We need to eat greens both raw and cooked every day for the nutrients they contain.  When served on a regular basis, kids and adults will get used to them and learn to enjoy them.

Pro parenting tip:  serve vegetables first - this has helped our kids learn to eat just about everything - although it can be a process.  Set the healthy expectation that everyone eats the same thing and vegetables are required! 

One of my favorite ways to get spinach in our diet is to put it in smoothies!  These are total kid pleasers!  One of our "rules" is that a handful of spinach goes into every recipe.  I use a Vitamix blender - it will blend just about anything super smooth!  

Have Picky Eaters? Grab this guide: 7 Strategies to Help Picky Eaters Eat!

1 handful of spinach

2 cups frozen mango

2 bananas (freckled)

1 peach

1/2 lemon - juiced

2-3 cups water/non dairy milk

3 drops cinnamon bark essential oil

1 handful of spinach

2 cups frozen mixed berries

2 bananas (freckled)

1/2 carrot

1/2 lemon - juiced

2-3 cups water/non dairy milk

3 drops tangerine essential oil

1 handful of spinach

2 cups frozen strawberries

2 bananas (freckled)

1/2 lemon - juiced

1 apple

2-3 cups water/non dairy milk

3 drops lemon essential oil

1 cucumber - skin scrubbed, but not peeled

1 thumbnail sized piece of fresh ginger

1 lime- juiced

1-2 drops ginger essential oil

1-2 drops lime essential oil

(This can also be juiced - if you prefer - add the essential oils at the end)

Use leftovers to fill popsicle molds for later - my kids go through these so fast!  (I would recommend the Spinach/Kale smoothie to be consumed as a liquid.)

You may have noticed I use freckled bananas to sweeten them.  Hard green bananas will not have the same effect.  

If you are looking to transition gradually - sweeten the smoothies at first or add yogurt.  Little by little lessen the amounts of those ingredients as your taste adjusts (and it will!).

Looking for additional reading material?  

Super Foods Rx, By Steven Pratt, M.D., and Kathy Matthews is fantastic!

Eat to Live-audio / Eat to Live, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is excellent! 

I know I am not the only gardener to be plagued by pests!   Those tiny green or brown aphids that suck the life out of the leaves and stems, the teeny white flies that love to munch, but stay hidden on the underside of leaves, the microscopic mites that produce icky webbing, and leave the plants barren of the nutrients they need to produce good fruit.  

I live in the central valley of California and it is hot and dry in the summer.  This weather is perfect for those pests, but not ideal for many plants.  One way to help prevent pests in the first place is to have the soil well balanced with nutrients so the plants are healthy and strong.  Another way is to have consistent watering and enough water!  I water early in the morning.  There is not much humidity, so when it is in the 100s, I often water any drooping plants again in the evening just a little to help them perk up.

But that is not always enough.  Pests invade anyway!  They creep in quietly and before you are aware - you have a full-on infestation!  Checking every day can help you spot trouble before it gets too bad.  

Commercial sprays are full of chemicals that I choose not to use in my organic garden.  Even if I didn't get the commercial sprays on the fruits and vegetables themselves, they would still have trace amounts inside.  One reason I grow a garden is to stay away from the pesticide covered fruits and veggies in the stores!  I have experimented with some things and found a combination of ingredients that works well as a DIY spray.  It is critical to spray the underside of the leaves, as that is where they like to be.  Spraying weekly can help trouble areas recover.  

Recipe 1:

One squirt Thieves Dish Soap (about 1 teaspoon) You can also use Dr. Bronner's Castille soap 

about 1 teaspoon fractionated coconut oil

5-10 drops Citronella essential oil

5-10 drops Peppermint essential oil

5-10 drops Tea Tree essential oil (This is especially helpful for powdery mildew, too)

Recipe 2:

One squirt Thieves Dish Soap (about 1 teaspoon) You can also use Dr. Bronner's Castille soap 

about 1 teaspoon fractionated coconut oil

10 drops peppermint essential oil

10 drops orange essential oil

Fill bottle with water or a filtered infusion of citronella or peppermint leaves

Attach a spray top and enjoy.  

Spray in the evening, as sunburn can occur when spraying during daylight hours.  

You may get some on your skin - this will not harm you, but you may want to rinse the soap off afterwards as it is a little sticky.  

