homemade blueberry almond crunch ice cream

I finally put my ice cream maker to good use today! I was up way too late last night googleing how to use it. After watching millions (maybe five) of You Tube videos I finally figured it out. SO simple!! Since I know not everyone has an ice cream maker, you can still make this it will just take a little longer.

What you will need:

• 2 cups of milk
• 2 cups of cream
• 2 cups of sugar
• 3 cups of fresh blueberries (really there is nothing better)
• 1 cups of crushed roasted almonds. To crush them, place them in a plastic bag and hammer away...I did this on a piece of ply wood, just in case my husband reads this :)
  
• 1 medium size bag of ice
• 2 cups of rock salt
  

Directions:

1) Combine the milk and cream and mix in the sugar, stirring until it dissolves
2) Add the blueberries and almonds
3) Fill the drum around the metal canister with the ice and rock salt
4) Add the blueberry mixture into the canister
5) Turn the ice cream maker on...and WAIT and WAIT and WAIT....for about 30 minutes. I couldn't take it any longer and checked...it was ready!!

It was delicious and creamy. I have a feeling ice cream making is going to be a pretty regular thing around my house over summer.

Lesson learned:
If I make ice cream no matter how delicious it may be I do NOT need to eat half the batch, unless I feel like doing extra insulin (I am a type 1 diabetic) and going for a very loooonnnngg run afterwards.

Skin Care Tip of the Week *DIY baking soda exfoliator*

Exfoliating your skin will help prevent acne, refine your complexion, tighten your pores and keep your skin looking radiant and smooth.

Have you ever walked into a Sephora or a drug store and felt totally overwhelmed because there were SO many choices? Skincare shopping can be intimidating. I tend to get all flustered when I am faced with more than three choices, so unless I know EXACTLY what I need to get I avoid these places.

Today I am going to share with you a little secret natural exfoliator that you most likely already own.

Baking Soda

Baking Soda is the PERFECT exfoliator. It has just the right amount of grain to remove the dead skin cells and give your skin the ultimate glow! I promise you wont be disappointed.

Add a teaspoon of baking soda to favorite cleanser and mix. Exfoliate your face for about three minutes and rinse. Your skin will feel SO soft and refreshed.

diy indian inspired necklace

I am not a big trend follower. I tend to march to the beat of my own drums when it comes to fashion. Is that how the saying goes? Anywhoo, Some trends I will never understand are...Crocs, No thank you...or Ugg boots with skirts, NO...or full on MC Hammer jump suits...again just NO. What I do love is leather, feathers and Indian inspired clothing and accessories, so when this trend became popular I was beyond excited and hopped right on the bandwagon.

What you need:

• Colored polymer clay blocks. As many as you like.
• Razor blade
• Cord. I used the leftover leather lace cord from the first bead project.
• Toothpick
• Magnetic closure

Roll the clay into a skinny tube.

Using the razor blade, slice different sized beads.

Poke a hole in each bead.

When you have finished doing this with all the colors, place your beads on a baking tray and bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes.

Let your beads cool (snack time)

Attach metal closure on end. Thread your beads through with whatever pattern you like.

And there you go! Not sure if it turned out as "Indian" as I imagined...but oh well!

peach and coconut milk popsicles

Summer is here! It is guaranteed to be a HOT one where I live! Hello slushies, ice cream, cold drinks and popsicles! I am a popsicle addict. When I was pregnant I went through a whole box of 20 in about 3 days no biggie. Don't judge me they were always all natural and lo carb..so that makes it okay. If Ian ever gave me the "You already went through that entire box" look, I gave him the "Just go before I cry" look.

I was at the store the other day and is it just me or are popsicles WAY overpriced? If you want the fresh fruit ones you only get like six to a pack... This is NOT going to work.

My Mom gave us a giant bag of fresh peaches from her tree so I decided to use those and make my own..just how I like them.

What you need:

• 3 ripe peaches
• 1 can of light coconut milk
• 1 fresh squeezed lemon

Directions:

1) Remove skin and pull apart the peaches. The ones I used were so juicy this was no problem
2) Mix the peaches, coconut milk and lemon juice.
3) Place in popsicle molds and wait (this was the hard part for me...) at least 3 hours.

ENJOY!! You must have at least two or three.

Where is Thrifty Momma Thursday? Well I had NO time and NO luck this week. My only attempt ended with a screaming baby saying..."NO more thirfting today!" So I decided to make popsicles and sit outside with Max enjoying the beautiful summer weather :)

LAST day to enter my little giveaway! :)

Skin Care Tip of the Week *Tea tree oil*

Some of you may not know that I am a licensed esthetician. I LOVE my job. I find it so rewarding that I can help people improve and feel better about their skin. After four years of working in a medical spa and being told that I had to sell products and treatments that were not good for my clients skin... I had a mini breakdown...and realized that this is not what I had signed up for. I decided it was time to move on. I QUIT. Bye Bye! Cheerio!!

I opened up my own business and now work out of my home.

My clients can always count on me to tell them little tips and tricks that WORK... and the crazy part is you DON'T need to spend over $100 on a cream to see real results. I am going to start a weekly post where I will share some of my tips and little secrets with you.

So lets start with one of my favorites.

Tea Tree Oil

It is an all natural topical treatment that can be used to treat acne. It not only kills the acne causing bacteria but it also reduces redness and inflammation. I am telling you it is AMAZING.

The moment you notice an unwelcome friend starting to appear... use it.

Make sure you get 100% undiluted tea tree oil. You can purchase it at any health food store.

I place mine in the fridge and whenever I notice I am starting to get a little blemish I take a q-tip and dab it on the spot..a few days later...sayonrara sayonara.. ugly zit that was dying to make an appearance and ruin a perfectly good face day is GONE.

celebration

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! This weekend Ian and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. Ian surprised me and planned a weekend getaway just the two of us to Del Mar. SO romantic. Our room was not ready when we arrived as promised..so we waited and WAITED... got a couples massage...had a few bloody mary's...and got upgraded to a party suite for our "inconvenience." I am pretty sure we had the best view in the hotel.

My adorable husband had chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting in our room.

Dinner was heaven. These were too delicious not to mention. Diver scallops with popcorn puree, candied walnuts and salted caramel.

I am a sucker for Key lime pie. Most definitely the best one I have ever tasted.

In the morning we went for a walk on the beach. I was determined to find a shell...just ONE. I wanted a little souvenir. We walked up and down the beach for over two hours and guess what?!...Not a single shell. Apparently it wasn't shell season yet. Bummer.

There was this little trail that we hiked up that led to the train tracks. The view was unbelievable. As we were walking along, we were saying how we missed Maximus SO so much! At that exact moment we looked down and saw a broken "Maximus" beer bottle. A coincidence? Whatever it was we decided we were going to check out and head back home as fast as we could to see his little face.

first giveaway

I was going to wait until I reached 100 followers to do my first giveaway...but I am not patient so here we go!

I am going to give away one of the four bracelets I have made.

How you can win:

• Leave TWO comments, one comment telling me which bracelet is your favorite and another comment with your blog name.
  
• Since I don't understand Twitter you are lucky! No need to tweet this...I think that's how you would say that. Or is is re-tweet?..anywhoo..

Simple enough!

The winner will be chosen via random.org within a week. Make sure to leave your e-mail under your comment so I can notify the winner!