Hi Guys!!  I am bringing back Saturday Stuff! What do you think? I did this for a couple years off and on, but haven’t posted since last February! But I thought it would be fun to start again especially since I realized I had so many things I wanted to tell you about that didn’t really jive with my recipes- so here we are, back at Saturday Stuff! Please let me know if you have any off-food topics/questions you want to chat about!

Not sure if you saw, but I am doing Facebook Lives on Tuesday and Thursday now. Tuesday you get a recipe! And Thursdays you get a cocktail (or three!) This past week I featured “How to Make The Creamiest Hummus Ever” and “Blood Orange Cocktails Three Ways!”

“Blood Orange Cocktails Three Ways!”

“How to Make The Creamiest Hummus Ever”

Now, it being the end of January, I feel like we have to address the things that are occupying my mind (besides politics).

DRY SKIN, sickness, lack of sun-light and food. Not necessarily in that order.

Dry skin goes first. Actually that sounds gross, but I can’t be the only one, right?!

Baby Foot- Strangely, it was my brother in law that first told me about this product last year. Because of my genetics, I am prone to dry skin all year round. But with the winter, especially this particular winter here in Seattle- the dry skin is at an all-time high. So this weird product Baby Foot is a little disposable plastic bootie that you put on your feet (I did it after a long hot shower so that it would really soak in) for like an hour (I forgot and had mine on for 90 minutes). Then you wash it off. And then a week later, you think to yourself- what a waste, that didn’t work at all! Only, that night when you take your sock off you realize that your whole foot is peeling off. And it continues to for like 2 days. Gross, huh? But when they finish peeling- you literally have a baby foot!!! Bahahaha! It’s so soft and pretty! Totally weird- but worth it I think. I like to follow up with a few nights of heavy moisturizer or even aquaphor or Vaseline and thick socks, you know, just to keep them extra soft and moisturized…. Ah…. The glamour.

Skin Food – speaking of more dry skin remedies. A friend who is also a prolific makeup artist gifted me with a tube of this Skin Food, and I have been using it on my hands non-stop and it is amazing. I also dabbed it on my nose back in December when I had a cold for a few days and my nose got all dry and red- it’s miraculous. Plus these products are non GMO, cruelty free, paraben free and all-natural.
Glam Glow Hydrating Mask- I am sure there is nothing natural about this one- but it is paraben, sufate and Phthalates free and I really love it. It is supposed to be a mask but I wear it as a night cream right now. I really pile it on the nights that I use retin-A (because I am getting up there in years and all retinols are my best friends) so that I don’t peel the next day. Plus it smells like vanilla and cookie batter or something. It’s expensive but it lasts a looong time. Plus you can order the small size and see if you like it before committing to the bigger jar.

I could keep talking about this stuff for hours, but now we can move on to the other things taking up brain space. Like how I basically was running an infirmary for sick children this week. Coco had her tonsils (i.e. half of her immune system) removed when she was 3, so she picks up everything and this week was no exception. Pia gets strep annually, but it’s truly the ONLY sickness she gets in the span of the year, so we just roll with it. Unfortunately I typically get it after caring for her, so I too am on the annual schedule.

But I am so pumped with my immune system right now I can not even tell you (but I am going to anyways.) I spent last weekend on a 7 hour round trip road trip with Pia (which equals breathing the same air in a confined space!) and then shared a bedroom and let her use my toothbrush (gross!!!) over the weekend. We shared food and drinks all weekend. Her sore throat started on the drive home Sunday and by Monday her fever kicked in. Tuesday afternoon came her strep test and then the antibiotics. Obviously I was caring for her the whole time. And like clockwork I started to feel it coming on Wednesday afternoon. I just sort of assumed I should make a strep test appointment for Friday morning because that was what would normally happen. BUT, I have been up on my Vitamin C and heavy on the Vitamin D and then I went to Accupuncture on Wednesday and requested an immune system special. Well, I felt better on Thursday! So I followed it up with a Vitamin B cocktail shot and I feel better than I have in WEEKS!! Not a speck of sore throat!

I have touted these Vitamin B cocktail injections for years- but I have to do it again. They make you feel like a million bucks! They restore energy, beat back sickness, brush away lethargy and depression- I am obsessed!

So fingers crossed that the strep is not just on some delayed bacterial program and I have to tell you I am sick on Monday- but that would be kind of funny after all this pumping myself up. Kind of.

Ok- Lack of sunlight and general freezing cold. What do you guys do to break up the WINTER BLAHS??? My usual is to make sure I vitamin up, exercise whenever I can muster the will (not often right now!) and occasionally if it is really bad I break out the portable fluorescent light. Also I drink a ton of tea to keep warm. I need your help because I just can’t deal with how cold and damp Seattle is right now! Usually I would have even more to complain about with constant rain, but we have had some reprieves with freezing sunny days- but it just doesn’t feel like enough. Maybe I am just getting old, but I like actually hate January and February now. I can’t stand the cold and the dark. Pete and I are heading to Las Vegas next weekend seeking minutely warmer temperatures and more sunlight. ANYTHING to break up the chill in my bones. Tips are SO welcome!

A more fun topic!! FOOD!

This is what I simmered on Friday to enjoy for the whole weekend: the most delicious homemade Beef Stew. The recipe is in Pure Delicious and is a family favorite. Coco was singing on the way to school Friday “I can’t wait to eat some stew, I can’t wait to eat some stew, lalallalalllaaa…” you get the point!

I have had a DEEPLY unhealthy obsession with these Maple Glazed Pecan and Sea Salt KIND bars lately. I ate a whole case myself last weekend. I just can’t help myself.

I have made this Rainbow Asian Chicken Slaw (with some allergy modifications) twice in the last 10 days. I love it.

I am desperate to come home and see this slow cooker honey garlic sesame chicken piping hot in my slow cooker waiting for the family.

Pia is vegan (about 99% of the time), so I am always looking for great gluten-free /vegan dishes! I love this one for Citrus Brussels Sprouts slaw with rice paper “bacon” and almond “parm.” I promised her that while we are eating Beef Stew that she could enjoy this and more of the Crispy Baked Falafel she has been obsessed with lately.

Ok- next week I am going to be sharing some superbowl recipes and we are going to be getting into some Valentines Day recipes as well…. Stay tuned!