Hand Exfoliation and Moisturizer

Got Dry Hands? Gardener’s hands? Want soft hands?

I recently came home from a wonderful week in Cuba. Maybe it was the salt water and/or the chlorinated pool, and/or being in the water a bit too long (wrinkly-soggy hands) that made my hands super dry, peeling and not so nice to the touch.

No, no, I didn’t catch a weird fungus or anything! This odd occurrence usually happens to my hands once a year or so.

My super clever co-worker whose hands also occasionally do this gave me some advice to exfoliate and moisturize my hands, and, yes, I’m about to share… excited?

She suggested to take some hand lotion, spread it on your hands and then grab a tablespoon of sugar and vigorously rub your hands together.

Here’s what I did:

-1 teaspoon of coconut oil (only 1 tsp because I have small hands, if you’ve got big man hands, go ahead and use more)

-1 heaping teaspoon of brown sugar

-Roughly rub – rub – rub for 1-2 mins.

-Gently rinse your hands.

-Gently pat or let them air dry…

                I did this once and it fixed 95% of the problem, did it a second time and my hands are back to normal! If your hands need a buff and a little moisture, give it a whirl!

Hats off to my coworker - super clever!

Easy Homemade Popsicles

Here's another healthy summer snack idea. Make your own popsicles!

There's a couple ways you can go about it...

-Brew a fruity herbal tea (without "real" tea in it, i.e., no black or green tea as the tea base). Try hibiscus, rosehip, berries, citrus, etc. Brew a large batch of tea, however strong or weak you want. You can sweeten your tea (soon to be popsicles) with honey.

-If you really don't like tea you can try to find some low sugar juice instead, or juice your own fresh fruit and use that instead of buying bottled juice.

-Or for a "heartier" popsicle, blend some fruit and yogurt together (morning smoothie style), banana, strawberry, and berries work well.

Once you've chosen one of these options the next step is it into an ice cube tray or popsicle molds. If you don't have a mold which usually has sticks to hold your frozen popsicle then you're going to need some 'popsicle sticks'. I encourage you to steal these little wooden stir-sticks from your local Starbucks, or you can use your imagination and find something else that is suitable.


Pop them in the freezer and you're done... tasty, and high-fructose corn syrup free!
For a little info on high-fructose corn syrup check out http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588
and http://www.mcvitamins.com/high-fructose-corn-syrup.htm.
Enjoy!

***If something needs sweetening try honey a local honey or raw sugar (no, we can't get that local in Canada).

Chive Blossom and White Wine Vinegar

Spice up your vinegar!!

A co-worker who is always sharing her homemade recipes with me told me about this easy white wine vinegar and chive recipe, and I thought to myself, “I've got tons of chive blossoms on my balcony! Why not put them to good use!?”

HOW TO:

-Pick enough chive blossoms (not wilting or fading blossoms) to fill 2/3 of your jar.

-Rinse them in cool water to making sure you get the little bugs that like to hide in them out – otherwise you're making Chive Blossom and Bug Vinegar! 

-Gently pat them dry.

-Put the blossoms in your jar.

-Fill 2/3 of the jar with white wine vinegar.

-With the remaining 1/3 of the space you have left, fill half of it with regular white vinegar and the other remaining half with white wine.

-Put a lid on your jar and let it sit for 2-3 weeks.

-DAY 1                                                                                      -DAY 2














I'll post again in 2 weeks to give an update on the results.

 

This also makes a nice decoration to have around the house to add some colour.

Frozen Chocolate-Covered Banana Popsicles!

Alright, so summer is finally here; thus, it is time for healthy-ish summer snacks.  The best snack during the summer months is definitely fruit, but if you get all watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey-dewed out then here’s a nice cool treat you can try.

Ingredients:

Banana

Chocolate

Coconut Oil

Popsicle Sticks/Stir Sticks

Directions:

-Melt ¾ chocolate to ¼ coconut oil via double boiler method...

-Peel bananas then put a popsicle stick in it (you can also cut the banana in half if wanted)

-Either dip banana in the chocolate or drizzle chocolate over the banana

                -At this point you could sprinkle the chocolate with shredded coconut (or sprinkles so the kiddies think it’s cool).

-Lay the bananas down on a baking sheet and pop it in the freezer for an hour.

-Don’t try to lift the banana from the sheet by the stick – you’ll probably just crack your frozen banana, instead gently scrape the chocolate on the sheet around the banana until it is no longer stuck, or let it thaw for a few minutes then remove from the sheet.

