September 8, 2012

Earlier this week I mentioned that I received my New Beauty Test Tube from QVC for this quarter. BigSis has been receiving these fun quarterly products from QVC for a while now and she was sweet enough to sign me up to receive one each quarter!

We both received ours around the same time, which has probably been a little over a month now and I started using a couple of products as soon as I could get this cute little pink cylinder unpacked! 🙂

I love the the Laura Geller waterproof primer and the Jose Maran Argan Oil, but my favorite product out of this quarter's goodie box of surprises is, without a doubt, the Algenist Firming and Lifting Cream.

Here's how Algenist describes this product:

This ultra-firming and restructuring cream tightens and lifts while reinforcing the skin structure. The unique combination of Alguronic Acid + ProPeptide³ boosts production of skin's key structural proteins: elastin, collagen, and proteoglycans to rebuild firmness and tone the skin. Facial contours are redefined to create a more toned and sculpted appearance.

After we had both been using this product for a couple of weeks, we chatted on the phone about it. I thought it was my imagination that I noticed results within just a couple of weeks while I was just using it once a day. When BigSis told me that she was using it twice a day and she definitely noticed a tightening in her skin, I immediately started using mine twice a day.

My skin is definitely tighter, yet softer, and I think, maybe, just “maybe”, some of the wrinkles are a little less noticeable!

Here are Algenist's 3rd party Clinical and Consumer Testing Results.

A third-party clinical study of 20 women, aged 45 to 60 years, examined the ability of the Firming & Lifting Cream to firm the skin and increase elasticity over 10 and 28 day periods. Through scientific measurement, the Firming & Lifting Cream is clinically proven to increase skin firmness and elasticity by 15% in 10 days.

We've both tried a lot of skin care products and different creams that claim to work miracles; some working better than others, but this one definitely gets 5 stars from me.

The 1/2 oz. sample size will probably last another week or so, so I would say I might get six weeks out of it. The only drawback I see right now is that the 2 oz. size of the Algenist Firming and Lifting Cream is $94.00.

When I get my beauty product budget back up to par, I do think that it would be worth it because the 2 oz. will probably last almost six months.

Note from BigSis: I agree, LilSis! I do think this product tightens my skin. Now, I'm not saying it looks like I've had a facelift or anything that dramatic, but I did notice that my jowls weren't quite as droopy after I used this cream for just a few days. I had the opportunity to test another Algenist product in a previous Test Tube. I got a nice size jar of their Anti-Aging Moisturizer, and I liked it just as well as the Firming and Lifting Cream. A 2 oz. jar of it sells on QVC for $90, which is a bit pricey so I haven't bought it. I think the alguronic acid must be effective for our kind of skin, since both of these products contain it.

One good thing about QVC is that they put together “try me” kits where you get several products to test, rather than having to buy full-size items before you know if they work for you. I wish they had a kit with both of these products in it, but all I see now is a firming kit and an anti-aging kit.  One last note: Algenist's web site says that they do no animal testing, which makes us happy!

~LilSis

September 4, 2012

A few weeks ago; I was pleasantly surprised when the UPS driver rang the doorbell and dropped off a package containing another New Beauty Test Tube.

BigSis sent me my first one a few months ago but I didn't know that she signed me up to receive one each quarter. 🙂

THANKS again, BigSis.

Here are the eight awesome products that came in the Test Tube this quarter.

• Algenist Firming and Lifting Cream
• Laura Geller Waterproof Eye Spackle Pen
• smashbox Photo Finish
• Mally High Shine Liquid Lip Color
• philosophy love sweet love shampoo, bath & shower gel
• bliss lemon+sage body butter
• Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil
• Ojon Damage Reverse Restorative Conditioner

I haven't tried all of these products yet; but so far I really like the ones that I have used. Stay tuned; I'll be back in a day or two to tell you about my favorite.

And, I think BigSis might agree.

~LilSis

September 3, 2012

Fortunately, we both have the day off from work and will be trying to get a little R&R!

