Wednesday, April 5, 2017

How to clean your home with essential oils

how to clean your home naturally with essential oils - natural cleaning solutions - www.mywholefoodfamily.com

I have a request.

Stop cleaning your house with toxic chemicals that are 
bad for the environment and bad for your health!

One of the biggest culprits for poor health is fragrance - those fake smells that are found in practically every cleaning and personal care product on the shelves.

I shared on Facebook recently a new book that highlights just how damaging fragrances can be to our health. Author Kate Grenville stated that more than 1/3 of the population reported negative health effects like asthma, allergies and headaches from exposure to fragrance.

Just think about that for a second.

Every day people are exposing themselves to chemicals that are causing them actual physical harm.

Are you one of them?

I've had a low-tox home for more than 15 years now but before that I was oblivious, even though looking back I was constantly experiencing headaches, fatigue and respiratory problems without making the connection.

I used perfume, deodorant sprays, washed my clothes in fragranced washing powder and had a different stinky cleaning product for dishes, benches, floors, toilets ... you name it.

When you add in all all the toxins in my shampoo and conditioner, make up, paints, insect sprays and the chemicals off-gassed from furniture, carpets and curtains, it was total chemical overload.

And that was just in my own home, when we're out in public you can add in everyone else's personal care products, commercial cleaning products, scented candles and air fresheners to deal with.

No wonder I began to suffer the effects of multiple chemical sensitivity in 2002 and ended up having to quit work.

The problem is so pervasive now that fragrance is "the new second-hand smoke" says one blog post which you can read in full here.

"The emerging awareness of this very “volatile” situation reveals problems much more pervasive and dangerous than tobacco smoke.2 Even washing clothes in detergents and fabric softeners containing fragrances releases toxic chemicals onto the skin and into the air all day long.  At night, sleeping in pajamas and on sheets washed in the same toxic materials has the same effect.  Because of this, people are awash in fragrances 24 hours each day."

This is horrifying to me and reading things like this makes me even more committed to not bringing any chemicals into our home.

While I've used low-tox personal care products for over 15 years now, it's really only over the past 8 years, since having our first child, that I've been slowly replacing ALL of our store-bought cleaning products with homemade alternatives. Even the so-called 'green' ones.

I now make my own laundry powder, dishwashing powder, all-purpose spray, insect repellant, mould cleaner, toilet and shower cleaner and window/glass spray.

It's made a big difference not only to the air quality within our home but also to our hip pocket.

Buying these natural cleaning supplies and making my own products is FAR cheaper than buying commercial products.

These are my top natural cleaning supplies:
  • Bicarb soda (also known as baking soda)
  • Salt
  • White vinegar
  • Citric acid
  • Washing soda
  • Castille soap (liquid and bars)
  • Pure essential oils
Most of these can be found in the supermarket and the rest can be bought cheaply online. In fact, buying in bulk online is what I do and recommend as the cheapest option.

For example, you can buy a 75g container of citric acid at the supermarket for $2.48, which works out at $33.10 per kg. I bought a 10kg bucket of citric acid on eBay for $66 or just $6.60 per kg. Much more affordable don't you think?

My last 10kg bucket by the way, was bought in September 2015 and still going strong.

My favourite essential oils for cleaning:
  •  Lemon
  • Orange
  • Tea Tree
  • Oregano
  • Clove
  • OnGuard
When you add in the power of pure essential oils, these basic cleaning products are potent and effective and an equal match for anything you can buy at the supermarket.

And bonus, the house smells AMAZING!

So if you're someone who likes to have a fresh smelling house, you will love using essential oils in this way.

To help you get started making your own natural cleaning products with essential oils, I've done up a handy cheat sheet with all my favourite recipes - laundry powder, dishwashing powder and rinse aid, mould cleaner, window/glass cleaner, all purpose spray and cream cleaners (like a Jif alternative).

These are all tried and tested and the recipes I personally make and use at home, with doTERRA certified pure therapeutic grade essential oils. You can read more here about why I only use this brand and the benefits I've been experiencing.

Just click below to grab your copy!

If you aren't using oils yet but would like to know more, please get in touch. Message me at susanking.doterra @ gmail.com to find out how you get your oils for 25% off retail and shipped straight to your door.
http://eepurl.com/cJKNqX
Do you make your own cleaning products?

Susan x


Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Scones

gluten free sweet potato scones - from www.mywholefoodfamily.com

As I was writing up this post, Mr 6 came into the room and looking over my shoulder said 'YUCK! I'm never going to eat sweet potato scones!'

