My Tea Corner

This is my tea corner.  Someone on Reddit asked to see it so I figured I would write about it on here too.  As you can see it is very messy, though I did straighten things up a little bit.  And for the record, this is not all the tea.  This is the "everyday" tea.  There are dozens of bags of tea and herbs on a shelf on the other side of the kitchen too.  They are a combination of tea, cooking, and herbal remedy supplies.  I keep the dehydrator and my soap making supplies over there too. You do not need to see it. Very messy.

I'm not a fancy sort of person. I have an $8 electric kettle and a cheap tea pot.  The pot is the fuzzy knitted thing on the right. Yes, I use a tea cozy, and I love it.  My tea stays hot for hours in it's little sweater, knitted by my sister-in-law.

I have a combination of bags and loose-leaf, but I prefer the loose leaf on most occasions. My favorite is black tea, especially chai.  I like black tea with sugar, and I'm pretty fond of milk in my tea.  I like green tea with floral notes--especially jasmine and rose.  You can see a 1lb tin of jasmine green tea that I got at a local Asian grocery store for only $6. (Asian markets are awesome for cheap and interesting tea.)  I like fruit-flavored teas. I confess one of my favorites is in teabag form: Salada's White Tea with Plum. I'm also drinking a blueberry black tea in bag form lately that is lovely. (I've been craving blueberries for weeks now...)  Herbal stuff is good too, and I like rooibos with vanilla or hazelnut flavoring. Teavana had an awesome fruit and macadamia nut rooibos, but I think it's been discontinued. :(

Other top favorites for me:
Davidson's Chai
Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose Festival Green Tea (This smells AMAZING)

I make a lot of my own tea blends, sometimes going as far as dehydrating my own fruit to put in them.  (There's a tub of dehydrated orange slices in there somewhere.)  I start with a plain tea base and add herbs, spices, fruit, and flavorings to them.  It's a fun hobby.

I'm a big fan of thrifting and I like to pick up tea-related kitchen stuff.  Right now I'm very into 1950's restaurant ware--really heavy-duty tea cups and saucers.  And that nut dish with the squirrel (it's full of tea bags) is one of my most prized possessions.

This corner makes me really happy, even when it's gross. (Pretend you can't see the ring stains on the counter.)  And while I have tons of pretty cups, I almost always drink out of my Worf mug, because he reminds me of my mother. (My mom doesn't look like Worf, she just really likes Star Trek...)

Frugal Grocery Shopping

I'm not a couponer, nor do I buy in bulk very often. My household consists of two people and two cats. This month my significant other lost his job.  While we are nowhere near destitute (we have several months' worth of savings) I am definitely paying attention to what I'm spending money on.

This month I decided to keep track of our groceries.  I had a feeling I kept our food purchases at around $150 a month, but I wanted to be sure, and I was right! I am currently 4 dollars under $150 and I don't expect to need a shopping trip in the next week.

So we eat on about $2.50 a day each.  Pretty awesome.  I do eat about 3 meals a week at work (free!), and this doesnt factor in the once or twice a week my guy likes to eat out with friends. We consider eating out and junk food "entertainment."

So here's a basic breakdown of what we eat every month.  Mostly guesstimates.  We shop almost 100% at Kroger and Marcs because we live literally next door to them.

Produce:
1 bag organic onions
2 lbs of organic carrots
2-4 lbs of roma tomatoes
1 bunch of celery
4-5 bunches of broccoli
4-6 green peppers
1-4 lbs of berries
4-6 lbs of bananas

Carbs:
1-2 loaves wheat bread
3 lbs of white rice
2 boxes whole grain pasta
5-10 packs of ramen

Protein:
3-4 lbs chicken or turkey sausage
5-7 lbs chicken breasts
1 dozen eggs
LOTS of beans.  I have no clue how much we eat. Will have to keep track some time.

Frozen:
1 bag of tator tots
1 box peirogies
1 box fish sticks
4 cheap frozen pizzas
1 expensive frozen pizza
4 lbs of frozen veggies

Dairy:
1 small box dry milk (equivalent 1.5 gal)
4-6 lbs of cheese (my guy really likes cheese)
1 lb butter

Other:
1 jar pasta sauce
1 jar peanut butter
1 box mashed potato flakes
2 jars salsa
2-3 taco seasonings
1 or 2 random condiments
1 or 2 bottles of V8

Of course we buy other random things too, and I include things like toilet paper in with the tally.  But I'd say this is our basic monthly diet right here.  The reason we can do it?  Well, take a look. Aside from a few frozen thing I cook everything from scratch or near-scratch.  It's more time consuming, but it's a lot cheaper and healthier for you than pre-packaged foods.  Our favorite foods are stir-fry, chili, or a piece of chicken with potatoes and a veggie.

Eating out and junk is kept to a minimum.  We drink lots of tea and water instead of soda. We buy organic where we can afford it.  If something is about to go bad we either eat it, freeze it or dehydrate it, keeping waste to a minimum.

I could get better deals in a few areas of our diet, but I'm pretty happy with how we're eating, and the amount of money we spend on it.

Not So Dirty Hippie #2: Lotion in 4 Ingredients

Not So Dirty Hippie #2: Lotion in 4 Easy Ingredients

Last time I did one of these I wrote about my new favorite thing—natural deodorant!  Let me tell you, it’s still working great, but I need to tweak the recipe to make it non-melting.  I let it sit under a lamp and it turned to goo (oops).  Remembering my deodorant is in the fridge this summer might be an issue.  An emulsifier should do the trick.

Anyway, on with the lotion tutorial!

Look on the back of the bottle of lotion you probably have in your house. The ingredient list is long and you probably can’t pronounce half of the chemicals in the bottle, let alone know what they’re actually doing to your skin. Companies sell you these products claiming that they are “good for you.”  This might not be the case, especially in the United States, where we use many chemicals in health and food products that other countries have deemed unsafe.

