Tag Archives: homemade

Mushpa y Mensa’s Project Clean House 2014

 

mushpa y mensas clean hosue project 2014

I begin this year starting fresh with my posts, as I know that in December I was not keeping up with my partner in crime Mushpa’s amazing word press posting skills and motivation.

Here I will start by telling you that it was necessary for us to start the new year with an amazingly clean and organized home. For the past few days Mushpa y Mensa have re-energized our apartment, thrown out unnecessary trash, given away unused items, and said good bye to old memories, to make space for the journeys of the new year!

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My favorite project so far has been re-organizing the kitchen cabinets. We used old jars of pasta sauces and pickles, and  we cleaned them and re-labeled them in order to super organize everything from baking soda and stevia, to oats and chia seeds.  We also bought spices sold in bulk so we refilled empty spice jars, and re-labeled others for new spices! You don’t need anything fancy to make the labels…only card-stock, pen and tape…and voila!

JAR LABELS DIYJAR LABELS DIY  JAR LABELS DIYJAR LABELS DIY

Here are some good tips on what a good New Year Cleaning might be deserving of.

1. Kitchen: Clean all the cabinets inside and out, above and below…. and give away any unused cooking items. Our street-found iron pan, an old recipe book, a coffee grinder and random containers were among the items we left in a brown bag for people to pick and choose from at the entrance of our building.  Some people’s “trash”, other people’s treasures! Reduce, and someone else will most definitely reuse!

2. Bedroom and Studio: We cleaned and are almost finished reorganizing our studio and bedroom, yet one really important aspect of the process was to get rid of (and RECYCLE of course) all old paperwork that only took up space. Sometimes little mementos are nice to keep, and we do so in a small box in our bedroom where later on in they year they will probably be compiled into a scrapbook. Other papers/old pictures/brochures/receipts and such are in the “out” pile. It might seem crazy, but the house feels lighter without these items cluttering everywhere.

environmentally friendly cleaning product

3. Clean clean clean: And I mean clean….everything. I even vacuumed inside the stove stop where my hand and sponge couldn’t work. The best part of this is that you DO NOT NEED any harsh chemical products to have a clean home. We used our trusted Vinegar + Water + Peppermint Oil concoction for every surface. Works like a charm, and it smells nice too.  For the very touch stains, grease grime and soap scum, we use our trusted Bon Ami cleaner. It only has 5 ingredients including limestone, feldspar and baking soda derived from sustainable resources that won’t harm our earth!

Now our home feels lighter with better energy to start a new year. A few good prayers with incense and candles burning will add the perfect touch to the amazing energy that circles our home….

From our clean home, we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Happy into the New Year!

 

Much love,

Mushpa y Mensa

 

Where Will We Be Today?

LIC FleaCome see us today at LIC Food and Flea. a special holiday market at 5-25 46th Avenue in Long Island City. We’ll be there from 11AM – 6PM. We won’t be doing next weekend so if you want to catch us, today is your lucky day!!!

LIC Girls 2If that is not enough there are a bunch of other vendors of all shape and sizes, Santa, live jazz, Christmas trees, a bar…

Ho, Ho Ho. Come…

– Mushpa y Mensa

Super Delicious Chocolate Oat Bran Cookies

Dukan Diet Chocolate Oat Bran Cookies

I have been working tirelessly on the greatest oat bran cookie recipe ever! I feel like I finally have one worthy enough to put in our blog. It is sugar free as well (for all you diabetics), we use Truvia Spoonable instead.

Here it is:

Dry Ingredients

12 Tablespoons of organic oat bran

5 Tablespoons organic Dutch processed cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons organic flax seeds

3.5 Tablespoons Truvia Spoonable

2 Teaspoons baking powder

Dry

Wet Ingredients

3 Tablespoons alcohol-free vanilla

2 whipped egg whites (dry or liquid)

3 Tablespoons Trader Joe’s fat-free sour cream (or organic nonfat Greek yogurt)

egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, then mix them all together. Mix ingredients for a few minutes till the oat bran and cocoa soak up all the fluids. You don’t want it runny. Then put some aluminum foil down on the baking sheet, grab a big spoon, dig in the batter and scoop out a spoonful onto the cookie sheet 12 times! Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Take out, cool and eat!

Cookie Sheet

Keep the leftovers in the refrigerator since there are not any preservatives. This way they will last about a week. Use the sour cream if you want more of a brownie type of cookie. If you want a denser cookie use the Greek yogurt. They both are delicious just different.

Enjoy!!!

– Mushpa

Mushpa y Mensa’s Super Fly New Site

Mensa y MushpaCheck out Mushpa y Mensa’s super fly new site (beta style), www.mushpamensa.com.

Nice.

– Mushpa y Mensa

The 100th Post of La Mushpa y La Mensa

Jefe Helping
Jefe Helping…

Mensa and I are always talking about consuming less, needing less, getting rid of excess. Things that anchor us to one place be it literally, monetarily or mentally.

