Everyone is talking about essential oils these days. Essential oils can either be used aromatically, topically or internally. In this 3 part series of posts, I will be sharing ways you can use essential oils in the kitchen along with some delicious recipes.
It’s About Nutrition
It’s About Nutrition
We live in an era where foods are high in
flavor but devoid of nutritional value. In fact, artificial flavors common in
processed foods and derived from petrochemical byproducts have been implicated
in allergic reactions, dermatitis, eczema, hyperactivity, and asthma!
Most of us are looking to eat healthier,
but we don’t want to skimp on flavor. How many reading this can relate to that?
Herbs and spices in our kitchen cabinet can
add a lot of flavor and health-promoting properties to foods, but they can lose
potency relatively quickly. I can think
of several spices in my cupboard right now that I’ve had for more than 3
years.
Did you know that you can enhance the
flavors of your food in a fun and healthy way using all natural products that
are delicious, long-lasting and health-promoting?
Of course, I am talking about essential oils,
more specifically Young Living’s Vitality Line.
What is so great about Young
Living?
Young Living is a 21-year-old plus,
billion-dollar company that was founded on the principle that nature has
powerful, natural substances from PLANTS to meet the needs of the 21st Century
family! Young Living owns and runs hundreds of acres of sustainable, organic
farmland and essential oil distilleries in Utah, Idaho, Canada, France,
Ecuador, Peru, and Oman!
Young Living is currently doing business in
almost every nation around the globe, and is among the fastest
growing direct sales companies in the U.S. with almost 100,000 joining each
month in the U.S. alone! Our company was founded by Gary Young, who, together
with his wife Mary, is continually blazing new and exciting trails all over the
world to promote the ongoing success and development of Young Living.
What are essential oils?
The products I am focusing on are pure,
therapeutic-grade essential oils. For those who aren’t quite
sure, essential oils are the lifeblood of aromatic plants. Have you ever broken open the leaf or stem of a plant and seen a fluid come out? Well, when you take the precious fluid from aromatic plants containing the plant’s therapeutic properties and you super-concentrate it, what you end up with is an essential oil!
sure, essential oils are the lifeblood of aromatic plants. Have you ever broken open the leaf or stem of a plant and seen a fluid come out? Well, when you take the precious fluid from aromatic plants containing the plant’s therapeutic properties and you super-concentrate it, what you end up with is an essential oil!
Young Living is the largest worldwide
distributor of therapeutic-grade essential oils, and has a reputation of
providing some of the most pure and powerful essential oils available!
Young Living’s Vitality Line
Essential oils are famous for their aroma,
but in this post I’m going to focus on the delicious flavors of essential oils
in Young Living’s Vitality essential oil line! These essential oils can add a
pop of flavor and therapeutic value to beverages including smoothies and teas,
soups, salad dressings, marinades, desserts, sauces, and more.
Before we start cooking though, I want to talk a
little more about some basics with using Young Living’s Vitality essential oils
in the kitchen!
The History of Plants in Cooking
Herbs and spices have been used in cooking
probably for as long as man has been on the earth. It is believed that
hunter/gatherers would wrap their meat in leaves and plants, and then they
discovered that some of these plants would impart a good flavor into their
meats. Early man even discovered that some of these plants could be used as
natural preservatives.
Herbs and spices became used as early
medicines as people began to notice their therapeutic effect. And of course,
they were used to purposely flavor foods. Local cuisines became known for
distinctive flavors from the herbs and spices found in their region.
Today, most American kitchens are stocked
with herbs and spices from around the world allowing us to prepare foods with a
wide variety of flavors. And anyone who has ever eaten foods flavored with
herbs and spices has already ingested essential oils. This is because it is
actually the natural essential oils in herbs and spices that give them any
aroma and flavor at all!
The essential oils in herbs and spices are
also responsible for any therapeutic effect on the body.
The main difference between essential oils
and herbs and spices you buy at a grocery store are potency and shelf life.
Through time, the essential oils in herbs and spices evaporate away, rendering
the herb or spice bland and impotent.
Locally grown herbs and spices that are either
fresh or freshly dried are great to use in cooking. But herbs and spices from
across the world that have been sitting on a shelf for a few years before they
even get to your kitchen are not going to be as potent.
Young Living’s Vitality essential oils are
perfect to use in place of herbs and spices in the kitchen when a pop of flavor
and therapeutic value is desired, and especially when that herb or spice is
difficult to source in your local area or is out of season.
Wow! This is such a great idea! I'll have to try the Oragy Cranberry Sauce this weekend.
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