Ok, I say, but what I'm thinking is 'bad luck buddy, you actually scoffed down 3 of them last week and loved them.'

Ha!

I think it is completely fine to hide vegetables in kids food. In fact I pride myself on doing it really well.

Why?

Because my kids are always served vegetables or salad with dinner. I know what they like and what they don't like, and this is the perfect way to boost the nutrition of a snack.

The only sweetness in these is from the sweet potato but the kids ate them with butter and rice malt syrup and they were definitely sweet enough.

gluten free sweet potato scones - from www.mywholefoodfamily.com

I saved a few of these to eat with soup for my lunches and they were the perfect accompaniment to a savoury meal.

Like most gluten-free baked goods they are best eaten fresh but I didn't mind how crumbly they got. It was perfect with soup!

gluten free sweet potato scones - from www.mywholefoodfamily.com


Gluten Free Sweet Potato Scones

150g buckwheat flour
150g gluten free plain flour
1 tbs gluten free baking powder
1/2 ts salt
100g cold butter, cubed
120g cold mashed sweet potato
1 egg
190ml coconut milk (+ 2 tbs extra to glaze)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Line a 20 x 30cm baking tray with baking paper and set aside.

Place flours, baking powder, salt and butter into the bowl and mix for 6 secs / SP 6.

Add remaining ingredients and combine for 20 secs / lid locked / KNEAD.

Dollop big spoonfuls of mixture into the tray (I got exactly 15 to fill the tray). Brush the tops with the extra milk.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting out using the baking paper as handles on each side. Place on a wire rack until cool enough to eat.

Delicious served warm with butter and syrup.

Makes 15.

What's your favourite scone recipe?

Do you think your kids would enjoy these?

Let me know below!

Susan x

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Cacao, Cranberry and Orange Bliss Balls

Cacao Cranberry and Wild Orange Bliss Balls - doTERRA recipe essential oils - www.mywholefoodfamily.com

Years ago, before we had kids and still when my eldest was little we used to buy tons of dried fruit as a 'healthy' snack. Not realising that dried fruit is such a concentrated source of sugar and that most commercial dried fruit contains a preservative called sulphur dioxide which is linked to asthma and respiratory distress, and if you have a sulphite allergy, can actually be fatal.

Jeez, what a downer hey?

I was totally shocked when I first heard about this and I remember going through the pantry to check each and every packet of dried fruit we had. And sure enough, it was on every. single. label.

Looking back it now makes sense that I would feel a tightness in my chest and start to cough every time I ate dried apricots. But at the time I never really made the connection because I knew I wasn't allergic to apricots.

These days we choose not to eat much dried fruit.And when we do we are treating it as a source of sweetness for recipes rather than 'this is healthy so let's eat the whole packet.'

Generally I make bliss balls without any added fruit, preferring to use rice malt syrup as a fructose free sweetener.

But I've had a packet of organic dried cranberries sitting in the pantry since Christmas and it was high time to use them up, so I came up with these bliss balls. The cranberries are still dried with sugar but it is all organic and they don't contain any preservatives.

Anyone who has tasted these bliss balls has immediately asked for the recipe, so that's a sure sign of a winner!

Cacao Cranberry and Wild Orange Bliss Balls - doTERRA recipe essential oils - www.mywholefoodfamily.com

Cacao, Cranberry and Wild Orange Bliss Balls

220g raw almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 dried dates
4 tbs coconut oil
1 heaped tbs cacao powder
pinch salt
5 drops Wild Orange essential oil
desiccated coconut for rolling

Place all ingredients into a food processor or high powered blender and blitz until the mixture sticks together (TMX about 10 secs / SP 8).

Shape into balls and roll in desiccated coconut.

Makes approximately 12.

Do you make bliss balls? What's your favourite recipe? Let me know below!

Susan

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Sticky Slow-Cooked Pineapple Pulled Pork

Sticky Slow Cooked Pineapple Pulled Pork - www.mywholefoodfamily.com

I am a HUGE fan of slow-cooked meals.

Being able to get dinner prepped and out of the way in the morning is a brilliant time saver in our busy household, it doesn't heat up the kitchen like the oven does and bonus, slow-cooked meals taste amazing!

Our slow-cooker is used at least a few times a week, even in summer.

I do a batch of bone broth once a week, along with slow-roasted chicken, lamb chops and even stewed fruit.

