Cawfee scrub

This took me about 2 minutes to make, I had everything I needed on hand and you probably do too. 

I got a pedicure yesterday with my sister for her birthday and we both got a sugar scrub pedi. Best decision I made all day. With our legs slathered in a sugary and oily concoction, we looked at each other and I knew I had to recreate this at home. 

This is a method, I didn't measure ANYTHING! Just add things until the consistency is what you want it to be.

Ingredients:

Coconut Oil

Coffee Grounds 

Epsom Salt

Sugar

Method:

I took the jar of coconut oil I had under my bathroom sink, it was about 1/3 full. I threw it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

I poured the melted coconut goodness into a bowl and emptied my grounds from the coffee I made this morning into the mix. 

I mixed in approx equal amounts of Epsom salt and sugar until it looked like everything was coated in oil (refer to image below)

I poured everything back into the jar and stored in the shower.

Here's a breakdown of why I used the ingredients I used:

Coconut oil: moisturizer (DUH), antibacterial

Epsom salt: helps muscle cramps, magnesium boost

Coffee grounds: deodorizer, exfoliant

Brb, shaving my legs and scrubbing them smooooooth! 

Peanut butter cup stuffed chocolate chip cookies

This is a game changer.

I whipped these babies up for a month end treat for my coworkers after getting two requests for homemade peanut butter cup. I was going to make those and realized I don't want to dirty my blender to blend the peanuts (lazy ass right here). In lieu I decided to incorporate peanut butter cups but instead to BAKE THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! Yeah. I did that. Ok so the recipe is adapted from

here  because 1) the word easy was right in the description and 2) it DIDN'T have the words "secret ingredients" (who has time for that nonsense). The only change I made to the actually cookie portion was to cut the butter with some coconut oil because I've convinced myself coconut oil = HEALTH FOOD (even if it's a peanut butter cup baked into a cookie lol whatever) so here it goes!
Also, the photos were for the 'gram and not taken with the intention to publish so please calm down.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter 

1/2 coconut oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp each baking soda and baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

However many chocolate chips you want because I'm not the boss of you and won't judge you if you add the whole bag

Approximately 18 mini peanut butter cups

Steps:

1) Cream butter, coconut oil, sugars and eggs until well mixed 

2) Add the rest of the ingredients (except the chocolate) and mix until combined 

3) Incorporate your chocolate chips (I used approximately 1 cup)

4) Take about 1 tbsp dough and wrap it around a mini peanut butter cup

5) Add like 4/5 more chocolate chips on top for *~*aesthetic appeal*~*

6) Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet at 350 for 10 minutes 

This might sound very vague but the truth is my kitchen has no rules because I'm a grownup and no one can make me only use unsalted butter in baking (10 blogger Angels just lost their wings) or measure flour by spooning into the measuring cup and levelling off. I don't have time for that unless I'm making croissants ok? Anyway, make these, share them, make friends, repeat. 

Trophy Tips

Good evening!

Two posts in two days, one could say I'm on a roll.

I've decided to do a post on tips and tricks to saving money and eating well. I know I've included some of these in some of the posts, but here is an itemized list you can refer to more easily.

I get a lot of feedback on my twitter page on my blog posts (and on my life in general...) so I'll try to also answer some common questions that come up.

1. MAKE A LIST WHEN YOU GO GROCERY SHOPPING! I know the first time I went grocery shopping after I moved out, I was like "OHHH DUNKAROOS! OHHHH FROZEN PIZZA OMG! YES GIVE ME ALL OF THEM!" I didn't have a list. Or willpower. Or a budget apparently. Try to look at the flyers beforehand too and make a list of things that fit your needs and budget. I don't drive, so I just flip through the flyer for the store right in my apartment building, but if you drive and it's worth your while, you can go through all the flyers and go to Wal-Mart and price match everything and really save some of your hard earned (or maybe not so hardly earned, I'm not judging) money.

2. Meal plan. This is almost as important as the first "rule". This is a crucial step in healthy eating as well as following a budget. You need to know how much you're spending before you walk into the store and the easiest way to do this is to plan your meals and know what you're spending for each item. This might be a bit difficult the first few times, but after awhile you'll know approximately how much your groceries will cost. 

