Homemade Christmas: Easy Thieves Oil

“The recipe for this blend is believed to have originated from thieves during the 15th century. According to popular theory, the concoction was created by a group of four thieves and grave robbers to protect themselves from contracting the plague while robbing the bodies of the gravely ill and deceased. When apprehended, the thieves admitted to using the formula and disclosed the recipe in order to receive a less severe punishment for their crimes.”
Mountain Rose Herbs: Thieves Oil

ek-thieves-oil

Thieves Oil is a multipurpose antibacterial agent. You can dilute Thieves Oil with water, vinegar, or any oil of your choice. I diluted the Thieves Oil with witch hazel extract and jojoba oil. The girls particularly likely the Thieves Oil with witch hazel extract. Thieves Oil makes a great gift!

Thieves Oil has long been used as a multipurpose, anti-bacterial agent. There are many versions of Thieves Oil but this version is from Mountain Rose Herbs.

4.0 parts Clove Bud essential oil
3.5 parts Lemon essential oil
2.0 parts Cinnamon Bark essential oil
1.5 parts Eucalyptus essential oil
1.0 part Rosemary essential oil
Don’t worry too much about getting the ratios just right because the Thieves Oil will still work well. When I made my blend, I mistakenly added too much lemon essential oil but the resulting Thieves Oil was very pleasant.

Label this bottle as undiluted or pure Thieves Oil. Essential oils are very powerful agents. Thieves Oil should be diluted before using. You can dilute with water, cider vinegar, alcohol, witch hazel extract, or any oil. For a 1% dilution add 6 drops of Thieves Oil to 1oz (30mL) of the carrier of your choice. For a 2% dilution at 12 drops of Thieves Oil to 1oz (30mL) of the carrier of your choice. For more information please see Mountain Rose Blog: Dilutions and Conversions Guide.

Once the Thieves Oil is diluted it can be used directly on the skin. Remember to shake the dilution before using. Some people put a few drops of the pure Thieves Oil in a spray bottle for disinfecting the kitchen or bathroom. Others use a few drops of the pure Thieves Oil in a essential oil diffuser to kill germs in their household.

thieves-oil-2

Remember to label your Thieves Oil with the type of carrier used for dilution.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! May your family be blessed with health and happiness in the new year!

Homemade Christmas: Frankincense Oil and Frankincense Salve

“Boswellia is one of the most ancient and respected herbs in ayurvedic healing. Researchers and clinicians are finding that boswellia is a potent anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, and pain reliever without any side effects. The gum and the oil also are used in cosmetics, perfumes, and skin-care products.”
Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phyllis A Balch

frankincense-oil

Frankincense Oil reduces inflammation, boosts immunity, improves mood and is good for the skin. It smells nice too!

Frankincense Oil

1/4c organic frankincense resin, ground
2/3c organic olive oil
2/3c organic shea butter
1/2oz pure bee’s wax, small pieces
60 drops frankincense essential oil (optional)
Grind the frankincense resin in a mortar and pestle into a very find powder. Put the frankincense powder into a Pyrex measuring cup and add the olive oil. Half fill a sauce pan with water and put the Pyrex cup into the sauce pan. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the frankincense and olive oil for 3-4 hours. Cool the frankincense infused oil overnight. The frankincense powder will drop to the bottom of the Pyrex cup.

Carefully, pour off the frankincense infused olive oil into another Pyrex cup. Try not to disturb the frankincense powder at the bottom of the cup. Leave some of the olive oil behind, if desired. Reserve this mixture for making Frankincense Salve. Add the shea butter and bee’s wax. Half fill a sauce pan with water and put the Pyrex cup into the sauce pan. Bring the water to a boil. Simmer until the shea butter and bee’s wax are melted. Stir in the frankincense essential oil, if desired. Carefully, pour the hot oil into containers and label.

“Laboratory studies have shown that boswellic acids, active components in boswellia, deactivate the hormonal triggers for inflammation and pain in osteoarthritis.”
Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phyllis A Balch

frankincense-salve

Frankincense Salve is vigorously rubbed into sore joints or tissue.

Frankincense Salve

This salve is more like a scrub because of its granular texture. The salve is intended to be vigorously rubbed into the skin and left on the skin to absorb.

