DIY: Cooking and Beauty
This isn't a particularly personal post, but I fancy myself a little bit of a foodie. Once I hit my twenties, I learned that I really, really enjoy cooking. I also enjoy any sort of homemade beauty products and so I thought I would share with you all.
01. Coffee Facial Scrub
This is so simple, and is one of the most amazing scrubs I've ever used. I honestly like it better than these twenty or thirty dollar scrubs that I've splurged on and tried. I think some recipes suggest using fresh grounds, but I just used the ones out of the coffee pot--works just as well, and its not costing anything extra because you were just going to toss them anyhow, right?
6. TBSP Coffee grounds
4. TBSP Olive oil
Just mix it together, and you're good to go. I usually make a double batch, and refrigerate it, using it over the course of a couple weeks. However, now that my little sister and brother are hooked on it, it hasn't lasted that long in a long, long time. Just take a bit, scrub it in, and rinse with warm water. Your skin will thank you.
**I think that this originally came from a Seventeen magazine or something. My older cousin taught me to make it when we were kids, and I've been using it ever since.
02. Glazed Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Muffins
Over the years, this recipe has evolved and I'm pretty satisfied with where it is now. It started out as my mom's recipe for pumpkin cheesecake muffins, but I'm lactose intolerant so I tweaked it a bit. Then another time I didn't have enough pumpkin and figured that sweet potato was basically the same thing so I thickened it out with that and got these babies. All I had on had was some crumpled up muffin cups so...a little lopsided, definitely not for company.
INGREDIENTS:
2 c. Self Rising flour (If using All Purpose Flour add 1 TSP of baking powder and 1 TSP salt to EACH cup of flour)
1 1/2 c. Oats (Any kind. I ran out of quick oats once, and ended up using apple cinnamon instant oats and they tasted so delicious that now I usually use them)
1 1/2 c. white sugar
3 TSP cinnamon
2. TSP nutmeg
A tiny dash of cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 1/2 c. mashed cold sweet potatoes
3/4 c. canned pumpkin
1 c. oil (canola, vegetable...whichever you have on hand)
GLAZE:
1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar
2 TBSP plus 1 1/3 TSP milk OR 2 TBSP soy or almond milk (Note: Rice milk does not work, take my word for it.)
2 TBSP butter or margarine melted (I use margarine)
1 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP vanilla
1. In a small mixing bowl, mix together (whisk if you have one) mashed sweet potatoes, pumpkin, egg, and oil. Make sure its well blended.
2. In a larger bowl (Seriously, a larger bowl. This makes thirty-ish muffins) combine flour, oats, sugar, cayenne, and cinnamon.
3. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until its all moistened (It'll be thick).
4. Okay, so if you want to just throw this bad boy together and eat ASAP grease and flour a loaf pan and make it into a quick yummy dessert bread. I've been there, I won't judge you.
4.5 Cook that at 375 F. for about an hour
5. Whip out that muffin tin, and fill it with liners. Personally, I'm a fan of the seasonal ones. Fill them up about 2/3 of the way. (Or, alternatively if you're like me and 2/3 of a muffin cup mean absolutely nothing to you use about two spoonfuls of a regular sized spoon)
5.5 Cook at 375 F for about 17-20 minutes.
6. Let them cool for about a minute (same with the bread) and drizzle with the glaze however you want.
03. Zucchini Bread
Okay, this is probably my favorite food in the whole world. It goes without saying that my ass does not thank me for it, but I LOVE IT. I've tweaked it until it is exactly at the right proportion of nuts to spice to zucchini and tried a million mix ins, but this is my favorite version of it. Don't be shy with adding things in, I've made versions that range from having carrot, to crushed pineapple, to choco chips in it.
3 C. All Purpose Flour (wheat flour tastes equally as good, I just didn't have any on hand today)
1 TSP salt
1 C. Canola/ Vegetable Oil or Applesauce (I use applesauce to try and make it a little healthier)
1 3/4 C. white sugar
1 TSP baking soda
1 TSP baking powder
3 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP nutmeg
3 eggs
3 TSP vanilla
2 C. grated zucchini
1 1/4 C. chopped walnuts (In place of that, semi-sweet choco-chips, dried cranberries, rasins, whatever strikes your fancy)
1. Oven @ 325 F, and grease and flour two 8 x 4 pans. If you don't have them, use what you have and tweak the cooking time accordingly. The thicker the loaf, the longer the cooking time.
