YumSugar

Guilt Free Vanilla Italian Soda

klynnmorton — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:51:05 -0700

2oz of Torani sugar free vanilla syrup
8 oz sparkling water or club soda

Add to a highball glass and stir...enjoy!

Baking Soda and It's Many Uses

Myst — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:15:18 -0700

Yes ladies and gents, baking soda, isn't just for cooking. It has many uses for your beauty regiments. Now if a person was to ever to grocery shopping with me, they would see me stock piling on the this miracle item. It's not because I like to bake that much, it's because, I can do much more for my skin and hair with baking soda, than I can do with spending a small fortune on cosmetic products.

1. Alternative for Shampoo

As I mentioned in my other blog, most shampoos, especially commercially produced shampoos have ingredients that are bad for your health. I've personal have been using the Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar method for about 4 years now and the changes have been nothing short of a miracle. My hair is stronger, no matter what I do to it, it's silkier, and healthier.

The reason being is that baking soda is acid neutral, and acts a mild buffer which means that it has the ability to neutralize other substances it comes in contact with that are acidic (like vinegar) or basic (like soap). If you're looking to go a more natural way and are trying to avoid adding unnecessary chemicals to your hair, this is a great way to go.

2. As an exfoliant

Again as I mentioned in my other blog, you don't necessarily need to wash your face all the time, what I mean by that is: you don't need to wash it with soaps and other products. Using warm water and gently scrubbing is enough to remove the dirt and dust and other particles. However you do you need to exfoliate at least 2 a week to remove dead cells, depending on your lifestyle and beauty regiment. I personal don't wear a lot of make-up. In fact, I wear make-up only if I'm going on and even then, I never put on any foundations (I think they are the devil). So because of that, I will only exfoliate once a week. But if you are the type to never leave your door without make-up then you should be exfoliating around 2 to 3 times a weeks. So why use baking soda to exfoliate instead of the hundreds of products out there.

Baking soda is physical exfoliants, and what makes it especially effective is that it is a fine, yet hard powder, making it highly effective at removing the dead skin cells without causing excessive irritation.
Some commercial exfoliants contain mild acids such as Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA for short), which help renew the skin layer by burning off some of the skin. The effectiveness of these chemical exfoliants depends on the acid concentration, with too low being not effective enough, and too high being damaging to the skin.

3. Treating pimples
I'm not a dermatologist, however I've had some of the great ones over the years and they all have advocated using natural products to treating your skin as much as possible. Although I do rarely get a pimple, I do use the method that was prescribed to me many years ago. Treat my pimples with baking soda. Now this may or may not work for you. It depends on your skin, your activities, stress level...etc. But I would recommend giving it a try and most people I know who also try this method, have sung it's praises as well. What I do when I get a pimple is to make a paste with baking soda and water, or baking soda with tea tree oil (it's good because it kills bacteria) and leave it one for about 5-10 minutes. After washing it off, I do see a difference and after a day or so of doing this, my pimple will generally disappear.

There are many other uses for baking soda. Like smoothing your knees and elbows, great for baths to leave you with soft smooth skin, as a callus remover, and many more. To learn more, this blog over here http://health.howstuffworks.com/uses-for-baking-soda-health-and-beauty-g..., gives you other great ideas for baking soda as a beauty regiment.

HELP: How to kick the soda pop habit???

surfBaby2022 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:51:04 -0700

I need help in this area because I have tried almost everything: diet soda(makes me hungry), sparkling water(just makes me want the regular stuff even more), crystal light(makes me hungry), tea(I drink it like water and I still want a soda), going cold turkey(i wound up drinking a two liter of soda). I already drink 8 glasses of water a day.

At the beginning of the year I would drink about 32oz of soda every day, but now I only drink 12oz every 2 or 3 days. I've tried extending the amount of days between each 12oz of soda but I cave after about the 7th day and wind up drinking 2 12oz cans. Is it just a process that every month or so try to increase the amount of days I go without a soda?

