Crackers Are Expensive...

and I love them. So I made my own. I was so excited to make these all week. And being excited about making your own crackers is something you can only share with certain people. Sometimes it's a lonely existence.

For my first time, I'd say they are pretty good. I need to roll out the dough a bit thinner next time. A few were too thick so they didn't turn out crunchy enough.

I used this recipe, but used nutritional yeast for flavor instead of the cheese powder to make them vegan. (And the dough was way too crumbly so I added a bit more water).

A box of crackers can run you about $3. For these I only needed to spend $.70 on instant yeast. All of the other ingredients are so basic, you're likely to have them on hand.

It's so exciting to have to buy one less item now at the grocery store. Crossing crackers and shampoo off the list.

Here's the no-shampoo update: It's been a week. No shampoo. 6 washes with baking soda. 2 rinses with vinegar. 3 separate touch tests. 2 separate smell tests (1 sober, 1 drunk). All positive marks and one inquiry of "Your hair smells good. How do you grow that smell?" Another question raised, "Does your hair absorb smells like baking soda does?" Still investigating.

Throw out your shampoo people!

Creation Overload / Sugar Scrub

Do you ever get so inspired that you can't sleep at night? Like, there's a million things you want to create and put together and line up? Sunday night, that was me. It has toned down a bit but... don't take long walks by yourself in Portland unless you want your inspiration to amp right back up.

Not that this is suddenly my personal dear diary blog, but I finally connected the dots about my career path anxiety. I think it was right around the time when I passed the man sitting outside on the sidewalk in the lower half of a snowsuit. (It was probably 80 degrees out). I was so tempted to take photos, especially of the front yard bedecked with christmas decor and Thomas the Tank Engine, but... I wasn't sure about the degree of friendliness in my immediate surroundings (read: the woman who remarked on my outfit as I walked by: "some people are all fashion" [not in a good way]). All that to say I'm blowing up with handmade love over here.

Since I've brought up the subject of personal hygiene... let's keep going. I made a sugar scrub yesterday. Now in addition to washing my hair with baking soda, I'm washing my body with sugar. There's a recipe here, and below is how I changed it (besides doubling).

Mixed a cup of sugar with a half cup of canola oil. Added a few teaspoons of lemon juice. I didn't have any essential oils (I don't think I'm an EO person), so I experimented a bit. I grated the skin of a blood orange and mixed it in. It made it smell nice and the little flecks of orange peel look really pretty. Note: The recipe calls for a plastic jar. If you make this, use glass. Essential oils will soak in to the plastic and you don't want that.

I used the scrub today. A little goes a long way. I accidently slathered too much on my left arm, but it was pretty smooth and glowy all day.

And this morning was day #2 for washing my hair with baking soda (I didn't use the vinegar). I'm still very happy with the results.

Oh. And I got a haircut. It was part of that Sunday-night-inspiration-anxiety-I-need-changes deal I mentioned. But in order to take a photo of it I had to hang my camera from a tree. This is what you get.

Um... Don't Judge Me...

But... I've decided to stop shampooing my hair, and I took flowers from a senior center.

I can explain.

I've been engaged in an ongoing battle with shampoo. In my quest to reduce my contribution to cruelty, I've decided to only use products that don't test on animals and are earth friendly. (I do a pretty good job, but I'm not perfect, so you don't need to snoop in my medicine cabinet!) Shampoo has been a major problem. I bought some natural stuff and hated it. I bought some other stuff (don't actually remember) and didn't like it. In Peru hair issues went from bad to worse. I could not get the shampoo to rinse out of my hair. I blamed the cold water, but Shauna didn't really have any problems. Seriously, when you go a few weeks with shampoo (and various other detergents I tried) just building in your hair, you get pigtails like these. It's not pretty. But we came back and things were a little bit better. My current shampoo, Trader Joe's, I super hate. My roommate lets me use her shampoo on occasion (it's Clairol, so it's cheating). But really, same problem. I cannot get shampoo to wash completely out of my hair. I am always left with this weird shampooy matted mess in the back. But not anymore.

I'm engaging in an experiment. No more shampoo. Instead... baking soda. Last night I was reading all about the evils of shampoo and the glory of baking soda (and vinegar) over here, that I first read about here. Basically, shampoo is harmful for your hair because it strips out the oils. You need conditioner to return the oils, but it doesn't do such a hot job of it. But... washing your hair with a mix of baking soda and water, and giving a periodic rinse with apple cider vinegar, restores your hair to its pre-shampoo state. I'm going to give it a month (less if this experiment goes awry).

I did it this morning and really liked the results. I didn't have the sticky shampooy mess I usually have in the back, and my hair felt really clean. (It doesn't smell like vinegar, I swear). I will let you know how the experiment goes. (Molly, you should try it too! Your hair would be perfect!)

If you feel brave...

To Wash:
mix 1 tablespoon baking soda per 1 cup of warm water

Vinegar Rinse:
mix 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar per 1 cup of cool water

Now the flowers.

I was at the senior center today to finish up some paperwook for job #2. All the seniors were exiting the building with these lovely dahlias. In making conversation with the attendant at the front desk, I commented on how pretty the flowers looked. She told me the farmers market donates all the left over flowers from the weekend to the senior center. I must have shown the correct level of enthusiasm because she then invited me to help myself! I admit, I felt a little weird taking flowers from a senior center while the Luepke Center Singers rehearsed The Sound of Music just over my shoulder... but, well, they are really pretty.