Category:

Oh Happy Days!

3/30/2016

Oh Happy Days!
By Cheryl L. McClure

Don't be stubborn! You don't have to tough it out - there's help!! Lavender, Lemon and Peppermint are a great trio to have on hand any time of the year. They are great together for supporting the respiratory system.

Vitality oils are labeled as supplements so that you can take internally. For example, 3 drops Lavender Vitality, 3 drops Lemon Vitality and 3 drops Peppermint Vitality. Add them to NingXia Red or put in a capsule with and 3 drops carrier oil (coconut or olive oil will work). You're welcome!

On their own, there are also many other uses. Lets look at each one individually.

Lavender - Topical
Ingredients: Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) oil

Has a calming and soothing fragrance. It makes a nice linen spray: 8 drops Lavender + 4 oz spray bottle (like this) of distilled water. Lavender is also a relaxing addition to skin care products and it’s great in the bath. Mix with epsom salts and soak in the tub!!

Lavender Vitality™ - Supplement
Ingredients: Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) oil

With a sweet, slightly floral flavor, it pairs well with many foods. Use Lavender Vitality™ essential oil to add this delightful flavor to your meals. It is complimentary with dairy in shortbread, pound cake, ice cream, meringue, or whipped cream recipes.

Lemon - Topical
Ingredients: Lemon (Citrus limon) peel oil

Did you know it takes 75 lemons to make one 15 ml bottle of Lemon essential oil? It is energizing, cleansing and is used for circulatory support. Just the smell alone is uplifting!

Lemon Vitality™ - Supplement
Ingredients: Lemon (Citrus limon) peel oil

Add Lemon Vitality™ oil to fish, chicken or even pastries and cakes. Yum! Add a drop or two to your glass of water each morning to start the day off right! Or you could add 1-2 drops to a vegetarian gel capsule and take daily or as needed.

You will want a
glass water bottle something like this:

Because lemon eats plastic. Just saying'.

Peppermint - Topical
Ingredients: Peppermint (Mentha piperita)† leaf oil

This oil is energizing and it supports digestion. Apply a drop or two of Peppermint to your head and neck for a little boost of positivity. I used to put a drop in my palm, rub palms together and cup my nose to breathe in. It helped me a lot when I was sitting at a desk all day behind the computer. Try diffusing with other oils like Rosemary, Spearmint or Sage.

Peppermint is a key ingredient in PanAway®, AromaEase®, Aroma Siez™, Relieve It™, and Deep Relief™ Roll-On essential oil blends.

Peppermint Vitality™ - Supplement
Ingredients: Peppermint (Mentha piperita)† leaf oil

This is a versatile oil and it’s flavor is well liked! It can support healthy gut function and digestive efficiency. Add to water or tea or even a workout drink like NingXia Red or NingXia Nitro.

This is another oil you can add a drop to a glass of water for a refreshing start of the day. Personally, I like it in my herbal hot tea at night!

Add a couple of drops to one chocolate bark bar (like this) when you make chocolate dipped pretzels (like these) for a special treat!

I hope this gives you some ideas for using your oils. If you notice, each of the oils has a Vitality version. This way, when you see a Vitality oil, you will know for sure that you can ingest that type of Young Living essential oil. Note the same ingredients but a different label.

There is so much to gain when you do your research. There are even more ways to use these valuable oils. I hope you will take charge of your health and enjoy the benefit, because you chose to make it the best it can be!

Every drop of healthy change adds up! Shop here> Choose Onsie, Twosie or Best Bang for Your Buck!

Happy Oiling!
Cheryl @ Pickle Creek Ranch
yldist.com/cherylintexas

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But I'm So Cute!

3/24/2016

2 Comments

But I'm So Cute!
By Cheryl L. McClure

I’d like to share about Thieves and Purification, two of my favorite essential oils. You could say these are man’s best friend.

We have this thing about living in the country. We love it, but don’t love the fragrance that surrounds us when skunks spray!!

Now, Chester, our energetic dog, whom we love with all our hearts, is pretty intense about finding other animals. In fact he makes a pretty good mouser but he hasn’t learned his lesson about skunks because he still insists on chasing them if he sees one or smells one.

Yes, these pictures were taken at the ranch.
Let's see how close we can get without getting sprayed by the skunk! LOL. Thank goodness for the zoom lens.

