My whole life I've had oily skin, and I've been at war with my skin for as long as I can remember. I've thrown chemicals of all sorts at my face in a futile attempt to stop it from breaking out... antibiotic pills... topical gels that caused my skin to get red and flake... even Accutane - and when one didn't work, I moved on to another one. As a result, years of antibiotics destroyed my gut flora, and I can't use Eyrthromycin anymore; it simply stopped working. The gut flora I killed still haunt me to this day, and on top of my digestive issues, there seems to be some evidence that lack of beneficial gut flora can cause obesity.
It was also ingrained in me, by my dermatologist, that I should avoid products containing oil as this would only exacerbate the problem.
So what I did next was crazy.
It must have been three or four years ago that my friend Kato wrote a blog post about her skincare routine. She said that she rubbed olive oil on her face, massaged it in for a few minutes, then ran hot water over a washcloth that she then used to remove the oil. That's it. That's how she cleaned her face. It sounded insane. And yet, it piqued my interest because she said she never broke out and her skin never felt better.
At that point in my life I was willing to try anything, but I was also interested in more natural ways of doing things. So I tried it. I'll be honest - it felt disgusting. As I said, it was ingrained in me for years that oil was bad, so I went into it expecting it to be bad. The weird thing was, after I massaged the oil in and wiped it off, my skin felt clean and soft. Not oily at all. And I didn't break out.
I did this for about a week before I succumbed to marketing ploys and decided to go back to another skin care routine that worked for me. I can't even explain why, because it was working just fine. The routine I switched to was a Triclosan-based antibacterial soap, followed by a toner, and a high content alphahydroxy lotion. In my quest to figure out what happened to my thyroid I've since learned that "Animal studies are showing that [Triclosan] is an endocrine-disrupting chemical with a penchant for disrupting thyroid hormone at the level of gene expression." (Article here)
So I have once again been forced to re-evaluate my skin care regimen and I'm back to oil cleansing. I used to follow that up with a 'toner'... which is basically a couple of drops of tea tree oil on a cotton pad that I run under the water for a second to dilute it. I figured that would get rid of any remaining oil residue, and it's an anti-bacterial, too. But I have started using a mix of castor oil and olive oil and find that I don't even need the toner. Maybe my skin is changing, or maybe it's just that my mindset has.
I have finally realized that there is credence to the 'oil removes oil' school of thought.
I am trying not to be a victim of marketing anymore. Just as I am trying to tear myself away from storebought cleaning products if I can make some of my own that are just as effective. It's not necessarily that it's easier to buy them ready-made, it's just that I have been conditioned to do so. I am a victim of pretty packages (hi Mike)... I love browsing the aisles at a big HEB, grabbing the fancy soaps in the health section... the Watkins... the Meyers... I *do* judge a book by its cover before I open it up to examine the pages. Sorry, but it's true. But I'm also trying to become more healthy, and that appears to be so much more than what goes into my mouth. Skin is the largest organ in the body, what you expose your skin to can affect you just as much as if you swallowed it.
It only took me 39 years to figure that out.
Progress Report:
The shampoo smells heavenly. It doesn't lather up very much, and it's so thin that I have to pour it directly onto my head, but my hair feels clean. The most expensive part of it is the baby shampoo... we drink coconut milk, cook with olive oil, and the essential oil will last a long time (I chose grapefruit), so those are very low cost items. I don't know how long it will last since it's watery and I use probably 1/4 cup to wash my hair, but I think since it doesn't have a preservative (unless you use the vitamin E), it's probably best not to keep it around for too long anyway. I keep it in the empty bottle of Dawn that I emptied to make another cleanser. Yea for me. I'm recycling. :)
The laundry detergent smells won-der-ful. I broke down and used the two bottles of Purex Crystals. It makes a TON of powder... I filled the two Purex bottles and there is more than 1/3rd of a Tidy Cats litter bucket left. Anyway, I used it today and my clothes were soft and the smell was very light and clean, not overpowering - I was a little worried because the powder in the bucket has a very strong smell. In fact, mix it in the garage, not in the house... I had to open the windows. All in all it ended up costing me around $25 (without coupons), but I used a generic version of Oxyclean. The hardest part was finding the Borax (not at Target, not at Walgreens, not at Family Dollar, not even at Walmart... I found it at HEB) - and after I did find it, I kind of wondered what the difference between Borax and Washing Soda is... they say the same thing on the front of the box... sooooo... hmmm... The pink Zote smells like Ivory soap... I don't know what it's made of, there are no ingredients on the package. Out of curiosity, I smelled some Fels Naptha, and it has a milder scent so it's up to you, that and Kirk's Castille are all supposedly interchangable - just pay attention to the ounces. I know it's stupid, but I kind of like the way the detergent looks with the strips of pink and pearls of purple scattered throughout (and I hate pink...), so... it's not so bad.
