The BSV Hair Treatment

Remember that time I tried an at-home avocado hair treatment and it yielded ... um ... less-than-stellar results?

It's OK, I forgot it too, which I why I approached another make-at-home hair recipe without an ounce of trepidation last week.

I did it for a couple of reasons.

One, with my current employment status and the expense of having a human garbage disposal er ... I mean, an adorable, hungry son that won't stop growing ... I am looking for ways to save cash.

Two, I've written before about my quest to use less toxic beauty products. Many shampoos and conditioners have chemicals in them that have been linked to cancer and reproductive and developmental issues. Blech.

Even the "natural" or organic hair care options aren't always stupendous when it comes to their ratings in the Skin Deep cosmetics database. And most of those natural shampoos and conditioners I've tried are incredibly expensive and don't always leave your hair feeling or looking all that stellar.

So when I came across a grist blog post on washing your hair with baking soda and rinsing it with apple cider vinegar (hence the title BSV hair treatment)—and the girl who wrote tried it out gave it rave reviews—I decided to try it myself.

I followed her directions to a T, mixing a tablespoon of baking soda with a bit of water to make a paste in one cup and about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with a tablespoon of water in another cup.

Then I took my little cups in the shower with me. I started by massaging the baking soda into my scalp really well, then rinsed. Then I poured the apple cider vinegar through my hair. Because I'd read the warnings about making sure you rinse well so you don't smell like vinegar, I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed a bit more. (I must have rinsed enough, as I did not, in fact, smell like salad dressing all day. At least that I could tell.)

The moment when I set about combing my hair post-shower was the ultimate test, as my locks are usually a bit on the tangly side after I use most natural shampoos and conditioners.

After my BSV treatment, my tresses weren't any more tangly than before—and they were perhaps even a bit less so.

I didn't see the miraculous difference in my hair the Grist blogger raved about. But my hair combed, dried, and styled pretty much the same as it always does.

That, as tame as it sounds, is a ringing endorsement. You know why? Because it means I don't have to spend a zillion dollars on natural hair products, because baking soda and apple cider vinegar yield the same results.

The only downside—and the reason I haven't used the treatment more frequently—is that it's a bit of a pain to prep the ingredients before each shower. And sometimes I forget all about it until after I step in the shower, at which point it's too late to hop out and mix a shampoo and conditioner cocktail.

Luckily, I just came across an Ask Umbra video (also on grist) that gives you the ratios for making up an entire bottle of the baking soda shampoo and another of the vinegar conditioner. I have a bunch of partially used shampoos and conditioners in the bathroom closet I'll probably never touch again, so I think I'll empty them out and use the bottles for this precise purpose.

Now you go give it a try and tell me what you think.

Baked Oatmeal Casserole

I love oatmeal.

I love regular oatmeal with brown sugar. I love oats with nuts and fresh berries or dried cranberries and a touch of honey. I love fancy, schmancy oatmeal combos, like baked pumpkin steel cut oatmeal.

I love cookies with oatmeal (particularly homemade Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies, in which the ground oats are a super-special secret ingredient, as well as these loaded oatmeal cookies). Not long ago, I discovered I also love no-bake energy balls which, naturally, contain oatmeal, too.

So it should come as no surprise that I have a whole list of must-make recipes that include oatmeal. One, which I tried a few weekends ago, is a baked oatmeal casserole.

I knew I'd love it because it has a lot of my favorite things in it: chocolate, bananas, raspberries, cinnamon, walnuts. And oats! (Of course.)

The result was so rich I almost felt guilty eating it for breakfast. Almost.

I ate it for days afterward, too, so it was a good thing I liked it.

(Conservative Hubby, on the other hand, wasn't a fan, but then again after I made him eat a piece he told me he hates oatmeal. I don't understand how you can hate oatmeal. It's delicious. But, alas, lesson learned on that one.)

I think next time I make this, I'll use fewer chocolate chips. And maybe try adding a bit more fruit. And a bit less sugar.

Gasp.

No, my blog wasn't just taken over by an alien from another planet posing as me. I really did just say I'd reduce the amount of chocolate and sugar. Don't worry. I'm feeling OK. It's just sometimes I like my breakfast a little healthier.