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

justingirl1989 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:32:58 -0700

Ingredients:

4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon white sugar or brown sugar
1 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions:

Mix milk and lemon.
Combine dry ingredients.
Add milk and lemon mixture (buttermilk may be used instead).
On floured bread board (I use whole wheat) knead dough for no more than a minute.
Shape dough into a circle with a height of about two inches.
Place on lightly oiled baking sheet.
With (sharp) floured knife, cut an x nearly halfway through the dough.
Bake about 40 minutes in 400F degrees degree oven.
Dough should sound hollow when tapped with knuckles or handle of spoon.
Place loaf on wire rack and let rest at least an hour before slicing.
Nutrition Facts:

Calories 264; Calories from Fat 10 (4%); Total Fat 1.2g; Saturated Fat 0.2g; Monounsaturated Fat 0.2g; Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g; Trans Fat 0.0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 375mg; Potassium 266mg; Total Carbohydrate 55.5g; Dietary Fiber 6.5g;Sugars 0.5g; Protein 10.1g; Vitamin A 54mcg; Vitamin B6 0.2mg; Vitamin B12 0.1mcg; Vitamin C 0mg; Vitamin E 0mcg; Calcium 55mg; Iron 3mg

Wholemeal flour with large flakes of bran and wheat germ, or white flour or a mixture leavened with baking soda and moistened with buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda, which is an alkali, creating bubbles of carbon dioxide which rise the bread. Soda breads have the heft of a yeast bread but are made in minutes and the dough can be shaped into scones or a round loaf, depending on the occasion.

source: http://fitceleb.imnotobsessed.com/2008/03/17/whole-wheat-irish-soda-brea...

Old-Fashioned Strawberry-Orange Soda

fairy_MK — Wed, 02 May 2007 10:35:35 -0700

I actually could not believe the weather the other day. The temperature on the way home was 80F. Hooray! I think summer is finally on it's way...errr should I say spring.

While I was browsing for dinner recipe, I came across this drink that will be made this weekend. Yum yum!

Old-Fashioned Strawberry-Orange Soda - Serves 8
Original recipe from Vegetarian Times.

The quality of this home-made soda depends on the ripeness of the berries. For more strawberry flavor, use another 1/2 cup berries for the purée and cut back the orange juice by about 1/2 cup. Add just enough soda for spritz. Delish!

Ingredients:
2 to 3 cups sliced strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 cup cooled Simple Syrup (see recipe below)
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh orange juice
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
4 cups club soda

Put berries in blender or food processor, and process; strain for smooth purée. Add syrup. Stir in orange and lemon juices; add soda to taste. Simple Syrup: To sweeten fruit purées, fruit soups and even iced tea in the summer, it’s great to have a simple sugar syrup on hand. Once made, it will keep almost indefinitely in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator. Combine 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water in small saucepan. Heat over low heat, and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and cook 3 to 5 minutes. Cool.

Blackberry Soda

YumSugar — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:22:22 -0700

Blackberry Soda
From Drinkalizer

125g ripe blackberries
25g sugar
1 tbsp strained lemon juice
1 ice cube
soda

Mix the berries with sugar and lemon juice in.
Strain into a highball or wine glass.
Fill up with soda.
Garnish with a slice of lemon or, like in the image, with a blackberry.
Serve with a straw.

This non-alcoholic cocktail also looks great in a wine glass or a brandy glass.

Lindsay's Soda Tab Necklace

juliet — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:13:13 -0800

I've been trying to figure out who makes the awesome necklace Lindsay is wearing in this picture. It's a simple gold chain with a gold soda tab on it. I love found object or junk object jewelry. The necklace is by Thorn NYC and is available in yellow gold, rose gold, and sterling silver. I love it! available here: http://www.thornnyc.com/
Soda Tab Necklace by Thorn NYC
PS: Anyone know who the glasses she's wearing are by?

Yoda Soda

everythingnice — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:25:08 -0700

My kids love Star Wars and Like this soda treat and wanted me to share with everyone. ENJOY!!!

INGREDIENTS:

3 Limes
3 Tablespoons sugar, or more to taste
1 cup sparkling water
1 Scoop lime sherbet or sorbet

1. Place 1 lime on the cutting board and cut it in half. Squeeze the juice from each half into a measuring cup. Repeat with the remaining limes until you have 1/4 cup juice.
2. Put the lime juice and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small pitcher. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves. Add the sparkling water water and stir until mixed. Taste and add more sugar, if desired.
3. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop up the sherbet and drop it into a tall glass. Pour in the lime water. Serve immediately.

