JOTD - Strawberry Beet

Strawberry Beet Juice - and a somewhat clean kitchen.

I learned two things this morning - if you strain beet juice through a piece of cheesecloth, there's none of that icky gritty-grainy texture I'm not fond of with root vegetable juice.  (Same goes for sweet potatoes).  Coffee filters do not do the same job, and are quite messy when they fall into the juice and you have to fish them out.  The second thing...beet juice turns your hands a delightful shade of magenta.

I'm actually considering using beet juice to color my hair - although, I do have a calling (job) in my church right now that doesn't prohibit but really encourages not coloring your hair in strange hues. I love my calling - so for now, I'll just keep this idea in the back of my idea folder.  (But honestly, wouldn't that be cool?  I wonder if purple fingerling potatoes would do the same thing...another post for another day.)

Strawberry Beet

1 medium beet (washed and greens removed)

5 large strawberries

1 medium orange without the peel

1 medium granny smith apple

Again, I put all these things in completely whole - after being washed of course.  Even the strawberry leaves (Crowns) came through like a champ. Before you do this, make sure your juicer can handle the whole fruit or vegetable. This is the one I use (for full disclosure this does lead to an amazon affiliate link.) I love it because of the easy cleanup, and the easy preparation.  Seriously, if I had to cut up vegetables...yea, not happening.

POFIFOTO - Put One Foot In Front Of The Other

Phoenix, Arizona LDS Temple.

Three years ago, before there was any major talk of women's marches or protesting in Washington - a small but determined group of women set out on a physical journey of over 24 miles on foot which was meant to be a symbolic journey of faith.

Over a period of 8-ish hours, we walked from our church building in Tolleson, Arizona to our nearly completed new Temple in Phoenix, Arizona. For those of you who don't know much about LDS temples or church buildings, or their differences - From Mormon.org:

"The temple is a beautiful, serene place, and it is unique among buildings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members gather in meetinghouses for weekly worship services. There, they enrich their lives by studying the gospel; they minister and serve among each other. But they attend the temple in part to bless and serve those who’ve gone before them. Every person who has lived on the earth is entitled to the opportunity to receive the blessings of eternal life and eternal family relations. Performing temple work by proxy for those who have gone on before allows God’s blessings to extend to all of His children."

This walk was hard.  It was painful.  It was emotional.  It was many things.  What it was not was lonely, unsupported, or scary.

Even now, three years later, I still reflect on the experiences of that day - and the lessons I took away from it.  

learned that the body is capable of much more than I have ever thought it was.

I learned that through simple acts of service from those around me, I am capable of almost anything.

I learned that when I was ready to give up and be done - when I felt I could not go one more step - that through gentle encouragement and love from those around me, one more step was indeed possible.

I learned that serving and encouraging others as they struggle on a journey can bolster your own faith in completing a task.

I learned all those things as I walked today. But like I said, the journey did not end, nor did the lessons.

The actual physical journey is over, the lessons of love and service and friendship have been learned. The spiritual lessons linger and are constant reminders of His love.

1) We never walk alone. Trials of faith are never experienced without a helping hand, whether it be a friend with words of encouragement, or a kind-hearted neighbor or stranger who is willing to serve you and your family. He always provides a way to overcome anything. You just have to be willing to recognize His hand when he offers it.

2) True faith and spiritual strength come when we are at our most vulnerable. We cannot start to build ourselves back up if we have not yet been completely knocked down. The feeling of completing the walk was amazing. The absolute humility I felt as my husband helped me to walk because the pain was too great, is comforting and overwhelming. At the beginning I felt accomplished for a task completed, now I am humbled for a lesson well learned.

3) The lesson isn't always in the journey, but in the moments afterward. Sometimes you can be so focused on the current task, journey, or trial, that reflection is the only way to truly learn what you need to know.

4) Every day, we put one foot in front of the other moving forward in faith. Just when you think the journey is over, another starts. I was so grateful to be done walking and to be home with my children and loving husband. There was pain, but I was still standing. Once I was home long enough to let my body relax enough, I realized the full extent of the pain and recovery there would be to come.

Moving forward and continuing to put one foot in front of the other while you are facing the trial is important. Remembering to continue on the path once it is over is vital. The lessons you learn in each step need to be carried to the next. They build on one another.

Put One Foot In Front Of The Other.