Homemade Febreze is easy. Smells a little less intense than storebought, but for the price, I'm cool with that. I doubled the recipe to fill a Febreze bottle. And I had to google how to open the bottle because it doesn't just screw off... if you submerge the pump end in hot water for a couple of minutes and twist... for some reason it magically comes off. Brian bought the real thing and it was $4.64 at Walmart... mine hardly cost anything because the bottle of fabric softener will make tons more.
Blessing in a Bottle didn't clean as well as I'd hoped. I tried it on soap scum and used the sponge side, not the scrubby side, I guess because I thought it had magical properties. Soap scum - 1, BIAB - 0. It's soapy, you can probably deduce that from the amount of Dawn it contains. I will try it again on something else, but even with the laundry detergent, it smells too vinegary for me (I also used a scented Dawn). I think I will try the citrus infused vinegar and see if that's any better.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
0092 - This is not a post :)
This is not a post so much as an excuse to paste a copycat Chuy's Chile Relleno recipe onto the internet so that I can pin it to Pinterest.
I made Mexican food tonight. Taquitos with Cilantro-Lime Rice... and salsa:
It went over BIG. I was elated to have finally made salsa that tastes like restaurant salsa... not just restaurant salsa, because I am often disappointed in that, but great restaurant salsa. I even used the raw onion - which will shock anyone who knows me - I just diced it really, really fine, then I poured water over it and popped it into the fridge while I finished chopping everything else because I've heard that takes the bite away. Have I mentioned how good it was? Oh my god it was good. So even if the rest of the meal had sucked, I wouldn't have been sad at all.
I. Mastered. Salsa. (!!!)
It was chunky, but delicious. When I get back to the RV we'll see how it works when it's blended into a more salsa-like consistency... but I'll be honest, it was fine as it was. Brian took one bite and for the past three hours has been giving me kudos, claiming it was the best meal he's had in months and calling it gourmet. I wouldn't go that far, but it is nice to hear. I've never made taquitos before and they did turn out well. Yea me for having good luck in choosing recipes!
It made me revisit the restaurant idea again. I know for a fact that there is no Mexican food that Mike or I consider acceptable for 60 miles. I say 60 miles because there is a Chuy's in Murfreesboro, which is about 60 miles away, (Nashville is about 90 miles away). The market we'd be vying for would be more of a 20 miles radius and primarily a 10 mile radius. Gainesboro seems to have a steady lunch traffic because it's centrally located to about 10 cities. Most of the restaurants are home cooking. There is the one crappy Mexican restaurant, three bbq joints we haven't tried, and one Italian restaurant that we liked, which is more of a pizza place but they have a selection of other things. And a Subway. And a Dairy Queen.
What's wrong with the Mexican food, you ask (I know you did)? The salsa tastes like tomato sauce, unless it's the kind that has oregano in it - which is just wrong, wrong, WRONG. The nachos... they swim in a bland cheese sauce which is more soup than sauce. The chile rellenos are pathetic. I don't even eat them, but I know there is more to one than a small sliver of green chile. Fajitas... I've had decent fajitas there, but even then they're mediocre. Green sauce? What green sauce? I can introduce green sauce and/or jalapeno-ranch and blow their minds.
