What's on the Home Menu Tonight?

• Pork Chop (fat trimmed off, seasoned with pepper, garlic salt & onion salt)
• Fried Potato (medium size, some skin left on, seasoned with salt & pepper)
• Spinach & Onions (about a cup, seasoned with salt)

Pan-fried everything with heart-healthy olive oil. 

What's on your home menu?

Sharpen Your Tweezers for Under $5

After spending $20-30 on a good pair of tweezers, have you ever become frustrated when 3 weeks later they suddenly seem dull?  It's not practical to buy a new pair of pricey tweezers every month (at least not for me), but it is practical to sharpen them.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

           Either
100/180 grit (coarse) emery board
and 400/600 grit (fine) emery board
             OR
same grit sand paper
and a hard flat object to wrap sand paper around
(pictured below)

WHERE YOU CAN GET IT
I purchased my emery boards at Sally's Beauty Supply, but you should be able to find these at any beauty supply store near you.  My total cost was $2.20!

You can buy sand paper at any home improvement or hobby store.  The small sheets of sand paper pictured above were given to me by my brother so I don't know their cost, but I can't imagine it would surpass $5.  He said he got them at Hobby Town USA. 

WHAT YOU DO
Take your tweezers and place the tip around each side of your 100/180 grit board/paper (if they are extremely dull).  Swipe in back and forth motions several times to sharpen the end.  Then remove the tweezers and grip them shut.  Taking the closed tweezers, repeat the back and forth motions on the angled tip.  Repeat on the 400/600 grit board/paper.  If the tweezers aren't extremely dull, you can skip the 100/180 and go right to the finer grit.

Then, just tweeze as usual!  You should now be able to grasp even those fine hairs again.

Another Food Blog!!

Who doesn't love food?  It's one of the few things in life that brings us happiness, so why not enjoy it?  I like to blog about things I make, but also things I eat when I travel.  In fact, just last week, I pulled my camera out of my handbag in a dimly lit restaurant and blinded everyone with the flash just so I could capture a memory...a memory of steak and shrimp that I ate while looking upon the Pacific Ocean.  My dad rolled his eyes and told me I was strange, but he just doesn't understand the power of blogging.  At least that's my theory.  Anyway, my memory is below, along with a beautiful ocean pic! 

Quite honestly, it wasn't the best steak I've ever had, and when I saw that it came with shrimp for a price of $25, I was really excited.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed when there were only 3 on my plate :(.  And, it didn't taste any fresher than the shrimp I get when I'm 1,500 miles away from an ocean.


Another one of my food love affairs is Asian food.  I sometimes have a hard time eating Asian in restaurants because of the old myths about it being cat or dog.  But, I absolutely LOVE cooking Asian food at home (at least then I know what meat I'm putting into it).   A couple weeks ago, my Aunt asked me to teach her how to make crispy pork wontons and spicy beef stir-fry. 

Here's the end product of all our hard work, along with a quick run down of how we made em!

  

Wontons

I found this recipe online.  However, I didn't completely follow it.  I tend to use recipes more as suggestions and then mix it up in a way I think would taste good.

So, I used ground pork instead of pork loin.  I omitted the lime juice and sesame oil.  And, I substituted vegetable oil for the peanut oil it called for. 

I also decided to brown the pork mixture in a pan before wrapping it in the wonton wrappers.  In theory, the hot oil you fry them in should thoroughly cook the pork, but I don't trust that it will (and I'm afraid of getting worms). 

Sweet & Sour Sauce

You can buy some in the stores, or find a recipe online.  I couldn't remember the recipe I used last, so I just through some ketchup, rice vinegar, sugar and red chile flakes in a bowl until it tasted good to me.  

Stir-Fry

First, prep work is a good idea.  Cut up all the veggies and meat prior to getting started.  You can add whichever veggies you like and you also have the option of using frozen veggies if you're in more of a time crunch.  I usually like lots of broccoli, sugar snap peas, green peppers, and carrots.  But, feel free to add or delete from that list. 

Once the prep work is done, I heat some oil in a frying pan or wok and add the meat to get it browned and cooked all the way.  Then, remove the meat and drain any grease.  Set the meat aside.  Heat some more oil and then add your veggies and some onions (I use green onions).  Cook that til they become a little more flexible.  Then, reintroduce your meat.  

