Daily EO Uses

Hello blog world. It has been almost a year since I last wrote. :(  And along with that, it has been a year since I bought my essential oils that started everything!

It has been an awesome journey in learning to use the oils and sharing them along the way.
I have been trying to get my friends and acquaintances aware of essential oils and I wanted to share examples of how I use the oils in my everyday routines.

-OnGuard Toothpaste
-OnGuard is a protective blend that helps your body's immune system. I have this in a roller bottle diluted with almond oil to roll on the bottom of my feet every morning.
-OnGuard Spray: I have a couple drops of OnGuard mixed in water to clean my dogs teeth. I spray this on a cotton round and wipe down her gums and teeth every couple days.
-Produce Spray: I have a few drops of lemon oil (or OnGuard) in a spray bottle full of water. I use this to spray fresh fruits and vegetables. Spray and let it sit for a few minutes, then wash off as usual.
-Peppermint: I have a roller bottle with a peppermint/almond oil mixture. Mine is diluted about 1:2 ratio. I keep this in my purse for headaches or minor nausea.
-Solace: This is now sold as Clary Calm. It is a special blend of oils to help with balancing hormones and other issues centered menstruation.
-Frankincense: I have a roller bottle filled with almond oil and about 10-15 drops of Frankincense. I use this on minor cuts and scrapes. Frankincense helps prevent scarring, is an anti-inflammatory, and helps the body prevent infection among many other things.

-Wintergreen: I dilute a couple drops of wintergreen in a squirt of almond oil and rub on my muscles before a workout. Wintergreen helps to tone and develop muscles.
-Eucalyptus: I dilute this about 1:1 with a carrier oil and rub on sore/overworked muscles.
-Deep Blue is great before and after workouts. I have bad knees and I put on dilutes Deep Blue before my workouts. I have this in a roller bottle also for headaches.  Deep Blue Rub is a concentrated cream heaven on my sore muscles after a hard workout.
-Balance is a blend I use daily. I have it in a roller bottle at work and at home. At work I rub it on my wrists when I need to relax during a crazy day.  At home, I roll it on my spine at night before bed to relax.  This is also nice to diffuse. I love the smell :)
-Serenity: This blend is one I am still getting used to the scent of. It is great for insomnia, and relieving anxiety, tension, and stress, just to list a few. I have it diluted in a roller with FCO. I roll this on my feet every night before bed and massage it in for a minute. I have been sleeping much better since I started this routine.

Some of these oils I use everyday, some I use every couple days as needed. These roller bottles and oils are a staple in my household. If you are considering buying some essential oils, these are some simple ways they can benefit you and your family.

Wonderful Uses for Basic Oils

I hope that my past few posts have at least gotten you thinking about what essential oils can do for you and your family. In this post I want to share with you some everyday ways to use some basic and popular oils- Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint.

If you want to start using essential oils this is the place to start.

Lavender is extremely versatile from promoting calming sleep to disinfecting cuts and scrapes. Lavender has anti-depressant, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties.

Peppermint is popular not only because it is recognized from candies, but it has abilities to ease stomach discomfort and boost mood.

Lemon has anti-depressant, antiseptic, antiviral, and anti-fungal properties. It also works great for a natural cleaning alternative. It can be used to ease scratchy throats or de-gunk sticky messes.

Attached is a document I made with a list of great uses for the three basic essential oils. doTERRA offers two packages based around these basic oils. The first is The Introductory Kit with 5ml of each oil and an Intro CD. The second is the Beginner's Trio which has each oil in a 15ml size.

I will be honest and I have only had my oil kit for about 6 weeks and I have already exhausted my 5ml Lemon oil and 5ml Lavender oil. These oils are so useful and I am excited to get my next order in the mail, containing my 15ml bottles! These will go a lot farther for our medicine cabinet!

Easy Oil Uses

Lavender has antidepressant, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-toxic properties - See more at: http://doterrablog.com/101-uses-for-the-intro-kit-part-13-lavender#sthash.zrSuZms4.dpu

Lavender has antidepressant, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-toxic properties - See more at: http://doterrablog.com/101-uses-for-the-intro-kit-part-13-lavender#sthash.zrSuZms4.dpu

Lavender has antidepressant, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-toxic properties - See more at: http://doterrablog.com/101-uses-for-the-intro-kit-part-13-lavender#sthash.zrSuZms4.dpuf

Getting Started Essential Oils

I am working on getting more people introduced to using essential oils in their everyday lives. In the past few days I have given friends samples and my husband is actually asking me to fix him up with appropriate oils. I am making strides in the right direction, although still using friends and internet guidance. I am learning as I go though. Thinking about make a print-out or file with all the information I am gathering!

Well since I am getting you interested in the idea and letting you see how it works for yourself, I guess I should come out there and tell you I am a seller with doTERRA. I didn't want to lead with that and I am not into being pushy. That is the reason I have lasted not selling pampered chef, or avon etc. I feel awkward selling stuff to people.

But seeing is believing, and if you see how well the oils work for you, then they kind of sell themselves! That is how I got hooked anyway!

My husband is still trying to trust in these oils to help him, and I am honestly still the tiniest bit skeptical, but the more I use them, the more they help me. It is worth a try.

Check back with me for a list of websites to check out great uses for doTERRA essential oils.

Essential Oils pt. 2

I am hoping that with my first post on essential oils I got you to do some thinking. Now I want to share some of the ways the oils have helped me.