Anyway, I get excited about the idea, and then I get scared. I have no experience in the restaurant industry, but then again, in a rural area it's a little easier than it is in a large city or even in the surrounding suburbs... the crowds are smaller and a little more forgiving. I've seen people from all walks of life build successful businesses that way... the guy in Mississippi that only sells hamburgers "with or without" (onions)... the lady who runs the B&B we love so much who started cooking because she saw a need, she said there are restaurants in the area but nobody had anything good to say about them... the little Mexican grandma who ran the restaurant in Florida... I think if you find the right vendors, the right location, treat people well, and make good good for a decent price, you can succeed.
So anyway... recipe:
Generic picture I found...
CHILE RELLENOS
10 ea Poblanos, roasted & peeled
10 oz Longhorn or Jack cheese
BATTER
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Oil for frying
Cut cheese into 1/2" thk slices the length of the chili. Make a small slit in chili just big enough to insert cheese. To make batter, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cornmeal. Blend milk with egg; then combine milk and egg mixture with dry ingredients. Add more milk if necessary for smooth batter. Dip stuffed chilies in batter. Fry until golden brown. Drain and serve.
I made Mexican food tonight. Taquitos with Cilantro-Lime Rice... and salsa:
It went over BIG. I was elated to have finally made salsa that tastes like restaurant salsa... not just restaurant salsa, because I am often disappointed in that, but great restaurant salsa. I even used the raw onion - which will shock anyone who knows me - I just diced it really, really fine, then I poured water over it and popped it into the fridge while I finished chopping everything else because I've heard that takes the bite away. Have I mentioned how good it was? Oh my god it was good. So even if the rest of the meal had sucked, I wouldn't have been sad at all.
I. Mastered. Salsa. (!!!)
It was chunky, but delicious. When I get back to the RV we'll see how it works when it's blended into a more salsa-like consistency... but I'll be honest, it was fine as it was. Brian took one bite and for the past three hours has been giving me kudos, claiming it was the best meal he's had in months and calling it gourmet. I wouldn't go that far, but it is nice to hear. I've never made taquitos before and they did turn out well. Yea me for having good luck in choosing recipes!
It made me revisit the restaurant idea again. I know for a fact that there is no Mexican food that Mike or I consider acceptable for 60 miles. I say 60 miles because there is a Chuy's in Murfreesboro, which is about 60 miles away, (Nashville is about 90 miles away). The market we'd be vying for would be more of a 20 miles radius and primarily a 10 mile radius. Gainesboro seems to have a steady lunch traffic because it's centrally located to about 10 cities. Most of the restaurants are home cooking. There is the one crappy Mexican restaurant, three bbq joints we haven't tried, and one Italian restaurant that we liked, which is more of a pizza place but they have a selection of other things. And a Subway. And a Dairy Queen.
What's wrong with the Mexican food, you ask (I know you did)? The salsa tastes like tomato sauce, unless it's the kind that has oregano in it - which is just wrong, wrong, WRONG. The nachos... they swim in a bland cheese sauce which is more soup than sauce. The chile rellenos are pathetic. I don't even eat them, but I know there is more to one than a small sliver of green chile. Fajitas... I've had decent fajitas there, but even then they're mediocre. Green sauce? What green sauce? I can introduce green sauce and/or jalapeno-ranch and blow their minds.
Anyway, I get excited about the idea, and then I get scared. I have no experience in the restaurant industry, but then again, in a rural area it's a little easier than it is in a large city or even in the surrounding suburbs... the crowds are smaller and a little more forgiving. I've seen people from all walks of life build successful businesses that way... the guy in Mississippi that only sells hamburgers "with or without" (onions)... the lady who runs the B&B we love so much who started cooking because she saw a need, she said there are restaurants in the area but nobody had anything good to say about them... the little Mexican grandma who ran the restaurant in Florida... I think if you find the right vendors, the right location, treat people well, and make good good for a decent price, you can succeed.
So anyway... recipe:
Generic picture I found...
CHILE RELLENOS
10 ea Poblanos, roasted & peeled
10 oz Longhorn or Jack cheese
BATTER
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Oil for frying
Cut cheese into 1/2" thk slices the length of the chili. Make a small slit in chili just big enough to insert cheese. To make batter, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cornmeal. Blend milk with egg; then combine milk and egg mixture with dry ingredients. Add more milk if necessary for smooth batter. Dip stuffed chilies in batter. Fry until golden brown. Drain and serve.
