Orange twist on a Waldorf Salad

There seems to be a theme in my most recent blogs...I'm ridiculously busy, and yet I'm hungry, so let's mix something up! Oh, and it's most likely either snowing or raining LOL! For the last few weeks in the Pacific Northwest, we've been begging for rain. While the rest of our beautiful country is either in threat of a hurricane or flooding, we're surrounded by forest fires and air quality so bad that people are wearing masks to protect their lungs.

Well, enough of that fun...let's discuss one of my favorite 'desert' salads! This one is so fun to make and you can mix up all kinds of fruit, nuts, dried fruit...whatever! I made this particular blend for Christmas last year and it was a huge hit.

Today I was looking at our options for a desert and I am (again) on a pretty restrictive diet, so no flours of any kind. And it hit me! Waldorf Salad! I had just a few grapes left, one apple, about 2 cups of yogurt...it was perfect.

Anymore, we spray all our fruit and veggies with Thieves Fruit & Veggie Spray. I always have one behind the sink and I even take one on trips with me (for flights, it's under the limit...score!). One of these days I'm going to post a side by side of almonds that have been soaked in plain water versus the Thieves Fruit & Veggie Spray/Soak...it's astonishing and gross what could be going in your body.

I have tried just about every Greek yogurt out there and I always come back to Fage. It's just so good! I add the yogurt first and then the drops of orange vitality oil and mix it up...trust me, it will smell amazing!

I feel like every home needs an apple slicer. It's just so much easier! I slice it up and then dice into small pieces.

Speaking of cool kitchen tools, get one of these, too! I have no idea what it's called, and yet I use it all the time. I use it to slice up cherry tomatoes and grapes (the plate method or a knife work as well).

Here we go!

Orange twist on a Waldorf Salad:
2 cups Fage Greek yogurt (or your choice)
1/8 cup raisins
1/8 cup dried Wolfberries (get yours here: Dried Wolferries)
1/8 cup sliced almonds (walnuts are what they usually suggest...I like sliced almonds)  
3-5 drops Orange Vitality (get yours here: Orange Vitality)
About a cup (or more) of sliced grapes
1 diced apple

Mix it all together, let set in the fridge for about an hour and then ENJOY! 

What other twist will you put on this recipe?  

Snow Day Un-Fat Mints! (Get it....Thin Mints)

I love the snow. I love the snow. I love the snow..... Ok, does that make it go away now??  I really do love the snow, and normally it's not so bad. It's just that our town isn't quite built for snow and that makes it difficult to maintain a normal life right now. Also, disclaimer about what you're about to see. I'm pretty tired, and I think that most bloggers would attempt to recreate their post so that it looked perfect. This is real life, folks. This is really what happened in our kitchen today, and I'm not fixing it.

With that being said...these are still super duper delicious!!

We love mint. It's phenomenal. Yesterday, I started to see all these evil posts go up about Girl Scout Cookies and I'm supposed to be on a 2017 New Year, New Me, healthy eating thing. So clearly, I needed to find a way to make these myself.

First thing that happened was this. I was so excited to grab all the ingredients and get started, that I almost put coconut butter into the chocolate instead of coconut oil. Not really a huge deal...but, just shows how unobservant I am right now. Thankfully I caught this before the mistake was made! Just, not before I'd already taken the picture. haha!

Second thing that happened was this. I did not have powdered sugar. I do, however, have a coffee grinder. So, into the coffee grinder goes the sugar!! Blend that up, and voila! Powdered Sugar!

 I can tell you that using a squirrel spatula makes this much more enjoyable :)

Rolling out the dough was fun and I didn't have any issue with it sticking to my cutting board. (That's not sarcasm, I really didn't have trouble with this part!)

 Roll into that plastic wrap, and into the freezer you go!

Get that chocolate melted!! This part is fun for me. I love melting chocolate! And, I'm too lazy to do the whole bowl over a pot on the stove nonsense. That's too much work.

Third thing that happened was this.  Once the cookies are out of the oven, please don't do what we did. Don't try to start coating the cookies before they are completely cooled. Are they still good? Oh goodness, yes. Are they ugly? See for yourself...

To get the cookies to set up quickly and properly, place in the fridge or freezer. And then, eat them up!  Enjoy!!

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 1 cup (8 oz, or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 drops of Peppermint Vitality Essential Oil
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups Gluten Free or All- Purpose flour  - this is best if you don’t overfill, too much flour makes the cookies much too crumbly…see those pictures above :)

Chocolate coating:

• 16 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate chips
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 4 drops of Peppermint Vitality Essential Oil

Instructions

(Your oven will need to be at 350F…don’t do it yet!)

