The traditional caprese salad consists solely of tomato, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil, with a dressing of salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. However, if ”count color” or have an abundance of basil your herb garden, it may be tasty and beneficial to upgrade your salad.
To start, I use far more than the normal ratio of 1 basil leaf to 1 tomato slice. Instead, I cut/tear 20-40 basil leaves recently harvested from the herb garden outside our door and add them to a bowl with 1 medium chopped tomato. Add to this one cup of torn fresh spinach and 1/4 cup chopped onion. Toss these elements before adding the sauce. I then cut 1 cup fresh mozzarella into 1/4 inch cubes and add this to the mix.
For dressing, I use a combination of Braggs Amino Acids and Flax Seed Oil. Between 1 -2T of each. This dressing is significantly different from that of the vinegar and olive oil found in traditional caprese salad. The natural salty flavor, yet low sodium content, of the Braggs eliminates any need for further spices.
Why make these changes to an already tasty salad? Flax seed oil is one of the highest in Omega 3 and fatty acids. The fatty acids are critical to whole body health as well as skin health. Keep your largest organ functioning and glowing by supporting it with the nutrition it needs. Bragg’s Amino Acids boosts the “protein” content of the salad and eliminates the need for further sodium.
Enjoy and eat for healthy skin!
The American people are considered to be amongst the busiest in the world. We take less vacation days than just about any first world country. We spend hours per week commuting in a car (some spend hours each day!) How do we fit a little bit of fitness into our busy schedule?
First of all, why exercise? Healthy and younger looking skin. Exercise promotes blood flow to all parts of your body, thus providing much needed nutrition and oxygen. Your skin benefits from the increased blood flow, responding with increased elasticity, reducing the arrival of wrinkles, and minimizing their effects once they do arise.
As a fitness advocate, community musician, engineer and owner of a company, oh, and a mom and wife, I know how difficult it is to fit “one more thing” into my schedule. Here are my top 3 favorite activities when a trip to the gym is simply out of the question.
1. Stretching. Long and lean muscles are beautiful and healthy. Take advantage of some stolen minutes between meetings, during your favorite TV show or while your coffee is brewing/tea is steeping. You won’t work up a sweat, but you will get your blood flowing. Focus on your weak spots. For me, these are:
 Carpel Tunnel/Wrists: Stretch out arms, interlock fingers, palms facing together and rotate outward, so the wrists are opened and palms are facing away from the body.- Hips: In classic track stretch, spread
 legs out with toes facing forward. Bend at hips, hold for 15 seconds in three different positions, right leg, left leg and center. There are many yogo alternatives to this stretch. Find a few that work for you.
- Shoulders: Place one arm across your chest at shoulder level
 with elbow straight. Use the other arm to pull it tight against the shoulder. Hold for 15 seconds. Simple and effective at opening muscles in your back. Repeat using the other arm. Next stretch triceps by placing one arm in the straight in the air, bending elbow down so hand comes to back of neck, use your other arm to pull on the elbow slightly. Careful not to overextend or pull to hard. Never allow your elbow to go across the center of your spine. Follow up with arm circles. Big, small, fast, slow. Any direction. Whatever works for you, your outfit and your space (cubicle, kitchen, office.) Remember, this is just to get your blood flowing until you can get to your real exercise routine.
 2. Lunges. Lunges are fantastic ways to activate major energy burning muscles. Proper core form is required, which strengthens muscles and helps flatten the tummy. I squeeze this into my day while brushing teeth in the morning. Done right, lunges can cause some sweating, so it’s convenient to do them before your morning shower. I place my hands on my hips (to remind myself to focus on proper back and tummy position), suck in the tummy and step forward with my right foot far enough that my left knee sinks to within 2 inches of the ground. The right knee should form a 90º angle, with the thigh parallel to the floor. Return to standing position. Repeat, stepping with left foot. I do 15 – 30 of these for each leg, depending on schedule.
3. Heel Lifts. Throughout the day, opportunities present themselves to activate what some call “the second heart”, i.e. the calf muscles. Easy and effective. Simply stand straight up with hands at your sides. Using calf muscles, lift your body up on toes. Repeat 30 times. Rest and repeat. I do these while filling my car, during academic lectures, on the airplane or simply waiting in line.
Enjoy the benefits of these exercises. Here’s to an enjoyable, healthy day!
Late in the season, the effects of repeated sun exposure sneaks up on even the most sunblock-conscious individual. Whether your time in the sun is due to exercising, babysitting at the pool, sunbathing, or gardening, your skin is susceptible to drying out and peeling. Maintain a young and healthy glow to your skin using an all natural sugar polish.
Complementing Celtic Naturals’ Sun Soother Line is our new lemon-lavender scented sugar polish. Take about one tablespoon of this wonderfully healthy scrub with sugar, olive oil, vitamin E and essential oils of lemon and lavender with you into the shower. (I use a shot glass.) After washing with your Sun Soother soap, take a finger full of the Sugar Polish and rub lightly on arms and legs. Use a slight circular motion to rub fully into skin. The sugar lightly exfoliates while the oils moisturize and nourish the newly exposed skin. Rinse in the shower and pat dry with your towel.
