Category Archives: holistic living

Reflecting While Preparing

Posted by KyAuthorProfessorJBowling2733 in a spiritual life, appalachian life, clean eating, holistic living, Kentucky memories, ky author, my special days, New Year Goals, relax with a good book and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello, from the mountains of Kentucky! I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas! We were blessed to celebrate with our children and grandchildren, despite the polar vortex storm that slammed us. That was some crazy weather! We have cold winters in the mountians, but don’t often see it below zero. Even still, we were blessed that our family could spend the day with us. With the new year, my thoughts have been focused on reflection, which helps us learn from the past, while also confirming plans for our future. I want to encourage you to stay the course that the Lord has laid out for us. Even though the world looks bleak around us, let us carry on, love life, live it, and enjoy it. Love Him while always placing Him at the forefront of our lives and we’ll finish the race strong.

Winter in the mountains.

Once the planning, decorating, shopping, cooking and all the festivities is complete, the reflecting begins. I take a little time each day and try to reflect on the past months, take notes, reread journal entries, add more notes, take time to meditate and pray, and then begin preparing and planning for the upcoming year. Reflection can include both physical and spiritual reflection as well as reflection of our finances, health, for me my academic growth for my career, time spent with family, but most of all the time we’ve spent in growing our relationship with the Lord. I have found that when my time spent with Him increases… all the other areas are easier and more pleasurable to manage.

Tree decorated and grand babies gifts wrapped.

So, you may be wondering how I’m planning to reflect and prepare for 2023. After much prayer and meditation, I have laid out a plan for increasing my personal time spent in prayer, meditation time, studying the word, reading uplifting books, and simply abiding in Him. I have added additional time to my already scheduled time that I have devoted for Him each day. This allows more prayer time, meditation time, and the all important quiet time to listen to Him. Last year the Lord spoke to me about sharing the word and Him with my students. It should have been an easy task, but most of the time when the Lord asks us to do something, we are met with opposition from the enemy. Recognizing the opposition was from the enemy, I quickly dismissed the enemy and put him under my feet and began opening class with prayer, and ending it with a scripture. As time went by, the students began giving in prayer requests. Since, many students have thanked me for praying and stated the opening prayer had helped them through difficult challenges and difficult days. It is nothing that I did, no credit for me, but all about what He does. I give God the glory for all. I am just a vessel that is willing to be used. I’m not sure what the Lord will ask me to do in 2023, but I am anxious to hear from Him and look forward to sharing more with you soon.

As for me-time. Upon reflecting on how I made time for myself last year, I do see improvement, but still find myself lacking in that category. So, for this year, I have books purchased and waiting for me to read. I have begun revisiting a book that is among my favorites. I am rereading, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This book has ramped my mood up to read through the remaining winter days. I am excited to finish it, but will admit that I am also reading a few other books at the same time. Of course I have begun a new year of reading the Bible through with an insightful eye, and also reading a study on Jonah. I love to read Priscilla Shirer’s books. Her study on Elijah was outstanding! I would recommend all of her books for those who are interested in diving a bit deeper into the word.

Powerful study!

Finally, my health. I have not made any big changes in my eating other than continuing to reduce the amount of processed foods that I am eating. I am adding more and more whole food plant based recipes into my daily intake. I have maintained a vegan diet for over four years and have found that inflammation is not an issue, my stamina has increased, and my cholesterol and blood pressure have both decreased. I encourage you to explore the many vegan options that are out there. My goals for 23 are to get up and move more, intake more water, and drink more herbal teas. I have recently fell in love with hibiscus cold brew tea. I prefer the Simple Truth organic brand. It’s really tasty and delicious over ice! I have also resumed an old passion of mine… I have rediscovered my love for crocheting. I am currently working on crocheting a temperature blanket. I’ll keep you posted on this project. It’s a fun project that doesn’t consume much time each day. Our daughter is crocheting one also. We’ve both joined a temperature blanket Facebook group that currently has over 500 members who are also crocheting this type of blanket. Again, I’ll keep you updated on the progress.

A finished Afghan for our grandson.

