This month's successes with DoTerra Essential Oils...

Several times, my younger son woke up in his old persona and refused to go to school.  He did allow me to rub Elevate and Balance on his feet.  Less than 5 minutes later, he was up and in much better spirits.  By the time morning assembly began, he was perfectly content to be with his classmates.

My older son was puking this morning.  I rubbed DigestZen on his stomach.  Puking stopped.

We have used Wild Orange and Peppermint drops, separately, in water to relieve constipation, bloating, general stomach upset.

I work in a school and I do not use hand sanitizer. Gasp!!  I spray our pillows, sheets, doorknobs, my face, the air, etc. with OnGuard.  No illness has befallen me since the school year began. Enough said.

Cannot imagine living without these natural remedies now that I have found them!

Shop for your own family's needs:  www.mydoterra.com/brandi

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free French Toast

French Toast Bread (click HERE for the recipe)

Before my kids and I went gluten-free, we used to enjoy French Toast for breakfast at least once a week.  We used the 'Texas Toast' you can sometimes find at a regular grocery store - yellow bag, top or bottom shelf, you know the one?  Anyway, I have been playing around in the kitchen lately, mixing different flours together to see what I get.  Last week, I decided to mix all the 'sweet' flours to see what would happen.  Guess what!?!  Revival of French Toast!!!

Making our own bread is satisfying because I can slice it as thick or thin as I want - no machine-processing to decide for me.  We like our French Toast thick, as you can see.

To enjoy this wonderful, healthy, gluten-freely-yummy breakfast in your home, follow these steps.
#1 Using a wire whisk, in a pie dish or other shallow container, mix up these ingredients for the coating:
     2 Eggs
     3/4 cup coconut milk
     2t vanilla
     Several shakes of cinnamon, to taste
    
#2 Pre-heat a large skillet (big enough for 3-4 slices of bread).
#3 Melt 2 Tablespoons butter (or coconut oil for dairy-free) in the pan.

#4 Once you slice your bread, dip it into your egg/milk mixture, leaving for 2-10 seconds, depending on thickness and density of your bread.

#5 Flip the slice over, soak for 2-10 seconds, depending.

#6 Place slices in the melted butter (or oil) in your pre-heated skillet.

#7 After a minute or two, flip slices over.  Leave until your preferred browness occurs.

#8 Enjoy with whatever sweet topping you have on hand - Amish-made organic, unfiltered maple syrup or completely unhealthy powered sugar (gasp!).  Don't stress!  Just enjoy your breakfast and have a great day! :-)

Sweet Gluten-Free Bread (for French Toast!!! :-)

Makes 2 or 3 Loaves, depending on the size of your pans.  Be nice and share with a friend!!

**A note before we get started...If you don't have time for your bread to rise or you don't have any warm areas in your house, simply DON'T preheat your oven.  Once you have mixed up the dough, put the 3/4 full loaf pans in the oven, THEN turn it on to 375.  Begin baking time when oven is up to temp. Simple enough? :-)  **  Okay, let's go...

First, mix these together in a medium-sized bowl:

     2 Tbsp. yeast

     2 Tbsp. any kind of sugar (I have used evaporated cane juice and coconut palm sugar,       but I'm sure plain old white sugar works fine)

     3 cups warm water (little less than HOT)

Next, mix these flours and other dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

     1.5 cups Sweet Rice flour

     1 cup Tapioca flour

     1 cup Sweet Sorghum flour

     1 cup Millet flour

     1/2 cup Coconut flour

     4 tsp. xanthan gum

     2 tsp. salt (I use fine sea salt but, again, I'm sure regular table salt works fine)

     2T flax meal

Using a wire whisk, in a small bowl, mix up these wet ingredients:
     6 eggs

     3 Tbsp. oil (I have used grapeseed oil, coconut oil, and even bacon grease)

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

By this point, your yeast mixture should be foamy.  Pour the two liquid mixtures into the big bowl of dry ingredients and mix for 4 minutes with an electric mixer.  [My electric mixer broke so I mix by hand with a wooden spoon for approximately 6 minutes (or until my arm muscles give out, lol!)]  