We appreciate all our readers and wish everyone a Blessed and Happy Labor Day. 🙂

photo credit: maorlando on Flickr

~LilSis

August 19, 2012

Maybe we don't want our hair QUITE this shiny!

Did you know that apple cider vinegar is actually good for your hair? You might think it would dry out your hair and scalp, but that's not the case. I have very dry hair, and have been using this natural treatment for a while with only great results.

Apple cider vinegar purifies the hair; removing product build-up from the hair and scalp. It adds softness, body and shine.

It's a natural product, it costs just pennies, and most of us probably already have it in our pantry.

Here's how you do it:

• Make sure that you use apple cider vinegar, not white distilled vinegar. I've used the more expensive organic apple cider vinegar in a pinch, but I usually just buy the cheap store brand and haven't noticed any difference. I know organic is always preferable when it comes to what we put in and on our bodies, but in this case I'm not stressing about it.

• Shampoo your hair as usual, rinse and towel dry. Gently sprinkle the vinegar onto your head aiming for your scalp rather than the hair ends. I say “gently” because you do NOT want a drop of this vinegar flying into your eyes! I probably use around 1/4 cup of vinegar, but you don't need to measure. Just keep sprinkling until you feel like your head is saturated.

• I usually do this over the sink instead of in the shower since I want to leave it on for a while. I think the chance of getting vinegar in your eyes in the shower is greater too, with all that water spraying around. If you're doing this treatment in the shower though, make sure the container you take into the shower isn't glass.

• Once you get the vinegar on, massage it into your scalp and work it around, again being careful to protect your eyes from any wild splashes. Work it through to the ends, and use a wide tooth comb to distribute it. Be careful, wet hair is fragile.

• Leave the vinegar on for a few minutes. I usually aim for around 15 minutes.

• Thoroughly rinse the vinegar out in cool water. I think cold water adds shine too because it closes the cuticle of the hair. Massage your scalp to rinse free any build-up the vinegar has dissolved, and rinse, rinse, rinse.

• Condition and style as usual.

You might notice a lingering trace of vinegar aroma for the next couple of days when your hair is wet, but once it's dry there's no tell-tale smell. No one will accuse you of smelling like a salad!

I like to use this treatment once a week if possible to keep product build-up to a minimum. Give it a try!

Photo credit: Rapscallion's Flickr Photostream

~BigSis

August 11, 2012

There's a lot to love about Trader Joe's; not the least of which is that they carry plenty of vegan products and they're easily identified with a “V” on the front of the package.

We've only had Trader Joe's stores here in Texas for two months now, and I've already made three 90-mile round trips to stock up on products that I can't get anywhere else. These are some of my favorite vegan Trader Joe's products so far.

I'm planning to keep updating this list, and to make it easily accessible from our home page. If you have any favorite items I should check out, let me know!

Snacks

• Pretzel Slims: Everything
• Reduced Guilt Pita Chips with Sea Salt
• Wasabi Roasted Seaweed Snack

Pantry Staples

• Brown Rice Medley
• Harvest Grains
• Diced & Fire Roasted Organic Tomatoes with Organic Green Chiles
• Artichoke Antipasto
• 100% Spanish Organic Extra Virgin Garlic Flavored Olive Oil
• Almond Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds
• Cranberry Apple Butter
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Sweets

• Dark Chocolate Nutty Bits

Refrigerated Items

• Organic Tofu Veggie Burgers
• This is Not a Tub of Cream Cheese
• Chunky Olive Hummus
• Cut and Cleaned Bag of Kale
• Tangerine Juice
• Reduced Fat Mayonnaise

Frozen

• Chicken-less Mandarin Orange Morsels
• Falafel
• Dorot Crushed Garlic

For a complete list of Trader Joe's vegan products,
please see the guide on their web site.

~BigSis

August 5, 2012

This is another super simple and delicious summertime pasta salad.