I will be posting new recipes, ideas, words of encouragement, and reviews of great books in upcoming posts. For now, I’m off to work on plans for my students next week when we return to campus for the spring semester. Remember, being healthy requires more than a resolution, an exercise program, a diet app, or pre-made diet foods, drinks, or protein bars. Being healthy requires a close relationship with our Heavenly Father, buying and growing healthy food, preparing it in a healthy manner, getting up and moving, drinking good quality water, socializing with positive people, spending time with self, and loving yourself. From the mountains of Kentucky, my prayers for each of you is for a happy, healthy, prosperous, life that includes God. For now, I’m off to work a bit. Feel free to leave comments or follow for upcoming recipes that I know you’ll enjoy! God bless, from our home to yours!

Holistic Living

Posted by KyAuthorProfessorJBowling2733 in a spiritual life, appalachian life, canning, clean eating, drying herbs, essential oils, farm living, garden time, holistic living, homesteading, Kentucky memories, ky author, memories, my special days, organic food, plant-based, tea time, Vegan recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello, from the mountains of Kentucky! I hope you’re having an awesome and blessed day! Things have been quite hectic in our neck of the woods! As a college professor this is one of the busiest times of the year as we are deep into the fall semester. Each year brings growth and change, which are both welcomed, but not always easy. As famers, life has been extremely hectic as we are harvesting, preserving , and canning the remnants of our garden. As a part of a church family, it’s been a busy time of growth, and a sense of urgency to pray more for our country and family than ever before. We’ve also felt the need to preserve and can more than in years past. With that sense of urgency, we’ve actively been growing our pantry, and stocking our shelves with a little more than usual this year.

Making time for self-care, especially when life gets crazy is a must. I have found that taking the time early in the morning hours to sit quietly, reflect, meditate, pray, and journal has proven to be very therapeutic and healthy for my mind and spiritual well-being, which helps to maintain a healthy mind, heart, and soul. I enjoy crocheting, which is also very therapeutic. After prayer, devotion, and Bible study, a few minutes of crocheting is one of my times to reflect and meditate. Mornings are great for me as the house is quiet and the farm outside hasn’t come to life just yet.

Morning fog hovering in the still green mountains. Morning walks are the best!
Crocheting and reflecting on the past and meditating on the day.

Holistic living is healthy and very satisfying way of life. I am often asked how I made the decision to lead a holistic life. I have been an advocate for clean eating for a great number of years, which made the transition somewhat easier. I chose clean eating for my health. My health was declining at a young age. My cholesterol was out of control, my blood pressure was extremely high, I was over weight, and I was border line diabetic. So, the journey began there! I decided that I would take back my health! I chose clean eating as many fad diets just didn’t work. Day by day, week by week, with the help and support of my family, church and friends, changes started happening! One by one I was able to stop taking meds for all of the above health issues, I lost 75, yes 75 pounds! I was finally in control of my diet and my health!

With the wonderful effects that clean eating had on my health, it evolved into my decisions to become a pescatarian, then gradually that evolved to becoming a vegetarian, which both added vitality and a new zeal for life in my thoughts and my body and evolved into an even cleaner diet. I’ve had trouble with digesting diary for years and had gradually made the change to almond milk and plant butter and cheese, which again made the transition easier. For nearly five years now, I’ve enjoyed a vegan/plant based diet, which has lead to an increase in my overall health, and a peace and satisfaction that I am making a difference in my overall well-being.

Enjoying the smell of mint drying in the kitchen.

I am also a herbalist, and enjoyed growing our own herbs for cooking, making teas, and also for minor medial problems for years. I also love sharing them with family and friends. The most recent addition to living a cleaner and healthier life, was the decision to become a doTERRA essential oil consultant. I’ve used essential oils for years, and finally decided that I would become a consultant and purchase from myself rather than online markets. This line is the best that I’ve used thus far and it’s also a nice little supplemental income as well. With a holistic lifestyle come lots of questions. The primary questions I am asked are, why and how.

Fresh basil in the background and one of my favorite oils. Orange is very versatile.

The first question is the most common question. What inspired you to lead a holistic life? I always answer that question with a question. Why wouldn’t I? Then I begin to explain I chose this lifestyle for my health, my peace of mind, and simply put, for my life. I also add some details about the astounding amount of research revealing the high level of toxins, preservatives, and additives that basically poison the human body and our environment. These toxins are found in food, fast foods, shampoos, soaps, toothpaste, makeup, perfumes. detergents, cleaning products, air fresheners, candles, and even in our pet’s food. I’ll share another story in a different post of how we nearly lost my canine baby due to additives in what was supposed to be healthy doggie treats. That was a real eye-opener!

