DIY Coffee & Turmeric Scrub: Transform Your Morning Routine into a Luxurious Skincare Ritual

Are you a coffee lover looking for a sustainable way to repurpose your morning brew? Or perhaps you’re someone who loves natural skincare remedies? Either way, this DIY Coffee & Turmeric Scrub is the perfect addition to your beauty routine. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it’s also incredibly easy to make at home with just a few ingredients. Let’s dive into the details!

The Magic of Coffee Grounds and Turmeric

Coffee grounds are not just for your morning cup of joe. They have amazing benefits for your skin as well! The coarse texture of coffee grounds makes them an excellent exfoliant, helping to remove dead skin cells and reveal the fresh, glowing skin underneath. Additionally, coffee is rich in antioxidants, which can help fight free radicals and reduce the signs of aging.

Turmeric, on the other hand, is known for its anti-inflammatory and brightening properties. When applied to the skin, turmeric can help reduce redness, fight acne, and give your complexion a natural glow. Combining these two powerhouse ingredients with other natural elements creates a scrub that’s not only effective but also nourishing.

Ingredients

To make this luxurious scrub, you will need the following ingredients:

  • Coarse salt: Acts as a base and provides additional exfoliation.
  • Green and black coffee grounds: The star exfoliants that also add a delightful aroma.
  • Grated turmeric: For its anti-inflammatory and skin-brightening properties.
  • Grated ginger: Adds a warming sensation and further helps with circulation.
  • Coconut oil: Moisturizes the skin, leaving it soft and smooth.

Optional

  • A bit of shower gel: Adding a little shower gel can help the scrub spread more easily on your skin, making the exfoliation process even smoother.

Recipe

  1. Gather your ingredients: Make sure you have everything you need within reach.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients: In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of coarse salt, 1 tablespoon of green coffee grounds, 1 tablespoon of black coffee grounds, 1 teaspoon of grated turmeric, and 1 teaspoon of grated ginger.
  3. Add coconut oil: Mix in 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Stir until the mixture is well combined.
  4. Optional – Add shower gel: If you find the mixture too dry or difficult to spread, add a small amount of shower gel to make it smoother.
  5. Store the scrub: Transfer your scrub to an airtight container. It’s ready to use!

How to Use

  1. Apply the scrub: In the shower, apply the scrub to damp skin.
  2. Massage gently: Using circular motions, gently massage the scrub onto your skin, focusing on rough areas like elbows, knees, and feet.
  3. Rinse off: Rinse thoroughly with warm water and pat your skin dry.
  4. Enjoy your glow: Follow up with your favorite moisturizer to lock in the hydration.

Why This Scrub Works

  • Exfoliation: The coarse salt and coffee grounds work together to slough off dead skin cells, promoting cell turnover and revealing brighter skin.
  • Antioxidants: Coffee grounds provide a rich source of antioxidants, protecting your skin from damage.
  • Anti-inflammatory: Turmeric and ginger help to calm and soothe the skin, reducing redness and inflammation.
  • Moisturizing: Coconut oil deeply moisturizes the skin, leaving it soft and smooth.

Eco-Friendly and Cost-Effective

This DIY scrub is not only great for your skin but also for the environment. By repurposing your coffee grounds, you are reducing waste and creating a product that’s free from harmful chemicals and preservatives. Plus, it’s much more cost-effective than buying commercial scrubs.



Continue Reading

Winter pickle salad

Winter pickle salad is a wonderfully versatile recipe, offering a flavorful addition to a wide range of dishes. Whether you’re planning a cozy dinner or looking to enhance roasts, casseroles, sandwiches, burgers, or hodgepodges, this simple yet delicious recipe has you covered.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kilogram of small or medium-sized field cucumbers
  • 1 large pepper
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 tablespoons of salt
  • 2 cups of water (500 ml)
  • 1/2 cup of 10% spirit vinegar (60 ml)
  • 6 tablespoons of sugar
  • Several dried bay leaves
  • Several black peppercorns
  • 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds
  • 4 half-liter jars (or similar-sized containers) to hold approximately one and a half kilograms of vegetables and liquid.