Bread Machine Directions:

Scoop your dough into the bread machine and smooth the top of the dough.  I bake my bread using an 80 min setting that allows for 20 mins of kneading, 18 mins of rise, and 42 mins of baking. 

{Disclaimer: I do not have a bread machine so I don't know if these directions are accurate - I borrowed them from a friend.}

Conventional Oven Directions:

Scoop the dough into a greased loaf pan. Again, I use cold bacon grease. 

Allow the dough to rise in a warm area until it is 1 inch from the top of the pan. 

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for 10-20 minutes more.

Remove from oven.  Cool 3 or 4 minutes and dump onto wire racks. The bread should not stick at all.  If it does, adjust baking time or temperature for your climate/region. [I'm currently in Kentucky.]

Vegan doTerra Wild Orange Smoothie

Since I donated my Vitamix (after it quit working but before I found out I could have called customer service and had it replaced since it was under 7 years old), I am currently using a Ninja food processing system (which isn't even close to a Vitamix but it makes okay smoothies).

Add these ingredients to your high-powered blender:
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 small farmer's market apple
1 small banana
a few Dashes of ginger
a few Dashes of ground cloves
2 Tablespoons (or a little more) Justin's Maple Almond Butter  [available at Vitacost.com. Get $10 off your first order by clicking ----> https://www.vitacostrewards.com/hzlmbff  ]
2 or 3 drops of doTerra Wild Orange essential oil [available at www.mydoterra.com/brandi/ ]
6 ice cubes

Blend until smooth enough to drink through a straw (about 2 minutes in a Ninja; 30 seconds in a Vitamix).

Enjoy your healthy snack / lunch / I'm too tired or stressed to make a more complicated treat.

It worked for me!!!

Yesterday, our family did some custom woodwork at a home where the man of the house wasn't feeling well.  In the past, this wouldn't have bothered me one bit because none of us are ever sick.  Seriously, even when my boys were very young, we visited the doctor only at their yearly checkup time.  But, what I've noticed since we began eating gluten-free is we all seem to come down with the sniffles or "aches and pains" more often.  In my layman mind, I believe this is because our immune systems are no longer on full alert, fighting every day to get rid of the offending particle - gluten.  Once again, we seem to have both sides of the coin.  One, I'm happy we all feel better without the wheat.  On the other hand, I'm having to research natural ways of keeping us healthy since we don't seem to be 'immune' to germs and other junk these days.

Back to today.  This morning (2:00am to be exact), I woke up with a head full of pressure and snot. Gross, I know.  Sorry.  I didn't know how else to get my point across. Anyway, I wandered bleary-eyed into the kitchen where I keep my doTerra Family Physician Kit and mixed up a concoction.  
Recipe:   
In a small glass, pour a 'shot' of fruit juice or water.
6 drops of Oregano to kill whatever is developing
6 drops of OnGuard to boost immune function
2 drops of Lemon because I like the smell
4 drops of Lavender because I wanted to go back to sleep
6 or 7 drops of fractionated coconut oil because the Oregano is a 'hot' oil

I also dabbed some coconut oil on my lips to protect against burning. [Oregano is amazing at blasting away whatever's going wrong inside you but can really set on fire whatever skin it touches. Be careful! :-]  And, I dabbed a drop of lemon oil on both sides of my nose (on the outside, NOT the inside).

I quickly downed my elixer, filled the glass with water and drank that too, then shuffled back to bed.  Within minutes I could breathe again, and not very minutes after that, I felt the lavender lulling me back into dreamland.  I woke up at 7:00 and repeated the process (but, without the Lavender).  We did choose to stay home and rest today to give everyone a chance to recover from our very long day yesterday but I've been working online and cooking in the kitchen all morning!  I feel great!