Unless, of course, there are Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies available to eat with my coffee. Or sugar cookies. Or snickerdoodles.

(See? It's still me!)

No-Bake Energy Balls

I'm sick of buying granola bars and random snacks from the store. They're expensive and loaded with unpronounceable elements that have been manufactured in some lab somewhere and deemed fit for human consumption.

So I've been on the hunt for healthier, homemade, but still portable snack ideas. Because you know I need snacks—often. My friends didn't give me the name Snickety Snack for nothing.

First on the list to try: No-Bake Energy Balls. I spotted them on Pinterest.

(Pinterest, by the way, is the best and worst creation ever—the best because I always get great food, decor, fashion, parenting, cleaning, you-name-it ideas; the worst because it is so horribly addictive. Case in point: I had a student in a web publishing class last semester tell me she spent 8 hours one day on Pinterest. Eight hours! I spend 5 minutes here and there on it. But 8 hours? Wowza. Pinterest may be the downfall of our society.)

So about these energy balls. I snagged the recipe from Gimme Some Oven. It's pretty much just like she recommends making them, although I did dial back the coconut a bit from what the recipe calls for. Just personal preference.

Here are the details ...

What You Need 

1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)

2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes (I only used about 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flaxseed, wheat germ, or a combo (I used wheat germ this time)

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, but recommended)

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

What You Do

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week (if they last that long—doubtful).

 

Reasons to love these: They take minutes to make. They require no cooking or baking of any sort. And they include some of my most favorite ingredients ever: peanut butter, chocolate, honey, oats. Yum.

Although you don't have to refrigerate these babies, I'd recommend it. They stay nice and firm when they're in the fridge.

I imagine this first batch won't last long ... considering Conservative Hubby went to bed last night smelling of peanut butter, and I was in them myself this morning before the coffee even finished brewing.

Fudgy Chocolate Malt-Peppermint Pie

I know you're probably all anti-decadence right now because it's January and that's what people are supposed to do in January: deny deny deny their sweet tooth. Eat healthy. Work out more. You know the drill.

And yet I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway, even though it might make you groan. And even though most people would argue that peppermint ice cream is only a holiday treat.

I don't know why. I think it's a holiday conspiracy, actually. Peppermint ice cream is so refreshing, wouldn't it actually make a great summer treat? Or a January treat, if you're into that kind of thing ... which obviously I am or I wouldn't be posting this now.

So. Back at the ranch.

For one of our many Christmas feasts this year, I was assigned the very important task of making dessert. Something with chocolate.

I developed a big, long list of chocolate-y desserts one day. Then I crossed them all out the next day because I did some searching for chocolate holiday desserts online and found a slew of recipes that seriously made me swoon. Some of the recipes were a bit over the top, though, so I finally decided on one that looked festive, delicious, and relatively easy.

This is it. It's a fudgy chocolate malt-peppermint pie from Southern Living. The cool thing I didn't realize until I started baking is that it's not your traditional chocolate crust. It's more of a chocolate brownie that you press down a bit to make room for the ice cream.

The peppermint ice cream keeps this dessert from being over-the-top rich, but don't let that refreshing flavor fool you. Even a small piece is plenty.

One warning, though: We discovered the pie is pretty much impossible to cut if you follow the instructions and freeze the whole darn thing for 8 hours. Conservative Dad almost broke numerous knives trying to get a few pieces out of the pie pan.

So next time (yes, there will be a next time), I think we'll just leave the brownie crust out until it's time to serve, then will scoop in the ice cream and throw on the homemade whipped cream topping at the last minute. That should save a lot of trouble.

(Oh, and should you get the urge to break all your January healthy eating vows and make this pie only discover there isn't any peppermint ice cream in the store because of that darn holiday conspiracy, you could always make your own. Been there. Done that. Have the link to prove it.)

Homemade Hot Chocolate

I love a steaming mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter's day. But I decided the usual packet-o-Swiss Miss wasn't really cutting it anymore. So I trolled the 'net for a homemade hot chocolate recipe or two and came across a few winners.