Recipe:

  1. Begin by washing and draining the vegetables.
  2. Cut the cucumbers into quarters, slice the onions, and remove the seeds from the pepper before cutting it into strips.
  3. Place the prepared vegetables in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt, and mix thoroughly. Allow the mixture to sit for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. This step helps the vegetables release excess water. Afterward, drain the vegetables, discarding the salty water byproduct.
  4. Prior to filling, ensure your jars are properly sterilized. I wrote more about this process here.
  5. Evenly distribute the vegetables into the jars, taking care not to pack them too tightly, so they can be evenly covered with the liquid.
  6. Prepare the marinade: In a saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add vinegar and spices, and simmer for 2 minutes.
  7. Immediately pour the hot marinade into the jars with the vegetables, ensuring they are completely covered but leaving about a centimeter of space at the top.
  8. Gently shake the jars or use a stick to remove any air bubbles. Top up with more marinade if needed.
  9. Place the jars in a pot with a cloth lining its bottom. Pour water into the pot until it reaches three-quarters of the height of the jars. Bring the water to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes over low heat.
  10. Carefully remove the jars from the pot and turn them upside down for 10 minutes to create a seal.

Enjoy your delicious creation!

Continue Reading

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 2022

Queen Elizabeth will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee after 70 years of service. Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning ruler of a state in the world today.
The celebration of the Platinum Jubilee lasted from 2nd to 5th June and was very impressive. I was most delighted with how people in the countryside, far from London, were celebrating.

bty

Continue Reading

Spicy Jambolaya

Maybe you think “Jambolaya” is the title of a Latin song and maybe you’re right…
Nevertheless, “Jambalaya” is also known as a rice-based Creole dish.

While rice is mainly associated with sushi, risotto or paella, it is also widely used as a major ingredient in Caribbean islands, Indian Ocean islands and Louisiana cuisine.
Traditionally, the base of this dish is made of rice enriched with various additives depending on the region, such as local weights, seafood, or meat enriched with citrus acidity. For my special jambalaya, I usually use tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, squash, zucchini, vegan sausages, or tofu, some herbs and spices.

Basically, it is a simple one-pot dish and we can prepare it from what we have at our average household disposal.

 

 

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice
3 cups of water or vegetable broth
a couple of tablespoons of oil
1 large zucchini
1 bell pepper
1 onion
3 spring onion
3 cloves of garlic
a handful of colorful tomatoes
a couple of vegan sausages
5 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of sweet pepper
1 teaspoon hot pepper or chopped chili pepper
parsley or cilantro
salt
pepper
1/4 lemon juice

 

Recipe:
Wash the vegetables and cut them into similarly sized cubes.
Separately, chop the onions, garlic, chili and coriander.
Put the chopped onion, chopped chili garlic, and paprika into a large frying pan with oil.
Fry everything for about 2 minutes.
Add the rice and fry for a few minutes until it turns glassy.
Add all chopped vegetables, mix and stew for about 4 minutes. Add tomato puree and water or broth.
Finally, heat up some oil in a separate pan. Add chopped soy sausages and fry until the sausages are golden brown.
Add the sausages to the pot and mix everything
Add fresh cut tomatoes, chopped cilantro, and spring onion.

 

 

As always let me know what you think about this recipe in the comments section below.

What is the most popular way to cook rice in your part of the world?

 

Continue Reading

Love chocolate

Revolutionary chocolate that takes the internet by storm. All you need is love … and what’s the best aphrodisiac if not chocolate?

Which is why for this valentine’s day I have prepared for you this last minute recipe that requires only 3 common ingredients. Let us make a love chocolate!

If you were planning to make a special Valentine’s Day dessert, but something did not work out or going out is not an option than keep or reading as this is a recipe for you.