0091 - I should be sleeping...
I was wondering why Facebook traffic has slowed, and then I took a look at the clock... it's 1 AM... on a school night... Somehow my body clock readjusts if I have too much time off and I will stay up until 3 or 4 am, waking around 10 or 11 am. Not to intentionally create a pun here, but when it happens - it's like clockwork. Right now I'm not tired at all...
I've been cooking for the past couple of weeks. So far, so good. I've lost about nine pounds and eaten a greater variety of food (Guiness beef stew, a chicken casserole, and beef stronganoff so far). The sleep may be helping... I never got enough sleep before, and now I'm not setting any alarms so I wake up when I wake up. I also started exercising a little bit because as much as I hate being fat, I hate being weak even more. I've never been weak and I don't like it but I noticed that my strength and endurance suck lately. Along with recipes and decorating tips, I've started to pin exercise routines on my Pinterest boards that I can do with no equipment, or those I can do with a resistance band.
I can't eat it every day, but this is my favorite food hack... take one box of angel food cake and mix it with any other flavor of cake mix you want... strawberry... lemon... devil's food... chocolate... whatever floats your boat. They call it 3-2-1 cake. You take 3 Tbsp of the combined mix, add 2 Tbsp of water, and microwave it for 1 minute. Voila - you have individual cakes like the Betty Crocker Warm Delights - but for a fraction of the price. Seriously, you can make probably 50 cakes for the cost of two boxes of cake mix, versus 50 cakes for around $2.50/ea and cooked in plastic that probably contains BPA. Me likey.
As you may have guessed, I'm on a homemade stuff kick. I've been meaning to get around to it for months now, but I wasn't finding recipes that I liked. Sure sea salt and baking soda works as a toothpaste... but I don't particularly like it. So when we get the RV back and I have my bag of bentonite clay and my stevia extract, I'm going to try this recipe. It has no fluoride and I control what goes into it. Fluoride is bad for you, it affects your thyroid, and it causes infertility, among other things. Glycerin, "an ingredient in some toothpastes, can interfere with strengthening your teeth. Glycerin layers your tooth in a sticky film that keeps minerals in your saliva from interacting with your enamel to strengthen it." Supposedly your teeth are just like any other bone, and given the opportunity (i.e. the right nutrition and non-interference with their natural cleaning processes) can heal and be strengthened. It makes sense to me... I never stopped to think that teeth are made of bone just like your leg - which can break, and knit itself back together.
And... I'm almost out of shampoo. Shampoo is not only expensive, but it is chock full of chemicals as well. I'm not ready to go 'no poo'... which is washing your hair with baking soda and then conditioning it with apple cider vinegar - even though... proponents claim to love it once they have gone through the greasy hair transition period (your body is so used to compensating for the oil that shampoos strip out of your hair that it goes into overdrive until it goes through a reset period, or so they say). I can't stand it when my hair is greasy... not for one day, much less 28 of them. So... I'm going to try this formulation which does have a little bit of shampoo in it, but it's baby shampoo and they suggest organic so it shouldn't have all the fragrances and sulfates. I have a lot of coconut oil to use, so why not? If I don't like it I haven't wasted much because I have most of the ingredients already.
For chemical avoidance, and (okay it could be equally for) frugality reasons, I'm also jumping on the homemade cleaner bandwagon. My favorite find is this homemade laundry detergent that you can use in HE washers. I haven't decided if I'm going to add the fabric softener to it or not, it seems sort of contrary to the reasons I'm making it, and Mike's skin appears to be sensitive to fragrance, but anyway... I like the price... instead of buying detergent at $10 a pop and getting maybe 40 loads, this stuff supposedly makes enough for 2,184 loads at around $28... I, personally, think it costs a little more than that but still, it's quite a savings.
And then there are all the basic cleaners... window... all purpose... bleach... and my favorite - homemade Febreze. Febreze is incredibly simple, and you can make a larger variety of scents because it's just water and liquid fabric softener. I've always found the real stuff to have a slightly chemical smell mixed in with the 'fresh' scent, and maybe this is a way to alleviate that (and yes, I realize there are still chemicals in there).
Citrus infused vinegar is another option for cleaning and supposedly it smells like oranges, not vinegar. Homemade color catchers, if you use them would save tons of money. Foaming handsoap, much cheaper than ready made. DIY room fragrances are so, so easy (I'm thinking cinnamon and clove). And DIY baby wipes... you don't have to have a baby to use them, they can remove makeup, clean your hands when you can't get to the sink, take a sponge bath if water isn't available, etc. They aren't septic safe though, so no flushing...
There are several food mixes I want to try too, but I'm waiting on the 5'er for those since I have a lot of the ingredients already... onion soup mix (have done this one actually, and Mike said he preferred it to Lipton's for making onion dip)... ranch mix... homemade bisquick... pancake mix... pudding mix... cocoa mix... spice mixes (taco seasoning, etc.). There are so many neat ideas out there to save you money and stop the extra ingredients and fillers from getting into your system.
Enough of that.
Mike is still on travel, somewhere in Arkansas on his way to Missouri. After this stint we're going to retrieve our house... tired of being without it. When we could take off any time to go get it, it wasn't ready... the minute Mike gets a job - poof! It's ready. Hopefully we'll be able to stop by Tennessee and look at a couple of homes we're interested in on the way back to Texas. For the foreseeable future we'll be somewhat Texas-based since the home office is in Dallas, but we hope to eventually transition to another office that will put us where we want to be. Because yes, we still want to be there. Speaking for myself, I want to be there very badly; I hate even the little bit of traffic we have here in Georgetown.
I'm trying to figure out how to get him healthy foods on the road. If we can take the 5'er and he comes home at night it's not really a problem. If he's gone on multiple night stints and can't come home I have ideas but haven't tested them yet. They didn't occur to me until he'd already gone... :(
As for me, I have a couple of potential job possibilities in the works. If either of them pans out I will be a happy camper. I don't know that that will be the case, but I will keep my fingers crossed. One could happen any day. The other wouldn't start until the new year but I will know more at the end of November. Both would be good opportunities, so I really can't lose if either of them come to fruition.
Okay, so now that you're caught up, and you have been loaded up with DIY stuff... I'm going to try and find the sandman because we need to have some pillow talk. Good night!
I've been cooking for the past couple of weeks. So far, so good. I've lost about nine pounds and eaten a greater variety of food (Guiness beef stew, a chicken casserole, and beef stronganoff so far). The sleep may be helping... I never got enough sleep before, and now I'm not setting any alarms so I wake up when I wake up. I also started exercising a little bit because as much as I hate being fat, I hate being weak even more. I've never been weak and I don't like it but I noticed that my strength and endurance suck lately. Along with recipes and decorating tips, I've started to pin exercise routines on my Pinterest boards that I can do with no equipment, or those I can do with a resistance band.
I can't eat it every day, but this is my favorite food hack... take one box of angel food cake and mix it with any other flavor of cake mix you want... strawberry... lemon... devil's food... chocolate... whatever floats your boat. They call it 3-2-1 cake. You take 3 Tbsp of the combined mix, add 2 Tbsp of water, and microwave it for 1 minute. Voila - you have individual cakes like the Betty Crocker Warm Delights - but for a fraction of the price. Seriously, you can make probably 50 cakes for the cost of two boxes of cake mix, versus 50 cakes for around $2.50/ea and cooked in plastic that probably contains BPA. Me likey.
As you may have guessed, I'm on a homemade stuff kick. I've been meaning to get around to it for months now, but I wasn't finding recipes that I liked. Sure sea salt and baking soda works as a toothpaste... but I don't particularly like it. So when we get the RV back and I have my bag of bentonite clay and my stevia extract, I'm going to try this recipe. It has no fluoride and I control what goes into it. Fluoride is bad for you, it affects your thyroid, and it causes infertility, among other things. Glycerin, "an ingredient in some toothpastes, can interfere with strengthening your teeth. Glycerin layers your tooth in a sticky film that keeps minerals in your saliva from interacting with your enamel to strengthen it." Supposedly your teeth are just like any other bone, and given the opportunity (i.e. the right nutrition and non-interference with their natural cleaning processes) can heal and be strengthened. It makes sense to me... I never stopped to think that teeth are made of bone just like your leg - which can break, and knit itself back together.
