2/4/2021 0 Comments Beautiful Gift Set by RITUALS
![]() I started with the hand wash as it was a great way to perk up the house. It's a beautiful pale pink with a light fresh scent that doesn't scare my husband away by being "too flowery!" It looks great in the bathroom and feels so fancy. ![]() ââNext I treated my dry hands with the magic touch body cream. It is very rich and luxurious. This one has a strong floral scent that lingers in a good way. Helps sooth my cold, dry hands. The others in the set are great shower upgrades. The body scrub was great on my rough feet dry arms and legs. My skin is very sensitive and this was not too rough. The foam was interesting and felt like a huge upgrade to my normal bar soap life. I'd recommend the RITUALS gift sets; they are so beautiful and practical. Check them out here or at my favorite beauty shop, Sephora!
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3/24/2016 0 Comments Water Kefir![]() I'm newer to kefir, been making it just over a year now. I did my experimentation and found a formula that works for me. Since kefir is ready pretty quickly and to process in my routine I prefer to flavor after fermentation. I tried several great recipes adding fruit in with the grains but found I messy, I'm sill digging fig seeds out of my grains! Below is my formula, I have 2 glass jars ready to change out the grains every 2 days. When I need a break I move the grains to a mixture of water and organic molasses and store in the refrigerator. KEFIR
Supplies Needed: Basic Fermenting: Flavoring: Glass vessel to hold at least 1 gallon liquid* 1/3 cup sugar to 8 ounces organic juice &/OR *If there’s no spout a ladle & funnel is needed 1 gallon water 2 Tbsp Vanilla White Cotton Flour Sack Towel* Rubber Band* Glass Jars for bottling Plastic Strainer/Cheesecloth/Nut Milk Bag for straining *2 of each needed for continuous brewing Step 1 Prep: Make sure all supplies are clean; glass jars/vessel sterilized, towel washed. Step 2 Syrup: Make a simple syrup by adding approximately 1 cup boiling water to 1/3 cup sugar in your glass vessel. Once dissolved, add the remaining 3 cups water so you will have 1 gallon total liquid. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature. Step 3 Kefir: Add kefir grains to the cooled syrup water. Cover with towel, wrapping rubber band around the lid. Store in a draft free place away from anything else that is fermenting or fresh produce. Allow to ferment for 2 days. After 2 days, strain out grains through a plastic strainer, cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. Step 4 Optional Flavoring: To add fruit flavor in a glass vessel add strained kefir to 8 oz juice or 2 tablespoons vanilla. I've had success flavoring after bottling by adding a few tablespoons of juice or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract straight to the finished bottle. Adding fruit to the bottle gives a nice light fruity flavor as well. Step 5 Bottling: Bottle the flavored kefir, or plain is very good as well. Fermenting in a drink dispenser makes bottling very easy but ladling juice out and using a funnel to fill the jars works just as well. NOTES: Fermentation time will vary depending on the weather conditions, taste and adjust time to your liking. Fruit flavoring also varies per taste and can be adjusted as needed. Plain kefir has a great refreshing taste as well. 3/21/2016 0 Comments Kombucha![]() I have been in love with kombucha since I first tried it with a coworker at a local co-op. That refreshing bubbly drink was unlike anything I have ever tried. I quickly became addicted and loved how filling it was and how it seemed to ease a stomach ache. I tried just about every flavor and brand out there, some better than others! I was buying it by the caseload at Whole Foods. Then I realized a friend was making it so I was excited to learn more. She not only showed me the process but gave me a SCOBY culture that I have been using for about 5 years now. If you are Kombucha curious, here's my method. It's surprisingly simple. The most difficult part is keeping track of when