DIY Taco Night
This is one of my favorite dinners. It's super easy, everyone can make what they want, and eat as much as they want.
Ingredients:
Filling-Ground beef/refried beans/fake ground beef
Shells-hard/soft
Taco seasoning
Extras-Tomatoes, lettuce, onions, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, cheese, etc.
I like to use the fake ground beef and add in taco seasoning. One bag of the Morning Star or Boca faux beef is equivalent to 1 lb of beef. Mix with about 2 tablespoons of seasoning (or 1 packet) and 1/2-3/4 cup of water. I also buy the Giant brand fresh salsa because it's really just diced up tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Separate your soft shells with paper towels and zap them for about 30 seconds to make them warm and flexible.
Boca ground beef crumbles
Birthday Pictures
 "Please check all firearms and bows at customer service prior to entering store"
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 True Blood calendar!
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 Cosmic Bowling!
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 Casa de waffles...NY 5oz steak
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 Waffle!
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 Super awesome netti pot from Mr Compton =)
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 Aroogas for the Jets game
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 Macho Nachos
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 Coffee with Kaluha
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How to Stop Procrastinating
1. Get organized-Knowing what needs to be done, in what order, and how long it will realistically take is half the battle. Writing out a game plan can help get you started because it may not seem like doing the actual work, but it IS doing something. Don't assume it's going to take you 10 minutes to write out that email if it's really going to take you an hour. If you give yourself more time, it'll feel good to finish with time to spare (just don't let that time go to more procrastinating).
2. Find inspiration/get excited-Have a hard time getting to the gym? Look at pictures of people who are fit and imagine what you'll feel like when you are in shape. This may have to be a daily thing. Keep it fresh. Picture that dream vacation you're going to take as soon as your project is done.
3. Start simple-You have a game plan, now start at the beginning. Do something simple to get the ball rolling, then don't stop.
4. Caffeine-Sometimes stimulants are necessary. I am against the daily cup (or pot) of coffee to get moving, but sometimes you need a little pick me up. Yerba Mate is my current drug of choice. Not quite the caffeine content of coffee means I don't get jittery, and I can drink it all day for a smooth level of alertness without the crashing.
5. Stop Googling "How to overcome procrastination" and reading productivity blogs- I've done it before: Googled "how to stop procrastinating" and that in itself was procrastinating from doing any real work.
6. Bore yourself to death-Say to yourself, "okay, well if I'm not going to work on project X, then I'm not allowed to watch tv/surf the internet either." Get rid of distractions. If you're forced to sit in a quiet room or cubicle with no form of stimulation, eventually you'll want to do *something*, even if it's work.
7. Don't be a perfectionist-"I'll do it later when I have more time" is NOT a valid excuse if you're a procrastinator. I do this all the time with emails. I tell myself I want to write a really well planned and thought out letter, but I'll have to do it later when I have more time. The outcome is either never writing it, or writing it 2 months later when it really doesn't matter anymore.
8. JUST DO IT!!! Put everything else aside and just go. Whether it means writing a paper, coding, going to the gym, cleaning, etc. Just do it.
Tea
I'm a huge tea drinker and I was going through my stash today and decided to take note of what I have:
Rooibos After Seven
Star of India
Yellow Plum Oolong
Grandma's Apple Pie
Dream Tea
Party in the Jungle
Almond Cookie
Wu Yi Oolong
Strawberry Cream Green Tea
Caramel Rooibos
Chocolate Yerba Mate (bags)
Yogi Joint Comfort (bags)
Herbal Detox (bags)
Several varieties of Lipton/Bigelow (bags)
Abbreviation Fail
I love Sheetz, however, SHTZ is a different story.
I <3 SHTZ
(check out their online store, they also have shirts, and license plate covers with the phrase, not to mention Sheetz Shnuggles)
Homemade Deodorant
There are tons of studies that say antiperspirant *may* lead to some forms of cancer. I stopped using deodorants with aluminum a long time ago because, while it seems more pleasant not to sweat, it doesn't seem natural. One day I stumbled upon a recipe for making deodorant, I was amazed by how simple it was, and how logical. Baking soda, cornstarch, and coconut oil are really all you need. You can also add essential oils to make it scented, or add tea tree oil to make it antibacterial.
Materials Needed
Recipe:
1/4 cup Baking Soda
1/4 cup Cornstarch
4+ tablespoons of coconut oil
Optional:
few drops of essential/tea tree oil.
Instructions:
Mix the baking soda and cornstarch together. It helps if the coconut oil is a softened solid. Mine was solid, so I zapped it in the microwave for a few seconds.
It's too cold in my apartment when my coconut oil is rock solid.
Mix the dry ingredients and the oils together.
I like to mix it by hand
And then either keep it in a bowl/container, or put in empty deodorant container.
Finished Product
I like to pop it in the fridge for a few minutes after it's done to help it solidify faster.
Note: This makes almost 2 full sticks of deodorant for me. I've read to use 5 tablespoons of coconut oil, but I tend to like it at about 4 tbs. Testing it out and adding more of one thing or another is key. If you don't use enough coconut oil it will clump, but won't hold together uniformly. If you use too much, I find that it gets too liquid-y when applying.
I've been using this mixture for about a year now. As a deodorant I think it works really well. It's absolutely comparable to any store bought deodorant I've purchased, plus I think it lasts a bit longer throughout the day. There's also no stinging after shaving, no harsh chemicals, it's cheap and easy, and even though coconut oil irritates my skin, I never have a problem with it in this.
There are things you have to be careful for, like in what temperature you store it at. Coconut oil has a melting point of 76ºF*, and that means your deodorant is going to turn into soup come May. I don't have air conditioning (nor would I keep it that low), so in the summer I keep it in the fridge. Once, I accidentally had it in the car for a little too long and it melted all over everything in my travel bag =/. If you're traveling with it, definitely keep it in a zip lock bag, and plastic bag to ensure it won't spill on anything else. The deodorant easily washed off of my clothes, but I was kind of annoyed of the hassle at that point and tried the crystal stone deodorant. Maybe I wasn't doing it right, but that didn't work for me at all. I used it for about 2 months (I wanted to give my body enough time to "get used to it" as everyone always says) but it didn't do anything for me. I find that I like this basking soda version the best, and I have a stick of store bought Dove for in case of emergency (will get switched to something better when it runs out).
Here are some links you might find helpful:
Effective Homemade Deodorant: My Baby Steps Story: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/08/27/effective-homemade-deodorant-my-baby-steps-story/
Quick Stick Deodorant: http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/03/quick-stick-deodorant.html
Things I need to accomplish tonight:
-Clean up (pick up trash, take out trash, wash dishes)
-Put something in the oven for dinner.
-Clean bathroom quickly
-Shower
-Eat dinner
-Write out Christmas Cards while watching Netflix movie
Sleep!
I needed to write this down publicly so I am more motivated to actually do it (or maybe I'm just procrastinating by writing random blog posts, hmm...).
(I've included a random picture for my random post.)