I don't normally eat much pasta; but there's something about the Summer that makes me want to experiment with different cold pasta salads. (And, I'll admit that I've never really been a fan of cold pasta salads.)

We have a lot of cookouts with friends in the Summer and not only are pasta salads easy to throw together, but they also feed big crowds and are a perfect side dish for grilled chicken, fish or burgers.

Last weekend I took Bry's favorite Angel Hair Pasta Salad to his birthday celebration with the family and several of his hungry fellow sailors. It was a hit, as usual, but we managed to save one small dish of leftovers for the birthday boy. 🙂

The Seashells with basil, tomato, and garlic pasta salad that I made for our 4th of July celebration was also a huge hit with all our friends and with a lot of our readers. A big thanks to all our new readers that found us via Pinterest!

I found the original recipe for the BLT Pasta Salad on Food Network; but I adapted it, like I always do.  I don't know why, but I just can't follow a recipe exactly as written. I'll read it a couple of times for inspiration and will almost always change it up.

I decided to nix the milk, sour cream and mayo in the original recipe and try some yummy Caesar dressing instead. Then I thought I might as well throw in some black olives and Parmesan to make it more like a Caesar salad.

It did not disappoint.

Caesar BLT Pasta Salad
(adapted from Food Network)

16 oz. mini farfalle (bowties)
1 lb. bacon
1 pint sugar plum tomatoes, sliced
1 c. Gardini's Caesar dressing
1 c. sliced black olives
1/2 c. parmesan
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. olive oil
Juice of one lemon
4 c. chopped romaine lettuce

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water to al dente, then drain. (I cooked mine the night before and tossed it with the olive oil and lemon juice and marinated it in the refrigerator overnight.) This keeps the pasta from sticking together.

Cut the bacon into bite size pieces and cook in a large skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Discard the bacon grease; leaving just a tablespoon or so in the skillet. Add the sliced tomatoes and minced garlic and toss in the skillet for just a couple of minutes to cook the garlic and soften the tomatoes. Remove from heat and let sit until cool.

Since the pasta is nice and cold from being refrigerated overnight; just mix in the Caesar dressing, bacon, tomato mixture, olives and Parmesan, then toss in the chopped lettuce at the end and it's ready to go! Serve at room temperature.

Again; simple and delicious.

Note: I've made plenty of pasta salads with spinach but this is the first time that I've made one with lettuce; and, at first, I was a bit skeptical as to how it would turn out.  But, my hungry, meat and potato eatin' guys raved about it and all my friends loved it.

Obviously, you want to serve this salad pretty soon after it's made so the lettuce doesn't get all limp and wilted; but we snacked on it hours later and it was still very good.

I really hope you'll try this one. Enjoy!

BigSis' Vegan Twist:  Adios to the bacon and parmesan for starters. I wouldn't sub a faux bacon, since most that I've tried wouldn't stay crispy in a moist salad. Many aren't vegan anyway. To replace the salty flavors from the bacon and cheese, I'd use a really flavorful kalamata olive, some capers, and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.

We also need to cut the Caesar dressing since anchovies are part of the traditional recipe. We definitely want the Caesar flavors in this recipe but without the fishies, so we can make our own dressing or buy one. I think this recipe for vegan Caesar salad dressing sounds awesome. Follow Your Heart makes a vegan Caesar salad dressing if you don't want to make your own. That should do it!

~LilSis

July 24, 2012

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours caught a huge fish just a few miles off shore and we were lucky enough to be there when they brought it in so he sent us home with about three pounds of freshly caught fish.

Due to the type of fish this was, we decided to make fish tacos with it and I made this Pineapple Mango Salsa at the request of my son. I love fresh mangoes but I'm not crazy about them with onion.  As a matter of fact; I don't eat raw onion at all. But, I made it anyway; cause that's what moms do. 🙂

But, that being said, this Pineapple Mango Salsa that I found on Pioneer Woman was a huge hit at our house. I didn't change anything, so if you want to try it, here's the entire recipe for this Pineapple Mango Salsa. Instead of serving it on fish tacos, you could serve this salsa on nachos as Pioneer Woman did.

