20 Critical Questions Answered About Essential Oils

20 Critical Questions Answered About Essential Oils

Have you ever wanted to sit down with a veteran of the essential oils world and just get some straight answers? Today we’re cutting through the fluff and asking 20 of your questions.

Asking an Essential Oils Company Owner

So far in our Skeptic’s Guide to Essential Oils series, we’ve talked about how essential oils work and we’ve discussed the hot topic of essential oil purity and how to choose a company. Of course, you should go with a company you are most comfortable with.

One of the things I have enjoyed in my research, talking to essential oil experts. For this interview, I spoke with Paul Dean a former owner of a popular essential oil company. He has been very willing to answer any questions I might have. So I’m going to share that information with you.

Tough Questions, Straight Answers

Here are the answers to 20 of your questions. I have answered the first few with some background information and the rest are gleaned from phone and e-mail conversations with Paul. Don’t see your burning question represented here? Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to get that answer for you! Yes, Paul has an interest in representing his company, but my experience has been that Paul is straightforward and does not shy away from hard questions, so ask away!

1. Who is Paul Dean and why should I listen to what he has to say?
2. What are essential oils and how do they work?
3. How do you know which oils are quality when they all claim to be the best?
4. What are the top facts/points someone should consider when it comes to oil purity and choosing a company?
5. How can I tell the difference between adulterated oils and pure oils?
6. How do I find out if a company I am considering sells adulterated oils?
7. Why is it so important to buy high quality oils?
8. What is the best method of using essential oils: applying to skin, diffusing, or internally?
9. What do I need to know about using oils safely, especially in children?
10. Is it really safe to ingest oils? I am very skeptical about this.
11. Often people treat essential oils like a fix-all. Do essential oils really do “better” than conventional treatments?
12. What’s a good book for beginners?
13. What are the top 5 single oils a mom should consider buying for her family?
14. What are the top 5 blends to have on hand?
15. Can you over-use oils? Can they overload your system?
16. What are the best ways to boost immunity with essential oils?
17. What are the best oils for preventing and alleviating seasonal threats?
18. Presumably oils won’t prevent and heal all seasonal threats. How do I know it’s working at all?
19. Is there an oil that can help with treating bed wetting?
20. What is the best oil for stomach or intestinal issues?

1. Who is Paul Dean and why should I listen to what he has to say?

Paul Dean was the former owner of a popular essential oil company and is passionate about essential oils use, purity, and education.

2. What are essential oils and how do they work?

See our first post in the Skeptic’s Guide to Essential Oils series: How Do They Work?

3. How do you know which oils are quality when they all claim to be the best?

See our second post in the Skeptic’s Guide to Essential Oils series: Evaluating Essential Oils Companies.

4. What are the top facts/points someone should consider when it comes to oil purity and choosing a company?

“Since most oils come from the so called experts, adulteration in the industry is rampant,” Paul said. “Most people do not know they are using adulterated oils.” (Paul is publishing a book later this year packed with helpful details on this.) The top three things you want to look for when choosing a company are:

• Selling mostly all Wild or Organically Grown oils.
• No synthetics or adulterating of the oils. This is harder since the “experts” hide their adulteration, so find a company that is purchasing the oils direct from the farms instead of through these “experts.”
• Proper extraction of the essential oils (i.e., no added pressure and for the therapeutic properties).

5. How can I tell the difference between adulterated oils and pure oils?

The more experience you gain and the more sensitive you get to oils, you will begin to tell the difference by smell and effectiveness. For example, pure peppermint has a more “herby” scent rather than the sharp mint scent you get with improperly extracted oils. But when you’re first starting out, you probably won’t be able to tell.

6. How do I find out if a company I am considering sells adulterated oils?

Paul estimates that “90-95% of the higher-end oils on the market are adulterated.” He adds that “ten years ago I would have said 99% but now it’s improving a bit” as smaller companies crop up that are dedicated to purity and proper farming and extraction practices. “Most oils are supplied by the essential oils ‘experts’ that have large volumes of oil available.” They may have a 5k acre lavender field, for example, so they’ll get a lot of oil compared to a 5 acre lavender field. Most of the oils are supplied by the “experts,” so there’s not a whole lot of difference between the oils available.

“It comes down to the adulteration factor,” Paul says. Companies will say they sell all-natural therapeutic grade oil, etc., but they’re actually often only 5% pure and 95% synthetic. How is that possible? With the “experts” working on the oils after extraction, they can be passed as 100% pure and unadulterated. Paul points out “there’s a reason France exports more 100% pure lavender oil than they grow every year. Something fishy is going on there. Many companies buy these oils from the experts and then adulterate them further from there.” For example, they might mix oils of different qualities because the resulting oil will still pass the tests for purity.

Then there are farming and extraction issues. “When you have a large farm, you’re going to deal with large farm issues. At harvest time you only have a certain amount of time—a couple of weeks—to get your harvest in and distilled before it becomes worthless. These large farms do the tricks of the trade to get as much oil out of the plant as quickly as possible.” This often lowers the quality of the oils in ways that aren’t as obvious with the standard tests. In addition, having several distillers doing low pressure, low temperature extraction at the same time is more expensive, so quicker and less ideal extraction methods are usually employed.