And... I'm almost out of shampoo. Shampoo is not only expensive, but it is chock full of chemicals as well. I'm not ready to go 'no poo'... which is washing your hair with baking soda and then conditioning it with apple cider vinegar - even though... proponents claim to love it once they have gone through the greasy hair transition period (your body is so used to compensating for the oil that shampoos strip out of your hair that it goes into overdrive until it goes through a reset period, or so they say). I can't stand it when my hair is greasy... not for one day, much less 28 of them. So... I'm going to try this formulation which does have a little bit of shampoo in it, but it's baby shampoo and they suggest organic so it shouldn't have all the fragrances and sulfates. I have a lot of coconut oil to use, so why not? If I don't like it I haven't wasted much because I have most of the ingredients already.
For chemical avoidance, and (okay it could be equally for) frugality reasons, I'm also jumping on the homemade cleaner bandwagon. My favorite find is this homemade laundry detergent that you can use in HE washers. I haven't decided if I'm going to add the fabric softener to it or not, it seems sort of contrary to the reasons I'm making it, and Mike's skin appears to be sensitive to fragrance, but anyway... I like the price... instead of buying detergent at $10 a pop and getting maybe 40 loads, this stuff supposedly makes enough for 2,184 loads at around $28... I, personally, think it costs a little more than that but still, it's quite a savings.
And then there are all the basic cleaners... window... all purpose... bleach... and my favorite - homemade Febreze. Febreze is incredibly simple, and you can make a larger variety of scents because it's just water and liquid fabric softener. I've always found the real stuff to have a slightly chemical smell mixed in with the 'fresh' scent, and maybe this is a way to alleviate that (and yes, I realize there are still chemicals in there).
Citrus infused vinegar is another option for cleaning and supposedly it smells like oranges, not vinegar. Homemade color catchers, if you use them would save tons of money. Foaming handsoap, much cheaper than ready made. DIY room fragrances are so, so easy (I'm thinking cinnamon and clove). And DIY baby wipes... you don't have to have a baby to use them, they can remove makeup, clean your hands when you can't get to the sink, take a sponge bath if water isn't available, etc. They aren't septic safe though, so no flushing...
There are several food mixes I want to try too, but I'm waiting on the 5'er for those since I have a lot of the ingredients already... onion soup mix (have done this one actually, and Mike said he preferred it to Lipton's for making onion dip)... ranch mix... homemade bisquick... pancake mix... pudding mix... cocoa mix... spice mixes (taco seasoning, etc.). There are so many neat ideas out there to save you money and stop the extra ingredients and fillers from getting into your system.
Enough of that.
Mike is still on travel, somewhere in Arkansas on his way to Missouri. After this stint we're going to retrieve our house... tired of being without it. When we could take off any time to go get it, it wasn't ready... the minute Mike gets a job - poof! It's ready. Hopefully we'll be able to stop by Tennessee and look at a couple of homes we're interested in on the way back to Texas. For the foreseeable future we'll be somewhat Texas-based since the home office is in Dallas, but we hope to eventually transition to another office that will put us where we want to be. Because yes, we still want to be there. Speaking for myself, I want to be there very badly; I hate even the little bit of traffic we have here in Georgetown.
I'm trying to figure out how to get him healthy foods on the road. If we can take the 5'er and he comes home at night it's not really a problem. If he's gone on multiple night stints and can't come home I have ideas but haven't tested them yet. They didn't occur to me until he'd already gone... :(
As for me, I have a couple of potential job possibilities in the works. If either of them pans out I will be a happy camper. I don't know that that will be the case, but I will keep my fingers crossed. One could happen any day. The other wouldn't start until the new year but I will know more at the end of November. Both would be good opportunities, so I really can't lose if either of them come to fruition.
Okay, so now that you're caught up, and you have been loaded up with DIY stuff... I'm going to try and find the sandman because we need to have some pillow talk. Good night!
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