Kathryne

Time to get your holiday bake on!

So, this is easily my favorite baking recipe of all time. It’s a soft, chewy, DELICIOUS cookie. I can only make these when I know I am bringing them somewhere…otherwise I can’t be trusted with them. The good news is that this recipe is vegan, and utilizes my good ol’ favorite: agave, so no refined white sugar here! Follow the recipe and you’ll have the best dessert at the par-tay! (or on your couch, alone, watching the PBS special on Liza Minnelli. No judgement here, people!)

We got a nice surprise this week: Melissa from A Prudent Life tagged us with the Liebster torch last week – a way for new bloggers to recognize and get to know one another. WE WERE PSYCHED. Thank you, Melissa!

Before we get into answering the fun questions that Melissa wrote for us (we worked on these over the phone and had some real laughin’ out loud moments), here are the Liebster rules, for reference:

We brush our teeth. That’s important. I, personally, do not brush my hair anymore, but I hear that’s important to some people. Who knows? (Kidding.)

Dry brushing is something I came across 100% by accident. I had had several severe colds – or perhaps all the same one, just elongated – and I was feeling CRAPPY. I was getting used to feeling bad, particularly in the gland region. Well, after several Google searches, including key words like “lymph nodes,” I got this Amazon link to a “dry brush for lymphatic drainage.” You know how you can get a lymphatic massage at a spa? Similar idea. Anyway, then I started researching the crap out of dry brushing. And then I started incorporating dry brushing into my everyday ritual, and I loved the results. It sped up my process of recovering from that awful cold…and it has a ton of other benefits, too. I even got Jennifer one for her birthday!

So, what are the main benefits of dry brushing?

Ready for a completely last-minute Thanksgiving recipe that will do you right tomorrow? Or any day this winter?

Well, here it is. We don’t really know what this is. We started off calling it a tart, and then we called it oatmeal…ultimately, “snack” just fits the best. What’s so cool about this recipe is that it will not only last you a few days, but it can be used as an early morning breakfast, or an after-dinner treat, depending on how you serve it. It’s low cal, low fat, and packed with nutrients. Specifically, buy “tart” dried cherries, if you can – they are not only a lovely, tasty compliment to the oats and brown sugar, but they are a super fruit! We hear this term a lot, don’t we? In this case, without a doubt, it is true. Tart dried cherries are high in disease fighting antioxidants, beta carotene, and they also carry anti- inflammatory benefits. Nutritionists actually recommend tart cherries to help reduce post- exercise muscle and joint pain! What…? I just like the way they taste. Bonus! (did you know they also help prevent the effects of jet lag, too?) This recipe also contains a lot of natural fiber… so, ya know, thank me tomorrow or whatever!

Here is the recipe I used, with some room for substitutions, based on what you have in your cabinet at the moment.

All right, listen. I have a sordid history with eye creams and products. The skin around my eyes is pretty sensitive. I think most people have relatively sensitive skin around their eyes, right? One generally doesn’t have “tough” eye skin – unless you’re like, a cowboy, or something. I have used everything from Chanel to Olay, Mario Badescu to Garnier. I would never say I have tried it all, but my quest to have moisturized, young-looking and dark circle-free eyes has really run me a relative fortune.

Since going “all natty,” though, I feel I have become a hermit of epic proportions: staying on my computer for hours looking up reviews on a gaggle of different natural eye creams. Waiting for my “sullied” products to run out, I wanted to find THE BEST possible creams for my face. My goal was to find something that was going to help me combat fine lines, puffiness, and would really moisturize the heck out of my eye area. We all know what it’s like to have to reapply moisturizer whether it’s on your face or body because it simply absorbs too quickly. My budget was anything up to 60ish dollars. That may seem like a lot for an eye cream, BUT – with a regimen of using my DIY eye cream coupled with a newly bought eye cream, I estimate it will last me four or five months. That’s not bad, eh? That’s like, 12 bucks a month. Doable!

