Recipe: Coconut Lemongrass Red Lentil Soup

Soup

If you want a hearty, healthy soup that is beyond delicious, you will love this recipe. It’s just spicy enough and soooo satisfying!

Ingredients
2 T coconut oil
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 T fresh ginger root, minced
2-3 drops Lemongrass essential oil
4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
4 T curry powder
8 cups vegetable broth
2 cans coconut milk
4 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 large apple, chopped
3 cups dried red lentils
4–6 handfuls baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat coconut oil over medium heat; add onion, garlic, and fresh ginger. Cook until onion is translucent then add carrots and sauté 5–7 minutes.
  2. Add curry powder; cook for another 1–2 minutes stirring constantly until all vegetables are coated and flavors combined.
  3.  Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, diced tomatoes, apples, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil on medium high heat; reduce to simmer (low heat).
  4. Add Lemongrass essential oil and cook for approx. 30 minutes until lentils are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Add spinach and stir until wilted.
  6. Optional: Garnish with 1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro and 1 tablespoon sour cream.

This recipe was adapted from this recipe on Doterra’s blog.

Remedy: How to repel stink bugs naturally

I never knew about stink bugs until about five years ago, when I returned to live in Ohio after living 19 years in Nevada. We never had stink bugs when we were growing up in Maple Heights… did we? Well they are very weird and yes, if you smash them, they stink. And the stink does not easily wash off. They descend on Ohio like a swarm. For example, about 8 of them were clinging to the screen on the outside of my back door. They sneak in and make loud buzzing sounds when they fly. Time to whip up a bottle of Stink Bug Repellent Spray! Read the easy recipe below.

stink bug

Non-Toxic Stink Bug Repellent Spray

  • One cup water
  • 20 drops Peppermint essential oil

Shake it up and spray wherever bugs hang out, around window sills and corners. Mice also hate Peppermint so this remedy kills two birds with one stone, but doesn’t really kill anything at all. Totally non-toxic and it smells good too! It evaporates quickly so re-spray as necessary.

You can buy the best Peppermint essential oil (harvested in Washington State) HERE or ask me for a free sample.

Self Care 101: Maintaining a strong immune system

Everyone gets exposed to the same jimmy germs and pollutants in the air. Some people seem to catch whatever bug is going around and others seem to be immune from illness even when people are sneezing all around them. Some people take a long time to recover, some people bounce back quickly.

It’s all about strengthening the immune system. There’s no single magic remedy for strengthening the immune system. It’s a combination of things, such as

  • adequate sleep
  • good nutrition
  • good hydration
  • minimal stress
  • good supplements

Essential oils would fall under the “supplement” category.

If you are in my tribe, then you have probably been gifted a sample of an essential oil blend that I use every day to help strengthen and support my immune system: On Guard. I made this video for you, so that you can better know how to use it:

ON GUARD VIDEO (under 3 minutes)

To purchase On Guard products on my retail website go HERE

Or you can contact me for a free sample.

 

On Goal Setting & Vision Boards

I’ve never been a big believer in goal-setting. Especially when it comes to deadlines.

That might sound weird coming from a veteran superstar-level salesperson. I quadrupled one company’s sales in one year. I increased sales at another company by 700% in 18 months. How could I have done that without setting goals?

I have goals but I rarely put deadlines on them. Sometimes it’s necessary, of course. Like when you want to lose so many pounds by a certain date in order to have a chance to win a trip to Hawaii 🙂

Here’s what I’ve learned: If you want something, you dwell on it. You fantasize about how you will feel when your vision becomes real. That’s why I don’t set goals. They are too limiting. I let my imagination soar and always add “or something better” to my wish list.

I currently have 2 Vision Boards:

  1. Lifetime
  2. 90 Days

When I get around to it, I’m going to add a 3rd Vision Board: 12 Months.

As part of my New Year’s resolution morning ritual, I’m pondering my Vision Boards at the end of my meditation. I’m dwelling on each area and daydreaming about how it will feel. I allow my daydreams to go beyond my limited vision.

One day I was daydreaming about my essential oil business and the daydream morphed into designing an essential oil retreat. A light bulb went off in my head. “I love that idea!” I said to myself. “I’m going to add that to my Vision Board!” Before I could even get up to get my Sharpie, I received a text invitation to be a presenter at an upcoming spiritual retreat. Can I present my Essential Oils and Spiritual Practice workshop and also provide AromaTouch treatments? (Wow, that was fast!) Within another hour I received another lead about a venue who wants to offer an essential oil retreat.

coehlo-quote

Be very selective about what you dwell on. And always say “or something better.”

