FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Archives for August 2011

Good Morning Plane

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Good morning plane, I’m going to be seeing a lot of you this week. DC today, Tampa tomorrow, Phili Thursday, Tampa Sunday. Helloooo frequent flyer miles!

Thankfully the Starbucks line was freakishly short and I was able to grab an iced coffee because I’m feeling especially groggy this morning, even as far as Monday mornings are concerned.  And caffeine is a necessity before a DC landing as I know the second I arrive it’ll be non-stop work.

I also know that for the next 36 hours I’ll be at the mercy of my team of dudes and their burger and beer cravings. Even in the most sarcastic of tones, I can’t express to you how awesome that is… Fingers crossed I get to sneak away and order take-out. But just in case, I made sure to get some freshness in form of a fruit cup in.

See you soon DC!

Open For Business

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What do you do when your best friend is having a tough week and has been, not so subtly, hinting that she wants you to make her an iPad case for a super long time?  You look up the specs, cut out an i{cardboard}Pad, and…

Start making a completely different project!

It undoubtedly served me right that the clutch pictured above was a complete fail.  The size reminded me of a pencil case I owned in middle school.  I considered using it as a eye make-up bag and then realized how huge of a waste of a clutch frame that would be.

And, in all honesty, the next project was intended to be an iPad clutch, but it turns out the frame was just a tad too narrow for the i{cardboard}Pad.  Oh and I completely misgauged the length.  So that was another fail (I was frustrated at this point) until I folded the top half of the clutch over and it transformed into something wearable.

I nixed the iPad clutch idea and went back to the drawing board, literally.  I sketched and went through the motions and finally came up with a iPad sleeve that was a much better fit, both physically and functionally, than my previous plan.

And then I was on a roll!

When it was all said and done, I had a cute little pile of crafts to show for.  Here’s a link to my Etsy store if you’re interested in purchasing any of these goodies!

FoodFash on Etsy

The Opposite Of Deficient

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Whether or not I’m getting enough protein and calcium are the two most common questions people ask when my non-dairy, non-meat diet comes up. And it’s usually at that point I waffle.  I know I’m getting enough, I know that I eat more greens in one day than that person has eaten in a week and I want to counter their judgement with questioning their overall diet, but I don’t.  I simply respond by repeating random facts that I’ve read and responses that my mom has given to similar questions throughout the years.  All the while, I still wonder…

But last week I was able to gather some cold hard facts that made any ounce of doubt disappear.  And even though this past month has been a disciplinary challenge as I dabbled in dairy and meat here and there, I don’t think that I ate nearly enough to sway eight months of a predominantly vegetarian, dairy-free-ness.

So there ya have it kids!  Not only am I smack dab in the middle of normal levels of calcium and protein, my levels have even increased from last November.  Phew!

 

My triglycerides have gone wayyyyyy down.

My good cholesterol has gone wayyyyyy up.

And more important than all of these healthy green numbers, I feel much better than I did last November.  Hooray for turning myself into a science experiment!

Epsom Is Awesome

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Have you ever had a deep tissue massage?  Today was my first and I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re 25 percent awesome, 75 percent evil.  The masseuse hinted something along the lines of I may be sore later on because of fused muscles yada yada and suggested I take an epsom salt bath to help eliminate the toxins that were released during the massage.

Oh you better believe I stopped at the store on my way home to pick up a box. And then I fired up a Google search to fact check the legitness of epsom.

Heads up, it’s about to get nerdy.

Epsom salt, which isn’t even salt at all, is a pure mineral compound of magnesium and sulfate that has a laundry list of health benefits. And oddly enough, sitting in this mineral tub allows your body to absorb a ton more magnesium than if you were to ingest it.  And more magnesium means better regulation of enzymes, production of energy, and elimination of harmful toxins.

Wait, it gets better!  After getting out of the tub (which felt a lot like time out, I don’t like baths) my skin was uber soft, which initiated some additional Googling – epsom salt and beauty secrets.  Turns out mixing epsom with just about anything makes that anything better.

Here’s a list of ideas I stumbled upon:

  • Mix with facial cleanser to exfoliate skin (done!)
  • Mix 1:1 ratio with conditioner and microwave until epsom melts (not long) and use like a normal deep conditioner to add body
  • Dissolve with water in a spray bottle and spray on damp hair as a styling product to add texture
  • Mix 2 cups with a 1/4 cup of Vaseline to make a foot scrub