Paul says that, in general, it’s best to find a company that uses small locally-operated farms that grow the plants in their native environment, taking the best care of their plants with a hands-on approach and traditional farming, and distill the oils properly with quality in mind (i.e. using an open system with no added pressure and no high temperatures).

7. Why is it so important to buy high quality oils?

Higher quality organic oils will do a few things for you: A bottle lasts much longer because it’s not “watered-down” with fillers. The oil is pure, and so no additives are absorbed into your body. You also get a better value than when buying low-quality oils because a little of the oil lasts much longer (no fillers) and is more potent (higher therapeutic value).

8. What is the best method of using essential oils: applying to skin, diffusing, or internally?

“Depends on what you’re trying to do. The quickest way to get it into your bloodstream is through smell, where it rapidly absorbs into the blood. That’s also the only way to effect certain parts of the brain. But if you fall down and get a sprained ankle, for example, you apply it locally.”

9. What do I need to know about using oils safely, especially in children?

“If you look at the toxicity level of most of the oils you are looking at, it’s not that concerning. If you use common sense, you won’t drink a gallon of tea tree oil. Nearly everything is toxic if you use too much of it. Just keep the general rule that the smaller the child, the more diluted the oils should be. A 1:20 ratio of essential oils to carrier oils is a good place to start.” (Carrier oils include coconut oil, olive oil, nut oils, and many others.)

Do what is in your comfort level. A good book will tell you what you may want to look out for as far as which oils are “hot” or might be best to stay away from with children. For most oils, just use your common sense and start highly diluted and decrease dilution until you find a ratio that is effective. Paul is not as concerned about it as he used to be, and suspects that those who are overly concerned about safety (don’t ever ingest, don’t ever use with kids, etc.) are either misinformed or really more concerned because of the additives in the oils.

10. Is it really safe to ingest oils? I am very skeptical about this.

“If you do it safely, there are some powerful benefits for ingesting the oils: protecting cells, detoxing, addressing specific intestinal issues. But mostly you don’t need to take them internally. They work so powerfully externally that you can skip the whole digestive process and use them more effectively other ways. Smelling is the quickest way to get an oil into your bloodstream. I really don’t take many oils internally and would advise people to do the same.”

11. Often people treat essential oils like a fix-all. Do essential oils really do “better” than conventional treatments?

Paul laughed, then said, “That’s a complicated question! All the modern treatments have their basis in organic chemistry. Pain killers originally came from the white willow bark. That’s why the billions of dollars are done on plant research at the universities, because the companies want to find the next latest, greatest treatment. If they do all this research on plants, isolate a chemical, and learn how to synthetically create a chemical. Chemically based treatments can be very very powerful, and they can be a lot more powerful than just the plant because they are super isolated, depending on their purpose and intended usage.

“Now, all synthetic treatments are toxic to the body. There’s not one that does not cause harm to the body. So, long term use of synthetic treatments is very harmful. Essential oils can also be very powerful and very healing. They are super concentrated plant treatments much like the synthetic treatments, especially if you find the right oil for your particular concern. Personally, I believe that there is a lot less harm, if any, done by the pure oil than by the synthetic pharmaceuticals, but again you’ll have to use them with wisdom. It may take a while, but everyone who continues to use oils will become sold on them. Many come to essential oils when modern treatments have failed, and we turn around and get rapid results with the essential oils. Over time, you will find that essential oils really do work so well, so quick, and so powerfully.”

(I appreciated that with all the stories of successful essential oil uses, Paul also brought up times when certain oils didn’t work as well for him as they did for others.)

12. What’s a good book for beginners?

“We sell Bevonne’s book called The Healing Powers of Liquid Copals, and that is a good book. Really, grab any book and start reading and using the oils.” Paul also has a book he hopes to publish by the end of the year.

13. What are the top 5 single oils a mom should consider buying for her family?

“Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon, Melaleuca, and Eucalyptus. If you can afford it, replace Lemon with Frankincense and Melaleuca with Helichrysum.”

14. What are the top 5 blends to have on hand?

A digestive, pain relief, germ-destroyer, calming and immune booster.

15. Can you over-use oils? Can they overload your system?

“You can over-use the oils and cause an ‘Improvement Reaction,’ detoxifying too quickly. If you use an extreme amount of oil it can be harmful. To much oil on the skin can ‘burn’ it. Taking to much oil internally will kill your good intestinal bacteria.”

Use the oils with wisdom and go slow. Figure the oils like a day at the beach: you can have a great day if you remember to wear sunscreen, and swim with care. Or you can have a horror day and get burnt or drown. Use everything with wisdom. The best caution is to start out slow and with a carrier oil. After you understand how you feel you can use more oil. Go with how you feel and use wisdom.

16. What are the best ways to boost immunity with essential oils?

“If you have not caught the virus yet, you will want to diffuse. If you have caught something, rub the oil on the feet. This is also a good time to take a small amount of oil internally. Example: For a throat discomfort, mix some Immune Strength with olive oil and rub a drop or two on the back of the mouth.”

17. What are the best oils for preventing and alleviating seasonal or environmental threats?

Try Frankincense and/or immune booster.” A blend with Frankincense, Juniper, Nutmeg, Holy Basil, Ravintsara, Rosemary, Oregano, Ginger Root, Chamomile, Black Cumin, Clove or Hyssop is also good to diffuse when you are trying to stay healthy.

