I, like many of you, have found myself using essential oils often in my every day life-particularly in my kitchen and cooking! Most tutorials/suggestions I see on line for EOs are talking about therapeutic uses so today I thought I\’d focus on kitchen and edible uses. More and more I find myself grabbing oils instead of spices and cleaning products in my kitchen. They smell delicious, they taste delicious and add SO.MUCH.FLAVOR-typically one drop is all you need. I mostly use doTerra-but I certainly don’t discriminate against any other oil company. If you looking for a dealer, Jewl Hinton takes excellent care of me.
Lemon oil is my most used kitchen oil. I love to use it for cleaning because of it’s sweet crisp smell. I particularly like using for things like my blender because *someone* likes to put peanut butter in all of her green smoothies and very quickly leads to a smudgy, oily peanut butter film that not even my dishwasher will touch. The best part? It tastes good and is safe to eat! Instead of having detergent/cleaner flavor after cleaning-I get a slight hint of yummy citrus.
I also find myself wiping out jars before I make jam-even adding it to my jam, wiping down the counters and I LOVE cleaning out my fridge with any of the citrus oils. I\’ve also used the OnGuard blend in the winters if I want my kitchen to smell more like autumn-you can load that stuff up in a spray bottle and make everything smell yummy!
I often add citrus oils to my herbal teas and love to clean out my infuser with grapefruit oil, lemon oil or lime oil. Every once in awhile I\’ll add a drop to my water if I\’m looking for a kick of flavor or if I\’m doing an Apple Cider cocktail it really adds.
Another favorite for me is basil oil. Basil is SO SO strong so I usually put ONE drop on a plate and then dip a toothpick in it and then dip that toothpick in the olive oil/vinegar blend that I pour over the bruschetta. I\’ve also used that technique making caprese salad and it adds the perfect amount of basil flavor. This has helped in a pinch when I\’ve forgotten basil or wanted to punch up the basil flavor.
These two oils are a favorite when it comes to any meat in a dutch oven. I add a drop or two of each to pot roast, short ribs, or any other slow-cooking red meat. I\’ve also found these are EXCELLENT to use in conjunction with a carrier oil when seasoning my dutch oven. Instead of just wiping it down with olive oil alone, I pour in the olive oil and add one drop of each and wipe it down. That way the next time I get out my dutch oven my nose is welcomed with their lovely herby scent instead of just the deep metallic one.
Fresh salsa. Cilantro essential oil is the perfect addition to homemade salsa. It kicks up the fresh cilantro flavor (which is my favorite) and you only need the smallest amount to accomplish this! It’s so, so good. If you’re into bountiful baskets, I get their salsa pack every chance I get and just throw the whole thing in my food processor. It produces the yummiest, freshest salsa.
Last but not least…and my favorite since it’s starting into fall…is my diffuser. I\’ve nicknamed this one the bagel
- Cinnamon & Wild Orange: this is so perfect for autumn/winter. It makes my kitchen smell both warm and clean.
- Lemon & Rosemary: Rosemary is surprisingly sweet and warm, especially paired with lemon.
- Lemon, Lime, Cilantro & Tea Tree: This eliminates odor and freshens up the kitchen.
- Cedarwood. Juniper Berry & Frankinsense: This is a piney yummy wintery smell that’s also very fresh and clean.
- Elevation: A doTerra blend that is both clean and sweet.
- Eucalyptus & Peppermint: I love this blend during any stuffy season.
- Ginger, Lemongrass & Lime: I diffuse this when I\’m feeling like Thai food and I want my kitchen to match my mood.
- Grapefruit: This one is just the best. All by itself.
- Juniper Berry & Lemon: Sweet, wintery and warm.
- Purify & Citrus Bliss: All the benefits of doTerra’s Purify blend with all the sweetness of citrus.
For some reason Lavender just hasn’t found it’s way into my diffuser blends for the kitchen. I find I like Lavender, Balance, and Serenity type blends in my bedrooms and throughout the rest of the house-citrus seems to be the winner in the kitchen for me.
I\’m always on the hunt for more diffuser recipes and ways you use essential oils in your kitchen and cooking! Share with me!