The truth of the matter is, simple is better, and there is nothing more simple than making your own lotions free of dubious chemicals. Hand and face lotion can be as easy as four ingredients. Some of the ingredients can be bought in your grocery store, though you will likely have to go online for a few of them. 

Lotion can be made easily in any sized batch using the following measurements. Small batches are suggested as this recipe does not include any preservatives and has a limited shelf-life. I like to make a 10 oz batch (easier to work out measurements) and share it with my friends and family. (My mother in law loves this stuff!)

There are dozens and dozens of recipes for lotions online, but this is my favorite.

Ingredients:

• 75% water/liquids (you can use water, green tea, rosewater, or aloe vera gel)
• 15% oils (suggestions include olive, coconut, almond, jojoba, cocoa butter or shea butter. Cheap oils like canola are not as good for your skin and can be pretty stinky.)
• 5% stearic acid (derived from plants and all-natural)
• 5% emulsifying wax (also plant-based)

Optional: Your choice of essential oil for scent—a few drops go a long way

Equipment:

Measuring cup

*Scale (optional)

Glass bowl and pot

Mixing bowl

Stick blender

Containers for your finished lotion

The first thing you must do is make sure all of your equipment is as clean as possible. You are going to be mixing water and oil—a prime breeding ground for bacteria—don’t give them a head start.

Once your equipment is clean you can measure out your stearic acid and wax. Measuring by weight is better than measuring by volume, so if you have a scale use it, but don’t worry if your measurements are a bit off. It won’t hurt in this recipe.

Melt your emulsifying wax and stearic acid together in a bowl over a pot of water on the stove. Stearic acid takes a while to melt so it might be a few minutes.

Warm your other ingredients as well, including melting any hard oils like coconut or shea butter. (You don't need fancy oils and butters to make this lotion effective. See what your local grocery store has available.) They don’t have to be hot, but keeping things warm to the touch will make mixing your waxes with your oils and liquids a lot easier.

Once everything is melted combine liquids, oils, and waxes in a mixing bowl and use your stick blender to blend everything together. After a minute or two the mixture will thicken, though it might not reach “normal” lotion consistency until it has cooled to room temperature. 

At this point your lotion is “done.” You can use it unscented, or you can mix a few drops of your favorite essential oil in to make it smell nice. You want to use “therapy grade” essential oils as opposed to “fragrances.”  Essential oils are pure, while fragrance oils often use chemicals and artificial means to create a scent.

Suggestions for containers include old lotion bottles (reuse!), mason jars, or old baby food jars.

Because this recipe does not contain any preservatives it will only be “good” for a few days at room temperature. By storing it in the fridge you can keep it for about three weeks (hence the ‘small batch’ suggestion at the top of this article).

If you’d like to make lotion that lasts longer and can be kept at room temperature you might want to consider a preservative called “Optiphen Plus.”  It is formaldehyde and paraben free and is considered “safe” globally.  It can be bought from many suppliers. Add 1% of your total mixture (example, for 10 ounces of lotion use .1 ounce of Optiphen Plus) to increase the shelf-life of your product.

Have fun and enjoy!

Need Ingredients? 

Stearic Acid

Emulsifying Wax

Shea Butter (this is the brand I use because I like the yellow color, but you can get lighter types as well. Warning: shea butter has an...interesting scent.)

Cocoa Butter

Almond Oil

Optiphen Plus

Weight Loss Update #3

It's been a little over 2 months since I started actively dieting for the first time since high school.  It's going well. So far I've lost 10 lbs and 2 inches I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal weight.  My acid reflux is doing much better, I don't seem to be getting as many zits (TMI? oh well), and I can do things like bend over or crouch for more than a minute without my fat restricting my breathing.

I can see the loss in my arms and my waist.  Last year at this time I nearly passed out when I tried to wear a 32" corset only laced 2/3 of the way.  Now I can wear the same thing completely laced up in the back.  I have a 28" that was sent to me by accident and my goal is to be able to cinch that baby up all the way too.

I've been doing aerobics and light weight lifting inconsistently. I walk to work (2 miles) a few times a week.  I do want to increase my activity level. I put the weights next to my computer so that whenever it freezes (often) I can lift until it fixes itself.

I'm not seeing a difference in my face, and my thighs don't seem to be getting any thinner. I'll be really sad if I end up bottom-heavy, because my thighs are my least favorite body part.

Calorie counting has been the best thing I ever could have done.  Another thing I've found to be helpful is to pick up what I call a Hobbit eating cycle:

Breakfast
2nd Breakfast
Lunch
Afternoon tea
Dinner
Supper

I keep these six meals at around 200 calories each. I get to eat all day, eliminating the urge to snack.

I've been really excited and I can't wait for summer. I might even buy my first bikini since the age of 7.  I bought a shirt that was too small yesterday, but I know it should fit by about May.

Here's to 10 pounds down and 20 pounds to go!

Personal Goals for the Year

Ya'll can ignore this if you want.  This is just to help me remember how important this stuff is. I know I'm 2 months late for new years resolutions, but bettering one's self is a progressing thing.

1. Lose 30 pounds (-10 and counting)
2. Write 3,000 words a day.
3. Edit for 1 hour minimum a day.
4. Increase sales by 10 monthly
5. 20,000 followers on main twitter account
6. Fill loose change jar
7. Go to a concert
8. Go camping
9. Mutter Museum
10. Go to a Con
11. Gallery Hop
12. Comfest
13. Learn 3 Devil Stick tricks
14. Volunteer at cat shelter
15. Sell motorcycle
16. Sew something once a week
17. Set up Etsy
18. Weekly blog posts
19. Get work up on All Romance