Goodbye 2012!

2012 has been a decent year. Nothing special for me, however I thought it would be good to post some favorites and highlights I have had throughout the year.

Hair wise my product usage has been very minimal. I have been sticking to my suave for cowashing and am still looking for a new deep conditioner other than Lekairs which I have been using for years.

One product that I tried and loved recently has been the As I Am Coconut CoWash. That stuff is amazing! My hair was so soft after using it and funny that it did feel like shampooing my hair with zero lather. I hardly ever shampoo my hair because it dries my hair like crazy but I will definitely be keeping this in rotation.

I have fallen in LOVE with my handmade items! From my jewelry to my hair products. I made a few awesome moisturizers and body products that my skin loves. I have been making things for years but took a long break before starting back up again.

I have not used any commercially made soaps in like 2 years. My favorite soaps that I have made are actually my coffee based soap, as well as my peppermint spa bar and citrus smoothie soap. They are all awesome and my skin is super smooth from using it.

I also havent purchased a single piece of jewelry since last year. When ever I go out, I put together my outfit and end up making a piece that fits perfectly. This is where the few pieces I have posted on my jewelry site have stemmed from. I have a lot more that I will be putting up as well in the next few weeks.

LIVE AND LEARN

My hair looked absolutely Glorious with the BKT treatment but over time the BKT did to my hair what an extremely over-processed relaxer would have done!! I want to try it again to see if I will get better results but I know I need to stay away from it big time!

MN has been good for my hair in the past but generic brands from Ebay are the devil!! If I ever use it again I will make my own mix. That way there will be no mysterious ingredients causing crazy shedding.

Consistency is everyones best friend, so I'm going to continue to be as consistent as possible with everything. From the hair, to the blog & youtube, to the kids, and everything else as well.

Trying to include others in things is going to be a thing of the past. Everyone has their own agenda and 9 times out of 10 are not interested in yours. So I'm done with that as well.. (again)

I welcome the new year and hopefully it will be a great year for us all!!

Happy New Year!!!

Spiced Juicy Pork Loin

This came out amazing!!!

So juicy and seasoned just right.

I started out by scoring the fat with a sharp knife. I placed the entire loin into a turkey oven bag and moved on to the marinade.

I used a bunch of whole spices but you can used what you have. Powdered is fine as long as it is fresh.

To season I used salt, black pepper corns, oregano, basil, sage, coriander, cumin, fennel, a little nutmeg,
I put all of these into a blender with apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and toasted sesame oil and blended until all the whole spices were grinded down really well. I poured this into the bag with the loin and mushed it around until it was well coated.

Next I chopped up half of a large sweet onion and a red bell pepper, and put that into the bag as well along with a few tablespoons of minced garlic.

I let this sit overnight in the refrigerator so that the flavors melded together really well.

The next day I just put the entire bag sealed into a turkey roaster and put it into the oven at 350 for 2.5 hours.

When it was done cooking I took it out of the oven let it sit for a few minutes before taking it out of the bag. I then poured off most of the juice and put the loin on a serving platter, cut up another red pepper and the rest of the sweet onion and arranged around the platter to make it pretty and festive.

It tasted amazing!

My Berry Merry Christmas Tree & Chocolate Truffles

So, if you follow me on Facebook (or Twitter since I have them linked) you would have seen my posts for what I was working on for Christmas. I only made a few things this time but since both things were so much work I didn't miss the work.

I did a huge pork loin and a decorative mixed berry tree with truffles.

Supplies
Serving platter
Freezer paper
Styrofoam cone
Tape
Double Boiler

Ingredients
Chocolate- I used a 3.5lb bag from Costco
3 containers of Strawberries
1 Costco size container of Blackberries
1 container of Raspberries

I started with the tree. I made a base out of freezer paper. The problem that I had with this was the paper was not heavy enough to carry the weight of the strawberries and since the chocolate took forever to solidify it started off really messy.

I ended up making a base out of chocolate clay.
To make this you just need to melt your chocolate and put in a little corn syrup.

I molded this into a circle and put the paper cone back on top. Then, I started back adding the strawberries. This time it worked out fine. After the first few rows I let the chocolate set before moving on.