1. In a stand mixer, mix the butter until light and fluffy.  Slowly add the powdered sugar,  mix until combined. While mixing on low, add in the salt, vanilla and cocoa powder. The batter will begin to get thick, this is good! Add the flour in slowly and continue mixing for about 1-2 minutes.
2. Remove from your mixer and place the dough onto a cutting board. Roll into a ball and then roll into a log until about 1-1.5 inches thick. Cover in plastic wrap and place int eh freezer for 15 minutes.
3. NOW Pre-heat your oven to 350F (mine takes about 15 minutes to warm up since it’s old…no need to waste all that heat).
4. Take the dough out of the freezer, unwrap, and slice to desired thickness. I made them about ¼ inch.
5. Fit as many cookies as you can on a Silipat or Parchment Sheet lined baking sheet since they won’t expand much at all. Whatever dough is not yet cut, wrap back up and place in the freezer until the next batch.  
6. Bake cookies for 10 minutes. Here is a tough part…remove from the oven and allow to cool COMPLETELY!! Not letting them cool will make them end up breaking apart.
7. Now to the peppermint coating! Put your chocolate chips and coconut oil in a glass container and microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time. Stir each time. Drop in your Peppermint Vitality Essential Oil and stir some more.
8. Make sure those cookies are cooled, then gently place in your glass bowl and turn the cookie around in the chocolate using a fork. Gently tap the fork handle against the glass to help shake excess chocolate off. Place the cookie on the parchment or Silipat and if you can, then place in the fridge to harden up much faster!  ***You'll want to store these in the fridge...plus, they taste delicious cold!! :)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

What. A. Whirlwind!! These past few months have been crazy and I took some time off...but, I'm back!  I finished Real Estate school, started a new career with that, and then dove head first into my oil business at the same time! I really like chaos...

Speaking of chaos...this last Monday, my husband was in his first accident (thankful that everyone is safe...now to await the insurance fun) and I decided to make some comforting cookies for when he got home.

He was pretty upset most of the day, especially since he was not at fault, but was treated that way at the scene...so emotions were pretty high...bring on the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Yield: About 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free)
• 2 drops of Cinnamon Bark Vitality Oil (or 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup pure cane sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 drops of Nutmeg Vitality Oil (optional) 
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients and set aside.
• In a separate bowl (or an electric mixer) whip together butter, sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Slowly mix in egg and vanilla extract. 
• Slowy mix in dry ingredients (if using electric mixer, use the lowest option)  and stir in oats, walnuts and chocolate chips.
• Use a cookie dropper, or large spoon to place into rounded onto a baking sheet with Silipat or parchment paper. Leave about 1 1/2-2 inches between each cookie.
• Bake for 11 - 14 minutes until edges are lightly golden. 
• Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Store in an airtight container.

Why get a Premium Starter Kit?

Here she goes...time to start selling stuff! Wait!! Hold on for one second...let me explain how this will benefit YOU! There are various types of starter kits, too, so you truly get to customize to your specific needs.

Only during October 2016, order your starter kit and get a FREE Oregano Essential Oil!! Is a key ingredient in Young Living's Inner Defense, ImmuPower, and Raindrop Technique. It supports a healthy lifestyle regimen, and contains the naturally occurring constituent carvacrol. During the colder months, this is an oil I always have on hand for wellness from head to toe and to flavor my favorite dishes!

The most commonly referred to kit includes your choice of diffuser (prices range based on the diffuser selected).  This kit comes with 11 key essential oils to get you started on your path to overall wellness, and product samples to help you share your new obsession. :) 

 

There are also other varieties of starter kits. I was not as lucky as some and had barely heard about essential oils before finally allowing a friend to share her knowledge with me, so I had zero oils in my house. I needed the Premium Starter Kit to get me started. Now, some of you already have oils, or even a diffuser...lucky you! But, if you're still wanting to get started on your own personal journey, you can order one of these kits instead: 

Basic Starter Kit

Premium Starter Kit with NingXia

 Premium Starter Kit with Thieves

Now...how can buying any of this benefit you? One way is to know that you are getting some of the best quality essential oils for your family at wholesale pricing. As a member, you do not need to fulfill any sales quota each month. You can simply reap the benefits of wholesale pricing! Also, our "Seed to Seal" promise comes on every product we sell! For me, that's the greatest benefit. I am trying my best to keep our home as chemical free as possible and check labels like crazy...so I love knowing where my oils come from.

