugar and water. After the last bit of nectar is placed in a cell the bees fan the liquid to evaporate the water until it’s just right , preventing fermentation, at which time the bees cap the cells with wax.

Honey if sealed properly will never go bad – it may crystallize in the jar. If you have a jar of crystallized honey simply place it in a bowl of very hot water and it will melt back to it’s liquid state.

Honey is known for it’s healing properties:

Sooth a sore throat

Promote healing of cuts and burns

A tablespoon a day helps relieve local allergies

Honey helps build our immune systems and improves digestive systems

Credible skin softener

Honey & Infants

Honey contains a naturally occurring spore, which is collected with the nectar. These spores can’t be removed – especially with pure, raw honey production -.

A baby’s immature digestive system doesn’t contain enough acid to inhibit the toxin from being produced – therefore children’s younger than one year of age should not be given honey.

Below are some sweet little bees who make honey!