5 Days of Wolfberry Recipes

As I’ve stated in my other blog, Outside the Cave, I am done with weird food restrictions. So hear me out on this new thing I’m doing. Better yet, listen to an expert: https://youtu.be/KG3dLZ1gwtw. In this video, Marcella Vonn Harting explains the health benefits of the wolfberry, which Young Living sells in the form of dried berries as well as in a delicious juice blend called Ningxia Red. Vonn Harting holds two PhDs (integrative health and psychoneurology). These were my biggest takeaways: “…it takes 180 days to regenerate your liver… people who did the 180 day challenge experienced improved physical and emotional health, increased energy, weight loss, and improved sleep.”

I couldn’t sign up fast enough for the 180 day challenge. I’m expecting a shipment of Ningxia Red tomorrow, but I started the challenge 5 days ago using the wolfberries in my pantry. The challenge is to drink or eat one serving a day of wolfberries for 180 days. It only makes sense to not sabotage the good stuff with unhealthy eating. So I am resolving to keep it as healthy as possible while adding the good stuff. No crazy restrictions, no avoiding social gatherings. (Wishful thinking for post pandemic life). Eating wolfberries lends itself beautifully to healthy eating, as one meal a day will revolve around them. This is what I’ve cooked up so far. According to package directions, 1/4 cup is one serving.

Day 1 – oatmeal with wolfberries (cook the berries with the oats

Day 2 – wolfberry tea (Pour boiling water over dried berries. Drink the tea, then eat the berries.)

Day 3 – wolfberry pancakes (use whole wheat or grain free “flour”)

Day 4 – chocolate chia pudding with wolfberries.

Directions:

Whisk 1/4 cup cacao powder with 4 Tbsp maple syrup, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1.5 cups unsweetened milk alternative, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/4 cup dried wolfberries, and 1/2 cup chia seeds. Let it set overnight in refrigerator.

Day 5 – wolfberry porridge

Directions:

Combine 3/4 c milk alternative with 3 Tbsp almond flour and 1/4 cup dried wolfberries. Bring to boil, then simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and slowly whisk in one beaten egg until thickened. Season with salt and honey.

Yum!

Who’s ready to join me on this journey?

Taste of Italy Zucchini Lasagna

This is fantastic. I used my Young Living February promotional blend, Taste of Italy, and created a super healthy and tasty lasagna.
Ingredients

3/4 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 drops Taste of Italy
2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
4 zucchinis
Directions

Brown beef with onions and garlic in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Stir in tomato sauce, paste, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer at least 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add Taste of Italy or other combination of Italian spices.

Layer in a medium casserole 1/2 sauce, 1/2 of the sliced zucchinis, and half the cheese. Repeat.

For zucchinis, I used half in the casserole and served the rest raw as “zoodles”. It’s up to you. Enjoy!

Einkorn Chicken Roll

“Chicken in the Rolls” was a family favorite from my childhood all the way up until a couple years ago when I got all kinds of crazy ideas about “clean” eating. There was a can of crescent rolls involved. Yeah. So I recently tried out one of Young Living’s newest products, Einkorn baking mix. Upon checking the ingredients, I discovered it is a blend of flours with Einkorn (ancient wheat) being the main ingredient. Einkorn is already nearly gluten free. When blended with rice and legume flours, the gluten content goes down to less than 1%. Modern whole wheat flour contains over 9% gluten. I decided to substitute this healthy flour for regular flour in that old family favorite. Hang on to your hat because this is the best dough recipe ever. I use it for pizza and anything else homemade dough related. Dough About 3 cups flour 1 tablespoon yeast 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup warm water 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons honey Instructions In a KitchenAid mixer (sorry, you really should not be functioning without one), combine 1 cup flour and the next two ingredients. Slowly add water, oil, and honey. Do yourself a favor and add the oil first so the honey will just slide off the spoon. Scrape down the sides with your bunny spatula if you have one, and add 1 drop of Young Living Rosemary essential oil. Slowly add remaining flour. Let it rise, covered, for 15 minutes. Dough should hold together but still be a little sticky. Filling 2 cups cooked and cubed chicken 4 oz cream cheese 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon pepper Finishing Put a thin layer of flour on your stoneware baking dish. If you don’t have one, you will be OK, but you might need to grease your pan. This is a hot tip: pour flour into pan, squish down a little, scoop up, cover pan with flour again, then flip over. This will keep the sticky flour workable. It will just stretch out to cover the pan. Combine remaining ingredients except garlic powder. Pour filling onto half the dough. Flip over the other half and cut some air slits in it. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Bake at 375 until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.

Holiday Whole30 Wrap Up

Outside the Cave

Happy New Year!

The 30 days are in, and I am here with some thoughts on it all. Let’s start with the highlights and lowlights.

Highlights

* Based on the closet situation (things fit that didn’t used to, other things are looser), I estimate losing about 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. That is an accomplishment, if you think about it.

