Eucalyptus Oil

Do you have kids coughing?  So much gunk is going around right now.  It makes me sick (no pun intended) to think about all the germs coming home from the schools.  Ick.

I found a link on Pinterst (have I mentioned lately that I love Pinterest) that is about using the essential oil Eucalyptus on your kids' feet at night so they're not coughing all night long.  I love learning new ways to use my oils!  I learned just in the nick of time.  My youngest got over the flu like symptoms and now has a bit of a cough and sniffly nose.  Because we use essential oils, his flu never got bad and his cough hasn't turned nasty.

On a side note, we use Immune Strength by RockyMountainOils.com to fight off any bugs that try to get us.  It doesn't mean we don't get it, but it sure helps us not get the bug as bad.  If you catch it on day 1, you can kick a virus right out the door.  Seriously!  When one of us complains of a sore throat or coughs, I immediately put some Immune Strength on their feet.  One of my kids particularly dislikes the scents from the oils.  When I make him use the oils, I allow him to then put on his socks and shoes so that it does not irritate his nose.  If one of us actually comes down sick, I use the Immune Strength on that person twice a day, then once a day on the rest of us so we don't catch it.  Here's the good news.  RockyMountainOils.com is going to have a Black Friday sale and Immune Strength will be on sale!!!  As well as several other great oils.  You seriously won't want to miss it.  I stock up on this stuff because it works!

Okay, back to Eucalyptus.  What this lady's blog did not talk about is the fact that there are three different types of Eucalyptus oils.  And they each do something different.  So...I want to tell you about all three of them.  I will quote from the RockyMountainOils website.  I feel that their website is very informative!

Eucalyptus Citriodora This eucalyptus is a powerful antiseptic. Powerful antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, deodorant, expectorant, insect repellant, purifying.

Eucalyptus Globulus Beneficial for burns, blisters, cuts, insect bites, repellant, and as an immune system stimulant.

Eucalyptus Radiata Beneficial for sinus problems, coughs, sore throat and mouth infections. It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral.

Amazing?  YES!  So.  If you want to treat a sore throat and cough, buy the Eucalyptus Radiata.  If you or the kids tend to get lung problems, laryngitis, or bronchitis easily, add the Eucalyptus Citriodora to it.  Yup, use them both.  If you want the benefit of the immune boost offered by Eucalyptus Globulus, add it in as well.  I have bought little bottles with roller tops for easy application.  It would be beneficial to mix your Eucalyptus oils into one little bottle.  In fact, I think I'll do that for us!  I need to add one the Citriodora to my oil collection, then I'll have all three.  In the meantime, I'm just using Eucalyptus Radiata and it has helped my 8 year old not cough so much at night.  I forgot to put it on him last night so I put it on him this morning before school.

On an adult, you can apply this oil "neat" which means undiluted.  You only need two drops per foot at most.  Pure oils are very powerful and can send the body into shock if you use too much at once; however, they can be reapplied several times throughout the day if necessary.  For a child, use a carrier oil and dilute the oil about fifty percent.  I have Fractionated Coconut Oil (FCO) and I put about 3-4 drops of that in my hand, then 2-3 drops of the oil with it.  Then I rub it onto my child's feet.  The nice thing about this is I benefit from it too, as the oils soak into my hands as well.  That is, until I switch to a roller bottle.  Recognize my little kids are big.  My youngest is about 85 lbs.  So if your little kids are little, you might only use two drops total with the FCO.

I also buy oils from MountainRoseHerbs.com.  Their prices are sometimes cheaper than RMO so I always do comparison pricing.  MRH does not offer oil blends, so I always get those from RMO.  But MRH offers tons of other stuff besides oils, which I believe is why their oil prices are slightly lower.  Information wise, I love RMO for the ease of using their website and amount of information on each oil.

If you have any questions about oils, please feel free to ask!  I'm not certified, but I have learned a TON about essential oils this year and feel strongly that as a culture we can use doctors and pharmacies less and use natural healing more.

The BEST Apple Crisp Ever!

