Jo's Health Corner: Christmas

The Christmas Essential Oils

I like to use essential oils to get the right holiday feeling during this time of the year. Synthetic fragrances cause allergies and contain synthetic estrogen, so it makes sense to use natural essential oils instead. The other day I made a spritzer of pine essential oil and sprayed on our fake tree. Our dog has allergies so we had to give in and buy an artificial tree, but the pine oil makes it a little more real.

Many essential oils are distilled from spices and they can be used during the holiday seasons. The uses are many, you can scent the wrapping paper, add aroma to wreaths, pine cones, ribbons or to other decorations as well. Or why not make a room spray with inviting Christmas aroma? The spice oils are also great antiseptics and they will purify the room while keeping the germs away.

Cinnamon, clove, bay, pine, cedarwood, mandarin, orange, tangerine, frankincense, myrrh and ginger are oils I consider suitable for Christmas. I use them frequently and very often in a diffuser to get the right kind of atmosphere in the house.

The essential oils of cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg and cardamon can be added to your Christmas cooking. They can be added to cakes, puddings and desserts and so on.
You can also replace the spices in your mulled wine with these oils.

Here is a recipe for mulled wine I found long time ago in Valerie Ann Worwood's book:
4 cups of red wine
cinnamon 1 drop
clove 1 drop
orange 2 drops
mandarin 2 drops
Blend together in 2 tablespoons of honey

Slowly heat the red wine and add the flavored honey and stir well before you take it off the heat. When the wine starts to bubble it is time to take it off.

Wrapping paper
Place 2 drops of oil on a cotton - wool ball and put it together with the wrapping paper in a sealed bag over night.
Cedarwood or frankincense are great aromas for men. Geranium or cinnamon are wonderful scents for women, and for children mandarin or lemon are good choices.

Fire wood oils
Sandalwood, cypress, cedarwood, frankincense and myrrh. You only need one drop per log for your fire and it is enough to include one scented log per fire. Just make sure you let the oil soak into the wood long enough before you use it for the fire. The oils need to soak into the log so you don't get any sparks when you light the fire.

Candles
I love candles and during the winter season we use a lot of candles. You can add essential oils to the candle as soon as the wax starts to melt, it is normally enough to add one drop by the wick. Bay is a good choice and one of my favorites but pine and mandarin are also good choices.

Here is a blend you can use for your candles but it also works great in a room spray.
mandarin 4 drops
geranium 1 drop
cinnamon 1 drop

Pine Cones

You can put 2 drops of pine oil on a cotton ball and add to a bag of pine cones and leave in a sealed bag over night. The essential oils are all natural so it will make the cones smell authentic.

Ribbons can be infused with Christmas essential oils. Add 6 drops of your favorite Christmas essential oil to 1 cup of water. Dip the ribbons in the water blend and swirl around so they get wet, and let them dry.

Christmas House Spray
pine 4 drops
mandarin 2 drops
cinnamon 1 drop
Add to 1 1/4 cups of water in a spray bottle.

You can also buy essential oil blends if you don't want to mix your own:

Christmas Spirit™ is a sweet, spicy blend of orange, cinnamon, and spruce essential oils that tap into the happiness, joy, and security associated with the holiday season.Diffuse or sprinkle on logs in the fireplace, on Christmas trees, on cedar chips for dresser drawers, or on potpourri. Use all year round. Orange (Citrus aurantium), cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum verum), and spruce (Piicea mariana).

Thanks for visiting!

Johanna is an aromatherapist and she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives.

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My Red Cabbage Dish- A Swedish Touch to The Holidays

This Swedish Red Cabbage dish is a traditional accompaniment to the main dish during the holidays in Sweden. I make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is sweeter than the German version, and it is sweetened with red currant jelly. Back home in Sweden it was easy to find good redcurrant jelly since many grow them in their gardens and they willingly share. Here in the US I have to use the redcurrant jelly that I can find, and some years I am very fortunate to find organic jelly without corn syrup.

The original recipe calls for one medium red cabbage (I used one and a half), white wine vinegar (I am using red), freshly ground pepper, caraway seeds (optional but it adds a nice flavor), red currant jelly, one medium onion (I used one and a half), 2 medium cooking apples, and butter for frying.

I quartered the cabbage and discarded the rough steam. I sliced each quarter very thinly. I melted the butter in a dutch oven, added the cabbage, and stirred and fried on moderate heat for about five minutes. I stirred constantly.

I finely chopped the onion and peeled and sliced the apples. I added them to the cabbage on the stove.

I added 2 tsp of caraway seeds and some freshly ground pepper.

Then I added 4 tbsp of red currant jelly. The recipe states that the red currant jelly should be added the last 30 minutes of the cooking but I add it in the beginning instead.

The rest of the ingredients, onion, apples, red whine vinegar, and 3 tbsp water were added. I covered and let it all cook gently until the cabbage is quite soft, approximately for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Sometimes it dries out and more water needs to be added. I taste it and add more jelly or vinegar if needed.