I always share one of the most informative books that I’ve ever read was, How Not to Die, written by Dr Gregor. There is so much information revealed within the covers of this book that confirmed my reasons for eating clean, and eating cleaner than I had been eating. His research also solidified my thoughts about why I had been food poisoned by fast food on more than one occasion, why we nearly lost our house dog, and why cleaning products and certain air fresheners lead to smothering and irritated sinuses. He exposes much about how these horrific toxins are actually allowed to be in our foods, pet foods, cleaning products, and even in medicines and vitamins that we think are helping us.

An eye-opening read!!! I encourage anyone who is interested in living a cleaner, more holistic life to read this book!

Secondly, I’m asked if it was a difficult transition. My answer is no. You don’t have to make the plunge and change everything at once. I made changes over a period time with my diet and I did the same thing with household items, hygiene items, and even my car air fresheners. I didn’t see the need to waste products that I already had on hand, so as I would empty an item, I would replace it with plant based, organic, and a cleaner item. First on the list, I would begin eliminating the toxins from my our home and our vehicles. My first elimination was laundry detergent. To prevent waste, after exhausting the last of my stock, I began using organic plant based detergents that didn’t require fabric softeners. There were some products that I had in my home that I could not convince myself to continue using. Those plug in air fresheners were tossed in the garbage, empty or not!

With the various air fresheners gone, I replaced them with diffusers for essential oils to help clean and purify the air and also bring a wide array of wonderful scents into the house. One by one I replaced our cleaning supplies with either organic plant based cleaning supplies or homemade supplies from natural ingredients. It’s quite amazing how many options are on the market and what’s even more amazing is the number of cleaners you can make using essential oils! I’ll share my bathroom cleaner soon! It cleans great, easy to make, and also prevents those toxic fumes that no one likes.

The next change was hair care products and tooth paste. doTERRA made that change easy for me as well. They have a wonderful plant based shampoo that incorporates essential oils, and a fantastic plant/based conditioner, and leave in conditioner that is excellent! I can’t even explain how wonderful my hair feels after using these products! My hair shines so much more than before and it feels less weighted. I also made the transition from usual tooth paste to a clean toxin free tooth paste from doTERRA. I chose this toothpaste simply because I’m a doTERRA consultant, and after trying it… it works! My teeth are clean and white and after reading the list of ingredients in my old toothpaste, it was an easy transition and one that I am happy I made.

doTERRA shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in conditioner. All natural!!!

Finally, vitamins was the next item to begin changing. It was easy to switch vitamins with doTERRA. The vegan vitality pack is on my monthly auto order. I love these vitamins as they’re all plant based, no additives, or artificial colors added, and they’re in veggie capsules. Essential oils, homegrown herbs, and homemade teas helps with common cold symptoms, allergies, scrapes and minor abrasions. I could go on forever with the reasons why I chose a holistic lifestyle.

Vitality pack! This was a game-changer! Even though I already took vitamins and had for years… I noticed an immediate change in my stamina!!

I’m asked if I miss fast foods, soft drinks, and what in the world do I do about coffee. Number one, I don’t miss fast foods. As a matter of fact, the cleaner you eat, the less you even want fast foods. My husband and I now prefer food prepared at home ten to one over restaurant foods. I gave soft drinks up over twenty years ago for my own personal health and have never looked back. I’ll be honest, coffee change took a while. It took a little while and a lot of different coffees to find a good organic coffee that I truly enjoyed, but have finally found one that is very satisfying. I have also replaced much of the coffee that I drank during the day and evenings with organic and my homemade teas.

Delicious organic coffee from Amazon!!!

Finally, I’m asked if I feel better physically since making so many changes. Simply omitting meats and dairy from my diet was a game changer with my cholesterol and inflammation. Omitting artificial colors, scents, and toxic preservatives really made a positive impact on my allergies. Plant based vitamins, a good clean diet, and the removal of toxic smells in our home has made a positive impact on my overall health, stamina, and lead to a much more simple life that makes me happy knowing I am doing something to improve my quality of life, my families, and decreasing the chances of disease in our bodies.

Enjoy the simple things that bring joy and support your health. Organic lavender growing near our front door! Love to add to plant butter, cookies, teas, and more.

If you’re interested in holistic living, start slow. Remove one thing at a time. Don’t try to do it all at one time! You’ll become overwhelmed, which might result in giving up. Make one change and allow that change to become a routine. Once you feel grounded and content with that change, make a second change. As you empty or exhaust a supply of one particular item, replace it with a cleaner wholesome item. Read the labels, do the research, do a little soul searching, meditate, pray, and take holistic living one day and one change at a time.