For those of you that don't know, I am a major Pinterest fan.  The coolest part is actually trying new things that other people have posted on their blogs as being good.  I have to admit, a few have been epic failures, but not this recipe!  I love apple crisp.  I also have a box of apples in the kitchen that are on the brink of going bad, so I needed to find something to do with them besides eat them one at a time.  I guess I should have stored them in the cool garage.

Yesterday I took a meal to a friend and she gave me the greatest compliment.  She fell down her front stairs night before last and ended up in the ER to make sure nothing was broken.  After offering to bring her dinner she said to her daughter, "I want to tell Christy not to, but she's the best cook I know, so I'd love to eat her food!"  Wow!  That's a huge compliment.  Sadly, I cook a few things really good and everything else is just average.  Anyway, I did take her a tray of this Apple Crisp for dessert as well as some vanilla bean ice cream to go with it!

Apple Crisp

5 lbs. apples (about 10)
grated zest of 1 orange
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed orange juice
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

For the topping:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 lb. cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9x13 (deep) baking dish or 2 8x8 pans.

Peel, core, and cut the apples into large wedges.  A peeler, corer, slicer tool makes this part faster!  Combine apples with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices and mix thoroughly.  Pour into pan of choice.

To make the topping, combine all topping ingredients and mix with an electric mixer on low until it's crumbly and butter is the size of peas.  Scatter evenly over the apples.

Place apple crisp on a sheet pan and bake for one hour until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce (opt.)  SERVES 10.


This recipe is so huge!  I highly recommend using two deep dish 8x8 bakers and splitting the recipe.  It will work great as a freezer meal dessert, so cook half for tonight and stick the other half in the freezer for an other day!

I'm thinking I might add a regular crust underneath and use this recipe as my dutch apple pie with carmel sauce for Thanksgiving dinner.  YUM!  The added citrus in this recipe really gives it the zing that I love.

This recipe was taken from Barefoot Contessa Parties!  blog.

Taco Soup

Hello my favorite people who actually read my blog!  YOU ROCK!  Tonight I had trouble finding my recipe for our family favorite taco soup.  I actually had to look it up online to remember the last ingredient.  And of course I always alter the recipe just a touch!  I'm a rebel like that.

This is a recipe I got from a dear friend a couple years ago and now we eat it all the time.  I cook it and freeze it for freezer meals, but if I put leftovers in the fridge, they don't stay there long.  I especially love this recipe because it's a great food storage recipe.  Except for the meat, everything comes out of a can or could be made from scratch (dry beans).  The meat could come from a can as well, or it would be fine meatless.

Here's the recipe:

Taco Soup

2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped

Brown beef and onion in pan and drain grease.

1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can great northern beans
1 can kidney beans

Drain the beans.  In another pot, add some water and boil the beans for maybe five minutes.  This helps boil the farts out!  This step can be skipped, but still drain the beans.

In a big pot or crockpot, dump ground beef, all the beans, and then add:

1 can corn
1 can refried beans (opt. but thickens stew!)
2 cans diced green chilies
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing
1 packet zesty italian dressing
1 tsp. fresh pressed garlic
2 cans water (probably 3-4 cups)

On the stove, let it simmer for about an hour.  In the crockpot cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with Mexican cheese.  We like to eat it with corn chips.  Other options might be over rice or noodles to help it stretch more or make a leftovers meal a little different.

Brownies PLUS!

I was perusing Pinterest today.  Big surprise, right?  I came across a brownie recipe and wondered why it was a big deal, so I read the description.  Someone said they're the best brownies ever.  I clicked and read the actual blog and thought to myself, "Self, we HAVE to try these brownies."

Tonight Matt saw a brownie mix in the pantry and asked if it was being saved for a special occasion.  Nope!  They can be made anytime.  So Matt opened the box to make them.  I remembered that Pin today and realized we could totally make it!

Here's what you need:

A brownie mix
3 large Symphony Candy Bars (toffee, almond)
9x13 pan

Mix your brownies as directed on the box.  Pour half of the mix into your pan.  Open the candy bars and lay them flat, side by side on the brownie mix.  Then layer the rest of the brownie mix on top.  Oh, yeah!  Seriously.  Bake as directed, then let it cool off a significant amount of time.

