Other People’s Food & Stuff (Volume 4): Waffles, Chia Pudding and Personal Hygiene?

Closeup of Grapefruit Waffles

Waffles w/ Bananas, NutsQuickie Virtual Vegan Potluck update: I’ve added Emmy Cooks to the line-up.  Sorry for the shifting around, but I know she will share something wonderful with us, so – welcome, Emmy!  Please check your URLs.  And remember to take one final check of the list before publishing your post on May 12.

And…I’m a little behind on some thank yous for various awards (Versatile, Leibster, Sunshine, Kreativ).  It’s been quite a couple of weeks for receiving blogging awards and I’m so touched and thrilled to be on ANYone’s radar. Big hugs and heartfelt thank yous to: Dudette, Here!,  In Fine Balance, Keepin’ It Kind, My Sister’s Pantry, Veggie What Now, Terra, Not Terror, Cauldrons and Cupcakes and After Taste.  Wow.

Other People’s Food
Speaking of Keepin’ It Kind: Kristy, sweet Kristy – please stop torturing me with one delicious, creative recipe after another!  I won’t ever be able to get out of the kitchen!

Never mind!  Ignore me.  Keep them coming.   I mean, look at those waffles up there!  Those are Roasted Grapefruit Waffles and they are spectacular.  I’ve got a pile of Kristy’s recipes in my kitchen just waiting to be made…

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Not long after I acquired my first ever bag of chia seeds, I went in search of chia pudding.  The simple recipe that I used came from Food Doodles’ take on Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding and it’s really satisfying, easy and so chocolatey.  But since I can’t help myself when it comes to recipe tinkering, I made a second batch with some modifications.  It’s a little extra work, but the flavor is a bit richer than the original version.  The recipe is below.

Mocha Chia Pudding

Mocha Chia Pudding

Mocha Chia Pudding
Serves 2

2 tbsp. chia seeds
1/4 cup soy or almond milk
1/4 freshly brewed coffee
1 packet crystallized stevia (or your favorite sweetener, to taste)
1 oz. good semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 tsp. vanilla
cacao nibs

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or if you have a better attention span than I do, melt it in the microwave).  Gently heat the nut milk and coffee and whisk into the melted chocolate.  Remove from the heat, add the vanilla extract and let cool for a few minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the chia seeds and stevia.  Stir in the chocolate mixture.  Leave the mixture out or store in the refrigerator until thickened.  Add more nut milk if necessary.  Top with cacao nibs.

Other People’s Stuff
Apparently this has been buzzing around the Internet for years, but like Rip Van Winkle, I just kinda woke up to the whole phenom – thanks to a post at Terra, Not Terror.  I was immediately intrigued by this idea, mainly because it sounds so freaking wacky, but also because I haven’t been satisfied with my face-washing routine in years.  I was a Kiehl’s devotee for a long time, then kind of bounced around among various products, all of which made my face feel dry and tight.  I’d slather on copious amounts of moisturizer to counteract.

As soon as I read the post, I bopped off into the Internet to read more.  I got detailed info at The Oil Cleansing Method and set about making my own concoction.  I had to mess with the ratio a little to get it right.  I’m using a combination of caster oil (cheap!) and sunflower oil (leftover since I no longer cook with it).  I’ve been doing this routine now for a couple of weeks.  And I’m a convert.  I actually look forward to washing my face.  It really is like a mini self-facial.  My skin feels great, I’ve cut out the moisturizer (still use a daily SPF) and I think I’m seeing improvement in the texture and brightness of my skin.  Weird, wild stuff!

Oil in Green Bottle

And then over at Air Eater there was a post about not washing one’s hair.  I know, right?  Lidia describes her new routine in detail and once again, I hit the Internet to find out more.  There is a TON of info out there and yes, it’s old, old news.  What has shampoo done for me lately except dry out my scalp??  I actually went cold turkey and am just rinsing my hair with plain old water.  No one has yet turned away in utter disgust.  The notion of letting my skin and hair – my own body – manage itself is truly appealing.

Soapwalla Deodorant Cream

I’m eternally grateful to Luminous Vegans for this post, which introduced me to the miracle that is Soapwalla Deodorant Cream.  I read, I bought.   It’s completely natural and contains no aluminum.  It’s creamy, smells delicious (lavender, peppermint, tea tree oil) and is easy to apply.

That’s all well and good, but it also needed to work.  Without going into the ugly details, I put deodorant through its paces and this product came through with sweet-smelling colors.  Run, don’t walk to your computer (oh, wait, you’re at your computer) and order up some of this stuff at Soapwalla or here.  Visit the Soapwalla Kitchen blog here.  Get some for your wife/husband/friend/siblings.  Get them off of the aluminum scary-stuff and onto this totally natural, effective cream.

As you can see, my fellow bloggers inspire me each and every day.  No telling what one is going to stumble upon when tooling around the virtual world!  Until the next “Other People’s” post…

44 thoughts on “Other People’s Food & Stuff (Volume 4): Waffles, Chia Pudding and Personal Hygiene?

