I only cook with oils, right?

I'm going to use this post early on to introduce you to Essential Oils, if you haven't been already. The reason is because I use Essential Oils in some of my recipes. So, rather than explain what they are and how you get them on every post with a recipe that calls for them, I'm going to do so in one big post.

My sister, Jessica, introduced me to Essential Oils a few months ago. There are many companies out there that you can buy them from, even Whole Foods carries them. However, I was blessed enough to start off learning about Essential Oils from the company called Doterra. The difference between Doterra and the other companies you can buy from is that, when you buy a bottle of their Essential Oils, that's all you're getting. You're not getting a million other synthetics that are added or other cheap oils to fill up the bottle that has one drop of severely processed leaf oil in it. If you're thinking, "Well that's all well and great, Ariel, but what the FLIP are Essential Oils?  Do I cook with them? Massage with them?" Well, yes, but it's much more. The following is a post from the Doterra website it's explaining just what Essential Oils are:

dōTERRA CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade* essential oils are pure, natural aromatic compounds carefully extracted from plants. They do not contain fillers or artificial ingredients that would dilute their active qualities. Proper extraction and quality control methods also ensure that dōTERRA essential oils are free of any contaminants such as pesticides or other chemical residues.

In addition to being pure and natural, dōTERRA essential oils are subjected to additional quality testing that ensures the correct composition of the active natural compounds found in each oil. Even though an essential oil may be pure, if the right species or part of a plant has not been used, or if the plant has not been grown in the right environment or harvested at the right time, or if it has not been distilled under the right conditions, the natural chemical makeup of the extraction will not provide as predictable and powerful a benefit. In some cases, the wrong plant harvested at the wrong time may result in an extract that contains harmful levels of some constituents.

dōTERRA^® essential oils are guaranteed to be pure, natural and free of synthetic compounds or contaminates. They are subjected to rigorous Mass Spectrometry and Gas Chromatography testing to ensure extract composition and activity. dōTERRA pure essential oils represent the safest and most beneficial essential oils available today.

Equally stringent standards of safety and efficacy are applied to all of the dōTERRA Essential Wellness products. Guided by our Scientific Advisory Board and Health-Care Professional Committee, dōTERRA uses only top development and manufacturing partners who maintain GMP certification and enjoy industry reputation for superior innovation and quality work product. Each dōTERRA product is guaranteed to exceed customer satisfaction for quality and efficacy. (http://www.doterra.com/us/companyCPTGEssentialOils.php)

Hopefully that clears up what exactly Essential Oils means. (There's even more, better info here.)They are oils extracted from plants. The oils are so important to the plants that they even have these little protective spikes on them guarding their oils, which you can see when looking under a microscope (see here). Oils have amazing healing properties to, not only these plants, but our bodies. Because they are completely natural, found in nature, our body doesn't raise any blocks or guards when we put them on our skin or in our body. They have been used for years upon years. If you've read the Bible, you'll remember reading about such oils as Frankincense and Myrr. Unfortunately, as years passed and we started being able to mass produce, people wanted things quicker, cheaper, for less work. (Like it's easy to strip down plants and get bottles full of oil.sarcasm.) Thus, we have our booming pharmaceutical industry, leaving people sicker than when they first were sick.

Again, "Fine and good, Ariel, but what the hay do I do with them?" 

Ev. Re. Thing.

Everything.

You know that saying, "There's an app for that?" Well, "There's an oil for that."

From 

..bruises, boils, acne, dandruff, cysts, cancer, endometriosis, ticks/fleas/spiders, bites, bumps, fat/cellulite, razor burn, toenail fungus, strep throat..

To

..toilet cleaner, laundry detergent, pet ailments, cooking spice, vitamins, shampoo, toothpaste..

Anything I have a problem with, I google "doterra oils *insert problem here*" and there's different oils and recipes I can try. Not to mention the wonderful, devoted oil community that there is who know leaps and bounds more than I do, always ready to share their experience, that I go to for help.

The oils have helped me with scar tissue/scar, head aches, sleep, pain when I nearly threw my back out and could barely walk, preventing sickness, and loads more I'm sure I don't even notice. They've done wonders for my sister, her family of 6, and hundreds of thousands of others.

I haven't been into the selling side of the Essential Oil business at all. I started for my own personal health with a membership so I could buy everything cheaper wholesale, the Physicians Kit, and the Lifelong Vitality Pack (vitamins). I haven't sold or tried selling oils. I'm not a salesman. I worked door to door for a roofing company not even selling anything and quit in a month realizing I was not born a salesman. I'm an introverted, don't leave my room, do everything in power not to make eye contact while walking, freak. I actually just started trying to sell this healthy mascara that I love, and it's driving me up the wall with stress because I despise the fake sounding nature of selling things. With that being said, if you do want to buy oils or become a "product consultant" (which if you're going to be buying oils I recommend because you get them cheaper and are apart of the rewards program getting free oils every month, even if you never sell one thing from Doterra) then you can follow this link. I really don't care if I even make a cent off of these oils. I have other ways of making my money without stressing myself out over becoming a salesman. I say everything that I've said because I believe that everyone should at least try oils before going straight for the doctor or urgent care next time they have a sniffle. Natural is better. Every time.

So, when you see a recipe on here that says "on guard, lemon, peppermint, lavender, etc" I'm talking about Essential Oils from Doterra, and you can get them from that website link that I posted.  

I think the next recipe I'm going to share is the toothpaste that I use! It has essential oils in it, so I figured I'd let you in on the loop first. Be on the lookout for my next recipe post! 

~Ariel