Helpful Herbs | Parsley

I've been procrastinating on writing this post for ages... One of the things that sparked the change up of Tinker Finca was a book that I found on herbs.  Reading through all the different uses for common herbs was really interesting to me. I come from Polish heritage and have always been exposed to herbal remedies and interesting uses for various plants (I'm sure this isn't just a Polish thing).  I guess I just find it kind of sad that a lot of people now days just rely on 'artificial' medicine and don't know the healing properties that many plants & herbs have. So... after a little research, I present you with a series on interesting uses for common herbs.

Varieties

• Italian / Flat leaf - a lot of flavour and retains its flavour in cooking quite well.
• Curly leaf - milder flavour and should be added toward the end of cooking or as a garnish

Growing Tips

• Grows best in full sun (as with most herbs) but it can tolerate part shade.
• Likes to be watered regularly and will grow well in a pot.
• Pick regularly to encourage thicker growth but remember to leave some growth on the plant.
• Lasts 1 to 2 years - once it goes to seed you should replace the plant (if it is in a pot)

Storing

• You can dry parsley but it doesn't keep its flavour very well
• Can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days - place stems in water and a plastic bag over the leaves, replace water daily 

Medicinal Use

• Stimulates hair growth
• Helps balance oily hair
• Helps with dandruff
• Great for clarifying brunette hair
• Great to freshen breath - chew after meal

To use as a hair treatment - Purée a large handful of parsley with 2 tablespoons of water. Apply to hair, wrap with cling wrap and towel and let sit for 1 hour. Rinse.

OR Combine 1/4 cup parsley with 1 cup boiling water and steep for 1 hour. Follow previous instructions.

Disclaimer:Please note that I am not a health care professional and all the information I am providing is a guide only. Please consult with your doctor if you are unsure about anything especially if you are pregnant or have any medical conditions.

How to fix dry winter skin

As the weather has gotten colder, my skin has gotten drier and drier... From hot showers to cold winds, there are all sorts of things that can be drying to your skin. There's nothing worse than having little flakies when trying to apply makeup or even just wearing your skin natural.

Thankfully, there are so many ingredients around the house that can be used to combat that dry skin. Today I am testing out a homemade face mask made from various nourishing and natural ingredients to kick my dryness out of town!

The ingredients for my DIY face mask include all the powerhouses of natural moisturizers:

Avocado

Egg Yolk 

Olive Oil

Honey 

Milk

Plus a little bit of extra grit to scrub off that dry dead skin... aka flakies. These include:

Oatmeal

Brown sugar

How to: Whiz all the ingredients in a whizz machine, apply to face... Relax for 10min and wash it off.

Now my skin feels soft and clean and the best part, no flakies! Yay!

PS. I FINNNALLLY got my BOOOTS!!! YAYAYAYAYAY I love them! Stay tuned for an outfit post one of these days! 

health.

The other day Mr Peck bought me a book called "Clean & Lean Diet" by James Duigan.

Very interesting reading. He says that a lot of what we eat is toxic and has little nutritional value because of all the chemicals in our food and nutrient depleted soils fruit & vege are grown in... and I pretty much agree.

Duigan says you should try and buy organic as much as possible [a little more expensive usually and very very limited in my local supermarket :(  I may have to do some specialty trips to Babina in Newcastle to stock up on flour and other things and maybe the Fruit Barn in Jesmond - boy I miss that place!!], cut down on sugar (avoid foods that have sugar in the top 3 ingredients) as well as wheat and gluten [apparently intolerance to wheat makes you bloated below the belly button - my problem!].

The first part of the book goes through Duigan's main ideas on nutrition and then goes into recipes and workouts to get you clean & lean in 14 days. You pretty much go on a detox diet. 

I haven't really gone into it full swing coz I don't particularly have the desire to lose weight, rather get clean and also tone up. The exercises are really good for the toning part and I have taken on some of his nutrition advice - or will when I can get the right ingredients!

Duigan says that most breakfast cereals are full of sugar and really not good for you. Most celebrities and athletes do not eat cereal for breakfast because it is of little to no benefit. He says you should actually eat vegetables and things like that.... kinda hard to stomach. But one of his other suggestions is to eat oatcakes with things like avocado. Also, berries are super good, and nuts as well.

So, today I made some Oatcakes to see what they are like and decide if I could eat them for breakfast. (because I went to look at the cereals in my pantry and everyone of them [including weet-bix interestingly] has sugar in the top 3, if not 2 ingredients.)

I just tried one before, and I gotta say - not bad! So easy to make too.  

Clean & Lean Diet said you can buy them from health stores [they are available at Bibina] but I don't have any of those close by so it was easier to make them... I just searched for a recipe on the net.