Lightly Pickled Cucumbers

I baked and ate some Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders today for lunch, accompanied by sweet potato fries and homemade "lightly pickled" cucumbers.

Carbolicious, but kid-friendly... and vegan!

Recipe

Lightly Pickled Cucumbers

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate name for this little side dish, but I'm going with it.  It's something my mom used to make, and I like it!  Note: This recipe is one of those "throw it together" dishes that doesn't really require measuring.

Ingredients:

fresh cucumber, salt, red wine vinegar

Instructions:

1.  After washing your cucumber, use a knife to cut off the ends and take the skin off of it.

*I used a large cucumber so I cut the whole thing in half to make it easier to work with, as pictured.

2.  Slice the peeled cucumber into thin segments.

*The thinner the slices are the more quickly they absorb the salt water.

3.  Choose a container that will fit all of your cucumber slices and be able to hold enough water to completely cover them.

*Pictured: As you cut, the thinness of the slices will vary, but you don't want it any thicker than this one here

4.  Once you've sliced the cucumber and put them in a container, cover them with room-temperature water.

*I find that cold water doesn't allow the salt to soak in as well as room-temperature water does.

5.  Add the salt.  For a large cucumber, it's about 2 tsp. or so.

*I just pour in some salt a little at a time and test the taste of the water.  You should be able to taste the salt pretty strongly, but it shouldn't overpower your taste buds.

6.  Allow the cucumbers to soak in the salt water for at least 30 minutes.  The longer you leave them, the stronger they will taste and the more flimsy they will get.  My mom used to let them soak for hours, and that's how I think they taste best.

7.  Once you've let them soak for as long as you can, drain the salt water.  Then return the drained cucumbers back to the container.



8.  Add about 4 dashes of red wine vinegar to the cucumbers to finish them off.  Stir them up and enjoy!  Refrigerate leftovers for a day... not sure of how their consistency will be after any longer, because they never last long enough to find out!



*Recommendation:  As long as you like onions, you should add some sliced sweet onion to the mix and allow it to soak with the cucumbers in the salt water.  I just didn't have any onions in my house today.  Then you just leave the onions with the cucumbers when you drain them and add the red wine vinegar.  It gives the whole thing a little more taste.

1 large cucumber serves about 4 people, I would say.

Product Review - derma e natural bodycare

So, as most of you who will read this blog know, I have been at my fantastic in-laws' house in the south suburbs of Chicago for the last three weeks due to the icky (read: UNHEALTHY) water problem in my town of residence.  When I first got here I needed to buy some face wash and moisturizer because I was running out of the Dermalogica brand I use.  I was in Dominick's, a grocery store, and decided to check out what they had in the "natural" aisle.  To my surprise, there was a nice selection of products.  My eye was drawn to the line of derma e products as I picked up the "Very Clear Problem Skin Cleanser" and checked to make sure there were no artificial colors or fragrance added and no animal products or testing (vegan).

Obviously, there was none of that crap in it, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this review. 

I decided to shell out the $30 or $40 or so that the cleanser and moisturizer cost together in the store because A. I like to try new things; and B. I needed it to clean and moisturize my face anyway.

Here comes the "review" part...

After using the Very Clear Problem Skin Cleanser and Very Clear Problem Skin Moisturizer for the last three weeks, I have noticed a big improvement in the look and feel of my skin.  I have a lot less to no pink/red blotches and blemishes, which has led to wearing less makeup!  I even took a picture with absolutely no makeup on and didn't cringe at the sight of it... actually made it my new profile picture on all of my social networking sites, including this blog!

Today I decided to buy some other products from derma e's website that are on sale, such as the Microdermabrasion Scrub and Scar Gel to continue evening out the skin tone of my face, and Clear Vein/Bruise Solution to try to speed the healing process of bruises left behind from Bosco and Teddy's wrath!

Derma e has a lot of products and they're all natural and cruelty-free!  You can get 10 samples from their website shipped to you for $4.95 if you're interested in trying them out!

Use natural body products so that you aren't putting chemicals, artificial colors and fragrances, and animal products on and into your body!!!