These are definitely healthier than those freeze-ez or popsicles that are LOADED with sugar, and a tad more filling! They were a hit in my house, gobbled down as soon as they came out of the freezer.

Enjoy!

DIY Citrus Spray Deodorant

Now that summer is here, I can't carry around my coconut oil based deodorant because it's too warm out for the coconut oil to stay solid. So, this is my solution. Spray on deodorant that I can carry around to refresh my pits as needed.

So here it is, homemade spray on deodorant. Yes, I am knocking off Weleda Citrus Spray on deodorant. I love the stuff, but it's a bit pricey and this recipe comes pretty close.


Ingredients:

2/3 Cup of Vodka (or Gin)
1/3 Cup of Water
Approx. 30 drops of Essential Oils (lemon, lime, orange, bergamot, whatever you like)
Glass bottle with spray pump

Directions:

-Pour vodka into bottle.
-Add essential oils (I put 12 drops of lemon, 12 of lime, 4 of bergamot, 2 of orange)
-Shake to mix oil into alcohol.
-Add water (*N.B. This ingredient is to 'water down' the alcohol. If you find that this recipe is not strong enough for you, just use straight alcohol without the water.)
-Shake bottle before each use as some of the oils will not have mixed into the alcohol.

This recipe works because the alcohol kills the bacteria which is what causes the odour, and the essential oils give your pits a non-pitty smell (and the oils are also anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, etc...).

Like the original (Weleda), this might not last all day if you're sweaty like me, or out gardening, or running around all day in the sun during the summer months, but it's cheap enough to make that you shouldn't mind using it as often as needed. I plan to use the coconut oil in the mornings before I leave the house, and carry this spray on deodorant as a backup!

Happy spraying!

Chocolate Covered ... Anything

Everything tastes better when covered in chocolate, right? So why not make your own chocolate covered treats.

Get some delicious (organic) dark chocolate... toss it along with some coconut oil into a pyrex measuring cup in a pot of boiling water and stir. The amount of coconut oil you add seems to change with the type of chocolate and how dark the chocolate is... on average try 1.5 Tbsps to one normal sized chocolate bar.

Melt this down, and then either dip strawberries, bananas, etc into the chocolate or drizzle the chocolate over your fruit... with this you can easily make

-chocolate covered strawberries

-chocolate covered bananas

-chocolate covered any dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries)

Once you've covered whatever it is you're making in chocolate put it in the fridge for the chocolate to harden and voila!

If you love all things coconut, and I do, then you can also make a healthier, knock off version of a bounty bar...

-make simple syrup (equal parts of raw sugar and water over heat)

-add shredded unsweetened coconut until 95% of the sugar is absorbed

-let cool a bit

(If you have molds to pour into this would help though I managed without)

-scoop out a tablespoon of coconut and place on a plate, drizzle chocolate over

-optionally add an almond on top

-Pop it into the fridge for the chocolate to harden and voila!

Easy and Delicious Mixed Fruit Jam Recipe

Shared By: Visions of Utopia - Relish Yo’ Mama (www.relishyomama.org)

Embarking on a mission to “Preserve to Conserve,” the staff at Visions of Utopia thought it best to give jam making a try. We followed some general guidelines given by the Fallen Fruit Collective for their Public Fruit Jam and the instructions on the Bernardin pectin package. The goal of the Public Fruit Jam is to bring people together to create good food through sustainable practices, and foster a sense of community. We certainly had a great time! With no set recipe, just a mixture of fruit brought by different people, here is what we created.

Ingredients:

-2 cups mixed berries (we used frozen)

-1½ cups mango

-1½ cups apple

-1 package powdered pectin

-7 cups sugar

-¼ cup lemon juice

-1 tsp lemon zest

Directions:

-Peel apples and mangoes and cut into small pieces

-In a bowl pour lemon juice and zest onto fruit and stir, then let stand for 1 minute.

-Using a potato masher or back of ladle gently mash fruit.

-Place fruit, lemon juice, zest and pectin into pot and bring to boil over medium-high heat

-Gradually add sugar, making sure that it dissolves

-After all the sugar has been added, bring to boil again, stirring constantly and rapidly boil for 1 minute.

-Pour into sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot-water bath

Yield: approx. 8 cups

You can check out www.relishyomama.org for more awesome jam and relish recipes. You can also add your own and share the wealth!