Cucumbers... A Girl's Best Friend !

Like myself, I'm sure you've strolled down the isle of your supermarket, breezing past one of the most wonderfully nutritious and healing vegetables...The Cucumber! Cucumbers (like the man of your dreams) range from 6-9 inches and are a tropical plant that originated in Southeast Asia before spreading to Egypt, Greece and Rome. While today they are most commonly known to heal tired eyes, cucumbers have a plethora of beneficial healing properties you won't want to miss.

Cucumbers are an excellent source of vitamins C and A and folic acid. The Skin is rich in fiber and contains essential minerals such as silica, potassium, magnesium, and molybdenum. In particular, silica is an important trace mineral that helps strengthen connective tissue that hold our body together such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and bone.

Cucumbers are also perfect for hydrating and cooling the skin. Two compounds found in cucumbers are ascorbic acid and caffein acid, which help prevent water retention which is why they are used for swollen puffy eyes and sun burns.

Lastly, I would also recommend buying organic cucumbers. Because many of their healing properties lie in skin, you want to avoid buying hot house or genetically modified cucumbers covered in pesticides and herbicides. It has been reported that in the U.S. more than 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed on food crops each year. So don't be cheap! Spend the extra cash on some crunchy delicious organically grown cucumbers, cause lets face it, it's a lot cheaper then cancer.

Here's a few fun ways to use cucumbers!

Hydrating Cucumber Face Tonic

Ingredients:

1 Organic peeled and seeded cucumber

2 Tablespoons of purified water

Tools:

Bad Ass Blender

Strainer

Cotton balls

Directions:

Place a cucumber into a blender with water. (Guys you might want to shield your eyes when you turn on the blender and watch the cucumber get hacked to bits.) Blend on medium until the pulp is thick and juicy. Stain the pulp and catch the juice in a bowl. Place juice in refrigerator and chill for 1 hour.Use a cotton cleansing pads to dip in liquid and apply to the face. Avoid eye area. Leave on for 10 min and then rinse with cool water.

Cucumber Cleanse Shake

This drink is perfect for hydrating and cooling the body after a steamy workout or a hot summer day.

Ingredients:

1 Cucumber

1 Sprig of Fresh Mint

1 Pear

1 Lemon

1 Slice of Ginger

Tools:

Bad Ass Blender

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients together and enjoy. You may want to add some ice to get it extra cool and delicious.

Spa Day:

Slice some fresh cucumbers and add them to a big pitcher of chilled purified water and drink throughout the day. Then light a yummy coconut soy cancel and whip up The Hydrating Cucumber Face Tonic. Place two chilled cucumber slices over your eyes and relax! You don't need to spend a fortune to look like a million bucks !

Peace, Veggies and Rock'n Roll

Love,

Eat Cute

Valentines Day! Just Because You're Getting Screwed Doesn't Mean The Environment Should

Valentines Day! Whether you spend it watching Sex and The City with your cat Snowball or you're on a hot date eating overpriced food on a prefixed menu, Valentines day can be an environmental plunder for our beautiful earth. Did you know that the billions of cards purchased each year end up in landfills contributing to deforestation ?Or what about that giant bouquet of roses doused in pesticides and picked by cheaply paid labor workers?And let's not forget the chocolates that were harvested by the use of slave and forced child labour in Central and South America... gracias por nada! Well, it's not too late to show the earth and yourself some love this Valentines Day !

1. Make Your Own Card

Whether you send an internet card or make one at home from recycled paper, you can still send filthy messages to your love ones without killing trees. Remember, you don't have to chop down wood to give a guy wood ! If you suck at arts and crafts you can purchase eco friendly cards from

Eco Fabulous

http://www.ecofabulous.com/holiday-and-gift/eco-friendly-valentines-cards/

2. Buy Organic Flowers

The best gift is to buy a potted plant that you can enjoy for an extended period of time...Note to men: Chia Pets are the ultimate cock blocker. If you do buy fresh cut flowers, purchase ones that are locally grown or organic so your date can enjoy flowers without the use of pesticides or toxic chemicals. Also by purchasing locally grown flowers, you can help support local farmers that keep our plants, fruits and vegetables chemical free. In contrast, non- organic flowers are sprayed with toxic chemicals that have detrimental effects on farmers. According to Cait Johnson, Assistant Producer, Care2 Healthy Living Channels "One of the problems with pesticides is that they don’t stay put: They drift, getting into and contaminating water supplies, our homes, gardens, and bodies. Since many pesticides have been implicated in ozone depletion and the rising incidence of cancer, non-organic flower-growing has a serious impact on our health and the environment." However, organic farmers rely on safe and natural methods to eradicate pests.

Think someone sucks? Send them lots of flowers with pesticides and hope that they slowly perish.

3. Fair Trade Chocolate

Next time you dip your boyfriends balls in chocolate, make sure its Fair Trade. Smothering your loved one's junk with chocolate harvested by laborers and enslaved children in poor developing nations is wrong! Fair trade chocolate ensures that workers receive fair wages and there are no children involved in the process. Fair trade also makes sure that all farmers have a safe and healthy working environment. So go nuts! Pun intended. Your welcome!

4. A Night At Home

Instead of going out to eat unhealthy foods prepared in bulk, stay home and cook a romantic dinner together. The whole point of Valentines Day is to take time to appreciate the ones you love. So why would you spend it in a room filled with hundreds of strangers? Unless your into that sort of thing.

Instead drink yummy organic wine (http://store.theorganicwinecompany.com/storefront.aspx) and cook your favorite meal with fresh vegetables meats and whole grains. What makes eating at home so different from dining out? When you create a dish just for you and those you love, you have control over the quality and quantity of the ingredients, unlike restaurant dining where you don't know where the food is from, who handled it, and how much salt, sugar and oil is added. When you cook for yourself it's special. You know exactly what you like and don't like. Because you make it for yourself you put extra love and thought in the meal as opposed to your food being quickly tossed on a plate by a stranger who might have accidentally let your poached salmon get season with some of the debris from the floor.

So light some delicious soy candles, take a hot bath with lavender and vanilla , cook a savory meal and enjoy delightful conversation with your special someone... whether that be a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or Snowball the cat.

Most importantly, don't forget to show yourself some love. Even if you don't have a significant other in your life, you'll always have you. Take the time to appreciate your accomplishments. We spend so much time thinking about what we don't have, that we rarely take the time to appreciate all the wonderful things we do have. In Oscar Wilde's comedic stage play An Ideal Husband, the main character Lord Goring exercises this principle declaring " To love oneself is the beginning of a lifetime romance."

Being in a loving relationship is wonderful, but how can someone else love and respect you if you don't love and respect yourself? Do something that is just for you. Take a walk on the beach, read a good book, go for a run, write, or meditate. Walk with confidence and your head held high. If someone doesn’t like it they can suck it. You're too busy enjoying and improving your own life while touching the lives of others in a positive and powerful way.

Happy Valentines Day !

and Remember... Don't be a fool... wrap your tool !

Peace, Veggies and Rock'N Roll !

Love,

Happy Healthy Hippie

happyhealthyhippie.net