3. Balance. I like including some items in my meal plan that make me feel like I'm not eating like a poor person and pairing it with super cheap staples. I'll get a steak and pair it with potatoes (cheeeeap) and some frozen veggies (cheeeeeap!!!!). You feel like you're having a super fancy dinner, but will have spent the fraction of the price of what you would have paid to go out to eat. (Check out my salting steak post to see how you can stretch your steak dollar even further!) Buying staples such as potatoes, brown rice and quinoa can also help in cutting down costs, especially if you have a store like Bulk Barn where you're buying in bulk and not paying for any packaging. 

4. Do it yourself. I don't think I've ever bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Or prepared stir fry veggie mix. Or pre-seasoned pork chops. I would rather do everything myself and cut down on costs. It literally takes me minutes to peel and cut carrots and I'm saving money by doing it myself. If you simply do not have the luxury of time I have to prepare meals, try doing all of your peeling/chopping when you get home from getting the groceries and freeze or store whatever is needed for each recipe. Boom, instant time and money saver. You're welcome.

5. Grow it yourself. Related to my post yesterday. I spent pennies on seeds and pennies on soil. I've been rewarded with 12 cucumber plants (the majority of which I'm donating), planter boxes FULL of herbs, lettuce, radishes and kale. 

6. Preserve. This is something I'm hoping to learn this summer. I think I'll try pickling with some of the cucumbers I get and maybe making jam out of our strawberries if we get enough. If you have a garden/orchard/access to massive amounts of fruits or veggies, preserving them is a (relatively) easy way to be able to stretch them out instead of leaving them to spoil. Keep your eye out for a blog post on that soon-ish! 

As you can see, it really isn't difficult to organize and plan your eating and spending. I do admit I sometimes just fall off the wagon, but this method is tried and true. I know it can seem overwhelming, but just try one step at a time. Maybe start with the meal plan. Once you have something that works for you, work on buying things that require you to do most of the work. You'll be saving money in no time which just means more money for wine, right? Right...? (Sorry mom)

What are your favourite money saving tricks? 

D.

My little balcony garden

Good afternoon (morning? evening? Wherever you are, I hope you are well!)

It was brought to my attention today (by myself) that I have not written a blog post in FAR too long. So here I am. And I have a very exciting endeavor to share with all of you. This project has been in the works for maybe 6 weeks now and will hopefully go well into next September. I present to you: my garden!

Yes. I have a garden. A very tiny one, but it's there and I love it. 

Me and bestie, Sam, decided forever ago we wanted to plant a garden in her yard in the summer. And anyone who knows us knows that when we get an idea for something, we usually get a BIT overambitious and plan everything all at once and go a bit nuts then kind of forget about it as we've begun obsessing over something new.

Anyway, we went through with the garden idea. Sometime in March, I went and got a window box and some soil and seeds and decided I was going to plant a small herb garden for the balcony. That weekend, I set out on the balcony, read the instructions on the seeds and planted them. In retrospect, it was too early to plant as we were still getting very cold evenings and I was almost certain it was all going to be a bust.



I was wrong. Those suckers grew like weeds. My basil, however, is a different story. It's been a slow start. It is still very, very small but I think it's because I planted the soil to deep into the pot and it's not getting enough sun as the edge of the pot is casting a shadow on the inside of the pot. But there is a tiny seedling and it's been getting plenty of sun now.

A few weeks later, Sam and I decided to plant some starters for her garden and I decided to start two more window boxes, one with kale and one with lettuce. I also accidentally bought three tomato plants. OOPS!

We ended up also planting a window box full of radishes and starting some onions and cukes in little canisters. I also plan on growing some garlic over the winter in the window boxes.

So there's a background on the garden and here is a list of pointers I have put together as a first time gardener.

1: Water your plants in the evening or morning (Sam just told me this). Watering mid day means the plants have had to weather the hot sun of the morning, turning the leaves yellow and possibly burning them. 

2: Eggshell fertilizer! I just smashed a bunch of eggshells with a fork and spread them onto the herb garden. It seems to have worked very well as they are growing out of control.