Surprise!  The chocolate bars cook into the brownie, leaving small chunks of almond and toffee in the brownies.  YUM!  You are going to love these!

Sorry I didn't have time to take a picture for you, they're gone already!  We only had one symphony bar, so we did it in a 9x9 baker and broke up the candy bar like the directions tell you not to do.  They were amazing!  So rich.  You know you want to try this!  And if you want to read the directions for yourself, find me on Pinterest and go to my "Death by Chocolate" board.  Right now, it's the first one there.

Epic Fail

The past few years I have attempted to make carmel apples with my children.  We have discovered that this is no easy feat.  Last year we decided to try to slice the apples and then dip them, due to the carmel not sticking to the apples the year before.  We found the carmel did not stick to the apple, but only to the peel.  Weird since it didn't do so well the  year before.  I think we didn't let the carmel cool off enough for it to stick to the whole apple two years ago.

This year I started my carmel and then started digging for candy thermometer, only to realize we'd broken it last year after making candy.  Frantically I sent my children to the neighbors to borrow a candy thermometer as I stirred constantly.  Soon a thermometer arrived and we began the watch the temperature rise on our carmel.

Sara came to my rescue and continued stirring while I prepared plates for rolling the dipped apples once the carmel was done.  I had forgotten how long it takes carmel to reach it's final temperature at soft crack.  After getting the plates ready, I helped dry the apples after Zack had washed them, then stuck a stick into each apple.  I turn around to look at the carmel and it's a dark brown.  UGH.  The temperature gauge was still not at soft crack.  Just my luck.  I did not calibrate the candy thermometer to test its accuracy.

We managed to get a few apples covered in the overcooked carmel and rolled in candy.  After letting the carmel cool off, we attempted to cut and eat the candied apples.  Cutting was extremely difficult, and eating was impossible.  *heavy sigh*  So much for our exciting FHE plans.

About this time Zack asks if we have any pretzels.  Why yes we do!  Big pretzel sticks came out of the pantry and Zack proceeded to melt some almond bark, covered them in candy and set them out to dry.  Zack rescued the evening and everyone enjoyed a yummy treat.  In case that wasn't enough, he covered an apple in chocolate, added candy, and then shared it with us!  What a sweet heart.

Maybe we'll try again another day after I have purchased another candy thermometer AND calibrated it....if that's even what it's called.

The Pavlovian Electric Can Opener

I've been trying to eat healthier, as well as simplify my life a bit.  I decided I would make tuna or chicken salad for lunches, but I never do anything small.  My kids love both of these options for snacks and often devour the rest after school, so I tend to do either four cans of tuna, or two larger cans of chicken.

In case you are behind the times, we have two cats, a pony--I mean an oversized house dog, and a turtle.  Luckily the turtle is in a fish tank unable to get out.

Back to making lunch.  I pull out my cans and head over to the electric can opener.  As I'm opening the first can, our black cat, Friday, comes and rubs up against my leg, anxious to enjoy some tuna or chicken juices.  Upon opening the second can, my huge white dog, Nanna arrives in the kitchen from where ever she was sleeping and starts drooling all over the floor.  Our third cat is usually outside or sleeping soundly and misses out on the initial treat.

I dump the juices into the first bowl for Friday, but I make Nanna sit and wait.  I don't want her to think she has hierarchy over the cats and it's good to practice her obedience training so she has to "sit" and "stay" while I dump double the amount of juice into a bowl for Nanna.  By the time I give Nanna her bowl, Friday has already been slurping gently for a minute, enjoying his treat.  I set down Nanna's bowl and she waits until I tell her it's ok, then she laps up her treat within about five seconds, then proceeds to lick the bowl incessantly, as if doing so is going to produce more yumminess for her to drink.  When that doesn't work, she licks the floor around the bowl to clean up any drips from being in such a hurry.  Nanna's treat is long gone and she looks longingly at Friday and his bowl of juice that is hardly empty.  I send her away so that she knows she cannot drink his.  A couple minutes later, Friday walks away with his dish still half full of juice, so I put it next to the cat food dish for Gracey to enjoy when she decides to meander in for a bite to eat.  Please note, the cat food dish is in the pantry at the very back in hopes that Nanna will leave it alone, and for the most part she does.

