Shake Things Up on St. Patrick's Day With Essential Oils

Ah, St. Patrick's Day - hope you are wearing green!  It doesn't matter that we teach our children not to pinch, this day appears to be the exception. I made some cute shoes to wear this year.  I bought a cheap pair of canvas slip-ons for around $5.00, bought some shamrock stickers at the Dollar Store and stuck them all over those cheap shoes.  Then, I used Modge Podge for fabric and brushed it all over the shoes to cover the stickers.  TA-DA, shoes only the maker could love!  If you haven't guessed, I am also a teacher and we do this weird stuff and try to pretend the kids like it when it is really us.  

Kids associate St. Patrick's Day with leprechauns, rainbows and yep, pinching people for not wearing green. Try to explain that the feast day of Saint Patrick, a commemoration of the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and throw in few, "driving the snakes out of Ireland," and "celebrating the death of St. Patrick," and you have totally lost most of a classroom.  Instead, we are making shamrocks, rainbow prisms and talking about little men with red hair in green suits.  Much more fun!  No snakes need to be involved at all. Maybe even searching for gold pieces (gold foiled candy) at recess.

At home, my own kids have the same enthusiasm. I don't even think they bothered to wear green today.  However, I am going to make things exciting for them anyways and make them participate in a little St. Patrick's Day fun using essential oils. My children would never go for corned beef and cabbage, the usual staple on St. Patrick's Day. I don't know why but I can't sell it to them. By the way, did you know, corned beef and cabbage, doesn’t have anything to do with the grain corn? Instead, it’s a nod to the large grains of salt that were historically used to cure meats, which were also known as “corns.” Just a little fun fact for you! 

We are going to make:

St. Patrick's Day Shake It Ups

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

  1. Combine banana, ice, spinach, vanilla, peppermint essential oil, and coconut milk in your blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Garnish with Coconut Whipped Cream, if desired.
  3. Enjoy! 

Now, if you really want to get carried away, you can make: 

Zucchini Noodles in a Minty Pea Sauce (By Kari of Cooking With Toddlers for Growing Up Herbal)

Ingredients: (serves 4)  mint-5

  • 4 medium sized zucchinis
  • 1 cup of fresh shelled peas or thawed frozen peas+ a few more for garnish
  • 8 large mint leaves, diced finely
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of tahini
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Juice from 1/2 a lime (or try a few drops of  ZAQ's Organic Lime Essential Oil)

 Directions:

  • Spiralize each zucchini with a vegetable spiralizer, julienne peeler or regular peeler.
  • To make the sauce process the peas, 4 mint leaves, tahini, salt, garlic and lime juice in a blender or food processor until it’s completely smooth.
  • Combine the zucchini spirals and pea sauce in a large bowl ensuring all the zucchini spirals are completely coated in the sauce. Dress the zucchini spirals with a few peas and the extra mint. Divide in four bowls, serve at room temperature and enjoy!

There you go!  I hope I have made St. Patrick's Day a little more exciting for you! Not only that, it's all healthy. Well, I guess you could throw in a green beer for the adults if you really wanted to!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kris Bitar

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