Enjoy.
Yesterday I woke up at my father-in-law’s with a mild concussion, a swollen nose, slightly dark eyes and the realization that it was my wedding anniversary. We came to visit my father-in-law this week because it coincided with the Utica Boilermaker, a 15k road race. While packing, I prepared for the race, not an anniversary dinner (oops.) Poor planning in addition to a blow to the face / nose the day before meant that I was ill-prepared for a nice evening with my husband. Here’s what I did to get ready, without synthetics, much money or time.
In classic movie scene style, I dumped the makeup bag I had with me on the counter to survey its contents. A brown eyeliner, a pink blush, mascara, lip balm and a burgundy mineral eye shadow I might wear at Christmas. Absolutely nothing else, not even earrings. Certainly not enough to hide the oncoming bruising or put me into a romantic frame of mind!
Local Shopping: A quick walk to the drugstore with our toddler in tow resulted in some budget friendly upgrades. Finger nail polish remover, a clear polish and a white pen for a French manicure, some random brand of mineral based eye shadow called Mermaid’s Tail (light blue and highlighting pink) and a blue eyeliner called denim. Total cost: $25. Despite my toddler’s best efforts, I did not buy neon orange, yellow or iridescent green finger nail polish!
However, at the toddler’s insistence, we walked through a child’s clothing boutique, where I scored a pair of earrings that matched my intended top for $2 made by the boutique owner’s daughter. (She was so excited to sell a pair of earrings, I heard her whisper to her mom about the sale as we left.) Awesome deal on local art by youthful artists.
Local Haircuts: On a our walk home, we stopped past a Hair Salon. The wonderful lady accommodated us, letting my son play nearby while she gave me a great cut. My father in law lives in small town America, so my cut only cost $13. I was so surprised, I had to tip well! In fact, they don’t accept credit cards, so I had to run home and get cash to pay her.
Homemade Facial: Once at home, I raided the kitchen of a widower to create a quick facial for myself. Luckily, there was baking soda, lemons, olive oil and sugar. I started by washing my face, then created a facial steam by placing a wet facecloth in the microwave for two minutes. I followed the steam with a baking soda paste scrub, which always helps clean out my pours. I usually make a more complete paste that is more effective, but I was time and ingredient limited today. I followed the scrub with a light application of olive oil and water, simply mixed in the palm of my hand. After this, my skin looked healthy, and ready for the makeup later.
Sweet Hands: Naturally, I started with removing the chipped fingernail polish. A quick round of the emery board shaped my tips and then I was ready for the smoothing scrub. If you have ever attended any of our facials evenings, you will remember the lemon and sugar scrub that leaves fingers and palms refreshed and smooth. A palm full of sugar and a few drops of lemon juice from the lemon coupled with vigorous rubbing creates a glaze that softens and refreshes callouses and skin. With smooth hands and shaped nails, my fingernails were ready for the self-applied French Manicure.
Sugar Scrub: It probably wasn’t necessary, but *was* my anniversary, so I created a quick sugar scrub with just olive oil and sugar, approximately 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 cup sugar. Into the shower for some pampering and relaxing. Besides, shouldn’t sweet, smooth hands be attached to recently exfoliated arms? Aaah.
Make Up: I am by no means a make up artist, but years of staring at the same face in the mirror has at least led me to be able to put make up on my face acceptably. For real hints and tips, visit Make You Special. However, this is what worked for me today in light of what I had available for my now very short blonde hair, blue eyes.
Eyes: The light pink from the Mermaid Tail mineral eyeshadow lightened my undereyes considerably. Not typically what I would do, but I had no base or foundation, and I was still fighting some light bruising. It also became the base for my eyes. I used the blue from this package as the base on the lids as well. I intended to use the Denim colored eye liner, but it turned out to be some electric blue shade reminiscent of the 80s, so I instead used it as a base, to cover some of the red still around my eyes, then went over the top with the brown eyeliner. The result was surprisingly acceptable. Follow that up with mascara, I was pretty happy.
Cheeks: I seldom use a straight pink blush because my coloring doesn’t lend itself well without blending in an apricot to make it look natural. However today, this pink helped lighten the effects of the bruising. A light dusting over the bridge of my nose and under my eyes was surprisingly effective. As a result, I think the pink on my cheeks worked out better than usual. Granted, this was not a heavily made up look, but I was happy to look pretty and unbruised!
Lips: The wonderful fact of mineral makeup is that it is so versatile. I could hardly go to my anniversary dinner with lips unadorned! So I used a combination of the Christmas burgundy, the blush and the pink from the eyeshadow for highlights over the top of the lip balm. I was happy.
Overcoming a series of challenges, I now felt relaxed, pretty and prepared for a wonderful dinner alone with my husband, a luxury we seldom get to enjoy.
July has arrived, marking the start of summer community festivals and lazy days by the pool or on the beach. Bathing suits, halter tops and alternative cuts in clothing reveal tender skin that has been protected by t-shirts and business suits year-round. There are two solutions to avoid unseemly tan lines (or burns!)
Traditionally, many people have spent hours in the sun or tanning beds trying to build up a “base tan.” A tan is your skin’s natural reaction to UVA and UVB radiation. Your body is trying to protect itself from harmful effects by creating a barrier. The tan, however, is the first sign of sun damage to your skin.
Alternatively, applying sun block with a minimum rating of SPF 15 can prevent the development of premature skin aging as well as unsightly stripes and tan lines. For active sports, choose a water proof sunblock. After swimming or vigorous sweating, reapply sun block. For healthy choices in sun block, see the Environmental Working Group’s 2010 Sun block report.
Conscientious and regular application of sun block will allow you to fashionably wear many cuts of clothing without unseemly tan lines. Keep you and your loved ones safe and beautiful!
It’s easy to say, “I support the environment.” Sometimes, it’s just more difficult to pay for it at the cash register. Still, your health is important to you, your family, friends and future. So, if you are trying to economize and still eat organic foods, then choose the cleanest foods in your non-organic produce.
The top listed foods for cleanliness, called the “Clean 15″ according to the Environmental Working Group tested with significantly lower herbicides and pesticides than other fruits and vegetables. It is theorized that these goodies have tough skins which repel the pesticides. However, from personal veggie gardening experience, I suggest that these plants are also quite hardy and naturally resist pestilence, thereby requiring less pesticides in commercial growing settings. (Try growing them in your garden!)
Clean 15
- Onions*
- Avocados
- Sweet corn
- Pineapples
- Mango
- Sweet Peas*
- Asparagus*
- Kiwi Fruit
- Cabbage*
- Eggplant*
- Cantaloupe
- Watermelon*
- Grapefruit
- Sweet Potatoes*
- Sweet Onions*
The starred items are those we have easily grown successfully in our mid-western soil. Try them in a corner of your flower bed.
Are you struggling to make ends meet? In this time of economic stress for many, the most popular comment I hear regarding organics foods is that they are too expensive. Consider these two authoritative sources when deciding what works for your family.
More Nutrients: Prevention Magazine recently published a report stating that organic foods are found to have 50 – 75% more nutrients than non-organic foods. In local stores, the organic food is not 50% more expensive, so you are winning. More nutrients, same amount of calories! What’s not to love?
Dirty Dozen: Still not convinced? The Environmental Work Group (mother group to the Skindeep Database) has released their most recent Dirty Dozen list. These fruits and vegetables are the most likely to absorb pesticides and herbicides: chemicals that you don’t want to consume. If you’re trying to eat healthy on a budget, try avoiding these, or preferably eating their organic counterparts:
- Celery
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Domestic Blueberries
- Nectarines
- Cherries
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Spinach, Kale & Collard Greens
- Potatoes
- Imported Grapes
- Lettuce
The wonders of the lemon: high in Vitamin C, the juice of a lemon can clean and nourish your skin. As a bonus, lemons smell fresh and clean.
- Vitamin C
- Breaks down oils
- Soften hard skin patches
- Aids in exfoliation
Lemon Sugar Scrub
I love combining the lemon with sugar. About 1/4 c. sugar and 2 T. of freshly squeezed lemon juice creates an excellent scrub. Vigorously rub hands, feet or dry patches on your elbows until the sugar warms, forming a glaze. Let glaze begin to dry, approximately 5 – 10 minutes. Rinse under warm water. Enjoy an amazing, glowing skin experience.
Join up for our newsletter or follow @CelticNaturals on Twitter to reserve a test bar of this great soap. Only 10 bars available, so sign up quickly! Spicey lemongrass and cinnamon combo with nourishing sea weed to combat the effects of chlorine after your swim.
Ingredients: saponified soy, coconut, palm, castor and olive oils, sea weed, lemongrass and cinnamon.
Have we all survived the winter? Spring is in the air and Celtic Naturals has many changes to announce.
We are excited to announce another local retailer in Central Ohio. Welcome, Clintonville Outfitters! They are retailing hand sanitizers, bar soaps, stainless steel water bottles and lip balms. All of them are good for you and for the environment. Check them out. You can smell great on your next camping trip.
Celtic Naturals is also announcing a new web address in coming weeks. We have officially secured the domain www.celticnaturals.com. Yes, that’s right, without the hyphen. We are very thankful that we can provide you simple communications. Our Twitter, Facebook and web addresses will now be consistent. Stay tuned for progress.
We will also be launching a new store. We have heard your requests. In an attempt to make your shopping experience more pleasurable, we will begin using a new online store system. You will still be able to find all of your favorite products, but hopefully, you will find them more quickly and easily. We really are looking forward to hearing your feedback on this. More information as we move forward.
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