Category: Maker Space

The temperatures have broken! The polar vortex has moved on. Candlemas has come and gone. The sun is different as days lengthen. Good vibes and sunshine.

Good vibes call for good smells. The diffuser is going. Oven baked potatoes are cooking. Doggie is nested by the fire listening to mellow tunes. One daughter is still sleeping and the other is reading. Such a nice way to ease into a Sunday morning. 

We have five diffusers throughout our house – each bedroom, living room, family room. Right now the ones in the living room and the family room are going. Why do we use diffusers?

Though they seem safe, scented candles are one source of indoor air pollution. When burning candles, whatever is in the wax is dispersed into the air. Burning candles that are full of petroleum byproducts, chemicals, and waste products puts all of that into the air in the room. Some scented candles don’t use natural based scent compounds. Some contain trace amounts of organic chemicals, including acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, acrolein, and naphthalene. Check out this article from the EPA for more information about candles as a source of indoor air pollution. Some scented candles also have lead in the wick. In fact, the University of Michigan released a study showing that 30% of candles in the USA release lead into the air. When burning a candle you are breathing it in everything the candle is emitting.

It’s been decades since I have burned scented candles. If I choose to burn candles for ambience, I burn 100% beeswax candles from Bluecorn Beeswax or I make my own.

There are a number of studies that suggest that using essential oils can:

• reduce stress
• improve mood
• purify the air 
• aid in calming

To review more on aromatherapy with essential oils visit the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Our diffusers are used every day. Diffusing essential oils in our home is a great way for everyone to experience the benefits of essential oils. The diffuser takes an essential oil and breaks it down into micro molecules and disburses them into the air. Ours diffuses well in an average-sized room (200–300 square feet), and the ultrasonic mist gives any space a spa-like atmosphere. 

We use our diffusers at night to prepare for sleep. We use them during homework time and reading hour. We have one in each of our cars – this is when I truly need peace and calming blends! One travels into the kitchen when particularly stinky food is being made in order to help meditate the smell. We keep pitchers of water next to our diffusers, at the ready, so that there is very little effort expended to get the diffuser going. 

So often the quality of my entire day is tied to the way my morning begins – walk with the dog, morning warming beverage, meditate, first cup of tea, yoga, and what’s in the diffuser. While I may experience relaxation, alertness, motivation… most importantly it smells so good!!! Smell activates memory for me so different combinations of essential oils will take me back to different places, times, and emotions.

• Lavender + Orange + Thieves + Cedarwood = candy canes
• Cedarwood + Lemon +Rosemary = living on islands in the Chesapeake Bay
• Douglas Fir + Frankincense + Sandalwood + Lavender + Wild Orange = campfires

Today, as thoughts are turning to planning this year’s garden and day trips for spring family fun days, the good vibes are created by Bergamot + Lavender + Geranium + Lemongrass. 

Why do you use a diffuser and what essential oils do you love in your diffuser?

Reading the labels opens up a whole world of what one is choosing to put on one’s body. I began paying particular attention to my skin care products when I was in my 30’s and was breaking out like a teenager. I started reading labels to try to identify what my skin was responding to. My realization was that so many of the ingredients were synthetic and highly-scented that it was hard to distinguish the culprit.

It was during this time that my dear friend Suzanne traveled to Scandinavia and told me about how the women wash their face with olive oil. It seemed like an odd choice but when I considered the benefits of olive oil – antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial – it seemed plausible. I then researched more on the art of oil cleansing, and I tried it. I have now been washing my face at night with olive oil for almost 25 years. 

This is one of the best changes I have made. I keep a small bottle of oil in the bathroom that I refill as necessary. I have been known to repurpose small little bottles as well as purchase small little bottles like these from mountainroseherbs.com

I love the fact that that what I am putting onto my skin is also something that I am comfortable ingesting. If I run out of oil for my skin, I just run to the kitchen to refill my little bottle.

The oil cleanse method is not a fancy and complicated process. It could become so if I was interested in blending and concocting my own special oil blends. I am all about simplicity so my oil of choice is Bragg’s Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Everyone has to find the oil that works best for their skin. It might not be olive oil. It might be hemp seed, jojoba, avocado, rosehip, or another oil. Bragg’s has been great for me.

I love the way my skin feels. I find there is no need for me to apply nighttime moisturizer except for the occasional Vitamin E oil or Copaiba essential oil around the eyes.

Do your own research before trying the oil cleanse method. Start here at: https://theoilcleansingmethod.com/

It’s snowing today. It’s beautiful and sparkling. Still crisp and clean, waiting for people to begin marvelous adventures.

Snow makes me crave warm and cozy foods that I can enjoy by a fire. So, let’s talk bread. Bread. One of the most basic things people eat. It has many manifestations across cultures but all have some sort of bread equivalent – whether yeast or non-yeast – in their traditions.

Look at that label on the bread from the grocery store. How many words do you know? How many can you pronounce? Chances are you see things that have you thinking, “I have no idea what that is.” Most of those ingredients you see are part of the process used to ensure that the bread can travel long distances from factory to store, and still be fresh until someone eats it. Chances are it also includes unnecessary amounts of salt, sugar, and fat.

But bread baking at home takes a ridiculous amount of time, right? Bread is about intention. It doesn’t have to be extravagant. It doesn’t have to usurp all of your free time. But it is a choice – a choice to make something, a choice to know your ingredients, a choice to act. For my everyday bread, most of the work is done at night while I am sleeping.

6 cups flour – I use 3 cups sprouted whole wheat and 3 cups sprouted spelt

3 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup warm water sprinkled with 1/2 teaspoon yeast

3 cups warm water

Mix everything together. I use a KitchenAid mixer with a paddle attachment. At this stage I often add in other items such as: sunflower seeds, gluten free oats, flax seed, etc. Shape into a ball and cover; I leave mine on the counter or sit it in the oven. Just make sure it is a safe place where it won’t be disturbed so the ingredients can do their work.

6 to 24 hours later, dump the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a loose loaf. Cover with a bowl. Place a covered dutch oven – I use a cast-iron dutch oven – into the cold oven and turn it to 450 degrees F. Set the timer for 30 min. In 30 min, transfer the loaf into the dutch oven, seam side up. Cover and bake for another 30 min. Remove the cover, and bake for an additional 5 minutes or so until golden brown. Cool on a rack.

This is our daily bread that is used for sandwiches, cinnamon toast, French Toast, everything. For me, it is most perfect when it has cooled just enough to slice and is paired with a cup of tea.

Read the labels on everything. Not just the nutritional information (calories, fat, sugar, etc.) but the ingredients as well. Reading the labels opens up a whole world of what one is choosing to put inside one’s body. What is one thing you have been surprised to see in the ingredients list on a food label?