Grow Your Own

Do you garden?  My husband has always loved to have a garden.  For as long as I've known him this has been important to him.  He has provided us with a lot of yummy veggies over the years.  When you're trying to eat a clean diet this even more important.  We like growing our own veggies so that we know what has been used on them.  We try to use only organic, natural means of ridding our garden of pests & weeds.  So we don't have to worry about chemical pesticides & fertilizers.  This isn't always possible, but we do this as much as we can! I wanted to share just a few things that we love about having our own garden.

Right now we are enjoying home grown lettuce.  I love a fresh salad.  I grate some cheese & use some homemade croutons, boil some farm fresh, pasture eggs.  Our favorite lettuces are buttercrunch & romaine. 

I still have a while to wait, but my very favorite garden vegetable is tomatoes!!  I love to eat them straight off the vine with a little salt.  A tomato sandwich on fresh, homemade wheat bread is a perfect summertime lunch!!!  I think my family's favorite thing about tomatoes is that I make my homemade marinara sauce.  I love to make big batches of this & freeze it.  We use this sauce for all kinds of pasta dishes & homemade pizza.  When making my sauce I use tomatoes, onions, garlic (all from our garden), olive oil, Young Living's Taste of Italy oil blend OR YL Oregano & Basil oils. Most recently I used this sauce in a chicken Parmesan casserole.  It was a big hit with the family!! 

I'd love to hear what you do with food from your garden!! 

Mmmmmm..............Bread

I think I'm pretty safe in saying that most everybody loves bread.  Am I right?  I know my family & most of my friends & acquaintances do.  Well, I few years ago when we started cleaning up our diet I was disappointed when I went to the store to buy bread & discovered so many ingredients that I cannot pronounce on the labels.  There are a few "organic, clean" breads out there but they are hard to find & pretty expensive.  We decided to start making our own bread.  Over the past few years, I've perfect bread making for our family.  I usually make bread twice a week.  I thought I would share my bread making steps with you.  

A little over a year ago the hubs bought me a bread machine & that has been wonderful.  It came with a operating manual & I use the recipes in it to make my bread.  It has recipes for everything from white to wheat to raisin to rye & other varieties of breads.  It even has some cake & jelly recipes!!  

I usually make wheat bread.  I will make white bread & dessert breads as a treat occasionally but wheat is the staple bread for us. Before I add anything to the bread machine, I get all my ingredients out & ready to go.

I learned when I got my bread machine that you have to add your liquid ingredients first & then the dry.   I also learned to try to add my flour to make a hump in the middle.  Then I use my knife to make a well in the hump.  This is where I add the yeast.  When I have all ingredients added, I start the machine & it does its thing for me.  When I'm making wheat bread, I will have a perfect loaf in 3 hours 40 minutes.  There is nothing like the smell of fresh baking bread!!!

Now, we love to eat the bread......my girls love cheese toast & cinnamon toast.  The hubs loves better toast & love to use this bread to make garlic toast to go with supper.  Another favorite thing that I make from my bread is croutons!!  I never knew they were so easy to make.  And super easy!!  I cut the bread into cubes & let it dry overnight.  When I'm ready to bake them I first drizzle them with olive oil.  Then I add garlic salt.  I bake them at 375* for about 12-18 minutes.  These are also good with Parmesan cheese added before baking!!  Once they cool you are ready to use them in yummy soups & salads!!! 

Now I'm hungry!!  Time to go start supper!!!  YUM!!!

Spring Into Wellness ~ Ylang Ylang

Let's imagine that you're at the end of a very long & very taxing day......the babies are crying & fussing, the laundry is still in dryer (on the 4th fluffing cycle), you just burned supper & now the smoke detector is going off, everything else you've touched today has been a disaster, & all you want to do is go to bed & start again fresh & on a different foot tomorrow.  Can anyone relate to that??  Please tell me I'm not the only one that has occasional days like this.  Honestly, MOST of my days are VERY happy days & run really smoothly.  But we all know that life has a way of getting our attention periodically, right!?!  

Stress is just a part of life.  It is different for each of us, but we all have it!!  I've been using essential oils for over a year now.  And I love that I have so many natural & safe options for relieving the daily stress, tension, & anxiety that life puts on me.  

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Ylang Ylang essential oil. Ylang Ylang has a long history in hair & skin care products.  In Asia it is commonly used to promote luxurious hair. It has a sweet & flowery fragrance and has been found to be very effective for bringing a sense of calm & relaxation.  It may also help to release feelings of anger, tension, & nervous irritability.

