SAMPLES from The Chocolate Lemon!

We all know that online shopping for scented items can be a little tricky. We know we like some scents, we think we like others, and we just don’t know about some! For this reason, I am now offering samples of the scents I currently carry in my bath salts and body scrubs.  FIND YOUR SAMPLES HERE!

AVAILABLE SCENTS:

Citrus Petal
Citrus Mint
Rosemary Petal
Spring Dreams
Spiced Peppermint Coffee
Mint Coffee
Winter Vapor
Winter Tea
Winter Citrus Dreams
Pepper & Mint
Green Tea
Green Tea Dragon
Green Tea Passion
Sweet Orange Autumn
Lavender, Please!
Hidden Lavender
Spiced Autumn

THRIVE!

If you are looking for a new and natural way to help with weight loss, mental clarity, joint support, immune support, and so much more, check out my friend’s THRIVE site!  Find out more HERE and see what it takes to be a part of the THRIVE-nation!

 

Soothing Bath, Anyone?

Don’t forget to check out my blog dedicated to my home-crafted bath scrubs, salts, and teas! 

Find it at The Chocolate Lemon blog HERE or The Chocolate Lemon Facebook page HERE!

“LIKE” it and SHARE!

Painted Jar

So, because all the house work and garage sale prepping I have to do isn’t enough, I decided to try my hand at painting jars today.  Yes, it was a total procrastination tactic, I admit.  I sure had fun doing it though!  I love creating bath salts and scrubs, and am actually successful in making ones that smell and feel fantastic (most of the time) but when it comes to actually being crafty I sometimes fall short.  Still, I love to try new things and I feel that if I try enough times and am not afraid to use different techniques I might actually succeed.  So far I am happy with the jars I worked on today, but I need to touch a few places up and add some raffia or bows to them.  They look cool with a candle lit inside, but only from a distance.  Up close with light inside makes the imperfections glaringly obvious! 

Painting jars is actually easy and there are a few ways you can do it.  I chose to paint the outside of these and just let them air dry because I didn’t feel like messing with the oven today.  Painting the outside also works great if you can’t get every bit of the label adhesive off the jar.  It covers it up nicely.  I just used basic craft paints, mixed with a little water, and brushed it on with a sponge brush.  Once the first layer dried (on a metal cookie sheet covered with wax paper) I used a smaller brush to do the dots and flowers.  The purple had to be painted twice to get a more solid, less streaked look.  I would love to add a more vintage look with chalk, but I don’t happen to have any on hand.  Maybe next time. 🙂  Either way, I think they will be adorable with flowers or tapered candles in them…or just by themselves as containers.  Painting only the outside makes it safe to still store dried foods in or put water in for fresh flowers…oh, cotton balls or Q-tips would be good too!  I am always in need of things to put my ever-growing assortment of teas in – they might work great for that!

Things you’ll need:

• jars with the labels removed and as much of the adhesive removed as possible

• craft paint, whatever colors you want…you can mix & create colors as well

• sponge brush or soft paint brush

• mixing stick

• plastic containers for the paint

• wax paper or news paper to line cookie sheet

What to do:

• squirt about 1/2 to 1 Tbsp of paint into container

• add a dash of water…enough to make like a thick liquid

• brush the bottom of the jar, then from the rim of the jar down to the bottom in even strokes

• paint the rim and set the jar top down on the paper to dry…if you get paint on your hands no worries…it washes right off…touch up any marks your fingers made by setting the jar down

• let dry at least an hour

• use the brush of your choice and squeeze a small amount of new paint on a plastic lid or the wax paper

• paint whatever you want to add decorative touches to your jar

• let dry for 24 hours

• enjoy!

Lovely Lemongrass Rosemary!

Lovely Lemongrass Rosemary…find it now at The Chocolate Lemon!

The Chocolate Lemon

I am happy to introduce my newest item, Lemongrass Rosemary Tea Soft Scrub & Bath Tea!  This scrub is softer to the touch than sugar scrubs because of the Epsom salts.  It is also a great mixture to use in your favorite bath sachet or bath tea bag for a relaxing soak in the tub!

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Cool Weather, Beans, and Chicken!

Ahhhhhhh…finally the mornings and the evenings are cooler.  The afternoons are still heating up pretty good, but they’re tolerable.  Today seemed like a perfect day to slow cook some pinto beans for dinner tonight.  The scent of home-dried basil, coriander, and garlic powder mixed in is making me drool…and the black pepper is making me sneeze. 🙂  My husband is requesting baked chicken tonight, which I assured him we could have (without checking to see if I actually have any chicken in the freezer). 

One of our favorite chicken recipes is so simple it almost makes me cry…baked Parmesan Crusted Chicken.  If you are looking for a hassle-free meat for dinner, this is a perfect option!  Basically, all I do is take frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts (because I’m usually too lazy or exhausted to bother with thawing them out), put them on a metal baking sheet and sprinkle them with salt & pepper. 

Next, I take 1/2 to 3/4 cup of mayonnaise (the real stuff) and mix a tablespoon or two of parmesan or parmesan blend cheese, a couple of shakes of garlic powder and onion powder, and as many shakes of ground coriander seed that I can get away with into it.  The next step is usually where I get into trouble.  You are supposed to spread the mayo mixture in a thin layer on the top of each chicken breast, but I almost always spread it too thick.  Oh, it tastes great thick, but I’m sure I take at least 3 healthy months off our lives each time I do it…and it doesn’t crisp as well if it is too thick for some reason. 

Once the spreading is done, I pop it into the oven at the temperature suggested on whatever package I got the chicken out of, and cook it for at least as long as the package directs for frozen pieces.  If the pieces are thick, you might need to cook for an extra 15 minutes or so…just make sure the meat is white and the juices are running clear.  Feel free to use a meat thermometer if it makes you feel better.

After that, we EAT IT.   And I mean, we eat it to the point of scraping off the bits of crusted mayo that are left behind on the pan and eating that because it is so AWESOME.  Okay, I’m the only one that actually does that…but did I mention it is AWESOME??? 

Hopefully this gives you a good idea for a hassle-free dinner that you can use and customize to your heart’s desire for years to come!  Enjoy!

Fall Is Almost Here!

Check out my newest relaxing bath salts, Sweet Orange Autumn, on

The Chocolate Lemon Blog!

 

 

Powersports Cheer Supernovas Fund Raiser

Hi everyone!  My super awesome nieces are trying to raise money for their Cheer Team!  Take a  look at the exciting cosmetic products at

Younique by Angela Gomez!

Basil Flower Egg Drop Soup

If you want to make an easy, homemade, simple soup to help keep you warm on a rainy afternoon, my Basil Flower Egg Drop Soup is perfect for you!  One thing I love about this soup is that I can CONTROL the amount of sodium that goes into it, and the egg provides a decent amount of protein.  In this recipe I used the Basil Flower Chicken Stock (find recipe HERE), which gave it an incredible homemade taste!  Find the soup recipe HERE!

Basil Flower Chicken & Chicken Stock

I am very excited to share this recipe with you!  We had my Basil Flower Chicken for dinner last night with oven roasted potatoes and it was EXCELLENT!  To make me even happier, I had the chance to make my Basil Flower Chicken Stock.  I love it when I DON’T have to buy stock from the store!  Find the recipes HERE!