Healthy cooking challenge, February 20th to March 20th, 2016

Let's celebrate spring with delicious and good-for-you dishes that will not make your waist line expand and will be loved by the whole family! Between now and March 20th, post your favorite healthy recipe on your facebook, blog, Pinterest and post your links here in the comments section.  

The rule: no flour, no sugar, no gluten, low fat.

We will share your links and also vote for the most loved recipe. Join the challenge!

Yoga for everyone

Hello,

My name is Yanina and I am a felting artist. I own the nafanyafelt shop on Etsy but today I will not talk about felt. I`d like to share my knowledge of yoga with you.

Yes. Yoga.

Let me tell you what I tell newcomers in the studio I practice in (and make no mistake I am not a teacher, I am just a student, who talks a lot, lol )

Yoga is like some kind of weird food. You either fell in love with it from the first bite or you need time to understand the taste, but when you do, you will love it.

Yoga has nothing to do with getting in shape...oh no, of course you are going to get fit, flexible, strong and will have this amazing yoga butt. You will learn how to do impressive asanas and bend in every direction and the best part for us, girls, it is the feeling of lightness in your body.

Sounds good, right?

Oh well, yoga is not about that.

Mostly yoga is about being present. Live now, this second.

It is a life style of change in your life, not because you have to, but because you want to.

And the first change (and the easiest one) is the way you eat.

The practice will dictate what to eat, and believe me the practice is the worst dictator ever.

And you will listen, oh yes, you will listen.

All the food which gives us, girls, a muffin top will be forgotten.

And you will want it. Easy, right?

We all love lasagna. This is a very tasty Italian dish but at the same time a very heavy and oily meal. Today I would like to share yoga style lasagna recipe with you.

Ingredients:
•1/2 pound lasagna noodles
•2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
•1 pound soft tofu
•1 pound firm tofu
•3 tbsp minced fresh basil
•2 tsp salt
•1 32-ounce jar of tomato sauce

Preparation:

Soak the lasagna noodles in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain carefully and set aside on a towel.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Squeeze the spinach as dry as possible and set aside.

Place the tofu and salt in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan with a thin layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of noodles. Follow that with a layer of half the tofu, half the spinach and half the basil. Continue in the same order, using half of the remaining tomato sauce and noodles and the rest of the tofu mixture, spinach and basil. End with the remaining noodles covered by the remaining tomato sauce.

Enjoy!

By Yanina (nafanyafelt)

Natural homemade facial mask tips

Our team member Alesia, who runs Arctida shop on Etsy, likes to make skin care products on her own. We asked her to share some tips about facial masks.

Nourishing and Moisturizing mask with Avocado, Honey and Yogurt
This face mask is moisturizing, nourishing, smoothing and full of vitamins and minerals. It is perfect for dry and mature skin.

1 Avocado
1 tbs Honey
1 tbs Lemon juice
1 tbs Yogurt

Combine avocado, honey, lemon juice and yogurt in a blender. Let the mixture stand in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Apply mask on your face and neck and let set for about 10-15 minutes. Rinse off with warm water or just wipe off with a damp wash cloth.



Gentle peeling mask with Tomatoes
Tomatoes is a wonderful source of fruit acids (AHA = Alpha-hydroxy Acid). Fruit acids loosen the “glue” between dead skin cells and the cells fall away (aka peeling effect), leaving your face very smooth and soft.
1-2 Tomatoes
10 ml (2 tsp) Honey
4 g Cosmetic corn starch or 1 g Xanthan gum ***

*** if you don’t have cosmetic corn starch (or just do not want to use it), add as much cornmeal, oatmeal or any binder of your choice, as needed to produce a paste.
Combine tomatoes, honey and cosmetic starch/cornmeal/oatmeal in a blender. Apply formed paste to face and let set for about 10-15 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.






Cleansing fruit mask
Great homemade mask that helps you clean your face skin from the dead cells and blackheads
50 g Pineapple
50 g Muskmelon (any melon for that matter, except for watermelon will do fine)
100 ml Water
8 g Cosmetic corn starch***

*** if you don’t have cosmetic corn starch (or just do not want to use it), add as much cornmeal, oatmeal or any binder of your choice, as needed to produce a paste.

Combine pineapple, melon, water and cosmetic starch/cornmeal/oatmeal in a blender. Apply formed paste to face and let set for about 10-15 minutes. Gently wipe off with a damp wash cloth.

Enjoy your homemade skincare products!

How to Make Homemade Moisturizing Hand Creme

Spring is here and we all are thinking of how to take care of ourselves to look and feel better. So think of your tired hands, they were working hard all winter long and now need some TLC, too!

You can purchase a ready made quality lotion or you can make it yourself. Alecia (Arctida), who is a scientist, a self-taught jewelry artist and photographer is also creating natural body care products for herself and her family. So with her step by step tutorial you will be able to make a great creme right at home to take care of your hands!

What you will need to make approximately 100 ml of product (all sterilized):

· 2 mixing bowls, preferably stainless steel or tempered glass
· A cake mixer or a blender.
· A thermometer
· A spatula and funnels
· Several measuring cups and spoons
· A microwave or a stove top (clean is good, sterile not necessary)
· Containers for the finished product
· Lots of paper towels

Ingredients:
Oil phase:
15 ml (3 tsp) Olive oil
15 ml (3 tsp) Jojoba oil
5 g ~ 5 ml (1 tsp) Cocoa butter
5 g Emulsifier (I use Cetearyl glycoside)

Water soluble phase:
55 ml (~ 3,5 tbs) – distilled or boiled water
5 ml (1 tsp) Glycerine (Glycerol)
15 drops Parabens or other preservative of your choice

3 phase:
1 ml Vitamin E
5 g Carbamide or regular Salt
10 drops Lavender essential oil (or your own choice)

Directions:

Have 2 separate mixing containers. In container #1 weigh your oil phase and heat it until all solid parts are melted, using 1 minute increments in your microwave. In container #2 weigh out and heat your water phase ingredients for approximately one to two minutes in the microwave. The water phase and the oil phase should have the same temperature around 70-75°C (degree Celsius).

Begin pouring the melted mixture in container #1 into container #2 and stir with your blender at the same time. You will need to continue blending the mixture with your blender for about 5-10 minutes (give your blender a few seconds to cool down within the 10 minute time allotted, otherwise you may burn up your motor).

When the mixture has cooled down to approximately 50°C (degree Celsius) you can start adding 3 phase ingredients. The essential oils should be last. Blend the whole mixture well.

Transfer the finished lotion into the jars of your choice.

Hand lotion by Alecia (Arctida)