Green Curry

Pad Thai

Lake Charles’ lack of a Thai restaurant is a real shame, if you ask me.

Also, I’ve been unofficially searching for the best, most widely available dark chocolate lately, and I think I’ve come pretty close with this guy:

It’s not as bitter as some super dark chocolates tend to be. And Midnight Reverie?! Even the name is appealing.

A few foody articles:

• Eat Right: 18 Tips That Really Matter- This article does a wonderful job of explaining why we should eat less meat.  Also, I like this: “There’s a reason a Twinkie has a shelf life to rival a Nerf basketball.”
• Super Snacks: 5 Best Snacks for Mood- I know I’ve linked to a similar article before, but this one lists slightly different foods. Also, I’ll stand behind most things that further validate my dark chocolate habit.
• Shiny New Food Labels- This article is right. You really can’t judge a cracker by its cover.

Have a special weekend, guys! I’m going to the beach for a week with my family tomorrow, and I think it’s gonna be a lovely and relaxing time. Don’t worry, I have a week’s worth of posts lined up. Even better, they’re all beach vacation themed! Fancy, right?

Our friends Jason and Christina came to visit this past weekend, and we decided to make the above deliciousness the night before they left. This might be the most indulgent treat I’ve shared in a Foody Friday post yet, but I see nothing wrong with occasionally living a little.  Using dark chocolate in place of the white could’ve easily made this snack much smarter (and perhaps tastier if you’re a dark chocolate fan like me), but we had an entire box of Baker’s white chocolate left over from the extra fly strawberries Kirby prepared for Valentine’s Day. Why go out and buy something else?  Christina and I made our chocolate covered blueberries by following these three easy steps:

1) First, we melted the chocolate using a double broiler. Kirby came in the kitchen in the midst of this process and made fun of me for having the wrong pot on top. Tomato, tomahto. The chocolate still melted just fine.

2) Next, we dumped the container of chilled blueberries in the melted chocolate.

3) After the blueberries were sufficiently coated in chocolate, we chilled them on a piece of wax paper in the fridge for 30 minutes. And believe it or not, 30 minutes feels like 30 hours when you’re waiting to eat chocolate covered fruit.

To finish off Foody Friday, here are a some pictures from our fun weekend and links to a few interesting, food-related articles (and not in that order):

• 8 Superfoods You Probably Aren’t Eating- Looks like I need to stop scrubbing my face with all of our Adzuki Beans and start eating some!
• 7 Dangerous Food Additives To Avoid- Apparently I have to worry about phthalates being in my health and beauty products and in my food. Sheesh.
• 5 Things to Know About Serving Size- I shouldn’t be eating a skillet full of meat for dinner? Who knew!?

Winston loves Christina.

His face is appropriate.

Cutest couple I know.

This is Hiccup, Jason/Christina's new puppy. He likes having his teeth brushed by yours truly.

If you look closely enough, you can spot my scrubbies in a sea of reusable cotton pads.

Upon my good friend Selena‘s suggestion, I’ve been using my Debutante Face Scrubbies to cleanse my face rather than tone it.  I’ve found that this is obviously what they’re intended to do (not only because that’s what the product description states on their Etsy product page, but also because it leaves my face feeling super soft and thoroughly clean).

Here’s how I’ve been doing it: I squirt the tiniest bit of my current cleanser in the palm of my hand, apply it gently to my face with my hands, and then scrub away with a damp debutante face scrubby.

Once I run out of my disposable cotton pads, I’ll probably tone my face strictly with a regular ol’ bath cloth (since I feel like it might waste less toner than the reusable pads), but cleansing is definitely a job for my scrubbies!

She began with mentioning how she stopped using baby oil after her showers upon discovering that it was unsafe on the Cosmetic Safety Database (with it being a petroleum byproduct and all).  While browsing the CSD, she also discovered that the Summer’s Eve Feminine Wash for Sensitive Skin that her friend had been using had all kinds of awful ingredients that you would never want near your nether regions like synthetic dyes, fragrance, and ammonium laureth sulfate (a harsh surfactant). This made my friend wonder, and I’m quoting here, “What the hell can ladies use that won’t cancer up their lady parts?” I found this question to be a very valid (not to mention wonderfully-worded) one, and one that I’ve never heard addressed, so I took it upon myself to find the answer.

I began my quest on the CSD in the feminine care category, but I was soon disappointed when I learned that they had no feminine cleansers in their database with a hazard score lower than a three. No thanks!

One of the first moderately helpful sites that I found listed several easy solutions to vaginal odor and/or discomfort.  This site suggested using inexpensive products that most people already have lying around like vinegar, aloe vera gel, hydrogen peroxide, and slippery elm bark (well, maybe most people don’t have this one lying around)  to clean down there. I must admit, though, I’d be hesitant to put vinegar and especially hydrogen peroxide around my vagina (the former because it seems like it might cause irritation and the latter because it’s linked to cancer, which is what we’re trying to avoid here).