Martha's looked super easy to make, although ultimately I ended up deciding on the homemade hot coca mix from Brown Eyed Baker. There was something about the combo of powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and white chocolate chips that sounded too decadent not to try.

So I whipped up a big batch of the mix. Although I kept a jar of it for myself, I gave most of it away for a little gift to accompany a few cookie plates I doled out over the holidays.

Do you have a homemade hot chocolate recipe that would put the one I made to shame? Let me know. There's still plenty of winter left for trying more!

Resolutions

I live by my to-do lists. I always have at least one—sometimes many more—going on a given day. And I'm a goal-maker. I always have something new I'm setting my sights on, that I'm trying to do or accomplish.

So it should come as no surprise that I've also always been the sort to make new year's resolutions.

In the back of my mind, I know full well that before January even ends most resolutions are abandoned, forgotten, left to gather dust on a note pad shoved in the back of a drawer. And yet each year, dutifully, I make my list. I've done it since I was in high school.

Those lists from my later teen years are buried in my old journals which, in turn, are currently buried in tubs in our laundry room closet. If I were to dig them out right now, they would likely sound awfully similar to the resolutions I've made every year for more than 10 years now.

There's always something jotted down about health and wellness, about working out more and eating less junk. There's always something about improving relationships. Often I have some variation on "read more" or "write more" or "worry less."

Each year around this time I read the many magazine articles about how to make this year's resolutions stick. I know all the things you need to do to succeed: Be specific about what you want to accomplish, rather than writing in general terms. Limit yourself to three or five or however many single-digit resolutions you can realistically accomplish. Put your list in a visible place so you are reminded often of what your goals are. Ya da ya da ya da.

I resolutely follow the advice each year. I write down everything I want to do. I usually have some semblance of success at first. But ask me on Feb. 1 what this year's resolutions were and odds are I'll only be able to recite a vague approximation of what I put down.

Yesterday, on Jan. 1, as all good resolution-makers do, I started thinking about what I wanted to resolve to do better, to do differently, or just to do in 2013.

I want to work out more consistently, something I need to do for my body and my sanity and my overall health but that often falls to the wayside recently. I might want to try the run 365 miles in a year goal. I want to get back to doing yoga at least (at the very least) once a week.

I want to get organized—really organized. I want to declutter the house. Seriously declutter. Like, donate or recycle half of the items in our house. I want to remodel our kitchen, sand the front window Butter has destroyed, repaint a few places, replace the dreadful front door, tear out the bushes ... I better stop that list now, because it could go on forever.

I want to devote more time to my family, to keeping in touch with my dear friends, to actually responding to the emails I read.

I want to step outside my comfort zone and try something new. I want to meet some new people, to be more social.

Sometimes the things I want to do seem to stand in direct opposition to other things on my list.

I want to eat healthier—more whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, less junk. But I also want to bake more. I want to stop multitasking and learn to focus on one thing at a time. Yet I also want to ramp up my freelance career; get a steady teaching job; blog more; stay on top of all the cooking and cleaning and household to-dos; read more good books; write more for myself; take up knitting or crocheting (I think I say that every year and never do it); on and on and on. And there isn't enough time to do all those things!

I want to be fully present in every moment. I want to stop making so many damn to-do lists. I want to realize it's OK to play with Little Man for an hour and not try to sneak in dusting the living room or scrubbing the toilet in the middle of play time. I want to appreciate quiet moments sitting and drinking tea and staring out the window, rather than spending every waking moment thinking, "OK, what do I need to do next?"

I could go on, but I think you're getting the gist of it.

So how do I take this big, long, rambling list of wants and wishes and make it nice and compact and manageable and specific and attainable?

I've decided I don't.

I've decided making new year's resolutions in the traditional form is a waste of my time and my energy and in the end probably just stresses me out more, because then I spend time trying to figure out how to add those resolutions to my already too-long to-do list.

Besides, I don't need a list of resolutions because, I realized yesterday, everything I want to accomplish in the coming year boils down to one simple statement:

I want to do what makes me happy.