Last week I decided to make Taco Soup.  This recipe calls for several cans of beans and crushed tomatoes and so the opening of cans begins.  As I'm opening the first can, Friday comes and rubs against my leg, excited for his treat.  Sorry kitty, I don't think you'll like bean juice.  Besides that, we'd have too much fun laughing at a cat with the farts.  Can number two, Nanna arrives and begins drooling.  Can number three, Nanna decides to sit and wait for her bowl to be served.  But the bowl doesn't come.  Can number four, Nanna is drooling so much there's a puddle on the floor.  Friday is getting bored so he finally walks away.  Poor Nanna is left salivating while continue to open several more cans in the process of preparing our crock pot meal.  We don't want Nanna to fart.  When she's had something unusual or unhealthy, her farts peel the paint!

I'm pretty sure this whole situation creates mental confusion for the animals.  Friday must wonder if it's April fools day or some rude Halloween trick and why these days occur so regularly, as well as why the heck his name is Friday and whose idea was that anyway?  Well, it was the in laws idea.  Crazy, I know.  The cats came with the house.  Nanna must be puzzling out how to shut off her automatic drool machine and why does it turn on before she gets her treat, anyway?  All good questions.

In the meantime, the electric can opener gets used regularly and the animals come running, in hopes to feast on something tastier than dry food.  I am always grateful for their entertainment, as that is what having pets is all about.

"9 to 5" Hale Center Theater

I won tickets!  I love tickets!  So Matt and I went to dinner together and then down to West Valley City to the Hale Center Theater to see the play "9 to 5" based off the movie made in 1979 (if I remember correctly).  After a brief introduction from the cast, they played a small video of Dolly Parton telling us to enjoy the show.  I thought that was a nice touch!

In case you never saw the movie, here's a brief synopsis.  The story takes place in an office scenario in the late 1970's when women were paid less than men and women were not advanced in the work place because it was a "man's world."  The big boss, Mr. Hart, is basically a chauvinistic pig, having affairs with his secretary while his sweet wife is begging him for attention and time.  His current secretary is happily married and dodging his advances, while one of the other secretaries secretly adores him.  The ladies in the office are tired of his belittling them and so they do something about it.  I must stop here, or I'll spoil the show!

Did I mention this play is a musical?  Holy Cow they cast some amazing voices and great character look a-likes to the movie.  The acting was so well done that a couple of the songs really were emotionally touching.  The character was so involved in playing the role that you could feel the intensity of the situation through their music.  The talent and vocals were truly fantastic!

The director added some excellent personal touches to the storyline for comedic effect.  I must say there were several spots that really got me laughing.  I also really like the prop changes.  Some came down from the ceiling, while others were whirled out through attachment to the stage somehow.  The center of the floor did all sorts of cool stuff, too.  There was rarely a need for stage crew to move props around, which is a nice touch.

I felt like there was one loose end that was not neatly tied at the end of the show.  At one point Violet's son comes to visit his mom at the office.  He is told that she's in the break room.  Scene changes to the break room where you see Violet, who is one of the main characters, with a guy from the office who has been trying to get her to go out with them.  It's a great scene, but they never tell you why Violet's son came to the office and he doesn't enter in the break room scene.  When discussing this with Matt, his thoughts were that they just want to show that Violet's son is concerned that his mom is spending too much time at work and he hasn't seen her much, which makes sense with the storyline.

I give this play 4.5 out of 5 stars!  It is very well done, is fast moving, and the acting is awesome.  I highly recommend it to anyone to go see!  While the storyline is a difficult topic, there are no distasteful scenes that would make it inappropriate for children; however, I do believe the theater has an 8 years and up rule.  You'll want to check on that before you buy tickets!  It's was a great date night show to see with my sweet husband.  And in case you wanted to know, the cookies the theater sells are delicious!