I enjoy cooking, but the hardest part about making dinner or any other meal for that matter is deciding what to make. I think we get stuck in a routine of making the same things over and over. Either because we don’t know where to start, our family is picky and/or sometimes I think we over complicate things, wanting it to be too fancy or too perfect. We have so many resources to find recipes and learn how to make new dishes, but that requires time. There are tons of resources for meal prepping to help you be organized and not take up time during the week, but what if you don’t want to spend one of your precious weekend days meal prepping? If any or all of those thought have entered your mind, you’ve come to the right place!
I’m a busy entrepreneur, while I do work from home, I am extremely disciplined and have work hours in place. Even though I strive to be finished with computer/office work in time to be available to my son after school and cook my family dinner, sometimes there’s a random Zoom, etc. that I have to tend to. Oh, and like I mentioned before, I am one of those that struggle with figuring out what to make.
So, I want to share a few tips. First of all, I have a handful of essential oils that I use in the kitchen all the time. These are ones I’m comfortable using in my kitchen clean up, in my cooking or drinks without having a recipe. There are TONS of dÅTERRA essential oils that are fantastic companions in the kitchen, but these few are my personal favorites.
I think that when things are over complicated, or we feel like we have to follow a recipe, that’s when we start neglecting our awesome natural resources and they get shoved in a drawer and not used as frequently and eventually forgotten. I hope to help change that for you.
Using doTERRA essential oils in your drinks, smoothies and shakes is a great way to expereince the flavor and health benefits of essential oils in a simple and convienent way. I love a couple drops of Lemon essential oil in my water or when I want something warm, hot water, one drop of Peppermint essential oil and a little bit of raw honey is my go-to.
One of doTERRA's most popular holiday items for 2020 was the limited edition Cuisine Blends. These are wonderful additions to the kitchen. Beyond delicious and easy to use. They are diluted with a "carrier" oil to help add a wonderful flavor and not overly potent for using in your dishes. The Italian blend has an olive oil base, Mexican has an avocado oil base, and the Tropical blend comes in a base of coconut oil. If you were lucky enough to score these, I would love to hear how you're using them. If you're drooling wishing you had them you should
reach out to me, I might just have an extra one in my stash that would make for a great new customer gift.
In addition to using essential oils in my standard go-to dishes – Taco Tuesday, Spaghetti, Breakfast for Dinner, Steak, and Salads I have also found that using a meal delivery service has been fantastic. I appreciate the variety and being able to pick dishes that my family will eat. I love the fresh ingredients, the proper portioning so there’s little to no waste with my fresh produce (cause it hurts my feelings when I throw out a fruit of veggie that didn’t get eaten before it spoiled), and the convenience of it being delivered to my door. I dig that you can pick your delivery day, the frequency, and can even skip a week whenever you need to.
I was turned on to this awesome article:
Best Meal Delivery Services Based on In-Depth Reviews by Consumers Advocate. I had already started using a meal delivery service before running across the article, but I’ve kept it book-marked, so I have a good reference to know other good ones to try should I decide to take advantage of new customer deals. Wink.
Here are some pictures of some of the dishes that have come from the meal delivery service I use, and the average prep/cook time is about 30 minutes. Look how fancy-pants I am! I do three meals a week, those along with my some of my family’s favorites takes the guess work out of the week and I don’t have to spend a day prepping. Although I’m not knocking those people that do, I would love to, but for me, with the season I’m in with my life and routine, it’s not for me.
Did you know that you can still use your oils in the kitchen even if you take advantage of a meal delivery service? Not only do I use my essential oils to replace fresh herbs sometimes, but On Guard and Lemon specifically are fantastic for washing the impurities and yuckies off your fruits and veggies. Simply add your produce to a water bath with a couple drops of either or both.
I hope you have a little more confidence and feel like you've got some good options for bringing variety and flavor in your kitchen and cooking. I'm always here as a resource if you have questions or are looking for something specific - recipe or idea. I've done a couple other blog posts related to oils in the kitchen:
Essential Oils Around the Kitchen and
Cooking with Essential Oils are good resources.
xoDanette