Hello all of you 11 readers out there! I hope everyone had a great weekend, full of sunshine and American pride. If you're not American hopefully you had a great weekend anyways.
So the big announcement this morning is that I'm moving my blog! I decided that I wanted to change it up a bit, include more personal information and kind of start again. My new address is: http://naturallyfrugal.wordpress.com and is the bomb. The layout looks pretty good, in my humble opinion, and I've already moved all my old blog entries over plus have a couple of new ones up as well. The new blog also includes an About Me, Fitness, and No Poo page so you can learn more about what I've been doing as well as view pictures of me in my everyday life.
Hope to see you over there, and remember to add me to your blogroll, google readers, or whatever you use to keep track of all the blogs you know and love! Also, if you just can't get enough you can always follow me on twitter: @naturallyfrugal!!!
This morning I will be running my first 5k race and am slightly nervous but I think it'll be fun. We're having people over for a pre-funk parade party and then heading down to our local Main Street for the parade and lots of fun. Afterwards and after a much needed nap the boyfriend and I along with a few choice friends will be lighting off fireworks. Scratch that - he'll be lighting off fireworks while I stay far, far away waiting to call 911 at the sound of anything gone awry. Chloe no like fireworks.
Hope you all have a great day with family and friends - stay tuned on Monday for a big announcement!
P.S. follow me on twitter, all the cool kids are doing it: @naturallyfrugal
Day 2 of no 'poo is pretty much the same as Day 1 but will include a shower tonight. My normal routine consists of a shower every other day unless I've exercised and then I'll do a rinse off in order to not scare away the boyfriend. Tonight I'm going to kickboxing and will shower using my same baking soda/vinegar routine as last time. So far my hair still feels pretty good, not greasy at all and has a good shine to it. I might be overdoing it with the baking soda so I will start to taper the amount off once I get the hang of this whole business.
In other news I'm setting another July goal for myself. Look at how goal-oriented I'm being this summer - it's like I've taken an extra dose of motivation and am ready to conquer all that lays before me. This goal revolves around money and my spending of it. Recently I've been spending more money on coffee trips in the morning or eating out with friends when I could have otherwise made my own or suggested something else to do instead of gorging ourselves on the deliciousness that Seattle has to offer. So this month I'm aiming to spend zero dollars on eating out and am pretty sure I can swing it. We're having people over to watch the Fourth of July parade but won't be providing too much food and will probably have guests bring some sort of snacks if they feel like it. Otherwise my calendar looks pretty free and if something comes up I can always decline or suggest a different activity. Like studying for the GRE, which I need to do badly!
Another goal of mine - participate in Angela's Summer Glow Bootcamp! I'm trying to get in shape and clean up my diet a little bit so this is the perfect timing for all of that. Head over to her page to check it out and join in on the fun!
No, this does not mean I'm not going to the bathroom, it means I've given up shampoo and conditioner for a month and hopefully much longer. Well, giving up the traditional shampoos and conditioners because I've started using baking soda and vinegar instead. I wanted to make the switch to more natural and organic beauty products starting with shampoo and conditioner at the top of the list. Whilst scouting around Rite-Aid I was horrified to see a bottle of shampoo without lauryl/laureth/ammonia sulfates or paraben preservatives going for about $12. And this wasn't a jumbo-sized bottle either, it probably would last the boyfriend and I about a month. So I said nay, I shan't buy any more shampoo and shall instead turn into a dirty hippy.
Except I'm not dirty at all and only about 10% hippy. The concept of no 'poo is simple - wash your hair with either water by itself or some combination of a base (baking soda) and an acidic rinse (apple cider vinegar) in order to let your hair transition back to it's natural state. Commercial shampoo is extremely harsh and strips our hair of it's natural oils, which is why conditioner was invented. So we shampoo, then we must condition, then our hair follicles go into oil-overdrive and thus we shampoo and condition and....repeat. With no 'poo I am letting my hair produce as much oil as it needs to stay healthy, and then washing it over longer periods of time (3 to 4 days or longer depending on your hair type) because it isn't over producing oils.
The reviews I've read about no 'poo are both great and not so great. Some people love it - they swear their hair is as healthy as it's ever been and practically shines as bright as the sun. Others claim that the no 'poo method has left their hair lanky and scalp itchy. Many sites do warn that there is a transition period during which your scalp is still making more oil than necessary and so the hair will be more greasy than normal. However, if you can get through this stage eternal hair glory is promised. So I'm waiting for the eternal hair glory to commence. Yesterday was my first real attempt at no 'poo. Wanna know how I did it?
