Easy Homemade Beauty Products!

Here on Ear to the Earth, we mostly talk about what goes into your body and the importance of a whole foods plant based diet, but today I want to discuss a few things that, although we don't eat them, end up inside our bodies all the same. As I'm sure we all know by now, our skin isn't an impenetrable barrier between us and the outside world; it is, in fact, permeable, and much of what our skin comes in contact with is absorbed straight into the bloodstream! I've been slowly transitioning the few beauty and personal care products I use from the creepy chemical-laden store bought brands to clean, safe, and simple homemade ones for some time now, but then one day I thought, "I kiss Viv's chunky little cheeks about 50 million times a day. I do NOT want to be plastering her with all these creepy toxins!" And so the great clean out has begun. I started with products I use on my face, since that's what comes in contact with her the most, and will move on to hair next. Until then, let me share with you these simple (but important!) changes I've made.

One of the only bits of makeup I wear is blush, and the only thing you need to make your own is a beet! I got the instructions from my favorite blog, YumUniverse, and I encourage you to toss whatever blush you're currently using and make your own beet blush today. It has such a nice subtle and natural color that I just love and can feel so good about applying to my skin.

I don't really use eyeliner, but sometimes for special occasions (like my wedding) I do use eyeshadow. Here is a super simple way to make your own eyeshadow/eyeliner from activated charcoal capsules, which you can find for less than $10 at your local health food store, and it works so well! Much better than any other eyeshadow or eyeliner I've ever used.

And finally, the lip balm. This is the one product I use all the time. Right after Vivian was born, the only things I wanted were water and my lip balm - ha ha! This recipe is marvelous, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to make enough to have one tin in every room of the house. It really is that good! Here's how to make it:

1t beeswax
1T coconut oil
1T grapeseed oil
6 drops orange essential oil (You can substitute other essential oils here; just be sure they're safe to apply to the skin!)

• Heat beeswax and oils together in oven (on lowest temperature setting possible) till melted.
• Remove from oven and add essential oil.
• Pour into 2 lip balm tins, cap, and allow to cool.

These three things are so easy and inexpensive to make on your own, and the finished products are well worth the small bit of effort required. If you try any of them, I'd love to hear how they turn out!

Blueberry Studded Lemon Cookies

So even though I write a blog about health, it's no secret that I have an insatiable sweet tooth. (Someday I really, really want to cut sugar out of my life, but not today!) Today I had no means of satisfying that sweet tooth - no ready made goodies and none of the right ingredients to whip something up. I was desperate enough that I took stock of what I had and with it miraculously came up with the most divine cookie ever. I present to you Blueberry Studded Lemon Cookies.

I say these are blueberry studded because lemon really is the star of the show. I'm a bit lemon crazed; I just can't get enough of it, and so I used the zest and juice of an entire, rather large, organic lemon in this recipe.

Next time I want to try to vegetarianize them, replacing the butter with coconut oil and the egg with a chia egg, and I would also like to try a Lemon Lavender version because I love lavender as well. (Have I mentioned that I started an entire packet of lavender seeds? Some women think you can't have enough shoes, some think you can never have too many handbags. Me, I don't think you can ever have too much lavender or lemon!)

Blueberry Studded Lemon Cookies
1/2c organic butter, softened
3/4c honey
1 egg
Zest and juice of 1 organic lemon
1t vanilla
2c flour
2t aluminum free baking powder
1/2t salt
1c frozen blueberries

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line cookie sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
• Cream together butter and honey, then add egg, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla extract, blending well.
• Mix in dry ingredients.
• Fold in blueberries.
• Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto cookie sheet and bake 14 minutes.
• Devour and share with a friend!

I have no idea how many cookies this recipe makes because I ate way too much cookie dough. Sweet tooth satisfied!

And the Viv photo for the post. This is her today during tummy time! She's 12 weeks old!

Wet Your Plants

My dear friend shared with me this sign she saw at a garden center: "Spring is here. We're so excited we wet our plants!" I must say I concur! At the time of my last post, Clint had just built the frames for my raised beds. This past weekend, he filled them with a truckload of deliciously-rich-with-compost soil, and I finally got to plant my first garden!

I know you're going to be a little surprised about this, but I went a little overboard in my planting (all from seed). I planted, or have started inside, four varieties of heirloom tomatoes, heirloom lemon cucumber, a flower petal salad, four varieties of basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano, lavender, heirloom summer squash, heirloom sweet pepper, heirloom okra, cardoon, heirloom purple carrots, spinach, red romaine, heirloom curly kale, borage, swiss chard, beets, broccoli, mesculun, beans, heirloom peas, milk thistle, calendula, chives, lemon balm, cilantro, dill, and echinacea. I promise I held back. The list of what I didn't plant but wanted to is just as long. Maybe we can add another bed or two next year.

Yes, I have a superman husband, and Vivian even helped too!

And, our CSA starts in two weeks, and the farmers market reopened this past Saturday! Yes, I'm definitely wetting my plants. Are you wetting yours? Have you planted anything this year?

As of Late

Well, obviously I don't have nearly the time to blog as I did before The Viv. Sorry about that! She's zonked out at the moment though, so I thought I'd post some quick food-spiration. So here you have it, an actual original recipe of mine. But that's not as exciting as it sounds. I had an empty kitchen but was hungry for something healthy, so I pretty much just combined everything I had, and it was delish! Without further ado, I give you Black Bean & Pesto Quinoa.

