Plantain Cream for Bites and Stings

Plantain (the botanical, not the  starchy fruit) is a common weed in your yards and garden — but did you know it also serves as an excellent medicinal remedy?  It’s a wonderful treatment for bug bites and stings, but also minor burns and abrasions, rashes, eczema, and psoriasis.     Make some of this healing plantain cream and keep it on hand this summer.

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Plantain Cream for Bites and Stings

This natural cream help bites and stings.

Course: Body, Healthy Family, Healthy Home

Cuisine: DIY Spa Treatments

Keyword: Beeswax, Plantain

Courtesy of: James Wong: Grow Your Own Medicine

Materials

• 4 tablespoons fresh chopped plantain herb leaves
• 1 cup 150 ml boiling water
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons almond oil
• 1 teaspoon beeswax
• 2 teaspoons emulsifying wax
• 2 teaspoons glycerine
• 1 teaspoon vitamin C powder

Instructions

• Wash and chop the plantain leaves. Divide into two put one half in a bowl and the other half in a pan. Cover the plantain in the bowl with the water and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
• In the pan, add the olive (or sunflower) and almond oils to the plantain and heat gently to simmering point. Don't allow to boil if it starts boiling, take off the heat immediately. Once at simmering point, remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes to cool.
• Strain the plantain leaves from the water in the bowl, reserving the infused water and discarding the leaves. Set the liquid to one side.
• Drain the infused oil into another pan, discarding the plantain leaves. Heat the oil again. Add the beeswax and emulsifying wax and melt, stirring. Aim for a foamy consistency.
• Add 1 cup of the infused water to the pan and whisk to achieve a consistency like salad dressing. Add the glycerine and vitamin C powder.
• Pour into sterilized glass jars and seal.

Spa Index Kitchen Notes

Don't confuse plantain leaves and plantain fruit!  We're looking for the leafy herb, here, to apply to affected area as often as needed. Keeps for three months in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Get Vit C powder from your pharmacy in the vitamins and supplements aisle.