18. Presumably oils won’t prevent and heal all. How do I know it’s working at all?

“You feel better and it speeds up the healing process. Sometimes you may not be able to tell its working but other times you’re only feeling unwell for two days and people without the oils are unwell for two weeks. The oils work quickly”

19. Is there an oil that can help with treating bedwetting?

“I have not found an oil for bedwetting. I would try our a blend with Hyssop, Lavender, Lemon, Orange, Geranium, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Myrrh, Sage, Spruce, Frankincense, Rose, German Chamomile, Ylang Ylang, and Neroli and also wake up the child every couple of hours and take them to the bathroom. (Get them used to waking up.)”

20. What is the best oil for occasional stomach discomfort?

“A blend with Peppermint, Juniper, Anise, Fennel, Ginger, and Tarragon for intestinal issues.”

There you have it! What other questions do you still have?

Use Essential Oils Safely and Confidently with Your Family

Would you like a resource to help you learn to use essential oils with your family? Download this free 3-page printable:

• Basic guidelines for using essential oils around kids
• A list of safe, kid-friendly oils essential oils
• Helpful essential oil recipes

Click the link or image below to download the 3-page Mom’s Essential Oil Cheat Sheet. I’ll follow it up with more resources and free printables to help you on your essential oil journey. Grab your copy now!

Download Now

*FDA disclaimer: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.”

Original article and pictures take www.intoxicatedonlife.com site

2 Grain-Free (and FUN!) Breakfast Recipes for Kids

2 Grain-Free (and FUN!) Breakfast Recipes for Kids

This post is from contributing writer Haley Stewart of Carrots for Michaelmas.

As a mom of three small children, starting out with a healthy breakfast always makes me feel better about our day. If lunch and dinner don’t meet my perfect vision of healthy eating, at least we hit a home run with one meal, right?

Getting Kids to Eat Healthy Breakfasts

Since focusing a lot of our efforts on healthy breakfasts, we’ve noticed a big difference in our family’s general health. We’re lucky that none of our kids have been particularly picky eaters, but we also try to encourage them to eat a wide variety of foods by not catering too much to the picky phases all kids cycle through. We do NOT make multiple meals for kids who don’t like what we’re serving.

Our kids eat what we eat as soon as they can eat solids. Eating the healthy meal they’re served is a pretty established rule in our house so we rarely have to argue about enforcing it, but occasionally we do face the “I won’t eat what you just made but I will ask for a snack as soon as the dishes are cleared” phenomenon. And that makes me a little crazy, so we nip it in the bud.

Tips for Encouraging Healthy Eaters

• Don’t say yes to snacks just before mealtimes. We often make this mistake and then our kids aren’t hungry for the meal we prepared!
• Eat around the table as a family. Mealtime should be more than ingesting calories. By nurturing special time around the table, kids will enjoy mealtime more.
• If you grow any vegetables (or even just have some kitchen herbs) involving the kids in growing and harvesting the veggies makes them much more excited about eating them!
• Open up the kitchen and let kids assist in the cooking preparation. They will be more likely to eat what’s prepared, even if there are ingredients they don’t usually love.
• Encourage variety, but be sensitive to the major dislikes. Our kids don’t like spicy foods so we keep the meal mild and then add extra sriracha if needed to our own plates.
• When eating foods they don’t love, reward a “good try.” I distinctly remember how hard it was to choke down my green beans when I was little. If our kids have a least a couple bites of the brussel sprouts, they can move on to the other options provided.
• Put un-favorite ingredients (for our kids, that’s onions) on the side if possible.
• If they don’t eat any of a meal but ask for a snack soon afterwards, offer to heat up their leftovers rather than provide a snack. That way you avoid hungry kiddos but also get the healthy food in their tummies. We learned this the hard way when my oldest kid was on a bananas only streak and would refuse his meals and then fill up on bananas all day long. It took a couple of days to get out of the habit, but now we say yes to an after-meal banana if the plate is nearly clean and everybody’s happy.

That being said, none of our kids have health problems that would require more cajoling to get the calories they need and they’ve never gone on a hunger strike because they didn’t like something. So we’ve had it pretty easy.

And that’s just what works for the kids in our family. I have friends who have had a much more challenging time encouraging their kids to eat healthy meals and what works for us totally didn’t work for them. So, every kid and every family is different. I hope some of these tips will help you figure out what works in your home!

Make It Fun

We try to cook healthy meals that our kids like to eat to avoid the arguing or snack requests at 8:30 am. And in addition to the tips above, one way to encourage this is to make the presentation FUN. My husband is much better at this than I am!

Presentation matters for grown-ups, of course, but kids are especially susceptible to the “it looks gross, it must taste gross” mentality and very gullible as far as the “it looks awesome, it must taste awesome” trick goes. So we try to make breakfast look a little awesome sometimes. More fun=full tummies + less grumbling.

So I give you the Dinosaur Nest! Sure, it’s just an egg sitting in the middle of a tomato and avocado salad. But if you call it a Dinosaur Nest, you’ve piqued a 5-year-old’s interest.

Letting the kids peel their own hard boiled eggs can also add to the fun. We add homemade tortilla chips on the side and our kids love anything they can eat with chips so this goes over surprisingly well. I love this on days when I’m craving something fresh tasting but not heavy.

• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, diced
• ½ c. cilantro, roughly chopped
• Tortilla chips (optional)

Yum

Free gluten-free cheat sheet for rookies!

And what’s more fun than breakfast? Breakfast in a boat. My husband made these little breakfast boats as a way to use up some leftover baked potatoes and they were a big hit and a great way to sneak in some leafy greens (which are sometimes controversial ingredients with my kids).

Yum

Original article and pictures take www.kitchenstewardship.com site

2 Easy Steps for Non-Toxic Air in the Home Environment

2 Easy Steps for Non-Toxic Air in the Home Environment

2 Easy Steps to Non-Toxic Air in the Environment (and how to make it smell nice without icky chemicals!)

How lovely to step into a fresh home: a home wherein the air feels light and there’s the scent of water or green or… something beautiful…without sharp odours or clinging perfumes.

You want to breathe deeply. Your body and mind awaken just a little bit more.

Creating a home eco-system which expresses clean and organic interior air can be difficult.

Off-gassing from fresh paint and synthetic fibres (furniture, flooring, shoes), toxic preservatives such as formaldehyde (mattresses, carpet), phthalates (cleaners, body products), and many other volatile organic compounds and chemicals are swirling down the hall and into our lungs with each breath.

Depending on lifestyle, décor, and ventilation, it’s possible that your interior air is even more toxic than the smoggy city you’re living in!

While some markets suggest a quick fix such as a ‘Febreeze’, these products simply mask offensive smells. (Note: The original recipe actually used zinc chloride to block scent receptors in the nose! The smell was still there, but everyone’s nasal passages were coated in toxic chemicals and telling their brains that everything was fine! Yikes!). Others use scented candles and further contribute to the issue with even more perfumes and parabens. It’s a vicious cycle.

Through years of trial and error (and a houseful of stinky boys!) I have found a rhythm towards cleansing the air of my home.

Essentially, there are two components:

If you want truly fresh air, you need to support fresh air movement and filtration.

Sometimes, this is as easy as opening the windows (a good daily practice). Other times, depending on exterior air pollutants, temperature, noise, or other factors, it’s not the best option.

To help you out purify air naturally, bring in some reverse respirators—plants! They inhale our waste (Carbon Dioxide) while exhaling what we need (Oxygen). Win win! Some of the best cleansing plants include the ficus, spider plants, and various palms.

Next, now that the air is moving and being filtered, contribute something lovely. Skip the plug-in synthetic scents and stay away from those toxic candles.

Instead, choose a few essential oils which bring a smile. Wanting a room to feel a bit brighter? How about some pink grapefruit! Wanting the office to be a bit more inspiring? Try sweet mandarin with a touch of spearmint! Need a cozier touch in the baby’s room? Lavender with a hint of bergamot! And what about the bedroom? Sandlewood with a note of ylang!

Mix and match or just use single notes (sweet citrus oils with lavender suit every room!). Blend with water for a room mister, use with reeds in a bottle, or diffuse in a burner. The oils contribute to the air quality rather than compromising.

{Note: start small and go from there. You can always add more. Remember to dilute and avoid direct contact with pure oils on eyes, skin, and fabric}

Need one more push towards inspiration? Try starting something at home that is both purifying to your interior air and lovely AND fun! Start your own houseplants! Google ‘sprouting avocado pits’ or ‘growing a yam vine’ for some ideas, grab the kids, and go from there. It’s amazing to see the beautiful, helpful, and essentially free air-purifiers you can start from kitchen materials. Helpful and lovely!

Original article and pictures take redandhoney.com site

2 {MORE} Weeks of Non-Sandwich Lunch Box Ideas Kids will LOVE- No Repeats!

2 {MORE} Weeks of Non-Sandwich Lunch Box Ideas Kids will LOVE- No Repeats!

No more boring lunch boxes that are the same day after day! Find 10 complete easy lunch box ideas – that’s two whole school weeks- of unique and wholesome school lunch ideas that are fun, filling and even customizable for your kid’s taste preferences right here in this post. These are perfect for switching it up a little throughout the week, or finding new lunch box ideas to keep lunch a new and fun but still simple to make with healthy ingredients you can keep on hand.

We are in our final count down for the start to school, so I have been experimenting with lots of new, fun, and totally portable lunches that I can send to school with my kids! My kiddos really loved helping me test these ideas to tell me if they were a super yummy recipe to add to the list, or an “ewwwww YUCK!” one to toss in the trash. We had fun, got creative and made some really fun lunches I am excited to share with you!

See the first 10 easy wholesome no-sandwich lunchbox ideas I shared here!

If you make these, make sure to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram (@easyfamilyrecipes) so I can see your creations! And if you have more simple lunch ideas, please let me know in the comments! I am always looking for more to add to our rotation too! So without any further adieu, here we go:

10 Non-Sandwich Lunch Box Ideas

As you have heard from me in my other lunch box ideas posts, the first rule of cool lunch box making is that there are no rules.

Remember that! If your kids don’t like pepperoni, use ham, chicken, or turkey instead! If they are a vegetarian, just leave out the meat all together. If they hate carrots but love sweet peppers, then by all means, use sweet peppers in place of carrots. Allergic to peanuts? Use almond butter! The key is to use these ideas as inspiration and modify, or trade out things you need to for dietary restrictions, so please don’t feel like there are rules, it is all just inspiration for easy and healthy lunches!