Cliche, I know. But it encompasses everything I try to do with my resolutions each year.

Some days, decluttering the whole house will make me incredibly happy (at least when it's accomplished). Cutting all junk out of my diet for a while will likely make me happy (and will make me feel better). But if whipping up a batch of scones or chocolate chip cookies will make me happy, I'll do that instead (and maybe eat just one a day instead of three). If relaxing on the couch with the boys will make me happier than crossing six things off my Sunday to-do list, I should do that. In this scenario, anything that makes me happy is a big, important accomplishment.

Will this new, single, non-resolution resolution work? Will I remember it and still be trying to accomplish it on Feb. 1? Who knows. But it's worth trying.

Happy New Year (with Bacon)

Happy New Year!

I hope you ushered out 2012 with a big, festive party and are welcoming 2013 refreshed and ready to tackle a new year.

In case you're hankering for something bacon-infused to battle your post-New Year's Eve brain fuzz, might I suggest the Maple-Bacon Biscuits from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook?

I made them last week while My Parents were in town for the holidays, and they were as delicious as they look. What's not to like about copious amounts of butter, bacon grease, and a bit of maple syrup on a holiday morning?

I will be making them again. Probably often. Probably today, actually, because I took the author's advice and made a double batch to freeze (pre-baking).

So we'll be enjoying some fresh-from-the-oven maple-bacon biscuits ourselves this morning for Conservative Hubby's big 3-0. (Yes, that's right, it's not only the first day of a new year. It's also Conservative Hubby's birthday.)

In case you want to try them yourself, you can snag the recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride. (Or go buy the cookbook–I highly recommend it!)

Waiting for Santa Claus

Twas the night before Christmas
When a family took pause

To lay out cookies and milk
For dear old Santa Claus

Then a sweet little boy
Wore his new pajamas to bed

While visions of Christmas decorations
Danced in his head ...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Black Bottom Pumpkin Pie

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without pumpkin pie, so when I was assigned to make a dessert for this year's Thanksgiving feast at Conservative Mom and Dad's house in Georgia, a pumpkin pie seemed like a no-brainer.

But I resisted the idea of making a traditional pumpkin pie because I also firmly believe that no dinner is complete without chocolate. Or any meal, for that matter. Even, some days, breakfast.

So when I came across Southern Living's Black Bottom Pumpkin Pie recipe in the November 2012 issue, it seemed like the ideal solution. Pumpkin? Check. Chocolate? Check. Plus toffee and pecans thrown in for good measure. What's not to like about that?

Making the pie turned out to be quite a process. First I burned a batch of pecans so had to redo them. Then nearly every step required some cooling or chilling time in between. Fortunately, we didn't have a big agenda over Thanksgiving week, so we ended up finishing it with a few minutes to spare. (Though we almost had a disaster and ran out of whipped cream at the end, hence the rather decorative effect and lack of full coverage atop the pie.)

The interesting thing about this particular pie is that the pumpkin layer isn't your traditional pumpkin texture or flavor. It ends up being more of a creamy custard layer with just a hint of pumpkin. For those in the crowd that aren't hard-core pumpkin lovers, it was a nice, subtle nod to a Thanksgiving staple. But I think if I made it again I'd either increase the amount of pumpkin or replace that layer with a more traditional pumpkin pie filling.

The other interesting thing we discovered is that this pie actually tasted better straight from the fridge the next day. I'm not sure why, but I certainly didn't complain about that!

A Little Tree

This year, I skipped putting up the full-size fake tree I've dutifully assembled every Christmas since I graduated college. The lights, the ornaments, and the branches wouldn't stand a chance against a certain curious, on-the-go elf.

So instead I bought a tiny tabletop fir tree, which now sits perched atop our wine rack. It allowed me to fill the house with Christmas spirit (and the beautiful smell of a fresh fir), while keeping our most precious ornaments and the twinkling lights well out of Little Man's reach.


And I didn't even have to bother with buying a tree skirt—three festive napkins worked just fine. I do, however, need to find a star for the top of our tree, because the big golden bow I use atop the full-size tree would've looked awfully funny on this little one.

