Laugh!

This....is great!
Seriously, click here

Organic shmorganic!

A while back I was in town doing a bit of shopping and was struck by the urge to purge. Our produce drawers to be exact.
"Today, I will bite the bullet and buy organic, it is a good choice," were my thoughts. "So what if I'm gonna fork over a little more, seriously, how much more can they charge for an apple or some carrots? How expensive can it really be?"
Good question actually. More accurately, "Can it REALLY be THAT expensive? Is that REALLY legal?!"
I discovered that day, as anyone who has ventured to buy organic quickly discovers, that in many cases organic prices are legal theft. Don't believe me?...on with my story.
So I walked into the local health food store (GREAT store. Take money.) to buy me some red peppers. I casually picked up a few, not, of course, using bags because that's not "green" and the health food store is very green. Somehow a bit of common sense penetrated my zeal induced stupor and I glanced up at the price. The moment was utterly shattered and, I kid you not, I got real salty tears in my eyes. Apparently healthy produce is for the elite and I suddenly felt like an impostor just being there. I dumped my red peppers back on the shelf and threw myself out the door.



$8.49 a pound! $8.49 a pound!!!! I didn't even use a frickin' bag! At their most expensive, red peppers around here are usually $2.49 a pound. Thats a 241% (it took me a while to figure that number out!) increase and while I was prepared to pay more, I assure you, I am NOT prepared to increase our grocery budget by 241%!!
Oh the frustration! Oh the rip off. Do they water these plants with their tears and sit beside them day and night to scare off the aphids?! (Don't even get me started on the meat! You have to sell your ovaries to afford it!)
Anyway, all that huffing and puffing to say this: I came across this helpful list of clean (don't retain a lot of pesticides) vs. dirty (retain a lot of pesticides) produce and thought I'd share.

And finally, for the first time ever, I prepared and ATE this for dinner the other night.

Justin was so shocked he had to document it.

Mmmm...yummmmy.....?

It was done in the name of true laziness ....I mean thriftiness.

The man that I love...

...is sometimes a little crazy.
Justin does not love jogging. Especially in the winter! When I plead enough he accompanies me and of course, always runs circles around me. It doesn't matter that I jog 5 times as much as he does, he's a machine. But because he doesn't jog that often, the times that he DOES go he tries to get in several weeks of cardio workout in 30 minutes. So while I choose the usual route and set the usual pace, he's looking for hill, sprinting back and forth, running backwards, jumping, and, this past Saturday, packing rocks. Boulders actually.
See, I told you...a machine.
Not to be outdone, I picked up my own endurance training object from the nature around us...


I'm a much lazier machine, but let me tell you, I carried it proudly!


Oooo...feel the attitude.


Heavy? This? Pfffft....I could carry this with my little finger!

Actually, folks, I did run with the rock, twice. No, truthfully, I waddled with it...for 30 seconds at a time- but I was proud and Justin was proud and my arms hurt real bad so it counts!

Two days after this display of manly madness, our area was hit with a severe windstorm. Trees came crashing down all over, some on homes, houses lost roofs, street lamps came down, anything that wasn't bolted was literally blown away. While most cowered inside and stressed about the damage, my husband ecstatically jumped straight out of bed and bolted out the door! He was joined a few other crazies and off they went for a surf. Nevermind that the wind was 60-70 mph and it was raining and it was about 9 degrees outside, he was SURFING!!

I don't know...I don't think he's tame-able. But then.... I don't think I want to. Plus he offsets the craziness with some major wife spoiling. Like last Sunday, I woke up to find a hot latte, eggs, and toast on a tray, in bed. Awww...

Suki part 2

Because you asked...
I purchased Suki from makeup.com. It's cheaper and if you order over $60 you get free shipping....only in the USA. They don't currently ship to Canada. But for you on the other side of the border, I think thats your best choice. I noticed you can find it on Amazon.ca (or .com) but I don't know what the shipping is like. Ebay also carries it but its heinous expensive.
And furthermore, be careful if you're opening the lemongrass facial wash around kids. It smells like lemonade as pointed out by my niece Lindey. I had mine shipped to my sister, Diana, in WA and her 3 yr old helped me open the boxes. I let her hold all the products and smell them and we talked about it smelling good enough to eat.
A minute later I saw her stick out her little tongue to taste the lid.
"Auntie Carolyn, it's good."
Awesome. So of course, being a fun auntie, I tried some too. She was right, initially its good. Then it tastes like you just ate soap.
My sister's response was, "Well, it IS all natural, I guess it shouldn't hurt you." Spoken like a veteran mom!
*More licking*
"Auntie Carolyn, it IS good but its making my tongue feel funny."
Uh huh....maybe its time to put this away, shall we?