2. Mix flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg in smaller mixing bowl.
3. In a larger mixing bowl, blend together your applesauce (OR oil), sugar, vanilla, eggs. Once its well blended and creamy add the dry ingredients a little at a time until well beaten.
4. Stir in zucchini and nuts (or whatever your mix in(s) will be).
5. Pour batter into pans, and bake for 40 to 60 minutes (Its always much closer to an hour for me), or until you stick in a toothpick and it comes out clean.
6.. TRY to let it cool for twenty minutes. I have brothers, so....that doesn't happen, but it will slice and hold up better. Also, it ships really well, and its pretty simple to send it as a gift.
03. Pumpkin Spice Latte
My friend Dan and I sorted this one out a couple years ago. He's a vegan, and I'm lactose intolerant, as I said, and apparently the base at Starbucks is made with milk so it doesn't matter if you order it with soy (Vegans: GASP!). If you just want a Pumpkin Spice Latte, milk instead of milk alternative obviously--works just as well. I was too tired (and out of pumpkin so no picture...but you get the gist).
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C. of cold coffee OR 1-3 shots of espresso (depending how strong you want it)
1 1/2 C. Vanilla Soymilk (Soy works the best, I've tried almond, rice, etc. but soy seems to bind the spices best)
2 TBSP canned pumpkin (unsweetened)
1/2 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP nutmeg
1 TSP vanilla
Sweetener of your choice, to taste. I like agave, Dan likes sugar. (2 TSP of agave, personally)
dash of cayenne (sounds weird, but tastes incredible--just a tiny dash though)
FOAM:
1 TSP pumpkin
1/4 C. soy milk, warmed
1 TSP sweetener
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
pinch of salt
1. Pour the coffee, milk, vanilla, sweetener, and canned pumpkin into a saucepan and heat over low-medium heat.
2. After the pumpkin is blended into the liquid (be careful to make sure you've mixed it well) add your spices and mix.
3. Heat until it comes to a low boil.
4. Pour it into a big mug. It really makes about two cups, but I don't really care to share.
5. Stop here if you don't like foam, or if you don't have a foaming wand, I don't and I don't.
6. Heat all foam ingredients in cup together, and blend using the hand foaming tool. Once good and foamy, top your drink.
7. Soy whip, if you have it!
01. Coffee Facial Scrub
This is so simple, and is one of the most amazing scrubs I've ever used. I honestly like it better than these twenty or thirty dollar scrubs that I've splurged on and tried. I think some recipes suggest using fresh grounds, but I just used the ones out of the coffee pot--works just as well, and its not costing anything extra because you were just going to toss them anyhow, right?
6. TBSP Coffee grounds
4. TBSP Olive oil
Just mix it together, and you're good to go. I usually make a double batch, and refrigerate it, using it over the course of a couple weeks. However, now that my little sister and brother are hooked on it, it hasn't lasted that long in a long, long time. Just take a bit, scrub it in, and rinse with warm water. Your skin will thank you.
**I think that this originally came from a Seventeen magazine or something. My older cousin taught me to make it when we were kids, and I've been using it ever since.
02. Glazed Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Muffins
Over the years, this recipe has evolved and I'm pretty satisfied with where it is now. It started out as my mom's recipe for pumpkin cheesecake muffins, but I'm lactose intolerant so I tweaked it a bit. Then another time I didn't have enough pumpkin and figured that sweet potato was basically the same thing so I thickened it out with that and got these babies. All I had on had was some crumpled up muffin cups so...a little lopsided, definitely not for company.
INGREDIENTS:
2 c. Self Rising flour (If using All Purpose Flour add 1 TSP of baking powder and 1 TSP salt to EACH cup of flour)
1 1/2 c. Oats (Any kind. I ran out of quick oats once, and ended up using apple cinnamon instant oats and they tasted so delicious that now I usually use them)
1 1/2 c. white sugar
3 TSP cinnamon
2. TSP nutmeg
A tiny dash of cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 1/2 c. mashed cold sweet potatoes
3/4 c. canned pumpkin
1 c. oil (canola, vegetable...whichever you have on hand)
GLAZE:
1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar
2 TBSP plus 1 1/3 TSP milk OR 2 TBSP soy or almond milk (Note: Rice milk does not work, take my word for it.)
2 TBSP butter or margarine melted (I use margarine)
1 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP vanilla
1. In a small mixing bowl, mix together (whisk if you have one) mashed sweet potatoes, pumpkin, egg, and oil. Make sure its well blended.
