Thayers Cucumber Witch Hazel & Face Chatter

I would like to take this opportunity to blab a bit on Thayer's.  More specifically their Cucumber Witch Hazel Facial Mist.

I need to preface this by saying that my own personal skin care regimen is next to nil.  That's right...I really don't do anything to my face.  I don't even really 'wash' it.  I know you are probably thinking...EWE GROSS...so let me explain...

I don't wash my face with soap or other chemicals.  When I was a pre-teen and teen I battled with acne like most of us did.  I had oily skin.  Once I turned vegetarian that seemed to improve - as did the acne.  I didn't really add it all up until later in life, to be honest.  From that point on I had more of what they call 'combination skin'.  And NOW that I'm getting older - and AGAIN - I'm being completely honest here - my combination skin only seems to be a problem this time of year...when it's bitterly cold and windy and dry both inside and out.  For those of you who don't know I live in the Tri-State area of New York/Pennsylvania/Ohio and am placed right around that snow belt area.

Anyhow...back to...I don't wash my face...

Yeah...I know...I went off on a tangent but it was going somewhere I PROMISE!  

For the past 20 years or so I really haven't used much on my face!  I don't wear make-up often (if at all) and the few times a year I do it might only be a little bit of cover-up.  And I'm talking like 2 or 3 times a year.  When it comes to 'washing' I usually only use water and for the more oily times, I would use a natural toner such as Witch Hazel.  I have used other brand of Witch Hazel in the past but Thayer's not only stepped up their game to the next level - they have been around since 1847!

Ever since I got my goodie box in the mail a while back from Thayers I have been LOVING each of the 4 items I received!  This Cucumber Witch Hazel Mist is AMAZING!  What I have been doing is spraying some on my Norwex Facial Cloth at night and wiping my face once with it.  In the morning, after my hot shower, I spray it directly on my face.  That's it!  That's all I do for my face/skincare and it's been great!

I'm such a low maintenance person it's scary!  I also LOVE that the mist is so refreshing that after I get out of the hot shower and spray it directly on my face it's a nice little WAKE-UP.  A great way to start the day!  The aroma of the cucumber is delightful, too!

And...I have to tell you...it put a smile on my face to know that the items they sent me were natural, cruelty-free, and vegan!

I can't wait to tell you more about Thayer's so stay tuned!

Thayers Unboxing, New Camper, Christmas Recap, LOTS of Veganized Food, Family Update!

I'm ALMOST to the point where I am caught up enough to start posting regular daily posts again!  YAY!  This SHOULD be the last post of 6-pack splash of photos!

In this first photo, you can see the kitchen in our new camper!  I'm sure I will elaborate on that soon!  But...YES...we traded in our 2014 Starflight Travel Trailer and bought a 2017 Cougar 5th Wheel! 

I recently received a WONDERFUL gift box from Thayer's!  I will be doing a full post on this VERY SOON!  Spoiler warning...I LOVE the products Thayers sent me!  There was a soap bar, Lozenges, and 2 Witchhazels!  One was cucumber and a spray and the other was lavender and a large bottle at that!

My father was recently in the hospital.  Right before Christmas, actually.  We were thrilled to have him home in time for the festivities!  He's been a lifelong Asthmatic and had 3 bouts with a terrible cold over the last couple of months.  It turned into Bronchitis.  He was treated by his regular doctor for that but everything they gave him didn't work.  He ended up in the hospital and had Severe Bronchial Spasms.  He was put on at least 3 steroids - among other things!  He would go on hour long coughing jags.  It was very scary!  With all the steroids he was on it messed with his blood sugar.  They tried combating that with other things and that messed with his heart rate.  They combatted that and it messed with his oxygen levels.  Now that he is home he has made a lot of changes to his diet and really keeping tabs on his diabetes.  He's doing much better with the bronchial issues - THANK GOD!  I signed him up over at MyFitnessPal and they are cooking at home a lot more.  Mom and Dad are trying new foods, too!  He's already lost 7 pounds!

The plate of food you see above is one of the meals I ate with them the one night (minus the chicken he added to his plate).  Mom and I made seasoned Sweet Potatoes, Seasoned Cauliflower, and I made some pasta.  Sweet Potatoes are a near freebie for him so we are trying to incorporate more and more into his diet.  I bought them an Air Fryer for Christmas.  This was even before all of the doctors and such.  So far they have tried Sweet Potato Fries and Asparagus in there and enjoyed it.

As you can see in the one photo...my little niece is holding a hella-huge Sweet Potato.  She thought it was a football and started running around the house with it!  GOD...I love her!

Here you can see Trinity in her Christmas Eve Coat.  It's a faux fur type material that her other grandmother made for her.

