Does Ear Candling really work?

I'm going to talk about something kind of gross today.  If you are squeamish about things like ear wax, I suggest you skip over this post.  Last week my mom was visiting and we got to talking about how she was having a strange feeling in her ear the last few days and was bugging her quite a bit.  I started to tell her about ear candling, something that I've done for years on myself and my family. I thought I would share with you my experience and what I think of candling. Please note that I am not a doctor and this is my own experience so you should always make the right decision for yourself including consulting your doctor if desired.

I've always had trouble with my ears.  Growing up, I got ear infections quite a bit.  The remedy back then was often to do a water wash on the ear that included flooding my ear with pressured water and hoping that the wax was released.  The process was pretty painful and as I got older, I started looking for alternate ways to deal with the ear pain.  I also didn't want my kids going through that kind of pain either. 

I can't recall who recommended I try out ear candles.  I didn't do much research the first time, I just hit up my local health food store and bought some.  They usually run about $10 - $15 for a pack of 4. There are directions on the packaging that should be referred to. We did a candle on my mom's ear that evening she was complaining (because I always keep some candles on hand) and she did feel some relief once we were done.  We also were able to inspect the evidence at the bottom of the candle and it appeared she did have some build up.

An ear candle is a hollow candle made of paper that has been dipped in wax.  The end that goes in the ear comes to a point so it can be angled into the ear canal. It is important that the candle is straight and creates a seal against the opening of the ear canal.   I like the candles that have a plastic enforced end, they give a tighter seal and are more durable. The opposite end of the candle, the open end, is what is lit on fire.  If you do decide to do an ear candle, I recommend you do it with the help of someone else. It is easiest to lay on your side and with your head propped up level on a pillow.  It can help to prevent ash from falling and keeps the candle nice and straight. 

The concept behind the candle is that sending heat into the ear loosens the wax and burning of the candle creates a suction that pulls the wax up into the candle. As the candle starts to burn down, you may see glimmers of fire that is the wax raising up into the candle and then burning.  Most candles have a burn line where you should stop letting the candle burn down, which is about 4 inches or so.  I like to make guard out of foil or a paper plate that surrounds the candle and keeps the ash from falling into the face by accident.  I also keep a cup of water close by so that the candle can be dropped into the water once done.  After the lit candle has been put out, the really gratifying part comes (if you like that kind of stuff which admittedly, I do).  You can cut open the rest of the candle and see if there is any ear wax that has been collected.  Some people have argued that the "wax" at the bottom of the candle is candle wax but speaking from personal experience, I can confirm that I have seen true ear wax not candle wax come out.  I have also heard that our ears can collect yeast and mold which can also be pulled up into the candle as well.  I can't say I have ever identified yeast or mold but I'm not sure I would recognize it if I did.  I've also heard that ear candles can help with ears that are blocked due to sinus pressure.  The pressure from the candle can supposedly give some relief to the ear even if there isn't wax build-up. 

 I have heard over the years that many doctors are skeptical of ear candling actually working. They also aren't FDA approved because, well, you're putting a lit candle in your ear. Others have said it can deposit wax into your ear instead of extracting it.  Despite this kind of argument and skepticism, they have worked quite well for me and my family. We've all had positive experiences.  I think my mom may also be a believer now as well.

Seedlings

A few weeks ago the girls and I picked up some seeds to try our hand at some container gardening in the backyard this summer.  I realized I wanted to do them in seed starters so I picked up a container of them this weekend.  This is the seed starter kit I bought but it is cheaper at Home Depot.  I planted all 25 spots. It was fairly simple to do.  You pour in about 5 cups of warm water across the tops of each peat pellet and wait for them to plump up.  Once they have risen, you pull back the netting a bit and put 2-3 seeds in each peat round. You cover the tops of the seeds with the extra peat and cover them with the lid.  They are supposed to sit in a warm place until they sprout. I have never tried this method so am hopeful it will work better than my past gardening attempts on vegetables.

Our family obviously has a real pepper problem -- Sweet Peppers (me), Jalapeno Peppers (Josh, me), Pepperocinis (Tori, me).  Actually now that I typed that out, I realize it is me with the pepper problem!  We also bought some Cilantro because I really love cilantro especially in my salsa. With these kinds of ingredients, I guess we should try to do a tomato plant too.  I worry about my naughty dogs getting into them, especially Molly who will eat absolutely anything!  But I may try anyway.

Keto Recipe: Baked Artichoke Heart Casserole

I didn't always love artichokes.  It was some time around the "spinach and artichoke dip" craze of the late nineties that I realized that I actually did like artichokes.  Now I'll eat them on just about anything... salad, pizza, sandwich. 

