I'm nuts about coconut oil and I can't seem to unstick myself from Honey

Sorry I like my lame titles. They make me giggle.
I've been learning about living more natural which sounds funny from me because I fully enjoy my Dr.Peppers a little to Much. But still I always am doing something new that has fewer chemicals.
I've been doing reading about Honey and Coconut Oil. But Strangely not for use in my kitchen!.
If I'm not careful my bathroom will start looking like my kitchen!
Anyways let's Start with Honey!! I've been using it to wash my Face and Here is why!

1. It is antibacterial and antimicrobial. It will get off any lingering nastiness that’s thinking about setting up camp on your face and creating pimples.
2. It is slightly drying which means it helps soak up any pimples or oiliness.
3. It is also incredibly moisturizing. Seems like a double standard, doesn’t it? But it’s true. Honey sinks into your skin and moisturizes like you wouldn’t believe. (Remember Cleopatra and her honey baths to look young?)
4. It imparts all kinds of beneficial enzymes that work at scrubbing your face for you, as well as perform a little anti-aging action.
5. It’s great for acne, aging skin, normal skin, dry skin … honey loves EVERY SKIN TYPE.
6. It is healing and helps repair acneic sores and scars.
7. It’s 100%, absolutely, positively natural, great for your skin, and such a SIMPLE addition to your routine!

I have also been reading about it to wash my hair! But I've read a lot of Mixed reviews.  After getting rid of Shampoo,  Your Body seems to get confused and your hair gets dull then oily then suddenly transforms into beautiful Silky Locks But it doesn't seem to work for every one and From the reviews, It works for Some people for a bit but then completely stops working but it's supposed to stop Dandruff which is a huge bonus since I Struggle with it.  I am tempted to try it but I don't want to go through the dull hair faze.I can't seem to decide if I want to Mix something up or just use straight honey. Straight honey is fine but some claim adding Apple cider vinegar and pure aloe vera makes for insane smooth hair. But I do Love how it makes my face feel, I get a healthy glow! I feel so clean and if I lick my lips, I taste of Honey,. lol


Now Coconut Oil. My oh My. I wish I had stumbled onto it earlier!
The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, cholesterol level maintenance, weight loss, boosted immune system, proper digestion and regulated metabolism. It also provides relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV, and cancer, while helping to improve dental quality and bone strength. These benefits of oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and their respective properties, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-fungal, antibacterial and soothing qualities.
I'm still learning about it. But I've been trying to use it as a face moisturizer though I feel funny about putting it on.
And I've tried Oil Pulling a bit which is supposed to be a form of detoxing your body of toxins but also helps with teeth problems. I've been trying to get into it but using raw coconut oil is odd because you put a solid piece into your mouth and it feels oily for a second then it melts and acts like water and it leaves your mouth feeling really clean after but I can't get past feeling it melt into my mouth. It really weirds me out.  I hope to get into a better routine of it and stick to it.
Reading about it. Some Rub it onto their scalp because it stops dandruff and some use it as a lotion.
And some eat it by the Spoon full Claiming it helps them lose weight (Can anyone say Natural laxative?) but that it helps with memory and more.
I want to try it for the helping with memory but I want to find a pill or something because I'm not so keen or eating a spoonful of oil. But heck it would keep me Regular!

Now I haven't spent any time in my kitchen this week and I am being Serious about this. I've used maybe 3 plates for the past week. one night I heated a burger up and one night I ate noodles.
I fully admit that living alone makes me unmotivated to do wonders in the kitchen because I have no one to enjoy it. I've been living how I used to when I was Single. Go to work in the morning and have a bowl of soup. Go home in the afternoon, Go back to work, have another bowl of soup, Come home and eat something quick that involves hardly any effort like fruit, oatmeal, popcorn, pizza..... Horrible choices I know but when I don't need to impress anyone with my killer skills, I don't. When I cook for myself, I only see the errors and the corrections that are needed and don't enjoy it the way it should. I do plan to get around to the things I've talked about but it takes a little more time.

     It doesn't help with the fact that since He's Left this time around, Everything seems So Different. Time is going slower, I feel more lonely(This Empty house is driving me insane) and I can't sleep.  
I stay up late, not even doing anything important. and if I try to sleep, I seem to stare at the ceiling for hours. I eventually pass out around 3 or 4am then am awake by 8:30ish. Where I stay in bed and hope to drowse but it doesn't happen.
I can only watch So Much Netflix and I watched all the episodes of Drop Dead Diva, Weeds and some thing else. I've watched countless hours on top of that. Ive been working on the train room, taking it apart isn't so fun but it passes the time.  I listen to music.  I've folded and put away all john's things.  Maybe I'll try to defeat Yoshi's Island on my DS?
I don't have friends in town and my attempts at making friends at work seem to fail. The one girl I was attempting to make friends with, Moved away without telling anyone except Steve and another girl I work with, Whom I have great convos at work with, doesn't ever want to hang out, outside of work. I invited her to go to some bar event on Friday and she told me she had to paint her truck.. lame Right. and I saw her Truck today. She lied. She didn't paint her truck.  Tim has been to busy with his new life and attempting to play Family, expecting a new baby is prolly hard to get organized for though.  Shaun and I had a falling out.... I've  been reading a book a day again. Which passes the time a little.