 

My Love Affair with Frankincense

Bowl of frankincense

I wasn’t always in love with Frankincense. As a child being raised in the Catholic church, I’m sure I wrinkled my nose when I smelled the strong and distinctive smoke of the incense. It always seemed like an olfactory assault to me. Now it’s a familiar throw-back and I admit it stirs me at a deep level.

I had sampled off-the-shelf Frankincense essential oils at the health food stores over the years. It never appealed to me… but I kept trying to like it. I was intuitively drawn to the mysterious substance and thought maybe, like yogurt, it would grow on me if I kept trying it in tiny doses.

About two years ago I was lucky enough to attend a yoga class that was incorporating essential oils into the practice. Near the end of the class, in preparation for savasana (relaxation/meditation), the teacher came around and placed a drop of Frankincense in each student’s open palm. We were instructed to apply the Frankincense to our third eye, in the middle of our foreheads. I wasn’t crazy about the aroma but whoa! it smelled familiar and somehow ancient.

Almost immediately after applying the Frankincense to my forehead, I felt tears streaming down my face. No accompanying sadness, just gentle, streaming tears. I enjoyed a deep, releasing savasana, and felt a bit high coming out of meditation, but grounded.

This was a yoga retreat and the following day, again during yoga, the same thing happened. We were given Frankincense to apply again during savasana, and once again, the tears came. Again, no sadness, just tears. And curiosity, of course.

This was the first time I had ever experienced this type of Frankincense. This was top of the line – pure and potent essential oil which was carefully harvested from generations-old trees in Somalia. It had an immediate and profound effect on me so when I got home from the retreat I started researching all about Frankincense.

I learned that scientifically, Frankincense is very high in sesquiterpenes. These chemical constituents stimulate the part of the brain that controls emotions. Sesquiterpenes delete bad information in cellular memory so that corrections and healing can take place.

Word got out that I was selling high-end therapeutic Frankincense and I started getting phone calls from cancer patients who were referred to me. I could not keep Frankincense in stock because now scientific studies were coming out about Frankincense shrinking tumors. I can verify that the moles and skin tags on my own body continue to shrink and disappear as I continue to apply Frankincense consistently and often. That’s why I also take 2 drops under my tongue morning and night. If it works on outside skin mutations, it must work on any internal mutations as well… right? This was a suggestion I learned in a webinar by Dr. Axe, who teaches a proactive approach to wellness.

Let’s just say I haven’t even had as much as a cold in over a year, and I think it’s because I’m fortified with Frankincense!

Frankincense is considered the “King of Oils” because the saying among oilers is, “When in doubt, use Frankincense.” That’s exactly what I did when I woke up one morning with horrible anxiety. I didn’t want to feel that way! I grabbed my nearby bottle of Frankincense, took three or four deep whiffs and I immediately calmed down. That was the beginning of my love affair with Frankincense. My hero (sigh).

Frankincense also amplifies whatever other oils you may be working with. For example, if you are using oregano or melaleuca to support healing from an infection, adding Frankincense will enhance the effectiveness of the other oils.

Even though Frankincense is on the expensive side ($69.50 wholesale), it’s still a lot cheaper than Xanax, or a nervous breakdown, or a trip to the vet (yes I use Frankincense to support my senior dog’s wellness). There are 250 drops in a bottle and all you need is one or two drops per dose. When you break it down, it’s a good value (and I get my Frankincense free, by the way. I can show you how you can too if interested).

So why would I love Frankincense if it made me cry?

Frankincense seems to correct what needs to be corrected – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Frankincense helped bring to my conscious mind a sadness within me that needed to be dealt with. Until I used Frankincense that day, I had been successfully burying my pain by denying it existed. How can I be authentic if I’m hiding something from myself?

Frankincense facilitates communication between your perfect soul-self and your disconnected ego-self. Physically, Frankincense has been proven to permeate the blood brain barrier. Emotionally, Frankincense permeates the veil that masks our authentic selves. Spiritually, Frankincense is uplifting and grounding at the same time. That’s why it’s so often used to enhance spiritual practices like yoga, prayer, and meditation.

I’m still getting to know Frank (as I’ve started calling His Highness). He continues to impress the heck out of me and he’s my hero on a daily basis. Even though we’re having a love affair, I’m not possessive. I’m glad to share Frank with the whole world!