Makes 1 Serving.

You can sub rainbow sherbet or lemon sorbet for the lime sherbet.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Phasekitty — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:13:31 -0700

This past weekend I decided I wanted to make a home cooked St. Paddy's Day dinner, so I pulled some Yum recipes together that had been hanging out in my favorites for a while, invited a few friends over, and busted out the crock pot.

Yum's Irish Soda Bread
Posted last year as part of the 52 Weeks of Baking, I preferred this recipe to the one posted this year which had raisins and caraway seeds in it. I like to keep things simple, and my boyfriend, the bread lover, wants nothing in the way of him and his bread. But if you're not into working and kneading bread dough, the new recipe is probably better for you. The one I used is described in the post as "hard to mess up" and it couldn't have been more true. There was no time listed as to how long to bake it, just "bake until golden brown," so I just popped it in and cleaned up. Then I checked it, decided it wasn't done and hopped in the shower. I was dressed and applying makeup before I realized -"Oh shoot, the bread!" I ran to the oven and bam - it was perfect. So if asked for a bake time, I'd have to say close to an hour, but you could probably just eyeball it like I did . . . and then forget about it and it'll still be okay

Also in these pictures, black and tans, my bf's favorite. Luckily we had a bartender in attendance and he did something weird by tipping the glass and using an upside down spoon to get them to look good. Normally I would have just poured it on top, but I suppose that wouldn't have worked as well.

My bf's bartender friend, Javier, also brought over that Chimay Ale from Trader Joe's. He described it as a "beer wine," but it tasted more like a "beer champagne" to me as it was very bubbly. The boys loved it, but I stuck with my typical Chardonnay.

Yum's Guiness Beef Stew
Posted last year, I'd been dying to try this recipe out for a while. I considered Yum's Irish stew recipes posted this year, but my boyfriend recently developed a love for Guiness, so I thought I'd give this one a whirl instead. It was delicious. I'm more used to a traditional beef stew, but this one had such unique and distinct flavors from the Guiness that it blew it away. Everyone loved it and it paired perfectly with the soda bread.

We forgot to take pictures of the stew right away and before we knew it, it was gobbled up. These are our leftovers - there was actually a lot more broth last night, but I didn't proportion it out very well, I guess. It was still very yummy just like this, though

Yum's St. Patrick's Day Peppermint Pie
I had this recipe printed and ready to make last year, but just never got around to it. I figured it would be the perfect way to top off my Irish dinner, but it just didn't turn out as well as it could have. First of all I think I could have used a lot more chocolate wafers for the crust, and I even added more than was required after seeing it didn't quite line my pie pan. Second, I filled the pan a little too much because I still had filling left over and I was convinced it would all fit in, but instead it spilled over onto the sides and looked very unpretty. Finally, the recipe calls for it to chill for at least 4 hours, but mine was in the fridge for about 5 or 6 hours and was still very melty. I took a look at our leftovers in the fridge this morning and it was a little bit better after being in there all night, but not by much. Perhaps my whipping cream wasn't whipped enough. I've always had issues with whipping cream. Anyway, it was a shame that I ended an awesome dinner with a lackluster dessert, but everyone still ate a piece (it was a minty, chocolatey, but still a yummy, mess) and we were so stuffed from bread and stew that it didn't matter much.

All in all our Irish dinner went pretty well! Now I just have to figure out what I'm doing for Easter dinner next Sunday!

Peace Cakes (w/ tie dye frosting!)

jordybee — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:24:20 -0800

So I have a close friend who is OBSESSED with peace and tie-dye and for her birthday I decided to surprise her with peace/tie dye themed cupcakes.

I went to the store to get my standard ingredients for the cupcake + diet black cherry soda recipe that I live by (Yum posted my post on the recipe awhile back http://www.yumsugar.com/877276). I was pretty sure I had food coloring to make the tie dye frosting but I bought a fun dip just in case I wanted to get creative. Turns out I didn't have food coloring, so creativity was a must!

The cupcakes turned out exactly as I'd hoped and the birthday girl was delighted when she saw the themed treats that read "Peace of Cupcake" accompanied by peace signs and tie dye.

Here are the pics: