Strawberry Orange Syrup with Wild Orange Essential Oil

I love this syrup and so do my kids! It's spring break, strawberries are on sale and I wanted to make it for them this morning. The only problem was I didn't have oranges, just orange juice. Wild Orange Essential oil is taken from the peal of the orange, so it tastes like orange zest, which this recipe originally calls for. I thought the essential oil would be a great replacement and it was! This was a huge hit!! In fact my youngest had 9 pancakes and he usually only has 3!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Strawberry Orange Syrup with Wild Orange Essential Oil

Ingredients

3/4 cup strawberry puree

1 drop wild orange essential oil

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup orange juice

Directions

Add 3/4 cup of the orange juice, strawberry puree, vanilla and evaporated cane juice to a pan. Heat on medium high on stove until syrup mixture starts to boil. Meanwhile, add the cornstarch to the remaining 1/4 cup of orange juice. When the syrup mixture starts to boil add the cornstarch mixture to it and stir for 2 minutes or until desired thickness. Then remove from heat. After the syrup has slightly cooled, add the drop of wild orange essential oil and still well. Serve over whole wheat or gluten free pancakes and Enjoy!

Yield: 1 pint

Ginger Cookies with Essential Oils

Today I got together with some friends for a cookie exchange. I was so excited for it and knew I wanted to start experimenting again. It took several times to get this recipe just right. There isn't much out there to help with conversions when working with essentials oils. They are much more concentrated than dried herbs, so it's a little tricky when trying to substitute them. But it was worth it! I even had someone try one that didn't like ginger cookies and he liked these. I hope you like them as much and I did!

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil *

1 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup full flavored molasses

3 eggs

3 drops cinnamon bark essential oil**

2 drops ginger essential oil**

2 drops clove bud essential oil**

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350* F. In a mixer, combine oil, eggs, molasses, and essential oils and mix well. Then add the evaporated cane juice and mix for 1 to 2 minutes until light brown in color. In a separate bowl add flour, baking soda and salt and combine well. While the mixer is on, slowly add the flour mixture. Once all added, scrap down sides to make sure all ingredients combine well and mix again. The mixture will be sticky. Use a small ice cream scoop to form small balls. Roll each ball into a bowl of extra evaporated cane juice. Place 12 balls on a sprayed cookie sheet. Press each ball slightly with the bottom of a class cup. Bake for 8-9 minutes. If you over bake they will not be soft. Enjoy warm or cold, and Happy Healthier Eating!!

*if you use coconut oil, make sure it is in a liquid state and you will need to add a few more tablespoons or the batter will be crumbly.

**When adding essential oils while cooking measure them out on a spoon before adding them to any mixture. Some oils tend to come out quicker than others and you don't want to ruin a whole batch because you added to many drops. 

Cilantro Lime Quinoa

I've made this side dish before with all dried herbs and really liked it. So now that I've been cooking more with essential oils I thought it would be perfect to experiment with. I like it so much better with the oils than with the dried herbs. The taste seems to be more light and refreshing. And with this recipe you don't add the oils until the quinoa is cooled down so you get all of the amazing bennifits from the oils without changing their chemical make up, making this dish extremely healthy. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa (rinsed)

2 cups water

1 teaspoon better than bullion

1 drop cilantro doTERRA essential oil

2 drops lime doTERRA essential oil

1 toothpick dipped into black pepper doTERRA essential oil

1 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Salt to taste

Directions

Combine quinoa, water and better than bullion into medium sauce pan over high heat until it starts to boil. Then reduce heat to low and let simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and cover for 5 minutes. Uncover and let cool to warm. Then while using a metal spoon, drop oils onto spoon and stir very well to combine oils. Add remaining ingredients, serve and enjoy!

Fresh Tomato Salsa

I have so many recipes to share with you. I've had a lot of fun in the kitchen for the past few weeks now. It was hard to decided which recipe to start with. I ended up choosing this one because one, I am teaching a *'cooking with essential oils' class tomorrow and two, because it's summer and fresh salsa is the best to take to pot luck dinners, to a BBQ, or to just eat at home. I really like how this recipe turned out. It tastes just like the name I picked out for it, 'fresh' and also light. I thought it had the perfect combination of lime and just a hit of heat from the anaheim peppers. I will have to tell you that two of my children, the ones with a very sensitive tough that can't handle mild store bought salsa, didn't like it. They thought it was too quote "Spicy". I think maybe I should have chopped up the onion a little more when I finally had them try it. :] My one child who claims to like spicy food just loved it. Pretty good for a 4 year old. I've had people try it that didn't like lime, that love lime and both said they really liked it. I've taken it to a pot luck dinner and it got good reviews there too. So I hope you enjoy this Fresh tomato salsa!

