My Most Awesome Lemon Chicken Recipe!

This is my very coveted, very awesome recipe for lemon chicken that I'm willing to share with my wonderful readers. After you eat just one bite of this dish, I promise you, you won't want to order the lemon chicken you get in Chinese restaurants (with their questionable chicken parts, MSG, etc.) ever again!

This is my own spin on an adaptation from Emeril Lagasse's recipe.  This version is much healthier, and in my opinion, much tastier. Click on the link for Emeril's original recipe.

So here goes:

Jenine's Awesome Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size strips or cubes
• 1-1/2 tsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water (arrowroot is the healthier option)
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• a healthy oil such as olive or coconut (my preference is coconut oil)
• the juice from 1 lemon OR 2-3 drops of YL lemon essential oil (or a combo of each!)
• the zest of a lemon OR a little more lemon essential oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons minced/grated ginger root OR a toothpick swirl of ginger essential oil
• 1/2 cup julienned green onions - around 2 or 3 'stalks' - split up
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Trim and cut up the chicken and start the chicken browning in a pan with a little bit of oil. 

While the chicken cooks, make the sauce by combining the chicken stock, soy sauce, lemon juice/or lemon essential oil, lemon zest, and brown sugar.  The zest is to add flavor without adding excess liquid which why the addition of lemon essential oil is a great idea because of it's concentrated flavor!

Stir the sauce well and test the sauce for taste. It should taste lemony and tangy!

TIP: If you're using the lemon juice from the lemon instead of lemon essential oil, zest the lemon FIRST before juicing it. It makes for a very difficult zesting experience trying to do it with a squished lemon!

Remove the chicken from the pan (keep warm in the oven on a low setting if desired) and add a little more oil to the pan with half of the green onions (1/4 cup), the grated ginger root/or ginger oil, and the minced garlic. NOTE:  If you elect to use the ginger essential oil, just a toothpick swirl into the ginger oil bottle and then swirled into the pan will do it!  

Stir the mixture constantly so that nothing burns. Cook just a minute or so.

Add the sauce mixture to the pan. Get the sauce nice and hot so that it boils and there are a LOT of bubbles.  Add the arrowroot/cornstarch and water mixture when the sauce is hot and bubbly and stir it constantly while the sauce thickens.

Return the cooked chicken pieces to the pan and coat thoroughly with the sauce. 

Serve with rice and the top the entire dish with the other 1/2 of the green onions (1/4 cup) and the toasted sesame seeds.

This dish is SO yummy!  I can't emphasize tasting the dish all the way through the cooking process so that the taste is exactly to your liking.

So let's talk a little bit about Young Living's lemon essential oil.

Did you know that lemon essential oil is not only an uplifting citrus oil, but is a wonderful support for various body systems as well? Young Living's lemon essential oil is cold-pressed from the rinds of lemons. It is estimated that it takes roughly 3,000 lemons to make 1 kilo of oil. That's about 75 lemons that have to be cold-pressed to make one 15 ml bottle of YL lemon essential oil.

Aside from being uplifting, lemon essential oil can also be used to:

• remove gum, oil, grease, adhesive, and crayon
• freshen wood cutting boards
• pull out stains and brighten carpets
• deodorize and freshen air
• help minimize the oil that causes blemishes
• support circulatory, lymphatic, and digestion systems
• lift spirits and improve mental function by inhaling
• enhance foods and drinks

Young Living sets the standard for essential oil purity and authenticity by diligently scrutinizing every step of their production process.  They call this ‘Seed to Seal’.  From the time the seed is sourced and planted until the essential oil is sealed in the bottle, Young Living applies the most rigorous quality control possible.  What does this mean?  It means that Young Living can provide us with the purest oils the earth has to offer.  And we reap the benefits of knowing that the oils we use for ourselves and families are unadulterated and exactly the way that nature intended.  This is one of the reasons that Young Living oils are the only oils that I trust.

Click on the link for more information about Young Living's Seed to Seal Promise.

Reclaiming my Room

I've done it!  I've reclaimed my 'room'.

It's not much of a room, it's actually a closet.  We have two closets in our bathroom and the small one (can you believe the realtors referred to the large closet the womens' closet and the small one the mens' closet?!?) used to hold nothing but STUFF.  It was the catch-all for everything we didn't know what to do with.  But I worked hard, found homes for everything in there, cleared it out, and made it my own.

Fast forward six months - rather back about six months.  (Hold on to something folks, we're going back in time!)  My husband would ask if he could put some things in my 'room' to keep them safe.  Art that needed to be framed to avoid getting damaged in the meantime, camera equipment that we were assembling for our vacations, etc.  But at some point he stopped asking and just put stuff in there.  I'd catch him coming out of the closet (ha ha ha yes, I am fully aware of the double entendre there) and I'd ask him what he was doing.  "Just putting 'x' in."  One day I opened the door and discovered that I couldn't even step in - there were things everywhere.  It reverted back to being a catch-all, but in this case, the catch-all was for all his stuff.  I was frustrated and upset that my room wasn't my room any longer.

