Mint is a weed…
…that means it grows like crazy and should be kept in a container.
If you are growing mint, you likely have more that you know what to do with. You can easily harvest it to encourage more growth too.
There are lots of posts out there that give you dozens of ways that you can use mint. How many of them can you actually use everyday though?
How to use mint from your garden…everyday
That’s why I wanted to write this simple and practical post for you.
Let’s begin. Here they are:
Hot tea
This is a simple one. Put some mint leaves in a mug. Boil up some water. Pour the water over the mint leaves and let it sit for a few minutes. That’s it.
Mint tea is good for upset stomachs and helps with digestion.
Spa water
We should all be drinking more water. It’s essential for our health and well-being.
Some people complain that drinking water is too bland and boring.
You can add some flavor to it pretty easily. This is slight variation of the tea. All you have to do is fill up a large pitcher with water and add in mint leaves.
It will give the water a minty flavor.
Chewing gum alternative
Face it, your breath stinks. I can smell it through my computer.
So why not pull off some mint leaves and chew on them. It’ll help to freshen your breath and help you to make more friends.
Your turn
Share this post with friends and family that have so much mint they don’t know what to do with it.
Add a few whole leaves to your jar of lemonade. Awesome
I like the tea idea. Especially now that fall is around the corner.
Add a few slices of lemon in with your mint leaves to your water. Zingy and cleansing!
A bouquet of mint in the center of your patio table will keep flies away from your dinner when eating outside
mojitos, baby, mojitos! It’s the reason I planted the mint! We make a simple mint syrup and it stores in the fridge for a long time, then use it for mojitos, mint julips, sweet tea, mint flavoring for just about anything!
Mint is great in taboulee which is a greek salad: whole grain wheat in place of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, mint, salt, pepper lemon juice & olive oil to taste. Just mix all together! BUT..I’ve never been able to grow mint in a container. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Any suggestions Mike?
I vote for mojitos and mint juleps! Also good in salads, Thai dishes, Indian mint lassis, yogurt/cuke salad. I made a great mint ice cream this summer from my mint patch. Dried, it adds nice specks to homemade soap. Fresh leaves can also be used for natural dyeing on yarn and fabric – shades of yellow, gold, grey, sage green. I dry lots for tea in the winter.
If you have a lot of mint all at once, mint oil is easy to make. Wash the mint well and let it dry off (not dry out). Break mint leaves and stuff a clean dry jar to the top. Fill jar with a oil (vitamin E, vegetable or whatever your favorite is) and set in a window sill for a 2 or 3 days. Shake the jar gently every so often. Strain well (twice if you have to). TA-DA!! The oil is good for heated aroma devices, flavoring things or to add to a hot bath. My mother-in-law grows lots of Catnip and fills socks and pockets (cut from old clothes) for the cats… A sock full of catnip is a great way to make friends with other people’s cats!!
You can make a mint vodka 🙂 just take 2 handfuls of clean meat leaves, put in a jar and cover with about 500ml of vodka. Let it sit for two weeks and you can enjoy your mint alcoholic drink 🙂 can add some lemon peel in there too 🙂
make a simple syrup with it. Just make a normal simple syrup and add fresh mint leaves before boiling. When it becomes a uniform consistency strain out the mint leaves…then add to your favorite cocktail or make lemonade with it 🙂
Make an old fashioned with a few mint leaves and sugar topped off with some glorious Maker’s Mark Kentucky bourbon.
Dry it and enjoy it as hot tea in the cold days of winter. The flavor should give you a nice flashback to the warm days of summer.
you should try to find a mint chew/snuff recipe as an alternative to chewing tobacco I would love to see what you find. I cant find one anywhere!! this site is really informative and fun and I think if anyone can find one its you thanks again.