My Skin Care Routine

Just a quick post to share the face skin care routine I've been using for a year now that works really well for me and I recommend to anyone looking to try something new.  It took a few weeks to see consistent results.

Now, I don't claim to have flawless skin, I am prone to break outs, but I've discovered that this routine really does prevent them, and if I do break out it's minimal and it clears up pretty quickly.

Each morning when I shower I gently scrub my face with a washcloth (without soap) and then use Aveeno Clear Complexion Foaming Cleanser to wash my face.  (You can find Aveeno at places like Target.)

If I am breaking out, I like to use Neutrogena Acne Stress Control  3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment.  (You can find it at drugstores, it can be hard to find at Target.)  It has the consistency of a thin gel and I'll rub it on where I'm breaking out.  It goes on clear and has a clean, cucumbery-smell.  It doesn't dry my skin out, but I do like to put lotion over my whole face after the gel has dried.

My big splurge is my face lotion: Origins VitaZing SPF 15.  (You can find it at places like Macy's and Sephora.  I like Sephora because you can return anything you try and don't like.)  It comes in a 1.7 oz tube, but it lasts a very long time.  I'd say it lasts me 5-6 months, using about the size of two peas each morning.  The lotion comes out cream-colored, but it has a bit of a tint when applied.  It's just enough to make me look fresh and bright in the morning.  So, if I'm running late and don't have time for foundation there's no problem.

For foundation I use either MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation or a liquid foundation like Make Up Forever Mat Velvet + or MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation SPF 15.  (You can find MAC at department stores and MAC stores.)  My forehead tends to get really oily looking throughout the day, but using the powder keeps it at a minimum.

Before I go to bed I use Neutrogena Make-up Remover Cleansing Towlettes.  (You can find these towlettes at places like Target, and if you love them stock up at Costco.)  Even if I didn't use foundation that day, I would still use the towlette at night because there's something special in the formulation (generic brands don't have it and don't work as well for me).  Once I started using the towlettes I really noticed a dramatic difference in my skin.

The towlettes do a good job of getting the bulk of my makeup off, but I find it leaves behind a slippery residue.  So, I use my Aveeno foaming cleanser again to clean up the the residue and any last bits of makeup.  I've found that it leaves my skin soft and moisturized so I really don't need to apply an additional moisturizer at night, which is nice.  (If I'm breaking out, I'll use my Neutrogena acne treatment gel on those areas and call it good.)

So, there you have it, my daily skin care routine.  I've had great success when I've been consistent about the routine, and since I've been doing the same routine for over a year I feel confident in the results enough to recommend it to anyone else who's interested in trying it.

I realize everyone's skin is unique, so I'm not going to claim this routine will work for everyone else - especially since I don't know anyone else who has tried this routine.  So, please comment below if you've tried any of these products and what you think of them.  If you try the routine, did it work for you?

Oh, and for the men out there, I know one who really likes the acne gel.

Erin's No-Bake Energy Balls

The "original" of this recipe comes from one of my favorite bloggers, The Frugal Girl, via Money Saving Mom via Smashed Peas and Carrots, and it's my new favorite treat.  I'm trying to ween myself from processed sugar and this recipe calls for honey instead of white sugar, so I'm a big fan.  The sweetness of the honey and chocolate balances off the oats, and the texture is chewy without being gooey.  Come to think of it, these are a creamier and denser version of a granola bar.  Here's my adapted recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter (I'm a huge fan of Laura Scudder's creamy pb)
1/3 cup of honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (if you have the choice, get the finest shredded one you can)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium bowl stir together wet ingredients: peanut butter, honey, and vanilla.  Stir in oats, coconut, and mini chocolate chips.  Make sure everything's completely mixed.

Refrigerate mixture 30 minutes to make mixture easier to handle.  Scoop out 1 tablespoon or less and press to compact and roll into a ball.  Makes about 18-24 balls.

