Pure Tashodi Argan Hair Oil Review

I only have to wash my hair every three to four days, and although the majority of my hair stays happy, the ends get very dry by day 2 and need a little extra love.  Plus, the colder weather means more fly-aways so I usually carry something with me to help manage them.

I have tried a few other leave in conditioner sprays and I’m feeling a little bit like Goldilocks – this one’s too much, that one’s not enough, but where is the product that’s ‘just right’?

DIY Dry Shampoo & Why Yours Shouldn’t Contain Baking Soda

When I decided to put some fashion colours in my hair and have some pretty pink, purple, and teal ombre highlights I learned a lot more about hair products and hair pH than I ever could have bargained for.  I’ll write-up a more detailed post soon about the importance of pH balanced hair care, but the main summary point is that highly alkaline shampoo products (I’m looking at you, baking soda) can really strip your hair of hair colour and can even break down the protein in the hair itself!  So, if you have colour in your hair, especially fashion colours that are more prone to washing out to being with, if you stay away from products containing baking soda your colour will last much longer!  Not only will it allow you to go for longer between washes, you won’t have to worry about losing some of the colour because of your dry shampoo washing down the length of your hair.

So many of the dry shampoos available on both the green beauty and traditional beauty markets contain baking soda to help soak up excess oil.  So, naturally, I resigned myself to making my own.

Meatless Monday Zucchini Pasta with Peanut Curry Sauce

I am lucky enough to have a mandolin slicer with julienne settings.  If you don’t have access to one, then grating the zucchini would work just as well, or just substitute for a pasta of your choice.  The raw zucchini pasta is quite nice, though.  If you aren’t a big fan of tofu, heart of palm will work just as well.

Meatless Mondays – Gluten Free Vegan Tacos

I am a huge fan of tacos, so naturally I had to find an alternative to the ground beef taco.  Hard shell tacos are my favourite (and gluten free options are easily found) but this would work with the soft flour tortilla shells also.

Composting 101

When I first wanted to compost I was a little overwhelmed.  It seemed so daunting to figure out the right balance of green matter versus brown matter, how I’d store food waste in my kitchen before I brought it to the composter, and then even which composter to choose!  So many things to consider.  Thankfully I had the support of my boyfriend and handy-dandy google to help out.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Sugar Free Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf (GFDFSFPBBCCF for short)

A few days ago I was on a baking spree and was going to make my adapted gluten free banana bread recipe but I feeling up for a little bit of kitchen experimentation.  I was thinking, who doesn’t like peanut butter and banana together?

DIY Body Butter

I tried to get it to resemble the 100% Pure Nourishing Body Cream consistency because I really like those products.  I’ll probably continue to purchase them just because of their convenience and lovely scents, but at $20 for 8oz and shipping all the way across North America I feel like I owe it to the environment and my wallet to look for an alternative.  But my goodness I do like their Honey and Almond and their White Peach scent.  

It took me a while to research all of the ingredients and how I could possibly make my own lotion but after a few weeks of looking into it, and searching out for the ingredients I wanted I finally came up with a recipe.  It took a little tweaking here and there, and for now I’ve settled on it being a body butter.  I separated a small porrtion out and added more rose hydrosol to make it more like a lotion.  I’m happy with both!

Gluten Free Vegan Bread Recipe

This recipe has been long in the making.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but shelling out $6 or $7 for a dry, dense, brick of gluten free bread isn’t my first choice.  Sure, they’re okay options when you’re in a rush, but I much prefer to make my own.  There are a number of gluten free brands that basically all you have to do is add the liquids and then bake, but again they’ll run you $5 or $6.  But at least they are a little bit more like “normal” bread.

Growing up I used to make bread with my dad from a book that we picked up at a garage sale called “The Too-Great Bread Bake Book” by Gail Gibbons.  It is a sweet little story of a baker called Missy Tilly who falls asleep while making bread and has a terrible dream of how the “yeastie beasties” make her bread rise so much they chase her out of the house.  At the end of the book is an absolutely fabulous bread recipe that is super simple and is by far the best bread I have ever had in my life.  After making the switch to not eating animal products or gluten, I tried to adapt this recipe to make something even closely resembling this awesome bread.  It took me several trials and one meltdown, but I think I finally am satisfied. 

DIY Facemask

As part of my facial mask series I give you a home made, 100% vegan and gluten free recipe for making your own facemask at home.  I spent some time researching ingredients to create this mask with the intent to find something to be a jack-of-all-trades kind of mask.  I wanted to include brightening, exfloating, anti-oxidant containing, and renewing ingredients.  Here’s what I came up with:

Vegan Cheese, Kale and Broccoli Soup (Gluten Free)

Ever wonder what you should do with the broccoli stalks and kale stalks after you’ve taken all the florettes and leaves off?  I hate to waste it, or even compost it, so I make soup.
Vegan Cheese, Kale and Broccoli Soup (gluten free)