Hippie at heart

I know it's been a while and since coming home from my spring break vacation, I have been greeted by the knowledge of two crazy and very hectic weeks ahead of me (this week and next).  So, instead of blogging about the craptastic-ness of these upcoming weeks, I wanted to focus on a small little something that occurred to me today, which made me smile.

My friend Nikki introduced me to LUSH.  I'm loopy for LUSH (an homage to my childhood memory of  "Coo coo for Coco Puffs" commercials).  I fancy the LUSH bar shampoo and the LUSH bar conditioner, although I think I may try one of their liquid conditioners.  Only time will tell.  I've noticed how I'm pulling out/losing less hair in the shower and the fewer times I have to clean my shower drain/wall the better!  (Yeah, I take the loose hair that comes out in my hand after shampooing and stick it to the wall until my shower wall looks like Sasquatch's back.  Don't judge.)  And I really like the way my hair smells and feels too!  It took a while for my hair to adjust to the new product, but that's to be expected.  As LUSH says, "Solid shampoos have no preservatives (there’s no liquid content so they don't need any), need very little packaging, and are very light to carry around with you. Ace."  (The Ace remark was all them...even more reason to like them.)

Another company I have to profess my extreme liking for is Moon Valley Organics based out of Washington.  I'm obsessed with their Moon Valley bar soap so much that I've had their products shipped to me (not so eco-friendly I know) and when I went to Seattle, I made sure to go to Pike's Place downtown to stop at their vendor booth and stocked up.

In addition to truly liking these products (which by the way I am receiving no compensation for singing their praises and can assure you these are all my own opinions), I thoroughly enjoyed looking at my shower rack and seeing so much less clutter.  No shampoo, conditioner, or body wash bottles hogging the little shower rack shelves.  Now my bars have plenty of room to themselves while having happy little bar neighbors nearby on the next shelf.

For those of you who don't know this, I like to take songs and insert my own lyrics especially when I'm in the car and have the urge to pee...badly.  So, I re-wrote Wishin' and Hopin' to fit my appreciation of these and other products.


Reducin', reusin', recyclin', are awesome
Change just one thing cuz small steps are a great start
I'm a bit of a hippie at heart

So if you're thinking how crazy all this sounds
All you gotta do is find it, and buy it, and try it, you'll like it
Yeah, just do it!
And after you do, you won't look back

Do I have a bit of a problem?  Let me answer your question with a question.  Does a bear poop in the woods?  I think you have your answer!

I'm out!  (insert mic drop)

Coupons and Lettuce Wraps

My apologies for the vagueness of what is to follow.  I don't want to spoil it in case my sister reads this...
Last Friday (2 days ago Friday), I was working on putting together my nephew's birthday present and since I have to make it and then send it off to a magical place in cyberspace to get it assembled, I wanted to get it done in plenty of time before his birthday next month.  Now the company I use gives me coupons and I had one that was set to expire Saturday meaning I had one day to make his gift.  Deadlines help put pressure on me to get things done, but this was too close for even my liking!  Anyway, I'm working on this present like an elf in Santa's workshop - haulin' ass like it's Christmas Eve so I can use this blasted coupon.  Are you on the edge of your seat?  I bet.  It's a tantalizing tale.  You'll be happy to know I got that bad boy sent off at 3PM on Saturday and got to use my coupon!  WOO HOO!  Oh, but wait.  There's more.  I wake up this morning and check my email to find a message from the company.  Those bastards extended the deadline for the coupon until Tuesday.  Well, it was early when I saw this so I don't fully remember what I said aloud to myself, but you can be assured I dropped some choice expletives.  I'm just telling myself that at least the gift is done and is one thing off my to-do list.

And now onto the recipe...
My friend and her husband made these for me one night and was generous enough to share the recipe with me.  They are awesome and one of my favorite things to eat.  I hope you like them too!  Oh, and did I mention they are ridiculously easy to make?  Cuz they are. 

THAI LETTUCE WRAPS

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of Hoisin sauce
- 1/2-1/4 cup of Thai peanut sauce (I use a little more than 1/4)
- Dash of ground ginger
- Soy crumbles (or your preferred meat choice)
- Romaine hearts
- Chow Mein noodles
- Green onions

Directions:

1. Cook soy crumbles in a frying pan.
2. While that's cooking, combine Hoisin sauce, Thai peanut sauce, and ground ginger in a bowl and set aside until the soy crumbles are done cooking.
3. Cut the end of the Romaine hearts.
4. While you're at it, chop up some green onions.
5. Wash and pat dry the lettuce leaves.
6. Once the soy crumbles are done, add your sauce mixture to the pan and stir until all is covered.
7. Take a few spoonfuls (however heaping or non-heaping you like your spoonfuls) and fill a Romaine leaf.
8. Sprinkle the Chow Mein noodles and green onions on top of your lettuce wrap.  Voila!  
9. Repeat steps 6 & 7 as desired and eat to your heart's content.  (That is a direction and you better follow it.  There is a fine line between heart's content and food baby so proceed with caution.)

I forgot the green onions so they're not in this photo.  My bad!