2. In a larger bowl (Seriously, a larger bowl. This makes thirty-ish muffins) combine flour, oats, sugar, cayenne, and cinnamon.
3. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until its all moistened (It'll be thick).
4. Okay, so if you want to just throw this bad boy together and eat ASAP grease and flour a loaf pan and make it into a quick yummy dessert bread. I've been there, I won't judge you.
4.5 Cook that at 375 F. for about an hour
5. Whip out that muffin tin, and fill it with liners. Personally, I'm a fan of the seasonal ones. Fill them up about 2/3 of the way. (Or, alternatively if you're like me and 2/3 of a muffin cup mean absolutely nothing to you use about two spoonfuls of a regular sized spoon)
5.5 Cook at 375 F for about 17-20 minutes.
6. Let them cool for about a minute (same with the bread) and drizzle with the glaze however you want.
03. Zucchini Bread
Okay, this is probably my favorite food in the whole world. It goes without saying that my ass does not thank me for it, but I LOVE IT. I've tweaked it until it is exactly at the right proportion of nuts to spice to zucchini and tried a million mix ins, but this is my favorite version of it. Don't be shy with adding things in, I've made versions that range from having carrot, to crushed pineapple, to choco chips in it.
3 C. All Purpose Flour (wheat flour tastes equally as good, I just didn't have any on hand today)
1 TSP salt
1 C. Canola/ Vegetable Oil or Applesauce (I use applesauce to try and make it a little healthier)
1 3/4 C. white sugar
1 TSP baking soda
1 TSP baking powder
3 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP nutmeg
3 eggs
3 TSP vanilla
2 C. grated zucchini
1 1/4 C. chopped walnuts (In place of that, semi-sweet choco-chips, dried cranberries, rasins, whatever strikes your fancy)
1. Oven @ 325 F, and grease and flour two 8 x 4 pans. If you don't have them, use what you have and tweak the cooking time accordingly. The thicker the loaf, the longer the cooking time.
2. Mix flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg in smaller mixing bowl.
3. In a larger mixing bowl, blend together your applesauce (OR oil), sugar, vanilla, eggs. Once its well blended and creamy add the dry ingredients a little at a time until well beaten.
4. Stir in zucchini and nuts (or whatever your mix in(s) will be).
5. Pour batter into pans, and bake for 40 to 60 minutes (Its always much closer to an hour for me), or until you stick in a toothpick and it comes out clean.
6.. TRY to let it cool for twenty minutes. I have brothers, so....that doesn't happen, but it will slice and hold up better. Also, it ships really well, and its pretty simple to send it as a gift.
03. Pumpkin Spice Latte
My friend Dan and I sorted this one out a couple years ago. He's a vegan, and I'm lactose intolerant, as I said, and apparently the base at Starbucks is made with milk so it doesn't matter if you order it with soy (Vegans: GASP!). If you just want a Pumpkin Spice Latte, milk instead of milk alternative obviously--works just as well. I was too tired (and out of pumpkin so no picture...but you get the gist).
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C. of cold coffee OR 1-3 shots of espresso (depending how strong you want it)
1 1/2 C. Vanilla Soymilk (Soy works the best, I've tried almond, rice, etc. but soy seems to bind the spices best)
2 TBSP canned pumpkin (unsweetened)
1/2 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP nutmeg
1 TSP vanilla
Sweetener of your choice, to taste. I like agave, Dan likes sugar. (2 TSP of agave, personally)
dash of cayenne (sounds weird, but tastes incredible--just a tiny dash though)
FOAM:
1 TSP pumpkin
1/4 C. soy milk, warmed
1 TSP sweetener
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
pinch of salt
1. Pour the coffee, milk, vanilla, sweetener, and canned pumpkin into a saucepan and heat over low-medium heat.
2. After the pumpkin is blended into the liquid (be careful to make sure you've mixed it well) add your spices and mix.
3. Heat until it comes to a low boil.
4. Pour it into a big mug. It really makes about two cups, but I don't really care to share.
5. Stop here if you don't like foam, or if you don't have a foaming wand, I don't and I don't.
6. Heat all foam ingredients in cup together, and blend using the hand foaming tool. Once good and foamy, top your drink.
7. Soy whip, if you have it!