Coconut Orange Body Scrub

Hey friends!  Long time no see!  I have no excuse other than some other things have had to take priority, and there aren't enough hours in a day.  But I think I am back.  I think I said that before, but I am pretty positive now.  I am running 2 businesses, caring for my grand littles a few days a week and trying to keep up the blog and website.  Oh then there is being a wife, and having household duties, and all of that stuff!  We have had weddings, and baby showers and lots of photo shoots, it is crazy but I refuse to give up the things I love, so even if it is between 2 and 6 a.m., I WILL keep things up!

So speaking of baby showers, I held a surprise one this week for my niece Maegon.  She is my oldest niece, she is only 5 years younger than me, so she is more like a little sister.  She is pregnant with her first baby, and this was something she was told may never happen so I wanted to celebrate big!  She lives out of state and was coming in for another nieces wedding and it was the perfect time!  I wanted to do something fun for the favors, as I themed her shower "The Jungle Book".  Her favorite color is orange (good choice, so is mine).  So I filled brown paper bags with banana runts, gummy bears, coconut jelly beans, animal crackers, bright green sixlets (needed the color!) and this sugar scrub.  Lots of you said you didn't mind seeing a recipe that wasn't food, although, you technically could eat this so if you have little ones and like to keep things natural, well, this is safe. 

There are 5 million recipes for body scrubs out there.  Many the same and many different.  I had some coconut oil I wanted to use up, and I wanted a sugar based scrub and not a salt one.  By the way, this is an awkward disclaimer, make sure you use this on your body and keep it away from, umm..... your "undercarriage" as it is sugar based which feeds yeast and well, I will let you google it, if you don't know what I am sayin!  OMG, that was so weird to type in a food blog.  Let's hurry ad just move on.  Act like it didn't happen.

This made about 10 half pint jars, but if you are using just for yourself, store in an airtight container and use it before self tanning, after being out in the sun, or just to pamper your skin it smells out of this world and it works amazing!  My mix and match was a hit, so here we go!

1 cup coconut oil, melted
4 cups granulated sugar
10 drops of orange essential oil.  (I purchase it at my local natural product store)
orange food coloring

Literally just put this all in a bowl and start mixing.  It might take a couple of minutes but it will all mix beautifully. 

The addition of the food coloring will not affect your skin at all.  When you have the color consistent you are basically done!  While I can't be exact on the shelf life, I am sure that it is at least several weeks and honestly, it won't be around that long anyway!!!

Enjoy soft, exfoliated, delicious smelling skin!!

Cinnamon Sugar Roasted Almonds

Yes, they are.  Oh?  I thought I heard you say, "are these as good as they sound" and my reply of course was, "yes, they are". 

I have been on an almond kick.  Nuts in general.  So, if you aren't a nut lover, the next week or so might be difficult for you.  I had these back around the holidays and I am just now getting to recreate them, (2nd time is a charm for the record). 

I get so many ideas and recipe ideas when I try to recreate things I have eaten.  Even better when I make my own twisted up versions of things I have eaten.  Some of you all through anything in a crock pot, I add anything to pasta! HA!  I have a sister, #2 to be exact who I mentioned previously adds peas to every damn dish under the sun.  Worse yet is #5 who adds peppers and onions to every dang thing.  I have given up on helping these people.  We all know someone who is the one ingredient wonder, they add that baby to everything!  What does your one ingredient wonder add? 

My ingredient this month has been nuts.  What can ya do, we all go through phases right? 

Now you will need roasted almonds.  IF you do not buy or have access to already roasted almonds, just toss those babies on a baking sheet into a 325 oven for about 15 minutes. 
Wa-LA.  Got me?

These are a perfect "picky" food.  Game night, game day, party food, you name it, these are delish!

You will need
3 cups whole almonds
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tsps. cinnamon

In a large skillet OFF of the heat, add sugar, water and cinnamon.  Whisk or stir until all ingredients are combined.  Add in your almonds and stir until they are well coated.  Now is where the patience comes in.  It took me 8 minutes on a med-med/high burner, constantly stirring to get these babies done.  The mixture will become very syrupy.  No worries, at some point, maybe 6 or 7 minutes in, there will be much less syrup, if any at all, and the almonds will almost look furry.  HA!  Who says that about their food?  At least we aren't cooking chicken, right?  Furry chicken?
Anyway, when this happens remove immediately from the heat.  Dump them out on a baking sheet, separate them well.  You know, ya gotta keep em' separated.  Let them cool completely, and then hit it.  Nosh on these babies until the cows come up. 

Enjoy friends!  I know we did!

Your "feeling nutty" Chefwannabe

Chocolate Dipped HoneyComb Candy (Hokey Pokey)

I love this recipe.  I have been dying to share it and just never found the 10 minutes it takes start to finish to get it done.  Seriously, why can I sometimes just not get the easiest of recipes or tasks done?

I saw Nigella Lawson make this so long ago.  Her recipe calls for golden syrup, something I have been unable to find.   I know some people have been able to, but I can't.  I used honey instead, I mean it IS honeycomb, so it seemed, ya know, appropriate.  It worked great.  I burned the heck out of my first batch, so let me give you some advice.



1.Have EVERYTHING measured and ready to be used. 

2. When you add the baking soda, REMOVE the pan from the heat before you do so and whisk it as fast as you can in about 2 seconds and get it poured out.  When it begins to cool, your screwed.


3. Use parchment or tin foil, with a wee bit of nonstick spray on your cookie sheet


4. If you smooth it out, you will get a crunchier, more dense honeycomb, if you just let it flop out of the pan like a big giant blob, and let it go where it wants, not touching it, you will get a more airy honeycomb, which for the record is MY choice.


You do not have to dip any of this in chocolate.  I did. 

When the recipes says to add the soda when you see your sugar start to change color, I mean it.  I mean......like I MEAN it.  You will burn that stuff so fast you won't have any idea what happened or HOW it happened.  Trust me, experience speaking here.

So all that being said, this is so fast, so easy and just so fun.  Let's get you started, and DO NOT BURN IT!

1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tbsp. water
4 tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. baking soda

You need a large pan, because when you add the soda, this will bubble up like it is alive. 
Add in sugar, water, and honey.  Whisk until combine, turn heat to medium-low.  DO NOT walk away.  Do.  Not.  Walk.  Away.   Just whisk it and wait for the moment when you see even one spot begin to caramelize.

 REMOVE from heat, add in soda and whisk quickly, you don't want to over whisk it and lose your lightness. 


Just before it blew up all the way!

IMMEDIATELY pour unto prepared cookie sheet.  Let sit for 1 hour.  Then you can crack and break it how you want. 

If you want to dip in chocolate, just melt your favorite kind of chocolate and dip.  You can do the whole thing or half.  I thinned my chocolate melts out with a bit of veg oil to make it more workable.

I hope you enjoy this fun treat!!

Your "burnitupbetty" Chefwannabe