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DIY: Stumptown Coffee Bath Scrub

4/28/2015

I love baths. My idea of a perfect evening is soaking in a bath with some amazing smelling products, listening to my Spotify playlist, and reading magazine or a good book. As I was (sadly) polishing off my bag of Stumptown Coffee, I remembered this coffee scrub DIY. I saved my used coffee grounds over the course of day or two and revised a recipe to create my own Stumptown Scrub.

For this, you will need:

Equal parts

coffee grounds*

brown sugar

Half part

coconut oil

And

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (optional)

*It's important to note that if you choose to use grounds that have already been used to make coffee, the scrub will not keep well. You can make enough for one or two uses, but it will get gross if you keep it beyond that. I learned the hard way! If you want to make a bigger batch, use unused coffee grounds.

In a large mixing bowl, I worked the coconut oil, brown sugar, and coffee grounds together until they were completely mixed. If your coconut oil is liquid, this will be a quicker process, but either way, it doesn't take much time at all. Mix in vanilla extract, if desired. I did this just for the aroma but even without it, the mix smells great.

This scrub is especially nice because the granules are exfoliating and the oil adds a great deal of moisture. You won't need to moisturize after using this, which is nice. It is gentle enough to use on your face, too. Since it is a physical exfoliant, it does not contain micro-beads. Many people believe micro-beads are harmful to the water supply, as they can pass through filtration systems. The scrub made me wish I had made this in the winter when I wanted to itch my skin off! It's a great little present for the coffee and/or bath lover in your life.

Many people who love these exfoliating scrubs state that they are great for reducing and preventing cellulite. The caffeine in the coffee beans tightens and provides antioxidants to the skin. Over time, and used religiously, it can really diminish cellulite!

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Eating My Way Through Buffalo

4/13/2015

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Even though Buffalo is well known for its meat (wings, beef on weck, wing dip, meat on meat with a side of meat), it is such a multicultural city that eating vegan really isn't an issue. Don't get me wrong, Buffalo is completely lacking in an all-vegan restaurant, cafe, or bake shop. It's a sore spot for a lot of local vegans, and just a tiny kick in the ass that there are a number of completely vegan eateries in other, less cool cities in New York state. On the optimistic front, it's really great that there are so many non-meat and dairy options, and I love to find them.

The West Side Bazaar on Grant Street has to be one of my top three places to eat in Buffalo. It may be my favorite. Almost every time I go, I get the veggie combo from Abyssinia Ethiopian Cuisine, because it's my favorite kind of food. I like the mix of lentils, beans, and veggies on injera. Abyssinia is the best in Buffalo, though the owners at Lucy's are really sweet. When I worked in Allentown, I used to get lunch at Gatur's often, because it was convenient, but Abyssinia is where it's at in terms of flavor profiles and consistency. I have never met anything I did not love there.

Also at the West Side Bazaar is Kyl Sein Hein, a Burmese restaurant. I forced myself to try something other than Ethiopian (which was truly difficult with Abyssinia just a few windows down) and got the fried vermicelli with vegetables. It was delicious (and cheap at $6). Sun is another great Burmese restaurant on Grant Street. I got take away from there last year, a black rice salad and a noodle dish and would love to go back.

While I was browsing through Instagram, I also saw someone post about getting a bahn mi at a Vietnamese place I had never heard of, so I decided I needed to go there. Niagara Seafood is one of those places that looks sketchy from the outside, but inside is a really nice sit down joint with $4 tofu bahn mi and $2.50 avocado spring rolls. My friend also got some fried veggie dumplings. All this for $15 before tax! They were also good about being able to veganize my sandwich and they have a pretty big veggie section with pho in it. I've also had a tofu bahn mi from Black Market Food Truck in the past; I would suggest that, as well.

Ignoring Amy's Place is an unforgivable sin when visiting Buffalo, so I stopped by with a friend to try out the new vegan beef on weck. It was really hard not to get the lentilberry wrap minus cheese per normal, but I'm glad I tried this veggie take on a Buffalo staple. Beef on weck is roast beef thinly sliced with au jus and horseradish on a kummelweck roll (a roll with kosher salt and caraway seeds). I had never had it before and this version used a house made vegan-garlic-mayo type sauce that wasn't my favorite. I would have liked a stronger horseradish taste, but I really liked the salt on the bun (no surprise there). It was weird eating a sandwich with no veggies whatsoever. I felt like a bad kid.

Sweetness 7 cafe was just around the corner from a friend's house where I was staying, so I went there one morning. It has an extensive list of breakfast foods for a mostly coffee shop. Unfortunately, none except for the porridge are vegan. When I got in line to place my order, I asked if they ever subbed out their eggs for tofu and the barista told me that they have a veggie scramble. I was so excited! It was huge with tofu, kale, two veggie patties (I'm not sure of the brand or if it was made in house), home fries, and a giant roll. It was good and really filling, but not something I would come back for. At around $10, it was expensive compared to the other menu items and I wasn't crazy about the veggie patties, since it tasted like veggie burger. However, my stomach was upset that morning so it could have been me. Coffee is bottomless if you get breakfast, though, so drink up!

With all that, I still ignored some favorites. I'm so glad to say that with the increased presence of people from other counties and vegans, Buffalo is definitely not an exclusive meat and potatoes town anymore!

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DISCLAIMER: This food was consumed over the course of an entire week and some food mentioned was eaten long before this trip. I am a glutton, but not as bad as this makes me look.

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DIY: Stumptown Coffee Bath Scrub

Eating My Way Through Buffalo

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