It would have been nice to photograph this salsa actually on a fish taco, but as usual, when the guys are around, there's barely any time at all for me to snap a pic or two!

~LilSis

July 12, 2012

Actually, that's not exactly true. At least it isn't the whole story. ShiKai Borage Therapy Dry Skin Lotion isn't just the best vegan body lotion I've ever used. It's the best body lotion I've ever used, period. Vegan or non-vegan, it's the best by a mile.

What's so great about it? It works!

The bottle claims that instead of working on the skin's surface, Borage Therapy works at the cellular level, fighting the cause of dry skin and healing it.

It also claims to relieve dry itchy skin quickly, and says that the skin will retain moisture to become healthier and more supple.

I don't claim to know what's happening to my skin at the cellular level, but here's what I do know for sure:

• My skin is softer and smoother than I've observed with any other body lotion.

• The softness stays. Even though there is no stickiness or greasiness, this lotion keeps working. When I shower the next day, I can feel a soothing layer of healing lotion rinsing from my skin. I didn't even know it was still there, but it was still doing it's thing.

• When I apply ShiKai Borage Therapy, it sinks in immediately. It doesn't go white on my skin, and it doesn't take a while to absorb into the skin. Who has time in the morning to wait on your body lotion to absorb before you can get dressed for work? Not me.

• I use the lightly-fragranced variety, and I love the scent. It's a very soft, almost citrusy scent. There is also an unscented formula if that's your preference.

• There are no animal ingredients and no animal testing is used. Sweet!

I found ShiKai Borage Therapy at my favorite hippie health food store, but you can also find it at Whole Foods, through ShiKai's web site, or at Amazon.com at a great price. I highly recommend it if you want to say goodbye to dry skin!

~BigSis

July 8, 2012

This seashell pasta dish was a big hit at our 4th of July gathering and it's perfect for any outdoor cookout or picnic!  For outdoor get-togethers, I prefer to take side dishes that don't have to be kept warm or cold; just to make it easier. Since this one doesn't have any mayo, it's perfect served at room temperature.

Seashells with basil, tomatoes, and garlic
(adapted from Sunset Magazine, June 2012)

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
3/4 t. sea salt
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 pt. small cherry or teardrop tomatoes (I used sugar plums)
1 lb medium seashell pasta
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, shaved
1/2 c. thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes and salt and simmer on very low heat for 5 minutes or so; being careful not to burn the garlic.  Slice half of the tomatoes and stir the tomatoes into the mixture and simmer another 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and place in a large bowl. Place the other half of the sliced tomatoes into the mixture and stir. Let stand for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (Raw tomatoes get juicy as they stand, which helps create the sauce.)

Meanwhile, cook pasta as package directs for al dente  in a large pot of salted water. When done, drain and toss pasta with tomato mixture, then with the cheese and all but 1 tbsp. basil. Sprinkle remaining basil on top and season with a little salt, to taste.

Voila! Super simple, healthy and delicious. I got so many compliments on this salad that I'll definitely be making it again. 🙂

Note: If you want to make this even easier, the original recipe from Sunset didn't call for simmering the garlic or tomatoes; they were just tossed all in a bowl to stand. Since I feel like some people don't enjoy raw garlic and I added the red pepper flakes to the recipe, I wanted to try simmering them all together before letting it stand and it worked out great.

Enjoy!

BigSis' Vegan Twist:  This recipe would be a piece of cake to veganize. All you have to do is cut the parmesan and make sure that your pasta doesn't have any eggs in it (most doesn't). You could add a cubed vegan cheese, but what I would probably do instead is add some sliced kalamata olives. You'd get nice briny flavor from the ollies, plus great color contrast. I'm thinking that drained capers and snipped chives would also be really tasty.

~LilSis

July 6, 2012

~LilSis