DIY Sugar Cookie Foot Scrub | A Valentine To Yourself

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Gina Marie

DIY Sugar Cookie Foot Scrub | So... Let's Hang Out I was blessed with a lot of things. I have a great family and a wonderful husband. I live in a beautiful part of the world. My friends are the coolest and usually laugh at my jokes. I feel fortunate. However, one thing I wasn’t blessed with was pretty feet.

I was made aware of this fact when my Hawaiian grandfather looked down and my flat, calloused, chubby-toed footsies, and then looked at his equally flat, calloused and chubby-toed footsies. He smiled at me and said “Look at those Hawaiian feet! You got cute feet. They look just like mine!” It was true. They did. Uh oh. Maybe I just needed a fresh coat of polish.

Later in life, someone (my mother) would tell me that every time they heard Jack Johnson’s song “Bubbly Toes” on the radio they thought of me. Cute. Is this because my big toes actually have fat rolls? Perhaps, yes.

Even later in life I would try to snuggle in bed with my husband and he would gingerly tell me “Honey, do you want to go get a pedicure? I will go with you.” This is his polite way of telling me that I had hooves, and it totally hurts to snuggle with someone who has hooves.

So…it turns out sometimes you have to put in a little extra work to make your feet soft and socially acceptable for cuddling. Fine.

I crafted a Sugar Cookie Foot Scrub out of simple ingredients that most of you will readily have at home. I figured, if I have to pay attention to these paws of mine, I at least want to smell like cookies doing it. Do you have these things around your house? I think you do.

This could make a cute Valentines Day gift for your girlfriends, your sisters, your mom… or in my case, yourself. The whole process takes only a few minutes. It is about as easy as those five minute Rosemary Bath Salts I whipped up around Christmas time. Plus did I mention it smells like cookies? Yum.

Simply combine your sugars in a bowl and whisk them together.

DIY Sugar Cookie Foot Scrub | So... Let's Hang Out

Add in your oil and your vanilla and combine together with a fork (or you can use your whisk).

Package it up into your mason jar. Slap on a label that you decorate yourself. Tie a little bow. Voila!

Cute, right? Then it is ready for gifting (OR immediate use.) It’s just that simple.

Sugar Cookie Foot Scrub

Ingredients

2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 half pint mason jar
Baker's twine
Label (with a sticker back)
Fine point black marker

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl, combine your brown sugar and white sugar. Whisk them together until they are completely combined.
Add in your olive oil and vanilla extract and mash together with a fork until all of the oil is combined into the sugar mixture.
Pack the mixture down into your mason jar.
To finish, tie a bow around the mouth of the jar with some baker's twine. Create your own label and stick it on the front of the jar. Now, it is ready for gifting or for immediate use!

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Lentil Soup With Lemon Yogurt Cream

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Gina Marie

As long as I can remember I have been a fan of lentil soup.

When I was younger I would heat up a can of Progresso, cook pasta shells in it, and then proceed to dump at least a quarter-bottle of grated Parmesan into the mix. This is not an exaggeration. You know how the bottle has two settings? One of them is the sensible trio of holes that will simply dust your food with a socially acceptable amount of cheese, the other is one gaping hole that is intended for quick and sudden evacuation for large amounts of cheese. I used the gaping hole side. This dish is what my Italian father dubbed “Pasta Fazool.” It was simple and tasty and I am sure that our Great Italian Grandmother is rolling over in her grave somewhere at the thought of us using canned soup and buckets of pre-grated Parm.

For a long time this satisfied me. Opening up cans, dumping the contents, saturating the finished product with buckets of gritty cheese. This got me through most of college… along with a suspicious amount of turkey sandwiches and vodka. Then, one year I got bit by the soup bug. I am sure this was during the first year that I started teaching. I was constantly sick. I started making soup from scratch and it was a revelation. I experimented with everything from chicken noodle, beef stew, chicken and rice, spicy sausage soup with spinach and of course lentil.

Later that year I would return to my parents home for a visit, reach into their cupboard grab a can of lentil soup and proceed to start my Pasta Fazool-ing. I did everything that I used to do. Dumped the can, cooked the pasta, emptied their cheese canister onto my single serving. When I took a bite I almost cried. It was disgusting. I think I exclaimed “OMG, THIS IS SO DISGUSTING, I CAN’T EVEN EAT THIS” and then made gagging noises. It was probably dramatic. I had become an unintentional soup snob. Homemade soup has so much flavor and soul to it. Canned soup now tasted flat, mushy, watery and lacking in freshness.

So, if you are stuck in a canned lentil soup rut, I get you. I dare you to make your own. It is a game changer. Also, if you make your own and still want to put a near gallon of Parmesan cheese in it, I won’t judge you or look at you funny. Go ahead.

A couple of weeks ago I became a victim of flu season. Despite juicing nearly every piece of citrus in my house and eating an inhuman amount of kale I still managed to gain a sore throat, aching body and a generally bad attitude. There were reality TV marathons and a lot of day napping. It was bleak.

