Earthbound Farms Savings

You can register for a new program from Earthbound Farms and they will email out coupons for their organic items. I signed up today and the first coupon I got was $.75 off Power Greens.

They say you can save up to $50 this year from Earthbound Farms when you sign up. Earthbound Farms has many organic produce items and is carried at most grocery stores so I highly recommend signing up as coupons on organic items don't often come along.

Menu Plan 4/16-4/22

Honey whole wheat muffins

My boy with a broken jaw is on his last week of an all liquid diet so only a few more days of creative smoothie making. On Thursday he should be able to start eating again so we're having his favorite meal, Orange Chicken from Trader Joe's. He says he can eat an entire pizza but we're going to work up to that.

Weekly Menu Plan 4/14- 4/22

Monday: Crockpot Chicken thighs with potatoes and carrots
Tuesday: Baked Tilapia, rice, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Ravioli with homemade marinara
Thursday: Orange Chicken, rice, stir fry veggies
Friday: Tacos

Saturday lunch: Chicken Noodle Soup
Saturday dinner: Pizza
Sunday: Leftovers & Burgers

Snacks: PearSauce, Honey Walnut Granola, Honey whole wheat muffins

I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

What's on your menu plan this week?

Raw Sugar Scrub

Are you looking for an easy and frugal Mother's Day present or teacher gift for the end of school? This simple sugar scrub is just the thing. I generally make it just for me as I like to pamper myself with skin treatments but stick a bow & little wooden spoon on it and it would make a great gift.

Raw Sugar Scrub
1 cup raw sugar
1 oz light oil*
1/2 t. vitamin E oil
up to 6 drops essential oil**
12 oz clean jar with a tight fitting lid***

Pour the sugar into a bowl and mix in about an ounce of light oil (or more for dry skin), vitamin E oil (a preservative) and a few drops of essential oil. I added 3 drops lavender and 1 drop peppermint essential oils as that is recommended in The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy for general headaches. I don't have headaches a lot but thought those scents would be soothing to my brain while the sugar scrubs & moisturizes my skin.

Scoop up a small handful while in the bath or shower and massage all over your body to exfoliate and moisturize. You may need to stir the scrub between uses.

*light oils include: almond oil, avocado oil, apricot kernel oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower seed oil, safflower oil, extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil
** ideas for essential oils: lavender is soothing, lemon and orange are invigorating, ylang-ylang is romantic, peppermint is energizing & good for headaches
***I wash out and save jars of my favorite salsa for projects such as these.

Natural Hair Lightener

The older I get the less blond I am. My hair has always been blond, from the white blond of my childhood to the the honey blond of adulthood. Now that my thirties are upon me my blondness is darker than I'd like yet I still don't want to do anything unnatural to my hair.

One of my favorite books on making your own beauty treatments is Natural Beauty from the Garden by Janice Cox. She recommends chamomile, lemon juice and vodka as natural hair lighteners; honey works too.

Here's what I put together:

Natural Highlight Spray
1 cup strongly brewed chamomile tea
1 T lemon juice

Mix together and pour into a small spray bottle.  I didn't have any vodka on hand as I used all of mine making vanilla extract but you can also add 1 T of vodka to this mix.

Spray or comb through damp hair every morning before heading outside and gradually the sun's rays will naturally lighten your hair over time.