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Lifestyle

Lavender Sugar Scrub Recipe

I am excited to share with you this great lavender sugar scrub recipe! It is super simple and a friend of mine gave it to me. Had I known it would have been this easy I would have saved my money on the expensive ones with chemicals and done this a long time ago. Believe it or not, this recipe only has three ingredients. If you want you can make it as a gift for someone, you can use lavender oil but I also love the citrus scents! They are so refreshing. I like to dress up my containers and with either a sprig of lavender, a dried citrus peel or a pretty ribbon. Your friends and family will be impressed when you tell them how easy it is!

I really have grown accustomed to having a scrub of some sort that last 5 years. The older I get the more I feel like I need to exfoliate regularly. I also love to use it before a beach trip and especially after. I know so many of you are gone on spring break this time of year. Save your pennies and make this recipe and use it when you get home. I don’t do a lot of DIY but I recently made these Homemade Bath Bombs and they turned out great also! Don’t forget to tell me how they turn out for you!

Lavender Sugar Scrub Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Coconut oil, virgin/unrefined
few drops Lavender Essential Oil

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients together and put in a glass jar.

April 3, 2018 by She Bakes The Heat

Recipes

Fresh Spring Spritzers

I recently became a member of Club Chandon. Chandon is a sparkling wine company from California. We were introduced to Chandon when my husband and I visited their winery on our honeymoon. I will have to share that experience at another time. Today I am sharing some of my new found fresh spring spritzers.

The first one is the Chandon Citrus Blossom. This cocktail is perfectly balanced, not too sour or too sweet! It only takes a few ingredients to make and it is very refreshing.

I had some friends over recently for a game night. I decided to make the Chandon Citrus Blossom and they loved it! They said it was delicious,very smooth and not too acidic. One of the ingredients is Elderflower Liqueur. I was able to find this at my local wine and cheese shop. It has a wonderful aroma and exceptional flavor!

Citrus Blossom

Serves 1

1/2 ounce Belvedere Vodka

1/3 ounce Elderflower Liqueur

1/2 ounce fresh Lemon Juice

Dash of Simple Syrup

3 ounces Chandon Brut Classic

First, add the Belvedere Vodka, lemon juice, elderflower liqueur and simple syrup in a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a coup glass. Next, add the Chandon Brut, garnish with the lemon zest and serve.

The second cocktail is called an Orange Blossom, it’s pretty mild and wonderfully delicious, not too sweet and very flavorful. I was able to find the blood orange juice at a liquor store and it’s pretty tasty just by itself! My husband tends to like sweeter drinks. By adding the Chandon Brut it cuts the sweetness and tastes refreshing! Of the two spring spritzers, this is my husband’s favorite.

Orange Blossom

Serves 1

1 ounce Honey

2 ounces fresh Blood Orange Juice

Dash of Orange Blossom Water

3 ounces Chandon Brut Classic

First, add the honey, blood orange juice, and orange blossom water in a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a decorative glass. Next. add the Chandon Brut and serve.

To bring some fresh appeal to your next gathering I would suggest these two fresh spring spritzers, let me know which one is your favorite!

March 22, 2018 by She Bakes The Heat

Giving Back, Lifestyle

The Well Coffeehouse; Taking Time To Give Back

This past summer I went to Nashville to visit my family. It is such a great city with a cool vibe. and I love discovering new restaurants and fun things to do. I did a blog post on great things to see in Nashville this past summer. If you have the chance, check it out here. My Mom told me about The Well Coffeehouse and I found their story very inspiring and worth sharing.

The Well Coffeehouse was founded on principals of generosity, serving others and excellence. It is about coffee and community, they wanted to help people in desperate need of clean water. All of the profits go towards building wells in impoverished communities around the world. Every cup of coffee not only gives money to this mission but also hope. Additionally, they brew an amazing cup of coffee and offer some of the most interesting coffee drinks! You have to try the Black Bear, it’s so delicious! It has brown sugar, blackberry and cardamom.

My visit to The Well Coffeehouse was one I won’t forget. It made an impact. It inspired me. Their coffee is fantastic. The vibes are great. I can pour myself a glass of water EVERY day at anytime and I know I get caught up in the frivolousness of our amazing life in the United States. That said, I also need to remember to be grateful and look for ways to help others. If we don’t look then we won’t find. Life is richer when we don’t focus on all of our needs but the needs of others.

This company, Branded Collective, was on the shelves at The Well Coffeehouse, they stand for abolishing human trafficking and each cuff or band is made by women who are survivors. I wanted share this so you can take that first step to help other women.

March 13, 2018 by She Bakes The Heat

Recipes

My First Shot At Homemade Pasta

One of my personal goals this year was to continue to eat cleaner and healthier and make more of my own food. I am always striving towards a healthier lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Cheetos! Yes, I actually admitted that! My daughter visited my nephew and his wife in December and when I went to pick her up they were making homemade pasta. He made it look so easy and it was so fresh and delicious. He made me roasted red pepper and it only took 3-4 minutes to cook right after it was made. I left there thinking, I could do this, I was inspired!

