People often ask me why they should use essential oils in recipes. My question is, “Why wouldn’t you?” We are exposed to massive amounts of toxins in our environment and foods each day. Even the integrity of seeds and farming practices are a challenge for our health. The amount of additives and preservatives in foods and beverages is also a burden to our bodies. So why not add something uplifting to your foods and beverages to support your health?
Using Young Living essential oils in recipes uplifts the aroma and flavor and supports our lives. I usually add essential oils to cold recipes or at the very end of preparation. Young Living takes great care to properly distill these oils, so heating them as little as possible makes sense. I also use essential oils in conjunction with herbs and other fresh ingredients. The result is a fabulous marriage of taste and health-supporting meals, beverages, and delicious snacks!
Five Benefits for Using Essential Oils in Your Recipes
1. Essential oils are delicious in our foods and beverages!
2. They are stable and potent for years. Fresh and dried herbs have a short shelf life.
3. Using oils in the kitchen saves you time and money. Only tiny amounts need to be added to transform your kitchen creations.
4. Oils give you a variety of complex and delightful aromas and flavors.
5. You can travel easily with essential oils and even add them to foods and beverages while you are on the road!
Loquat Fruit Leather with Lemon and Lime Essential Oil
Recipe modified from Essential Gluten-Free Recipes by Tara Rayburn and Mary Vars
Loquats are sweet, tangy, and rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. These little jewels usually grow in moist climates and tend to produce large harvests, which makes them great for fruit leather recipes. Young Living citrus oils amplify not only taste but also the nutritional benefits of the loquat. Fruit leather is a great snack for lunches, grab-and-go lifestyles, and gifting to others.
Ingredients:
3 cups fresh loquats, seeds removed
• 1 fresh apple
• 3/4 cup organic, unsweetened fruit jelly (we loved apricot)
• 1–2 drops Young Living lime and lemon or tangerine andgrapefruit essential oils
Preparation:
• Seed, peel, and puree loquats and apple until lumps are gone
• Add fruit jelly
• Mix well in food processor
• Pour into glass bowl
• Please Do Not put essential oils in the food processor or plastic containers. Oils draw toxins out of our bodies and will do the same with plastic bowls.
• Add your choice of Young Living essential oils.
• Mix well and spread thinly and evenly on parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet and put into your dehydrator for the recommended temperature and time. (Most dehydrators come with a guide sheet with basic temperatures and times for common recipes.)
Tips:
• My Excalibur dehydrator calls for a setting of 135–145 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5–8 hours. Just wait until the fruit leather is mostly dried and slightly tacky to the touch.
• Your climate and altitude may affect the cook time and how much jelly you add. The jelly helps the leather stick together. I live in a desert climate and need to add more jelly. If you live in a humid climate, you may require less.
• When the fruit leather is completely dried, slice pieces with a pizza cutter or cut with kitchen scissors.
• Roll and wrap the fruit leather in unbleached wax paper. You can wrap them individually or as a sheet to be peeled off later.
• Fruit leather makes a fabulous holiday gift. Just put the rolls or pieces in a decorative glass jar, add a ribbon, and voila!
Comment on this blog post for a chance to win one of three sets of Young Living lime and lemon essential oils.
—Tara Rayburn, YL Distributor
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