Homemade Coconut Sugar Scrub

I hate soap.  Normal, sweet smelling soaps are super drying on my already dry skin  and the ones that I can use on my super dry skin are boring and blah!  I prefer scrubs by far.  A good sugar scrub is AH-MAZE-ING on my skin!  It buffs and then leaves a moisturized feel behind.  Plus they usually smell amazing.  Unfortunately, they can be a bit pricey for a tiny amount.  I just can't justify spending that amount of money on something that will last me two weeks.  So I decided to try and make my own from ingredients in my cupboard.  I once again turned to Pinterest for some ideas.  I couldn't find a recipe that used coconut oil in place of olive oil, so I altered a recipe found on Just Another Day In Paradise.

Ingredients

2 cups of white sugar

1 cup of solid coconut oil

juice from 4 lemons

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp vanilla

You will also need a container to store your finished scrub in.  Though a glass container is prettier, I opted for what I had on hand, which was a Snap-n-Lock plastic container.

I bought my coconut oil at SaveMart I think.  Nothing special.  It was the cheapest for the largest amount.

Directions

Add the solid coconut oil to a standing mixer bowl.  I have read that you can melt your coconut oil beforehand to get more of an oily scrub.  I prefer a whipped feeling scrub, so I went with the solid.

Mix on low for approximately 5 to 6 minutes, until you have a nice whipped feeling to the mixture.

Next, add the sugar and mix until blended.

Add the lemons juice (I used fresh squeezed, because that is what I had on hand, but you can use juice from the cute lil lemon shaped bottle) and honey and mix until blended.

Now scoop into your favorite container.

This recipe made more than I thought it would (the coconut oil really fluffs up nicely), so I put the majority of it in a shallow plastic container to use daily in the shower, and the rest in a recycled pizza sauce jar for later use.

I officially used the scrub this morning in the shower and it was perfect!  You can feel the sugar granules scrubbing, and then dissolving, on your skin.  I thought the oil might leave a greasy feeling, but it didn't.  It felt just like a scrub from the expensive stores.  Moisturizing and light.  I even used it on my face and it feels so good.  Plus, the lemon and honey are great scrubbing agents and have antibacterial properties that are great for your skin!  I was hoping for more of a scent with this scrub.  I really though I would smell of coconut all day.  But I couldn't smell anything at all.  Which is good for people who don't want to smell like the tropics.  I, however, do. lol  Next time I might add some vanilla for scent.

Overall, this was a huge success.  I am so happy I went with this option instead of the expensive store option filled with who knows what.

Sh*t My Husband Says, Part 2: Suspicious Side Dish

Husband: Why did you fill part of his plate with a bunch of mayo?
Me: That's yogurt.

I am just going to assume he was joking.

Sh*t My Husband Says, Part 1: Dirty Europeans Are My Thing

I have a feeling this will be an ongoing series...

Me, watching One Direction on SNL: That one grew up to be super cute.
Husband: The one on the far left (Zayn)?
Me: No, the one next to him (Louis).
Husband: Ugh, he looks like your type.
Me: My type?
Husband: Dirty, didn't comb his hair, and....European. Like Bard.
Me: Bard?
Husband: The Bowman.

Wonder Woman Movie Role Rumor That Slaps All Women In The Face

This rumor made me want to chuck my laptop through the window.  Then I realized I need my laptop.  So I threw a napkin across the room.  Pure anger over here!!!

We get this rumor from Batman-On-Film, and as he claims on this site, this information is based on"inside information, industry scuttlebutt, and my opinion. Nothing should be taken as confirmed news unless explicitly stated as such."  So, take this with a grain of salt, but know that he has been pretty spot on with rumors int he past.

E-mail Question: How big of a role do you think Wonder Woman will be in BvS?

JETT SAYS: Personally, I’d say it’ll be about on par with Scarlett Johansson’s first appearance as Black Widow in IRON MAN 2. I believe that it’s a cameo-plus type of role that will (hopefully) serve as a springboard to a solo Wonder Woman movie.