Well I finally decided to do something about it.  This weekend, very late at night when there was no one awake to ask me what I was doing, I went in and cleaned, dispersed, sorted, and found new homes for everything in there.  Again.  Yes, I was very quiet.  Quiet as a dead mouse in fact!  It took a while and I didn't get much sleep that night but I finished.

We have a household of 4 adults, two children, and eight pets.  I'm an introverted, homeschooling mom and I'm with my kids 24/7.  From directing and helping with their schoolwork, to chauffeuring them around to their outside activities, to laying down the law.  The other adults in our home go to work during the week and although they might complain about it, they do get a break from the kids, the laundry and dishes, the surroundings, from me, and from each other.  For my sanity (or what was left of it) I'm sure it's understood why I needed to carve out a place for myself.  So that everyone knew that when I was in that place they shouldn't be interrupting me.  Sometimes I need quiet.  Sometimes I need to be alone.  Sometimes I need to withdraw in order to recharge.  Sometimes I need to just chill and breathe.

By the way, having alone time obviously didn't happen with the water closet (the official term for the tiny enclosure where the actual toilet is) because that seems to be THE ONE place I'm at when everyone around here has an emergency, a question, a need, or would like to yap at me because everyone else is busy.  The little chatterboxes in the house have a captive audience - of course they seek me out to gab at me!  I swear they have L.E.D. lights somewhere in the house where only they can see them to alert them to when I'm actually in the bathroom.  Anyhow, the place we moms go to get away from it all was becoming Grand Central Station just on the other side of the door.  Turning on all the fans in the little cell didn't work either.  It muffled noises just enough that annoy because although you couldn't exactly hear what people are wanting, they stay there until you can.  So what's more annoying?  Being there and knowing someone is just on the other side of the door waiting for you while repeating over and over that they can't be heard and they have to wait?  Or constantly turning off the white noise so that they CAN be heard and having it now possible for you to play directory assistance?  Not one but multiple times.  The penalty for the injustice of disturbing someone in a self-evident sanctuary should carry the maximum sentence!

Anyway, back to the point at hand.  I have my Zen Room back!

 The outside of the door as you enter my Zen Room.

 From the left wall as you enter the room.
Lots of yoga/meditation books, my hoops, and my covered djembe in the foreground.

 A picture of the center with salt lamp in the corner.
I was able to back out the door for this picture and the next.

 The right side of the room.  The near corner has some yoga exercise equipment.
Exercise ball on the shelf to avoid taking up floor space.

A barely seen picture of the ceiling with glow-in-the-dark stars.
I can turn the light off and just lie there and look at them.

YL July Promos

The Young Living July promos are here!

Refresh and relax with July's exclusive rewards

Get more with your July order

Kick your feet up and relax with the pleasant scents of Ravintsara and Aroma Siez™! You can also enjoy the exceptional cleaning power of Thieves® Household Cleaner and the benefit of 10 percent back in Essential Rewards with your qualifying July order!

Reach any of the following PV minimums with your July order and earn these great free products:

• 5-ml Ravintsara: Commonly used in meditation, Ravintsara has a pleasant, clean scent.  
• Thieves Household Cleaner, 14.4 fl. oz.: Thieves Household Cleaner can be used for virtually any surface in your home or office and is safe to use around every member of your family, including children and pets. 
• 10 percent in Essential Rewards points: Earn an additional 10 percent back in points with any order over 300 PV, up to 50 points! 
• Bonus Essential Rewards exclusive: 5-ml Aroma Siez: A key Young Living blend, Aroma Siez features the calming and relaxing aroma of Lavender essential oil. This is available only in qualifying Essential Rewards orders of 190 PV or more.

but there's more.....

July's Oily Angels Raffle

Ready to see what we're giving away to one lucky Essential Rewards member this month?  What's that?  You're not an Oily Angel member yet?  Well go on over to http://bit.ly/JenineHerrell and I'll fix you right up so that you'll be eligible to enter!

The 2 brand new formulations of Valor II™ and Peace & Calming II™ have been so popular that ordering is limited to one bottle of each per YL account per month... but we're looking out for you! If you have an active Essential Rewards membership in July, you qualify to receive an additional bottle of each of these new formulations FREE! 

Get the same great energy from these 2 new oils as you did the original Valor and Peace & Calming. Here's how you can win:

* You need to place a 50PV ER order in July to qualify-- let's take a second to talk "go big or go home" here...order 190 PV and score free goodies from YL in ADDITION to your chance to win! See the image below for details.
* If July is your FIRST active month on Essential Rewards, GO YOU! Way to score points to redeem for free product, rockstar! You also gain a second entry in our Valor II and Peace & Calming II giveaway!