We do little things like take our worn out old clothes, wash them and then cut them into a million little pieces to stuff our Plush Pets…

Plush Rabbit
Pierre, the Lavender, Recycled Fabric, Eco-Felt Plush Pet

…or make some deeelicious seitan from scratch, while whipping up some organic, coconut oil based mayo… I personally am extremely gifted in mixing alcohol with almost any “leftover” liquids (frozen or flowing) and it tasting like nothing you’ve ever had before (in a very good way).

Drinks on Me
Cocktails Anyone?

Some bigger things are Mensa creating an amazing backpack out of an old bag, after her million year old bag disintegrated right before our very eyes. The very backpack we packed with soy milk (something we have talked about learning how to make since we consume so much of it…stay tuned) and such this weekend after working in the co-op (don’t ask). We biked over 8 miles and this revitalized beauty made it through like a champion!

The Bag
The Bag That Rocks

We also made our fantastical Mushpa y Mensa cloth sign out of old pillow cases and fabric pieces. See below…

Mushpa y Mensa Sign
Mushpa y Mensa – Arts Not Crafts!

We are making it happen more and more every day, but we need a challenge….something to keep our momentum soaring towards our destiny. What we came up with is…well let’s start slow, why don’t you get to know us first…see what we mean when we say “from scratch”.

From the Inside
La Mensa’s Robot Girl With a Twist

We are here for a reason, all of us. Let’s make some stuff together, see what we think, then figure something out. Let’s connect as they say, in a good way.

This is our 100th blog post and the start of something gargantuous! :] Life, as La Mensa would say is, “pretty bad-ass.”

– La Mushpa

Flick This!

Ladybug
Ladybug Love

We here at Mushpa y Mensa had an Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), but decided like Facebook, it is a tantamount waste of time and a way for a large group of people to convince others that their lives are more exciting, interesting, happier than going out and making it true. Not only that, but people should be aware how Facebook makes most of their money is by selling your information. Not through ad clicks and charging people with business pages money to have their posts reach ALL their “Fans” and “Friends” as you may believe.  Listen, I want to live my life not spend hours stalking others’ make believe life or promoting my own better than reality life. Been there, done that and every time it left a bad taste in my mouth. Thanks to Mensa pushing us we have been Facebook free for almost a year now and I have yet to miss it. Not surprisingly, I accomplish much more without it, so to my friends who tell me things like, “You would have known I was out of town if you had a Facebook“. I say call me, email me, hangout with me as I am never going back!

Next, people are always asking us if we have a Facebook so they can “Like” the Mushpa y Mensa page or link back to us. When we answer no they seemed shocked like for sure we will never be a success without Facebook or it will be soooo much harder. I find that to be a misnomer. We have already had movie stars, a big time movie producer and a composer of modern day operas among multitudes of other amazing human beings love and buy our art in the last 8 months since opening. We believe in ourselves, our art and the idea that if you do the work and right thing the Universe will always reward you and thus far it is working. I have asked other people with businesses and Facebook pages how much business it has generated for them and the results are nil to nothing. That says more to me. Honestly, you can’t use something bad to achieve good, that’s just the way it is.

Let me stop and get to the real point of this blog entry. Maria Emilia and I want to be able to take pictures and post them somewhere instantly, link back to them in our blog posts and document our journey through photographs of the making of Mushpa y Mensa, without using Instagram, so how can we? Flickr!!! Yes, ladies and gentleman we have a Flickr account now full of our fantastical photos!!! :] There are photos of our amazingly unique organic tees, of the fleas, fairs and markets we’ve worked, photo shoots, crafting, us and whatever else our little hearts desire. Go look at it and tell us what you think? I am so excited!

Never forget in life there is always a workaround, so don’t get stuck.

Such Love

With so much love!!!

– Mushpa

Making some Organic Mayo….with Coconut Oil

We bought a jar of coconut oil at the super-market the other day.

It was a bit hard to find a good use for it because even after trying some recipes, it of course didn’t behave like the olive oil which we use regularly.

I did use it as a hair mask, which was nice, but there was still a lot left on the jar….

So out came the idea to make Mayo with coconut oil. I looked up some recipes and it is totally possible and doable.

homemade coconut oil mayo

We used…..

  • 1 whole egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon of fancy mustard
  • 1/2 a lemon’s juicy juice
  • a good pinch of salt
  • some pepper
  • 1/2 cup of Organic Coconut Oil
  • 1/2 cup of nice Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Disclaimer.… if this is your first time making mayo (like it was mine), be careful and do it EXACTLY as the instructions tell you… After you learn, then you can experiment. I  should have done so…

 

homemade coconut oil mayo

Do the following:

  • Mix your two oils together.
  • In a food processor, blender or bowl (if you are hand whipping with a whisk grandma-style) mix the eggs, yolks, mustard, lemon juice and condiments.
  • After all is nice and even start adding DROPS of oil to your mixture and continue the blending and whisking process. *** this is where I messed up***…If you add the oil too fast, the mixture will curdle and you’ll end up with oily egg juice… So sad.
  • Keep adding drops until it turns a lighter color…you will be able to tell if they start mixing well.
  • SLOWLY add little streams of oil and continue to blend…and just keep doing it slowly, oh so patiently…
  • After you are almost done with the oil (about 1/4 cup left) you can speed it up a bit if using a blender, and add the rest of the oil. It should start to become a heavier mixture….continue on until its silky smooth.
  • Let it set for 30 minutes in the fridge.

homemade coconut oil mayo013-06-25 12.09.14

*** IF YOU MESS UP***

I saw many posts and recipes say how you could not save your mixture if it curdled….NOT TRUE!  You can mess up and still have delicious mayo!