Store in the refrigerator.

Easy-peazy lemon squeezy!

White Bread

I recently discovered this recipe and am in love!  It gives me a crunchy crust with a hearty and moist inside.  It's the best of both worlds.  The simple ingredients make it even more appealing.  There's no added sugar or butter.  So, it feels pretty healthy.  The first time I tried this recipe I ran out of white flour in the middle of making it, so I substituted about a cup of whole wheat flour and it still turned out well.  I'll admit, the all white flour version tasted better, but the appeal of whole wheat has me thinking about trying it again.

The original recipe comes from James Peterson's Baking cookbook, here's my adaptation.

White Bread

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups room temperature water
1 /1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, room temperature
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Measure flour into bowl of stand mixer.  Use the back of your fist to make a deep well in the middle of the flour.  Pour in the water and sprinkle yeast over the water.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Mix, add salt and mix more.

Add dough hook.  Mix for 2 minutes to moisten flour (or 3 minutes if by hand).  Cover bowl gently with plastic wrap (you can use this same sheet of plastic wrap 2 more times - so keep it) and let sit for 20 minutes.  Knead dough on medium speed for 7 minutes (or 15 minutes if by hand), or until smooth.  It's okay to turn on the mixer to high to get the dough to slap against the sides of the bowl.

Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 2 hours.  Coat your bread pan with cooking spray.

Punch down dough, turn out onto very lightly floured surface and press dough into a rectangle.  Fold both ends (the shorter sides) into the center.  Start rolling the dough fairly tightly toward you until the seams are facing up.  Pinch the seams to seal.  Using the sides of your hands, push down on the edges of the cylinder.  Fold the edges in and pinch the seams to seal.  Place roll in bread pan, seam side down.  Spray one side of plastic wrap with cooking spray and gently cover pan.

After 30 minutes check to see if it's almost the size you want in the finished loaf (if not, keep checking on it until it is).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, making sure the top rack is in the middle of the oven, with a second rack on the bottom.

Fill a small bowl with luke warm water and set aside.  Fill a sheet pan with a 2 inch rim with 1 inch of hot tap water.  Place on bottom rack of oven.  Remove plastic wrap and slide loaf onto rack over the pan of water.  Immediately dip your fingers in the small bowl of water and flick water on the oven walls, repeat.  Close oven and wait 30 seconds, then repeat.  Bake about 25 minutes, until top is golden brown.  Let bread cool on cooling rack until cool enough to turn the bread out of the pan and finish cooling on its own.

This makes 1 loaf.  To store, cover the cut end with a piece of aluminum foil and place loaf inside a paper bag.  This keeps the crust crunch.  Of course you can keep the bread in a plastic bag, but that will soften the crust.

May I suggest enjoying it topped with butter and homemade strawberry freezer jam.  I'll post a freezer jam tutorial soon!

Don't be discouraged if you are new to bread baking and it doesn't turn out.  I've had plenty of loaves not turn out right when I've tried a new recipe.  Just keep trying.  Practice makes perfect!

Cajun Pasta Fresca

This recipe originally came from allrecipes.com.  It's one of our go-to recipes and makes enough for lunch leftovers.  The fresh tomatoes give the dish a bright flavor and the cajun seasoning brings complexity and spiciness.

Tonight, we were faced with the all too common dreaded question, "What are we going to do for dinner?"  We both don't make it home from work until 6:30 pm and we've been so busy lately, we haven't meal planned and grocery shopped properly for months now(!)  Eating out is just too easy a solution for our tired brains.  But, we're getting better about finding creative solutions, because let's face it, agreeing on a casual dining restaurant (no fast food, thank you very much) and driving wherever it is ends up being a hassle in and of itself.

