My husband has been encouraging me to start blogging again. So here goes!

Many of you have walked our journey through Lyme Disease with us. It's been a tough road to walk, but looking back over the last 9 years we wouldn't change a thing about it. We have grown stronger as a couple, stronger as a family, stronger in our faith, and have learned things that have changed us forever.

Back in March, our journey took an unexpected turn. We had seen some improvement in Craig's health through a doctor locally and one in Seattle prior to March, but we felt like we had hit a wall at that point. We were looking at what we thought was our new normal, which was better than it had been but was still not optimal. Then a good friend invited me to an essential oils class in her home. It was a Friday night. Friday night is our family night. I wasn't sure that I wanted to give that family night up. But I felt a tug to go. I thought it was because I hadn't seen my friend in a while, so I responded to that tug, invited another friend to come with me, and went with the intent of just hanging out....and maybe learning a few things. I had no idea our lives were about to change so dramatically.

But before you think that this blog is going to take a dramatic turn like our lives, don't worry. This blog is still about yummy recipes. But if you have been hearing a buzz about essential oils and are curious to know what they are all about, I invite you to hop on over to The Nourishing Apron facebook page where you can attend an online facebook class where I will share through videos all that we have learned. Because of the changes we've seen in our family, I have become passionate about sharing and teaching. In the past eight months I've taught over 25 classes and have seen hundreds of lives touched with essential oils. To give you a sneak peek, here's the intro video for the class. And then below I'll get to the super-yummy banana bread.

(Sorry, folks. The video is doing strange things...head on over to The Nourishing Apron facebook page and you can watch it there. I do food. Not technology.)

Okay. And now for the recipe. This is a super-simple, super-yummy bread. My almost 10-year-old son wanted to make something and this was his choice. And to get the lemon flavor? You guessed it. We used Young Living lemon essential oil. If you don't have Young Living brand, please don't put essential oils in your food. I have researched many companies and Young Living is the only one I feel confident ingesting. If you want lemon flavor in your bread but don't have Young Living, do the zest of a lemon but please don't run to the health food store or hop online and purchase an oil, even if it claims to be 100%.

Here's the recipe, and here's what I'm going to go eat as soon as I'm done typing. I have a piece of bread, a pile of laundry, and re-runs of Gilmore Girls on Netflix waiting for me.


Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
5 drops Lemon Essential Oil (Young Living brand; if not, use the zest of 1 lemon)
4-5 ripe bananas, mashed
1 3/4 cup flour (I used spelt)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In large bowl, soften the butter. Add the sugar, maple syrup, eggs, Lemon and mashed bananas. Mix well with a wire whisk. Add the remaining ingredients and mix just until combined. Unless a 9-year-old boy is helping. Then you may mix a little more than to just combined. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, covering for the last 10 if it starts to brown before the inside is cooked. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely. Store in refrigerator.