My recipe for the perfect lunch box is:

• A main dish consisting of a protein– This helps me know they are getting healthy food that will keep them full until the end of the school day.
• A veggie or fruit– At every meal I want my kids to eat one super healthy, wholesome thing. We talk about this a lot, and to help my kids understand what healthy food is, I often ask what they want their “healthy thing” for the meal to be!
• Something crunchy- I love to have something with a little crunch. I think it helps pace the meal as you have to slow down a little to eat crunchy things and it just balances the textures in the other part of the meal to make it feel complete.
• Something sweet- Everything in moderation! I my kids and I both love to have a little something sweet to finish off our meal and my kids absolute favorite is Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks. Even my littlest, sneaks into the pantry to find them! I feel like it is pretty win-win as far as sweets go!

Having a formula to generally follow makes it easy for me to figure out what to put in the lunch when I am in a rush, or haven’t planned ahead. All of my lunches below pretty much follow this rule as well.

No 1: Turkey Ranch Roll Up Lunch Box Idea

This is one of my kids favorites! Heck! It is one of my favorites too! Creamy ranch flavored cream cheese layered on to a soft tortilla with tender turkey on top. Roll it up and you have a super easy to eat, delicious lunch idea. You can also change it up with whole wheat or veggie tortillas. Grab the recipe for these Turkey Ranch Roll Ups here!

Turkey Ranch Roll Up Lunch Box

• Turkey Ranch Roll Ups
• Dried Cranberries
• Sweet Potato Chips
• Apple Cinnamon Crunchies
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No 2: Crackers, Meat & Cheese School Lunch Idea

This lunch option is so simple but so fun! You can put just one choice of meat, cheese and crackers, or a bunch of kinds. Your kids will love mixing and matching the toppers to make their own combination of flavors. Even though this is the same type of thing you would find on a sandwich, kids have so much more fun when they get to create it themselves all in a kid sized package the size of a cracker!

Crackers, Meat & Cheese Lunch Box

• Crackers
• Deli Meat
• Sliced Cheese
• Grapes
• Yogurt Raisins
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No 3: Pizza Dippers Lunch Box Idea

Who doesn’t love pizza?! These pizza dippers are a kid favorite! We take all the goodness of pizza, a pepperoni and a mozzarella cheese cube and sandwich them between a slice of a mini bagel. Then serve pizza sauce on the side to dip away at lunch time! This makes sure that nothing gets soggy if you make the lunch the night before, or while your kids are at school in the morning.

Pizza Dippers Lunch Box

• Mini Bagels
• Pepperoni
• Mozzarella cheese cubes
• Pizza sauce (we use our favorite spaghetti sauce)
• Pretzel crips
• Pizza veggies like sweet peppers
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No 4: Nachos Lunch Box Idea

My kids two favorite foods are without a doubt, pizza and nachos. I made a lunch box version of each! Nachos get a bad wrap, but I actually think they can be a pretty healthy option when you do it right! To start out I give my kids a mixture of chips and crunchy veggies for dipping. Since we can’t just pile the toppings on like we could at home since it would get totally soggy by lunch time, I pack all different nacho toppings and let them dip instead and they love it!

I include cheese sauce, which you can usually easily find on the Mexican aisle at any grocery store, salsa that is packed with wholesome veggies, and guacamole for more veggies and healthy fats. The guacamole I usually make at home with this recipe, just add extra lime to keep it from turning brown, but you can also pick up quick and easy single sized serving containers at many stores.

Healthier Nacho Lunch Box

• Chips
• Crunchy veggies like snap peas and carrots
• Nacho cheese sauce
• Guacamole
• Salsa
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No 5: Pita & Hummus School Lunch Idea

This lunch is great because you can really tailor it to your kiddos tastes. Hummus is packed with protein, and you can find it in no less than 10 flavors in just the average grocery store. Add white or whole wheat pita bread, and whatever deli meat or combo of meats your child prefers and they can build their ultimate lunch!

Pita and Hummus Lunch Box:

• Pita Bread
• Hummus
• Deli Meat
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No. 6: Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes Lunch Box Idea

This is a great twist on an old kid favorite! I use small roma tomatoes, cut them in half and hollow out the inside. Then I fill it with tuna salad and pop it in a plastic container. TIP: to keep the tomatoes from rolling over, cut just 1/4 inch slice off the very bottom to give it a flat surface to balance on. I throw in some carrot strips just to help keep them in place and my kids love them!

Tuna salad can be as quick and simple as mixing a con of tuna with some mayo, salt, and pepper, or you can find tons of recipes for any flavor you can imagine to dress it up. If you really want it fool-proof, then they even sell premeasured kits to throw together at the store. And in the event your kids doesn’t go for tuna, you can use chicken! If they don’t like tomatoes, then use sweet peppers, cucumber slices, avocado, or even hollowed zucchini or squash. The options are endless!

Tuna Stuffed Tomato Lunch Box

• Tuna Salad
• Roma Tomatoes
• Pretzels
• Cheese Cubes
• Banana
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No. 7: Apple Pizza Lunch Box Idea

This is one of the more creative lunches I send with my kids and they absolutely love it! It is so simple but really, really, yummy! I even eat it for a snack sometimes myself! All you do to make these apple pizzas is slice an apple horizontally, spread peanut butter over the top, then put on your toppings! We use toasted coconut as the “cheese” and raisins on top usually, although you could get really creative with it! When you make this you can either core the apple first, or leave the core in and the kids just eat around the sides. Both work!

