However, when I sat down with my friend to learn more about the oils, I was able to open her bottles and smell the oils.  Right away, I knew this was different.  I never once felt sick by the scent.  I’ll explain more in a different post about why that is the case with these Young Living oils.  She began to share more with me about the benefits she had experienced with the oils, herself.  And I was very intrigued.

The initial starter kit of oils is designed to become a replacement for your everyday over the counter medicine.  Everything from headaches, upset tummy, allergies, fever, coughs, boo boos, and so much more.  So, I bought the starter kit and have seen it help with so many common everyday type ailments.  My kids have even seen benefits and will often ask me what oil can help them with different things.

So, now, what began as a curiosity, is now becoming a passion of mine.  It’s been really exciting to see it line up with the rest of my passion for health and wellness.  Just about everyday, I’m learning more and more about oils.  I’d love to get back into blogging, and share what I learn about oils through this website, that I started years ago when my interest in health first began (but, for various reasons, just haven’t been able to keep up with).

If you’d like to know more about essential oils, please comment below, and I’ll get back to you.  It’s important to be properly informed, bc not all oils are created equal (read more about that here).  I’d love to tell you why I believe Young Living is the best way to proceed in implementing oils into your health regimen (learn more about getting oils at wholesale cost).

One thing I wanted to tell you all about that is new in our lives regarding health is that we changed pediatricians. The one we went to before was great, had terrific bedside manner, but was so negative towards health and alternative medicine. It began to be such a conflict for us each time we went because their office was so sarcastic about it all. With the new baby coming, and having learned so much more about health and alternative medicine since my last 2 kids were born, I decided I wanted more for this third child. And I certainly did not want to be ridiculed on all those visits you have with an infant.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Nick was really sick. I knew our former pediatrician’s office would either say there was nothing we could do, or offer an antibiotic. But I needed more for Nick. I didn’t want to just keep giving him motrin or cough medicine (which wasn’t helping anyway). So, we went to the new Dr. She was great! Spent over an hour with us getting to know us and our desire for health, talking through his symptoms and options for health. She did suspect that it was turning into a sinus infection, wrote us a script for antibiotics. But here is the difference, she told us to wait to fill it until after we tried some homeopathic and herbal treatments first. She was pretty sure that the body could heal itself, and gave us the OPTION on the antibiotic.

He did get better, we didn’t have to use the antibiotic, and we definitely decided to switch pediatricians! So, if you are able to find a pediatrician in your area that is an MD but also practices alternative/homeopathic medicine, then I highly recommend the switch.

I discovered this recipe, believe it or not, through You Tube. However, the printed version was a little harder to find. So, I will print it here for you:

2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all together with fork.

1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup maple syrup (I use Agave Nectar because of the glycemic index)
1/2 tsp molasses

Mix all together in the measuring cup.

Then add the liquid ingredients to the dry. Stir all together until moist. If it seems a little too dry, add a teeny bit of water (we’re talking maybe 1 or 2 tsp). Add in the chocolate chips. Place in little mounds on cookies sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

YUMMY!

Here’s the video for it –

But tonight, someone at an event I was attending mentioned they came across this blog through a Google search (that’s pretty cool). She was telling me how much she liked it, so I got inspired again! Therefore, I am going to try and write again here.

Now, I am going to ask this question, but realizing I may have lost some readers during this time of not writing, so we’ll see how it goes. But, what pieces of the puzzle (in health and nutrition) are you curious about or what pieces are you struggling with yourself in your own health? Comment here and let’s dialog about it.

Parabens have been a concern of mine for about 2 years. I first started thinking about them when I was using progesterone cream through my Dr on my body. It occurred to me that if this cream was absorbing in my body, what other things are absorbed through my skin into my body?! So, I began looking into it more and discovered Parabens and the fact that they are estrogen-like chemicals that do absorb into our bodies. Which, I was already having issues with hormone imbalances…so why in the world would I want to confuse the hormones even more with all the products I use on my body!

As a result, I switched all our personal care products and you can read about that here.

Highlights –
Mercury Fillings
Vaccines
Hot Dogs
Antibacterial Soap
Processed Milk
Fast Food
Soda
Synthetic Vitamins
Shampoo and Bath Products

I encourage you to check out the article and see why he says it is so dangerous. Definitely something to think about.

Any of them surprise you? If so, which ones?

I must tell you I was a little skeptical, especially seeing that it was all vegetarian and no cheese (which is great because I am allergic to cheese)! But I had this thing yesterday and it was AWESOME! Great flavor, and filling! Definitely will be adding this to my staples for lunch!

It’s amazing that some salads at restaurants have more calories and fat than a McDonald’s Big Mac! YIKES! For example –

# Macaroni Grill’s Chicken Caesar Salad® — 920 calories and 69 grams of fat
# Panera’s Bistro Steak Salad® — 630 calories and 58 grams of fat
# Applebee’s Grilled Steak Caesar Salad® — 1,190 calories and 75 grams of fat

We started making our bread about a year ago. Mostly because we are allergic to dairy and my daughter is allergic to soy. And yes, most commercial bread either has whey (dairy) or soy (soy flour, soy protein, etc.). But aside from that, most commercial bread is not really that good for you with enriched flours, high fructose corn syrup, and preservatives.

Here is how I make my bread –

First of all, I use a Mill and a Bosch mixer. I love my mill (and if you’re picturing some big thing with a crank, that would not be the one I use. Mine is so simple, it is crazy). I decided if I was going to make my own bread, I wanted to reap the full benefits. You see, when you freshly mill the flour it keeps all the live enzymes in the flour so your body can digest it better and you reap all the full benefits of whole grain. The Bosch is great because it is about the only thing that can handle the whole wheat well. And because the Bosch does such a great job at mixing it, there is no need to Knead by hand.

So, I mill the grain.
Put 7 cups of warm water in mixing bowl.
5 Tbsp of yeast (I use Fleischman’s instant yeast)
5 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups oil (I use Safflower oil)
1 1/2 cups honey

Blend it all just for 1 minute on lowest speed.
Then while blender is still running, add in flour until is starts pulling away from walls of the bowl. (now I can’t really be sure how much flour this is…probably about 16 cups.)
Blend it all for 12 minutes on low speed.

Then I can shape it into just about anything I want. I have made dinner rolls, loaves for sandwich bread, pizza dough, and my favorite is cinnamon swirl bread! This makes about 6 loaves.

Additional note – It is probably a good idea to halve the recipe unless you have a Bosch, otherwise it won’t mix properly.

I have battled a cold all week long. And really was quite excited at how my body was fighting it off! Well, last night I ate not one, but three donuts from Smokey Bones. Woke up this morning and the COLD was on complete and all in it’s glory!

You know, I have read about sugar and all the harmful things it does to our bodies and especially our immune systems. And I have even seen somewhat of a connection before in my own life. But this, was so completely obvious to me! WOW!

In a post I wrote about sugar, I had read where sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease. And this is exactly what happened this week. It’s like my immune system was fighting and winning and then I put a bunch of refined sugar in my body and BOOM! My defenses against infectious diseases definitely weakened!

Hopefully my little immune system will find the strength to recover soon!!!