Our Amazing group of strong, spiritual, women.

BAGELS!

I've always wanted to try to make these small, circular, non-doughnut bread treats but have always feared their complexity.

Man was I ever WRONG.

Of course, I prefer my bagel to be soft and fluffy on the inside and chewy on the outside - like an Einsten's Asiago Bagel... so that really is the texture I'm going for here.

Before you start, know this - you cannot mix these by hand.  I'm not sure how they did it in the beginning, you know, before KA and Bosch, but I am pretty sure I would not have wanted to get into a fight with a bagel maker back in the day.  Kneading the dough definitely takes a piece of really good machinery, or an army of good looking muscle champs.  Since I didn't have the latter available to me, I went ahead and just put good old Speedy, my Kitchen Aid to work.

Ingredients:
3 cups Allpurpose flour
1 cup of vital wheat gluten.
2 teaspoons of salt
3 teaspoons of yeast
1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water

In one cup of lukewarm water, grow the 3 teaspoons of yeast.  Set aside while gathering/combining the other ingredients.

Put the flour (and gluten) and salt into the bowl of your mixer and fit the blade with a dough hook.  Turn the mixer on the SLOWEST SPEED possible, and combine the ingredients (about 30 seconds). 

Add the yeast and one cup of water.  Keep the mixer on the lowest speed until the dough forms and is all one one rough ball.  You may need to add a little more water, but do it one tablespoon at the time. You want the dough to clear the sides of the bowl, and form a consistency much like playdough - the store bought kind.

Once all the dough incorporates, turn the mixer on to SLOW.  (On a Kitchen Aid, this would be one dot above "mix" or 2)

Beat the dough on slow for approximately 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Separate the dough into 12 equally sized balls - much like making rolls.  I use two sheet pans lined with silpat and put six on each pan.  Cover with saran wrap and let sit until double in size.  Don't touch.  Walk away...slowly...

Once doubled, return to the balls of dough, and shape each one into about a 10" roll (or snake, whatever makes you happy).  I do this by squeezing them until they form long ropes. Don't pull or roll, just ... squeeze.

Bring the ends of the snake together  around your four fingers to form a ring and then press together...then slide it off of your hand like you would a stretchy bracelet.

Place dough rings back on the silpat (or parchment), cover again with plastic wrap, and in a deep skillet pan boil 2" of water.  Bagels will start to rise at this point - you do NOT want them to over rise.  If they get too fluffy they deflate when you boil them  When they are at about 1 1/2 their size, they are perfect to boil.

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Put each bagel in the water one at a time until they puff up a little.  (Boil them for about 30-45 seconds) and remove to a wire rack to drain.  I use a deep skillet, and can do about 3 at a time.  I also do flip them over, although I've been told this isn't totally required.  The longer you boil them, the thicker their "chewy" skin is, and the less they will rise in the oven.

If you want to add toppings - cheese, poppyseed, onion, cheese, cinnamon sugar... - etc - do this right after you remove them from the boiling water, and before you drain them and bake them. It makes the toppings stick a lot better.

Put drained bagels on prepared baking sheet (again, no PAM, just flour or cornmeal or parchment, or our good friend SILPAT, or a baking stone...you get the picture) and bake until crisp and golden brown (about 12-15 minutes.)

Allow to cool enough that you won't burn yourself while eating, and ENJOY!

Variations:

CINNAMON RAISIN -
If you want to make your bagels Cinnamon Raisin... in the mixing stage add 1/4 cup of cinnamon to the flour, and knead in 1 cup of raisins before separating into dough balls. It will take a little more water - so increase potentially by 1/4 cup.

CHEESE -
Top each bagel with 1/8 to 1/4 cup shredded cheese.  We use Parmasean/Romano blend, or Parmesean and cheddar.  I've also topped with a slice of Muenster to hold all the shredded cheese down during baking :)

PRETZEL -
Add 2 tbsp of baking soda to the boiling water and boil the bagels as normal. Coat each with an egg wash of 1 egg and 1 tbsp milk and dust with kosher salt before baking. Bake as usual

Ask.

This weekend my daughter had her first track meet invite of her senior year.  She did truly awesome - bringing home four medals and achieving one Personal Record, so of course we are very proud parents :)

By the way, she hates this picture, but it's one of my favorites....