I finally decided to make myself some soup. I remembered seeing this recipe on The Kitchn website and wanting to try it out. In true form, I did not have everything the recipe called for. Being that I was dizzy and hadn’t properly groomed my hair for two days, I was not about to make a run to the store. I had enough to make a delicious soup. Perhaps the most delicious thing about this recipe is the addition of the Lemon Cream. It’s bright and sour and really stands up to the earthiness of the soup. Delicious. Totally 100% more fancy than canned soup, no matter how much Parmesan you dump in there.

I am trying out this ZipList recipe plug in which allows you to print out recipes easily. Let me know how it works for you! xo

Lentil Soup With Lemon Yogurt Cream

Ingredients

Olive oil to coat the pot
1 medium sized yellow onion, diced
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cup brown lentils
8 cups beef broth (veggie broth to make vegan)
3/4 cup red wine
2 bay leaves
1 cup Greek yogurt (omit if vegan)
zest and juice from 1 lemon
Minced parsley to serve

Instructions

Coat the bottom of your soup pot with olive oil and heat up over medium heat.
Add in your onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent.
Add in your celery and carrots and cook an additional two minutes stirring occasionally.
Add in your tomato paste, cumin, cinnamon and salt. Stir and allow to cook down for another two minutes. Your mixture will be very fragrant and the red color of the tomato paste will color your veggies.
Add in your lentils and stir to coat with all of the veggies and spices. Add in your broth, wine and bay leaves and bring the entire pot to a boil.
Once your pot is boiling, reduce your heat and bring it to a simmer. Allow your soup to simmer this way for at least 35 minutes. Your soup is done when your lentils are soft and tender. They should not be hard at all.
While your soup is simmering, start your lemon cream. In a bowl combine your cup of yogurt and the zest and juice from your lemon. Whisk together until it all combined and set aside.
When your soup is done serve in a bowl with the lemon cream to top and garnish with parsley.

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(Adapted From The Kitchn)

A Homemade Christmas: Rosemary Bath Salts

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Gina Marie

Christmas is swiftly approaching our doorstep. I am reminded of this every time I leave the house. There are no longer good times to go shopping. The malls are crowded with families clambering for time with Mall-Santa and fellow last-minute shoppers. Even the grocery store is a battleground. I had to drive to three different stores in my small town yesterday to find shredded coconut. Holiday baking is in FULL swing. Tensions are high. Coconut is scarce.

As much as I love buying people anything and everything, it’s hard on the wallet. Plus, there is a certain sentiment about receiving a homemade gift. It feels extra special.

This is one of the ideas that I came up with recently.

I have been going through a real bath phase. Is that a thing? I dunno. Go with it. Until recently I didn’t really appreciate the magic that is the bath. Well, not since I was six years old and would re-enact the entire Little Mermaid from beginning to end DAILY in the tub. I wanted to be Ariel. I dream big. My mom would have to start playing my Little Mermaid tape on my Lil’ Tikes tape deck before my toe would touch the water. She also was not allowed to get me out until I had belted out my last glorious note. Obviously the best part of this whole process was the part where I got to flip my hair over and sing the “AHHHH-AH-AHHHHHH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AHHHH!”. Magical.

Although bath time is no longer prompted by soundtracks (although…that sounds fun). It has been this beautiful relaxing winter meditation time. A time to get warm and relaxed and just zone out. Maybe read. Maybe just sit and breathe.

I’m a huge fan of Epsom Salts. Have you ever read the side of the bag of those things? They literally do everything. Sore muscles? Epsom salt it up. Gardening difficulties? Epsom salt it is. Digestive issues? Knock back some Epsom. It’s the girl Friday of salts.

So why not create our own lovely smelling bath soak? It’s basically like giving someone the gift of relaxation. Here, have a little miracle in a jar, on me. You are important. Breathe. Relax, you so deserve it.

*Side Note: This gift might go really well with the Little Mermaid Soundtrack.*

Want to know the best part? It takes just a few minutes to put together. I make them with a per-jar ratio. If you want to make multiple jars, just double, triple, or quintuple the recipe.

You Will Need:

2 cups of Epsom Salt

2 tbs Baking Soda

2 drops of Food Coloring

4 drops of Essential Oil (I used Rosemary)

Funnel

1 Pint Mason Jar

Label for jar

String for packaging

Measure out your salt and your baking soda, and dump them into a mixing bowl.

Add in your essential oils and your food coloring. Mix together until the color is evenly distributed throughout the salts.

Funnel your bath salts into your mason jar.

Create a label.

Tie a bow.

Look how cute it turns out! Just a few minutes of work. You are a total champ.

Have a great Friday, Friends! xo

So…Let's Hang Out

Tag Archives: homemade

Lentil Soup With Lemon Yogurt Cream

A Homemade Christmas: Rosemary Bath Salts