it's ready so I add reminders to my calendar. I like to brew with a green tea and English Breakfast type black tea blend for 7 days. And I flavor with R.W. Knudsen juice for 2 days; sometimes I leave small bits of SCOBY in for a less sweet flavor. I've been reading more about fermentation and am excited to start flavoring my base with fresh fruit! Below is my recipe, given to me by my friend who is now teaching fermentation classes and has moved on to other ferments I look forward to learning more about! I've had success with sharing and shipping my SCOBY cultures through etsy or yerdle. I would love to be your fermentation friend and hear about your favorite recipes. Some of mine are R.W. Knudsen Grape and R.W. Knudsen Spiced Pear juice using 1/3-1/2 of the jar as I don't like mine as sweet. Also, the Santa Cruz lemonade blends are great (strawberry lemonade, mango lemonade, etc. I have not had luck with straight up lemonade). Enjoy! KOMBUCHA
Supplies Needed: Basic Brewing: Flavoring: Glass vessel to hold at least 1 gallon liquid* 1 cup sugar to Kombucha; SCOBY removed *If there’s no spout a ladle & funnel is needed 1 gallon water ¼ cup Sugar White Cotton Flour Sack Towel* 1 cup kombucha 32 oz Organic Juice** Rubber Band* 3 black tea bags Glass Jars for bottling 2 green tea bags SCOBY *2 of each needed for continuous brewing **Juice that is clear, without pulp works best (grape, cherry NOT orange, pineapple) Step 1 Prep: Make sure all supplies are clean; glass jars/vessel sterilized, towel washed. Step 2 Tea: Make a simple syrup by boiling 1 cup sugar into 1 gallon water. Once dissolved, brew 3 black tea bags & 2 green tea bags for 15 minutes. Allow tea to cool to room temperature. Step 3 Kombucha: Add cooled tea mixture to the glass vessel along with SCOBY and 1 cup of kombucha. Cover with towel, wrapping rubber band around the lid. Store in a draft free place away from anything else that is fermenting or fresh produce. Allow to ferment for 7 days. Remove SCOBY along with 1 cup of kombucha. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator to hold fermentation or repeat process over at step 1 for another batch. The SCOBY will grow and develop thick layers. Peel the layers apart to create more SCOBYs! Step 4 Optional Flavoring: To add fruit flavor in a glass vessel add kombucha, 32 oz juice and ¼ cup sugar. Cover with towel, wrapping rubber band around the lid. Allow to ferment 2 days. Step 5 Bottling: Bottle as is or if you do not like the floaties strain using coffee filter or cheesecloth. Fermenting in a drink dispenser makes bottling very easy but ladling juice out and using a funnel to fill the jars works just as well. NOTES: Fermentation time will vary depending on the weather conditions, taste and adjust time to your liking. Fruit flavoring also varies per taste. You may find you can get away with less juice but maintain the amount of sugar as that is what creates the fizzy effect 2/21/2016 0 Comments 28 Day Challenge Results...My Engine No 2 Challenge ended as planned right before my birthday. Final verdict even though I lost 7 lbs and proved I can live without sugar (surprising it was the booze I missed the most!) long term cleanses are not for me. I felt unsatisfied, tired, frequently hungry and weak. One day I was so exhausted I walked into a glass door realizing I was barely pushing it! I had other side effects regarding my hair and skin that I am still dealing with as well (I'm very sensitive!). Giving up sugar, gluten, oil, alcohol and dairy was a bit too much for me. I am a My Fitness Pal fan so I kept track of everything there for fear or not meeting my protein goals but that wasn't a problem. For me moderation is best. I had a difficult time working out like I usually do because my energy level was so low. I prefer to stick with My Fitness Pal and work out regularly eating what my body craves! I did learn some interesting recipes and new ways to make things more healthy (broth in hummus was a good idea now when I add olive oil it feels a little too heavy!) so I would say it was a good read and interesting experience.