I've been posting a lot of the Thayers stuff on IG because I love it so much!

A few days before Christmas I was still going over to my parent's house a lot for my Dad's meals and holiday prep!  My mother found crazy leggings at Walmart for $2 each.  She bought a few pairs and we decided to wear them that night and again on Christmas Day...you will see that photo below with my sister and Trinity photo bombing us!

Like I said before, my father is starting to eat more and more Sweet Potatoes!  And to be honest I have been too!  I figured WHY NOT and other than stand alone and fries I haven't done much with them.

I was trying to figure out what to top it with and I'll tell ya...I have a new favorite!  Baked Sweet Potato topped with Salsa and Guacamole!  YUM!

A while back I found Kite Hill Rav's and finally made them the one night for dinner!  I LOVED them and can't wait to get my hands on them again!

On Christmas Eve, my mother made some Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins!  They turned out GREAT!  We had them on Christmas Morning!  Other Christmas Eve foods you can see above are...Vegan Cream Cheese Pinwheels or Roll-ups that I made with Daiya Cream Cheese...my sister made a Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip.  She used Earth Balance Mayo, Tofutti Sour Cream, and Follow Your Heart Parm.  Mom made some Spiral Pasta, and we also made some Cheesy Potatoes!  They made a regular version for them and a vegan version for me!   Actually, it was a tag team effort...my mom made the potatoes and left some out for me after cooking them up plain...she then added Daiya Shreds and baked.  She was busy with other hustle and bustle so I took them out of the oven and added Earth Balance Margarine and more Daiya Shred!  They were YUMMY!

Christmas Eve, Trinity wore a cute plaid dress under that coat (pic above).  The next morning she had a blast opening presents and we had an even bigger blast watching her!  She got a Disney Tent/Tunnel thing from my parents as you can see above.

The last two photos on the bottom here show her opening gifts and one of the things Dale and I bought her...a Farmers Market Produce Cart!  Leave it to the VEGAN AUNT, eh!? 

Christmas Morning we always do a big breakfast!  I usually make grits.  To mine, I add vegan cheese.  This year I had some leftover Smoked Gouda I cubed up from the night before.  I paired that with leftover Vegan Spinach Artichoke dip from the night before and it was darn tasty!  I ALMOST forgot to mention that I finally used the JUST EGG and my first attempt with it was a success.  I did a plain omelet.  I'm looking forward to trying other omelets and getting more creative with the product down the road.  I threw a little salsa and gauc on there, too...and a half bagel!

This is the time of year we usually try and pinch pennies a bit.  First quarter is always tighter than the rest.  I wanted to see what I could buy for very little and will probably be doing more of this in the coming months as I have in Jan-Feb-Mar in years past.  I recently went to our local Tops and bought 6 different frozen veggies, 4 cans of tomato sauce, rice, and quinoa.  I only spent about $8 on this trip!

How was your Holiday Season?

Golden Milk, Vegan Blue Cheese, Witch Hazel, & Nettles Tea

I found a few things I forgot to add to yesterday's post!  First off is this Golden Milk from Wegman's that I had about a week or so ago!  I opted for the 8-ounce. 

You know how I LOVE Turmeric and I try to add it to at least one of my food or beverages a day!

This was pretty good.  It was mellower than I expected.  The Black Pepper sank to the bottom and it was a bit harsh but not overly-so.  I need to make more of this myself - at home.  It's easy and I have all the ingredients on hand.

One of the many 'new-to-me' products I was able to get my hands on this past week and our travels to Ohio was this Blue Cheese!  Vegan, of course!  It's by VioLife.  I have seen The Vegan Zombie and others post about it from Expo West and I thought it was going to be a year or two before it came over to the East side of the US.  So when I saw it - I didn't hesitate to grab it.

I will say...it's ok.  It's not OVERLY awesome.  I don't think it's something I would nibble on by itself.  However, I have tried it two other ways.  One was to melt it on a bagel - that was fairly good.  The other was to do a small dice and mix in with an Alfredo.  That was YUMMY! 

It's something I will continue to play around with.  I'm convinced it has potential.  I'm thinking the crumbles on a salad paired with another vegan creamy ranch or blue cheese type dressing would be stellar.

A few updates...thankfully, I seem to have the Dyshidrotic Eczema under control with the help of Witch Hazel and Nettles Tea.  I'm going to continue to use both of these things because now I have a boil on my leg from a pair of pants that was irritating me.  Both can be used for both issues.  And I'm going to try and drink Nettles Tea each night for the additional benefits while building up my immune system and a bit of self-care for my liver. It's also great for inflammation, pain, and skin so those are things I can put in my mental Rolodex, too!

For some AWESOME info on BOTH:
Nettles Tea & Witch Hazel