Ingredients:
– Chocolate or several chocolate bars, depending on the size of the tin. My mold was very large and in my case I needed 4 chocolates.
– Your favourite nuts. I used a handful of pistachios but I was also tempted to use cashew nuts.
– Additional ingredients and spices, although unnecessary, will be appreciated. I used frozen dried strawberries and a tiny bit of chilli – highly recommended, but you may also add additional type of nuts, dried fruit, jelly beans, dried flower petals or even honeycomb crumbs.

Execution:
Cut or crush the chocolate into small pieces and melt it slowly on a small fire – remember to keep slowly steering the chocolate to not let it boil. Dissolve chocolate in a water bath, i.e. boil the hot water and then put in it your smaller (pot, bowl) filled with chocolate. This will control the melting process. It may sound complicated but trust me frying the chocolate directlly over the hob will jeprodize the process. Alternativelly you could use a microwave.
Pour the melted chocolate into a heart-shaped mold, garnish with nuts and let it cool. if you want to speed up the process, put the mold in the fridge or freezer, of course, after it has already cooled down to not damage your appliances.

P.S. if you don’t have a mold, just cut the heart out of the cardboard, wrap the tape and put out the climbing film. That’s what I did!

Love chocolate

Enjoy the result!

Continue Reading

Watermelon Granita

Are you sweating from toes to head? Do you feel like your brain is melting away? Are you tired of that constant heat…then don’t go away because I have a remedy that will help you keep serenity and high levels of energy at the same time!

The secret lies in a cooling ambrosia that can be written in a form of a simple equation:

(Ice + Water) (Ice + Melon) = Granita Squared Watermelon!

Let me convince you why “Watermelon Granita” is the next big thing for hot summer days.

You see…it’s refreshing, juicy, freezing – if you want it to be, sweet but without added sugar and has so little calories you can eat it all day unlike ice-cream!

So, did I grab your attention by now? Great because that’s not the end of good news.

This dessert is an incredibly easy to make and in fact you only need 1 ingredient: watermelon. Well that and a few modern tools such as: blender, knife, fork and a spoon…don’t forget the spoon! Very important.

So, to summarize:

Ingredients:
One large watermelon. This is the only ingredient of this dish, so you must choose wisely young warlock. Preferably obtain it from a proven source. I am afraid you can forget about Tesco finest and other high street big brands. Best to check the country of origin, the hotter the country the better the watermelon, I personally recommend buying from suppliers that source their watermelons directly from Turkey or Morocco.

Preparation:
Cut the watermelon in half. Half a watermelon is enough for this recipe, but if you want more or if your watermelon is not big enough, then you can use the whole fruit off. Your watermelon, your rules.

Use a tablespoon and a knife to take the pulp out of the watermelon, and then remove the seeds.
Put the pulp into a blender or bowl and blend it. If everything goes according to plan, you should have obtained the watermelon juice – congratulations achievement unlocked!

Now be brave and use the power of the will to not drink it yet.

Instead, put the juice in the freezer and mix it every half hour. I know sounds troublesome and the entire process should take you roughly 4 hours, but I didn’t make this up – it’s necessary to achieve this wonderful grain consistency.

If you managed to do it all. Congratulations! You are now the happy owner of a juicy, refreshing, sweet and delicious watermelon granita.

Additional prototyping:
For me the taste of the watermelon is completely sufficient, but if you want to enrich it you can add some lime juice, mint, cola or rum. If your watermelon isn’t sweet enough, maple syrup can also help. If you don’t want to use a hand blender, you only need a fork to grind the frozen juice every half an hour. You can serve this granite in the shell of the watermelon like I did for that special wow effect!

P.S.

As a blogger I get my inspiration from other bloggers / vloggers and you won’t believe who I have met on the day I made my watermelon granita recipe. Did you ever meet one of your favorite vloggers in real life and recognized them? I sure did! It was quite an event for me so I thought I would share that with you. Roxi from YouTube channel (Roxssaurus) was my lucky encounter. We had a nice conversation at a local Homebase store and as I was just too shocked at the time, I didn’t say much 😊.

If you don’t know Roxi yet, I highly recommend her both   channels: Roxxsaurus and Roxi and Matt

Anyway, let me know my dear readers what you are favorite vloggers?