With all that said, I’d bet a year’s pay – in MONOPOLY money, of course – that the “Amazons” of this cinematic DCU will be descendants of those “ancient Kryptonians” who attempted to set up Kryptonian outposts throughout spacedom thousands and thousands of years ago. Furthermore, I say that Wonder Woman will be powered-down, if you will, relative to Superman because these Amazons have evolved and adapted to living on Earth for hundreds of centuries. And since Kryptonians are produced without any “He’n and She’n” – Jor El and Lara excluded – couldn’t this original Kryptonian on Earth have used this reproductive science to create an all-female race? I say yes!

My first reaction is that DSC/WB is basically sending a giant "FUCK YOU" to all of us woman who grew up idolizing Wonder Woman and reading her origin and stories and loving them!  If this is true, DC will basically be saying that Wonder Woman's back story, and the person that she is because of her back story, is not good enough.  And because of that they will adopt the closest MALE hero's back story. Fuck that! Way to, once again, short change your female superheroes, DC!  It is bad enough you turned her into Superman's girlfriend in the New 52 comicverse, now her have to tie her to Superman in the movieverse too!!  UGGHH.  I am done with this company!  If this is true.  Which I hope it is not.

Oven Cleaning Without Harsh Chemicals (AKA I Could Use Some Of Those Harsh Chemicals About Now) Part 2

I woke up this morning ready to tackle the oven!  Okay, so, I actually woke up this morning with a smack in the face by my affectionate toddler and was ready to turn over and go back to sleep. But then I remembered the oven and realized I should get up and take it on.

This is what it looked like when I peeked in this morning.

Eeeewwwwww.  The grime and grease is just oozing up.  I am not looking forward to scrubbing this at all.  I made sure I was wearing something I did not care about and dove in.

Now, all of the Pinterest pins I have pinned (mouthful), say how easy the grime and goo comes right off after a night of soaking in baking soda and vinegar.  I am here to attest that it does NOT just wipe right up.  It took some serious elbow grease to get this junk up.  A TON of elbow grease.  My elbows were gushing grease by the end of this.  Maybe if I cleaned my oven on a regular basis, the light gunk would just come right off, but 6 years of gunk took some muscle.

Also, while scrubbing, I realized that a lot of baking soda clumps fell through two slats in the bottom of the oven floor.  And there appeared to be two screws at the back of the oven that allowed me to remove the bottom of my oven.  So, I did. 

Again with the EEWWWWW!  Actually, it's not as bad as the rest of the oven was.  I wish I would have discovered that this part comes off earlier though.  That way I wouldn't have had to stick my entire upper body into the oven to scrub.

This part was pretty clean when I pulled it out since I had spent nearly two hours on the floor scrubbing the daylights out of it.  This is where, if you remember from yesterday, the giant pool of grease was charred on.  Not bad now.

Just when I thought I was done, I remembered that I have the racks soaking in my bathtub. 

I used the following recipe from Picklee.com to clean my oven racks.

This worked amazingly well.  Again, it would probably have worked even better if I had regularly cleaned my oven and racks prior.  But MOST the gunk came right off after soaking the racks in this solution overnight. 

I also used a variation on this recipe for my stove top racks (or whatever they are called).  

I used one dryer sheet for each and a squirt of Dawn in a plastic bag with some hot water.  I let them soak overnight and then scrubbed them gently with the dryer sheets.  Worked like a charm.

Oh, and I also discovered the the top part of my stove lifts up so you can clean around the actual burners!!  Who knew?!  Probably everyone but me! 

Again, ewwwwwww!!!  And what have I been cooking?! 

So, this "little" project of cleaning my smoky oven turned into a full day of scrubbing, removing parts of my oven I did not know could be removed, and generally cursing whoever made this mess in the first place (me).

But it was all worth it.  My oven is once again clean and ready for use!  Here are the "after" photos!

Under the range top.

Top of the range.

Inside of oven, Giant charred spot is GONE!

All done!

I could not be happier with the results!  Especially since I used it to bake Chicken Parmesan and it worked wonderfully!!