1/4c frankincense mixture from making Frankincense Oil
1/4c frankincense infused oil (optional)
1/4oz pure bee’s wax, small pieces
30 drops frankincense essential oil (optional)
Pour off the any extra frankincense infused oil into another Pyrex cup. In a clean mortar and pestle, grind the frankincense mixture into the smooth paste. Get the paste as smooth as possible by doing small amounts. Pour the smooth paste into the Pyrex cup before starting a second amount. When completed add the bee’s wax. Half fill a sauce pan with water and put the Pyrex cup into the sauce pan. Bring the water to a boil. Simmer until the bee’s wax is melted. Stir in the frankincense essential oil, if desired. Carefully, pour the hot mixture into containers and label.

The following information about frankincense comes from The King’s Medicine Cabinet by Dr Josh Axe.

Frankincense is also known as boswellia. It has been regarded as a holy oil in the Middle East for centuries. It is well known as one of the gifts given to Christ at his birth. “In ancient times, frankincense was valued above gold because its use to treat every illness.”

“Recent research published in the Journal of Oncology has found frankincense to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells better than chemotherapy.” The essential oil has also been used with much success to treat issues by reducing inflammation and improving immune function.

Benefits

  • fight cancer
  • reduce inflammation
  • boost immune system cleanses and detoxes body
  • improves depression and mood
  • spiritual awareness
  • fights infections
  • heals skin scarring, sunspots and acne

Uses

  • Rub topically behind ears, on chest and neck to improve immunity
  • Put topically on age spots, scars and stretch marks to improve skin
  • Take internally to reduce inflammation or put topically on areas of joint pain
  • Use topically after a trauma to recenter and calm yourself
  • Diffuse in air when praying or doing spiritual reading
  • Diffuse in air to reduce seasonal allergies
  • Take internally, diffuse or use topically for cellular health and increasing longevity and lifespan

Pantry Foods: Christmas Critters

christmas-critters

Each Christmas Critter is made from one walnut half, topped with raw cashew marzipan, and drizzled with bitter chocolate.

I’m going to sit at the welcome table, hallelujah!
I’ll sit at the welcome table one of these days.
I’m going to feast on milk and honey, hallelujah!
I’ll feast on milk and honey one of these days.
All God’s children going to sit together, hallelujah!
All God?s children going to sit together one of these days.

Welcome Table sang by Old Time School

Over the next few months, my family will be eating out of our pantry. I will do a series called Pantry Foods to celebrate the delectable foods that can come out of storage. Every recipe in this series will come from foods out of my pantry. To start this series, I wanted to share a bitter chocolate treat that delighted my girls on Christmas morning. Every pantry should have a few exotic ingredients — saved for those special days — to delight young and old alike.

This recipe is NOT safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet but a treat for those few special days each year.

36 organic walnut halves, unbroken
1/2c Raw Cashew Marzipan
1/4c 85% organic bitter chocolate, broken into small pieces

In a pan heat some water to the boiling point and remove from the heat. Put the chocolate pieces into a 1c Pyrex measuring cup and place the cup into the hot water. Let the chocolate have time to melt for about five minutes. Stir vigorously until smooth.

Line a glass tray with wax paper. Arrange the 36 walnut halves on the wax paper. Take the marzipan and roll out and cut into 36 equal pieces. In the palm of your hand, roll each piece of marzipan into a small ball and press each ball onto each walnut half. Arrange each walnut, topped with marzipan, very closely together to avoid wasting chocolate. With a spoon drizzle the melted chocolate onto the walnuts. If desired, drizzle left to right and then up and down to give a cross pattern. Refrigerate before breaking the critters apart. These critters make wonderful homemade Christmas gifts.

Here is a list of other Pantry Foods:
Pantry Foods: Quick Cured Green Olives
Pantry Foods: Mock White Chocolate
Pantry Foods: Bitter Chocolate Walnuts for My Sweet Valentine
Pantry Foods: Charcuterie

gift-hiding-with-squash

The pantry is a great place to hide Christmas gifts. It’s so cold down there the girls don’t like to visit.

I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah sang by kd lang