Breakfast Salads

We've got an abundance of wonderful lettuce right now.  We're having it at every meal, including breakfast.  Everyone just gobbles it up! 
The herbs are starting to take off as well.  We've had tarragon and chives for awhile now and they've gone into all sorts of dishes.  I add them to eggs in the morning and our salad dressings and sprinkle them all over chicken, or whatever else it sounds good on.  Now I am adding cilantro to the guacamole, or "yuckamole" as Dumpling christened it.  That's fine as it means more for Sweetheart and I. 
I am excited that I'll have fresh savory ready to go by the end of the week.  Basil keeps germinating and dying and I keep reseeding.  Maybe now that it's warmed up, it'll be okay.  I've got parsley and thyme, but I keep forgetting to use them because they are in the old garden areas.  I tried transplanting several times, but to no avail.  I'll give it one more go soon.
The mints are doing well.  We enjoy sprigs in our water bottles and I've even been adding sprigs of lavender to mine as well.  It's so refreshing on these sweltering days.
So, from breakfast through dinnertime, our garden is adding fresh flavors and extra goodness to our meals.  What a blessing.

Homemade Vapor Rub- All Natural and Easy

 ** Don't want to make your own?  Our Vapor Rub is now available in our Etsy Store!!!!

I remember having Vicks Vaporub smeared all over when I was sick as a child. I loved the stuff! It always smelled good and fresh to me. Now, though, I prefer not to use petroleum products on my skin. Also, Vicks Vaporub is NOT recommended for kids under two. The reasons for that make me think it probably isn't much better for my guys who aren't much older.

I looked up a few other homemade vapor rub recipes and decided to come up with my own to use what I have on hand. Some of the recipes were vague, others had you pouring essential oils into a tub of Vaseline. If I wanted that, I'd just buy the Vicks!  I want something NATURAL.

The 1/4 cup beeswax to 1 cup oil ratio works so well for my Healing Balms that I thought it would make a nice consistency for a homemade vapor rub as well. We all love the balm and use it all the time. It has been a big hit around here and with my friends as well. It goes on smooth, but not greasy or sticky.

I whipped a batch up of this today and it smells great. We are all well here, but I thought it would be nice to have something on hand because it seems like the rest of the city is sick. I have a jar I use for my beeswax concoctions so I just put the oil and beeswax in that and melted it in the microwave for about three minutes, until the beeswax had melted. The entire process has taken longer to type up than to actually make.

It was overwhelming when I first poured all the oils in and reminded me of the Mint Room on the Celestial Seasonings Tea Tour. However, now that it is in the jars and cooled it smells fine. I rubbed a bit on me to test it out and it is nice. I'm glad to have one more thing we can use that is a bit more natural.

All Natural Homemade Vapor Rub Recipe:
Melt 1/4 cup Beeswax in 1 cup Olive Oil. Add in 15 drops Peppermint Essential Oil & 10 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil. Stir and pour into containers. Let cool and rub on as needed. Breathe easy!

*****************Edited: I ended up going back, remelting the rub and adding in about twice the amounts of Peppermint & Eucalyptus EO. When I first was mixing it the amount seemed strong, but when I actually used it, it wasn't really. NOW it will really work. I'd suggested experimenting yourself to see what works best for you. Let me know how it works.

****************** UPDATE: Nov 29th 2010== Welcome new readers!!! Thanks for stopping by! Hope you find something new and helpful for you. BTW- It's been just over a year since I did this post and I still have most of the last jar of the Homemade Vapor Rub. Dumpling woke up with a stuffy nose yesterday and so I remelted what was left and added more Peppermint & Eucalyptus EO to the jar. It's working well and soothes his upper lip and nose where I've rubbed it in. It is helping to drain his sinuses and keeps his skin from getting sore from wiping. I've also equipped him with some cloth handkerchiefs to use instead of just Kleenex. I've also rubbed it onto his chest and back before naps and sleeping last night. He likes it, too. :)

******Looking for more natural products we all use that you can make yourself?    Read the Simple Living Posts Page.  There are lots of ideas and links to all the things I have learned to just make myself.   From alternatives to shampooing, homemade deodorant, lotions, lipbalms, cleaning products, laundry detergent and more are all there!

The Gentle Joys of Summer

Our rose bushes are simply bursting with blossoms. These are my particular favorites. It is called, I believe, an Elizabeth Rose. Their scent isn't as strong as some of the others, but the color is extraordinary.

I learned a few years ago to wait to prune back the roses until spring, not in the fall as they die back even more than is cut. It has made an incredible difference in the size of the bushes these last two years. I am keeping our home, and several others, filled with roses. It's so wonderful!

I love having a garden. Some years have been more successful than others. We have a lot of weeds this year, but our herbs and veggies are going strong. Now, to just get to gather some strawberries before the birds do!

I've been livening up our meals with little touches from the garden already. I made up a quick batch of pesto with the basil and a few other things I had on hand substituting raw cashews for the pine nuts as I did not want to take the time to peel all the pine nuts. It's so good spread on fresh bread and adding a touch of cream cheese and fresh tomatoes makes it truly delightful.

Speaking of cream cheese, I love mixing it with just fresh chives, dill, and thyme and serving it on crackers or bread. Even Pumpkin loves it! It's such a lighter and delicious version of something like a Boursin cheese. It tastes so wonderfully fresh.

Dinner tonight will be Greek Chicken, if I get on the ball and get that pita bread rising. I love to serve it with Tajiki and have fresh dill and cucumbers just waiting to be mixed into the plain yogurt. Sprinkled with a bit of feta for some zing-yum! It helps that I grilled a ton of chicken and other meat the other night all at once so that I have meat ready to go in the fridge and freezer.

Boy, I seem to be really focused on food right now! Must be from skipping eating most of yesterday. I seemed to have caught a 24 hour buggy thing, but am feeling great now.

It's been a bit of a roller coaster month for us. It started off with me dashing off to see my Dad when he had his pacemaker installed, to a scare with Pumpkin last week. The poor little guy fell while we were at a friend's house. We spent the afternoon at the doctor's where the x-rays turned out fine. Pumpkin was in a splint for a few days, and refused to walk for a few more, but is now running around just fine. Thank you, Lord! The stress of it all about did this Mommy and Daddy in.

Now, I'm bouncing back from not feeling well and trying to get ready for a visit from my Dad and Stepmom this weekend. They just decided on Monday to come on up. They haven't seen the boys since Christmas, so we are excited to have them coming. Now, to just try and get done all the things I'd like to have done before they arrive. (Yes, Carey and Mom, I know...I know. You really don't need to say anything.)

We are having such a fun time around here, though, in between little jobs to do. The boys are learning to play together so well. It's not without its tears, but is such a joy to see. They really do love one another. Well, I hear little voices up from naps, so I'll sign off now. Hope you are having a lovely week as well.