Her Friends' Recipes

Way back in October, I turned the big 3-0. And, lucky me, it just so happened that my birthday fell on a girls' weekend, when a group of my best college friends were all gathering in the Milwaukee area for a baby shower for one of my dear pals.

In their typical fashion, my friends sprung a lovely little party on me (and two other fellow October birthday lovers), complete with a beautiful cheesecake, a variety of 30-themed treasures and, best of all, a cookbook!

But we're not just talking a run-of-the-mill cookbook. We're talking a special cookbook made just for me and filled with some of my friends' favorite recipes.

You can check it out yourself and download a free copy, if you wish.

(The cool thing is, 47 other people people have downloaded it, though we haven't promoted it at all. I hope they are enjoying the recipes as much as I am!)

One Year with Little Man

I still can't believe that Little Man turned one on Nov. 19. It seems like just yesterday he was a tiny bundle in the hospital, looking up at us with as much confusion as we looked down at him with.

I'm in awe of how much babies change and learn and move and become their own little people in the span of a year. There's no other point in life that is so filled growth and development. It's simply amazing.

Of course, Little Man has run the show from the very beginning, when our little breech baby decided he wasn't going to wait for our 6 a.m. appointment with the doctor to try to turn him on Nov. 19. Instead he got the show going himself just after 2 a.m. and arrived shortly after 4 a.m.

It's been the same ever since, from the first few days home when he decided he would fight his hardest to get out of his swaddling to the 8 1/2 months he refused to sleep through the night. Not that I counted or anything.

 By 3 months, he was standing on our laps, the better to get a good look at the world around him. At 4 months, he insisted he was going to take his first bite of food, and when he did it he was going to hold his own spoon, darnit. By 5 months, he was rolling and wiggling all over the place. When his teeth started coming in at 7 months, he wasn't happy to welcome them one at a time. Instead, they came in droves. (Right now, we're dealing with three molars at once.) At 7 months, he started employing a rather unorthodox crawling style that got him around well until he was ready to zoom on nearly all fours. By 11 months, he wasn't just walking—he was practically running.

Now he's more in charge than ever—running around the house terrorizing Butter (or "petting" him, if you can call it that), shooting baskets nonstop in the little hoop his dad bought him for his birthday, carrying objects that are way too big for him around the house just because he can, letting us know exactly when he wants to read books and when he could care less about them, saying "hi" to everything and everyone he sees (but most especially his reflection or pictures of himself).

As long as his teeth aren't driving him nuts or he isn't hungry (yep, got that from me), he's a smiling, giggling, playful little imp who goes 100 miles per hour from the moment he gets out of bed until he falls back into it at night.

Someone told me once that when your children are young you'll think every stage of your child's life is the best one yet, that it can't get any better. I see now exactly what she means. It seems like our Little Man can't possibly be more fun than he is right now, but then again I know next month he'll be doing something new and different and keeping us on our toes even more.

I can't wait to see what adventures the next year brings!

(The photos, you may have noticed, are from Little Man's first birthday party at the Lake. It was a terrific shindig at My Parents' house. Little Man, of course, loved being the center of attention and played with his toys until he literally laid down on the rug in the middle of everyone and almost fell asleep!)

5 Little Penguins

Five little penguins sat in a garden bed.

The first one said, "There's a hat on my head."

The second one said, "There are snowflakes in the air."

The third one said, "But we don't care."

 The fourth one said, "Let's slip and slide and skate."

 The fifth one said, "But we can't be late."

 Jingle went the bells and on came the lights ... 

 And the five little penguins lit up the night.

(I created this silly little story for Little Man while we stood at the front window today looking down at the five little penguins in our planter box. It's adapted from "Five Little Pumpkins," one of Little Man's current board books of choice.)

Chef's Dinner at Waterside

Three years ago on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Conservative Hubby and I were married at Reynolds Landing at Lake Oconee.

This Friday after Thanksgiving, we celebrated in a very special way: With a private, 6-course meal prepared by one of the chefs at the Waterside Restaurant at Cuscowilla, down the lake a ways from where we were married.