This sticky pineapple pulled pork is the perfect slow-cooked meal for hot weather.

Pulled pork is wonderful on tortillas or baked potato/sweet potato with a zingy fresh coleslaw or with rice and steamed greens.

My version uses fresh pineapple to create a sticky but not overly sweet sauce that pairs beautifully with the pork.

For maximum flavour you can rub the pork with the honey and spices and leave in the fridge overnight to marinate. Honestly, I am not usually that organised and it's delicious even when freshly made in the morning.

We only have a pork a few times a year so it's a treat for us. Make sure you save the rind for crackling!

Sticky Slow-Cooked Pineapple Pulled Pork

1 x 2kg boneless pork shoulder
1 whole sweet pineapple
1 red onion
1 red chilli (uses as much or as little chilli as you like - 1 small chilli is good for my kids)
2 tbs sweet paprika
1 tbs honey
3 ts cumin
3 ts oregano
3 ts pink salt
2 ts onion powder
2 ts garlic powder
1/2 ts cinnamon

Peel and roughly chop the pineapple and onion, and place them into the Thermomix or food processor along with the chilli and puree until smooth. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker.

Remove the skin and fat from the pork using a very sharp knife, and either discard it or save for crackling.

Place the pork into a large baking dish.

Mix together the honey, spices and salt.

Rub the mixture over the pork until it is thoroughly coated.

Place the pork on top of the pineapple puree. Pop on the lid and cook on low for 8 hours.

Use 2 forks to pull the pork meat apart and mix through the sauce.

Do you have a slow cooker?

What was the last thing you made in it?

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Pumpkin Loaf aka Spicy Golden Loaf

Spiced Golden Pumpkin Loaf - www.mywholefoodfamily.com

Having a child who is fussy about food is incredibly frustrating at the best of times.

And at the worst of times? It's a bit of a nightmare.

My now 6-year-old hasn't eaten a good dinner since before he was 2.

Let that fact sink in a little.

That's approximately 1500 nutritious dinners prepared lovingly by me that have NOT BEEN TOUCHED.

If we can get him to the table, he will eat plain pasta with extra virgin olive oil, homemade pizza (no sauce and topped only with cheese, olives and tinned pineapple) and takeaway fish and chips.

The list of foods he will eat is incredibly small and shrinking by the week.

We've done feeding therapy sessions with an occupational therapist and speech pathologist, and seen a GP, naturopath, dietician and psychologist.

So where does that leave us?

Well, it leaves us trying to pack in nutrition wherever and whenever we can.

At the moment breakfast is the only decent meal he will consume in a day.

It is usually a smoothie which I cram to the brim with good stuff like avocado, chia seeds, oats, yoghurt, protein powder, nut butters, berries, greens and more. Something like My Favourite Green Smoothie but with organic full cream milk.

Lunch usually comes home completely untouched so needless to say he is STARVING when he gets home.

So that leaves afternoon tea.

I try to make it a good one!

Hiding vegetables in cakes and muffins etc is not new, but it is definitely my favourite way to increase their nutrition. These have been some of favourites:

'Apple' Crumble Slice (without any apple!)
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Pumpkin Fruit Cake
Chocolate and Zucchini Muffins
Sweet Potato Brownies

Pumpkin, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato and beetroot all work beautifully in baked goods. Add in a good unrefined sweetener and some sweet spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla and you have a delicious sweet treat that will fill them up and give them some much need veggies.

Today I had a lot of pumpkin to use up so I whipped up this pumpkin loaf cake which I am calling a 'Spicy Golden Loaf'. It is beautifully moist with lovely warm flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, orange and molasses.

A slice of this with a glass of milk will happily fill up even the fussiest tummy.

Spiced Golden Pumpkin Loaf - www.mywholefoodfamily.com


Spicy Golden Loaf

100g butter, at room temperature
100g coconut sugar
2 large eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ts blackstrap molasses
zest of 1/2 orange
1 cup mashed pumpkin
1 2/3 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 ts bicarb soda
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
1/2 ts ginger
1/4 ts cloves

Beat together the butter and coconut sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time beating until smooth.

Add the pumpkin, vanilla, molasses and orange zest and mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients and fold through until just combined.

Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown and the middle springs back when pressed gently.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Delicious warm from the oven or at room temperature. Serve with butter.

Do you have a fussy eater?

What are your strategies? Let me know below!

Susan

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