Apple Pizza Lunch Box:

• Apples
• Peanut Butter
• Toasted Coconut
• Raisins
• Cheese Cubes
• Carrot Sticks
• Whole Wheat Crackers
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No 8: Pizza Kabobs Lunch Box Idea

Why is it that my kids love everything cute, little, or on a stick? Who knows, but this is definitely pizza made cuter! We use wooden skewers I cut down to lunchbox size to put a pepperoni, a tomato, and a cheese cube together just like the flavors you find on pizza! If your kids love other veggies or meats on their pizza you can add those too! My kids love to help make these little guys as much as they love eating them!

Pizza Kabobs Lunch Box:

• Pepperoni or salami
• Tomato
• Mozzarella cheese cubes
• Whole wheat crackers
• Sweet peppers
• Apple cinnamon crunchies
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No 9.: Chicken Salad Lunch Box Idea

I absolutely love chicken salad as a lunch box filler. It is awesome because it is really anything but boring when you do it right! You can make it in so many flavor combos, so there is something for everyone! Plus, I hide tons of healthy veggies in mine to up the nutritional value and they don’t even notice with all the great flavor! My kids absolute favorites are ranch chicken salad, fajita chicken salad, cranberry almond chicken salad and this classic chicken salad.

Chicken Salad Lunch Box:

• Pita bread
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sweet potato chips
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

No 10.: Savory Bagel Lunch Box Idea

Bagels aren’t just for breakfast, but if breakfast is your kids favorite meal of the day then you are going to love this school lunch idea! All you need are bagels, I use the mini ones, some cream cheese and your favorite savory toppings. You can use plain cream cheese or mix the cream cheese with ranch powder for an extra delicious treat. Then top the bagel with meat and veggies you love! I serve it open face for twice the goodness!

Savory Bagel Lunch Box:

• Mini bagels
• Cream cheese
• Toppings: Turkey, carrots, sweet peppers, etc.
• Sweet potato chips
• Cucumber slices
• Apple slices
• Mott’s Medley Fruit Flavored Snacks

Hopefully this leaves you inspired to spice up your lunch boxes and convinces you it doesn’t have to be hard with just a few things on hand! Do you have any creative lunch box favorites? I would love to hear about it! Leave me a note in the comments and it would make my day! I read each and every one!

Original article and pictures take www.thepinningmama.com site

19 Ideas for Frugal Summer Fun as a Family

19 Ideas for Frugal Summer Fun as a Family

Do you want to save money but still have fun this summer? Totally doable. Read on to get 19 easy-to-do summer activity ideas that are budget-friendly, health-boosting and oh-so-fun!

Guest Post by Prerna Malik of Content Bistro

Save money. Quite simply, it’s one of my biggest goals and constant endeavors as a homemaker.

However, with summer here, I don’t want my budgeting tendencies to negatively impact the amount of fun our family shares!

Not only that, I want to ensure the fun we have is in line with our desire to be more healthy–which includes eating real food and getting regular exercise as much as possible.

Yes, I may have high expectations.

However, I did sit down and brainstorm a list of 19 ways we will be enjoying the summer season without breaking the bank or straying far from our health goals.

I’ve divided them into Indoor and Outdoor Activities so you can pick and choose accordingly for your family, too:

Note from Erin: Want to stay organized while you plan your family’s summer activities? Pick up a copy of the 100 Days of Summertime eBook!

Indoor Budget-Friendly, Health-Boosting Summer Activities

1. Have a “make your own ice cream sundae” party with homemade ice cream and toppings.

2. Build a fort in the living room and let the kids sleep there overnight. It’s a fun way to encourage sibling bonding and independent sleep habits–and also have some good, ol’ fashioned fun. Note from Erin: Our family avoids friend sleepovers, and I think this is a GREAT alternative!

3. Learn to make your own homemade yogurt and have frozen yogurt popsicles for dessert. If you already know how to make your own yogurt, experiment with fruity flavors.

4. Bring out the board games and have a game night. Serve raw fruits and veggie sticks with dips as snacks.

5. Have a Readathon. Collect all the books you’ve bought but never read or finished. Hand them out to everyone, age appropriately, of course. Commit to reading and finishing one book (or more!) in a set amount of time. Set a timer and go! Make sure you have healthy snacks to munch on because if your kids are like mine, reading means munching

6. Plan on having one night every weekend designated as “Eat Fancy” night. Plan and prepare a homecooked meal that has a slightly “special” feel. That will look different for each family! For our family, our favorite special dish is spaghetti aglio e olio. Lay out the table with your best dinnerware, dress up, play some soft uplifting music, light candles and enjoy your “fancy” dinner at a fraction of the cost. (Plus, it is a great opportunity for kids to learn about fine dining etiquette too!)

7. Teach the kids to cook and bake. Bake homemade cookies with the kids and let them put up a neighborhood bake sale stall in your front yard. Or simply bake extras and take them to visit a neighbor you haven’t met yet. Social skills are just as important for our health as physical exercise.

