Wild Hair Wednesday - 4 year Dreadiversary

Wow, feels like I just did the last Dreadiversary.

4 Years.
Yes.
I made it four years.



Random list of Dread bits from the past year:

• Some of the dreads started becoming noticeably thinner in the middle.
• I tried sewing them with needle and thread to strengthen the thinning spots. It worked pretty well.
• I tried felting some of the loose hairs with just a felting needle....

• and felted some with felting wool. Both ways worked pretty well.

• I had a few break off. One during a make-out session when the other person tried to run their fingers through my dreads.
• Still using the same washing technique...except now I just fill up the bathroom sink instead of a big bowl.
• The washing recipe is the same, I just added grapefruit extract to the mix.
• My first friend got dreads.
• I still wish they were softer. I never did (haven't done) anything to try and make them softer.
• They are seriously long.
• I day dream about cutting them off and scrubbing my bald head.
• I still receive lots of compliments and questions from strangers.
• I seldom use hair ties anymore when I pull it up. I just twist it and tuck it into itself.
• There is one dread that is longer than the rest. It had been wrapped up for a couple years and I loved it's wrapping, but took it out in hopes that it shrinks up a bit and fits in with the others more.
• They were the inspiration for 2 Halloween outfits.
• I tried doing curly again.

How they've changed through the years....
3 Year Dreadiversary
2 Year Dreadiversary
1 Year Dreadiversary
And I just can't help but reminiscence over this one. 30 Years of hairdos

Wild Hair Wednesday - Long Curly Dreads

It's rare I have an excuse to get all dressed up. So when New Years was approaching and I got the urge to get all fancy, I decided to try curls again.

I did them the same way as last time using pinwheels. Instead of using mini elastic bands to secure them in place, I just tucked the end under the pin wheel (aka mini bun).



They were taking forever to dry this time. After sitting in front of the space heater for hours, I borrowed a blow dryer and even after an hour of that they were still damp.

I have only tried dready curls once before, and the first time was much curlier....probably due to the dry factor and the fact that they are so stinkin' long now.





Ok, once every couple years I spend an entire day doing my hair. I can live with that.

the Sunday Special - Gluten-free Vegan Cornbread

I made a huge batch of cheese dip recently that was sooo yummy. I didn't want to keep eating just cheese dip for dinner....well, I DID want to but know I should be consuming a few more veggies than that. I decided to use the leftovers as a base for some vegetarian chili (which turned out great!) and of course, chili is not complete without cornbread. I used a traditional recipe as a guide and substituted or left out ingredients I didn't have or want to include.


Gluten-Free Vegan Cornbread

1 1/4 cups Garbanzo Bean flour (organic)
3/4 cup Polenta (organic)
2 tsp baking powder (non-alum)
1/8-ish tsp ground sea salt
1 cup unsweetened Hemp Milk
1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
1-2 TBs Agave Nectar light (organic)
1 tsp coconut oil (organic)

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in milk and oil until dry ingredients are moist. Swirl in the agave nectar.

Coat glass loaf pan with coconut oil. Pour in batter and bake 15-20 mins at 400F.



I ended bringing these to a vegan potluck so I made a second batch. I doubled the recipe and used my donut stone. I put the coconut oil in the stone and stuck it in the oven while it was preheating. Then did a tilt-a-whirl action to coat the inside of the stone. There was a pool of oil in the bottom and I debated whether to pour it into the batter or just leave it on the bottom. I decided to leave it. I poured in the batter and drizzled on the agave nectar without stirring it.



I ended up baking it for 20 minutes at 350F (because I just plain forgot I had done the first batch at 400F).



I just put a flat stone on top of it, flipped it over, and it came right out.