Take time to enjoy the change. One change at a time and you’ll be more likely to stay the course. It’s so worth it!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Feel free to leave comments. I enjoy reading comments and answering questions. For now, God bless from the mountains of Kentucky! Happy Fall!!!

Reminiscing in the Herb Garden

Posted by KyAuthorProfessorJBowling2733 in a spiritual life, appalachian life, canning, clean eating, coffee time, drying herbs, farm living, garden time, holistic living, Kentucky memories, ky author, memories, my special days and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good afternoon, from the mountains of Kentucky! I hope your Labor Day weekend is already off to a great start! It was a quiet morning in the mountains in our neck of the woods this morning. A big music festival has been going on in our small downtown area for the past three or four days. But, for myself, I would rather be in the peace and quiet of our small farm. This morning as the fog lifted and the dew glistened and clung like diamonds on the green leaves, I enjoyed the mountain air with a hot cup of coffee. As a result of the scattered showers last night, damp leaves lay scattered over the still damp ground. A feeling of fall was surely in the air. With thoughts of the inevitable season swiftly approaching, I felt an unction to walk through the herb garden that would all too soon be gone.

My favorite Italian basil.

With the sounds of the hummingbirds feeding and crickets still chirping, a peaceful feeling filled my being. The smell of the herbs filled the air as I brushed past the holy basil, rosemary, lavender, and my favorite Italian basil. The mint caught my attention. It was still thriving as a result of quenching their thirst with organic mint teabags this year. There was such a harmonious feeling being in the midst of the bright and fresh herbs that would soon hang in my kitchen to dry. I felt an anxious feeling for the aroma that the herbs omit while they’re drying. Our entire kitchen would be filled with scents of lavender, basil, and mint. Yet, another indication that fall is near.

My thoughts lingered in many places this morning as I enjoyed the surroundings that I so love. Lingering thoughts of our cemetery service yesterday where we gathered to have church on the graveyard. This is an old tradition that still lingers in the Appalachian mountains. It’s a time to pay respect to our loved ones, worship together in song, preaching of the word, and prayer. It’s also a time when the world outside with all the doom and gloom seems to stop… and family gathers together to remember and celebrate the lives of our family who have gone before us.

My great grandparents grave.

The songs that were sung on the cemetery still felt alive in my mind. While sitting quietly among the herbs, one of my favorite morning fragrances enticed my senses. The earth was alive this morning! The aroma of the rich soil was thick in the air. The smell of the soil after a rain instantly transported me back to my childhood. Rising early to the sounds of our mother singing. I would eagerly follow the sound of her soft voice. Many mornings I found her sitting on the back porch drinking coffee, enjoying the mountain morning air, and other times she would be shucking corn or stringing beans she had picked earlier that morning while my brother, sister, and I slept. The aroma of strong black coffee filled the kitchen and the cool morning air. The scent of damp soil enticed me to run barefoot between the rows of corn, but the freshness of the garden vegetables sustained me. I loved stringing beans, or chopping corn, even as a young child.

Everyone I string beans, I think of my youth.

After a slow and thoughtful walk through the aromatic herbs, reality called my name. It was time to go inside and enjoy a little time with my latest adventures in writing. I’m excited to share more news and details as the project approaches completion. Also, upcoming posts include canning crushed tomatoes, preserving like a pro, vegan zucchini bread, and an update on our fall adventures in the mountains. For now, may the Lord bless you each with a wonderful and restful Labor Day. Feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers. God bless from the mountains of Kentucky!

Canning Crispy Garlic Pickles

Posted by KyAuthorProfessorJBowling2733 in canning, clean eating, garden time, holistic living, homesteading, Kentucky memories, plant-based and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, from the Mountains of Kentucky. I hope wherever you are this post finds you blessed and well. It’s been a bit of a strange summer in our part of the world. We’ve encountered extremely dry weather that resulted in hand watering our garden, to extremely wet weather that is resulting in our picking buckets of tomatoes as they start to ripen to prevent them rotting on the vines. We’ve been laying our tomatoes in the sun and allowing the sun to finish ripening. We’ve juiced the majority of the tomatoes and will begin canning whole tomatoes next. With the diverse extreme weather our grape tomatoes have flourished! The weather don’t seem to have affected them. We’ve enjoyed them with salads, sides, and more. We’ve had so many of them that I’ve already started freezing them to use in stir fries, sautéed dishes, and for one of my favorites, sautéed basil tomatoes!

