I’m excited to finally get to share week #10’s prizes with you!  Here’s what’s coming up this week:

Brought to us by The Prepared Hour, our weekly points winner this week will receive our second collection of Do Terra Essential Oils.  It includes three 15 ml bottles, including Wild Orange, Clove and Peppermint oil and retails for $60.  If you remember, Clove Oil landed on the First Aid Supply list I posted last week  for it’s usefulness for toothaches.  In addition, each of these essential oils have many uses (including using them in your cooking if you like).  Here are some ideas of what each can be used for (as suggested HERE).  Thanks going out to The Prepared Hour for this great prize!

Wild Orange 

Diffuse Wild Orange for its effectiveness killing pathogens, and enjoy its incredible aroma while it disinfects and kills bacteria.  It is an excellent oil to diffuse in a car during long trips.  Wild Orange is certified by the FDA to be GRAS and 1-2 drops in ¼ cup of water can be taken internally for acid reflux or heartburn. Use topically for a calming, yet invigorating,  massage.  Use in a spritz to spray bed sheets or as an fragrant pathogen killing spray in bathrooms and kitchens. Use with a carrier to sooth an infant’s tummy.  Use topically in a massage during the early stages of a cold.

Clove 

Clove’s traditional use for dental pain is still helpful and is used and recommended by dentists.  A few drops on a cotton ball and placed on the painful tooth, dry socket or gum area will provide relief for an hour or two.  This application makes it a perfect addition for home dental emergency.  Its analgesic properties also make it suitable, when diluted properly with a carrier oil, for help with muscle and joint pain.  Further when mixed with water Clove can be used as an antiseptic spray to clean and disinfect surfaces and countertops. Adding one or two drops of Clove with carrier oil creates a stimulating disinfecting rinse. When diffused in to the air in small amounts, Clove is a powerful eliminator of airborne microbes.

Since this oil has strong properties it should be used with care for topical applications.  Avoid sensitive areas or those that have sensitive skin.  Usually for oils that can cause skin irritation it is best to dilute in a carrier oil at a 1% dilution or less.  Use with care during pregnancy.

Peppermint

Many studies have noted the power of Peppermint, even in smaller amounts for stomach problems.  Aromatherapists have long suggested using Peppermint either internally, aromatically, or topically for indigestion, nausea, or other digestive ailments.  Topically a 1 or 2% dilution with a carrier can be massaged over the abdomen.

Peppermint is often used to improve mental alertness and acuity. Apply Peppermint to the back of the neck to help relieve stress and tension. It can be applied to the temples to relieve headache. When applied to the bottom of the feet, Peppermint creates a cooling sensation and may help to reduce fever.  Its aroma is uplifting and invigorating and when used topically can be soothing to tired, sore muscles.  Its cooling sensation is perfect for fresh breath and opening the sinuses and airways.  The FDA certifies Peppermint as GRAS.  Mixing a drop of Peppermint with a blend of other oils will help the body absorb the constituents faster.  Caution:  Has a strong cooling sensation.  Do not use with infants.  Use with care during pregnancy.

Facebook People’s Choice Prize:

 

This week’s facebook contest prize is a collection

of a few of my favorite books!

**

The Everyday Gourmet by Shari Haag

I’ve used this book over and over again on my journey cooking with food storage as well as here on the blog.  Unfortunately this book is no longer available for purchase (unless you count the single used copy I found on Amazon for $125).  It’s a great book in learning to add a bit of style to cooking with long term food storage!  I feel like I’ve gained all the use from it I can personally, so this book is being given away straight from my own book shelf.  The type of person who is working hard on their family’s food storage recipes is exactly the type I want to pass it on to! 🙂

In addition to searching for it’s title here on my blog, here are two other reviews on the book for you to check out:

Eating Food Storage’s “My Favorite Food Storage Books”

And Prepare Today’s review on one of it’s recipes found here.

 

“So Easy to Preserve”

from The University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension

With canning season right around the corner this extension book, “So Easy to Preserve”, details everything you’d want to know about canning and preserving.  It came highly recommended to me by a canning expert who I personally trust (and who’s guest posted on canning here), Cheryl Driggs.  Because it seems to go in and out of being found “in stock” on the extension’s site, I ordered an extra to be able to give one away.  Authored by two Ph.D’s in food science, you’ll be able to trust the direction it gives you as you use it for a reference in canning and food preservation.

Bread in a Bag by Pam Emick

Compliments of the author, another favorite book of mine is in the mix this week:  “Bread in a Bag”.  I reviewed this book a while ago and I love the concept and recipes it offers.  It’s all about “pantry-meal” type convenience for breads!  Thanks Pam, for offering this book to this week’s winner!

 Water Treatment Kit Prize

For whatever reason, the Rafflecopter widget is having problems for me this week, so the water treatment kit from Water Pure Technologies will instead be given away to the contestant who has the most points in this week’s submissions who hasn’t yet had a chance to win it!  Easy enough! 🙂

Alright then, I’ve taken enough of your time gabbing on this.  Go on and get cooking!

Weekly recipe/points submissions are due to me Wednesday night (for anyone who’s new, you can check out the details on submissions here) and {important} our facebook contest (detailed here) will end instead at 7 am CT on *Saturday morning* this week, so I don’t have to wait up late to call it at midnight, lol!  I’m getting old and I need my sleep!

Happy cooking everyone!