I don't regret bringing oils into our home and slowly but surely my husband is starting to come around and he's calling me a hippie a lot less...so that's a plus! :)  But seriously, if something has been used for so long that it's in the Bible...it must be working, right??  Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck with your new oily lifestyle!

Instant Pot Cabbage un-roll soup!

If you were one of the lucky ones, you also bought the Instant Pot during Amazon Prime day!! #bestdayever!! My mom and I have been talking about getting one for weeks...and then it was on such a great deal, we couldn't pass it up! It arrived two days later and then stayed in the box until last weekend when my mom was here to start working on recipes with me. It's fun to cook...and it's way more fun when you have a kitchen partner!

My dad loves cabbage and eats it every year on January 1st. It's a tradition and I have tried to find other cabbage recipes that I can eat throughout the year. I love cabbage rolls, but I am too lazy to roll them...so I updated my recipe to be an un-roll. Hooray for being lazy!

We worked together to chop, dice, and mince, and had a blast. Make it fun, because it is! My mom went in for her very first mani/pedi last week, look at those pretty nails! I love that garlic press, it's been a game changer for sure.

I gathered up all the ingredients and then realized I forgot the Bragg's. I love this stuff!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of ground beef (or any ground meat)-browned (I like to brown mine first)
• 1 small cabbage, shredded
• 2 cans of tomatoes (mine are home canned in Italian Seasoning)
• ¾ cup of rice – not cooked
• 1 cup of cauliflower rice – not cooked
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 2 cups of water
• 2-3 twists of salt from the grinder
• 1 tblsp Bragg’s Aminos
• 3 drops of Black Pepper Vitality Essential Oil
  

 Directions

1.     Brown meat on the stove. While doing this, shred up your cabbage, dice the onion and mince the garlic.

2.     To make it easier, I bought the cauliflower rice already prepared from Trader Joe’s! Work smarter, not harder, right??

3.     Dump all your ingredients into your Instant Pot.

4.     Make sure your vent on top is set to steam. When you’re putting your lid on, it will sing to you if it’s done properly. (Good job!!)

5.     Push the soup button- it should now say ‘On.’ It took mine about 15 minutes to get fully pressurized and then it switched to say ’30.’ So, the soup takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes from start to finish, with the bulk of that being the Instant Pot doing its work!

6.     When it said it was done, we needed to push it to the venting option.

Summer fun- make and take!

I love, love, LOVE throwing parties...and usually they go off without a problem...well...cue summer 2016 and all the craziness that it has held! Normally, my party is planned, food is prepped, house is somewhat clean and guests are arriving...not this time! This time, I inched by and barely made the party happen. So, here are some tips, what I would suggest NOT doing, and a few pictures (that I remembered to take).

Make and Takes are an amazing way to show your friends and family just how easy it is to live a toxic free life with essential oils. I think that as we get older, people often assume that adults don't like arts and crafts (I also think that the recent mania surrounding adult coloring books shut those critics up!) and we gather around and talk about boring adult stuff...or sometimes no talking...just awkward stares. Well, let me tell you that even with the craziness of this one, my make and takes are always successful and the guests seem pleased with their new items.

Down to business:
1. Have a theme. This one was 'Summer Fun,' so it was itchy cream, camping perfume and Thieves cleaner.
2. Create an event on Facebook- it's just the easiest way to keep track and to target all your guests at once. (Try to provide at least 3 weeks, but not more than 5...that seems to be too long and people forget).
3. Order supplies- abundant health is a great site- or Amazon. (Order a few extra from what your event RSVP list says...just in case!)
4. Order your oils, purchase any carrier oil you will need as well. (I forgot to order the proper amount of oils...luckily I am surrounded by oily peeps and was able to get what I needed on the day of the party!! PHEW!) Once you have your supplies and oils figured out, you can see what you will need to charge your guests to offset the costs. (I strive for $10 or under per party).
5. Food prep! This is fun, and I usually center the food around the use of essential oils in baking, too. Plan your menu in advance and print up some cuter labels than these ones! LOL! Another last minute reminder...

6. Print up recipe cards for your guests to take, and I buy clear frames at Walmart or the Dollar Store for an easy and clean look. I set them up at each station. Also, at the Dollar Store there are clear plastic bags that are perfect for guests to take their items home.

