Favorite Things- Natural Edition

I've been trying to use less and less beauty products and less and less processed foods. Here are a few things I've been doing lately:

1. Honey and Brown Sugar face scrub.
I went to my first farmer's market this weekend and I didn't find what I was looking for, but did get some locally grown honey. I found it fascinating that honey could taste different because of what type of flowers a bee "feasted(?)" on. I chose a local honey called Spring Blossom, meaning the bees had feasted on Spring flowers, as opposed to fall flowers. Anyway, I added a small amount of brown sugar to a jar, then added honey until I liked the consistency, and voila, a natural face scrub! Honey can help with inflammation and helps to wash away impurities without stripping skin of natural oils (of which I have plenty). The brown sugar mixture has a pleasant scent and the granules are small so it is not irritating on my skin. I noticed a lovely post shower glow after I used this and I plan to use it 2-3 days a week. I should also point out I don't wash my face often and I typically do not wear much make up. I've found the more I wash my face, the worse it gets.

2. Baking soda in my shampoo. I don't use much product in my hair, but i've found occasionally adding baking soda makes my hair feel "extra squeaky clean." I tried the "no poo" method for awhile, washing my hair with just baking soda and water, and an occasional apple cider vinegar rinse, but it just wasn't cleansing enough for me. I needed more because my hair is very fine and gets oily very easily.

3. Natural Body scrubs. I've been big in to this lately- I made my friend Danielle a body scrub that didn't have too much scent because she is pregnant and I didn't want anything to make her nauseous (I used: white and brown sugar, grape seed and almond oil, vanilla and lavender). I made myself a body scrub of white sugar, olive oil, almond oil, grated clementine peel, and a few drops of orange blossom essential oil. It has been really fun trying new things and the fact that I know exactly what goes in them is nice too :)

4. I've been making my own sauce for the last few months, and every time I make it, I change it up a bit. I found an original recipe on the Mind Body Green website (I highly recommend this website, so awesome!) and I've tweaked it to make it how I like it. Typically, I use: Pomi Strained Tomatoes (I've had a tough time finding the diced ones lately), a can of diced tomatoes, no salt added- ghee (another favorite new thing!) onions, sometimes garlic, spices to taste. I throw everything in a pot, let it simmer for 45 minutes, the last ten I add in all the spices, taste and add as needed. let it cool, then puree it, because you know this girl CANNOT handle chunky food. :)

5. I make my own tomato soup- Take one tablespoon of olive oil and 1 garlic clove, cook for 1 minute on med-high heat. Then add tomatoes (I use Hunt's diced and unsalted) and 1 cup broth (I use Kitchen Basics Unsalted vegetable broth), reduce heat and cook for about 20 minutes. Add spices after you turn off the heat, let sit until cool, puree with immersion blender (or food processor or blender). The version I make has about 60 calories with nothing added or I add in fresh mozz or morningstar veggie crumbles and some parmesan cheese. I also sometimes add in baby spinach. A delicious and quick lunch or snack!

Hope you are all well.

xoxo