Yesterday, on the way to church, I was asking about her meet - it was one of the few I couldn't go to, so I wanted the run-down.  Turns out, she had a major issue with seasonal discomfort - at one point, she was crying. Apparently, she was sneezing and eyes were itching, and...it was horrible for her.   She has a full arsenal of essential oils and tools at her disposal in her track bag, but just didn't know which ones to use. She was truly uncomfortable, at one point in pain...and she couldn't figure out how to help herself. So, instead of asking for help - calling me or sending a message to see what she could do to find some comfort or relief...she suffered instead.

As I reflected on her experience, I began to think about my own life, and the number of times I've done the same thing. There have been times where I have been terrified, depressed, spiritually dark, or questioned something of importance...there have been times when I faced a choice, had a big decision to make, or needed strength and guidance.  Even though, in those times, I had all the tools available to me - my scriptures, priesthood leaders, prayer...I did not use them.  I suffered instead.

The mutual theme this year is such a sweet blessing and a tender mercy.

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."  (James 1:5)

It seems such a simple concept - and at the same time such a hard one to implement.

The reason my daughter didn't call me is she worried I'd make fun of her, or get angry that she hadn't listened to my instructions on how to use her tools.

The reason I often don't go to the Lord in prayer to help with our basic questions or needs is that I fear that He may not want to listen to something so trivial - or He'd be angry at something more serious.

Both assumptions are equally false - both assumptions are given to us by Satan.

Ask of God. Upbraideth Not. It shall be given.

It's that simple.

"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." (James 1:6)

Just ask.  Don't fear.  Don't waver.  Don't let anyone elses' view affect your faith.  If you go to the Lord with a humble heart and faith that you will receive comfort and peace...you will.

Ask in Faith. Don't give up.

The mutual theme this year is one small pure and simple truth that helps build testimony and strengthen the youth. The amazing thing is - it's not just for the youth.  It's for me. For you.  For anyone, of any age.

Choose not to suffer. Choose to find peace.  Ask and it shall be given.

Pigtails and Overalls.

 She's probably going to hate me for this.  But, being that I'm her mother, and I've been here her whole life - I think that gives me a little bit of freedom in which pictures I post.

She's headed to college this year.

She's made a decision on where she wants to go.

I'm having a hard time reconciling with the fact that she's not my little curly-haired-overall-wearing-tiny-tot that depends on me for everything.  (She's still got the curly hair, and let's face it, she's still pretty tiny too...but, the other stuff...long gone.)

Have you seen those commercials where the dad is talking to his little toddler daughter about not driving on the freeway, and then he blinks and the toddler is replaced with a young woman?  That's where I am right now - my little girl has grown up.

Here's the thing...She's always going to be little to me. So there.  I refuse to blink and let her be grown up.

Whatever.

Anyway, she's going to college. She's narrowed down her choices.  And now we are looking for every possible scholarship available -because dang, college is expensive. Did I mention she wants to be a doctor?  Yes, I'm super proud of her. Equally terrified.

I wish I could write a post about how to get your toddler to eat their vegetables or what you can do to entice them to learning. But we're past that aren't we?

I'm working on posts like funding your child's college education and how to pick a safe vehicle on a college student salary...Yea.  That's where we are now. We're old.

So, excuse me while I step away for a few minutes to go feel sorry for my old self in the corner and throw a pity party for myself with some ice cream refreshment. I think instead of feeling sad that this era is closing, perhaps I'll talk my 9 year old into building a blanket fort and telling ghost stories.  Because right now, that's what I need. Return to simpler, easier times when they wore overalls and needed me to tuck them in at night.

That is all.

True BLUE! (and other goodies for March)

In this house, we are True Blue - and that doesn't just mean our choice of college football teams.  (Which may change when my daughter goes to college this fall..or not...I can root for two schools if they are in difference conferences, right????   Right...moving on.)

Anyway - This month - deep blue is FREE with any 200 PV Purchase.  That  INCLUDES enrollments!  

And for any existing customers - get a FREE Melaleuca Touch with any 125 PV purchase and 10% off OnGuard foaming hand soap.

On a side note - I went to the doTERRA product center this summer and had to take a little child to use the bathroom -okay, it was me.  I had to use the bathroom....anyway...they have OnGuard foaming hand soap in the soap dispensers there!  I mean, I don't know why I was surprised, but I was - it was truly awesome! Yes, I'm easily amused.

ahem.

back to business.

