My Young Living Essential Oil kit finally arrived and I was ecstatic but very overwhelmed. I received a box of 10 different kinds of oils with names that were completely foreign to me. Was I really going to put these “magical” liquids into my body? I then wondered, why are the vials so tiny? Are they going to last longer than a week? At first I turned to only Youtube. It was very helpful in teaching me about what each of the Essential Oils are in my premium starter kit but were not as successful at teaching me how to cook with them. That’s when I became apart of my first Affinity Group for fun. It is called Lemon Aid Library. It is a secret group on Facebook with nearly 57,000 members dedicated to support people in using Young Living Essential Oils. People post recipes, ask questions, and engage in online discussions centered around using the oils. They even offer online Professional Developments for people interested in learning more. All of a sudden I felt I belonged to something and that I was not alone in this project. I decided I would attempt baked goods first and then move into more difficult recipes like spaghetti sauces or dips. I got the recipe for Young Living Peppermint Brownies off of Pinterest. I opted to use dark chocolate brownie mix over the milk chocolate just for personal preference. The recipe called for 3 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil. As I tipped the top it seemed to take a while for the oil to come out so I tipped the bottle over a little bit further. Big mistake! The drops came out so quickly I ended up with 5 drops. Just 5 drops…for a tiny bit of oil that doesn’t sound so bad right? It turns out Essential Oils are extremely strong! Lesson learned, a little bit goes a long way! My brownies still came out delicious though just very pepperminty… like thin mints!
After finally getting a handle on how to gently pour out the oil I chose to try a more difficult recipe: Lavender Lemonade. This recipe was one I found through Lemon Aid Library previously mentioned. My biggest challenge was proportion control. The recipe called for 12 cups of water but my largest pitcher only held 9. When I dumped in my lemons a lot of my water came flowing out the top. I let the lemonade chill overnight, mainly because I was afraid to taste it. I did not adjust the other ingredients when I saw I had to use less water so the lavender was overpowering at first. After stirring after taking a few more steps I got used to the lavender taste. It made me feel very calm and relaxed after I drank a full cup. I was finally feeling the positive effects of adding in the essential oil. I suggest drinking before bed for a well rested nights sleep!
After attempting the lemonade I decided I wanted to go back and perfect a baked good. I practiced using a recipe for Lavender Lemon Cake Cookies.
2. Roll the dough into balls and spread about an inch apart
Bake for 9 minutes on 350 degrees.
After mastering baking the lemon cookies and discovering that I think they taste better without the lavender candy in the middle, I decided to see what other people thought of my progress. I brought them to the survivor tent at Relay for Life in West Bloomfield. Watch the videos to see what my critics thought of my new baking skills!
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