DIY Honey Lemon Lip Exfoliant

It's been cold this week. Like, really cold. So cold that Derek's afraid to let the dogs go out for more than 5 minutes at a time because he doesn't want them to freeze....they're our babies ya know :) It's been so cold that I've been sporting fleecy PJs to bed, with polar fleece socks and microfleece sheets. Did you know that there were so many kinds of fleece? I did. And I love it.

I've pulled out my mitts, my scarves and my new winter coat. You can't go out, not even for a minute, without bundling up in your woolies. I know it's January and that I live in Canada, so I really shouldn't be shocked by this weather, but it's been a long time since we've felt such frigid temperatures and I don't like it one bit. I swear to you that I am a true red & white Canadian, but we live in the southern parts of Ontario and you won't catch me moving north anytime soon. Like never.

This weather has been wreaking havoc on my skin. I moisturize every day, but my hands have been feeling drier everyday and my lips....oh my poor, dry flaky lips. They have been in a sad state my friends. No matter how much lip gloss or chapstick I use, I can't keep them soft and smooth. Yesterday was the final straw. I couldn't stand the sandpaper feeling any longer, so I decided to take action.

Several years ago, I bought a lip exfoliant and conditioner from Mary Kay. These products were the bomb-digity of lip products. They kept my lips smooth and soft all year long. The set was a tad pricey, and while I don't mind paying for quality, I have a hard time blowing my skincare budget on something I can easily make at home. I did a little research on what ingredients work best for smoothing and conditioning my lips and I went to work on making my own homemade version of a lip exfoliant.

Honey Lemon Lip Exfoliant
3 tsp coarse brown sugar (I used organic Sucanat)
3/4 tsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp honey

Mix the lemon juice, olive oil and honey together in a small bowl. Add the brown sugar and mix until it forms a wet paste.

Wash your lips and pat dry.

Gently apply the exfoliant to your lips and leave for 20 - 30 seconds. Using your finger, gently rub the exfoliant in small circles around your lips.

Use warm water to wipe the exfoliant off  your lips and pat dry.

Now I had a picture of my lips covered in the scrub mixture, but it looked like I had the plague, so I decided not to bless your eyes with that sight. If you have any questions about application, just drop me a line :-)

smooth, clean, shiny lips...and yes, I am sporting one of my sexiest fleece PJ tops here ;-)

Now it's time to moisturize!!!

Use your favourite lip balm or chapstick to give your lips an extra boost of moisture and shine.

My favourites are Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm (not pictured), EOS in Strawberry Sorbet or LUSH's Lip Service.

Um, I've gotta say not only does this exfoliant work amazingly well and it also tastes pretty darn good.  :-D

*Note: The skin on our lips is very delicate, so you should not exfoliate everyday. I exfoliate once or twice (if my lips are REALLY dry) per week. If you are going out for a night on the town and are planning to wear a full coverage lipstick, you should definitely use this exfoliant to ensure a smooth coverage.*

What's your favourite lip moisturizer to use during the cold, dry months?

Do you love the Winter or are you just counting down the days 'til the first day of Spring?

Have a great day,

Andrea
xoxo

Honey Tofu Stirfry

Woohoo ~ we've made it through yet another long week and now the weekend is upon us :-)!  After work, I headed straight to the gym before going home. I did a 30 minute run, did some quick weight training, stopped by to say howdy to my hubby who's moonlighting as a bartender tonight and then headed home! No wonder I'm feeling so exhausted!

Once I got home, I baked up some treats to take with us on a roadtrip tomorrow. We're heading out of town for the day to a Toronto Blue Jays game. We're going with our friends and their 3 kids, so I wanted to bring some yummy treats for us to munch on while we were on the road. Unfortunately, there will be no treat recipes posted today, but I will definitely be doing some sharing over the weekend :-)

Tonight, I'm sharing a really awesome stirfry recipe that I cooked up for dinner in an effort to use all of the veggies that were in a "use it or lose it" state in our fridge.  I saw this recipe on Kelly's blog last week and it inspired me to put my own twist on her easy and delicious stirfry. At first I was planning to just do a veggie stirfry, but then some teriyaki marinated tofu caught my eye at the grocery store and I decided to give it a try.

I'm not a huge fan of the texture of tofu normally, but this tofu turned out great and I loved it with the stirfry!

Honey Tofu Stirfry
Inspired by Honey Chicken Stirfry recipe by Kelly

This stirfry recipe is so easy! In the past, I've tried to make a great stirfry, but I could never put together a really good sauce. This was much easier than any of my attempts and the flavour was fantastic.

2 tbsp oil (I used avocado & garlic oil, but your fave will be fine)
1 clove of garlic, minced
4 - 5 c of your favourite veggies, chopped
pinch sea salt
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
2 slices of teriyaki marinated tofu

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large wok. Add garlic. Cook for a minute or two and then add all of your veggies. Stirfry the veggies for 5 minutes.

Add the honey and soy sauce.

Cook for an additional 2 -3 minutes.

Combine the water and cornstarch and add to stirfry. Cook for one more minute to allow the sauce to thicken. Once the sauce is to your desired thickness, remove from heat.

While the veggies are cooking, prepare your tofu. I cut the slices into small chunks. In a small frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add your tofu. Pan fry the tofu for approximately 5 minutes ~ until it's starting to brown on the outside. Be careful! This spattered all over the place!

Serve the stirfry over cooked brown rice and then top with the tofu.

Yum, yum, yum! What a delicious dinner!

I hope you enjoy your evening. I was planning to hit the hay early because we're going to be up and on the road super early tomorrow, however I hear David Letterman on the TV, so I think "early" has long since passed!

Do you like marinated tofu? Have you marinated your own before?

Andrea