DIY Facial Mask

I've been in a constant battle with my facial skin since I hit puberty.  It doesn't seem to matter what I do, I incessantly have acne.  I can't remember a time when I wasn't self conscious about my face.  When someone says I look younger than I am, which I get a lot, I usually think it's because all my pimples make them believe I must be in my late teens.  To say the least I'm always on a hunt for new cleaners, which can get pricey.  I've been noticing a lot of au naturale recipes for facial masks, that use basic kitchen ingredients.  I was hesitant to give it a try for fear of bringing on a breakout.  But seriously how much damage could stuff I eat do?  

I cruised the internet for some recipes, and I found a lot of ideas.  I decided I wanted to use these three ingredients.  A few drops of lemon juice, a teaspoon of sugar, and three aspirin.  The aspirin needs to be uncoated, ya know the white chalky kind.

I ground up the aspirin with the bottom of my glass bowl.  I scraped the aspirin dust into the bowl, and spooned the sugar in, then dribbled a little lemon juice on top.  Mixed together into a paste, and spread on my face.  

I let it sit for a couple minutes, and then washed off with warm water.  While it was on it felt a bit tingly, which makes me think it must have been working.  I also happened to get a taste of it off my lips, and it's yummy too!  While washing off the mask the sugar felt nice exfoliating my skin.  I shall see how my skin looks in the morning.  I hope this helps my skin, it will certainly be cheaper than Proactive.  

Have a great night, and happy DIYing, chris!

A New Series: Happy Thirsty Thursday!

Last week I shared my recipe for a Cherry Mojito on (thirsty) Thursday, and it got me thinking this might make an awesome regular series.  So here we are, Happy Thirsty Thursday!  Mint grows like wild fire, and I keep thinking up new mojito recipes to put it to good use.  We had some fresh strawberries, so I decided to give them a try.  

Ingredients: (for one Strawberry Mojito)

- half a lemon

- half a lime

- mint leaves (7 - 10 leaves)

- a couple strawberries

- half a shot of simple syrup

- a shot of white rum

I started by picking some fresh mint.  I used about ten leaves.  I rinsed those off, plus a couple deep red strawberries.  I dropped the mint into the bottom of my glass, and sliced a strawberry up, dropping the slices into the glass as well.  Then I squeezed half a lemon and half a lime, removed the seeds, and poured the liquid into the glass.  Next, I poured in a shot of light rum, and a half shot of simple syrup.  If you would like to make your own simple syrup, check out my recipe here.  I mashed all that stuff together in the bottom of my glass, making sure to break up the strawberry slices, and smoosh the mint.   Once it was nice and flavorful looking I filled the glass up with ice, and poured my club soda over the top.  I used the wild cherry club soda I had leftover from my Cherry Mojito recipe, but I'm sure this would be great with regular club soda too.  

To finish off the look I sliced up my other strawberry, and tucked the slices in around the ice.  I saved one slice to spear with the top bunch of mint leaves, and float on the top of the drink.  I didn't realize how simple it is to make layered drinks like this.  All that red on the bottom is sooooo pretty.  Be sure to stir before you take you start drinking though, because other wise all the rum and favor will stay on the bottom, making your last sip beyond strong.  Ha!  I made this last night, and looking at these photos this morning makes me want to make one right now!  This drink is dangerous, you totally can't taste the rum in it at all.  Yet at the same time it's not overly sweet tasting.  The lemon and lime juices balance out the sweetness of the strawberries and the simple syrup, and it makes for a super refreshing light summery drink.  

While you're reading this I'll be hanging out on LBI with one of my favorite buddies from college.  I'm going by myself, which isn't something I do often, but it's nice to have some girl time.  I love Aaron, but I'm pretty sure I love him even more after a day or two with the girls.  :)  I wish I had more girlfriends that lived near me, so I could have girl nights more regularly.  i don't have too many friends that live close by.  The few awesome buddies I do have, don't know each other, so it's usually Aaron and I, and another couple hanging out together.  Maybe one day I'll invite all my lady friends over, and do lady things together.  Like painting our nails, and talk about hair, and boys.  :)  

Hope you have a lovely thirsty thursday, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Fresh Herb Dijon Mustard Dressing