It would probably be better if I would have had a styrofoam cone as the base covered in freezer paper or wax paper.

To put the tree together I used fresh berries with the stems cut off and dries with a paper towel. I dipped them into the chocolate cut side down and stacked them on top of each other arranging them in a circle around the base.






I continued alternating between the strawberries and blackberries until I go to the very top. I then went in and filled any gaps with raspberries and blackberries until it was pretty.

Next I started on the Truffles.

Supplies
Double Boiler
Spatula
Melon Baller -or- Clean Hands

Ingredients
Chocolate
Heavy Cream
Butter
Flavoring - Citrus rind of your choice( I used Tangeriene), Rum Extract, Almond Extract, Spices of your choice(I used cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves), & Liquor of your choice, ect...
Coating - You can use whatever you like. Almonds, Coconut, Chocolate, Cocoa powder, Powdered sugar, Cinnamon sugar, ect...

To make the truffles:

• I start off with Heavy cream and Butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. 
• Turn off the heat and add the chocolate.
• Wait a few minutes for the chocolate to melt, it will become glossy.
• Then with a spatula fold the cream and chocolate together.
• Next add any flavoring of your choice. If you are using spices it is good to infuse the spices into the cream first, rather then adding them at this stage.
• If I am doing multiple flavors, I like to separate them into their own plastic pouches.
• Refrigerate.

Now its time to form the truffles.

• Use melon baller or you hands to make even round pieces. 
• You can either refrigerate again so they are easy to handle if you are dipping into melted chocolate or just go ahead and roll them in the coating of your choice.
• When they are all coated refrigerate one last time until you are ready to serve.

Its simple enough! Just time consuming. :)

I use a ratio or 1:4 cream to chocolate and a T of butter for every 1/4c of cream. This ratio gives me a consistency that I like and does not melt down at room temperature.

I sprinkled powdered sugar on top to make it prettier. :)

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - TOLT *11*

Thinking Out Loud

• Ive been thinking about adding MN back into my regimen somehow. I have been reading up on it and have seen that others have also experienced shedding with it.
• When I used it before I used a tiny bit of it and saw an inch for that month.
• Since I bought like 5 tubes of it and I dont like wasting stuff, I am thinking I might have used too much last time and next time I should mix it so I wont go overboard and use too much.
• I am not going to do this while I am braided up, because I want to be able to see the effect it will have on my hair.
• I'm not completely sure if I should do this with the MN that I have, because it might have been the other ingredients in the product that caused my shedding...
• Also.. not sure if I am actually going to do this.. hence the reason why this is posted in my TOLT. :)
• Next year I am going to add Ener-G and Marine Collagen to my vitamin regimen.
• I am also going to re-up on my B complex, Pantothenic Acid, and maybe Silica.
• I am not completely sure if Silica actually made a big difference in my hair. But I am sure that the B-vits all help a lot.
• I am also going to start juicing daily again and doing protein shakes daily. My body loves this.
• My little lady pretends she doesn't like things when she secretly does.... and she's greedy.
• And she slaps my arm when I type things about her.. Like right now... Ouch!!!

LOL

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - TOLT *10*

Thinking Out Loud

• OMG!! 10 weeks of TOLTs!! I only missed one in between but YAY for consistency!! lol
• Been contemplating shaving my head for the past few weeks.
• Last night I had a dream that I shaved and dyed my twa platinum blonde like Amber Rose...
• No clue why, but it was actually kind of interesting because it made me think of how I have never played with color with my natural hair and I have also never had hair that short and why shouldn't I at least try it once right?
• Meh... IDK. 
• When I take out my braids in Feb I will know then if I really want to chop or not.
• If I chop I will take my clippers and cut it down ALL the way.
• I smell like coffee!! :D
• Its been a week and a half and I have new growth!! Ahhh!! 
• I looks like its about a 1/4". If thats true then I will be getting and inch for the month!
• I have never been able to consistently grow more than my normal rate each month and it will be interesting to see if I can do it!
• This Christmas I am not going to go crazy buying toys for the kids. Last year they were showered with so much crap!! I'm going to stick to clothes and shoes.. lol And Books!!