3: Try to keep the water you're using the water your garden around the same temperature as it is outside (even better, try to keep it outside to let it sit and get to temperature) 

4: Enjoy your garden! I can't tell you how many times I sat out on the balcony and thought there was no way I was going to get any cucumber plants. Then all of a sudden, in a matter of hours, most of them had poked out of the soil. After two weeks of waiting, patiently and daily watering, I was SO happy to see those guys make an appearance.

5: Thin your plants once they are a bit bigger. I tend to oversow because I get paranoid they aren't all going to take. You want to make sure the vegetables (especially root veggies like beets and radishes) get enough space to get to size before you harvest them. I've also heard if you don't thin radishes they get very bitter. I'm not taking any chances.

I've had so many people comment on my instagram and twitter asking me to teach them my green thumb ways, so there's most of it. Honestly, it was basically getting the supplies, reading the seed packets and doing a little bit of research online. 

Share your gardening tips in the comments! Do you have a garden? 

Juicing...an introduction

Yes, I'm still alive!
I've been in Winnipeg since August and feel like I haven't been able to stop and write a blog post in forever. So here I am.

And let me introduce you to what I've been doing for the last few mints: juicing!

Now there is a smoothie/juicing debate going on and here is what I have to say. Why not both? Although I love a good green smoothie, I LAHV a good green juice.

I don't follow a specific recipe but usually when I go grocery shopping I get base ingredients in. Luck and whatever is on sale. Base items are carrots, apple, beets, oranges, kale (or spinach) and pineapple. I love adding strawberries if they're on sale and sometimes watermelon or kiwi.

Once I get home, I rinse all the goodies, peel and chop into pieces that fit in my juicer's feeder.

This lasted me about a week. Apples were stored in lemon juice
Careful with the beets, they tend to make your kitchen look like a crime scene. But look how pretty!

My trademark juice:

Two handfuls leafy greens

Two pineapple spears

Half a beet, sliced

Two carrots, sliced

Half an orange, peeled

Half an apple, sliced

Run through juicer, add water to taste if you think you need it. Enjoy these benefits and sip your concoction.

Repeat whenever you feel bloated, sluggish or after you've had a teen burger with onion rings and a root beer for an instant "see, body, I don't hated you."

Do you juice? What are your favourite ones? Comment and let me know! 

xo,  D. 

Trophy makes almond milk.

I've been buying almond milk for awhile. I'm not sure why, cow milk just freaks me out a little. Hormones in the cows can be passed through their milk and I'm NOT about that life. So, I decided to make my own almond milk. I use it in smoothies and my coffee mostly. I'm sure you could use it in baking as well if needed. Now this is super easy.

You need:
1 cup almonds
4 cups water

The end.

Making the almond milk is fairly simple.
Soak the almonds over night in water (not the water in the ingredients, soak in just enough water to cover them.)
 Once they've soaked overnight, drain them. Them put them in a
blender with 4 cups of water and blend for a few minutes until it looks milky.
Now, the fun part. Secure cheesecloth over a container using elastics.  Pour mixture through cheesecloth into container. You may have to do this twice as quite a bit of pulp is produced and strained out.

You're done!! The almond milk stays for about 4-5 days in the fridge tightly sealed.

-d.

Four ingredient chocolate truffles

These will change your life. They just changed mine. If you're in a pinch and new to impress someone with your culinary prowess, without actually HAVING culinary prowess, these are perfect. They're actually perfect in every way but that's besides the point. These have ingredients MOST everyone probably already has. And they are soooooo delicious.

You need:

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used semi sweet but you can use whatever type suits your taste)
1 tbsp almond or peanut butter
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
A coating mixture. I used coconut but you can use ANYTHING! Like chopped nuts, cocoa powder, graham cracker crumbs, possibilities are endless.

1. Melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave at 30 second intervals
2. Mix in the peanut or almond butter
3. Gently mix in Greek yogurt until completely incorporated
4. Refrigerate 15-30 minutes until firmed up
5. Roll approx 2 tsp mixture with fingertips and roll in coating mixture
6. Refrigerate until serving time

YOU'RE DONE! This takes less time to make than most desserts and is a lot more impressive. if anyone asks for the recipe just send them this way OR you can keep this deliciously simple recipe your dirty little secret. No one has to know how easy it is!


Xo D.