Alright, so this won't be as exciting as one of Oprah's Favorite Things episodes - and no, I'm not giving away a car or a trip to Australia or anything like that - just me telling you what I find pretty groovy these days.
Thanks to my friend, Erika, I am addicted to Coconut Oil....for my face. Before I get to that, though, I'd like to plug Erika's blog. Erika has been blogging about her 100 + pound weight loss journey for almost two years now. She is smart, funny and extremely open and honest. I encourage you to check it out and follow her journey. She is a remarkable woman!
Back to the Coconut Oil. Erika turned me on to it.
It is my new night time facial moisturizer. Publix, Fresh Market, and Whole Foods sells it for around $9.00. The first time I used it, I have to admit that I felt a bit strange. I was rubbing oil, meant for cooking, on my face. Contrary to what you might think, I have not experienced one single breakout! It's solid in the jar, and I just dip my fingers in just as I would do to a true moisturizer, and spread it around my face! My skin drinks it up at night, so when I wake up, my skin feels moisturized - not greasy. Having worked for a skin care company many moons ago, I know how expensive good skin care products can be. I must say that this coconut oil is just perfect for my skin and for $9.00, it's going to last me about a year. You can't beat that!
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I ran out of my face cleanser a couple of months ago. Usually I would have had a bottle on reserve but with 2 boys, a baby and not living in my own house, ordering skin care products was not high on the priority list. I needed to wash my face so I looked around my bathroom and spotted Brooke's baby wash.
This is what I use when I bathe Brooke - it's gentle and it's 100% soap free - so it cleanses without drying (this is what the writing on the back tells me). Months later, it remains my facial cleanser of choice! It's not harsh or drying yet it foams up and leaves my skin super clean. I just bought a HUGE bottle of it for $6.00 and I anticipate it lasting me for MONTHS!
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If you're like me, then you have a hard time finding a good gift for your husband. I'm always on the lookout for something fun and different. This belt from Patagonia is fun, different and just plain cool. We love Patagonia at our house. Their mission statement alone is awesome: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
We find their products to be well made, durable and timeless in style. They have a big sale a couple times of year and we like to make our purchases then. That said, here is one item that is extremely affordable and is a super cool gift for your husband, dad, brother, son, etc. It's called a Tech Web Belt and it's only $25.00. It comes in a variety of colors and looks great with khakis, jeans - really any kind of casual pant. The buckle is actually a bottle opener which is fun - you never know when you might need a bottle opener (my baseball mom friends get what I'm talking about!).
So, if you're looking for something cool for that man in your life, look no further than this. They also sell a cool "wrapping bags" at the checkout. Instead of using wrapping paper, buy one of their cloth wrapping bags when you checkout. It can be used again and again as opposed to wrapping paper, which you can only use once.
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Homemade Queso
I decided to make some homemade cheese dip earlier this week. I grilled some skirt steak (one of my favorite cuts of beef because it's tender, easy to marinate {soy sayce} and grill and it's oh so affordable!) and roasted vegetables to eat with it. I thought queso would taste good with that on a cold night. My kids love "Mom's queso" - even though it's only cheese, milk and jalapenos, I'll take all the credit in the world!
I bought 1 pound of American Cheese from the cheese/meat counter at Publix.
Then I cubed it, so that it would melt more quickly.
I added milk. Now, we are skim milk drinkers at my house but because Brooke drinks whole milk, I happened to have some. I used half whole milk and half skim. No real measurements here - I just poured it in and stirred until it reached the consistency I liked.
After I added diced jalapenos, I poured it into individual bowls.
It's just as easy to run up to Willy's and grab some cheese dip, but the kids had fun chopping the cheese and stirring - and they think it's super cool that we can make something so delicious and "restaurant like" here at home.
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