Find Essential Oils and THieves dish soap here.

Not long ago, I experienced emotional pain that was so great I had a really hard time dealing with it. My younger brother died suddenly in an accident.  

For those who have experienced a sudden loss in their lives, you may remember the actual physical pain that engulfed specific parts of your body. At that time it was my heart that hurt the worst. It physically hurt - like I thought I was having a heart attack. 

I had never experienced emotional pain of this magnitude before.  I felt as though there were cement blocks attached to my feet and a cloud of fog over my brain as I experienced the initial emotions of shock, disbelief, anger, and grief in those first weeks.  And I hurt both physically and emotionally.  Look below for the recipe I used to help with the emotional pain I was feeling.

Even now, as I write this, I feel tightness and pain in my chest.  It is still pretty raw.  

So, why does emotional pain physically hurt?  Did you know that both physical pain and emotional pain activate the same areas in the brain?  The anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex, to be specific (parts of the limbic region).  

Pain felt from emotions is just as real as pain felt from bodily injury.  It can also be located in a specific area of the body.  We all know that when we are sad, we move slower, our bodies just don’t have the same energy that they have when we are feeling excited, our legs and arms drag.  

We all feel strong emotions - both positive and negative - hundreds of times in our life and we feel those emotions in different areas of our body.  All emotions are a part of life’s experience and there is no good or bad in feeling emotion.  

Take a moment and think of a strong emotion you felt recently and pay attention to where in your body you feel it.  Most people feel specific emotions in the same general areas of the body.  

When we feel emotion, we have a choice to either express it or hold it in.  We can express it positively or negatively.  Or we can hold it and channel it for good, or stuff it which blocks energy and causes chronic pain.  Sometimes the emotion itself is so great, it causes immediate pain.

In the example of grief, crying or weeping is actually a positive expression.  It is actually good to cry.  Emotional tears release stress hormones such as adenocorticotropic hormone and prolactin, also painkiller leucine enkephalin, as well as manganese. Releasing these from your body leaves you feeling better.  

Getting support and love from family and friends helps us feel safe to express our emotions and helps us release them in a positive way.  I am so grateful for those who were supportive when I needed them.  Prayer helps us express to God those things that we don’t feel comfortable expressing to others.  His unconditional love is such a comfort.

I have also found relief through this Emotional Pain Blend of pure essential oils.  We know that essential oils have a great effect on the emotional parts of the brain (limbic region).  I used this recipe quite a lot for a few months.  

I mixed up a big bottle with the ratios below and applied it to my forehead and neck and rubbed it between my hands to inhale.  This helped me calm down when I couldn’t do it on my own.  It also helped reduce the physical pain I was feeling because of the emotional pain. 

Emotional Pain Blend:  

10 drops Idaho Blue Spruce

5 drops Idaho Grand Fir

5 drops Sacred Frankincense

Add dilution 50:50

To those suffering emotional pain, I feel you.  I know how much it hurts.  Turn to God, turn to your family and friends.  It’s not only ok, it’s beneficial to cry and release the emotions through tears.  I hope and pray you find relief as you go through the hard times in life that we all have.  May God bless you with comfort.  

Please note, these links are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase from one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.  This helps support the blog and allows me to continue to make free content.  I only recommend products that I use and love.  Thank you for your support!  

Essential oil links:

Need assistance with releasing emotions?  

Resources:

Recently, I have felt really down as the months of involuntary isolation from the world have dragged on.  At first, I took a break, worked on projects, had some fun hanging out with my kids.  But as the weeks rolled on, not being with the other friends and family I normally see on a daily basis started to emotionally take a toll on me.  I have greatly missed serving in the children's ministry each week at church, volunteering at my children's school, participating in my fitness classes, teaching my wellness classes, and so much more.   The stress of distance learning with 6 kids in school has been enormous - don't get me started on that!  I have continued to do some of things at home that I enjoy like gardening, and have taken up sourdough bread making, but there are many things I have not been able to do.  I miss my friends, I miss being around people!  I know I am not the only one feeling this way.  Many are feeling the strain from this whole situation.       

I've felt down before, so I pulled from my resources 12 different ways I know how to lift myself emotionally.  I already do some of these, and have once again implemented those that I have not been doing.  I hope they can be of use to you.  

Need assistance with releasing emotions?