After finding some favorable customer reviews online of Suki Eye Lift Radiance Renewal Cream, I felt ready to push off and finally make a purchase. Their ingredients were on par with my ideals (the eye cream includes jojoba oil, shea butter, green tea extract, and many others – full list below) but I was scared. I won’t lie, I have been relying on the products listed at the top of this article for so long, and although I know now that they contain crap that is totally bad and TOXIC for me… they still worked! I was happy with them! What if what was preserving my skin was the BAD stuff? What will I do now?! I await the arrival of my Suki box like a father expecting his first child in the waiting room of a 1950s hospital. I’m ready to take up chain smoking and make small talk. “When’s yours due, pal?” “I don’t know, UPS said three days, but I don’t know, okay?!”

Photo credit: massdistraction

I should be clear: I am not a vegan. I have plenty of vegan friends, and I enjoy vegan cuisine on a regular, if not daily basis…but I am not a vegan. Or a vegetarian. I enjoy meats occasionally (there, I said it). A few times a month, I will eat chicken breast without hormones, or have a few slices of uncured turkey bacon with breakfast. I enjoy a good STEAK (and maybe some dairy from time to time). It’s not excessive, but it’s there. Although I have contemplated going entirely vegan one day…today is not that day! So, let me get to my point: vegan baking.

Living in LA, I have friends from all walks of life: cancer survivors, artists of all kinds, yoga teachers, photographers, mothers, fathers, and people of all ages. Film people, music people. People that have many, and I do mean MANY dietary preferences and restrictions. So, as you can imagine, bringing my mother’s triple-layer, dairy-rich dessert bars to a party is not the best choice for everyone (oh, but they are delicious…). So, I started a rule for myself to follow. As someone who enjoys a cookie or a cake for special occasions, I decided that on said special occasions, I would only bake with vegan ingredients. You never know who will be at a party or event you’re attending, and I really hate excluding people from glorious confections.

Vegan baking is actually really easy, too, and I DARE you to miss the eggs, butter and whatever else you may be using in your baked goods. I have found that often times, the frostings, the toppings, the cakey parts – they are even better than what I was doing before I decided to be an all-vegan baker. I love a challenge, and I enjoy knowing that what I am making is…well, maybe not GOOD for me (let’s be honest, if you’re gonna eat the whole damn pan of vegan brownies, you’re still not doing your ass any favors)…but better for me than the buttery, dairy-rich alternatives (butter…drool).

Here are some simple vegan conversions you can use the next time you need to make muffins for your co-workers, cookies for your kids, or cake for your friend’s baby shower. Stay tuned for some fun vegan recipes coming up!

I love skincare. Oh my, oh my…I am a skincare sucker. As far as products go: does it promise me eternal youth? Can it shrink my pores? Will it preserve my 20s for me even when I’m 50? I’ma buy it. Got $60 to my name? I DON’T NEED TO EAT.

I have had a love affair with high-end skincare since I was 19. It all started when an 80-year-old woman stopped me on the streets of NYC. She took my hand and looked into my eyes and said, “You look so angry, you’re furrowing your brow. Stop that or you’ll look like me in 10 years! Take care of your skin!” I kid you not. It haunts me to this day. Afterwards, I walked into Macy’s and bought everything I could find that said “anti-aging” on it. I didn’t know at the time there were ingredients in some of those products that were harmful to me. Like…really harmful.

Instead, I believed what it said on the (beautiful) bottles of serums, plumping agents and moisturizers…claims that are rarely ever true. Now, at nearly 29, I care far less about preserving my young face than I do about being really healthy and CLEAN about it. I don’t want to hurt animals, the environment, or use scary chemicals to make sure I am line-free. Plus, I happen to think my laugh lines are ridiculously adorable, thankyouverymuch.

Here is the all-natural, homemade eye cream I have been using to fight aging, puffiness and dark circles. For this recipe, you’ll need:

Organic virgin coconut oil
Vitamin E oil
Evening primrose oil
Essential oil(s) of your choice (optional)
2 oz. or smaller container (try and use an old eye cream container, preferably made of glass!)

Author: Kathryne

Holiday Baking: Coconut Macaroons

Liebster Love

Why We Love Dry Brushing

Slow Cooker Cherry Vanilla…Snack

Suki Eye Lift Radiance Renewal Cream: Tales from a Recent Convert

Vegan Baking: Because Why Not?

Homemade Eye Cream in Three Easy Steps