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

3 vine ripened tomatoes-diced

1/2 cup minced onion (about 1/2 small onion)

2 anaheim peppers, minced

3 teaspoons garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dried parsley

3 drops doTERRA lime essential oil

2 drops doTERRA cilantro essential oil

1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a glass or metal bowl add all ingredients except for the essential oils, mix well. Using a metal spoon drop oils onto spoon and then stir into salsa mixture. Mix for about 1 minute to make sure oils are completely dispersed into vegetables. Refrigerate until read to serve (the longer it sits in the fridge the more the flavors can marry and make it taste that much better! ) with your choice or tortilla chips and enjoy!!

*To join the class simply to go https://www.facebook.com/events/406835429366735/ and click on the link, or go to www.anymeeting.com/azdoterra1 .This is a free class you can watch my power point and listen to me teach about essential oils and cooking all from the comfort of your own home. :]

Orange Brownies

I've been using Essential oils for 8 years now. I use them all the time on my family, to clean my house, in my chap sticks, and for the past little while I've been experimenting with them in my food. I am loving the results!! Every time I make these brownies and actually share them with people, they beg me for the recipe. So now I am sharing it to you. I love the fresh light orange flavor and dense but extremely moistness of the brownie. My mouth is watering just talking about how good they are. In fact I think I'll make these today and maybe share some with the neighbors. Just don't tell them how much more healthy they are for you than a normal brownie. :]

Orange Brownies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix

2 cups evaporated cane juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon guar gum

1 cup white bean puree*

4 large eggs

15 drops 100% Therapeutic Grade Wild Orange Essential oil**

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Glaze:

1/2 cup organic powdered sugar, measure then sift

1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1 1/2 tablespoons + fresh orange juice

Directions

For Brownies:

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease 13X9-inch pan. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, evaporated cane juice, guar gum and salt. Add bean puree, eggs, wild orange oil and orange zest. Beat with a handheld mixer until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until light golden brown and will bounce back if light pushed on in center. Remove from oven and pierce top of entire cake with a skewer. You may need to wipe off skewer every couple of pierces because these are so moist.

For Glaze:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Add more juice if needed to create a pouring consistency, not too thick and not too thin. Pour glaze over entire cake, spreading if necessary. Cool cake, cut into squares and enjoy!

*when making a bean puree, pour entire can of white beans and liquid into a food processor or blender. Blend until very smooth, then measure the needed amount for recipe.

**I use doTERRA CTPG essential oils. If using another brand of essential oil I can not guarantee how they will turn out.

Origional source: www.recipegirl.com/2008/08/10/paula-deens-orange-brownies/ 

Breakfast Burritos

While living at my mom's house last year during our house disaster this is what I made everyone for breakfast on April Fool's Day. Yes the above picture is just scrambled eggs with food coloring. I tried to make it look like ground turkey. My kids are used to that around our house. When my oldest woke up I told him we were having dinner for breakfast. He was not happy and still a little sleepy. After he took the first bite he didn't like it. Then I told him it was just eggs, so he took another bite. He said it still didn't taste that good but he finished it anyways. My other kids thought it was fun and liked the joke and so did the rest of my family that was living there at the time. I hope this Sunday you'll have fun with it. Happy Early April Fool's!

April Fool's Breakfast Burritos

Ingredients
Eggs
Rice milk
Red, green, and orange food coloring
Whole wheat or brown rice tortillas
Ketchup
Salsa
Cheese, shredded

Directions
Whisk eggs and a little milk together with a few drops of each of the food coloring. If the color isn't just right add a few more drops, but not too much. Pour mixture into a hot pan on the stove. Continue scrapping the bottom of the pan until the eggs are completely cooked through. Arrange eggs, salsa or ketchup, and cheese in tortilla to look like a normal burrito. Serve and enjoy!!

Shamrock Pancakes

WOW!! that little break turned into a HUGE break! I'm glad to be back. I've been doing lots in the kitchen, more mishaps than anything else but that's okay because when you finally get a recipe right you know it's got to be good. :]

So in Lu of St. Patrick's Day, which is this Saturday, I thought I would should you what I do every year for breakfast. I've seen a bunch of other things on pinterest that are really cute, But I think I'll still stick with the shamrock shaped ones. They're just so cute!

Shamrock Pancakes

Ingredients

Go here for pancake recipe or use your favorite pancake recipe

Directions

When everything is mixed together put about 5 drops of green food coloring into batter. You can add more or less if you want to. It depends on how green you would like them.

Making the shamrock shape

Use a large spoon. Fill it will batter. Drop a circle of batter down on the griddle and pull down to the left center. Then with more batter, drop another circle of batter off to the left of the first circle and pull some down to the right center. This should make a small heart shape. Repeat action on both sides of your first little heart and finish with a little tail coming from the middle of each of the heart shape and pulling down. Now you have your shamrock. It will take a few tries and if you need to go a little slower, turn the temperature of your griddle down a little so the first little heart shape won't cook so quickly. Once you've got the action down it goes really quick.

Have a fun and healthy St. Patrick's Day!!