Homemade Toner/Astringent

Homemade Toner or Astringent is probably one of the easiest DIY skincare products you can make. There's only 3 ingredients, one of which is water, and another of which is optional.

Here is what you'll need:

~2/3 cup water (I used filtered)
a few drops of tea tree oil (Trader Joe's sells it and of course Amazon has everything)
a few drops of lemongrass essential oil (also on Amazon) (optional)

How to use it: 

Fill a small bottle with filtered water. Mine held almost 2/3 of a cup. Put in a few drops of tea tree oil, and a few drops of lemongrass EO (if you want). It still works REALLY well without the lemongrass, however TTO does not smell so great, so if the smell makes you gag, add the lemongrass (or other essential oil). I chose lemongrass because of what it says on the back of the bottle:

I use this toner/astringent/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, after I wash my face to remove excess makeup, dirt and oil. I also use it sometimes when I haven't worn makeup that day, and I'm too lazy to wash my face. Probably a terrible idea (to not wash my face), but hey, it's better than nothing I guess. 

Pour a small amount onto a cottonball and wipe your face. You will be shocked at the amount of dirt that is still on your face after you just finished washing it.
I have normal/oily skin, so I don't always put moisturizer on after, but if you have dry skin, you might want to do that. This toner tends to dry out your face a little. 

Also note, DO NOT GET THIS IN YOUR EYES. I haven't done this (yet) but I have a feeling it will sting a lot. 

I hope you give this very easy DIY toner a try!  Leave a comment and tell all your friends! :) 

~Mallory~

Homemade Tooth Powder (Guest Post)

If anyone is still reading this blog, they will recall that in my first post that I mentioned how much I hated the homemade toothpaste that I had tried making.
Well, a good friend of mine (who happens to be a fabulous chocolatier), messaged me about my toothpaste comment and asked if I'd be willing to try her recipe (and blog about it of course!). Her recipe is A LOT different than the one I tried last year, so I said I'd give it a go! She sent me some a few days ago and since I first tried it, I haven't used ANY regular toothpaste!
This stuff is seriously AMAZING! True, it is brown, and looks strange to brush with, not to mention it turns your toothbrush brown-ish, BUT, it works SO WELL!
It does a fantastic job at cleaning my teeth, tastes WAY better than the toothpaste I was previously using, and is Junk-Free!

Finished Tooth Powder

Here is the recipe and what my fantastic friend Allie had to say about it:


"Out of the zillions of all natural products used as alternatives for the more chemically loaded ones, toothpaste seems the most reasonable and important to me. Why would you scrub so many chemicals on your teeth? Although you’re being told they’re good for you, you’re putting chemicals IN. YOUR. MOUTH. And you ingest them every time you brush your teeth. This does not sound right.

A good friend of mine (whom I refer to as the organic and all natural guru) introduced me to tooth powder. I made it with a huge dose of skepticism, but much to my surprise, I loved it. I must, however, give credit where credit is due: my friend got this recipe from another blogger who aims to help others live a more healthy lifestyle.

http://wellnessmama.com/5252/remineralizing-tooth-powder-recipe/

On this post, she explains why she puts the ingredients into the tooth powder, the benefits of using a tooth powder, and where to find many of these ingredients, among other things. I used her recipe pretty much as is, with one exclusion.

Here is my recipe and method, but if you want to read more about the tooth powder, definitely check out her blog!

Tooth Powder Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp. Bentonite Clay
• 3 tbsp. Calcium Magnesium Powder
• 1 tbsp. Baking Soda
• 2 tbsp. Powdered Mint Leaf (powder in food processor or spice grinder)
• 1 tbsp. Cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Clove Powder
• A few drops of Essential Oil (I went with Peppermint)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a spoon, or put them all into a small glass jar with a lid and shake to incorporate. I went with mixing it right into a mini mason jar because a) less dishes to wash and b) mini mason jars are adorable and I want to put everything in mason jars.

How to Use:

Wet your toothbrush and dip it into the powder. Brush your teeth like normal and rinse.

Notes:

This recipe makes approximately ¾ c. of tooth powder which lasts for months. The tooth powder is dark brown and over time, it will turn your tooth brush the same color, and it may leave a residue in your sink, but it’s easily rinsed out. Also, I omitted the Xylitol Powder from her recipe because it was only added for sweetness and I personally didn’t mind it without. Lastly, I would recommend if you want more than one member or your household to do this, get separate mason jars and label them for each person because #germs." 