To seal the deal on your chance of winning, you need to fill out this super simple form. This is the only way we know that you qualify. Ok that's an outright fib but the other ways of finding out will require reports in VO and chat sessions and generally more work so help some girls out, k?

Here's the magical form: http://goo.gl/forms/W5hGyD9YDe and GOOD LUCK!

Current PSKs with an Additional Bonus Oil!

EXCITING BONUS for ordering any PSK that is in stock now!

With the purchase of any of the current Young Living Premium Starter Kits, you’ll receive a free 5-ml bottle of Lemongrass, Orange, or Tangerine essential oil! (One free oil will be selected at random and included as a bonus with your Premium Starter Kit).

Plus, Young Living is offering the opportunity to order your favorite current Starter Kits with no limit! While supplies last, you can order any current Starter Kit in any quantity and take advantage of the kit's collection of essential oil samples and business tools designed specifically for new members.

This limited-time promotion starts today at 6 pm EST and offers you the last opportunity to purchase this unique combination of popular, versatile essential oils. It will run only while supplies last or until the launch of our brand-new Starter Kits in June. Log in to Virtual Office and get yours while supplies last!

The Secrets of Food Marketing or otherwise known as, Don't Believe the Label!

I love eTalks and TedTalks.  The various talks given range from all over the spectrum and are usually pretty outstanding.  The one below is no exception.  However, this is the only etalk that I've seen where the speaker begins her talk with humor and gets the audience on her side and chuckling, and then she turns the conversation on its end to where the audience simply can't handle it any longer.  

It continues with shots of the viewers looking shocked and appalled and it's obvious that her audience fully understands the situation but none of them wants to look in the mirror.  She ends her brilliant presentation by walking off the stage to no sound, no applause, only horror and confusion as to what just happened. 

This is an excellent speech that should get you thinking.  This is not for the faint of heart - it has photos and it has impact. 

Watch to the end.

   

Video produced by Compassion in World Farming 

There is some speculation that the audience members are all actors but the fact remains that this is an exceptional speech on a crucial topic for in-depth consideration.

Africa Bound

We're going to Africa!

 

As a lot of folks know (a smaller number that actually read my blog), we will be in Africa in ONE week!  There will be 11 of us going on this endeavor and other than being surrounding by creative and like-minded folks, we all are familiar with each other and most of us are friends.  How great is that?

We'll be traveling abroad to the 'Motherland' to rough it in the wilds for a multi-week adventure to Botswana and the southern part of Africa. After we land in Johannesburg, and check into our hotel, we'll meet up (we all arrive at different times and on different days) with the rest of the group.  On the 6th, we'll say goodbye to our hotel room and actual real beds and meet with our guide and start on our trek to Botswana.  From this point on, we will be camping in the bush with local guides, moving overland across the country to the Central Kalahari desert, see the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, the Okavango Delta, Moremi, Savuti, and many other amazing places where animals abound. We'll all be filling our sketchbooks and notepads full to bursting with all our adventures, thoughts, and scribbles on this fabulous trip.

The group will end their African adventure at Victoria Falls, which is where Edwin and I will split off and go on for another five days just driving around with a guide, camping, exploring, and trying to locate some African wild dogs (an animal and cause close to our hearts).   

We were running a Kickstarter at the beginning of February in order to help subsidize some of the artists' costs to make this trip.  Everyone already paid for their trip in advance, but when you're an artist who's only job is to take commissions to make art for people, well taking time out to go on a trip of this magnitude is very costly.  The goal of the Kickstarter was to earn $3,500 - the cost of producing the book that we'll be making as a momento of our trip.  I'm very thrilled to say that the Kickstarter was a raging success and  was trounced many times over.  We had a total of 415 backers and earned over $31,000.  There were many stretch goals in this process and the book will now be expanded to over 100 pages and be filled with art and stories of our adventures.  All of our backers are going to be receiving their goodies that they pledged for just as soon as we can produce them.

I'm guessing that one of the key hooks for the Kickstarter just could have been that there was only one risk to the book not being published and that was the risk of being dragged away by hungry lions!?! 

Even though the Kickstarter has finished, you can read the write-up about it and what we'll be doing over there by checking out the link below.

Expanding Horizons - Artists' Journey to Africa

Needless to say, we're very excited about the trip and as the date gets closer and closer, very nervous and stressed as well. However, AFRICA!!!!  I just hope that we're able to travel light enough.  We'll have to do a lot of arranging and purging of items, I'm sure.  We can only take bags that weigh less than 26 pounds and need to be soft-sided duffels (allowed two per person to check), one smaller carry on per person, and one personal item.  The 26 pounds (15 kilos), soft-sided duffels are restrictions for the puddle jumper aircraft once over there and for the vehicles we'll be driving around in. Due to the theft problem over there AND in the airports according to reports, we might elect to carry on everything and that would mean only two small under 26 pound duffel bags and two backpacks total to take us through 20 days!

Wish us luck!