• Lavender: I use lavender almost every night before bed. I like to rub a little bit on my shoulders/back and on my pillow. The scent naturally helps you relax and I get better sleep when I use it. Lavender is also good for soothing bug bites, relaxing children before bed, to remove splinters and much more.
• Peppermint: The main thing I like this for is nausea. Hubby and I drove to Vegas when I first got oils to use. I get very carsick and that was happening. I took off the lid and just smelled the bottle a couples times as needed and it kept my upset tummy at bay. Peppermint is also good for a pick-me-up, calming headaches and keeping spiders away.
• OnGuard: This is the name for the blend by doTERRA but it is commonly known as Thieves. In the ages of the plague, thieves would use this blend of oils to keep from getting sick when robbing plague victims. I have a special love for this blend. I have been putting on my feet every morning (give or take a few) for over a month. Not a sniffle. And I work with children that are coughing, sneezing, runny nose machines. And I am usually always caught with a cold. I believe in this stuff.
• DigestZen: This is another doTERRA blend. It is made to help with any digestive issues. I have used this a few times with good results and also seen good results using it on a 5mo baby. 

 

Here are some of the blends I have put into roller bottles for easy access... OnGuard: to roll on bottom of feet every morning. Lavender and Peppermint to roll on feet to relax before bed. Eucalyptus and Spearmint because I like the scent. And Digestzen for easy access. All of these are also mixed with carrier oils to make it go farther. I have also made an allergy blend in a roller, a mixture of fractionated coconut oil, lemon, peppermint, and lavender. My friend is liking it so far. 

I want to keep you all updated on how the oils work for me and would love to hear your thoughts!

There is still a lot more to the whole EO thing, but I can't sum it all up in two posts. More coming.

 

Again is you want to try the oils or have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! :)

Essential Oils pt. 1

So I have been trying to get up the nerve to write this post for a few weeks now.  Living here in California is a whole new thing for Hubby and I, being from the midwest. A lot of things are done differently here being in CA and on a military base. Words like home birth, home-school, organic, and farmer's markets come to mind. I have enjoyed learning about all of these things in our time here.

Anyways...Here goes, I have started using Essential Oils. (Did I mention my husband lovingly refers to it as witch magic) I am sure you have heard of essential oils in some context, whether it be cooking, bath and body products, etc. I first got introduced to the idea when a friend was hosting a doTERRA party (a company specializing in essential oils). I couldn't make it to the party but started to wonder what was the deal with these EO's.  Next a friend and her husband had gotten pretty sick and the friend used some oils to clear her sickness right up. Way faster than the husband on "American" medicine. I was really intrigued. At this point, I sat down with some other friends who had been using EO's and got a little lesson about them. I got some samples a couple weeks later and here I am.

The basic run-down on EO's is as follows:

• There are not official grades of EO"s but here is a general outline:
• Perfume: such as in bath and body products
• Food: what you might buy at local store
• Therapeutic: The oils I use, safe for body
• Because of the different grades, be cautious when buying oils to use on your body. I use doTERRA and their oils are tested to be used aromatically, topically, and internally.
• Essential Oil's absorb quickly into the skin, especially the skin on the bottoms of your feet. You can also use a carrier oil for strong oils or with oils on younger/sensitive skin. I use coconut oil and sweet almond oil as my carriers. Olive oil also works well.
• Most essential oils are high in antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties.
• Essential Oils work in your body at the cellular level

If you are interested in trying some essential oils or more information please message me and I will help you the best I can or find someone who can!

Grilled Breakfast Sandwich

In our house we are huge fans of grilled cheese and cheese tortillas (or what normal people call quesadillas). Super easy, but still tasty enough for us! Well this recipe is pinterest inspired, but only by a photo I winged the recipe.

You will need:
-Bread
-Butter
-Cream cheese
-Honey (optional)
-Fruit
-Jam or Jelly

I would recommend cream cheese spread like for bagels, but we had a block of cream cheese and Hubby likes it anyways, so no big deal. I added a little honey for sweetness with the C.C.

Spread on the jam and the fruit. I used homemade strawberry jam and blueberries.

Cook as you would the regular grilled cheese. I finished ours in the toaster oven for 30 sec-1 minute to make sure the cream cheese was melted along with the bread being toasted.

Now doesn't that look delicious?

Whole Wheat Apple Pie!

This pie was super easy to make! Back in September, we went to Julian apple picking with some friends. We brought home lots of apples and were not in the mood to eat them all. I did some googling and found a recipe to make apple pie filling to freeze.

The recipe is pretty straight forward. I am sure you could sub out some of the sugar for honey and use less water. I definitely halved or quartered this recipe because I didn't have 6-7 lbs of apples, but you get the idea.  The author also says this recipe will last up to a year in the freezer! I have also made Apple Crisp Pizza with my frozen pie filling and it was delicious!

So we were celebrating one of our friends birthdays and I decided an apple pie would be a perfect 'birthday cake'.  I pulled out one of my frozen apple pie fillings that morning and let in thaw on the counter/fridge until about 3pm when I starting baking.

Adapted from:
Whole Wheat Pie Crust

• 2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1/2 c Coconut Oil
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbs)
• ~1/4 c vodka
• ~1/4 c water

Don't let the vodka scare you. I did a little research and it is legitimate and makes for a flakey crust.

Mix together the dry ingredients and cut in the butter and coconut oil. I don't have a pastry cutter, so I just used my hands. Mix it in well. I will be slightly crumbly. Now add the vodka and water and stir with a spatula. I used just under 1/4 cup of each. The dough will be wet! I promise it all turns out okay. Split in half and refrigerate in baggies or container for at least a half an hour.

After it has chilled, use two pieces of plastic wrap and roll out the dough between it. You want it just bigger than the pie pan.  Press into a greased pie pan. Pour the filling into the pie. Mine was still cold. Roll out the second ball into the same shape and cut into slices for the lattice top. Weave it on top and you are ready for the oven. Bake @ 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream and caramel if you are feeling adventurous!

I want to make the blueberry pie on the crust website. Has anyone ever had or made a blueberry pie? What did you think?

Enjoy!