Earlier this week I was looking for some new sides to have with my meals that would be keto-friendy.  I saw that artichokes were relatively low in carbs so thought it might be good to make some sort of casserole out of them.  Since I am on the only one in my household who eats keto or would eat an artichoke for that manner, I just made small ramekin size servings.  I didn't find a recipe, I just kind of made it up as I went along and overall not too bad.

Single Serving Baked Artichoke Heart Casserole

Ingredients:
1 can of artichoke hearts
2 Tbs. Real Mayo
2 Tbs. Parmesan Cheese + additional to sprinkle on the top
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
Pepper to taste

Directions:
Open artichokes and drain well.  Put artichokes in bowl and use fork to mush them up a bit.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Put in individual servings or one small casserole dish.  Sprinkle with additional Parmesan Cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.  Turn on the broiler and let broil until top is crisped to your liking. 

A journey towards cruelty-free beauty routine

My lifestyle has changed quite a bit over the years when it comes my consumption of animal products.  When I was in my early teens my family went vegetarian for a short time.  When I was in my early twenties, I went vegetarian for several years.  After that I went vegetarian + fish and chicken.  And after that I went back to eating meat.  And now I eat a ton of meat because of my ketogenic lifestyle.  I've always seen pros and cons to eating one way or another and am not here to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do.  I am content right now with what I eat.  That may change or evolve over time and I'm ok with that.  I don't like putting myself in a certain group, I'd rather do what feels right for me.  After all, I only answer to myself.

Something I would like to do a better job of is using more cruelty-free beauty products.  I may have at times in my life been a bit of a beauty product hoarder.  And I may have a set of drawers in my closet dedicated just to storing makeup and beauty products.  I know, not a good habit and something I am working on with my whole decluttering/minimalism strategy.  In line with my desire to pare down my products, I am very interested in moving away from products that are tested on animals, use products (purchased) that are tested on animals, or are owned by companies that test on animals.  I don't expect this to be an initiative in which I dump half my items that aren't cruelty-free but rather a slow migration to weed out items that I'm no longer comfortable with.

This will be hard.

I can already tell you right now that some of my favorite brands and go-to items currently test on animals. A lot of that has to do with their desire to sell products in China. The China government requires that beauty products are tested on animals before they can be sold there.  So while a brand may not test normally for sales in the US, they have given into China sales and done the testing.  I get it.  It's all about the money to them.  Unfortunately, it's not all about the money to me.  So those brands are off my list too. My definition of cruelty-free will be those brands which do not test or are not associated with companies that test on animals.  I used the website, Cruelty Free Kitty to help with identifying what was and was not cruelty-free.  It has a lot of really valuable information.

I will also mention that this isn't the first time I've gone down this path.  In my early twenties when I went completely vegetarian, I also went cruelty-free.  I was also less beauty-product obsessed and it was fairly painless at the time.  Brands have changed and many new products have come on the market. At the time, there was a fantastic magazine called Natural Living that I read and loved.  Unfortunately, it is no longer published a long with several other natural living magazines that have come and gone over the years.

I'm sharing with you my current list of products and favorite brands that I use daily.  Items that have a * are cruelty-free and I will keep using (unless of course, I just decide to try something new) but everything else I want to eventually replace.  My plan is use up the products that I have on-hand and then replace them with a good cruelty-free alternative.  I'll be sharing how this process goes (whether I am successful or not) and appreciate any replacement product recommendations.

Bath & Body:
 - Shampoo / Conditioner - Systeme Biologe (Matrix), Tigi Bed Head
- Body Wash - Philosophy*, Soap & Glory
- Body Butter / Lotion - Soap & Glory, Origins
- Shaving Cream - EOS

Skincare:
- Moisturizer - Garnier
- Face Wash - Neutrogena
- Lotion - Pacifica*
- Mask - Formula 10.0.6*, Freeman

Makeup:
- Foundation - Estee Lauder
- Concealer - NYX, Urban Decay
- Blush - Tarte*
- Eyebrow - Anastasia*
- Mascara - Benefit
- Eyeshadow - Lorac, Urban Decay, Tarte*
- Powder - Rimmel
- Lips - Buxom

Nails:
- Polish - Zoya*
- Remover - Zoya*

These obviously aren't all the brands I own or use but these are my favorites.  Something that was surprising to me as I researched what brands were cruelty-free were those brands that are marketed as natural, green, environmentally friendly that actually weren't. I was sure that brands like Origins, Burt's Bees, Fresh... were cruelty-free yet they weren't.  I was sadly disappointed.