First off, I needed to do some research. How exactly do I start to stop 'pooing? And what can I use in place of the 'poo? Well, I've found that there is no right way to do it and that most people eventually tweak their system to their hair type. Lots of people using baking soda and apple cider vinegar because they're cheap and easy. So that's where I decided to start. After getting home from the most brutal kickboxing class of my life I needed a shower badly and was hesitant to start my no 'poo escapade due to my overabundance of sweat. But I thought to myself it's now or never and so I took the plunge. My supplies consisted of a spoon, a glass jar, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar. First I put about 1-2 tablespoons worth of baking soda in the glass jar before hopping in the shower. Some folks us much less, maybe 1 teaspoon, but I got scared and wanted to get a good washing in. So tablespoon size it was. After rinsing my hair with water I filled the cup to what I judged was 8 ounces and swirled the baking soda around until it dissolved. Then I slowly poured the mixture over my head all the while massaging with my free hand. I focused on the crown of my head and temples seeing as how those are the greasiest parts of my scalp. My first lesson was that I need a better baking soda dispensing tools. This weekend I am definitely buying a squirt bottle because it's not so easy or safe to be pouring a mixture over your head with a glass jar.
On a couple of sites I had read that you know you've washed with enough baking soda when your hair feels slippery, and towards the end of the cup my hair did so I deemed it a success. Continuing to massage I decided to let the baking soda sit for a few minutes while I washed my face and progressed to my other daily shower rituals .
Note: Some people experience break-outs when first starting no-poo. This could be because our skin is used to the harsher shampoos that act as cleansing agents or that the skin is going into oil overdrive. I plan on combating this unwanted side-effect by washing my face and making sure to moisturize in order to signal to my cells that they shouldn't produce more oil since they are nice and moist already.
After letting the baking soda do it's thing I proceeded to rinse it out and once again questioned if I was sane. My hair felt all tangly and waxy and NOT NICE. However, after my 5 second panic attack I decided to persevere and made up a mixture of apple cider vinegar for the rinse. I guesstimated how much to add and went with a capful in a cup and a half of water. It felt somewhat conditioning and slippery so I think I did it correctly, and best of all my hair didn't end up smelling like vinegar. The vinegar wasn't added to my whole head, just about the bottom half of my hair and on the ends. I also brushed it out in order to allow better incorporation during the vinegar rinse. My next step was to rinse out the vinegar and then see how my hair responded to this strange new routine.
The end result? Well, there weren't a lot of tangles and it was actually easier to brush when wet compared with my normal routine. This could be because I wasn't scrubbing away and causing tangles or it could be because my hair was happy. Either way I'm happy with the results. My hair doesn't feel great right now, but it doesn't feel worse or more greasy either. We'll see how it looks tomorrow and then judge the progress of the no 'poo experiment. I think I'll also take pictures as well for visuals and before and after comparisons.
Anyone else wanna try the no 'poo challenge with me?
Pronounced taboo-li this dish is so easy and cheap that I'm surprised I haven't made it more often. It's a great summer dish, but I forgot about it until last week and then had to go to the store that carried bulk items since our Safeway fails in every way imaginable. Once stocked and ready to go I cooked up the bulgur and the next day got together the ingredients for the tabbouleh. Some I had on hand - lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper and others I got at the store - green onion, bell pepper, garbanzo beans, more lemon, and tomatoes. Most people like to add herbs such as parsley (blech, HATE parsley. And cilantro too) but I like mine dressed only with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. The star of the show was definitely the olive oil. 
I had brought it back with me from Italy and left it at home for about a year. Now I use it sparingly and only for great punches of flavor because it's the legit kind. Can't find anything like it and don't really want to try. I guess when I run out I'll have to go back to Italy and purchase some more!
Caution: while making tabbouleh do not squeeze lemon with bare hands if any cuts (seen or unseen) are present. I had an unseen cut which burned for quite a while during the lemon squeezing step. I couldn't just set the lemon down, wash my hands, and pick back up again. No, the lemon had to be squeezed thoroughly and so I endured the pain. Next time I will squeeze with gloves if even a hint of an abrasion is present. Or I will make the boyfriend do it.
So here's my recipe for tabbouleh, feel free to add in feta, parsley, other veggies, or whatever you want to kick it up a bit. The lemon and olive oil go perfectly together, so don't skip over those, but otherwise the tabbouleh world is your oyster:
2 (or 3 or 4) cups cooked and cooled bulgur*
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 red bell pepper
4 green onions
2 lemons
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, cut lengthwise
*To cook bulgur add 2 cups water to a pot and set to boil. Once water is boiling add in 1 cup bulgur, turn heat down to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. The bulgur is done when it's light and fluffy - kind of like couscous. Making bulgur ahead of time and allowing it to cool will save loads as time seeing as how this is a cold dish and warm bulgur would make it yucky.