One time he had wandered off and chased down a skunk only to come back and stink up the entire front porch of the cabin. It was really pretty funny because Jan Paul called me that day and asked me where my special spray was. I had already made up the spray using Purification and purified water in a small spray bottle. I use it to spray on my clothes when I go for a walk too. It makes for a more pleasant, carefree experience outside.

Anyway, Jan Paul went out and sprayed the front porch a few times AND the dog. It knocked out the smell on the porch and if my memory serves me, the dog smelled much better too. Not to say that he didn’t need to wash the dog, but it was enough to clear it up and make it bearable to get him a bath!

Another time, we found a dead skunk in one of the barns. It had been there for a few days and it was REALLY repulsive. This called for the big guns - I mean more drops to make sure that there was NO smell to gag Jan Paul when he went out to remove it. It was bad. How bad? Oh, it was B - A - D. I’m not as sensitive as Jan Paul and it gagged me, so I took care of the smell so that he could get rid of the dead skunk. I’m telling you, I added about 20 drops into my bottle and sprayed about 4 oz of it on and around the dead skunk. It worked well enough so that he could breathe and get it out of there. The following day you would not have known what had transpired the day before.

Purification is well liked for it’s fresh and clean smell anyway so it can be used in in your diffuser or spray bottle. It is a blend of the oils Citronella, Lavandin, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Myrtle, and Tea Tree.

You could make up your concoction and put a cute label on it. It’s a good idea to know what’s in your spray bottle and sometimes I write the list of ingredients so I will be able to duplicate it when empty.

Just think of all the possibilities where you could use this spray! I’d say, um, anywhere the smell is just not right!!

I also carry Thieves spray in my purse ALL THE TIME. You can find it here already mixed> bit.ly/1MoCNCM or you could make your own.

You never know when you might need to spray it in the car to freshen up the air. We have driven across country several times and you don’t even have to do that to run into an area that is stinky. It could be a dead skunk on the road or a sewer plant or sometimes you don’t know where it came from but it’s enough to choke a person. I shut off the outside air and get out the spray. Usually one squirt is all it takes in the car/truck and the smell is eaten up!

Thieves spray is also good to have on hand if you need to sanitize your hands. It’s a good all around spray. And like I said in the beginning....

If you haven’t tried Purification or Thieves yet, I encourage you to add them to your collection of good oils for a good life!

When you are ready to order, use my member number 1176855 to get the best bang for your buck here> Starter Bundles or for retail prices
Thieves Spray (which I carry at all times!)
Thieves Essential Oil (singles to make your own sprays)
Purification Essential Oil (singles to make your own sprays)

Happy Oiling!
From Cheryl @ Pickle Creek Ranch
Member Number 1176855

2 Comments

Exercise at the Ranch

1/26/2016

2 Comments

Exercise at the Ranch
By Cheryl L. McClure

There are so many things to do at the ranch that require healthy activity. Walking, gardening, working in the barn and cleaning out stalls, for example.

Jan Paul does a lot of walking at the ranch. He is constantly checking on cows, fencing, building structures, planting, mowing or baling hay, moving hay or working on one of the dams.

I like gathering wood and having bonfires!

But my main focus is on the garden which started out as a spot to bury the family horse, Buzzard. She was an old horse that belonged to Jan Paul's mom and she lived a long, full life. She came to live with us in her later years and one day was bitten by a snake, which caused her to become swollen in the mouth area and she lost a good portion of hide on her neck. Jan Paul doctored her up and took such good care of her, nursing her back to health. You couldn't even tell where she had lost the hide because it grew back, fur and all! In her last year, the freezing temps were too much for her and she had to be put down.

We found a perfect spot to honor her life and decided to plant a Bald Cypress on top of her plot. Then, we decided some flowers would be nice around the tree, then some pathways and a fence to keep the donkeys from eating the flowers and the tree! Hence, the Pickle Creek Ranch Botanical Garden!

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Green Tomato Weekend

11/24/2015

4 Comments

Green Tomato Weekend and
Chicken / Green Tomato
Crock Pot Chili
by Cheryl L. McClure

What to do with all those green tomatoes? I asked and got some great ideas from my friends on Facebook, thank you! There's fried green tomatoes, chicken/green tomato chili, salsa verde, and other various relishes to make.

The first thing to do is separate the tomatoes that are turning pink. Set those aside to ripen and either blanch and freeze or use right away.

We had a freeze coming so I had to get to work. And fast! So, not only did I harvest tomatoes, I had poblanos, bell peppers, banana peppers, habanero peppers, sage, oregano, basil and mint!! Whew!

I have a regular dehydrator so I use that. One day, I will grow up and get an Excalibur, but for now this will do! I sliced and seeded the poblanos, bell peppers and habaneros (which I will use in the spring for garlic-pepper tea). After I filled the dehydrator, I saved out some poblanos for roasting.

The herbs are easy, just take the leaves off the stems, wash and spin in a salad spinner. Lay out on a paper towel and dry in the microwave. I zap them in 2 minute intervals watching and checking til I see that they're dry. The sage did not crush by hand so well, so I crushed it in the magic bullet and made a nice powder out of it. Then label and store all these in glass jars.

Since I wanted to make Chicken Tomatillo Chili (using my green tomatoes instead), I had some thinking to do and get it all straight in my head first. What to chop, what to roast, what to freeze after roasted, what to dehydrate, what to freeze after slicing flat. Now that I've typed it out, I know why it took me so long to figure it all out! LOL

First I have to tell you that the little Patio Container Tomato Bush I bought at Wal-Mart, put out consistently all summer long. They weren't the prettiest tomatoes, but I found that when I pulled them just as they started to turn pinkish, they wouldn't split as bad. They were great in salads, on sandwiches and I even made some for pasta sauce.

So if you want to try this one, look for Bonnie Plants - Patio Container - Determinate. And plant it in your flower bed!!

Any who, here's what I did and what you could do:

Wash and sort small tomatoes for roasting, larger for freezing raw for fried green tomatoes.

Cut the ends off each tomato, make two or three medallion slices about a quarter inch thick and then quarter. Till it fills the bowl.

Add about 3 or 4 large cloves of minced garlic crushed with the Pampered Chef garlic crusher. (these are the best, btw!)
Pour a little olive oil - maybe a tablespoon or so - onto the tomatoes.
Stir it all together in the bowl and then dump onto the cookie sheet to make one layer. I roasted two pans at a time.

For the whole roasting process, I ended up chopping and preparing tomatoes, onion and poblano. I wanted to preserve some roasted poblano in the freezer as well as using some poblano and onion in my chili.

Roast at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, take out and flip it all over and then put back in for another 15 minutes.

I got so excited about making my chili I put half the pan full of tomatoes and part of the poblanos in the food processor and THEN remembered to take the picture.

Done with that part!

After it all cooled, I labeled 1/2 quart freezer bags and stored tomatoes to use later for soup, chili or Salsa Verde.
For the rest of the larger tomatoes, I sliced the same way but did not chop. Tops and bottoms off, then sliced the middles to make about a quarter inch medallions. These, I laid out on a cookie sheet with foil and froze flat so they would not stick together so much when I put them in a freezer bag.

Peppers are so pretty and since I had a few bell peppers and banana peppers left, I decided to halve and seed them, brush with olive oil and roast. Then I froze them flat to keep in the freezer. These, I will be able to take out later and top with a meaty Italian tomato sauce and cook for dinner.

Chicken/Green Tomato Crock Pot Chili

Last but not least, I finally got to my Chicken Green Tomato Crock Pot Chili. I found two recipes online that I liked and adapted to make my own.

Roasted, Half a pan of chopped green tomatoes (or 7-8 medium green tomatoes)

Roasted, 2 poblanos
Roasted, 3 cloves of fresh minced garlic
Roasted, 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
Two crock pot cooked chicken breasts, chopped
Chicken broth from crock pot ( or 4 cups chicken stock)
Extra water to cover
1 can green chilis
2 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Coriander
3 tsp. dried Cilantro (fresh is better)
1 tsp. White Pepper

After roasting the veggies, put them in a food processor and pulse till smooth.
Chop the chicken and combine everything into the crock pot. Set to highest setting for about an hour, then reduce to low for an hour or two. I cooked mine for about 4 hours. We had so much left over that it's better every day that we heat it up! Add a drop of lemon or lime essential oil for added flavor! See my page and check it out here> Essential Oils

I hope you find something useful here. Maybe you too, will find that there really IS something you can do with green tomatoes!!

Have fun!
Cheryl

#greentomatoes #chili #peppers #freeze # dehydrate #youngliving #essentialoils #crockpot

4 Comments

Easy Oiling - Make your own Nitey Nite!

11/11/2015

0 Comments

Easy Oiling
Make your own Nitey Nite!
by Cheryl L. McClure

One of the things I love about Young Living essential oils is the variety of oils to choose from! There are so many with different constituents and each has their own little special characteristic. Like the coolness of Peppermint and the soothing effects of Lavender.

I can choose to use one or two or several to make my own special blend. My man was telling me how he was ready to just crash and go to bed one evening. It had been a trying day, with fixing a trailer, herding cows together and loading them up to move to another pasture. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable, relaxed and peaceful when he went to bed that night so I gathered my oils and started putting one after the other on his back, drop by drop on the spine and shoulders, adding Ortho Ease to spread it around and make the oils go further. I chose oils that would support body systems like the nervous system, for relaxation and the muscular system which would help with tension or those pesky periodic muscle aches. There is a great website called www.innerbody.com where you can really see how different body systems work!!

The next day, I decided to make up a blend and put it in a 10ML roller bottle. Here's what I used:
8 drops of each:

Wintergreen
Peppermint
Aroma Siez
Valor
Lavender
Cedarwood
Copaiba
Frankincense

and then I filled it the rest of the way up with Ortho Ease. EASY!!

Ortho Ease is even great by itself to soothe tired muscles.

I was more than happy to make his own special blend since he slept so well the night before and commented on how nice it was. How could I NOT make it!! :)

If you think about what body systems you want to support, you can combine those oils for sure! Also, it's nice to blend oils that smell good and create a relaxing atmosphere.

If you want the best oils on the planet IMO - and ones that can not compare, visit my page> http://picklecreekranch.com/essential-oils.html.

You can buy one oil at a time or get a really good deal with a Premium Starter Kit! (See Best Bang for Your Buck). And holler at me if you need help! That's what I'm here for!

Happy Oiling!
Cheryl L. McClure

#essentialoils #youngliving #relaxation #nighttime #sleep #muscles

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Using Essential Oils Around Chickens

11/6/2015

0 Comments

Using Essential Oils Around Chickens
by Cheryl L. McClure

Let's face it, we all have off days, right? Even our pets do. Even our chickens do!!

Our poor hen, Lucy was looking pretty sad one day. I had been watching her and realized she was NOT feeling well. And my other half asked me how did I know?? Well she just wasn't acting right. She was going off and sitting by herself and not getting out to mingle or peck or scratch or anything! Her comb and waddle were both pale - almost white!! I wasn't sure what was going on. Her poop had become yellow and pasty and stuck to her feathers.

We thought she was egg bound so we did what the "Chicken Chick" suggested, and we put her in a warm bath and tried to get her to relax.

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The Blog Page

Oh Happy Days!

Oh Happy Days!
By Cheryl L. McClure

But I'm So Cute!

But I'm So Cute!
By Cheryl L. McClure

Exercise at the Ranch

Exercise at the Ranch
By Cheryl L. McClure

Green Tomato Weekend

Green Tomato Weekend and
Chicken / Green Tomato
Crock Pot Chili
by Cheryl L. McClure

Easy Oiling - Make your own Nitey Nite!

Easy Oiling
Make your own Nitey Nite!
by Cheryl L. McClure

Using Essential Oils Around Chickens

Using Essential Oils Around Chickens
by Cheryl L. McClure

Cheryl L. McClure

Categories

Archives

The Blog Page

Oh Happy Days!

Oh Happy Days!By Cheryl L. McClure

But I'm So Cute!

But I'm So Cute!By Cheryl L. McClure

Exercise at the Ranch

Exercise at the RanchBy Cheryl L. McClure

Green Tomato Weekend

Green Tomato Weekend and Chicken / Green Tomato Crock Pot Chili by Cheryl L. McClure

Easy Oiling - Make your own Nitey Nite!

Easy OilingMake your own Nitey Nite!by Cheryl L. McClure

Using Essential Oils Around Chickens

Using Essential Oils Around Chickensby Cheryl L. McClure

Cheryl L. McClure

Categories

Archives

Oh Happy Days!
By Cheryl L. McClure

But I'm So Cute!
By Cheryl L. McClure

Exercise at the Ranch
By Cheryl L. McClure

Green Tomato Weekend and
Chicken / Green Tomato
Crock Pot Chili
by Cheryl L. McClure

Easy Oiling
Make your own Nitey Nite!
by Cheryl L. McClure

Using Essential Oils Around Chickens
by Cheryl L. McClure