While those cook together, get a small bowl or a measuring cup and make your stir-fry sauce.  There are numerous recipes online, but I've made my own:

Equal parts soy sauce & rice vinegar (about 1/4 C each)

About 1/2 C water

Fresh ginger (or ground will work also)

Red chile flakes (more or less depending on your spice tolerance)

A couple cloves of garlic, minced

Couple tbs cornstarch to thicken sauce

Poor this concoction over your stir-fry and let it thicken before serving over brown or white steamed rice.  It would also be good over noodles or quinoa as alternatives to rice.  

Enjoy!

Keeping Long Hair Healthy & Shiny

Happy Saturday, everyone! 

I get compliments on the health of my hair often and people ask me how I keep it healthy when it's long.  I thought I'd share some of my favorite DIY tips that don't break the bank. 

There are several factors to consider when choosing how to best care for your long locks.  The most important is probably your hair type.  As you can see from the photo to the right, my hair is straight and I have fine strands.  Because of my hair type, I have a fairly easy time taking care of it.  It doesn't require too much styling so most days I let it air dry after applying an olive oil polishing serum (mostly toward the ends). 

However, if your hair is wavy or curly, it may take more styling and different products to manage it and keep it healthy. 

There's a few universal things we can all do, though, to keep our hair healthy regardless of type:

1.  Know your hair's tolerance for washing.  While some people produce more oil on the scalp than others, they can wash daily.  Others that are prone to dry hair and breakage may want to only wash every other day (what I do). 

2.  Remove product residue.  Clarifying shampoos have made their way to the market for a reason.  If your hair is looking dull, it may not be dry - it might have too much product build-up.  There are numerous clarifying shampoos to choose from ranging from cheap to expensive, but again, find one that suits your hair type.  I actually use baking soda mixed with my regular shampoo about once a month to remove residue.  This works well for me, but if you color your hair, you probably want to find one meant for color-treated hair.  Baking soda can strip your color.  Also, depending on how much product frequents your hair, you may want to clarify more or less often.

3.  Condition!!  I can't stress it enough how important conditioning is.  It helps reduce tangles and lock in moisture.  I live in such a windy place, that it is my hair's worst enemy.  I have to keep it as moisturized as possible and protect my hair from the wind as much as I can because it will rip the moisture from my hair like a band-aid rips out arm hair!  While daily conditioning is good, especially in dry winter months, I also like to do a deep conditioner every now and then.  Below are a few options for at-home deep conditioning.

• Option 1:  Hot oil treatment.  These are simple to do, but can be messy so don't wear your best clothes.  I usually opt for olive oil or coconut oil.  I get about a 1/4 cup of oil and warm it up in the microwave.  I have the cheapest microwave that Wal-Mart can provide so mine takes a little longer to heat.  Be sure to check it often because your microwave temp and time will vary from mine.  You don't want it to be so hot it burns you.   While the oil heats, wet a thin towel.  You want it to be completely saturated, but wring it out so it isn't dripping all over.  When the oil is done, put your towel in the microwave and let it heat up (but again not so hot it will burn you).  Saturate your hair with the oil - started at the ends and working your way up to the roots.  Once your hair is saturated, take your warm towel and wrap it on your head and place a plastic bag over it.  You may look funny, but the soft, shiny results are nothing to laugh at!  I generally keep this on for about 20 minutes then wash and condition as normal.  
• Option 2:  Use a store/salon-bought deep conditioner.  I have tried Nexxus Humectress Hydrating Treatment and the generic Joico K Pak Penetrating Reconstructor that you can purchase at Sally's Beauty Supply.  The name brand Joico will cost about $19 at your local salon.  I'm too frugal for that.  Anyway, I use this after I've washed and conditioned with my usual products.  I then towel dry and comb my hair before applying the deep conditioner.  Once i apply the deep conditioner, I again grab a bag and put it on my head.  This time, I blow dry on high for about 5-10 minutes then let it set for about 10-15 before removing the bag and rinsing my hair thoroughly.  

Both options give me great results and I hope you'll benefit from them as well!

4.  Trim Regularly.  Long hair can get stringy at the ends, especially on thinner hair like mine.  Keeping the ends regularly trimmed will not only sever your ties with split ends, it will also keep the hair looking fuller and loved. 

The one area I still have issue with, and haven't figured out how to fix, is annoying baby hair!  I don't know about you, but I have lots of baby hairs around my hairline.  If you have any tips for taming these, please divulge your secrets!