* Belly taming. One thing I love about this anti-inflammatory way of eating is that I notice a flatter belly pretty quickly. Since this is always my main goal in any weight loss attempt, I think that is pretty great.

* More answers from acupuncture. I did a full blood panel. My cholesterol is still elevated, but not enough for a prescription to be recommended. According to my acupuncturist, stress is the leading factor. She has prescribed herbs to balance my hormones. Stress leads to elevated cortisol, which…

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Super Easy Paleo Eggnog

I’m doing my second Whole30. Last time around, I didn’t have holiday festivities to navigate. Today’s challenge: paleo eggnog. I have Betty Crocker to thank for the basic guidelines. It turned out wonderfully!

Ingredients
3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
A few grinds of sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 drops Young Living nutmeg essential oil (no substitutions- this is a dietary supplement)
1 can coconut cream

Directions
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a sauce pan. Stir constantly for about 15 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Serve with a dash of brandy if desired.

New Member Tips

Welcome to Young Living! If you have been with us a while, keep reading. This is for you too. I’m getting close to my second anniversary with YL, and I’m still learning things, often the hard way. My goal is to give you a leg up and save you from making some of the mistakes I made. The following is a list of common mistakes or confusion for new members. Enjoy! Commission checks are issued once a month on the 20th for the previous month’s results. Virtual Office is available free of charge for all members. If you have a question, it will be answered here. There are all kinds of resources available as well. Make sure to check here or with your up line before opting for a call or live chat. Sponsor/Enroller When signing someone up, you will want to be both unless you want to help build up someone in your down line. In that case, you are still the enroller and your down line is the sponsor. Bonuses The kit bonus ($25) is available if you sign someone up with a premium starter kit as long as you have a 50pv order in for that month. They must order the kit in the same month they open the account. You also need 50pv to get fast start bonuses. You get 25% for the three months beginning when their account is created (not order placed). These 2 bonuses are paid to the enroller. Compression is a benefit offered in which a level 2 or lower person moves up because the person above them does not make a qualifying order. This is available for the unilevel commission (paid to sponsor). Ex: Sally’s OGV is 500pv, but she does not make a qualifying order of 100pv. Sally is in your first level. Guess who gets the check? You. Rising Star Team Bonus Before you start discouraging people from making qualifying orders, remember that compression only applies to unilevel commissions. In order to get the RST bonus, you must have 100ER, and you need 3 people on your level 1 to have 100 ER and 300 OGV each. This will give you 1 share, which is around $50. Essential Rewards Always check the day before it ships to make sure items haven’t gone out of stock. You need to select reduced shipping. Don’t let your points expire! When cashing in, you can only use them on items with a PV = $ value. Promotions These come automatically with qualifying orders. PV is sometimes different than $ amount. If you get a voucher, they usually expire in 3 months. You’ll find the number under “orders shipped”. They are applied at checkout for new members. If you get extra ER points, these will be given the following month. Promotions can only be earned in a single order. Team Structure It makes sense to help build up legs, but don’t be too hasty. You need 6 legs in order to get all the RST bonus shares, which will also set you up for Royal Crown Diamond. Executive and Silver require 2 strong legs; Gold requires 3. Try to motivate people on your first level, and don’t build deep until you have at least 2 serious legs. Policy We cannot market items as cures for disease. Many graphics out there are in violation. Don’t use them. The Desk Reference is a must have for all members. Educate yourself! EODR is available from Life Science Publishers. Also, homemade items with YL oils cannot be sold as YL products. They can only be sold if they are different than anything available from the catalog. Ex: bug spray is OK to make and sell as long as you keep the YL logo off.

Answers from Acupuncture

Outside the Cave

Today is a good day. I had my first acupuncture appointment ever. I went because I found out our insurance covers it, so why not? I’m a fan of bodywork. My insurance doesn’t cover massage or chiropractic, so acupuncture it is. I don’t know anything about Chinese medicine and very little about yin and yang, etc. It was nice to bounce some of my crazy ideas off a professional. It was even better to find out I am completely on the right track.

It started with a questionnaire. This one was different. The whole approach was looking for patterns and connections, not behaviors and symptoms so much. At the end, I was invited to list my 5 main complaints. These would be the focus for the treatment. My new friend, Jennifer, acupuncturist, took my blood pressure, examined my tongue, and then sat me down to chat about the questionnaire. I…

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The Home Party: let’s talk details.

I’ve talked about this before. I hit Star in one month by asking friends to host spa parties. I was alone, away from my YL uplines, new to network marketing or sales of any kind. I was making it up as I went. I lost a lot of people because I thought paper sign up sheets were silly, and that people would just go home and sign up online.

So today, I will follow up on what really works and what you need for a successful home party.