You can purchase Frankincense at my retail website: WISE WOMAN REMEDIES DOTERRA STORE. Contact me below if you’re interested in purchasing Frankincense at wholesale, or to find out how you can get it for free, like me

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Recipe: Five Spice Sugar

5-spice-sugar

This is an easy and often appreciated gift for the holidays or any time of the year. You can add this sugar to hot or cold tea, or any other food or beverage that you’d like to sweeten with a delightful spicy flavor.

Add to 2 Tablespoons organic cane sugar:
1 drop cinnamon essential oil
1 drop black pepper essential oil
1 drop cardamon essential oil
1 drop wild orange essential oil
1 drop clove essential oil

NOTE: Use essential oils that are pure enough for ingesting. I use doTERRA essential oils.

Multiply the amounts for larger quantities. For example, the 6 oz. gift jar pictured above has 6 Tablespoons of sugar, and 3 drops of each of the essential oils. Close the jar tightly, shake, enjoy!

oils-and-sugar

Recipe: “Pray” Essential Oil Blend

pray

RECIPE for “Pray” rollerball formula, to be used during spiritual practice:

4 drops Frankincense
4 drops Myrrh
4 drops Sandalwood
2 drops Spikenard
2 drops Ginger
2 drops Patchouli
2 drops Ylang Ylang

Add above drops to a 10mL roller bottle. After adding essential oils to bottle, fill roller bottle 2/3 full with Fractionated Coconut Oil. Leave room so that you can shake the bottle to mix before applying to pulse points. Also, apply to palms of hands, rub hands together, cup hands over nose and mouth and inhale deeply.

Using this Pray formula will help ground you during spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation, or yoga. It will help you connect more deeply with what really matters, and will help heal any misinformation in your beliefs as well as your cells.

You can purchase a Pray roller ball formula directly from me if you don’t have the necessary essential oils on hand. I only use doTERRA essential oils for top purity and potency. Contact me here:

 

DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent

laundry-ingredients

I’m one of those people who gets itchy from using commercial laundry soap and I’ve discovered how inexpensive DIY laundry soap is! So I’ve been on a quest for the perfect DIY recipe for laundry detergent for over 3 years. This is my favorite so far:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1 T. doTERRA OnGuard cleaning concentrate**

  1. Boil 1 quart water
  2. Dissolve above 3 ingredients in hot water and occasionally stir until cooled down enough to pour into a plastic jug
  3. Pour into a gallon jug
  4. Top off with cold water and let it overflow because it will bubble up.

Use 1 cup per load (it will be watery)

** You can make the following substitutions for the doTERRA Cleaning Concentrate (although the doTERRA Cleaning Concentrate is my favorite – I’ve tried them all):
2 T. Dawn dishwashing soap
1/2 cup liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronner’s)

genie-jugs

You might need a pair of jugs for this project 

Recipe: Lavender Rose Peach Crumble

peach crumble

Ingredients:

6-7 very ripe peaches
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into very small pieces
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 cup rolled oats
4 drops Lavender essential oil*
2 drops Rose essential oil*
*make sure your essential oils are the ingestible kind. I use doTERRA

  1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Coat bottom and side of 8″ x 8″ baking dish with coconut or other vegetable oil.
  2. Peel and slice peaches. Arrange sliced peaches on bottom baking dish.
  3. Combine remaining ingredients with a pastry cutter until evenly crumbled. Spread crumb mixture over top of peaches and spread evenly, lightly pressing into peaches.
  4. Bake 35 min. or until golden brown.

 

 

 

Recipe: Lavender Blueberry Banana Bread

Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe-2Making banana bread is my favorite way to use ripe bananas… and adding a touch of lavender makes the bread a special treat. When adding essential oils to food recipes, make sure you are using a therapeutic grade essential oil such as doTERRA, which is meant to be ingested. Do not use off-the-shelf oils which may be full of synthetic additives.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, softened
  •  3/4 cup brown sugar
  •  2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 2-3 drops Lavender essential oil (I use doTERRA)
  •  1 teaspoon baking soda
  •  1/2 teaspoon salt
  •  3 large ripe bananas, mashed
  •  1 1/4 cups blueberries
  •  1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)
  •  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt  and beat into the butter mixture. Fold in the bananas, blueberries, walnuts, lavender, and vanilla.
Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.