Tuesday Teacup - Minty Splash.

Even though spring has been very shy raising its head above the frozen earth this year, the brave little mint plants have been battling on, and the first sprigs have pushed their way up through the soil. So I decided to pick a few sprigs and make some fresh mint tea.

Mint tea is absolutely amazing for digestion. If I have indigestion, have had a large meal or my stomach is giving me some trouble I always make some fresh mint tea. Mint is so easy to grow and is pretty indestructible, we grow it in pots outside the front of our apartment but it will grow really well on window sills if you have nowhere else to put it. To make a cup of mint tea all you have to do is pick some sprigs of mint, give them a really good wash then put them in a cup and cover with hot water. I love the taste of mint tea just as it is, it can be an acquired taste at first so if you are not too keen add a teaspoon of honey or agave syrup.   

Happy tea drinking <3

xkx

Cheap and Easy Face Exfoliator. (Can be made Vegan too)

I did a whole load of work today at the allotment and biked there and back, so when I got home I was ready for a hot bath and a nice relax. When I got out of the bath I decided to whip up my favourite facial exfoliator. This is a really easy and quick little product that you can make with ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard. All you are going to need is honey and sugar. To make it vegan just swap out the honey for maple syrup, it works just as well and smells amazing! Honey and maple syrup are both really nourishing for your skin so which ever one you use will be giving your face a treat. 

Runny honey is preferable (if you are using honey) than the set one, but if set is all you have just warm in it a cup, in a bowl of hot water. I use caster sugar because I find that granulated is slightly more scratchy, but once again granulated is fine just rub more gentle when you apply it. If your skin is really sensitive you could probably even try using Demerara sugar because the grains are smaller so it would make a gentler exfoliator. 

Once you have your ingredients ready just add 1tbsp of honey (or maple syrup) to 1tbsp of sugar and stir it together so it creates a paste like texture. 

It should look something like this when you have finished mixing.

Now all you need to do is apply it to your face with your fingers and gently rub in a circular motion. When you feel that you have exfoliated enough wash it off with some warm water. I finish up by wiping my face with a wet cotton wool pad just to get rid of the last few, pesky sugar grains.

And there you go, super soft, sweet, exfoliated face.

Strawberry Shake.

So lately I have had a massive craving for milkshake. But I find the syrups you buy in the shops can be too sweet for me, so I decided to make my own. So here is how I made my strawberry milkshake, it is super quick and easy!

I took 400g of strawberries and blended them up with a stick blender and then added 2 tsps honey (you could use maple syrup or plain old sugar if you wanted). You can add more if you like depending on how sweet you like it, just taste as you go along. Then just add milk to taste. I divided my strawberry goop up into two because Ed had a soya version. Just add your milk then blend again, this makes the shake thick and bubbly. Then pour into the drinking vessel of your choice. I dressed the glasses with a strawberry each and added a mint sprig to the soya version and a sprig of lemon balm to dairy one. Smelling the mint with the strawberry made me think that next time I might make a mint syrup to swirl in the top, I think it would add a slight kick of yumminess.