Gardening with Essential Oils

I have recently gotten into essential oils. It is also spring so I am also getting into gardening.  Only it takes some time for me to work jeff into things. So I bought a jalapeño plant as our first "mini-garden" plant. Wouldn't you know it after two days little critter appeared on it. So today is day one of my oil journey and gardening combo.

This is what it looks like this morning...

I will do an update in 5 days to see if there is a change, hopefully my concoction worked!

Ranch Pork Chops

In the event that you don't like pork chops this recipe will change your life. If you do like pork chops this recipe should still change your life! I made these last night and fell head over heels for them. Even Jeff said he liked them and he hates pork chops. As a matter of fact he used the expression "ew" when I told him what we were having. I hope you all like it as much as I did!

Ranch Pork Chops

Original Recipe here

Ingredients:

1 packet (1 ounce) Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix
6 pork loin rib chops about 1-inch thick (I only used two because they were really big and there wasn't a lot of mix left over)
dash of paprika (optional) (I didn't use paprika, it didn't need it)
salt
fresh cracked black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

Empty pack on a small plate. Place pork chop on the season and repeat on other side. Make sure it is well covered.

Arrange the chops on a baking sheet or glass pan. Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika to taste. (I did it again when I flipped the pork chops) Bake the pork chops for 20 minutes, turning once (around 10 min) until browned or an internal temperature of 150ºF is reached. Allow three minutes of rest time. (this will allow the juices to stay in the pork chop longer and create better flavor.

*Recipe only gluten free when made with all gluten free ingredients. Read labels of all packaged ingredients to determine whether they contain gluten.

Weekend Away

This last weekend we took the family to Salt Lake for a temple trip. We also brought Lenny with us so he could see some of the guys. The weekend started out great! We came over Thursday afternoon. Friday morning I was able to clean out the car, run to Costco and get my eyebrows threaded. (If you have never had your eyebrows threaded you should try it out! I love it.)

Lenny, Jeff, Anton and his wife, and I went to the Draper Temple. It was wonderful and Jeff was able to get some better direction for the family. Sometimes reconnecting with the spirit is needed. Especially when you are feel a lot of personal turmoil or confusion.

Saturday Laurel and I took the girls to the zoo. We were able to meet up with Kevin, Shellie and Kevin who brought Lyla. A lot of the animals were gone but we had a good time anyway. MecKenzie thought the zoo was amazing. She really liked saying hi to the animals. Jenelle wasn't as impressed.

After that I was able to get my hair done! I went a bit more blonde for spring and I added a little blue underneath.

 

 

Sunday we went to church then got ready to go to the Mortensens'. Samantha came down and was able to go with us. I love going to the Mortensens'. They always have a good time and good food. Who doesn't love that?

 

Unfortunately we had some car trouble. We had to take our car into the shop. Wouldn't you know it a recall part is the part that broke. Thank goodness we didn't have to pay for it. It would have cost $2,300. We didn't get the car back till today so Jeff had to go home yesterday without us. But we will get to go home today! All in all it was a pretty fun weekend. 

Toddler Hair

Jenelle's hair isn't long enough for a ponytail but it is long enough to put several ponytails into one. It's also great that she has natural curl so her ponytails always look extra cute.

Sick Day

Nothing like a sick day. MecKenzie is pretty sick, Jenelle and I are both on the verge of a cold but not as bad as MecKenzie. It's so heart breaking too, whenever she wakes up from naptime she calls my name in the saddest voice. I basically melt into a puddle.

I am more for clean living than heavy medicine. So when our family comes down with a cold there are some precautions we all take. Echinacea and Colloidal Silver are my personal favorites. I have recently dabbled in essential oils. I have had some success with them.

Tea tree oil has several uses but I used it to assist a yeast destroyer. What would have taken 3 weeks or more only took a week and a half. MecKenzie really loves essential oils. Tonight I gave her a bath with 3 drops of lavender to help her relax for bed. I don't think they are a cure all but I do think they are an added boost. Plus they smell nice.

Lent

Lent is starting tomorrow and I think I am going to give up sugar. By sugar I mean any type of refined sugar such as juice, breads and pastas. I need the body cleanse and I think it would be good for my family. They get to eat what I make. That is the benefits of not being a short order cook :) I have been exercising every morning to help get back my pre-baby body. The one area of my body that proves to be stubborn is my lovely love handles. Giving up sugar should help finish what exercise alone couldn't do.

I know I am not Catholic but I think this could be a good lesson for me. That I have more control over my choices. It should also give me a little more respect for other faiths and make me a little bit more grateful that I am LDS.

Learning How To Use Photo Shop

In middle school I learned some cool things in one of those awesome photo shop programs that I knew I would never own.... well I have gotten my hands on a program... a cheap old program but a program none the less! My first project was to merge the Proclamation to the World with a family photo. AND SUCCESS! I did it.

Now all we need to do is get an updated family photo so we can make a more official one to hang on our wall. Maybe a bigger one because this is amazing. This project has inspired more projects. I am currently teaching the 7-8 year olds in Sunday school. SO I want to take the pictures of the 8 year olds with their dad (or who ever baptizes them) and merge it with the Articles of Faith and the date they were baptized. Its going to be epic!