Fair Trade Chocolate

Yesterday was one of those days. Despite being a Friday and therefore sometimes a quieter day at work, I was swamped with meetings, special events to plan, and just the regular day to day tasks. On top of which, my lower back was bothering me for some reason. Then I came home to see the box containing new blinds was outside my door (yay). Oh, wait, that means I have to get them inside my condo. After hauling that, dealing with a new contact prescription that is wrong and seemingly a million other little things, it was safe to say I was in a no good, very bad, horrible sort of evening.

Enter my little happy thought - chocolate.

I wanted to keep it simple and not blow my good eating during the day. So I love the Equal Exchange mini dark chocolate bars (don't worry, they have milk chocolate too). They are my absolute favorite chocolate ever (and I've given much effort and taste tests the world over). Plus being small they won't blow your waist line.

Most importantly, they are fair trade. If you are unaware of the issues tying into the chocolate market, then take a moment to read what they talk about in the stories of their farmers or do a simple search online of the issue.

There would be a picture of the chocolate...but it didn't stick around long enough to be photographed. Sorry. Kind of.

An Essential Oil Journal

Floating around amongst all the blogs that focus or discuss to some extent EOs, is the idea of having a notebook or journal for your EO use and ideas.

Some go all out and they are works of art. Camp Wander (of course) has a post about an example.

For the past few weeks I have used a composition notebook that I picked up on clearance. It is stage one. Here's how I'm doing things.

I use the composition book to write down the ideas and formulations, along with sources, that I have yet to try.

I purchased a hardbound sketch book Monday that I am using for a final version that is more of an archive. Since I love to pull out my colored pencils and art pens, I hope to take time to put in illustrations and doodles along with the information on EO use. To encourage myself to get boring chores done (laundry folding, vacuuming  cleaning the bathrooms), it is a source of bribery to have an art project to work on in the evenings and days off of work.

As I complete pages, I will post them so you can see what I am talking about with this idea.

Staying Organized

Did you know that I could be the poster child for the word "organized"? My mother instilled a love of office supplies and things with compartments.

I'm still working on the best way for me to store my EOs and related supplies. I have a fairly small condo where there is really insufficient storage. I'll keep you posted on this mission.

One thing I love to keep my ideas organized and to make sure I never forget an, "Ah ha!" moment - Levenger's Circa Notebooks. There are less expensive versions that Staples makes too. Much as I enjoy wandering the aisles of Staples, I am sticking with the Circa option.

What works so wonderfully is the ability to treat it like a spiral notebook, but still be able to pull out and rearrange pages like you would with a 3-ring binder.

I purchased some of the starter packs and a massive supply of the basic pages. More frequently though, I will print out pages that are from free printables that I found online.

For instance, in my main, large Circa I have pages that are:

• 'Dailies' - my daily tasks, tracking exercise, how much water I drink, errands to run, major appointments
• A page intended to be a shopping list that I use as a cheat sheet for several frequently used homemade products such as laundry detergent, floor cleaner, etc. It is a quick reference for the half dozen or so most often used DIY ingredients
• A page to list ideas that come to me for the blog when I'm away from my computer (I have a Google Drive doc that I use to keep ideas organized)
• A book wish list - this is the one I fill, then add it to the spreadsheet on my computer. Have I mentioned I'm a bibliophile?
• Weekly blog planner - just for the next week
• Two-month blog topic planner

As we go along, I'll post links to some of my favorite free printables and sites that you can explore. However, it is simple enough to just put in a search for them to find what it is that you may need to help you stay organized.

Recipe: Tofu Opor

I work with a wonderful woman from Indonesia. As I'm one of the few people on staff who likes spicy food, she is always bringing me recipes and those fantastic, incredibly strong ginger chews.

