Author: Scott & Rhonda

What are Hydrosols?

Todays post is about Hydrosols.

We have just spent the last week camping. We stayed for a few nights at the beach, then a couple of nights on a private property. During our stay at the beach, March flies bit both of us and we were quite itchy.

When we arrived at the second property, the host has a skin care range that she sells. She sprayed a product on our arms and legs and the itch started to subside. The spray is a Lemon Myrtle Hydrosol blend. We had never heard of a hydrosol before, so I asked a few questions and did a bit of research. Here is what I found.

What is a hydrosol?

It is basically an end product of the essential oil distilling process. The distillation process— by water or steam — of the plant matter produces two end products:

  • Essential oil: the oil-soluble parts of the plant
  • Hydrosol: the water-soluble parts of the plant (this liquid also contains microscopic drops of essential oil)

Just like essential oils, many different types of plants can be made into hydrosols. The process makes use of the whole plant including bark, roots, and leaves not just flowers. Essential oils and hydrosols have some similar properties, but hydrosols contain a higher water content.

This means they’re gentler than essential oils and can be applied directly to the skin without the need to dilute them with carrier oil. They also have a more subtle scent than their essential oil counterparts.

The hydrosol used in the spray was Orange Jasmine.

Orange Jasmine

Further research found that the essential oil from orange jasmine has analgesic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. This means that it has the capacity to ease the irritation associated with insect bites and rashes.

Lemon Myrtle

The other ingredient in the spray was Lemon Myrtle essential oil. This product has long been used in medicinal and personal care products.

I have previously written about the many benefits and uses of lemon myrtle.

The essential oil is used as an antiseptic, disinfectant and expectorant and is said to be more powerful than Tea Tree.

Lemon Myrtle has amazing benefits in skin care. It works as an astringent to help tighten pores and reduce irritations. With its antibacterial properties this oil can assist with skin infections, wounds and acne

The pure essential oil can be applied topically to reduce inflammation of insect bites and help soothe the itch.

It is also excellent for soothing inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis, dermatitis and acne.

 

So a relaxing holiday also provided a learning opportunity.

Till the next post,

 

Live clean n Prosper.

If you are interested in this product, the link to the website is – http://www.anderleigh.com.au/aga/product-category/essential-oil/

Sources – Healthline – US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health – Wiley Online library –

Sharing a Chocolate Brownie recipe

Today I am sharing a gluten free, Chocolate Brownie recipe.

Whenever I need to bring something for a morning tea, this is my ‘go to’ recipe. It’s a recipe from David Gillespie’s ‘Eat Real Food’ cookbook with a few small alterations.

These are low sugar, gluten free brownies which can be stored in the fridge to be enjoyed at a later date (if there are any left).

I have also been known to use the brownie recipe for making the occasional cake. Making 2 batches using 20cm round cake tins gives the 2 layers for a decadent chocolate cake.

So for those people who have asked for the recipe, here it is.

Brownie recipe

Makes approx. 16 pieces

Ingredients

125g butter

25g cacao butter

1 cup dextrose

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 1/2  tbsp organic coconut flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

50 g organic cacao powder

pinch of salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp Vanilla paste

Method
  • Preheat the oven to 165`C and prepare your tin (I use baking paper).
  • Using a heatproof bowl to sit on top of a saucepan that has some water in it. Bring the water to the boil, then turn down the heat so its just simmering.
  • Put both butters into the bowl to melt.
  • Once melted, add the dextrose and sugar and mixing well. I use my stick blender.
  • Then add the flour, baking powder, cacao, salt and vanilla continuing to mix will well combined.
  • Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the eggs, keep mixing here until the mixture is smooth.
  • Pour into your pan and bake for 30 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
  • Cut into squares while warm.
  • Cool to room temperature, then they can be store in an airtight container in the fridge.

 

When using the brownie recipe for a layer cake, it makes the cake a bit dense, a little like mud cake. This means that a small cake goes a long way.

So, with this recipe you can make a batch of brownies or a delicious cake.

Until the next post,

 Live Clean n Prosper

Welcome to 2022

Welcome to 2022 and the first post for the year.

We hope that all our readers were able to find time to spend with family or friends over the Christmas, New Year period.

Before writing this post, I reviewed last year’s first post where I shared that we had decided to spend more time outdoors, preferably camping.

Well I am pleased to share that we did spend more time camping last year than we have done in previous years. We have already tallied up more mileage on our camper in 1 year than the last one did total.

Our longest trip was for 3 weeks during which we travelled around Queensland, camping in some great places. We went as far north as Palm Cove, then out west to Winton, before heading back to Brisbane. We had a fabulous time, saw some amazing sights and met some really lovely people. We enjoyed the trip so much, that we are planning on doing a very similar trip again this year.

Scott has the end of his degree in sight and with that the development of Live Clean n Prosper Health Services also draws closer.

With the now ever-present challenge of Covid, maintaining good health is even more important.

We will continue to share information related to all things health with the view that it may help some of you with your own health.

Till the next post,

 Live clean n prosper