Did you enjoy this post, and do you feel like making your own watermelon granita?

How do you cope with the heat this summer and how if life treating you in general?

As always thank you kindly for visiting my blog, I hope you enjoy your stay and I look forward to bringing you more recipes! Stay cool and carry watermelon granita with you this summer.

Ewa
Continue Reading

The Last Samurai and violet honey

“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life” said Katsumoto the samurai, a leader of the last remaining Japanese village which hasn’t been yet transformed and industrialized by the western culture.

Perhaps it’s a common perversion but I often find myself to remember nature and food quotes best from any movie or a book I happen to experience in my life. Maybe each one of us seeks his/her own wisdom… or maybe just like the last samurai some of us are feeling trapped and cornered, our ideals sold out, our trust abused and honour dishonoured. Maybe that’s the moment when we should all stop and think for a while, perhaps even consider to search for our own state of mind cherry blossom?

How would it look like and when would you know if you have found one already? If you haven’t watched yet the movie “Last Samurai” then my dear reader, I strongly recommend you to do so and let me know what inspiration have you felt in your heart after watching it in the comments section below.

While I haven’t devoted my entire life, only the whole morning 😉 to find a hundred violets flowers I also seek for my very own cherry blossom. I think part of it consists of this blog where I can channel my passion into new recipe formulas for anyone to try out and find peace in your body with Mother Nature and your inner-self.
Anyway back to the violets which in case you didn’t know smell best in the evening. If you would like to use them in your kitchen, then I definitely recommend the early morning for the harvest-time. Their beauty is really fleeting and they must be used immediately after breaking up, because they wilt very quickly. Furthermore to enjoy them, I transform them into refreshing lemonades, flower ice cubes, add to cakes, or simply administrate in amber dandelion syrup.

This syrup with violets is my favourite and I would love to share its recipe with you today.
If you already know my dandelion honey recipe, or even better yet you are the lucky owner of this golden nectar, you should be already halfway through the implementation of this recipe. The field trip (for me always the most exciting part) is also the most challenging one depending on where you live. You must survey your local area for either the forest or a garden in order to harvest some fresh flowers of violets.
Once you have captured them, you may begin the enchanting process and watch as the magic unfolds in front of your eyes.

Your precious ingredients:
1 jar of dandelion honey from my previous recipe
A handful of flower violets.

Mission:
Create superb quality honey with nature pure violets of life for your loved ones.
As always I like to keep things really simple whenever possible and let the nature do the work for you and me. All you have to do is put the violets in the jar and …yes wait for it…close it again. The proportions in this recipe are obviously not crucial, but try not to pour too many flowers into one jar and remember that the flowers should be dried and above all fresh. It might seem like a very simple, to say even a trivial trick but I encourage you to leave the violets in your jar for a few days and try that unique flavour with that special aftertaste. Be careful though as water can spoil our honey, so it’s good to spread our violets on a paper towel for a moment so that it will be absorbed by some form of cloth.

If you preserve the violets in honey in such way they will not only retain their beautiful colour for a long time but also extend the honey lifetime for up to a year and that I am speaking from my personal experience. Whether it will last longer than a year though? – that I can’t promise as honey served in such way always attracts a lot of unnecessary attention and if you invite your family and friends often I guarantee you it will not last that long 🙂

Honey Wishes to You
Eva

I am very curious what you think about the movie The Last Samurai and what are your favorite flowers and whether you happen to eat them. Let me know in the comments section below.

Continue Reading

Baroque columns as the pillars of Easter hope

Hello and welcome back after a long…long break to my blog. Welcome back in April 2020. This year has started particularly good for the average folk don’t you think? The UK itself has experienced sky-rocket unemployment in the job market, 0% interest rates on the housing market, inflation combined with stagnant wages, Brexit, two hurricanes and the cherry on top – the famous COVID-19 outbreak. I must admit if for the last few months you haven’t really fought for your life then you have missed all the fun that 2020 has to offer but on the other hand I salute you and your peaceful lifestyle.

