Vander Ploeg Wellness

Christmas Make & Take Recipes

We really enjoyed having everyone over for our annual Christmas Make & Take this year! I wanted to post our Make & Take recipes because I have been asked several times by different attendee’s what ingredients were so they could make them again for themselves and as gifts. So even if you were unable to make it to the actual event, you can still enjoy these recipes too!

We get our roll-on bottles from glassbottleoutlet.com and our spray bottles from abundanthealth4u.com.

“O Christmas Tree Room Spray”

5 drops pine

4 drops cinnamon bark

4 drops orange

4 drops cypress

3 drops Eucalyptus Globulous

2 drops Cedarwood

Put essential oil drops into a 2oz glass spray bottle, shake and spray! Optional: add a pinch of salt to help the oil and water mix.

“Dreamcicle” Sugar Scrub

1/3 cup sugar in the raw

1 tbsp almond oil

5 drops orange

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Mix ingredients in a bowl and put into a glass jar and give as a pampering gift, or keep for yourself! Use caution when in the shower as it makes your feet slippery.

“Christmas Spirit Foaming Hand Soap”

2 tbsp Young Living Bath and Shower Gel Base

1 tbsp Vegetable Glycerin

6 drops Christmas Spirit Essential oil blend

Put the ingredients into a foaming handsoap container and fill 3/4 full with water. Shake up and enjoy!

“Sweet Dreams Roll-on”

6 drops Lavender

5 drops Cedarwood

2 drops Frankincense

Fractionated Coconut oil

Put essential oil drops into a 10ml roll-on container and then fill 3/4 full with fractionated coconut oil (liquid form). Gently shake and roll on feet, wrists, or neck at bedtime!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, The Vander Ploeg’s

Perfect Banana Muffins

These muffins changed my world last week. I, of course had to share this recipe with you because you will love them too. The recipe is originally from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I made some fun alterations that make these muffins to. die. for. Let me know what you think!

Perfect Banana Muffins (for lack of a better name)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (I use Pamela’s Gluten Free Flour)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground ginger

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (I use 3 large bananas)

1 drop cinnamon bark vitality

1 drop nutmeg vitality

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter (I use Kerrygold Grassfed butter)

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/3 cup-ish rolled oats (I use Trader Joe’s GF rolled oats)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan bottoms and sides, set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, banana, essential oils, sugar, and melted butter. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in pecans or walnuts and oats. Spoon batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out of clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool on wire rack completely. Indulge yourself in a delicious addition to a breakfast on the go, brunch, or mid-day snack!

* Recipe taken from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 15th Edition. Alterations made by Jenna Vander Ploeg. *

Happy New Year!

Wow 2016 went fast. Happy new year from Lyle and Jenna!
We are so excited for 2017 and we hope that you are as well. I(Lyle), being an eternal optimist, believe that 2017 is going to be all of our best year yet in so many ways. Not because of politics or the Christmas gifts just received but because of these two things.
One, God loves us more than we can know. He created us in his image. I desire Him. That is what puts the hope and optimism in my day.
Two, goals and dreams cannot be misplaced, rust away, or stolen. Do you have something that you have been thinking about trying for a long time? I do! I am not talking about a flimsy new years resolution, I mean a long standing IDEA that you have had in the back of your brain for quite some time, that thing that you always think “IF ONLY I (WE) COULD ______…” Do not wait any longer. I am taking action on my “if only” and so should you. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This month, there are several free oils that we will receive from Young Living for a qualifying order. If you are on Essential Rewards and place a 300 pv order you will receive

5ml Citrus Fresh Vitality Essential Oil
15ml Eucalyptus Globulus Essential Oil
15ml Joy Essential Oil
5ml Basil Vitality Essential Oil
5ml Peace and Calming Essential Oil
5ml Helichrysum Essential Oil

With smaller orders and non-essential rewards orders you will get some combination of these oils.
For details check out the Young Living website HERE.

Jenna’s Top 8 Stress Busting Tips

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1. Go for a walk… Get out and enjoy the great outdoors. Fresh air helps to relieve stress!
2. Stress Away Essential Oil Blend. Apply to wrists, neck, back, and feet throughout the day to help feel relaxed. Get started with your own Young Living Premium Starter Kit here.
3. Kissing! Did she really just say that?! Yes! Research suggests kissing releases chemicals that ease hormones associated with stress, like cortisol. Now don’t go around kissing random strangers… but if you are married, a few extra kisses with your spouse are a must! Keep up those positive relationships such as your marriage. 😉
4. Drink herbal tea. Peppermint, chamomile, honey, ginger are all relaxing herbal teas you can enjoy. Hot beverages help to calm down your brain.
5. Diffuse lavender essential oil from Young Living. Deep breathing helps you relax, so grab your bottle of lavender and inhale for a minute or two.
6. Laugh more! I try to keep things light and fun. Life is too serious! Watch funny videos or joke around with your family and let loose.
7. Play your favorite worship music at home or in the car. Keep the focus on Christ and praising Him versus focusing on your own troubles. He can lift your burdens!
8. Epsom Salt baths. Run hot water and a cup or so of Epsom Salts with a few drops of your favorite Young Living Essential Oil. Sit back and relax for 15-20 minutes of uninterrupted silence, or play your favorite worship album. My personal favorite for relaxing is Soak, by New Life Worship. Listen here.
9. During times that I need ultimate relaxation, I love turning on my Frankincense Resin Burner from Young Living. Order here.