Oven Cleaning Without Harsh Chemicals (AKA Holy Crap My Oven Is Nasty!) Part 1

My oven began smoking while baking last week.  I thought maybe it was a fluke thing, since it did not do it the next day when I continued baking. Then I baked an amazing Cheeseburger Pie (recipe will be posted soon) and the whole house filled with smoke and the alarm went off and it sucked.  I had to open all of the windows, turn on the overhead fans and all portable fans, and not finish baking the fish sticks Radin was going to enjoy for lunch.  I had it in my mind to clean out the oven.  Obviously something had spilled onto the bottom of the oven and was causing the smoke.  And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had NEVER thoroughly cleaned the inside of my oven.  I have lived here and used the oven almost daily for 5 years.  Gross.
So I took to the interwebs for instructions on how to run the "self cleaning" option on my oven.  Which I am pretty sure that is an option on my oven.  The wording is so worn out, but I think it says "CLEAN" on one of the knobs; past the word "BROIL."  Well, the advice online is to NEVER actually use your oven's self cleaning mode.  It could cause serious smoke damage to your home, especially if there is spillage on the bottom of the oven.  Great.  There goes my easy option.
Then I took to Pinterest for an "easy yet green" cleaning solution.  I found many different pins about using baking soda and vinegar and wound up following CaChingQueen's advice the most.
First off, this is how my oven looked before I did anything to it.

Yeah, gross.  There is a GIANT spill of something funky right in the middle.  And now it is baked on and charred.

Extra gross.  Makes me wonder what the heck I cooked that made that big puddle though.  Bleh.

The little Dragon and I took a trip to WinCo to pick up the supplies.

Doesn't he just look thrilled to be at the grocery store?! About as thrilled as I was when I remembered that you have to bag your own stuff at WinCo.  I'm so lazy.

Here is the ingredients we picked up and used today:

• Spray Bottle filled with 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water.
• Sea Salt
• Baking Soda

That's it!  Super easy checklist and you probably already have these items in your pantry.  I did not have these items, because Christmas just happened along with a ton of cookie baking.

Now here is what you do with this stuff:

1. Remove the oven racks (post coming soon about how to clean those bad boys, since the advice on this site did not do the trick for my racks).
2. Spray the whole inside of the oven with the vinegar/water solution.  Including the door.  Get it all nice and soaked.
3. Sprinkle (I heaved) baking soda everywhere; making sure to put extra on the really bad parts.
4. Sprinkle a thick layer of the sea salt over the baking soda.
5. Spray again with the vinegar/water.  It will get all bubble from the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda.
6. Leave it to sit overnight.
7. With the course side of sponge scrub the oven.
8. Spray again with vinegar/water to help remove everything.
9. Use damp towels to wipe up everything.

Okay, so at step 6 I varied form CaChingQueen.  I was impatient and let it sit for 2 hours and then attempted scrubbing.  A lot did come off, but not nearly enough to say the job was done.  So I smeared the baking soda around a bit and created a paste all over the oven (which helps with the back and walls.  Cuz gravity and all).  

Here is what it looked like before I smeared it about;

It just wouldn't stick to the back and walls without me smearing it into a paste. So now it is sitting overnight. I will update tomorrow on how it all turned out and if this recipe is worth it.  Here's hoping.

First Official Still From GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!

HOLY BALLS, YOU GUYS!!!!  The very first official still from Guardians of the Galaxy has been released.  As you can tell, it is a realization of some awesome concept art that was released early last year!  I am now even more excited that this is happening...THIS YEAR!!

Here is the official word from Marvel that accompanied the unveiling of the still:

From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team — the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits — Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand — with the galaxy's fate in the blanace. Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" is presented by Marvel Studios. The film releases August 1, 2014, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

My Top Ten New Year's Goals

Happy New Year!  With the New Year usually comes a list of resolutions that everyone is determined to keep…at least through the end of the month.  I have never subscribed to resolutions, because I pretty much know myself by now and know that I am not going to jog every day for the next year, or never drink soda again, begin juicing, or stop cursing like a sailor (when the baby is not around, of course).  But I think I should set some goals this year. 2013 was a terrible year for me and my little family, and we need to get back on the happiness track.  Here is a list I will do my best to stick to in this New Year (I received a lot of inspiration from ScaryMommy for this list):

1.      Live in the moment.  And no, I don’t mean YOLO it up like an idiot.  What I mean is, be present in my everyday life.  Notice the little things more and appreciate them.  When my 20 month old son is yelling “NOO NOOOO NOOOOOOOO” over an episode of Thomas the Train ending, try and not get angry that he is yelling over a tv program, and realize he is processing and professing his emotions…and that is a good thing.  When we are late for a doctor’s appointment because of ridiculous traffic, take the time to enjoy a sing-a-long with the little one.  Just basically enjoy my life as it is more and stop worrying so much about what is next or how I can make my life “better.”