Swap.Com - Online Consignment Shop

My decluttering efforts are still underway but have been a bit slow lately.  My slow down has mostly to do with my ability to get things out of my house.  We have a lot of clothing, especially girls clothing and now my own that has to be listed, sold, and shipped on EBay.  This process, while I have gotten it down to a pretty efficient process, still takes a lot of time to do.  I would spend at least 4 hours a week listing things.

I've finally gotten pretty fed up with the piles just sitting on my bedroom floor waiting to be listed or waiting to be purchased.  I started looking at other sites that might be better to list for girls clothing.  I came across Swap.com, an online consignment store.  Swap.com takes on a lot of the work in listing items for you. They take pictures, they group items, and they post the items for you.  It is up to you to set a purchase price once the items are ready to be posted.  They also take care of the storage and the shipping which is awesome. To be fair, EBay has been fairly profitable and I still think it is great way to get rid of things you no longer need but should definitely be done on a consistent basis to avoid becoming overwhelmed with items as I have been and then trying to sell everything at once!

I decided to try sending in the stuff that hasn't moved on EBay after a couple of relists to see how it goes with Swap.com.  I ordered a box and shipping label from Swap.com and it was delivered to my doorstep.  I folded up the  clean clothing nicely and filled the box.  Swap.com claims that each large box averages $150 in income for a seller.  I'm not sure if this is more or less than what I've been making on EBay but I figured I would give it a try.  They do have a seller guarantee as well where if your items don't sell, they will buy them (at a discount rate of course).  Swap.com takes a portion of your profit, I haven't determined if it is in line with EBay/Paypal fees for EBay sales.

Right now Swap.com has a 60 day processing period for each box that they receive so it will probably be awhile before I know what kind of success I will have.  The important thing to me now is I am moving this stuff outside of my house and it is no longer cluttering up my bedroom floor!  I'll keep you posted on how it goes and if my first box generates $150 in income.

Botanical Style

Maybe it is the change of the season, maybe it has come with age (my mama certainly was blessed with a green thumb in her thirties) or maybe it is just my normal wandering mind. I love decorating my home (inside and out) with plants.  I remember when I was younger going to the garden center with my mom (again) and looking at all the flowers.  She had her favorites -- pansies, petunias, tiger lilies, portulaca, canna lilies, crocus, morning glories, lilac, daffodils, lily of the valley, and who could forget, magnolias!  Oh man, she and my dad loved their magnolia trees. They loved them so much that they would spend hours driving around on vacation with two little girls in the backseat of the car commenting over and over how much they love the magnolia trees. Magnolia. Magnolia. Magnolia.  I'm obviously still traumatized. And now I admit, I love magnolia trees... like mother, like daughter.

For Mother's Day my girls got me a new book, Botanical Style: Inspirational decorating with nature, plants, and florals by Selina Lake.  This book is gorgeous. I love how the style of the book mixes botanicals with vintage.  There are ideas for kitchens, family rooms, outdoor spaces, and offices.

It is packed full of succulents and cactus!

I love the different way that the flowers and plants are displayed, using old bottles, tubs, and jars.

I also love the botanical artwork that is hung in the rooms. I especially love vintage botanical charts.  I have a few in my bedroom that hang above my bed. 

My favorite way to decorate with plants is against natural woods and white. Especially next to my white owls... I might have a thing for white owl statues too. If you are looking for some botanical decorating ideas, this book is awesome.

My Birthday Cake - A Low-Carb Keto Cheesecake

I was dead set on sticking to my keto diet this birthday so coming up with a birthday cake was going to be a challenge.  Lucky for me, I like cheesecake and it can easily be made keto-style or low-carb.  My husband took it upon himself to make the cheesecake for me and he did an excellent job. I like the Cheesecake Factory's Low-Carb Cheesecake and this tops that, seriously.

Low-Carb Keto Friendly Cheesecake

Ingredients:

3 packages (1 and 1/2 lbs) full-fat cream cheese (room temperature)

4 eggs (preferably room temperature)

1 and 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 Tablespoon) vanilla

1 and 2/3 cups sugar equivalent of artificial sweetener, we used baking stevia

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup almond flour

2 Tablespoons melted butter

2 Tablespoons sugar equivalent in artificial sweetener

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 F.
Crust:  Combine the last 3 ingredients for the crust, and press into the bottom of a springform pan.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until brown.

Heat oven to 400 F.
Cheesecake: Beat cream cheese in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients, be sure ingredients are well incorporated. Once all ingredients are combined, pour the mixture into the pan, on top of the crust. Put cheesecake in the oven and turn down to 200 F.  Bake 60 - 90 minutes until the cake is firm but center is slightly soft.

Chill in refrigerator before serving.