Stewed basil tomatoes with breakfast

Our cucumbers are still coming and we’re still picking them! We’ve blessed others to have cucumbers to make pickles, relish, and also to enjoy eating. We’ve canned spicy kosher, pickle relish, and enjoyed them as sides with all meals… and they’re still producing.

Garlic pickles

So the question became… what can we do with those lingering cucumbers? It suddenly came to me. Garlic pickles, I would can garlic pickles! You’ve probably ate those delicious big crunchy garlic pickles that you can pickup at gas stations, convenient marts, and several other businesses at some time in your life. If not, you’ve missed a real treat. We usually pick one up when we visit our local Tractor Supply. It’s enjoyed to its entirety on the trip home. So, with the thoughts of those delicious pickles… I decided to try my hand at making them myself. And, it turned out quite well! I’ve already consumed nearly a quart of them by myself! So, for you pickle lovers… here you go!!!

Ingredients:

  • Approximately three pounds of cucumbers
  • 3 cups white vinegar
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 8-12 cloves fresh garlic
  • 5 tbs dried dill seeds
  • 7 tsp minced garlic
  • 5 tbs whole black peppercorns
  • 7 sprigs fresh dill
  • 7 tbs Pickle crisp

Process:

Sterilize seven quart jars, rings, and flats and set aside on a clean folded towel. Wash, scrub, and dry cucumbers. Trim the ends of the cucumbers and set aside. (We add these to our chicken’s feed) They appreciate it! Happy chickens lay more eggs! Cut clean cucumbers into spears. You can change the cutting to the type of cut you prefer.

In a stockpot, I prefer to use an enamel coated cast iron stock pot, add vinegar, water, salt, dill seeds, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil slowly. While brine is coming up to a boil, divide garlic cloves, sprigs of dill, and minced garlic to clean jars. Add sliced cucumbers to jars. I usually lay the jars on their side with dish cloth folded beneath the ring to create a bit of slant. This prevents all of the garlic from being one-sided and prevents spills. I then carefully stack the cucumbers in jars until tight. Remember, there will be shrinkage as the pickles process. Now add a full tablespoon of pickle crisp to each jar.

After the brine comes to a rolling boil, remove from heat and ladle the brine over the cucumbers leaving at least a half inch space for headspace. Make sure all cucumbers are covered. Run a butter knife or spoon handle around the jar to remove any air pockets. Wipe the rims with a paper towel that has a bit of vinegar on it and add the flats and rings.

Add warm water to the water bath canner until about half full. Turn the stove on medium high heat, and add the filled jars to the canner. Finish filling the canner until the water is at least an inch over the jars. When the water in the canner comes to a rolling boil, set a timer for ten minutes and allow the pickles to process for the full ten minutes. When the time has exhausted, turn the stove off and allow jars to sit for about five minutes until the water simmers down. Using the jar lifters, remove the jars from the canner and set aside on a folded bath towel or wooden cutting board. Soon you should hear the ping from each jar letting you know the jars are sealed.

I couldn’t wait any longer than two weeks to try them!!! Oh my! They’re delicious! We’ve about devoured a quart in a few days.

I hope you and your family enjoy these delicious crispy garlic pickles as much as we do. I have a feeling they’re going to quickly become a family favorite. Please feel free follow and leave feedback. I love to hear from my readers. I enjoy answering questions and reading comments. For now, may the Lord bless each of you. I’m off to can more tomato juice today! God bless from the mountains of Kentucky.

Five Organic Gardening Tips

Posted by KyAuthorProfessorJBowling2733 in a spiritual life, appalachian life, canning, clean eating, drying herbs, essential oils, farm living, garden time, holistic living, Kentucky memories, ky author, memories, plant-based, Spiritual life, tea time and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quote of the week:

“Garden work is satisfying to the body and soul, as is the harvest.” ~Dr Bowling

Hello, from the mountains of Kentucky! I hope you’ve been blessed with awesome weather for your gardens! It’s been very dry in the mountains. Our garden is growing and we’re picking, but a lot of hard work has been involved with watering by hand through the month of June. Needless to say, we’ve decided to invest in ground soaking hoses that will water the ground when we want it, or as we need it. For a garden of our size, I’m not sure why we hadn’t already thought about this. I’m often asked questions about the difficulties involved with organic gardening. So, I decided to share five organic tips that can beneficial for your garden at this time of the year.