Considering the above it should literally be no wonder that all the elderly people are especially vulnerable and exposed to this new virus outbreak in comparison to the younger people. Pollution, dirty water & air, Monsanto food and constant avoidance of avocado toast has compromised the immune system of the older generations. Unlike the young generations for which every day is an economic episode of “hunger games for survival” – no amount of amassed wealth and access to the best health care services in the world can save you if your healthy lifestyle hasn’t prepared you for the worst by now.

In fact, if you think that today’s pandemic is something special, I have a small historical fact for you to cheer you up. After reading this post I recommend… you go to Google or Wikipedia and search for a term: “Marian columns in Central Europe”.

What you should be able to find is the information about great baroque columns known as “murrain columns” which are the symbols of different plagues that have affected humanity in the past, each column for a different set of plague. For example, plague epidemic of smallpox, cholera and bubonic decimated and sometimes even depopulated entire cities and the only from of defence at the time was the prayer.

I believe the moral of the story is that humanity was and inevitably always will be affected by various cataclysms and plagues but the one constant that seems to change is the likelihood of our survival therefore let us all focus on boosting our natural immune system with optimism, clean and healthy air, water and food, as well as nature naturally growing herbs and home-made healthy juices for which the recipes you can find on this blog.

Wishing you a very strong immune system and a peaceful Easter, Eva.

Continue Reading

Doomsday clock and datelate

Is it just me or is the outside world turning further and further into an apocalyptic scenario of Mad Max, with a hurricane Ciara blowing across the UK and the Corona Virus reported cases rising every day?
Being a rational citizen that I am, I realize that the doomsday clock is ever so close to midnight while the Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Seeing how this may be the only opportunity that I got, I have decided to share yet another recipe in order to stay at home and pamper myself in a hygge style.
If like me you don’t like be cold temperature I believe this can be a good recipe for a great evening. Today I have for you a heavenly fragrant, colonial adventure filled with silky sweetness. Have you ever heard of what datelate is? If you haven’t than now it’s the time to challenge yourself and try something new in your life! Now more than ever! So run! Run to your kitchen or nearest store for the necessary products. Believe me, you do not want to wait any longer to try this excellent chocolate which has also so much healthy benefits for you!
So to get started … what we need is your favorite vegetable milk, dates, cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.

bty

Our Precise measurements are:
2 glass of plant milk
6 large sun-dried dates
2 tablespoons bitter cocoa
a pinch of sea salt
vanilla cane
a pinch of cinnamon
Optionally, chocolate shavings, whipped cream or whatever you like.

Preparation:
Pour the milk into a saucepan with a thick bottom along with the other ingredients and heat on low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take the drink off the heat and let it cool down a bit.
Pour this into the blender cup and mix until the texture is silky.
Now light your favorite candle, turn on the music and enjoy the best home winter-valentine experience ever.

Continue Reading

Sabrina Spellman’s cleansing smoothie from „Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”

Did you ever watch “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ” my dear reader?     You see…when I watch the series, I always pay attention to what Hilda does in her kitchen; In fact, you may agree with me that except for the witty black cat named Salem and obviously the spell-casting teenage girl Sabrina, she is probably the most positive character in the show who delivers laughter, nice awkwardness and fair dosage of emotions to the rather dark world of witchcraft. For example, in one episode you can find her preparing a love or a healing potion while in the other she makes more sinister recipes such as cookies with arsenic and almonds or a mysterious green potion in a glass jar.

If you watch the series long enough…you can come to a the conclusion just like me – that she is the true ruler of the house and especially the kitchen area – where like a good mistress she makes sure that her loved ones never ran out of a full meal and magical protection.

Just like Hilda, I and countless other women like to declare the kitchen within the house to be our own private space, a restricted area 51 whereupon entering while cooking a strict border control is enabled where nothing can be touched, moved or transported without our knowledge. Any organized attempt at family cooking effort must be coordinated by the mistress of the house and scared fear for those who think otherwise.