1/10/2016 0 Comments 28 day challenge time![]() The new year brings a reminder of all the good times that were had last year! A few too many good times and now my pants are getting a little tight! It's a good time to get back on track with healthy living. Every year I like to do something in January to get back into shape after the holidays. This year I knew I wanted to go vegan but I feel like I need to kick it up a bit more than that. During a regular visit to one of my favorite places, the library I skimmed the "diet" aisle remembering that I hate diets. Then it came to me, I heard about these guys and even tried some of their food - The Engine 2 Diet! I checked this book out and knew I could do this 28 day challenge. The premise is plant power; no dairy, eggs, meat, oil, processed foods, refined sugars, processed grains along with no food with 2.5 grams fat per 100 calories. I'm already vegetarian and was excited to cut back on the sugar crashing I've been doing lately. The universe seemed to be on my side, after reading the book Whole Foods sent me an email that they were doing an Engine No 2 Challenge. Sign up and get a coupon for their food. I was excited to do this and scheduled it to end right before my birthday. I was looking forward to making the recipes in the book but ended up with a busy week and not making it to the store. I had many approved foods in the cupboards so I was going to make do with brown rice, beans and the random fruits and veggies I had in the fridge. Along with the food change the challenge recommends 10 minutes of exercise 5x week which I have been slacking on as well. My first few days were not as bad as I expected but not great. My meals were a little bland and it encouraged me to plan better so I did make a list and get to the store. I'll post the food highlights that are helping me through. My only craving has been for a swift drink but I'm trying to avoid alcohol as well. I'm also using myfitnesspal to help track calories. I'm finding with all these cut backs I want to make sure I'm keeping up with my goal of getting enough protein. I've found that I'm actually not eating enough calories so I got more hearty things that I can eat to help. The foods I was eating were not very filling so I was getting hungry about every 3 hours. One day I broke down at Walgreens I was so hungry I needed food!... I got a giant bag of plain Blue Diamond almonds to keep in my car for snack emergencies! Reading food labels has been exhausting so I'm trying to focus on natural foods that I know what they are and get back to cooking. Check here on the recipes section for some tasty approved good eats! 11/14/2015 0 Comments Ran away from home!
4/12/2015 1 Comment Congratulations!Day 20!... this was fun! Today I'm asked to rate my knowledge on the topic of sustainable fashion. I'm a more enlightened 5 today as I cross this challenge off the list! I'm so inspired seeing what people are doing to help clean up the apparel industry. I look forward to restyling my wardrobe and reading more great books and articles from things I learned about in this challenge. This June I'm super excited to return to the Fashion Institute of Technology for the summer Sustainability series! It's so great to get together with like minded people and learn new things. This online challenge was a great reminder of that and I plan to keep that spirit of learning up back home!
Come on, try it!.. Sign up here 4/11/2015 0 Comments A recap and some final readingDay 19... a recap of what we learned and d one reading. This has been great fun and inspirational to continue with my passion for sustainable apparel. Here's the list of books that are recommended. I've read a few of these and look forward to reading some more.
Fashion & Sustainability by Kate Fletcher Sustainable Fashion Textiles by Kate Fletcher Sustainable Fashion Handbook by Sandy Black Overdressed: Shopping in the age of cheap fashion by Elizabeth Cline Factory Girls by Lesley Chang I would also add anything by my inspirational teacher, Sass Brown and follow her blog ecofashion talk. 4/11/2015 0 Comments Treat YourselfDay 18 is what I was waiting for!... a reason to shop!... I was thinking that is what this would be all about, supporting great sustainable brands. I settled on some awesome shoes by El Naturalista I've had my eye on!
Day 17... oh how I love online shopping!... today is filled with great tips for buying online. The toughest part is figuring out sizing but once I found brands I love after much trial and error I know what to expect.
Here's a couple of my favorite brands: Neon Buddha - Great knits but run a little big Green 3 - Love their eclectic selection and it's in my home state! Sizing has been pretty true so far! |
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March 2016
CategoriesAll 20 Day Sustainable Fashion Challenge Bowling Ball Buell Buttons Car Chargepoint Earrings Electric Family Fermentation Friends Harley-Davidson Japan Jewelry Kefir Kombucha Milwaukee Motorcycle Nissan Leaf North Carolina Recycle Recycling Sewing Slow Fashion Sustainability Tea U2 Vintage Wedding |