I went home and bought a pasta cookbook and the pasta attachments for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. It was my Christmas gift to myself. My daughter and I were looking forward to making pasta for the first time. We made the “Three-Egg Basic Pasta Dough” recipe. There are only 3 ingredients: eggs, flour (I like using King Arthurs) and water.

Create a “crater” in your flour and add in the eggs and water, use a fork to start incorporating the ingredients.

Once you have the dough in a mass, transfer to a floured work surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it is cohesive and moderately smooth. Wrap your dough in plastic and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Roll it out and then take smaller pieces and run it through the pasta roller. I usually put it on a slower speed so I have more control when handing the delicate dough. For your next step you select your type of pasta, fettuccine or spaghetti. I like the fettuccine because it is easier to handle with my clumsy hands and I love the bigger pieces of pasta. Change your attachment on your mixer and let it work for you!

Immediately toss into boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Do not rinse your pasta unless you plan on using it in a cold pasta salad. Rinsing takes away the starch which allows for the pasta sauce to stick. Drain your pasta. Plate and enjoy with your favorite sauce! I used a pesto sauce which is one of my favorites.

My daughter and I were very proud of ourselves. It tasted delicious and it was very easy! This past week we decided to try and make gluten free homemade pasta. We used gluten free flour and it turned out pretty tasty. I actually didn’t notice any changes in flavor it was just a little harder to handle. I think we are going to tweak our recipe. The gluten free flour we used had some xanthan gum and tapioca starch already in it but I think we may need to add a bit more next time.

We made quite a bit in our first batch and were able to hang it to dry. When storing make sure to dust the pasta lightly with some flour to keep it from sticking together. You can store in the refrigerator for up to 18 hours. If you want to store it longer, I recommend putting it in the freezer. It will store and be fresh for up to a month.

I hope this recipe inspires you to make your own homemade pasta. I love cooking with my daughter and this was another one of those fun things we can do together. Plus, I am always trying to find ways to have a cleaner diet at home and know what I am putting in my food!

Three-Egg Basic Pasta Dough

Ingredients

2 cups Flour
3 large Eggs room temperature
1 Egg Yolk
2 - 3 tablespoons Tepid Water you may need to add more

Instructions

Mound the flour in the center of a large bowl to create a "crater" in the middle.
Add the eggs and water to into the "crater".
Using a fork, begin to incorporate the flour, be sure the egg doesn't run out.
Once half the flour has been incorporated and the dough is in a mass, transfer to a floured work surface and knead the dough.
Continue to knead until all of the flour is absorbed (about 5 minutes). The dough should be cohesive and moderately smooth. Form the dough into a round ball.
Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Remove from plastic and roll out dough with a rolling pin to make it thin enough to go through the roller attachment.
Run dough through the roller attachment.
Change out your attachment and run dough through to cut to desired pasta size.
Immediately toss into boiling water for 3 - 4 minutes.
Drain pasta.
Plate and enjoy with your favorite sauce.

March 12, 2018 by She Bakes The Heat

Home + Entertaining, Lifestyle

Beautycounter, Safer Skincare

My friend Aimee knows that I do my best to take care of my health. Knowing this, she recently reached out to me about a company that is very dear to her, Beautycounter. This skincare and makeup company stands for regulating questionable or harmful chemicals in makeup and skincare and are devoted to progress. Apparently in the European Union they have banned over 1,300 chemicals in their personal and skin care products. In the U.S. they have only banned 30! I couldn’t believe this! Our skin is our largest organ and when you start to really think about what is topically going all over your body, it makes you pause and think about the potential negative consequences.

Beautycounter is an advocate of healthier safer skin care. They put their money where their mouth is and are heading to Capitol Hill for a MarchForth campaign to make change from March 3-5, seeking to educate and change the regulations and what is allowed in skincare products. March 4th is also Beautycounter’s 5-year anniversary. I usually like to keep things light on my blog but I thought this information/knowledge was too important to pass up!

After Aimee told me about this company I knew I had to try their products! I tried a variety of their lotions, soaps and face washes first and loved them! I also like their face oils. They smell amazing, my skin feels fantastic and oils are all the rage! I then bought a mask for myself and then the charcoal wash and mask for my daughter. She has only used it for a few days and she can see a huge difference.

I feel good about using their products and encourage you to give them a try. I am offering a giveaway for some fabulous eyeshadows, valued at $122! If you take a look at this link, https://www.beautycounter.com/aimeecarmody1 AND you order something you will be put into a drawing to win! I encourage each and every one of you to try Beautycounter. Beautycounter will also be on The Today show March 1st to further discuss the movement and helping regulating the industry! I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this topic!

March 1, 2018 by She Bakes The Heat

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