Blessings!

Jenna Vander Ploeg, CHC

Young Living Independent Distributor #1607681

Healthy Nail Serum Roll-On

fb_img_1477865858676 Ingredients:
• 3 drops YL Frankincense essential oil
• 5 drops YL Myrrh Essential oil
• 5 drops YL Wintergreen essential oil
• 2 drops YL Lemon essential oil
• 1 tsp. Fractionated Coconut oil
• 5 ml (1/6 oz.) Roll-On Bottle

Instructions:
Drop the essential oils, in the order listed, into the roll-on bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with fractionated coconut oil, about 1 tsp. To use, roll mixture on nails and cuticles as needed.
Note: When I made this roll-on, I doubled the recipe and used a 10 ml Roll-On bottle and it worked great! My nails are happy and healthy.

Armpit Detox

(You can also use this same recipe on your FACE as a facial mask)

Well… What is an Armpit Detox you might ask? It’s gross. There you go… SPOILER ALERT. 🙂 After being on my journey to live as chemical free and naturally as possible for a while now, I decided it was time to stop using conventional deodorant. I knew it was bad for me, I just hadn’t done anything about it yet. I could go on about all of the harmful things that come from using conventional deodorant, but I’m not going to because that is not the purpose of this blog. (If you really do want to know what is in the ingredients of your conventional deodorant, you can ask google.)

You are reading this because you want to find out HOW to do an armpit detox.

You will need:

1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoon Bentonite clay

1-2 teaspoons water (to create best consistency)

3 drops Lavender Essential Oil (or favorite skin supporting oil)

First, mix all of the ingredients in a glass bowl or container with a wooden or non-metal spoon (do NOT use metal- I used a mini rubber spatula.) until you have reached the consistency of sour cream or something of that sort.

armpit-detox-supplies

Now the fun begins! 😉 TMI picture below…. FYI.

Spread in an even layer on both pits, (just like you would apply a facial mask) and let it sit for 5-20 minutes! Start out slow, and then work your way up to doing a longer period of time. You will want to let your body adjust because it is going to be pulling chemicals from your pits. The chemical reaction I had when I did it my first time was incredible. It bubbled and grew. The clay basically sucked all the junk out of my armpits that had built up over time from my conventional deodorant I have used since Elementary School.
If you experience irritation at all while doing your armpit detox, rinse it off right away. You may experience some redness because blood flow increases to the area during the detox but that will go away.

I was not prepared for the grotesque-ness of this experience, so that is why I am sharing with you about how it worked for me. I should have known better because usually whenever you do any sort of “detox”, there is some gross part associated. Picture to explain.

armpit-detox-bubbling (This is my armpit after about 10 minutes of detoxing)

You will want to do this right before getting in the shower. It gets messy once it dries, because if yours bubbles and flakes like mine did, it starts to fall off when you move your arms, making a mess. Also, while you are doing the armpit detox, be sure to keep your arms slightly away from your body so that you are not squeezing your armpits closed. That way it can dry.

*** Remember to always drink plenty of water during any sort of detox, because your body needs to have a way to flush out all of the toxins that get stirred up, in addition to coming out in the clay. ***

Repeat this detox daily for a week OR until your under-arm odor goes away. I did this for one week straight and then, I continued to do it about 3 times per week for a month. By doing that, I (personally) have not needed to use deodorant. I have been deodorant FREE since the week before Christmas (2014). After 4 weeks, I still had friends and my husband still thought I smelled like roses. WIN, win. For general maintenance and underarm support, I do my pit detox about one time per month when I do my facial. Sometimes I do my facial once a week, so I end up slapping the leftovers on my pits, so I don’t waste the extra’s.

I did scrub my armpits with a natural lavender bar of soap, daily and lotioned up my armpits with this AMAZING pH balancing lotion from Young Living. A friend of mine adds Lemongrass to her lotion and says it works wonders and smells great and fresh.

armpit-detox-lotion (Ask me about how to get this awesome lotion!)

During the detox, by the end of the day, especially if I had sweat a lot, there was definitely some mild, pleasantly-natural-smelling, “stink” to my under-arms… but NOT nearly as bad as how my armpits smelled when using conventional deodorant. Nowadays, if I workout and get sweaty, my natural body odor is not offensive at all. It’s amazing how our bodies were made to sweat and how so many products on the market are just a Band-Aid, to cover up some natural body function.

I want to say that for me, my Armpit-Detox was successful! My husband has even tried it a few times and has not used conventional deodorant since 2014 as well. (Gasp!)

Thank you for reading… I am so blessed to be able to share my experience with you because I truly believe everyone who has ever used conventional deodorant should do this!

You are loved!

-Jenna Vander Ploeg
Young Living Essential Oils Independent Distributor

“Getting YOU back to the basics of your HEALTH & LIFE goals.”

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