An Olde Fashioned Christmas: DIY Simmer Pot
It’s the time of year we all love to make our homes warm and inviting through good smells. Scent is a powerful sense that can evoke emotions and sentimental memories. But have you looked into the dangers of synthetic fragrance? Yes, it poses many health risks to humans and animals. Unfortunately our children and pets often have no way of verbalizing how it is bothering them. It may also be bothering those around you at home, at work, at church, etc. It is said that perfumes and the like are the new “second-hand smoke”. Synthetic fragrance can be found in almost all household products— laundry detergent, air fresheners, candles, soaps, cleaning sprays, lotions, even garbage bags and tampons are ridden with chemically-concocted scents.
Fragrance (also often labeled as parfume) is a Trade Secret Ingredient, meaning companies are not obligated to disclose ingredients that make up their fragrance. This is a fancy way of saying that fragrance is a concoction of whatever chemicals the companies want to use. There are over 3,000 chemicals to choose from that can be legally used to make up a fragrance. These dangerous chemicals are linked to many health issues such as migraines, lung and sinus irritation, skin issues, as well as more serious issues like endocrine disruption, autism, birth defects, allergic and toxic reactions, asthma, and cancer.
Synthetic fragrances are man’s attempt at recreating what God has already given us. As always happens when that is tried, we’re left with something toxic, harmful, and dulling to our senses. Exposure to synthetic fragrance can mute our ability to properly smell natural scents like delicious orange peels in winter or blooming roses in summer. When we begin to detox our bodies from synthetic fragrance, we realize how good the natural world smells and how awful the fake smells.
God-made is always better than man-made.
This simple and completely natural simmer pot is an easy way to fill your home with that nostalgic smell of Christmas without harming the health of your family! Use this as an alternative to those candles, air fresheners, and scented pinecones that are so often used this time of year. Not only is a simmer pot safe, but it’s cheap and resourceful: a great way to use up those scraps after holiday baking.
A few tips:
Using perfectly pretty slices of fruit is not necessary. This simmer pot is great to make when you have seasonal fruit that is getting to be too mushy to eat, cinnamon sticks that have already been simmered once or twice, scraps and cores after baking a pie or making applesauce, etc.
To prevent food waste even further, compost the scraps from the pot when you are done.
Make sure you use organic ingredients and wash the produce before simmering, as well as using filtered water. The last thing we want is to release pesticides into the air of our homes!
WHAT YOU NEED:
Cranberries
Pomegranate seeds
Orange slices/scraps
Apple slices/scraps
Cinnamon sticks
Whole cloves
Star anise
Foraged pine or cedar
A splash of vanilla extract
STEP 1:
Place all ingredients into a pot with filtered water. You can mix and match according to what you have on hand. Not every ingredient is necessary to create that delicious, homey smell.
STEP 2:
Simmer on low uncovered, adding more water as needed. Be sure to turn off the burner before leaving the house or going to bed for the night, just as you would treat a candle :) The scraps can be reused over two or three days as long as fresh water is added. Cozy up and let the nostalgic Christmas aromas drift through your home.
Living a synthetic-fragrance-free-life is something I’m passionate about. But as with anything, please do your own research so you can see that my claims here are not made up. If you would like me to share more alternatives to commonly fragranced household items here on the blog, please let me know in the comments below!
Happy simmering!