If you have questions on these products or want to know more about doTERRA - or if you would simply like to order - contact me or go to the website http://www.heartwiseoils.com - see you there!

Deep Blue® Rub

doTERRA Deep Blue Rub is a topical cream formulated with Deep Blue Soothing Blend of CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade®  essential oils, natural plant extracts, and additional helpful ingredients that provides a comforting sensation of cooling and warmth to problem areas.

dōTERRA Deep Blue® Touch

doTERRA Deep Blue Touch delivers the soothing benefits of Deep Blue essential oil blend in a base of Fractionated Coconut Oil—perfect for those with sensitive skin. Packaged in a convenient roll-on, doTERRA Deep Blue Touch can be used as a soothing massage and to provide a soothing effect when needed.

Rules & Terms

• All orders must be placed and processed before March 31, at 11:59 pm MT to receive the free product.
• Orders, once placed and processed, cannot be changed, adjusted, or combined to qualify for the promotion.
• Orders placed outside the qualifying time period (March 1 – March 31, 2017) do not count toward the promotion.
• PV is not equal to the cost of an order. Before completing an order, the individual ordering must verify that the order is at least 200 PV.
• A single 200 PV order can only qualify for one promotional item. If an individual would like to earn the product up to four times, they must place four separate 200 PV orders.
• Retail Customers, Wholesale Customers, and Preferred Members can qualify for the promotion by ensuring their order is at least 200 PV.
• Any orders or items returned that result in the order going below the 200 PV requirement will have to return the free product or the product will be charged on the members account.

doTERRA On Guard Foaming Hand Wash is a gentle, healthy alternative to harsh soaps that may dry and irritate sensitive skin. doTERRA On Guard Foaming Hand Wash cleans and softens hands while providing an invigorating aroma of essential oils that leaves your hands smelling fresh and citrus clean.

Item Number: 38070001 

Normal pricing: Wholesale: $22.50 Retail: $30.00 PV: 18.50

10% off pricing: Wholesale: $20.25 Retail: $27.00 PV: 16.65

These Health Conscious Parents feel at Home with dōTERRA

Brad and Dawna Toews were forced to become health-conscious parents when their six year-old son was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that attacked his kidneys. Not only were they forced to think about the health of their child, but they also became more aware of their own health, and the wellbeing of their other children. There are over 80 different types of autoimmune diseases, some of the most common being Lupus, Type 1 diabetes, and MS [1]. Though this experience was frightening, their son overcame his autoimmune disease, and Brad and Dawna remained committed to protecting their family’s health.

As a health-conscious couple, doTERRA® grabbed the Toewses attention from the get-go. They had used essential oils before, but when they were first introduced to doTERRA, they noticed a level of quality in the products that they hadn’t seen before. As Dawna learned about the science behind essential oils, she became more intrigued. At the time, she was a health coach so the transition into the doTERRA business came naturally to her, and she was very enthusiastic from the beginning.

Brad was hesitant at first, but once he started to see the progress and money that Dawna was making after only a few months, he started coming around to the idea. Dawna says that Diamond was her goal from day one, and this thought drove her to work hard. She tries to remind others that doTERRA is not a “get rich quick” business and that it’s necessary to work hard, especially in the beginning. “You won’t get that residual income and time freedom in the very first month. You have to work hard for what you want, and the rewards will meet you.”

With Dawna’s experience as a health coach and their focus on family health, she and Brad try to take an educational approach to their business, rather than straight selling. Dawna points out that selling is deeply embedded in Western culture, so it is hard for people to imagine just sharing rather than selling. She says, “This is about educating people and helping them to step out of that small little box that our culture has created for us.”

Along with educating people, the Teowses believe that sharing their personal doTERRA journey with others makes a big difference when it comes to making connections. Sharing their story (and the stories of others) is a powerful tool that Dawna and Brad recommend to other Wellness Advocates who are looking to make connections with potential clients.

Their desire to maintain a healthy family made Brad and Dawna prime candidates for succeeding with doTERRA. Brad says, “doTERRA has become a platform for us to move forward in the things that we were already passionate about. It was a natural fit, since we wanted to help, educate, and really empower people. doTERRA certainly endorses a foundation of good health—something that was close to our heart.”

[1]“Understanding Autoimmunity” http://www.everydayhealth.com/autoimmune-disorders/index.aspx