Chop bell pepper and green onion roughly the same size as the tomatoes or garbanzo beans. Drain garbanzo beans and add into bulgur. Add in the bell pepper, tomatoes, and green onions and mix well. Feel free to add more if you want to pack in the veggies or have made an overabundance of bulgur. Cut lemons in half and squeeze over mixture making sure not to include any seeds. Mix well and slowly add in the olive oil. The lemon juice and olive oil is mostly to taste, some like the taste of the oil and some prefer it on the lighter side. Season with salt and pepper and voila! You have just made tabbouleh, congratulations on finding a new dish to bring to the next potluck.
This is where the hidden cost of a job comes in. Not only do I pay for transportation to and from work, I also pay while I'm at work for frivolous events that I don't necessarily care about. Plus, I'm getting less work done due to the plethora of celebrations. Don't get me wrong, I love socializing just as much as the next person but I think that my office could limit parties to after work or to a small gathering for those who know the person well. For instance, a coworker threw a party for herself but it was at her apartment over the weekend. Those who didn't want to go didn't have to go and didn't feel obligated to spend money for something they don't necessarily care about. I, on the other hand, somehow ended up donating $40 to a birthday present fund (comprised of about 4 people, hence the expensive contribution) but had a great time because it was outside of work for someone that I cared about.
Last week I was hit hard with a nasty summer cold. It came out of nowhere, from nobody, but knocked me out like a ton of bricks. Unfortunately my college roommate was coming to visit that weekend so I took Friday off in order to rest up but still ended up popping DayQuil all day Saturday and some NyQuil to help me sleep. Not my favorite thing to do, but I had to man up and show her how great Seattle can be even in among the clouds.
Taking over the counter medication is not something I do often for a variety of reasons. One of them is that I'm sure that I have no idea what exactly I'm putting in my body. Another is that they make me feel all wonky and woozy. So I decided to prepare myself for the next time this happens, which hopefully won't be for a while since it's horrible to be sick back to back. Here's what I found about natural remedies for the cold and flu:
Obviously the body is in distress when you're leaking from every orifice, feel at times both hot and cold, and have every ache imaginable. This means your immune system is doing everything it can to fight off whatever bad bug you contracted and so it needs help. Resting up, getting lots of fluids, and eating nutritious foods are all common ways to heal the body, but there are a couple of other things you could be doing as well.
- Take a vitamin - Even if you don't normally take one, a multivitamin will give an added boost to the system. I like to drink Emergen-C like it's no tomorrow because it has tons of Vitamin C as well as other vitamins to help make me feel better. Whether or not vitamins help to lessen or dampen the severity of the cold doesn't really matter, the point is that I'm giving my body a chance to use these vitamins if it needs it.
- Add in some spice - Hot peppers, garlic, and ginger will clear sinuses and help with congestion. Drinking ginger tea will kill two birds with one stone by clearing nasal passages and hydrating the body. Eating spicy foods may not be great with an upset stomach, but if you're sick from the neck up they can help clear you out and have been shown to reduce inflammation.
- Use a Neti Pot - This I have yet to try but I have heard many rave reviews. They seem weird at first, but I've warmed up (no pun intended) to the idea of flushing salt water through my nose. It's a natural way to get rid of gunk and is very cost-efficient. Be sure to read up on the instructions as I imagine too much salt can burn, but give it a go and see how it works! Along the same lines, gargling can help soothe a sore throat. I throw in a couple teaspoons of salt into warm to hot water and then gargle away.
- Don't use zinc nasal spray - I am a firm believer in Zicam but will stop using their nasal spray. The FDA has come out with warnings about nasal products and zinc due to reports of loss of smell after using the products. I'd much rather trade a couple days of lost smell due to a virus for an entire lifetime of no-smell, and will be switching over to their oral tablets the next time a cold strikes. Zinc has been shown to lessen the duration and severity of colds if administered within 24 hours of symptoms and most likely works by binding to virus receptors on cells, essentially blocking the virus from getting into your cells and doing its job.
- Sleep in an upright position - Well, not like a horse or anything but with your head elevated or propped up a little more than usual. This will help to drain the sinuses and make it easier to breathe which in turn provides a better night's rest. Such a simple, free, remedy that I am definitely trying next time I'm struck down.
With these tools I'm ready to combat my next cold and will have to stock my "sick box" in my bathroom with some new remedies such as a Neti Pot. What are your tried and true cold remedies?
As a side note - I've hopped on the Twitter bandwagon! You can follow me here: @naturallyfrugal and might have noticed my new Twitter sidebar. I still have to figure out how to navigate the system but I think I've gotten the jist of it so add me and see what happens in the real life of Naturally Frugal.
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