Reader Question: alternative sweeteners and homemade throat lozenges

I’ve gotten a lot of reader quesions via email lately. If I haven’t posted your question no worries I’ll get to it sooner or later.

Today’s question comes from River who says, “I found your blog when I searched Popsicle recipes today. Great ideas! I have an allergy to cane sugar. Can the recipes that require a sweetener be made with maple syrup, honey, or agave? Will these interfere with freezing?

Do you know anything about homemade throat lozenges? I have seen a recipe but cannot find it. It takes a large amount of slippery elm, some honey, and other herbs, but I don’t know the proportions or remember the other herbs.”

Ah a two parter. As for the ice pops question, I’ve made ice pops with honey before, for example, mixing honey in with organic yogurt and strawberries, and never had any issues with it messing with the freezing. I’ve never made pops with maple syrup or agave, and while I doubt maple syrup will have any issues other than forming crystals, I’m not sure about agave so I looked it up. One site all about maple syrup says you can freeze it fine to extend its life, so I’m sure you could use it in ice pops. I always make homemade syrup that I keep in the fridge and it forms tiny crystals but it doesn’t affect flavor. As for agave, I found a site that says if your substitute agave syrup for white sugar in a recipe, use about 25 percent less than the amount called for AND you can use it to make ice cream, so I’m guessing it’ll freeze up a-ok.

Now on to the homemade throat lozenges…

I’ve never made homemade throat lozenges. It seems like it would be complicated; a little like making candy maybe, but really, I have no clue. So again I headed to the web.

Care2 has one recipe and Turks.us has another (plus tips for natural sore throat relief).Everything else I found seems like a rehash of the Care2 recipe or seems unnatural and funky. Maybe readers here have some tips though. If you ever made homemade lozenges, let us know in the comments.

Thanks for your questions River and hopefully this helps. If you have a green question feel free to ask away…