1. The Home Experience Kit
You can also piece it together, but this gave me party ideas, invitations, thank yous, brochures, and the all-important enrollment forms. Budget buster: just buy the forms.
2. The Everyday Oils Collection
This will be your curriculum for the class. Share how you have successfully used each one. Pass around; let people try them.
3. A Diffuser
Have a great smelling oil diffusing throughout the party. People recommend Abundance, as it tends to bring more business.
4. Information
Bring whatever product info you have, and display it on a table for people to peruse.
5. Essential Oils Desk Reference
Remember, you cannot recommend specific oils for medical conditions. Just have them look it up in the reference book. (www.lifesciencepublishers.com)
6. An Activity
Let them soak feet, scrub hands, or make something to take home. Ideas abound online.
7. A Gift
Make sure to give your host a gift. If they decide to purchase a Premium Starter Kit, you could also place other party goers under their sponsorship. You would still be the enroller and earn Fast Start bonuses.
8. Merchandise
Don’t worry about a big inventory. You want to encourage people to purchase the PSK anyway. You could bring some popular oils or inexpensive extras like lip balm, hand Sanitizer, or NinXia Red pouches.
9. Food
Make sure there are healthy snacks and drinks available.
10. Sign up
Book your next party from this group, so you can continue to make new contacts.
11. Product Catalogs
Bring one for each person to keep. Go through the first few pages with your presentation. They needs to see the farms and the seed to seal process. Show them the starter kits. Tell them that if they enroll 3 people, they will get a check to cover their kit. Show them Essential Rewards and encourage them to sign up for that as well. Attach a business card and enrollment form to each catalog. Encourage people to fill it out while you are passing around the oils. Tell them one lucky winner will get to take their oils home today. Have one or two PSKs on hand to give to people at the party who sign up. The host gets first dibs. You could draw for the other. The way it works is: whoever takes the kit home will be signed up with your address. Then the new kit will go to you to replace it. Since you are signing everyone up, you can easily put their own address in after you receive the kit.

Don’t forget, your upline wants to help. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or just ask them to be there for moral support.

Have fun!

Eat clean. Live clean. Use essential oils.

(Grammar geeks, relax about the adverb omission. English is not a dead language, and sometimes we need to get on the train.)

As I was saying, this is it. Here is my three step plan. If you are feeling like something is wrong: weight problems, energy, chronic discomfort, sadness, heck, even frizzy hair, may I suggest you might be slowly poisoning yourself?

Do you know anyone who is really into diet sodas? Let’s be real. It is an addiction. Do they also suffer from any chronic conditions? Probably. The Whole30 diet blew my mind. Eliminating all processed foods, preservatives, and inflammatory foods such as grains and dairy, had a huge impact on my health and well being. It’s a big commitment, but even eliminating all non-whole foods will do a world of good.

When I say live clean(ly), I’m talking about all the non-food items we end up either inhaling or absorbing into our bodies. What’s in your toothpaste, lotion, cleaning products, etc? It’s a big deal. Stop poisoning yourself. There are safe options.

This is the progression that led me to essential oils. Sure, anyone can use essential oils with dramatic results. But how much more of an impact will they have if you are also protecting yourself from food and environmental toxins?

I am so glad I found Young Living Essential Oils. Theirs are the highest quality on the market. I am not talking about synthetic perfume. They also sell beauty, personal, oral, and cleaning products.

I joined as a wholesale member and initially started stocking up on oils. Especially those used for inhalation last a really long time. Once I was pretty stocked up, I began to explore the other products. I joined the optional Essential Rewards program. I change my order slightly every month, but I’ve settled into some regular products I don’t want to be without. Ningxia Red is a powerhouse for your health. It will rock your world. The oral care products, lotions, soaps, hair and beauty products are on my monthly order. I take advantage of the monthly promotions to get more free stuff. Then I cash in my rewards points on a special new oil blend or something I’m getting low on.

It’s a simple plan that works for me. Try it!

Tea Tree Oil Saved My Laundry

Tea tree oil is widely known for its anti-fungal properties. A lesser known fact is that the official name for this beneficial oil is Melaleuca Alternifolia. Never fear– Young Living, the world leader in essential oils absolutely carries this oil. You just won’t find it by looking for “tea tree” oil. Keep that in mind. Earlier this summer, on a cleaning rampage, I donated two old blankets because after a couple of washings I still couldn’t get the musty smell out of them. 

Fast forward to the school year which is now underway. There will be no more cleaning rampages for a while. The problem of the hour is to remember to always put the clothes in the dryer no matter what. Unfortunately I failed this week. After a few busy days, lo and behold, I found some neglected, washed, but smelly clothes in my washing machine. Wet and musty. Bummer. I didn’t want to donate them all, so I remembered my melaleuca oil. I put 10 drops in with the water and hoped for the best as I rewashed them. What a pleasant surprise it was when I found them completely rid of the musty odor after this one rewashing. Victory! Now I have one less thing to worry about.