Love eating from the land… even though it’s a lot of hard work. Our garden early in the year!

Tip One: We’ve also dealt with low calcium in the soil through this very dry beginning to summer. So, through research and back work, we’ve added ground organic oyster shells to the soil around the squash and zucchini. As well as eggs shells and diatomaceous earth. Thankfully the rotting squash and zucchini have come to a stop and we’re back to picking our fill and then some of both fruits!

A few of the straight neck summer squash from our garden.

Tip Two: to add a little extra fertilizer to our herb garden, I’ve been saving organic tea bags and reboiling the bags for a weaker tea and watering the herbs. This is a game-changer for herbs. My favorites are chamomile, mint, and black tea. The plant feed on the rich antioxidants, and the the tea bags are added to the garden as the bags are biodegradable. We add the spicy cinnamon black tea bags around the garden for an additional deer repellent.

Nothing better than fresh herbs to cook with.

Tip Three: in the battle against those pesky beetles on beans, cucumbers, and squash plants. In a spray bottle we mix a spray of 10 drops of lavender essential oil, 10 drops of peppermint essential oil, and 10’drops of citronella essential oil, with a tsp of organic plant based dish detergent. Then fill the bottle with water. This makes a great spay to repel all kinds of munching little friends. We also dust our plants with organic food grade diatomaceous earth for an extra layer of protection.

Tip Four: adding a little potassium to tomatoes while repurposing banana peels. A lot of bananas are consumed at our house. I eat two a day most days. I love organic bananas for oatmeal, baked oatmeal, and as a snack and frozen ones in smoothies. So I’ve learned that not only roses like bananas, do do tomatoes in the form of a tea. To make tea, keep a pitcher of water in the fridge. The pitcher should be about half full to allow for room as you add banana peels. Once you’ve peeled the bananas, add them to the water. You can cut the peels, but don’t have to. There’s no need to cover the pitcher. After a week, take the bananas out and add one part banana tea to five parts water. Use this transit the base of tomatoes. It provides potassium to the soil. This will help produce stronger roots, stems, and great fruit. Banana tea can also be added beside of pepper plants as well.

Banana peel tea.

Tip Five: Begin saving egg shells a couple of weeks prior to planting tomatoes. When it’s time to plant, place an egg shell in the hole before putting the plant in the ground. Egg shells are loaded with calcium and will feed the soil at the roots of the tomatoes and help prevent blossom rot and what some of the old timers called, the blight.

I hope that you find these tips helpful and you have success with your garden this year and for years to come. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I love to hear from my readers. Well, it’s time to go pick a while and reap the joys of our labors. God bless from the mountains of Kentucky.

Taking Flavor and Holistic living to a Higher Level

Posted by KyAuthorProfessorJBowling2733 in appalachian life, clean eating, clean recipes, essential oils, garden time, holistic living, Kentucky memories, my special days, organic food, plant-based, Vegan recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello, from the mountains of Kentucky! I hope you had an adventurous and restful weekend and that your week is off to a great start. Saturday morning’s is typically time for me to catch up on housework, laundry, and also time to work in my herb garden. But, sometimes the craving for an adventure stirs within me. I love a good adventure as much as the next person! I tell my grandchildren that adventure is in the eye of the beholder and that adventures are everywhere. The mountains of Kentucky are are the perfect place for adventures. Saturday’s are typically a time of catching up on work around the house, last Saturday I felt the craving for an adventure. So, we decided to trail ride in our side by side with our family. We set off for the mountain trails to enjoy the view, recall stories, and enjoy quality family time. Who knew what kind of adventure awaited us! Remember, adventure is in the eye of the beholder! I have always loved the mountains of Kentucky. They provided countless hours of playtime for us when we were growing up. We would build forts, hike, picnic, pretend to be cowboys and Indians, and rugged pioneers surviving the elements. Sometimes, we just enjoyed sitting beneath the trees and cloud watching. Nevertheless, the mountains have always called my name.

Large rocks at the top of the mountain known as the Rat Rocks.

