Episode 254: Summer Festivities with Essential Oils

doTERRA: Summertime is full of fun gatherings with friends and loved ones. And today we're going to talk about a few ways that you can make those gatherings even better. Welcome back to Essential Oil Solutions with doTERRA, the podcast where you'll hear exciting, useful, and simple everyday uses for essential oils from experts in the field.

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Today we're excited to talk to Karrie Shust about how essential oils can level up any of your summer festivities. Karrie, thank you so much for joining us today.

Karrie: It's a pleasure to be here.

doTERRA: I am so excited to talk about this topic because think it's so fun for the summertime, especially. So to start off, can you tell us what kind of difference our environment can make, especially when we're having gatherings or parties with other people?

Karrie: I think the difference is to be welcoming and inviting to people. You know, summer is always full of fun and laughter, but it's very busy. And so to be able to change the atmosphere and the environment by bringing in fun smells and happy smells and fun things to do with people. Making it peaceful, maybe add a few pillows, some good scents, some fresh fruit, fresh water. You know, I believe that that's the difference you can make with your environment.

doTERRA: Absolutely. And I know you mentioned a couple there, but what are a few ways that I can create a festive environment or atmosphere?

Karrie: Creating a festive environment for me is knowing who my guests are. Are they families? Are they singles? Is it couples? And when we're doing events with families, we make sure that we have fun things for kids, you know, such as a popsicle making area where they can make popsicles while the adults talk, coloring, but also making sure that if you live in an area that there's a lot of bugs, maybe you put on a diffuser and you have an essential oil that diffuses and reduces bugs. You know, bugs or bugs or bugs are a festivity killer. You know, maybe you're lighting a fire pit and you've got a great s'more creating area. Adding extra cushions, pillows and just making it feel a little bit from the inside of your home, bringing it outside.

doTERRA: Absolutely. Now, a lot of us host barbecues or picnics, other big gatherings this time of year. What are some essential oils that you recommend to help create a positive environment for those gatherings?

Karrie: I love that. I would say barbecues and picnics are two of my favorite of the gatherings that we do. And what I love doing on picnics is we spread these beautiful quilts out and they're cotton and we add Eucalyptus. We just sprinkle some Eucalyptus oil straight onto the cotton fabric. And that allows, you know, for the aroma of Eucalyptus to be released on barbecues. Here's some fun stuff. We add essential oil Lemon to our barbecue scrubber. And it is great about releasing, you know, really kind of stuck on stuff. But it also makes your grill smell really great.

And then adding some Lime and some really refreshing. We do fresh squeezed watermelon and we juice that and we add a couple of drops of Lime to that. And so really having that fun, festive, you know, theme of barbecue, what's smoky and smells, you know, like you're on the outside like a campfire, bringing those kind of essential oils such as Basil, Rosemary Eucalyptus. Lemon adds any kind of greatness to the atmosphere.

doTERRA: Absolutely. I love all of those ideas, and those are definitely some that I would not have thought about before. Now, switching gears a little bit, talking about these big gatherings, a lot of times a lot of food is involved. Can I use my essential oils in cooking for these parties?

Karrie: You absolutely can. I've been using essential oils in my cooking, you know, specifically doTERRA for almost 13 years. And what I loved about them is that it enhanced the flavor of some of my foods and they were convenient. And they were safe for me.

doTERRA: Absolutely. Now, of course, there are some tips and tricks to know when cooking with essential oils. So what are the biggest things to remember when you're using them in cooking?

Karrie: You know, I think when we're talking about essential oils, you have to remember that more is not better. And you can ask me how I know that, but just trust me on it. More is not better. So one drop of Peppermint is going to be equivalent to about 27 cups of peppermint tea. Wow. So think about the strength of that for a second. So what's fun about Peppermint is that you can add that to a refreshing herbal iced tea, but one drop is plenty to a gallon, and then you just kind of add more as you go. But you don't want to put ten drops in it first because don't know that you're going to love the taste of that. It will be very minty for you.

I think the other thing is, is that you never you know, when you're cooking, you've got to be aware of your atmosphere. If you get essential oils on your hands, make sure you don't rub your nose or your eyes because they have a tendency to be very potent, you know. But the oils that I love the best for all of this and in that I have time tested are Basil and Thyme, Lemon, Ginger, Peppermint and Lavender and they're just really beautiful taste. But like I said, the biggest tip that I can tell you right now is to remember when you're cooking that less is more and it's always easier to add. It's never easier to take away.

doTERRA: Absolutely. I think anyone who's tried cooking with essential oils has probably ruined something by adding too much at some point.

Karrie: Yeah. My my first dose of cooking with essential oils was cooking them with chocolate brownies and I thought more was better. And I don't think that my family could have tossed them out quicker.

doTERRA: Well, Karrie, before we end, can you share with us maybe some of your favorite summer recipes that you use essential oils for?

Karrie: I would love to do that. I love doing a mango vanilla ice cream. And it's super easy. It's not the homemade ice cream. So this is for the cheaters out there that want to take it and make it homemade. So you'll go and you'll get a quart of mango sorbet, you'll get a quart of your favorite vanilla bean. And then we have a beautiful Madagascar Vanilla. I don't know if you've ever tasted it before, but it's super delicious and you're going to blend those together and you're going to put them in a nine inch loaf pan. You'll freeze that for anywhere between 2 to 4 hours and you'll be able to layer those flavors together. And it is amazing to dish out, top with wild berries or a dash of mint. And that is a fun thing to do. You can actually scoop that up and put it into ice cream cones for your littles as well. Or you can make fresh cookie sandwiches by slicing that like a loaf of bread.

I think my next favorite thing is going to be a blueberry lemonade with Lavender. And you take a quart of blueberry or you can do frozen and which is about two cups and you're going to to smash those up. We call them mashing here in the South, but you can also put them in a blender. You're going to add two quarts of lemonade, which is two mason jars, and then you're going to add a little bit of agave for sweetener, sweeten to taste, and you're going to put some crushed ice and some beautiful glasses and add a little bit of Lavender. Swirl that together and touch it off with a dash of mint. The fun thing I love about doing that is that we rim it up with a little bit of sugar on the glasses by putting a little bit of water in addition then rimming that up. It is such a fun and refreshing drink for the summer, especially when it's hot.

And then lastly, for my barbecue friends out there, it is amazing to add a little bit of Ginger, a little bit of maple syrup, and a little bit of Cinnamon to your baked beans. And it gives this this super deep, rich, amazing taste. So use your favorite baked bean recipe and add just one drop of Ginger, one drop of Cinnamon and two tablespoons of maple syrup and think that you'll find you have the most amazing baked beans.

doTERRA: Wow. All of those sound like such perfect summer recipes. I cannot wait to try them.

Karrie: It's so good.

doTERRA: Karrie, thank you so much for joining us today, for sharing a few ways that we can help make our summer festivities even better with essential oils.

Karrie: Thank you for having me. It's been a great pleasure. Have a fun summer.

doTERRA: Thanks for joining us and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils. If you want to try any of the products you learned about, click on the link in the episode description or find a Wellness Advocate near you to place an order today. And remember, if you liked what you heard today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen.

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