Many people do not want to take prescriptions or over-the-counter medicines on a regular basis and I am one of those people.  Since my family seems to be in a place where we contract sickness more easily now, I'm so glad to have found a natural solution to whatever pops up. 

*Unofficial Disclaimer: I am not certified in oils or homeopathy or anything like that.  I just know what works for me!  I hope you try it too. :-)  

If you have any questions on ordering from doTerra, feel free to email me.  I'm just getting started but I will happily share what I have learned so far.  The most informative site I have come across is http://everythingessential.me.

Have a great day!  Thanks for 'listening'. :-)

Steel Cut Oats for Breakfast

What did you have for breakfast this morning?  Did you even eat?

Breakfast for me is kind of like the oxygen mask in the plane - I have to get mine on first before I can help my kids.  I am substitute teaching right now and for this reason, I make breakfasts that are as nutritious as possible - that way my patience lasts a long time! :-)  Yes, I do have to get out of bed twenty minutes earlier so I can eat before my own children are awake, but it really does help save me time later.  When my body is nourished, I don't waste time looking for items that are right in front of me, I don't leave home without items I need, and in the classroom I don't waste time arguing with students who just won't work.  With food in my system, I can remain calm, think clearly, and be happy.

Here are the steps to one of my favorite options:

This rice steamer is one of the best kitchen items I have bought myself.  It was $15 at the PX and has saved many a morning for me.  I buy my steel cut oats at Aldi and as I have never had an adverse reaction to them, I trust that they are gluten-free although I have not emailed the company directly and would definitely recommend that you do so if you have a celiac diagnosis. 

I put in a spoonful of Troyer "first cream" Roll Butter, 3/4 cup steel cut oats (these feel like Grape Nuts), and 1 cup water and click the button to COOK.  This will take between 7 and 8 minutes.

Another fantastic kitchen item I bought was this small food chopper.  Our Pampered Chef SlapChop I think it's called broke last year when I dropped it on the floor (imagine that!) but it had a good life of 5 years or so, so I didn't cry over it.  After that, I would chop food in my Vitamix but in May, that also quit working.  [I didn't realize Vitamix machines carry 7 year warranties on them and I donated mine to Goodwill before I found out, dang my obsessive decluttering habits!  I had only had mine for 4 years and I miss it badly!!!]  But, anyway...

Chop up any fruit you would like to add to your oats when they're finished cooking.  This week, we found some tasty apples at our Farmer's Market and so that's what I've been eating.

When the COOK button clicks to WARM, transfer your oats out of the rice steamer and into a bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of Chia Seeds for added fiber.  Stir in your choice of chopped fruit and enjoy!

*Note* I also stirred in 2 Tablespoons of Justin's Organic Almond Butter for additional protein.  Yum!! :-)

Sorry, no finished product photo, I was too busy scarfing it!  Now, go eat!!!

Tonight's Gluten-Free Dinner, post #1 :-)

Porcupine Meatballs, recipe by Prego
1lb ground turkey
2 dry cups brown rice, cooked
1egg
3Tb Typical Italian seasonings 

Mix all ingredients together, form into balls, and place in crockpot. Pour 1 jar spaghetti sauce over the meatballs and cook on High 3-4 hours or Low 6-7 hours.

 If I wasn't tired from another very long Monday, we would have eaten together at the table, on real plates, with a side salad and gf garlic toast. However, the Nursery was hectic with a ton of small issues and fires to put out, so...we "had a picnic" in the living room while watching Green Lantern.

 For those interested, breakfast was gf waffles with peanut butter (I sneak in 1 Tblspoon of flax meal). Lunch was rice cake with p.b.(yes, we eat a lot of Jif), cheese stick, strawberries & whipped cream, and yogurt-covered raisins.

 All three of us are still experiencing side-effects from accidentally consuming gluten this weekend. Although Sam's Club claims to use Natahn's hot dogs, which carry the label "gf", I can tell you it's in there somewhere because old behaviors and symptoms showed up within a few hours and lasted through to this evening.