On hot summer days all I want to eat is fresh picked salads, fruits, and veggies.  If it involves using the stove or oven, I'm not interested in cooking it.  So today I have a super simple salad dressing, a Fresh Herb Dijon Mustard Dressing.  Happy Nom Nom Monday!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

-  1 Small Lemon

-  1/4 Cup jammed pack with fresh Basil

-  2 Tablespoons fresh Mint (I used Orange Mint)

-  2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard (I used a tablespoon of store brand, and a tablespoon of fancy Sweet Vidalia Onion Mustard)

-  1 Small Clove of Garlic

-  1/4 Cup Cold Water

-  3 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I only had regular olive oil)

Directions:

Pick the basil and mint you'll need.  I've made this dressing before with parsley instead of basil, and it was super yummy too.  Experiment with different herbs, that would compliment the dijon mustard flavor.  Experimenting with different dijon mustards would be fun too!  

Prepare your herbs and clean everything.  Then squeeze the juice out of the small lemon.  Dump all the ingredients expect for the olive oil into a blender.  Blend everything super smooth, about two minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, and then slowly add in the olive oil.  Mix for another minute or so.

Pour into a salad dressing container.

It's a lovely creamy green color.  It's a great flavor for salad dressing.  Usually I'm one to view lettuce as the perfect vehicle to transport blue cheese into my system, but this dressing could have me moving over to the healthier side of salad dressings.  Even my grandmother who is a SUPER picky eater said she liked it, and she's not one to hide her true feelings about anything.  She would definitely tell me if it was gross.  So if you have a picky eater at home, and it's hard to find healthy salad dressings they like, give this a try!  Hope you enjoy!  

Happy DIYing, chris

Fruit Cup

Happy Nom Nom Monday!  I had an awkward work schedule, so I'd just made a little snack between my shifts.  I used what we had in the house, but this recipe could be switch up easily for multiple tasty combinations.  I made a simple fruit cup.  All we have are apples and maraschino cherries.  I've made this with just apples at night to bring for lunch during work the next day.  I'd like to try it with maybe peaches, pineapple, and strawberries.  Great easy snack.

This will make 2 fruit cups: one apple, 8 cherries (fresh cherries would be better than maraschino), 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.  The sugar is to balance out the tartness of the lemon juice.

Chop the apple up in bite sized pieces, and quarter the cherries.

Place in a small saucepan, and add the sugar and lemon juice.  Cook for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve when the apples have softened a little, while still holding a little crispness.  The lemon juice will keep the apples from browning, so if you want to prepare this ahead of time, it will store well in the refrigerator.

Eating it warm is pleasant too, great on a cold rainy day. 

Hope ya'll enjoyed, and happy DIYing, chris!

Berry Sweet Tea

I'm ready for long hot days in the sun, and cold sweet fruity drinks!  I love tea, and in the winter I like it hot and unadulterated with sugar or milk.  However, in the summer I revert to my days as a kid craving sweaty glasses of sweet tea.  Since my taste in tea has matured, so has my taste for sweet tea.  Lipton's powder mix will no longer suffice.  This past weekend I mixed up this little number, and I'm in sweet tea heaven!  

The leftover strawberries from yesterday's Strawberry and Cream Muffins was the main motivation behind this recipe idea.  I wanted to add a little more fruit to my tea, so I also bought some lemons and blackberries.  I started off by making 8 cups of hot tea with Lipton's Organic Black Tea bags (one bag for each cup of water).  While it was hot I added a cup of sugar, and let it dissolve.  

While the tea was steeping and the sugar melting, I cut the strawberries and blackberries into small bits.  Next, I cut a lemon in half, and then I cut two slices into small triangles.  I squeezed the lemon halves into the hot tea, and let the wedges float on top.  

Once everything was ready, I put four ice cubes in a glass and poured the tea over them.  I dropped a handful of the berries into the cup and squeezed some honey over them.  I can never get enough honey!  Mmm, this tea is tasty.  I will be drinking this all summer long!  If you don't like your tea to be super sweet, you can skip the sugar, and just add some honey to each glass when serving.  

Happy Tuesday and happy DIYing, chris