  With that Note of books, I got my eyes checked today. And As predicted, I need glasses full time. So I have to buy new glasses. and I really don't know what style I want or what even looks good on me. Who wants to go glasses shopping with me?

Maybe tomorrow I'll whip up a batch of beet Brownies and give them to my neighbor?  It's something right?

My Heart Skipped a Beet!

Tis the Season for Beets.  and other vegetables of course but for some odd reason beets have always had a special Place in my heart.
Every year I send out a request to friends who grew gardens that if they have spares, send them my way and Every year I get a large bag full. This year I got two bags.
I don't know what it is but they make my heart swoon and my stomach growl.
Last year I made beet biscuits that were the prettiest purple and so soft and Yummy. I also made Traditional Red Velvet cupcakes!--> Colored with Beet juice! I had Roasted Beet Burgers, beet and mushroom risottto and Beet brownies,,, I had a lot of Dessert like items.
This Year I want to focus more on Real meals!. What I've got in Mind?
Beet Stew, Beet Pizza Dough maybe even a beet pasta dough, If I can find jars I want to try my hand at pickling beets and attempting pickled carrots.  I've been reading about a beet relish but I'm uncertain on it still.

Since I use Blogger, it tells me how many people actually view my blog. My last Blog had one View.  The one before that had 5. A lot of People showed interest when I said I was going to write a blog. When I say a lot. It basically means about 5 people if I'm Lucky,
Maybe they are not seeing my posting. Maybe I'll have to tag them, I'm not sure.

This Week John was home.  He got home around 10:30 on Tuesday Morning. He finished work on Sunday and Didn't sleep until he got home.
All Tuesday He slept. It gave me plenty of time to work on finishing his Smores Cake which turned out Lovely.  Anyone who saw the Picture wanted a Bite. LOL.
For Supper though Fresh made Garlic pasta topped with a lobster and shrimp sauce. tomato based cream sauce jam packed with cremini mushrooms, fresh basil and asparagus.
We saw his parents a bit, We saw a friend of mine, we watched movies and played video games together, We went shopping and we spent the day in Manitou with my Family where I picked up Beets and other fresh vegetables from my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Lou! It was great seeing them!
I always enjoy sitting and talking with them! It was their first time meeting John, and I think they Liked him which is nice.  I know my family is slowing warming up to him.
He left at Midnight on Sunday. He had to catch a 5am Flight. We napped before he left so I was in a fog but I was still sad when he left. But it will take a couple days to clean up the large mess he made.
I can't see the floor in our room at the moment because he left a lot of things laying round. and the kitchen is a mess because he drinks coffee, hot chocolate and tea endlessly through out the day then we manage to leave plates everywhere.... We won't even talk about his train room. I like to close the door and act like it's not even there. but I don't have to clean that mess.

When Chocolate and Root beer fell In Love

      I don't know when Chocolate fell in Love with Root beer or even when Peanut butter Divorced Chocolate. Maybe Peanut butter Divorced chocolate because She was having a affair with root beer! I don't know how Chocolate ended up Single but Thank God she Did.....
   
            In all seriousness I don't know who had the brillant idea of mixing chocolate and root beer flavor.  It could be a lot like the commercials of how Peanut butter and chocolate started chilling together. Maybe some spilled their fizzy root beer onto their Chocolate cupcake and didn't want to waste a single bit of their cupcake so ate it anyways.?
Who Really Knows. I just know it is a match made in Heaven and one I will happily Cook with!
 My latest adventure with that lovely marriage of flavor is Chocolate Root Beer Sugar Cookies...
It's a rare thing to see Chocolate sugar cookies in the first place but add root beer in there. I personally have never seen or heard of them in Saskatchewan but as I was rooting around in my spice cupboard for the Vanilla extract and stumbled upon my root beer extract. My brain blew back to when I made a super moist chocolate root beer cake and how John loved it and basically ate it in one day... I may of helped with eating in it one day.  In that moment I said Screw Vanilla.Bring on the root beer! Not for a second do I regret that decision. In fact at the end of my Blog, I'll include the recipe for these bad boys. You can thank me Later!