You can diffuse Ylang Ylang or wear it as a lovely & therapeutic perfume.  At times when I'm particularly stressed or tense, I love to use Ylang Ylang along with Stress Away & Joy in an Epsom salts bath.  Ahhhh........it will completely melt your negative thoughts & worries away.  You can go to this link if you'd like to read more about Ylang Ylang.  If you have tried & used Ylang Ylang I'd love to hear your thoughts & how you use it!!!

Spring Into Wellness ~ Stress Away

My go to oil these days seems to be Stress Away!!  Have you tried it yet?  It smells exactly like a island paradise.  Now who couldn't relax & calm down after smelling that?  The first few times that I used Stress Away, I used it purely for the smell. Vanilla has always been a favorite fragrance of mine.  When you mix it with lime, it is just blissful!!  Along with the vanilla & lime, Stress Away also contains lavender & copaiba.  So after I got past the smell, I started to notice the amazing effect it was having on me.  Within just a few minutes I can feel the tension start to relax.  I usually apply Stress Away to the back of my neck & to my wrists. 

You can read about more ways to utilize Stress Away HERE.  

Stress Away is a definite must have on the job. So, the next time life is coming at you too fast & is more than you can handle, reach for the Stress Away!!!

Spring Into Wellness ~ Orange

One thing that has continued to amaze me when it comes to essential oils is that there are SO MANY uses for each & every oil.  I guarantee you if you try a new oil, doesn't matter what it is, & then you talk to 3 different people, you will get 3 more new ways to use that new oil!!!  The citrus oils are such a happy group of oil.  These are cold pressed from the rind.  Orange oil contains the naturally occurring constituent D-limolene.  This is  a natural degreaser among other things. Orange oil (along with the other citrus oils) is known to help lift your spirits & relax your body.  Talking about calming down some anxious moods!!!  Sign me up for some orange oil!!

I used Orange oil the most during the gloomy winter weather.  A few drops in the diffuser & my house smelled like sunshine & warm weather.  Definitely a mood lifter!!!  Orange is also delicious when added to several recipes & drinks.  I recently made some very yummy orange dreamscicle cookie bars.  I found the recipe on Pinterest & instead of using orange koolaid, I used 15 drops of Orange oil............so much better for us!!  And the cookie bars were a big hit!!!  If you haven't tried orange oil yet, I hope you'll consider putting it on your next order.

Spring Into Wellness ~ Frankincense, the Ultimate Essential Oil

If there is only one oil that you should NOT be without, I think it would be Frankincense.  This is the ultimate essential oil.  Why not go ahead & take control of your health.  With Frankincense essential oil you're well on your way!!!

One of the great sources of information is Dr. Cole Wooley.  I LOVE following his Seed To Seal page on Facebook...........if you haven't already, check him out HERE.  Frankincense is highly popular.  It recently came back in stock in a 15 mL bottle!!!  Everyone is excited.  I don't want to be without this amazing oil.  I take a couple of drops in a capsule nightly.  I take it for overall wellness & cellular help.  But Frankincense has some very powerful properties that help alleviate nervous energy.  So, the next time you're feeling anxious or stressed, reach for the Frank!!!

Here is another interesting blog post from Young Living.  I am fascinated to learn how long essential oils have been around.  Young Living Blog

Is there anything this oil can't help with????  Skin, emotions, cellular health, pain......the list goes on & on!!! 

How do you use Frank??  Let us know.

The BIG 4-0!!!! How About a Giveaway???

 Okay, I know that the birthday honoree is usually the one receiving the presents, BUT I want to do something a little different.  Since it is my birthday, I want to give YOU a present!!!  WOOHOO!!!  

So, here it is............for the entire month of May, anyone who signs up on my Drops of Love & Wellness team for a new Premium Starter Kit will be entered into a drawing.   What does the winner of the drawing win???

The winner will get a FREE box of Nitro AND a FREE USB stick diffuser!!!!  Nitro is one of my favorite supplements by Young Living.  I love the natural kick of energy it provides.  And I have a USB stick diffuser that I love to use in my vehicle.  It is wonderful for trips.  


Also don't forget that everyone who signs to get a Premium Starter Kit gets this awesome oil bag (offer good while supplies last).  Bags from me will be a different fabric.  There is no better month than May to join the oily train!!!!!

So, who wants to win???  If you'd like to sign up for your own, new Premium Starter Kit, contact me & I'll help you get started!!!  OR you can go HERE to sign up now!!!!