When we were growing up in the hills of Kentucky, we spent hours hiking to the top of the mountains behind our grandparents house. We’d walk until we arrived at the large rocks. Many days were spent enjoying a simple picnic on top of the rocks that pictured above. While we ate we would often retell the story of the man that froze to death one night when a sudden snow storm came while he was traveling. His vision was blurred by the heavy snow and he lost his way. Legend has it that the man sought shelter from the storm near one of the large rock formations. Days passed before he was found in the mountains where he had frozen to death. I’m not sure that we ever grew tired of telling stories, finding arrow heads, pretending to be pioneers, or just waking and enjoying the bounties of nature. We also loved the simple days and afternoons of sitting outside on the porch and listening to our grandparents and relatives tell the mountain stories time and time again. I miss those days and think of them often. So, enough about mountain legends! I have a new recipe that I’m super excited to share with you!

I have always loved growing, drying, and cooking with herbs. I love their smell, their health benefits, and their taste. I also love to make teas from my herbs, which is loaded with health benefits. I also love essential oils. Together they make a wonderful partnership! Recently I decided to become a doTERRA essential oil advocate. It only made sense to me since I have enjoyed diffusing the oils and using them for various other purposes for many years. Essential oils and herbs go hand in hand and are both all natural and healthy. I like to refer to them as God’s blessings. I recently learned that some of the doTERRA oils also offer even more health benefits than topical and diffusion benefits. I learned about their internal health benefits, and also that many of them can be used to flavor some of our favorite dishes. This all intrigued me as I have enjoyed a more holistic way of life with plant-based cleaning products, laundry detergent, and through following a plant-based diet for nearly four years. I edged my way forward from clean eating, to vegetarian, and from vegetarian, to vegan. The rewards and health benefits of a holistic lifestyle are amazing! So discovering even more natural health benefits of essential oils… I was all in!

Enjoying the benefits of diffusing essential oils.

Some of you may have tried the wild orange orange essential oil. It is one of my favorite oils to diffuse in the house late evenings. It smells amazing and provides a calming and relaxing atmosphere. Wild orange is also one of the many oils that can be used in sauces, teas, smoothies, and it’s also great in homemade cleaning products. A couple of drops of wild orange on wool dryer balls provides an amazing fresh scent in your laundry as it is drying. Also, two drops in a chocolate smoothie tastes absolutely amazing! After I discovered this delicious taste, I decided to add a couple of drops to my vegan chocolate protein balls. Can I say, SCORE!!! I am so anxious for you to try this recipe. If you love those cream filled bites of chocolate goodness in flavored assorted chocolates, I think you’ll love these protein balls. However, unlike chocolate candies, protein balls are healthy, vegan, and delicious!

One of my favorites oils!

Ingredients:

• 2 scoops of chocolate plant-based chocolate protein powder (I prefer orgain)

• 1 tbs of good natural smooth organic peanut butter

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tbs finely chopped walnuts

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (can be ground for a finer texture, but doesn’t have to be)

• 1 tsp organic ground flax seed.

• 1 tsp of organic chia seeds. (I measure with the small scoop that came with the chia seeds.)

• 1 tbs of organic agave

• 1 tbs of vegan chocolate chips

• 4 drops of doTERRA wild orange essential oil. (aromatherapy grade oils are not suggested for internal use)

Process:

Mix dry ingredients and add moist ingredients to the mixture. Mixture will be stiff, but keep working it. You may add a tsp of agave if needed to make the mixture easier to work up. Once mixture is mixed, use a small scoop or spoon and dip the desired amount into your hands. Roll the mixture into a ball and place in a dish. Continue working the mixture up until all of the mix has been used. I typically have 12–14 protein balls. Refrigerate for two hours to allow balls to set.

You can experiment and try different toppings or coatings. You may add ground coconut to the balls for an additional burst of flavor. I like them either way! I have also tried them with dates instead of peanut butter, which are delicious too, but I’m a peanut butter-aholic, plus the peanut butter gives them a bit of candy bar taste!

Store the balls in a covered container and keep refrigerated for best texture. They will last for days and days in the fridge, if you can resist eating them in larger quantities. I try to limit myself to two per day.

I rolled this batch in fine unsweetened shredded coconut for an added flavor! Yum!!!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. My grandkids love them too. They think they taste like brownies. I love that they enjoy them because this allows them to avoid added sugars and butter, which are both ingredients to traditional candies, cookies, and brownies. Feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers. If you’re interested in doTERRA oils, leave a comment with your email and I’ll be happy to send you a direct link so you can explore and begin enjoying the many benefits essential oils provide. For now, I’m off to care for my herbs before the rain comes today. From the mountains of Kentucky , God bless each of you.