7. It's party day!!  Get your supplies and oils set up in their own area Example: itchy cream on the counter, camping perfume on the table, Thieves cleaner on the other counter. This helps it flow a bit better and allows you to break up into smaller groups rather than try to teach all at once.

8. Normally, when guests arrive, money is gathered and then a quick overview of each item is done...well...I was having a bit of trouble trying to figure out why the cream base for the itchy cream wasn't getting solid (then I remembered it was 88 degrees in my house...) and guests were allowed to mingle and shop! FYI- it was a joint party with my friend Tiffany's LuLaRoe clothes!! Thank goodness!! This was a great way for us to reach a multitude of guests as well. I suggest pairing up if you're able :)
9. Ok...good luck! I promise to do a better job of picture taking, recipe printing and overall remembering next time...until then, let me know how your party goes!!

Granola with dried wolfberries

I love granola. Like...a whole bunch!  I was very happy to find gluten free oats...not eating gluten is hard enough, but take away my oats?? Not cool.

Granola will always hold a special place in my heart and will forever remind me of my maternal grandparents. Man were they cool! When we visited them we would get to go check out their apple orchard in Washington, we'd pick cherries from their giant tree in the backyard, run through sprinklers, play the piano with grandma and there would always, ALWAYS, be grandpa with his pipe, the news on the television...and his granola. Grandma made huge batches of it and kept it in this big green Tupperware.  Recently, my mom sent me home with a similar bowl...it shall now be my granola bowl!! Cool, huh??

My mom and I have tried to recreate grandma's recipe...but it's one of those things that is never quite the same.  This recipe is pretty darn close, and it has such amazing ingredients!! I first learned about the benefits of wolfberries when I became a Young Living Distributor and tried Ninjxia red. So good! So, when I saw that I could order a bag of the dried berries and that I could use them in so many recipes....I. Was. Sold!

Ok....on with it. Let's get to this recipe!  So....gather those supplies!!
**Disclaimer...I am aware that the coconut oil is upside down in the picture. I decided not to change it so that it could drive my OCD friend crazy...this is for you, tiny human.

Ingredients:

o   3 cups of oats

o   ½ cup dried Wolfberries

o   ½ cup dried cherries (or any dried fruit...I like dried fruit!)

o   ½ cup raisins

o   ½ cup flax seeds

o   ¼ cup sunflower seeds

o   ½ tsp coconut sugar

o   ½ tsp cinnamon (or 1 tsp if not using the below)

o   ½ tsp vanilla cinnamon shake (Red Ape Cinnamon....ah-maze-ing!)

o   dash of salt (2-3 twists if you have a grinder)

o   ½ tsp vanilla extract

o   ¼ cup coconut oil

o   ½ cup honey

o   3 drops of Cinnamon Vitality Essential Oil

o   3 drops of Nutmeg Vitality Essential Oil

Directions

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with either a silpat or parchment paper.

2.     Mix the dry ingredients, fruit and seeds together in a large bowl.

3.     Melt the coconut oil and honey together on medium-low heat in a small saucepan.  

4.     Once the oil and honey mixture is melted, turn off the heat, remove the saucepan and add in the vanilla extract. Stir it up!

5.     Pour the oil and honey mixture over your dry ingredients and stir well, making sure to coat it all.

6.     Pour onto your baking sheet and distribute evenly.

7.     Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. (Your granola will still look wet even when it’s done, the coconut oil will harden and become delicious!! Trust me!)

8.     I usually let it sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes to cool down.  During this time, prepare the container that it will be stored in with the drops of essential oils.

9.     Once it’s a bit cool, add to the container and stir it up, your house is going to smell amazing!!

10.  Enjoy!  Top yogurt with your granola, eat with almond milk, regular milk…the list goes on and on! I have found that it lasts (if I don’t eat it all…) up to 2 weeks in an air tight container on the counter.  Sometimes I’ll put in the freezer and then it’s ready to go when I want!! Let me know how it tastes!

 Why Wolfberries?? Here is some information from my Young Living website:

"Young Living’s Organic Dried Wolfberries are a sweet, organic snack from nature that’s easy to make
part of your daily diet. Our gentle drying process makes these USDA-certified organic wolfberries
versatile and easy to incorporate into lots of recipes, letting you add wolfberry benefits to anything from
stir-fry to baked goods!
With polyphenols and polysaccharides, this exotic berry is touted around the world for its taste and
nutrients. Documented use of wolfberries dates back to the Ming Dynasty, where they were part of
ancient Chinese culture."