For you see…

It’s the kitchen area in the house where all the magic happens! All the brewing and cooking, all the cutting and pasturing, all the mixing and preserving…all the magic of creation that keeps the house warm, fresh and tasty is located in that very space you simply consider the kitchen. Since every loving woman wants to take care of her loved ones…can’t you see why we are so touchy about this particular space? That’s right…well now you know!

Coming back to our series…I wonder if anyone noticed what was it that Hilda was preparing every morning for Sabrina just before her 16th birthday? Well … it was something that was supposed to clean the temple of bod, as picturesque Zelda described.

The ingredients were quite common really: milk, eggs, rosemary, agrimony, a cupful of vanilla, a pinch of John the Conqueror root, tannis and other herbs from the garden’’, as quoted from the original show.

To put it simply, Hilda was preparing a witch’s cleansing smoothie, i.e. a cocktail that contains plants that help cleanse the body of toxins. Personally, I love green cocktails and I drink them whenever I can, especially in winter and early spring. Winter is the time when our body needs more calories but due to the weather, our menu contains much less fresh vegetables and fruits.  We also drink much less water, because it’s not so hot. All these conditions promote a likely disposition of harmful substances in adipose tissue and the formation of deposits in the intestines. Drinking a green cocktail is a simple and healthy way to detox your body. It is worth using seasonal vegetables and fruits because they provide the most valuable nutrients.

For example, they allow the body to provide the right dose of vitamins and microelements, thanks to which the digestive process is more efficient. But in enough of the science, I am sure you have heard plenty of all the cleansing effects, the antioxidants, and the like…that contribute to efficient detoxification of the body and eliminate the so-called free radicals. Diversity, which supports the whole process, is important in the cocktail diet. Smoothies can really improve the complexion and hair condition, strengthen vitality and supplement vitamin deficiencies. In a nutshell – you will be more beautiful and flourish.

So let’s get down to our new recipe:

Ingredients:

A handful of spinach – this is our healthy green base, spinach contains beta-carotene, vitamin C and antioxidants. In addition, spinach is rich in potassium, folic acid and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, and iron.

1 large juicy mango – is a source of antioxidants and a wealth of fiber, slowing down the aging process, normalizing blood sugar levels and increasing the absorption of iron from spinach and nettle.

1 apple – It doesn’t have to be „malum malus”;), the apple contains insoluble fiber, which supports bowel movements, and soluble – absorbing and accelerating the excretion of toxins.

1/2 teaspoon of spirulina – as a „superfood” it has many valuable properties, including cleansing and immunizing, and is a great solution to give yourself energy and strengthening. It is a vitamin bomb that removes heavy metals from the body and provides proteins

2 centimeters of lemongrass rhizome – brightening the mind, improving concentration and giving a refreshing lemon aroma.

2 teaspoons of dandelion syrup –  it is mainly used to relieve cough, but dandelion honey also cleanses the body of toxins and exhibits antiatherosclerotic (I know one word right, try to pronounce it!) That’s all, making dandelion one of the most versatile medicinal herbs. In addition, ten honey is amazingly delicious and additionally enriches the cocktail with taste. Be sure to see my recipe for this golden potion here.

5 nettle leaves, or a bag of nettle tea – Nettle tea is thought to naturally cleanse the body. It is also used for arthritis, hormonal disorders and anemia, helps get rid of excess water from the body, facilitates returning to proper weight.

5 teaspoons of aloe juice – can also be a pulp straight from the plant. It is an effective way to detox the body. It is recommended for people with digestive and skin problems, it also supports your immunity to viruses and has a positive effect on metabolism and digestive processes.

2 glasses of water

Finally the preparation process:

Put nettle and lemongrass into a cup and pour boiling water for a minute. Strain and leave the essence to cool.

Put all ingredients into the blender cup and mix thoroughly and voliá!

Simple delicious and healthy 🙂

Photo by Asia

(Cat photos  made by Asia)

Be sure to let me know if you dared to try this recipe.

Also, let me know if you would like to see more posts about other smoothie recipes?

What are your favorite smoothie flavors?

And finally…do you like the new version of Sabrina’s adventures?

Continue Reading