Black Bean & Pesto Quinoa
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 zucchini
2 cups cooked black beans
8 oz arugula pesto
Raw sunflower seeds

• Cook the quinoa
• Cube zucchini and combine on cookie sheet with black beans. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in a 350 degree oven till zucchini is slightly browned and beans are crispy.
• Thaw arugula pesto in a sink of hot water. (Haha, I had this in my freezer from the abundance of arugula I was getting in my fall CSA share. If you don't have frozen arugula pesto on hand, just make pesto like you normally would but sub arugula for basil!)
• Once everything is cooked, roasted, and thawed, stir it all together, top with sunflower seeds, and enjoy!

 I also made this amazing, and I mean amazing, Edamame and toasted Coconut in Avocado recipe from Joy the Baker. This is a recipe I plan to repeat at least once a week; it's that good!

Last weekend Clint, Vivian, and I spent the majority of our time outside, and my super fantastic amazing husband built me two raised garden beds! I absolutely cannot wait to get planting!

And here's Viv in her retro Baby Banz. They're perfect for all her adventures!

A Very Special Gift

Family and friends have been beyond generous and supportive of Clint and me as we have welcomed our new baby into the world. We've been almost smothered with gifts, cards, and prayers over the past six months or so! One of the most special gifts we received is this handmade quilt from my very dear friend Sharon.

The quilting and binding are all hand stitched, and Vivian's full name is beautifully embroidered in one corner. There is so much love and friendship in each of those individual stitches and in each piece of fabric chosen that I was overcome with emotion when the quilt arrived in the mail and I tore into the package. Viv is so lucky at have such a wonderful auntie, and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful friend!

Vivian (when she was a newborn) is obviously quite content wrapped up in so much love.

The beautiful hand stitching of her name

If you love the quilt as much as I do, you should check out Sharon's portfolio. I can guarantee it'll blow you away. She's one of the most talented and creative people I know, and her portfolio perfectly represents her unique style and skill!

Spring is in the Air

I have a nostalgic obsession with rhubarb. My great aunt used to grow rhubarb in her garden and dutifully deliver bags of it to my mom every spring. My mom would then turn it into the most amazing rhubarb crisp. That combination of sweet and tangy couldn't be more perfect, but now the copious amounts of butter and sugar are much less appealing to me! So with spring in the air and rhubarb season upon us, I was on the hunt for a healthy rhubarb recipe. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy! Most are either for strawberry rhubarb pie or variations on the rhubarb crisp my mom used to make. Obviously not an improvement nutritionally. Finally though, I found a recipe for Chia Rhubarb Apricot Muffins that sounded quite delightful, and it sure was! If you're a rhubarb fan, I recommend you make these as soon as you can get your hands on some fresh rhubarb!

I've also been craving massive amounts of veggies. I just can't seem to get enough! So when I spotted this recipe for Wild Rice and Quinoa Power Party in a Bowl that contains at least five different vegetables, I knew I'd found the perfect meal. In this photo, I topped it with avocado to make it even more delicious and nutritious!

And I think it's nearly impossible for me to post anymore without sharing a recent photo of Vivian, and this one sure does make me laugh!

Love and veggies, Lizzie

TOMS Shoes

If you have a pair of TOMS and you're like me, you love you your TOMS! And what's not to love? Their motto is "One for One." Every time you buy a pair of shoes from TOMS, they give a pair to a child in need. As if the cuteness of the shoes wasn't enough, the company's philanthropy has only added to their crazy popularity. My poor TOMS are pretty beat up by now. I got them way back when the company was pretty new, and then my dog got a hold of them, but they're still great, right? Well, maybe they're actually not so great. Not too long after I purchased my pair, I noticed a little tag on the inside of the TOMS of my other friends, a tag not present in mine, a tag that read, "Made in China." What could this mean? We all know that many American companies outsource the production of their goods to China or other countries for the cheap labor and slack regulations. I personally try to avoid buying things from these countries because I don't want to support exploitation of any kind, wherever it lies on the scale between unfair labor practices and human trafficking, unless the company is dedicated to and transparent about paying their employees a living wage and investing in the betterment of the community. If that was the case behind the "Made in China" tag inside TOMS shoes, I'm still all about supporting them. If not however, it seems even worse than a company like Nike (who is well known for their exploitation of workers in the name of profit) doing the same thing because TOMS bases their entire image on doing good in the world, and exploiting the poor and vulnerable does not match up with doing good in the world. Well, my dear friend was considering purchasing a pair of TOMS and wanted to find out about their manufacturing practices, so she emailed the company. Below is their reply.

Does that answer satisfy you? It sure didn't satisfy me. What exactly does "representatives in the factories virtually every day" mean? Who are these representatives, and what exactly are they doing? And the term "human rights and safety efforts" sounds pretty weak to me. Come on TOMS, we need more than "effort" in this area, we need actual, concrete, ethical practices! I think this response from TOMS is weak, shallow, and does little to conceal that at the end of the day, they're more about profit than they are about giving back, despite all the bravado indicating otherwise.

I don't want to leave you without a alternative to the TOMS disappointment! Check out the company, soleRebels. They make their shoes in Ethopia, and pay their workers a living wage. They use locally sourced organic materials and utilize recycled and artisan materials as well, among many other positive things! Now that's a company I can get behind and support wholeheartedly!