8. Enjoy an “Eat-all-you-can” salad buffet…at home. Summer is rich with some of the best fruits and vegetables. Set up a salad bar on your dining table, complete with homemade dressings and breads. Let the kids pile their bowls high with health-boosting veggies and eat all they can. Here are 3 delicious salad meals you can try!

9. Have a Laugh Riot. Laughter is really good for health. It boosts endorphins, (the feel-good hormones) and it also increases bonding and connection. We plan on watching a funny movie from our home DVD collection and also reading rib-tickling books. How can you have a “Laugh Riot” day at your home?

10. Make new friends. Despite the fact that I am an introvert, I realize that socializing helps me and my little family enjoy the community around us!

11. Write letters to friends and family or a pen pal, the old-fashioned way.

12. Create a summer scrapbook.

13. Teach the kids to do jumping jacks or practice on-the-spot running. Set a timer or count the number of repetitions. Do it every day and keep a log. You’ll all be quite surprised at the increase in stamina by the end of summer!

Outdoor Summer Activities to Savor the Season and Save Some Money

14. Grab the kids and their bikes and go cycling around the block. If you don’t have a bike, you can always jog with them.

15. Have a family picnic. Pack a basket with a nice homemade lunch, some card games, a Frisbee or skipping rope, a blanket and books and you have a fun day all lined up.

16. Introduce the kids to gardening or bird watching. Nothing like spending time outdoors to really bond, connect with nature and get a healthy dose of fresh air. You could start with something simple like growing your own herbs.

17. Depending on where you live, go out on a rock or seashell collecting spree. Bring your stash home, give the kids little glass jars and create delightful summer-themed mantelpiece decorations.

18. Sign up for a summer volunteer opportunity. You can do this as a family or individually, as long as it is manageable. It is a great way to encourage giving back, build character and instill responsibility.

19. Put the sprinklers on in the lawn and let the kids run through them. It’s a great way to water the grass and let the kids have a blast with water play.

What frugal summer fun are YOU planning on having this year?

Prerna Malik is the content chef at Content Bistro, where she shares business inspiration and ideas for time-starved entrepreneurs. When she isn’t baking with her daughter, she’s cheering fellow homemakers and mamas along their journey to be more intentional, productive and peace-filled. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

Original article and pictures take thehumbledhomemaker.com site

18 of the Best Ever Clean Eating Recipes for Kids and Kids at Heart

18 of the Best Ever Clean Eating Recipes for Kids and Kids at Heart

I have 18 of the best ever clean eating recipes for kids and kids at heart. I have plenty to choose from for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks and YOUR kids will love eating them. If your family is on a Clean Eating diet, it can be difficult to find recipes that children can and will eat. I hope this list for is useful to you and your family.

I also have links to other recipes that I think kids like, at least mine do, that I think will be helpful to you. One way I get my children to eat foods they wouldn’t normally eat is to give them healthy options when they are hungry. For example, when they are starving and you’re making dinner and you may be tempted to say they shouldn’t eat anything before dinner. Tell them the only thing they can have before dinner are vegetables. When I do that, if my kids are hungry enough, they chow down on mini carrots and snap peas. No forcing required.

I have found that kids prefer foods that are simple, not spicy or hard to chew. My kids really like finger foods maybe because they are easier to eat and they don’t have to use a fork or spoon. I know kids that don’t like anything mixed together like a casserole. If I serve them the main ingredients of the casserole separately they will eat them just fine.

That’s why I tried to find recipes like that, that your kids will love too. Of course kids always want sweets but if the sweets are clean and don’t have too much unhealthy sugar in them, I say why not. That’s why clean sweets are better than others because the sugar in clean eating recipes are a little healthier than white sugar. Some of these clean recipes use fruit in place of sugar, now that’s a win win situation for us as parents and the kids. I love most of these too.

My kids favorites listed here are for pizza, cookies and ice cream. My daughter’s most favorite is the taco soup. They are all wonderful, taste great and are actually healthy. Go ahead give them all a try.

I hope you enjoy these and I hope you can find several that become your favorites.

If you like these Clean Eating Recipes for Kids or Kids at Heart, you may also like these recipes.

Clean Eating Lunch Ideas and Recipes for Kids Lunch Boxes

Clean Eating Recipes for Kids or Kids at Heart

9 Clean Eating Kid’s Dinner Recipes

Whole Wheat Macaroni – Butternut Squash – Whole Wheat Flour – Milk – Cheddar Cheese – Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs

This is not your typical macaroni and cheese. It has added butternut squash which makes it so you don’t need as much cheese, plus it makes it way more healthy. My kids gobble it up and don’t even care or realize how healthy it is.

Whole Wheat Flour – Whole Wheat Pizza Dough or You could use this Clean Eating Pizza Crust Recipe – Clean Beef Hot Dogs

Kids love anything with hot dogs in them. Now you can make them pigs in a blanket and they can eat healthy. Yes, clean hot dogs really do exist. They should have them at your local health food store. We like the Applegate brand. That makes this recipe super super easy.

This taco soup is so so easy to make and it’s still clean. You just open a bunch of cans of beans, tomatoes and tomato sauce, add some spices and ground beef and you’re done. Let it simmer for a few minutes and BAM dinner is ready just like that.