            As everyone who talks to me regularly knows...So mostly my boss.... that John is coming home soon! Like Really Soon. Tonight is his last shift then instead of going to bed, He is boarding a      chopper and flying to Fort Nelsen where he then is driven to Fort Saint John. There him and a coworker drive my Lily Home! In theory He'll be rolling in sometime on Wednesday because in theory he has to sleep at some point.... sleep is over rated I tell you.
As I try to Patiently. I'm trying to make everything perfect for when he is home. And I'm not talking about a clean Sparkling home or a good smelling Taz or that I'll be looking my Best. I a  m of course talking about the Food. Attempting to think of the Perfect things to feed him and have some of it ready so I don't have to spend hours working in the kitchen when I could be spending time with him.  And as most of you know I'm not big on Premade Store bought foods except the random pizza pop but i think that has something to do with Fond memories of a certain friend in high school. Last week I whipped up a batch Sausage and cheese bites and froze them unbaked so I can just pop them in the oven at 250 and bake for about 20minutes, I made up the honey mustard sauce so we can dip them, I plan to make tortillas for tacos one day. and I have things chopped up for making Tomato soup to go with some Grilled cheese. I'm not done planning yet though.
        Since John was in Camp for his birthday, I am making his birthday things for the day he gets home. On the menu for that day. Lobster and Shrimp Tomato sauce on fresh made Garlic Noodles with a Smores cake for Dessert.  Unforgettably since I am such a Cook Dork. I am making everything from Scratch.
The Cake itself which is two layers of Graham flavored goodness and two layers of Fudgey brownie. Then covered in a roasted marshmallow frosting. So I really had to get my Butt in Gear.
Last week I mixed up a homemade batch of Marshmallow fluff which will take part in the frosting. I also made up a batch of graham cookies then almost sobbed as I tossed them in the blender and ground them up.... They go into the graham cake part. I baked up my layers today. The fudgey ones smell amazing but I am a little iffed about the graham ones. The batter didn't Look and in my mind, Didn't bake right but since I have never made the recipe before. I really don't know. I will find out on Wednesday when I get to dig into it. Tomorrow I will be whipping up a batch of marshmellows while attempting to resist the urge on making them Pink. When they are done. I am roasting them, adding them to my marshmellow Creme/Fluff  and frosting the cake. I'll top it with Roasted marshmellows, Broken up graham crackers and drizzle it with Chocolate. Pictures are for sure to Follow on Facebook and if you are one of the lucky few, you may get to taste the cake...


Chocolate RootBeer Sugar Cookies.

Ingredients

• 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
• 1/2 cup (115 grams) brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon Root Beer extract

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on high until pale and creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, flour, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Place half of the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap. Use the plastic to form the dough into a disk and wrap completely. Repeat with second half. Chill dough for 1 hour and up to a few days.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
4. Wrap one disk of dough and use a floured rolling pin roll out on a sheet of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thick. Transfer parchment paper to a large plate or sheet pan and chill for 15 minutes. Cut out the chilled dough into desired shapes and place on the prepared sheet pan. Freeze for 15 minutes.
5. Bake cookies just until the edges are firm, 13-16 minutes depending on the size of your cookies. Do not over bake. Since the cookies are dark in color it may be difficult to see when they are done, so you may wish to bake a few test cookies to be sure you get the timing right.

Do it Yourselves Wow Me!

I know I know, I'm a Hippie but you know what? I'm a happy Hippie.  I love what I use my spare time to Do.

 

Every day I am Learning New things that I can do myself. From the comfort of my own home. And Some people may think it's a waste of time.  But I adore it. 

A couple months ago I learned how to make my own Tortillas! and I already knew how to make my own low sodium Taco Seasoning! And I've never once regretted learning it. I have not eaten a bought Tortilla since.  I learned how to make home made Ginger Ale though people found it a bit odd, I quite Liked it myself....

I Spend a lot of time googling how to do these things.

And it is One of my Goals.  To make most of the things I use daily.

I love taking baths so I learned to make my own bath salts and Fizzing bath bombs!

I've learned to make my own yeast and how to make it like the store bought stuff<-- I have not started to make it at home yet. It's in the trail stage

I don't like a bunch of preservatives in my food so I'm expanding on baking and cooking knowledge and putting some of the stuff I learned in Siast to Work.  I make my own salad dressing, my own mayos, I've recently been experimenting with homemade mustard and ketchup!

Though I have to Learn how to Can stuff still. But I am hoping to learn that stuff. I have the Book knowledge but the practical part I have yet to do.

Most Recently I've been reading up on detergents, shampoos, Dryer Sheets! 

All these constantly amaze me and Excite me! When I discover something new, I look forward to trying it out myself.   Everything is so trial and Error but i find it so.... Liberating...?  

When I was in Siast Learning away, I talked to a lot of people in the trade.  A lot of people Lose their passion for cooking after cooking in the industry for a while. I'm not saying everyone but a fair few leave it. For a bit I worried that would be me. Specially after starting work in a restaurant and was told that Everything I learned in Siast was useless.  Later I found out that women was just being a bitch and I did use some of my training. 

I took a break from Cooking because I thought I needed it. But I was so Wrong. I didn't need a break from Cooking. I needed to be away from Chick Allan's.  From the negative cooking staff. Away from Steve,

The whole time I was away from it, I talked about it like I was still there. And even though I wasn't there, in my Dreams I was. I talked about it, thought about it and dreamed about cooking constantly. 

At this current time, I am still away from cooking and prolly won't be going back for some time because there are other plans on the table. 

Actually there are alot of plans on the table and we'll fly with the ones that actually works. 

No Matter Where I end up, As Long as I have my Kitchen, I will be happy.

List Of things I want to Make/Learn

Canning->

       Ketchup

       Mustard   

       Salsa

Shampoo

Detergent-> Laundry, and dish

Dryer Sheets

Tooth Paste

Face cleanser and toner

Zit Cream

body Lotion

There is alot more I want to do! but I can't List everything or you'll be reading forever.