Lemon Lavender Cake

I've been looking for recipes I can make with essential oils. It feels like a science experiment and I love it! I made this lemon lavender cake for my first oil class and it was delicious! I used this recipe from Fudge Ripple and changed it up a bit to substitute some essential oils.

Cake

1 cup unsalted butter--room temperature

2 cups sugar

2 cups white all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat all purpose flour

4 large eggs

1 cup almond milk

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 Tbs lemon zest

juice of 1 large lemon

10 drops Young Living lemon essential oil

2 drops Young Living lavender essential oil

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs.

In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt and baking soda.

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice and almond milk together in another bowl. 

With the mixer on low, alternately mix in

the flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour, in 3 additions. Do not over-mix, just allow the ingredients to come together. 

Stir in the essential oils and add more or less to taste. Pour into coated 2 loaf pans. Bake at 325 F for approximately 50 mins. When cool, pour glaze over. This recipe makes enough glaze to drizzle over both cakes.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs cream

Juice of lemon (more or less to your taste)

Stir together and pour over cooled cake.

I didn't change much about the recipe, I just simplified it a little. I added the lemon juice and not just the lemon essential oil because I feel like it needed the extra liquid. I really wanted it to be lemony so it definitely needed the essential oils. The two drops of lavender was just enough to give it a faint flavor. I used dried lavender buds to sprinkle over the top but I didn't put them in the batter. It's just for fun so you don't have to do that bit. 

Let me know if you try this recipe!

Are Essential Oils Cheaper Than Otc Meds?

So I've been doing a lot of research lately. I've been into essential oils for years and making my own diaper cream, stretch mark cream, and all kinds of things. I asked for the Young Living premium starter kit for Christmas and I couldn't wait so I got it sooner haha. A friend asked me if there were any oils that were cheaper than over the counter meds. I was like I have no idea, let me look. This whole time I've been thinking that oils are probably more expensive, but they're natural so I'm totally okay with that. I was wrong guys lol. 

So here is some of my research. I just picked out a few over the counter drugs that essential oils can be used for instead, then calculated price per dose, and compared them. They can be used for a million other things, but here are just some good comparisons.

Lemon essential oil can be used for reducing a child's fever (Children's Tylenol), getting mucous and stuff out because it's good for drainage (Mucinex), and for weight loss (Hydroxycut). 

Peppermint essential oil can be used to reduce fever and pain (Tylenol), for heartburn (Zantac), and nausea and other belly issues (Tums). Did you know that Tums is actually a category C in pregnancy? Kinda scary.

Thieves essential oil blend is a really useful for keeping the sickies away. You can use it when you first feel a cold coming on (Zicam), for cold sores (Abreva), and for oral pain (Oragel). I actually made a diluted coconut oil cream with this for Rowan's gums and it's awesome. Haven't touched Tylenol or Oragel since.

Lavender is helpful for allergies (Benadryl and Zyrtec) and sleep (Melatonin). 

Seriously I didn't know this info before doing some research. Let me know if you want to see more comparisons of oils or over the counter meds. Leave suggestions in the comments!

Pssstttt.....BOOM!

 So my husband said I've been such a  good wife lately, he'd let me paint his toes, which I love doing! He picked the color green, but I wanted nail art, so I came up with an awesome idea of something we'd both like!

If you don't recognize this, its one of the creatures in Minecraft. We like to play that game together :). It is called a creeper. When you get close to it you can hear it start to go off like a bomb and if you don't run away quick enough it blows up in your face!
(image source)

 
So I got a picture and a palette ready and went to town. I sponged his toes with China Glaze Gaga for Green, Zoya Bevin, OPI Stranger Tides, and Julep Selena. I also mixed some of these shades with black to make them darker, hence the palette.

Here is the finished product! Kind of a camo green (was definitely not going to take the time to do perfect little pixel squares) with the creeper face on the big toes.

I totally coated them with some China Glaze Ghoulish Glow that a friend just sent me for fun. They glow pretty awesome, but of course it's almost impossible to photograph a glow-in-the-dark.

 

 Close up

He likes them! Does your husband or SO ever let you paint his toes?