For those of you who are wondering, she lived.

Suki

I love it. I love my new Suki face wash and moisturizer. Anyone out there who is product hopping and struggles with skin problems, BUY IT. Buy it right now. It will change your life. Or if not that dramatic, it will at least change your skin.

Ever since I turned 17 I've been fighting my face. I've plucked it, pierced it, masked it, steamed it, scrubbed it, lotioned it, painted it, naired it, spritzed it, toned it, waxed it, "facialed" it, and I STILL look like....me. It's possible this is part of the problem. It's been suggested that if I stopped picking on it, it would be fine.....or not. Maybe I'd have to join the "mustached women" club.

Anyway...my skin has been the hardest part. It's dry, sensitive, and reacts violently to my diet, emotions, and hormones. In the past two years since I've been married, things have definitely improved. Exercise, better eating, emotional stability, hormonal....ness....(yeah, still working on that one), less stress and worry have all made a world of difference. I know, I'm pretty much one of those "ducks in a row" kind of people. Millions envy me.

For several years I've been buying expensive, healthy, natural, "from America so the shipping charges double the cost," facial products that don't work well for me but don't make it worse. And then one day I decided that was dumb so I went to the local health food store and stocked up on samples of several recommended brands, intending to find one that worked and just buy it locally. Let me tell ya, I found one that worked GREAT!... buuuut I'm not buying it locally because it's cheaper online. And FYI, the Alba cleansing gel (that says "avoid eye area") burns the heck out of your eyes and makes you scream and curse.....I mean...weep.

So for the past month I have been using this most excellent team

and I have LOVED the difference. In fact, today my husband was gazing fondly at his beautiful wife and commented (without any prompting!) on the transformed "smoothness and softness" he beheld!! For real!

Although I was already a Suki supporter on my own, this has propelled me into a passionate devotee. Try it (start with free samples), you'll see! In fact, I'll bet that if I actually downed my daily H2O quota I'd look like Heidi Klum. I'd be the "she of the alabaster face..."

For Tianna

Hi Tianna, I always ask people for recipes and never get them so this has been on my conscience for a the last week. I know "blogging" it is stupid but I don't know your email address so...gotta do what works! And yes I DID steal this photo from the world wide web.

Tamale Pie
1 LB Ground beef
1 Onion
1 Green Pepper
14 oz. Stewed or Diced Tomatoes (I rough chop the chunks a little)
2 ts. Chili Powder (I used more...just till it tastes good to you)
1 ts. Cumin (optional, my addition because we like cumin a LOT!) :)
1 ts. Salt

Brown beef with onion and green pepper; drain. Add tomatoes, chili powder and salt. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile mix:

7 oz. pkg Cornbread mix
15 oz. Corn
1/3 c. Milk

Pour the meat mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish and top with cornbread mixture. Bake at 370 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes.

As an alternative (I couldn't find ready made cornbread mix) you can just scrap their topping and make a small batch of cornbread to put on top. We like this recipe: 3/4 c. Yellow cornmeal 1 c. Flour (I use whole wheat, they'll never know the difference) 2/3 c. Sugar 3/4 ts. Salt 3½ ts. Baking Powder 1 c. Milk 1 Egg beaten 1/4 c. Oil Mix dry ingredients first and then add milk, egg, and oil. Add a can of corn and spread on top of meat mixture. Bake as directed above.

And if you are so inclined, you can also make the:

Verde Sauce
2 medium-sized green tomatoes, coarsely chopped (you can substitute yellow if you can’t find green ones, but never use red)
2 tomatillos, cleaned and chopped (if you don't have them, just use more green tomatoes)
1 jalapeno, stemmed and coarsely chopped (wear gloves)
2 small garlic cloves
4 sprigs cilantro (I use more but then, I'm addicted to it)
1 tsp. of salt

Combine chopped tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic in a saucepan. Bring to a boil (tomatoes provide the liquid), reduce heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Place tomato mixture with the cilantro and salt in food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Or if you'd like a tasty, spicy chip dip, add 1-2 medium-sized ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced into the blender and then stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream. Very tasty but it doesn't keep more than about 4 days.