If you’ve ever checked the ingredients list on your favorite chai blend, you may have found yourself dizzied by the long list of herbs and spices involved. While such an assortment might take some work to assemble, this variety also makes chai spice recipes a delicious way to enjoy a whole host of beneficial botanicals in a single cup. And one of our favorite additions, from both a flavor and wellness perspective, is sweet and adaptogenic astragulus root.

Each year as I make my holiday gift list, I have a certain set of criteria that I aim for. Offerings that are thoughtful, personal, and useful are my top priorities. I have generally found that homemade gifts are more appreciated than things that I can find in mass at any big box store. Small batch DIY gifts also allow for customization and are great for keeping waste out of landfills.  

I want to share some of my favorite recipe ideas that hail from a variety of different masterminds on the Mountain Rose Herbs team. I recommend using these as a baseline and tailoring them for the person you are gifting.

If you’ve ever tried to make candles before, you know it can sometimes be a messy and frustrating process. Getting the wick to stand just right requires a bit of practice and patience. This is one of many reasons I prefer making wax melts. Not only are they more forgiving to make, they are less expensive than candles, and you can make customized scents, shapes, and sizes to suit your preferences. It’s also easier to make smaller batches of different blends so you have more options to choose from as various moods and situations arise. 

Before you beat me to it, I know dessert hummus is not “real hummus.” Traditional Middle Eastern hummus is a savory dish made with a specific set of ingredients. So why call this sweet treat hummus at all? Well, its base is mashed garbanzo beans, and it is a type of dip, so the masses started calling it chocolate hummus or dessert hummus. For the sake of helping people find this recipe, I stuck with that name, but know you can call it vegan chocolate mousse, and it will still be as delicious.

There is great intention behind the drawing and taking of a bath. The sound of water filling the basin sets the scene for the softening of energy that is about to happen. These moments of anticipated tranquility build for me as the tone of the filling tub changes pitch, declaring it’s time for my first toe-dip into the inviting warmth. Slipping into the water has a way of melting away tension and initiating a sigh of relief, which seems to be more of an involuntary reflex than something I ever mean to do. After a few moments of settling in, I call on one of my favorite bath enhancements to create an even deeper therapeutic experience. Bath bombs are helpful vehicles for aromatherapy and because they are crafted in advance, they are easy to enjoy after a long day.

I have to admit, it was really difficult for me to believe that soap nuts could actually work. My skepticism caused me to walk by them at my local natural grocery store for years. I liked the idea of an all-natural laundry solution, but I figured soap nuts would not be effective enough to take on the stains and scents of my active lifestyle and dirty gardening clothes.

It’s the season of fresh and vibrant produce, and as my garden bounty gets close to being harvested, the anticipation of pickling season has me dreaming of all the food preservation projects I will be undertaking. I look forward to donning my kitchen apron and preserving the fruits (and vegetables) of my labor. While I whole-heartedly love canning, sometimes it’s nice to knock a little time off the process. I can’t tell you how many all-nighters I have pulled in the name of saving all the produce, but as I get a bit older, I don’t bounce back from those long nights quite as fast as I used to. One of my tricks for saving a considerable amount of time is quick pickling!

If you ask herbalists, botanists, and body care enthusiasts, most say that building a library of reference and recipe books is one of the most important steps in becoming an expert. Gathering books from professionals who offer their experiences, philosophies, and expertise gives you a strong foundation on which to build your practice.  Here are some of our favorite books on herbal education, aromatherapy, healthy eating, skincare, and growing and foraging plants. 

A lot of people are discovering the benefits of using natural DIY household cleansers—not only are they crazy-easy to make and dramatically less expensive than over-the-counter cleansers, they also give us the ability to choose ingredients we know are safe for our families and pets, and to customize the scents we’d like to have lingering in our homes. However, not all DIY cleansers are equal. 

Massage oils are one of the easiest DIY preparations to craft, which is especially helpful when you consider the host of health benefits that a massage has to offer. While commonly associated with relieving tight or sore muscles, its benefits reach much deeper than that. Massage helps improve blood flow and circulation, bringing fresh oxygenated blood to the body while pushing toxins out of our tissues. Massage is also a great way to ease our over-active minds, offering us the opportunity to breathe deeply, let go, and just be.