Hair Color

I was in Safeway today and happened to be passing the hair color section. I stopped to see what kind of selection they had. I have been considering dying my hair for a while now and Jeremy said he would like it if I went blonde. I knew I wanted a subtle change so I chose Clarol Hydrience #16 Dark Blonde. Ok, talk about subtle. It is essentially the same color I had before minus what Julian so kindly referred to as my “platinum blonde” hairs and slightly lighter underneath where my hair always gets extremely dark in the winter. It did bring out a bit more of the red highlights which I like.  Over all I am not unhappy with it.

before after

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

My cousin Carrina wrote about this website in her blog and I thought I would pass it on to all of you:

My cheap and oh-so-good noodle bowl got me thinking. A couple of years ago, I discovered the USDA's online recipe-finder tool (http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/). It features a sizeable database of easy, generally healthy, and very economical recipes. Each recipe has been analyzed for cost and nutritional content. Many of the recipes are submitted by nutritionists who are trying to get people to eat healthily while using food stamps. This makes it a great place to go to find basic, bare-bones recipes that cost between 30 and 90 cents a person (some more). Then, if you decide that you want to splurge on kale or use leftover green onions, you can do that - but in most cases, you don't have to go out and buy something crazy just because it holds the recipe together. And, the database is incredibly searchable, since it's partly intended for social workers to use to get their nutrition messages across.

Here are just a few of the many ways you can search:

-Nutrition Education Topic (Calcium-Rich Food; Whole Grains; Less Saturated Fat, Trans Fat and Cholesterol)

-Theme (Ready in 30 Minutes Or Less, Food Resource Management)

-Menu Items (self-explanatory)

-Ingredients

-Ratings

-Audience (Parents of young children, Middle Eastern, Southern, Vegetarian)

-Cooking Equipment (Microwave, Wok, No Cooking Required, Stovetop/Hot Plate)

-And: recipe cost! Yes, you can actually specify that your search results cost less than a certain amount per serving and/or recipe.

There are even official-looking Nutrition Facts with each recipe, as well as a shopping list feature (you can browse through recipes, click "Add to shopping list" when one looks good, and then view your list to see what you'll need).

In honor of our crappy economy, I've decided to start using this website a lot more. It's such a great tool! In fact, I may try to cook things from it every day this week. I'll let you know how they turn out.
So, tonight we're having Spaghetti With Lentils, which is kind of cheating because it's the first recipe I ever used off of this site when I first discovered it.

Posted by Carrina

Thank you Carrina for letting me repost part of your blog in my own.

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

About Face

I have been thinking about wearing makeup more regularly and have even talked a bit with my friend Jane about it. There are a combination of reasons for this train of thought. First off I have put a lot of work into updating my wardrobe. Finding comfortable business casual clothing that fits well, is age appropriate and figure flattering. What better way to finish off my new look than with nice subtle makeup? Next reason being that I am currently unhappy with the way my skin looks. I am noticing that the closer I get to forty the more my carelessness during my younger years in the sun is starting to show. Lastly, my Hunny bunny likes it. The main thing holding me back is what will it do to my sensitive skin and what will I use to take it off? Those are actually rhetorical questions. I knew the answers I just had done nothing about it yet. I've been stalling. Partly because I have very little experience with cosmetics. I wasn't really sure where to start. Or that is what I told myself every time I found myself looking at the makeup in the grocery store when I went to pick up milk or Walmart when I was getting TP and kitty litter. So, all this stalling left me borrowing Melaina's makeup when I decided to wear makeup to my Grandpa's birthday party on Saturday. Not good. After only four hours I had developed one of those very painful, very deep, very large blemishes on my cheek. As a result I had to part my hair to the opposite side in order to hide it for that last couple of days. No more stalling. Time to make a plan and take some action. Step one get my skin healthy. I called Heather and asked her to help me get resigned up with Arbonne International. I considered just ordering from her but I like getting a discount and being able to sell it to my friends if they want it. Arbonne is the one thing I know I can trust to use on my face. I am so excited to get my skin feeling and looking good again.

Step 1