My road to natural living

My road to natural living is going well I think. Over the past 2 years I've replaced 12 beauty/toiletry products with homemade, all natural, mostly organic equivalents. Though 12 is exaggerated because they are all quite similar:

• I have hand cream, face cream, eye cream, body cream. They are all basically the same thing: shea butter, coconut oil and essential oils in various combinations.
• I've got face wash and hand wash. Both have Castile soap with essential oils and water. Again similar just varied ratios. 
• Face scrub and body scrub. These two awesome products are just coconut oil and sugar with some essential oils.
• The rest are lip balm/chapstick (my absolute favorite "beauty" item), face toner spray, clay face masks (which can also be used on the neck, chest and arm pit areas), deep hair conditioning (just some olive oil).

This made me realize how many different products I would buy to suffice all these areas when in reality I only needed a few ingredients. So not only have I helped my body through putting natural things on my skin, I'm helping my wallet too!

Now on to cleaning. I will be short and sweet... white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Done. Instructions? Okay, let's see. Spray on dirty counter, wipe clean. Now go do something fun. Unless you are weird like me and enjoy cleaning... then go clean some more!

I still purchase a few things but try and make good purchases like natural bar soap and natural toothpaste. The one thing I tried that didn't work for me was natural deodorant. I did it for two months and my body didn't react well but this doesn't mean yours won't like it! Give it a try!

The adventure continues as I'm currently testing homemade laundry detergent (washing soda and shredded bar soap) and the no "poo" method of hair washing (baking soda and apple cider vinegar). So far so good but I will continue it for a few months to see if this too shall stick and join the other 12!

Off to India we go!

On Thursday I will be heading to India with my boyfriend Seth to celebrate my friend Mayank's wedding! This trip has been in the works for months and now it's finally here. We leave Thursday 5pm and arrive in Delhi 1am Saturday. We will be there for about 1.5 weeks. That is a lot of travel but it's going to be the start of a great adventure. 

Usually I like to plan the details of everything and know exactly what is going on and when. For this trip I want to go with the flow more and just experience life with Mayank's family. Seth and I have the wonderful opportunity to stay at Mayank's parent's house during our stay. I've heard the best way to learn about a different culture is to live with a family!

I plan on keeping a journal while I am abroad so come back to read about some of our fun adventures!

What's your quick food?

When the day has flown by and it's 8pm and you haven't had dinner yet … what do you eat? For me, that answer is easy. I make a quesadilla! They are seriously the simplest but delicious dinner ever. You can make them many different ways too.

Ingredients:

• Tortilla (white, whole wheat, corn, whatever you like)

• Shredded Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar,  taco blend, whatever you like)
• Random leftovers from the fridge (peppers, onions, beef, chicken, beans… )
• Oil (coconut, olive, or butter)

Like I said above, it's a simple dish but I will lay out my strategy for the best quesadilla.

Coconut oil. That's it. It will make for a nice and crispy tortilla for your quesadilla. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature so scoop out about 1/2 tablespoon into a fry pan on medium heat. Let it melt and put in the tortilla. Cover the tortilla in shredded cheese then add your other fillings. Once the cheese begins to melt, fold the tortilla in half. Cook just until the sides become light brown. Flip to the other side if needed. Serve hot with sides such as salsa, plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream), or guacamole.

Some filling combinations are listed below:

• Cheddar cheese, sautéed peppers and onions (optional add some taco seasoning, homemade recipe coming to the blog soon!)
• Cheddar cheese, black beans
• Mozzarella cheese, cooked chicken (optional garlic)
• Cheddar cheese, cooked and seasoned ground beef

Really the combinations are endless! The best is just to use whatever is leftover in the refrigerator.

So what is your quick meal?

Time for a video chat ... technology is awesome!

Did you know that China is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Standard time? Well my boyfriend and I are experiencing that time difference right now. He is abroad for work and I'm home in the US but the technology of our culture has made this world small!

There are many options out there such as Skype or FaceTime for video chats and WhatsApp, Viber, TextPlus for texting. We chose Skype and TextPlus. Results? So far it's great! We are able to stay in touch each day, sharing what's going on and encouraging each other. He has one week left of his three week trip. Of course I am looking forward to being in the same time zone as him. It's so odd to say good morning to him when it's nighttime here!

The first time I went out of the country was very different. In 2006 I went to Oxford University for the summer to take two courses with an organization called Academic Study Associates. I remember my mom purchasing a calling card for me to be able to call home from the one phone in the dorm room hallway. My family and I exchanged letters in the mail too. Yes I mean the actual mail a.k.a. snail mail, not email. (I miss getting physical letters in the mail though)

It's crazy to think that was less than 10 years ago. Technology is rapidly expanding ... maybe even exponentially! Just think of cellphones ... they use to be the size of bricks and now they easily fit into your pocket.

What do you think the next greatest technology invention or enhancement will be?