Since I had done it the first time in the blender and messed up, I decided to hand-whip it.

homemade coconut oil mayo

I added another egg yolk in a bowl and whipped it….and to that base I started to add the droplets of the curdled mix slowly, whipping it by hand. I followed the instructions clearly this time, and poured the messed up mixture in without having to throw it away! And it worked!

FANTABULOUS Home-made, coconut oil mayonnaise.

Since it’s home-made, with NO preservatives and whack ingredients, it only keeps in the fridge for about two weeks or less….but its worth it!

YUMMMM……

-Mensa

Markets, Markets and More Markets

Maria Emilia Borja y Cara Reynolds

We here at Mushpa y Mensa have been working the last few weekends at The Market NYC. It was a great few weeks, but now that the weather is getting nicer we have decided it is time to hit up the outdoor markets. We applied to a few other venues this week for this weekend and the next few throughout the summer. Once they get back to us we will let you know. If you have any ideas or suggestions where you would like us to sell, feel free to comment away. This is our first few months of business and our first experience at markets so let us know. Also, any insider tips from other vendors are welcome as well.

One upcoming market you can come and chill with us at is Astoria Market in Queens. It will be in the garden at Bohemian Hall (aka outdoor beer garden) on June 2nd from 1-6PM. What does that mean???? It means come, drink, be merry, buy awesome, organic, original, hand printed, fantabulous t-shirts in the sun!!!! That sounds awesome!

Thanks to everyone for their support and love these last few months. We appreciate it.

Besos,

Mushpa

New Bracelet for Sale!

Check it out.

New on Etsy!

homemade polymer clay bracelet

Home-made corn starch based polymer clay.

homemade polymer clay bracelet

Hand-made beads with turquoise accents.

homemade polymer clay bracelet

Orange color made with 100% natural and organic dyes (turmeric based).

homemade polymer clay bracelet

Designed and Made with Love by Mushpa y Mensa.

❤❤❤

-Mensa

Homemade Clay: An Inconvenient Truth…

So you try to be conscious and it ends up you didn’t do much better than you originally thought you would.

I looked, and searched for home-made clay recipes all over the internet. I was looking for a clay that would be malleable yet durable enough to make beautiful things, cheap enough to produce and make over and over again, and a recipe that didn’t use nasty or toxic ingredients.

homemade polymer clay

And I found one! It was perfect….or so I thought.

The ingredients?

-1 cup of Non-Toxic Elmer’s glue

-3/4 to 1 cup of Corn Starch

-2 tbsp of mineral oil  Olive Oil

-1 tbsp of lemon juice

homemade polymer clay

Not so toxic, right?…. Well, I looked into what mineral oil really is, and essentially it is the “by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude-oil”. That same oil in the clear bottle and the pink cap that you put on a baby’s bum bum, that stuff (plus some fragrance), comes from an incredible unsustainable source. On top of that fun fact, the World Health Organization  “classifies untreated or mildly treated mineral oils as Group 1 carcinogens to humans.” (Source) Group 1 carcinogens = DEFINITELY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS. What?!?!

So since I am being all aware and into this, I decided to replace mineral oil with OLIVE OIL!

homemade polymer clay

Cool… That’s great. So I am happy I’ve done my research and I feel better about myself.
I go about following this recipe, which at first I was hating, because it did not come out like it said. After reading the comments from other people though, I cooked the dough longer and realized that the most crucial thing is to KNEAD the clay when it’s REALLY HOT. Then all the parts will blend.

ps. I also added turmeric to the recipe to give it some natural color.

homemade polymer clay

But then something else happened…another question that should’ve been obvious to ask, but I did not. Where the heck does Elmer’s glue come from???

Oh here we go again….. Elmer’s glue is made of polyvinyl acetate which, you guessed it, comes from petrochemical sources. Come on world!!! Really? Which really makes me think about all the “non-toxic” things we buy, that are actually quite toxic to our environment, our bodies, and our world! Of course elmer’s glue is toxic if it’s source and main ingredient when extracted from the ground  pollutes and kills everything around it!

Agrrr… I’m not so happy about this at all. I want to be able to make my own clay/dough at home, with decent ingredients that won’t harm you and me.

homemade polymer clay

I haven’t experimented again, but I will once I find the perfect ingredients.

In the mean time, I will try to use up all my “non-toxic” glue, and try some more natural glue recipes. And lesson learned. Check ALL ingredients and where they come from regardless of now “natural” and non-toxic they are.

-Mensa