2.      Stop calling myself fat.  Seriously, who is this helping, really? I don’t want my son to grow up hearing his Mom constantly worry about her weight or forever going through a new diet.  I know that how I project my self-esteem will largely affect how he feels about his own body and mind. 

3.     Practice what I preach.  If I want my little one to get outside and play more, than he needs to see me getting out and playing too.  If I want him to be a social butterfly, than he needs to see his Momma fluttering about a crowd happily.  This is hard for me, because I really am a homebody.  But I will do my best to reach out and make connections with friends and family that I haven’t “hung out with” in many years.  Plus, the little one needs some tiny tot friends, not just Thomas the f****** Train.

4. Stop being so “jelly” (jealous)!  I have an issue with comparing myself and my life with what others are doing or having.  I never seem to feel as if I am good enough or my life is complete enough.  I am always looking for more.  I need to straight up stop that nonsense.  My life IS full and my family IS complete.  I need to focus more on enjoying what I have and being happy with who I am.  This doesn't mean some character building is not needed.  Obviously everyone needs to continue growing and maturing as they age and experience new things.  But I need to follow rule #1 and be thankful for what I have accomplished thus far and enjoy it.

5. Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Is catching my son shoving a fistful of dirt in his mouth really reason to lose my shit and freak out on him?  No, not really.  I am fairly certain I have stuck worse things in my mouth (if you know what I mean) and lived to tell the tales.  Is my house ever going to be completely clean and all the toys where they should be?  No, definitely not.  And that is okay.

6. Take some time for myself.  I have morphed into super Mommy and I spend every waking (and most dreaming) moment worrying about my son and my husband and their happiness and well-being.  I need to put a portion of that energy into taking care of myself.  I need to drink more water.  I need to finally start that skin care regime I keep putting off for no good reason.  I need to slather on lotion after a shower.  Seriously…that takes like 2 minutes and I never do it.  I need to do my hair every day.  And I don’t mean, style it all fancy and junk every single day.  I just mean take the time to actually blow dry it to a somewhat manageable style.  I know this will make me feel better about my self-image and then I will have no excuse not to go to the park with the little one.

7. Eat healthier.  This does not mean a diet.  This does not mean a juice cleanse.  But if I want my son to grow up with a healthy relationship with food, he needs to see me eating healthy foods and snacks.  He eats what I eat.  Plus, I need to branch out from the same old dinner menu we have had for the last ten years.  I love tacos, but not every other night.

8. Sex it up.  Yup, this is where it gets awkward for my family who read this. Lol.  But I need to put a bit (okay, a ton) more effort into my sex life.  After having a baby who never slept, a serious bout of depression, living with the in-laws for many months, and a terrible time with the depo-shot that made me bleed every day for almost a year,  I have basically just pushed sex and anything related to the back of the bus.  Time to relocate sexy Jenny and put her to good use.

9. De-Clutter.  I have so much stuff. Let me rephrase that;  WE have so much stuff.  The husband, the little one, and I all have way too much stuff.  Stuff I don’t ever use and will probably never use, but that I hung on to….just in case!  No more.  Time to go through the house, room by room and get rid of what we do not use or need.  Get ready for one epic spring garage sale.

10. Write more.  I used to love to sit and just write.  I would write what was on my mind, I would write fanciful stories of elves and mutants, I would just write nonsense.  I miss it.  It was what got me through my younger days when I didn't yet understand that I was depressed…and not just kind of sad.  Whether it is blogging, journaling, or just writing a story for my son, I want to take the time to write.