This chili recipe is also really quick and easy to make. If you can open a can of beans, you’ve got it made. Ha ha, get it. Seriously all you do is open a bunch of different kinds of cans of beans and throw them and some spices and ground beef into a pan and let it cook a few minutes and you’re done.

Clean Eating Pizza Crust made with Spelt Flour – Ground Beef – Tomatoes – Cheese – Clean Classic Marinara Sauce

Taco pizza is seriously so good. I don’t understand why pizza places don’t include it on their menu. They are really missing out but you don’t have to. You can make your own and it will be clean too.

6. Meatloaf Muffins – Clean Eating Recipes

Tomatoes – Tomato Paste – Onion – Carrots – Mushrooms – Zucchini – Ground Turkey – Ground Pork – Tomato Sauce – Coconut Flour

Kids love their own individual meatloaf. That’s why kids love these meatloaf muffins so much. It’s a really good idea. It’s also a great way to get your kids to eat a good healthy meal. They are packed with meat and vegetables and oh, so tasty.

Kids love muffins and kids love pizza so when you combine the two they are going to really be excited to eat these. The fact is if I want to eat any of these when I make them I need to be really quick or they will disappear really fast around my house. I like them warm best so that makes it easy for me to grab some before they are gone.

Ground Beef or Turkey – Whole Milk – Whole Grain Macaroni – Cheddar Cheese – Hamburger Helper Mix

Included is a recipe for homemade hamburger helper mix to replace those chemical filled mixes you buy in the store. Did you know that cheddar cheese is colored with Annatto seed and not colored with food coloring so it is easily clean eating.

This is easy to make, contains no refined flour and sweetened naturally with honey. Great if you’re trying to cut out refined flour in your diet.

9 Clean Eating Kid’s Dessert Recipes

This is a relatively healthy treat that as a family we like to eat. It is particularly good for my son because he is trying to limit his dairy intake. He likes this copycat recipe almost as much as he like regular ice cream. This is a lot healthier for the whole family.

2. Baked Donuts – Grounded and Surrounded

Gluten-Free Flour Blend – Xanthan Gum – Stevia Powder – Applesauce – Almond Milk – Greek Yogurt – Coconut Sugar – Sprinkles

This recipe took six months to be perfected. But I have to say they are not exactly like bakery bought doughnuts. My kids are used to eating healthy most of the time so they gobble them up. But if your kids are used to healthy homemade desserts they may not like them as much as mine do.

3. Strawberry Watermelon Lime Popsicles – One Lovely Life

Watermelon – Strawberries – Lime

These healthy, bright fresh watermelon popsicles are a really great choice for a warm weather treat. They are made with one hundred percent fruit and help balance your electrolytes naturally.

Coconut Oil – Coconut Palm Sugar – Applesauce – Whole Wheat Flour – Use Old Fashioned Oats in place of Quick-Cooking Oats – Chia Seed – Mini Chocolate Chips

When I have time to make homemade cookies my kids love it when I make these. They are full of only wholesome ingredients. I put these cookies in my kids school lunches. I also like to serve them for a healthy treat or an after school snack.

You only need four ingredients and sugar is not one of them. You can even use over ripe bananas if you want to. This ice cream is even healthy because it is made with fruit and of course it’s dairy-free.

If you think the oats need to be smaller to make these cookies taste better. All you have to do is zap the old fashioned oats in the blender for a few seconds and you’ll have much smaller oats. Just don’t zap them too long or you’ll have oat flour. Old fashioned oats are way healthier because they haven’t been processed as many time as quick oats. That’s why they are bigger.

This ice cream is made with coconut milk which makes it really creamy plus it’s dairy-free. The bananas and strawberries make it sweet and flavorful and the rhubarb give it a little tangy kick. Five ingredients that are all good and natural makes it’s both easy to make and healthy.

Sweet Potato – Eggs – Spelt Flour – Chocolate Chips – Coconut Milk

These sweet potato brownies will at least give your kids one serving of vegetables for the day. Seriously the sweet potatoes help make these brownies moist and yumilicious. I just made that work up:) They a super decadent and oh so soft. Topped with ganache frosting made with only coconut milk and chocolate chips. So easy even the kids can make them.

Eggs – Sucanat Sugar – Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

I bet my kid’s would love it if I made these for them! Plus, these don’t have that many ingredients. Better yet, I should have my children make them for themselves. That would be a fun idea.

Conclusion:

I hope your kids really like these recipes. I know that mine do. They helped me choose which ones I should use for the post.

Original article and pictures take utydo2efewt2d3smc28v86ht-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com site

18 EASY HEALTHY SNACKS FOR CLEAN EATING

18 EASY HEALTHY SNACKS FOR CLEAN EATING

Print Yum CLEAN EATING RECIPE: BUTTERY SHRIMP AND GRITS Ingredients1 cup of organic quick cook grits (try BOB MILLS ORGANIC CORN GRITS) 4 cups of water 1 cup of organic whole milk 1/4 cup of heavy cream 1 tea spoon of sea salt 1 dash of freshly ground black pepper 4 table spoons of real butter, divided 1 cup of medium-sized shrimp, peeled, de-veined and boiled 1 tea spoon of Italian seasoningInstructionsHeat frying pan over stove top on high. Add

Original article and pictures take www.cleaneatingrecipesblog.com site