My Dad won the meal for four in a golf tournament, and My Parents were kind enough to invite us as a way to celebrate our anniversary.

It was quite an affair, with a special menu prepared exclusively for us and different (delicious! out of my price range!) wines paired with each of the six courses. The chef would come out with each course and explain exactly what we were eating and which wine we were drinking next.

We started off with a crab and tuan martini over cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions with an English cocktail sauce. The pieces of crab were huge and the sauce was delicious. This, of course, was paired with a refreshing Italian proseco.

Next we moved on to what I think was my favorite course: Brown butter sea scallops with creamy white organic grits, gala apples, and crispy bacon. Rich, delicious, to-die-for. Served with a Sean Minor Sauvignon Blanc. (Pardon the photos. I snapped them hastily with my phone before diving in to each course.)

This alone was enough food for a meal, yet we were only just getting started. Next up came petite pork osso buco with creamy Italian polenta (with mascarpone), red wine pan jus, and some veggies, served with La Crema Pinot Noir (an awesome vino). The pork practically melted in our mouths.

After that, we had to take a break for a few minutes. We were seriously full, but still had one main course to go. Each of these courses was large enough to be a meal on its own. I was incredibly glad I wore a dress; otherwise, at this point, I might have had to unbutton my pants, which may have been a rather unladylike thing to do for such an occasion.

Next up: carved smoked tenderloin of beef with potato dauphinoise, mushroom demi glace, baby carrots, and asparagus, served with a Trincharo Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of us couldn't finish all of this course, but Conservative Hubby was a trooper and soldiered on through every last bite of the meat and potatoes. (He did leave a few asparagus spears behind though.)

Next came some lighter fare: a tray of Spanish Manchego, aged gouda, English stilton, and assorted fruits and jams, plus fresh honey and honey comb. I figured one tray would be for the whole table, yet we each had our own. We all nibbled on everything as best we could but ended up boxing up most of this deliciousness to take home because we barely made a dent in it.

During this course, we each were served a glass of Sandman's 10-Year Port, and so we retired outside by the lake and pool to sip our port and enjoy the pleasant weather while the men smoked cigars. This interlude was necessary or there would have been no way we could have enjoyed our final course.

Then it was back inside for the grand finale: chocolate flourless tort with a raspberry drizzle. Divine.

The dessert was served with our choice of a chocolate Godiva martini or decaf press pot coffee. I'm sure the coffee was delicious, but we wouldn't know, because of course we all had to have a chocolate martini. It was Godiva, people. What do you expect?

Our nearly 3-hour dining extravaganza was absolutely amazing. We all came home stuffed and satisfied. It was a wonderful evening, and I'd highly recommend the experience to anyone visiting My Parents at the lake. It can be yours for only $100 per person, which is an incredible steal considering how much food and wine we consumed.

I'm still full, actually. Although I did find room for a piece of leftover Thanksgiving pie for breakfast this morning. Why not continue with the gluttony for another day?

 

 

 

The Pumpkin Patch

Remember back in October when we made our annual pilgrimage to Gail's Pumpkin Patch?

Oh, right. Why would you remember it, when I never remembered to tell you about it? Oops.

I suppose it's OK to go ahead and update you now, despite the fact I'm delinquent. Our pumpkins are still sitting out front so it's acceptable to write about them, right? (Besides, the pumpkins aren't carved, so technically now they're a Thanksgiving decoration ... er, at least I hope. But I guess maybe the Halloween ghost next to them needs to go.) Anyhow. As usual, I digress.

This trip to the pumpkin patch was particularly special because it was Little Man's first visit. He had a great time, as you can see. There was plenty of posing to do. Plus rocks to pick up and (attempt to) eat. And swings to try out.

Of course, we picked out our pumpkins, too.

Little Man found a gourd he was particularly fond of. Mostly he just wanted to slobber on it. Fortunately, the gourd didn't seem to mind.

All of these seasonal adventures are so much more fun when you're with a little one who thinks everything is so interesting and exciting and drool-worthy.

Unfortunately, we didn't do much Halloween celebrating around here because Little Man was sick, sick, sick. But next up is Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know I can't wait.