I have always been fairly obsessed with my face cleansing ritual. That is definitely one thing my mom instilled in me. My husband loves to make fun of my nightly routine and how long it takes me to get ready for bed.

I have been on a small quest to try and find workable recipes to make my own face cleaners. I want to take care of my skin. I’d like to do so in a way that’s affordable, green and safe as possible. So far I have found two recipes I like- an eye make remover and a toner.

Eye Makeup Remover

• recycled travel size shampoo bottle (or anything similar)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of castor oil
• 2 tablespoons of vege oil

Mix and use cotton ball to gently dab on lashes.

Astringent

• Use a recycled astringent bottle
• half a bottle of purified water
• half a bottle of witch hazel
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (optional)

Mix ingredients together. If using the lemon juice, store astringent in the refrigerator. The lemon adds an extra cleansing ingredient and makes the toner more refreshing (great for summer weather).

The other thing I have come up with to reduce the amount of paper I am consuming is create my own form of cotton pads. While these do NOT work well with any type of oil, such as the eye makeup remover, they are wonderful and SOFT for the astringent.

I used leftover soft flannel material from the baby bag I made. I cut 4 squares and simply sewed around the edge to hold them together. I have been using them since February, they wash up great and are still in wonderful condition.

Just making these small changes in my routine has saved me a lot of money and I feel better about the amount of trash I am producing.

If anyone has any great cleansing recipes, please share!

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I realize that in most areas, unlike my own, a farmer’s market may not be in full swing the entire year. I am guessing, however, that they may be starting up and going strong about now.

I am sure most of my readers have heard of the benefits of eating local, and I try to do this as much as possible. I can’t say, sadly, that I am a slave to this idea, but I throughly enjoy cruising around a farmers market and trying out new fresh produce.

One of my favorite Korean recipes, that I make on a bi-weekly basis is Bee Bim Bop. This is a wonderful meal that incorporates many vegetables and can be altered to match whatever is in season at that time.

Bee Bim Bop (rice with meat and veggies)

Meat -
1 lb. of tender lean beef (slice thin across the grain- the thinner the better)

Marinade

• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• a bunch of green onions
• 2 TBSP of oil (veggie or sesame work the best)
• 6 TBSP of lite soy sauce
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1 TBSP roasted sesame seeds
• black pepper to taste

Marinate beef for at least one hour. Once done marinating, fry all of it at one time, over high heat until meat turns brown and is fully cooked.

Egg-

Beat 4 eggs in a bowl until completely mixed. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and pour about 1/4 of the mixture into the pan. Create a very thin egg pancake and cook completely. Take egg out of pan, and cool. Repeat process until mixture is gone and all eggs are cooled. Cut eggs into thin ribbons and place in a bowl.

Veggies-

• Carrots- cut into thin sticks and stirfry in oil
• Spinach- boil a pot full of water, place fresh spinach in and turn off heat. Let Spinach sit for about a minute, drain and stirfry in oil. Add spices such as garlic and Mrs. Dash.
• Cucumbers- Cut 2 large cucumbers into 1/2 inch rounds and place in bowl. Add about 6 TBSP of soy sauce and 3TBSP of sesame seed oil. Season with toasted sesame seeds and Mrs. Dash.
• Bean Sprouts- parboil, stirfry in sesame oil
• Any other veggies that you want to add

Serve all items over a bed of fresh cooked rice. We like to use Korean rice.  Enjoy!

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