I hope you try her recipe and let me know how you like it! I will definitely be adding it to my homemade recipe book! 

My (soon to be famous!) Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Today, I successfully convinced my boyfriend that it would be much wiser to allow me to bake him cookies instead of going to the gym together.
Best argument win ever.

Anyway, cookies = blog post! YAY!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

2 eggs 

1 cup+1 TBS. brown sugar

1 TBS. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

6-12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (I used ~6 aka half a bag)

1/2 pecan pieces (optional) 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375℉. In a mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat the softened butter and brown sugar. Add in the eggs and beat until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture a little bit at a time.  Add in the chocolate chips and nuts (we happened to have pecans some so I used them). Drop by small rounded spoons onto sprayed (we use a Misto filled with olive oil) cookie sheets.  Bake for about 9-10 minutes. EAT. 

The Fanciest Tasting Hot Cocoa I've Ever Made

True, you can just buy powdered cocoa/hot chocolate mix, stir with water, and microwave for 60 seconds, and I used to do this all the time, until one day, I tried making my own...

If you are a foodie and/or have taste buds, you will never go back to mix again after trying this recipe.
It's seriously so good. And seriously so easy.

I can't even... so delish. 

This recipe serves 2, and took me about 10 minutes total.

Ingredients:
*2 "mug-fuls" of your favorite milk  - measuring with the mugs you'll be drinking out of, ensures you'll make just the right amount :)
*1/4 cup sugar 

*4-5 heaping teaspoons of cocoa powder (more or less to taste)
*1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips(optional) 
*1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* a pinch of sea salt
*a PINCH of cayenne pepper - seriously, do NOT put too much, or else...

Directions:
Pour the milk into a small pot on the stove. Heat but don't boil. Stir in the remaining ingredients with a wire whisk. Pour into mugs once it is fully mixed and comes to the desired temperature (about 5 minutes). Enjoy!


:)

Balsamic Veggie Wraps

With (optional) chicken and rice! 

Sometimes, the simplest meals can be the most satisfying. This weekend, I had a craving for a grilled veggie wrap, mostly because I'm longing for summer hardcore. There was another snowstorm here today (which I had to drive to work in) and I was beyond angry about it. For me, cooking and baking have become more and more of a de-stresser. I like that I'm able to do something I like, while also feeding my family (aka my lovely boyfriend), and of course it's nice that he's always so appreciative (even when I mess up..oops!).

Ready to wrap! 

Finished veggie/chicken mixture

ANYHOO! Here's the recipe! It's perfect for a quick weeknight meal or even a weekend lunch. Enjoy! :)
Ingredients:
*Note* - This will cook faster if you use frozen veggies (ironically enough), but fresh are of course good too. And you can use basically any mix, these are just the veggies that I had on hand. And the measurements are approximate, depending on how many people you are cooking for (and how big their appetites are....). I also "eye-ball" measurements a lot when cooking, so use your own judgement for this.
~1/2 cup bell peppers, thin sliced
~1/2 cup thin cut carrots sticks (see photos)
~ 1/4 cup leeks, sliced
~1/4 chopped spinach
~ 4-5 button mushrooms, sliced
lettuce (for garnish)
~1 tomato (for garnish)
~1 tablespoon olive oil
~ 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
a few shakes of salt, pepper, and garlic powder
1 chicken breast (if you want - still really good without it!), cut into thin strips
brown (or any other kind) rice, to eat on the side
tortillas


Directions:
1. First I start making the rice, since it takes the longest to cook. I made brown rice on the stove top.
2. I cut up any veggies that need to be cut (some were frozen and pre-cut), into small, longish pieces.
3. I cut up the chicken into small, longish slices. Then I cooked the chicken in olive oil, a large skillet on the stove.
4. When the chicken is cooked, I take it out ( or move to the sides of the pan), add a little more oil, and cook the veggies. Add the salt, pepper and garlic now too. It took about 15 minutes total.
5. I add the chicken back and the balsamic vinegar when the veggies are almost done. Cook until the veggies are as crisp or not-so-crisp, as you'd like them.
6. Scoop mixture onto a tortilla. Add tomato and lettuce if you want. Attempt to wrap it up. (This part never works out for me). Serve rice on the side.
7. EAT! :)

I hope you try and like this recipe! Please sign up for email updates if you like what you see! You can also follow my blog on Google+ if you have a Gmail account!