  1. veganbloggersunite

    What a great post!! Thanks for including Air Eater in it. I learnt a lot. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  2. Choc Chip Uru

    Thank you for all these wonderful tips and recipes πŸ˜€
    That pudding looks amazing! And healthy? Yum πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    Reply
  3. terra

    I’m so glad you like the oil cleansing method. I love it too! I’ve had troubled skin forever and I finally feel like I’m doing something good for my face. I like it that you can make however much you want. My skin is dry during the winter, and really oily during the summer, so I’ll be able to change by the season. Thanks for the mention!
    Now… what do we do with all the bottles of cleanser and moisturizer? I want those bottles, but I can’t bring myself to dump the stuff down the drain!

    Reply
  4. Somer

    You are a brave woman! I have really oily skin, does it just regulate itself? I just gave my mom all my beloved philosophy skin care products because the list of chemicals is so long it scares me. Sorry Mom! The girls at mysisterspantry.wordpress.com gave me a link to homemade deodorant that they use that looks similar. It is here http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/03/quick-stick-deodorant.html
    I haven’t tried to make it yet because I have been crazy busy, but so intriguing. Tom’s and the crystal DID NOT work for me! As for the no poo (shampoo) movement – I’m terrified of it. Right now I’m using an organic shampoo with ingredients that are recognizable. Baby steps!

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan

      Thanks for the deodorant link – interesting! Tom’s did nothing for me, either; never tried the crystals. As for the skin – one reason people have oily skin is that they wash off the oil that one’s skin produces naturally, so the skin doubles down and produces MORE oil to compensate. I was a combo skin type: oily/dry. Now…neither. It works!

      Reply
      1. Somer

        Radical. Need to do it then! I have been using up all my oils in my house making homemade soaps, lotions and potions. Need to post about that and some natural cleaning solutions soon.

      2. Somer

        I will do it, I have so many posts and so few days, I get Tuesdays and Saturdays on my shared blog. Sometimes it’s hard to cram it all in and my posts end up like crazy long diatribes! I think that natural recipes for home and body deserve a post of their own for sure though.

  5. blissfulbritt

    That deodorant looks awesome! I make my own using coconut oil, baking soda, corn starch and various oils for scent. I tried going a few weeks without washing my hair, but then I caved. I’ll need to get back to the no-poo routine.

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan

      I think if my hair were long, it would be a lot harder. But seriously – there’s not a lot of hair going on up there! That is the coolest that you make your own deodorant!! Is there anything coconut oil can’t do, by the way?

      Reply
  6. keepinitkind

    Woohoo! I am so glad you liked the waffles! Thank you for the mention and the head’s up on all of these awesome tips!

    Reply
  7. tearoomdelights

    There’s so much in this post! It’s a veritable blogging feast. I have wondered about the hair thing but the trouble is I love the smell of my shampoos. I have quite a lot of hair and if I don’t wash it it looks greasy after a day or two (I wash it every day and I love the feeling of washing it). I’m curious about the deoderant cream, does it leave any residue?

    Reply
  8. Lou

    I stopped washing my hair over a year ago… the best thing I ever did – my hair is thicker, healthier, tangles less – plus I hated washing/drying my hair in the first place so it was a win in all respects!

    Reply
  9. Gabby @ the veggie nook

    I`ve been doing the oil cleansing method for a few months now and love it! Glad you do too πŸ™‚ I use the same oils as you. I`m in love with it!

    Reply
      1. Gabby @ the veggie nook

        Oh for sure! It’s so economical too- I still have the original mixture I made and it’s not even close to halfway done.

  10. Pixie

    I’m intrigued. I’ve gone to natural soaps and products as they are so much safer, but I’m not certain about the no-shampoo thing. What does your hair smell like now? Do you use hairspray? I’m afraid even my natural ones wouldn’t rinse out very nicely.

    I’ve used just water on my face all my life and I’ve had better skin than most people. I will pass this info on to my kids who have more trouble than I do.

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan

      Hey there! Well, first of all, I have VERY short hair. I don’t use any products at all (I used to be big on gel, etc.). And my hair smells – honestly – like nothing. I’m kind of surprised, but really there is not discernible odor. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

      Reply
  11. Veggie V! @ Veggie V's Vegan Adventure

    Thanks for the HBA info. I used to no-poo back in the day, but mainly out of laziness. LOL Now, I’d love to go back to it, but the hubs is freaked. Maybe i’ll try it over summer break. If it looks terrible, nobody will know πŸ˜‰

    Reply
      1. Veggie V! @ Veggie V's Vegan Adventure

        Sweet! I’ve been out of touch w/ blog land for the week, so I have to catch up on everything I need to do…

  12. Shira

    Awesome post! I’d love to try some of these tips! Honestly Annie, you are one awesome woman, I don’t know how you do it! Hope you’ve had a fab week!! xo!

    Reply
  13. Richgail Enriquez

    Thank you for all these wonderful links, they’re definitely helpful-from food recipes to body products. I shall check them out.

    Reply
  14. emmycooks

    Thanks for letting me jump in late (have I mentioned that I do everything at the last possible minute?) and for the link to those grapefruit waffles!! Wow. Brunch cannot come soon enough!

    Reply
  15. Rachel in Veganland

    Thank you thank you THANK YOU for the chia puddin’ recipe! I’m DYING to make some of this and it looks as if I don’t even need to go to the store for the ingredients!!!! Beautiful post as always, Ann!!!!!

    Reply
  16. veganmonologue

    Can’t wait to try this deodorant alternative. I appreciate the review. I have had no luck with natural deodorants in the past. Probably because I eat too much garlic and onion. (Ew!)

    Reply
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