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!

Wisdom Wednesday!!

Organic Foods: Fruits and Vegetables

To some it is a new concept. I know a lot of people look at that and wonder why organic? What is so bad about conventional fruits and veggies?And then there is the money issue. It sure doesn't make it any easier that organic foods are more expensive. Believe me I know, I buy some things organic and somethings I don't. To help me explain this a little more I want to share with you an article I came across a few weeks ago. It is by Dan Shapley entitled "The new Dirty Dozen: 12 foods to eat organic and avoid pesticide residue." I really liked his article so I am going to share some of it with you today for our wisdom to help me answer these questions.

The biggest reason to buy organic is the pesticide residue that is left on the fruits and vegetables even after they are washed. What's that, you might ask? Even if I wash my food there might still be pesticide residue on them? The answer is yes! So how can we keep that from happening? In his article Dan states, "You can reduce your exposure to pesticides by as much as 80% if you avoid the most contaminated foods in the grocery store." I know as well as anyone how tough the times are now and people don't have a lot of extra money. Especially when it comes to buying groceries. Everyone is trying to save money anywhere they can. So the idea that you can live a more healthy life by only buying some things organic sounds pretty good to me. That way you're not spending all of your money and you are able to keep your family safe too. Here is the list Dan uses for the most dangerous foods. The foods that we really need to be buying organic. If you read Dan's article he goes into detail on why these fruits and vegetables need to be bought organic and not conventional.

1. Celery

2.Peaches

3. Strawberries

4. Apples

5. Blueberries

6. Nectarines

7. Bell peppers

8. Spinach

9. Kale

10. Cherries

11.Potatoes

12. Grapes

When I first read Dan's article I couldn't believe the findings! It really is scary, and most of this list we eat in our family on a regular basis. Some of the things on his list really can be hard to find organic. So when I wash my fruits and veggies off I like to use a little bit of Lemon essential oil in the water. Besides it being anti bacterial, anti viral, a disinfectant, a germicide, and all of the other many things Lemon can do it doesn't make the food taste bad (and I'm not a big fan of the taste of lemon). Remember start a little at a time. Don't go throw all of your food away that is in the fridge. Just be more mindful when you're shopping from now on. Happy Organic hunting!