Natural Stain Remover

Want another natural stain remover for your laundry?  Try this one out.  Combine a half cup of vinegar with about 20 drops of lemon essential oil for a safe stain removing alternative.  Just soak the stain with your solution before throwing it into the wash.  Lemon essential oil is pretty powerful too.  Did you know you can remove permanent marker from a dry erase board with a little lemon oil?  Who knew?

www.holistichomeremedy.com

Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National Park

To quote Hippocrates, "Nature itself is the best physician".   This photo was taken with my iPhone at Oxbow Bend in the Grand Teton National Park.  The view is just too amazing for words.

Cucumber Salsa

With the internal cleansing benefits of lemon, lime and cilantro oils you really can’t go wrong enjoying cucumber salsa. We made this for a recent gathering and it was gone before we could get it to the table. Who knew eating healthy could taste this good?

2 cups chopped cucumber

1/2 cup chopped tomato

1 chopped anaheim pepper

1/4 cup onion (Red or Green)

1/8 cup minced fresh parsley

1 garlic clove minced

1/4 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt

6 drops lemon essential oil

3 drops lime essential oil

1 drop cilantro essential oil

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt (we use pure sea salt that has not been treated with any anti-caking agents)

WWW.HOLISTICHOMEREMEDY.COM

Tea Time

I love a good cup of tea. Earl Grey is my favorite. Now that I always keep bergamot essential oil on hand, I can turn any cup of ordinary black tea into Earl Grey. Bergamot has long been used for it's calming and soothing aroma. When my stress levels get high I love reaching for a cup of this wonderful smelling tea to unwind.

Finest Moments

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”  Scott Peck

Power of Being Still

Chicken Pot Pie with Thyme Essential Oil

Pot pies are a favorite at our house. The promise of a pot pie will beckon my husband and son to the table every time. This is the perfect opportunity to cook with essential oils. Thyme is a great addition to poultry dishes. This chicken pot pie is proof of that. We like to add thyme oil during cooking not only for flavor but also to help promote a healthy immune system. Just make sure the essential oils you are using are safe for consumption.

Chicken Pot Pie with Thyme Essential Oil

This recipe calls for about 4 1/4 cups combined assorted veggies. I’m going to list what we use but like a casserole, you can swap these up using the veggies you have and what you like. Feel free to alter this recipe to fit your own taste. 

1 pastry top, make your own pie crust or buy it from the store.

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup sliced celery (we were out of celery tonight so we used a cup of diced potato cooked in the chicken stalk with a teaspoon of celery salt. It turned out great)

1/2 cup diced sweet peppers

1 cup frozen veggies (we use a mix of peas, carrots, green beans and corn)

If you don’t want to use frozen, no worries, just steam your veggies and set them aside to add with the chicken.

2 tbsp butter

1/3 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste (about a 1/4 tsp each)

2 drops thyme essential oil

1 lb of chicken cooked and diced, about 2 1/2 cups cooked (We use any kind of chicken. Thigh, breast or chicken sausage all turn out great)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup half and half

1 egg beaten

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Prepare your pastry topper and set it aside.
2. Cook 1 lb chicken covered over medium to medium low heat in 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Once your chicken is cooked through and browned you can remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside as well. Add about two cups liquid to the pan. Bring this liquid (this can be water or canned broth, you could even add in a dash of white wine if you have it) to a simmer pulling drippings from the bottom of the pan as you stir in 2 drops of thyme oil. If you are cooking potatoes to add to your pot pie this is a great time to add them to your broth and cook until tender prior to adding them to your filling later. Save this liquid to add as your broth. If you don’t like making your own broth you can add the thyme oil in the next step instead. 
3. In a large sauce pan cook onions, garlic, mushrooms, celery and peppers in butter over medium heat until veggies are tender. Stir in the flower, salt, black pepper and 1 tsp celery salt or poultry seasoning if you are using them. Stir in half and half and chicken broth cooking until thick and bubbly. Add diced cooked chicken and frozen veggies. This is when you would add your cooked potatoes if you are adding those as well. Poor into your baking dish. It should be about a 2 quart dish.
4. Place pastry over the mixture in the dish. Turn the pastry edges under. It should hang just over the edges so that you can flute the edges of the pie crust to the dish. Brush the pastry top with egg to give your cooked crust a beautiful brown color.
5. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees fahrenheit for about 30 minutes until the crust is golden brown in color. Set aside and allow your pot pie to stand for about 20 minutes prior to serving so that it sets up nicely and your filling is nice and thick. 

Enjoy!