All wrapped up with a side of rice! 

~Mallory~

Easy Pull-Apart Rolls!

I'm eating a fresh baked dinner roll right now and it's so good, I cannot form words. You'll just have to look at the photos.

The one roll I couldn't wait until dinner to eat.

It snowed here today and I stayed home from work, (I hate the snow by the way, but that's a story for another day), so of course I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to bake! I am so happy these rolls came out so good!

I got the original recipe from http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/easy-fluffy-pull-apart-whole-wheat-buttery-dinner-rolls/ but tweaked it a little since I have a bread machine.

Here's my version:
Ingredients:
1 cup very warm water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2-3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (I use the Trader Joe's brand)
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

Place all ingredients (in the order listed) in your bread machine. I think some bread machines could be different, so if your machine says to put the ingredients in a different order, then by all means, do that! 

Set it to the "dough" setting.

When it's done (mine takes about 90 minutes), pour the dough out onto a floured surface (it will still be a little sticky) and form into a ball. 

Cut it into 9 sections and form a small ball from each one.

Spray an 8x8 inch pan with olive oil spray (we have a Misto!) 

Place the dough balls in the pan.

Cover with a dish towel and let rise for 20-25 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

When the dough is done rising, spray (or brush) with olive oil, and sprinkle with spice of your choice (I used rosemary).

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. 

ENJOY! :)

The dough right after I took it out of the bread machine.

Dough balls in the pan, ready for the towel and some rising.

Dough balls after they rose, sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary! 

Finished rolls! Right after I took them out of the oven! Mmm! 

Chocolate Coconut Crinkle Cookies

Hello again!
I know I said I'd be posting mostly "healthy" recipes and DIY things, but turns out most of my recipes are dessert related...
I like to think these cookies are fairly healthy as far as cookies go, since they are made with coconut oil instead of butter, and cocoa powder which I keep telling myself is in the health-food category. They also happen to be vegan! I didn't intend for them to be, there just happens to be no dairy in them. Don't get me wrong, I like dairy as much as the next 'Merican (most notably cheese), but it really is not good for you, like at all, so it's nice to unintentionally eat vegan once in a while.
So here's the recipe!

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cups sugar (I used organic)

1 cup cocoa powder

1 cup applesauce

1/2 cup coconut oil (I used organic)

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour (whole wheat or all-purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

powdered sugar for rolling

Directions:

Mix sugar, cocoa, applesauce, oil and vanilla in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend with a hand mixer. Put the mixture in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. (This allows the coconut oil to harden enough to make dough balls).

Preheat oven to 350℉. Pour powdered sugar in a bowl. Take dough out of fridge. Roll dough into small meatball-sized balls. Roll balls in sugar. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on cooling rack. 

On the cookie sheet ready to be put in the oven!

I brought some of these to work around Christmas time and everyone loved them! The coconut flavor is subtle to me, but if you absolutely hate coconut, then use another kind of oil. Also, you probably won't like this blog because I'm kind of obsessed with coconut things. My boyfriend is still undecided about the whole coconuts taking over the grocery story thing, but he really loved these cookies. Like I said, the coconut flavor is subtle. 

I hope you try them! :) 

Fresh out of the oven! They smell amazing!

Apple Cranberry Pie

This is a recipe for an apple cranberry pie I made a little before Thanksgiving. I didn't make it for Thanksgiving, but because it was November and I wanted a damn pie. I wanted it to have cranberries (fresh ones because I had never cooked with them before), and I wanted to make it from scratch.
I found a recipe similar to this one (which I tweaked slightly), and let me tell you - pies might be my new thing because this one was amazing. My boyfriend and I each ate a slice every night for a little over a week. And hey, there's fruit in it, this is a healthy pie!
I hope you try the recipe. It was really fairly easy and as I mentioned, a-freaking-mazing.
And look! There's a picture this time! :)

Apple Cranberry Pie 

Ingredients: {Filling}
1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour

1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. orange zest
1 TBS. salted butter

1 unbaked pie shell
1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries
3 cups peeled and sliced granny smith apples

{Topping}
1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into pieces

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a large pot, stir together the syrup, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, orange zest and butter over low heat for about 2 minutes, then add the cranberries and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the apples. Pour the mixture into your pie shell. Prepare the topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon. Add the butter with  your fingers to incorporate. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit filling.

Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven. Place a cookie sheet lined with foil on the rack underneath to catch any escape juices. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the pie to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

*Note: I made the pie crust from scratch for this pie (whole wheat too...). If you have time/want to try it, I will post that recipe too, however, since then I've been buying pie crust because it just takes too damn long. Maybe in the future when I'm not working full-time I'll be able to handle the pie crust challenge again. 

Here's the recipe I used:

Whole Wheat Pie Crust

Ingredients: 

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

4 to 5 tablespoons ice cold water

Directions:In a food processor, combine the flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture had turned into crumbs the size of peas. Drizzle in the water (4 tablespoons) and continue to pulse until the dough comes together. Add the 5th tablespoon of water, if needed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball, then flatten slightly. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

And here's the pie! 

DIY Deodorant

Since I previously talked about, I will post my recipe for DIY/Homemade Deodorant. Like I said, I've been making and using it for over a year (maybe 2?), so I think it's safe to say I like it.

Backstory: I don't know how it happened exactly (I'll blame the internet), but sometime a few years back, I started to become more concerned with eco-friendly products and organic food. So I bought some Toms of Maine junk-free deodorant. It smelled okay, and was more 'junk-free' than the Dove's I had been using, but it really did an awfully terrible job at stopping sweat/smell of any sort. And it kind of stung my armpits when I put it on. So, as I googled what else I could try, I can across a blog by a lady who had made her own. I think she had gotten the recipe from another blogger as well. It looked easy enough, so I figured I would give it a try. And what do you know? IT FREAKING WORKED. 

So here is the recipe that I have been using. I'll tell you some details about it below.

DIY Deodorant

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup baking soda

1/4 cup cornstarch

5 tablespoons coconut oil

Who would have thought 3 simple ingredients could literally make the best deodorant EVER.

Directions: 

Mix all ingredients together very well. Use a finger size scoop under each arm. If it's too hot where you live, you can keep it stored in the refrigerator. I just keep mine in the bathroom cabinet. 
*Note: I had to melt my coconut oil in the microwave before mixing, because it's winter here and everything is cold and terrible.

This deodorant smells amazingly coconut-y (if you like that sort of thing). I apply it once a day. The only time I've had an issue of it not being 'strong' enough or lasting long enough, was when there was a 90+ degree heat wave in September and I had to teach 25 6-year-olds for 7 hours in 'work' clothes in a second floor un-air conditioned classroom, with windows that only opened half way. I was fairly sweaty that week, but then again, so was everyone else. 

Of course, not everyone is the same so you might not have the same totally awesome results I did, but I hope you do! Give it a try! 

Finished product! :) 

I guess it is easy to start a blog...

I was hoping it would be slightly more challenging to start a blog, because that's a fairly good excuse for not starting one. Turns out, it's really easy. Drat.
We'll see if this lasts though. I've been thinking about starting a blog for the last few years (because hey! I know about some stuff! And I took that creative writing class!...10 years ago...)
Who knows, maybe I'll be an internet sensation!
It's probably more likely I'll forgot to post/make excuses. However! IF I do post regularly, I suppose these are the things I will write about (even if it's only for myself):

1. DIY beauty products - I started making my own deodorant about a year and a half ago. I guess it's a weird place to start DIYing when you think about. Anyway, when I told a colleague of mine about it, she said, and I quote, "Oh my God, really?! Are you like, granola!?" I told her I didn't think so, but maybe you will disagree if this blog thing actually gets going.

2. FOOD! (aka Recipes) - If anyone ever actually reads this, they will come to find that I really really (like really) enjoy food (and cooking!). Pretty much of any sort, though I've been trying more and more to eat clean. (Except during the holidays - that's a free for all).

3. Things I Try - I once tried to make my own toothpaste. It was terrible. But I could have blogged about it! I also just got my first ever "gel" manicure. Also very terrible, but perhaps I'll write up a review/my opinion if anyone is ever interested.

I think that's a fair introduction for now.

Mallory :-)