Okay, back to tonight.  The husband suggested (somewhat jokingly?) Panda Express because it's his #1 favorite option.  The problem is (and he knows it very well) I now loath Panda Express.  I got tired of it a year or so ago as I started trying to eat more vegetarian options when we went out.  So, that means what I end up ordering is a Panda Bowl with mixed veggies with eggplant.  Not very exciting (even if he will let me steal a bite or two of his orange chicken - my achilles heel!)

I digress, so, I told my husband he could take himself to Panda Express and I'd scrounge the kitchen for something suitable for myself.  Apparently, he didn't want Panda Express badly enough to venture solo.  So, he made a cup-of-noodle-soup-like-thing, which does not appeal to me at all.  I started thinking about what meager ingredients we had, what I could make with the least amount of effort, but still was somewhat healthy.  I then remembered the pint and a half of three different varieties/sizes of tomatoes my friend brought me last week from her backyard garden (I'm so envious!).  I had no idea what to do with all of those garden-grown tomatoes until tonight when I also remembered my Cajun Pasta Fresca recipe that calls for 7 Roma tomatoes, and I mentally calculated that the tomatoes I had were equivalent in volume.  I felt adventurous and inspired to make it work, it sounded like a fun challenge.

Apparently I've never posted this recipe!  Bizzare.  I must have taken pictures of it several times but never actually sat down and wrote the recipe.  It's okay, because I linked to the original recipe above, so you can follow it there.  Just know that I omit the parsley and always half that recipe for the two of us (also my husband is a complete omnivore, so I'll cook up some chicken breast on the side to mix in with his portion).  It gives us plenty, plus left overs for each of us for lunch the next day. Below I'm giving you the recipe as I made it tonight, and it turned out just as good (dare I say better?).

Ingredients:

1/2 box dried spaghetti (we like Barilla Plus in the yellow box because it's multigrain)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped (my mincer was dirty, otherwise I would have opted to use that)
1 1/2 pints of fresh from the garden tomatoes in any variety and combination, rinsed and chopped to no bigger than 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or less, depending on your salt preference)
1 1/2 teaspoons cajun seasoning (we use McCormick's)
1/4 cup shredded colby jack cheese ('cause that's what I had in my fridge, and I'll probably opt to use it next time as well)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (the kind in a can, 'cause that's the only kind I had - the legit kind is always preferable)

Directions:

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Break spaghetti in half and dump in boiling water.  Cook 8 minutes, or al dente.  Drain and set aside.

While waiting for the water to boil, start heating up oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Briefly saute garlic in heated oil until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. You do not want it to brown.

Stir in tomatoes with their juice and sprinkle with salt, and mix up.  Let the mixture bubble for several minutes, then mash slightly with a fork.  It should be really easy.  If it's not, let the mixture continue to bubble a few more minutes and try again.  Once the whole mixture is nice and mashed, stir in cajun seasoning and cheeses and mix.  Add spaghetti and toss until coated.  Serve it up and enjoy!

Loaded Cheesy Garlic Bread (Updated)

UPDATE: I baked this from frozen, wrapped in foil, and it turned out just fine.  Next time I'll consider omitting the mayo all together because it was just too overpowering!

***

One of my most favorite recipe blogs is Favorite Family Recipes.  I can't remember how I stumbed upon them, but I added them to my Google Reader a while back and 99% of the recipes are ones that I really want to try.  They use ingredients that are "normal" and in my comfort zone, and the recipes are ones that both my husband and I can enjoy. 

I recently saw their post for Loaded Cheesy Garlic Bread* and it looked like something my husband, a pizza lover, would like.  Score.  Plus, it's something that you can make ahead and freeze for a quick dinner.  Erica says she does it as a side, but we ended up getting plenty full on our portions, so this would be a great family dinner.

I opted to take my French bread baguette and cut it in half width-wise, and then halved each half length-wise.  I cooked two quarters, and froze the other two for later.  We haven't yet baked up the frozen ones, so I can't comment on those, but the fresh ones got the "do over" approval from my husband, which is a great sign.