A while back she made a tofu soup that was fabulous. I asked for the recipe. What I got was a recipe from the web that was translated (poorly) by an automated web service. After some explanations and a few trials and errors, here's what I make:

Tofu Opor
Ingredients

• Firm, lite tofu - I prefer the silken version for this. I usually use half the box.
• 2 cups coconut milk - I use light
• 1/4 of a red onion, chopped 
• 2 cloves garlic (I love garlic, so I add about 3 or 4)
• 3 or 4 pecans, or a couple tablespoons of pecan pieces
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 inch or so of ginger root, peeled and diced
• 1 stick lemon grass
• cumin to taste
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Cut tofu into pieces and set aside.
2. If using whole pecans, chop into pieces.
3. Put a dash of oil in a saucepan. Add onion, garlic, pecans, coriander  ginger, cumin and salt if desired. (I usually put salt in after the recipe is complete.)
4. Cook spices and onion until aromatic and the onions have softened.
5. Add coconut milk. A can is about 13 oz so I usually just add a bit of water to make 2 full cups.
6. Bring to a boil. Add lemon grass and tofu.
7. I simmer lightly for a few minutes.

Serve by adding cooked rice. Some recipes include potatoes. I usually don't as I frequently have a batch of brown rice I make up sitting in the fridge.

This travels really well to work in my lunch bag. I have never tried freezing it. I usually get 3-4 servings out of it, especially if I add rice to it.

Easiest Use of Lemon Ever

Here's an easy one for your mid-week stress.

Lemon EO in your water.

Yup, that's it. Now, here's the thing, I don't like lemon in my water. It took me a day or so to adapt, but now I love it.
A couple of benefits -

• It reduces hunger for me. Especially when I'm sitting at my desk, or table at home, the temptation to munch on something while working is strong. Sipping the water with Lemon EO helps reduce this.
• Lemon has several benefits attributed to it: detoxifies, helps with allergies, can reduce stress.

Now, I don't know if you all will have the same benefit regarding the hunger reduction, but just thought I'd pass it along.

Generally what I do is add about 3 drops of Lemon EO (make sure it is one that is safe to ingest like Spark Naturals) to my 24-oz water bottle. I then fill it with my water and ice and give it a good shake. 

Making Your Own Roller Bottles

Yesterday I mentioned that I made my own roller bottles for EOs.

Due to being on-the-go too much and the frequent travels, I wanted to make some small, easy to carry travel bottles of blends I found to be helpful.

Thanks to Camp Wander's post on making your own roller bottles I found supplies I needed. Here's here excellent post to which I can only add a few thoughts.

First, I ordered the roller fittings from 911healthshop. They were exactly what I wanted, just took nearly two weeks to show up. I've been spoiled with 2-3 day shipping mostly, so it was a wait, but worth it.

Second, I love the products I ordered from Specialty Bottle. I only ordered 10 5ml bottles to make into roller bottles. Sort of annoyed that I didn't go for more. However, I did order 20 lip balm tubes as I like my homemade lip balm far beyond anything I have tried commercially. Those are fabulous and also already put to good use.

Third, I was wondering how tight the roller ball tops would fit the bottles. They are a tight seal, but they are relatively easy for me to pop off the bottle.  This makes me a bit nervous, but with the caps screwed on tightly there is nothing to worry about while you have them in transit. You may just want to be careful when using.

Headaches, part One

You'll find that headaches will come up frequently.

Since I was 12, I have battled migraines and frequent headaches. Plus if any medication or prescriptions cautions that "it may cause headaches," I am all but guaranteed to get one.

Needless to say, I am not a fan of all this.

Headaches started the foray into EOs. Here's the first homemade blend I made:

I referenced the site Aromaweb has on headaches.

In a 5ml roller bottle:

• 4 drops of Peppermint
• 4 drops of Eucalyptus
• Filled the rest with fractionated coconut oil

Guess what - it works. And no medications needed, no rebound headaches from medication, no upset stomach from medications.

I haven't had a migraine (thank goodness), but we'll see when that time comes whether I am brave enough to forego the prescription for a bit to give the EOs a try.