Let's Have A Protein Party!

No, not the gross kind! The kind that helps build muscle, strengthen your hair and nails amongst other things! If you are a human being, you need protein. You also need a hefty serving of healthy during your day, especially if that weekend may have resulted in a three-burrito-deep food coma with a side of a whole medium pizza. This bar is almost all raw, healthy goodness and it so easy to make and have on hand when the after lunch-before dinner murderous hunger strikes!

Hello, bowl reflection!

The Ingredients:

2 Cups Rolled Oats

2 Scoops protein powder (I used vanilla)

1 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

2 Tbsp. Chia Seeds

2 Tbsp.Ground Flaxseed

1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract

2 Tbsp. Raw Honey* (none of that processed shit!)

1/4 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds

1/3 Cup Dried Cranberries

1/3 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1 Cup Peanut Butter (Creamy works best)

OPTIONAL: 1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

*If you are vegan, use maple syrup in place of honey. Agave can be sweet so stick to maple!

1. Place all of your dry ingredients in your mixer or in a bowl if you are mixer-less.

2. Add your wet ingredients to the dry mixture.

 3. Turn on mixer to medium-low and mix ingredients until well-incorporated or until the mixture begins to stick together.

4. Spray a brownie pan (I used a 6 or 7x 12 pan) with cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the bottom of the pan. The spray will help the parchment stick and the parchment will make it easier to get the bars out.  Once everything is mixed together, spoon out the mixture into your pan.

5. Press mixture into the pan firmly to make sure everything stick together. The firmer you press the bars, they better they will stay together. Once the mixture can be packed down no further, place the pan in the freezer for an hour.

6. Once the bars have hardened, cut them into 2x2 inch squares, wrap in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store in the freezer! As a precaution, I would have added a bit more peanut butter to my batch because these did come out a bit crumbly. As long as I have a napkin around to catch the debris, I'm not worried about it.

Well, there you have it! These protein bars get their protein goodness from the protein powder, the pumpkin seeds, AND the peanut butter and I have been eating them as a pre-workout snack. Great for snacking when you get home when you feel ravenous. There's enough fibre and protein to keep you full until dinner without resorting to eating all the chocolate within a five mile radius. Enjoy!

Lazy Sunday: Deep Contioning the Hairz

Photo: Pinterest

 For the past few Sundays I have done little more than move from sofa, to kitchen, to bathroom, because that's what Sundays were made for. Today was a bit different. It's 70 degrees and my house was gross so I got my clean on, but after all that was done I felt I needed to to a little self-housekeeping. So I did myself a solid and made my cocktail of super moisturizing hair oils and It's now resting on my head soaking up the goodness. My recipes for ultimate hair nirvana is as follows:

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Coconut oil (unrefined! Get the good stuff!)

1-1/2 Tbsp. Amla Oil (find at an Indian grocer or at From Nature With Love)

Mix the two together and massage, section by section onto scalp with your finger tips. Apply the rest of the mixture to the length of your hair. **Coconut oil is solid below 75 degrees so just scoop out what you need and melt it in the microwave for 15 seconds.you can also place the oil is a bowl and let the bowl rest over some hot water if you're not into the whole microwave thing.

Another thing I like to do once this mixture is all over my head is to do a scalp massage using a brush. My hands are too weak and cramp up when doing a manual head massage, so the brush does a decent job and helps spread all the oils. This here video is pretty much exactly what I do.

I leave this on all day, but can be left on for as little at 30 minutes. Once I'm over it/have to go out in public, I shampoo everything out (sometimes twice), condition, and enjoy my soft shiny hair! Great for a lazy Sunday; try it out now!!

Keep It Fresh: Homemade Face Masks

(photo: life123.com)

Around this time of year my skin decides to turn against me and become a flaky, irritated, and dry mess. I hate it more than anything and it makes wearing any sort of powder-based makeup a disaster from the fiery pits of hell. The only thing that helps my face is babying it whenever I get the chance so I do a lot of masks. Store bought masks seem to fall into two different categories: 1. Cheap, single-use masks that have questionable ingredients and just don't work, 2. Really expensive masks available in stores like Sephora that cost like $50 a bottle,  $50 I could be spending or saving for something else. I have decided that unless a masks can deliver perfect skin guaranteed, I'm going to make all of my face masks at home. I'm going to share with you some of my favorite homemade masks that keeps my bitchy skin in check.

Yogurt Turmeric Mask

2 Tbsp. Plain (IT MUST BE PLAIN) Yogurt (full-fat is best)

1 tsp.Turmeric powder

Throw the ingredients into a bowl, mix until fully incorporated and brush onto your face with an cheapy foundation brush. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and rinse afterwards. This mask is great for calming your skin down when it's acting a fool. The lactic acid in the yogurt softens your skin and eats away the flakes while the turmeric, a natural anti-inflammatory, calms redness and other things like wind/sun burn.

Honey Aspirin Mask

1 UNCOATED Aspirin tablet

1Tbsp. Honey (Raw is best)

Crush the Apsirin tablet with the back of a spoon. Pour honey over tablet and mix. Apply to face and leave on for 5-10 minutes. Aspirin is almost totally salicylic acid which is a major ingredient in acne medicine. It exfoliates the skin while the honey helps to soothe and act as an antibacterial agent. So while the aspirin eats the stuff out of your pores, the honey works its way in to kill all the nasties. Of course, if you have an Aspirin allergy DO NOT use this mask. You will die or ruin your face.

Oatmeal Yogurt Mask

1 Tbsp. Oat flour 

2 Tbsp. Plain Yogurt

Mix together and leave on for 15-20 mins. Oatmeal helps keep in moisture and calm irritation, that's why you use it when you get chicken pox. If you don't have oat flour, just blend rolled oats in a blender or coffee grinder until you get a semi-fine powder.

Green Tea Coconut Oil Mask

1 tsp. Matcha powder (green tea powder)

1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Mix the two ingredients together. Coconut oil hardens at below 76 degrees Fahrenheit so if need be, heat the jar up in a bowl of hot water until liquidy. DO NOT MICROWAVE, it kills all the good stuff! Green tea has every benefit on the planet, including calming down your red-ass face and I'm convinced that coconut oil is damn well the blood of Christ. It moisturizes, it clarifies, it kills bacteria and is smells of coconuts, what more could you people want?! I would leave this on for 5-10 mins and do so lying down as this could drip if you applied too much. Keep the application thin and wear a shirt you don't mind getting oil-stained and have a towel handy.

Well, now you know all of my secrets. Are you happy now?! I should hope so. Once you have these ingredients you can make masks for pennies-on-the-dollar instead of lining the pockets of the 1%. Get crafty and gorgeous at the same time!