I checked out the green and natural section of drugstore.com, and I literally found only two natural feminine washes. The first is called DivaWash, and while it’s not specifically sold as a feminine wash (the bottle says that it can be used to wash the face or the body), it was located in the feminine cleansing category.

The positives:  It’s free of parabens (preservatives that mimic estrogen), sulfates (harsh surfactants), and petrochemicals (chemical products derived from petroleum).

The negatives:  The ingredients still aren’t awesome. The second ingredient listed is Cocamidopropyl Betaine, which is a synthetic surfactant that’s associated with skin irritation.

The second natural feminine wash that I found on drugstore.com is Natracare Organic Cotton Intimate Wipes.

The positives: They’re alcohol, paraben, sulfate, chlorine, and synthetic preservative-free. They’re also biodegradable.

The negatives: They come in the form of wipes, which seems a little unnecessarily wasteful…even if they are biodegradable.  Also, very little is known about most of the ingredients (ie: datagaps). One of the ingredients that doesn’t have a huge data gap is Sodium Dehydroacetate, which is a preservative that’s linked to cancer. Bummer!

I also found an entire line of organic feminine care called Pink Kitti. The name makes me cringe a little, but what’s more unnerving is that I cannot find an ingredient list on the entire site. Major ingredients are listed but nothing else. Their site does state that their products are paraben and sulfate-free and that the ingredients are 89% organic. Still, I need a little more information about a product that’s intended to clean my vagina. If you have nothing to hide, then you should list your ingredients on your site. Am I right?

I always feel like I am let down when I try to get to the bottom of something, but maybe I’m just not looking in the right places. Do you guys know of any legitimately natural and safe feminine cleansers?  I’ve consistently used whatever soap I’m currently using as a body wash to clean my lady parts, and I’ve never had any problems with it. But what about the people who feel like they need a little something extra down there? Shouldn’t there be a safe and effective product out there for them?

Remember the Debutante Face Scrubbies that were on my little Christmas list? Well, my sweet friend Jade got me a set of them in white! Overall, I’m a big fan. I’ve been using them to apply toner to my face, and since they’re textured.. I actually feel like I’m toning and exfoliating at the same time. What a treat! My only complaint is that since they’re so thick and absorbant, I tend to use a lot more toner than I did with a disposable cotton pad.

Also, Kirby trimmed my bangs. Look at how sweet they look!

Danielle and I made homemade bath soak for some of our friends and gave them away as Christmas presents this year. The scents that we ended up with were appropriately named Tangerine Raspberry, Lavender Vanilla, Lemon Jasmine, Lavender Spearmint, and Lavender Peppermint. We used old wine, whiskey, Irish cream, and gin bottles as containers, and the fact that we had ten of those with lids just lying around may make us seem like a bunch of lushes…but, in our defense, we have a lot of parties at our house. For the labels, Kirby modified a set of West Elm holiday tags and cards that Danielle found on How About Orange. I’m really happy with the way that they turned out!

The adorable stamp that I used for the labels on top came from a cute little Etsy shop called cupcaketree. I should’ve taken a closer picture of them, but the birds are wearing Santa hats in case you can’t tell. How adorable, right?!

That’s our friend Robert holding his lavender spearmint bath soak. He’s an alright guy.

This is me with my pretty friend, Allie

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks. That is a fancy Christmas vest that I’m wearing.

Preparing to travel home, Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, Christmas crafting (which I will post about eventually), and fighting off a cold have been keeping me pretty busy lately. I honestly didn’t have much time to throw together anything even kind of original today. Still, I think you guys should check out Care2′s list of 20 Green Gift Ideas. There are some real winners here and there. I love a list that includes animal lovers.

Supportive Boyfriends

2.

Beautiful Sisters: Part 1

Beautiful Sisters: Part 2

Beautiful Sisters: Part 3

Beautiful Sisters: Part 4

3.

Handsome Brothers

4.

Loving Parents

5.

Sweet Dogs: Part 1

Sweet Dogs: Part 2

6.

Fat Cats

7. Married to the sea, because it cracks me the hell up.

8. Informative books like Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry (which is totally on my Christmas list, BTW.)

9. Mexican Coke- It may not be healthy, but it’s High Fructose Corn Syrup-free!

10. Ridiculous dessert recipes like this one for Praline Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake.

Happy Thanksgiving, guys!

What are three health and beauty products that you use daily and love? Why do you love them? Be as brief or as detailed as you want.

I can wait to read your answers!