Since my husband is pickier than I am with food I ended up mixing only the ingredients he would want, then I split the mix and added in the rest of the ingredients.  I've modified the recipe the way I made it, but of course head over to their website for the original recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 loaf french bread, cut in half widthwise, then again lengthwise (you'll end up with 4 quarters)
• 1/2 c. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
• 2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise (next time I'll use a bit less since we're not big Mayonnaise fans)
• 3 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1/2 small can sliced olives
• 40 slices turkey pepperoni, chopped (20 for us combined, then another 20 for my husband's half)
• 1/2 c. mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 green onions, sliced and chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325-degrees.  Line baking sheet with Silpat or foil.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, mayonnaise, cheese and half of pepperoni using a spatula or wooden spoon.
• Move half of mixture to another mixing box and add remaining pepperoni.  Spread evenly over two quarters.
• Back in the large mixing bowl add olives, mushrooms, and onions.  Spread evenly over two quarters.
• Bake two quarters at 325-degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is slightly crispy.
• Wrap remaining two quarters in foil, then put in ziplock bag or wrap in saran wrap.  Tuck in freezer for another meal.

*I see Garlic in the name, but the recipe doesn't call for it . . . odd

Comment below if you try it, and let me know what you think!

Organizing your Email Inbox

I came across this interesting and well-written article from Unclutterer.com.  I thought you might be interested in it.

Your Email Inbox is Not a Filing Cabinet

I'm pretty Type A when it comes to personal and work emails, so I generally don't have a huge problem with an overflowing email inbox.  But, I do know some people who are inbox hoarders.  Admittedly, I do sometimes get busy and my inbox gets unruly, much like a neglected lawn will tend to get pretty scraggly if you don't mow it for a few weeks.

This article is pretty minimalist on the approach to email.  It definitely encourages you to delete each email as soon as you identify the action item.  This is a bit radical for me, but I think something to aspire to, or at least find a happy balance.  If I'm being honest, I'll admit that of the emails I do save in subfolders thinking they'll come in handly some day, only 1-3% of those emails are ever referred to again.

My biggest take home from the article was the use of Evernote.  Although, I could see someone moving their hoarding habit from email to Evernote.  Still, it's a thoughtful way to stay more organized and in a "doing" mode.

Take a read and then let me know what you think in the comments below.  Is it too extreme or sound advice?  How do you manage your email inbox?

Personal Mission Statement

I was trying to get some resources for my Mission Statement and of course went to Google.  I came across a really helpful tool from Franklin Covey and encourage you to check it out and see what happens when you create a Personal Mission Statement.  I did one for myself first before I did one for this blog and it really was a very cool experience.  It helped me focus on what's most important and it gave form to some goals and thoughts I've had running through my mind off and on for the past few years.  Most importantly, I felt it allowed me to believe in the possibility my deepest, darkest dream of being a novelist could be a reality if I choose to pursue it.

It only takes 5-10 minutes, so don't be intimidated by all the steps.

Here is my personal mission statement:

I am at my best when I am challenged.
I will try to prevent times when I am underutilized.
I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can create and organize.
I will find enjoyment in my personal life through trying new things.
I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as listening to others, empathizing, and teaching.
I can do anything I set my mind to. I will be a novelist.
My life's journey is searching for my passion so that I can leave the world a little better than I found it, and helping others along the way, so that I may die in peace.
I will be a person who has my friends and family with me. The sum is bigger than it's parts, and I am who I am because of each of them.
My most important future contribution to others will be making them feel like the most important person in the room.

I will stop procrastinating and start working on:

• being less introverted and shy,
• wasting less time watching TV, and
• spending more time visiting and communicating with the people I care about.

I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

• making others feel special and important,
• being more exuberant, and
• loving everyone.

I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

• committing to exercising daily by not sleeping in late,
• studying the scriptures with greater purpose,
• continuing to seek for knowledge-informally or in a school setting, and
• becoming more confident.