How to Make Your Hair Grow Faster On A Budget

Don't we all wish we could have long, beautiful, healthy hair like my co-blogger Jen?!

In seventh grade I made the decision to cut off my waist length hair and donate it to ‘Locks of Love’ to make a wig for cancer patients. This was once of my happiest and most self-fulfilling moments! I highly encourage other people, gals and guys alike to contribute to the cause. Ever since then I have been constantly at war with myself about how long my hair should be. One month it'd say, “I’m growing my hair long again!” Until a few months later, when I decided I would look much better with short hair, cut off the hair I had worked to grow and thus, the cycle repeated. However, now I’ve been at growing out my chin-length hair since November and because of a ton of research and religious care routines, my locks are already past my shoulders. Want to know my secret? Sure! How about my secret on a budget? Double Sure, lets go!

1. At least 8 glasses of water a day to hydrate. Believe it or not, this was the hardest thing for me to do because I am not used to drinking many fluids daily. I use the simple rule of thumb, during your day if you do not have a bottle or glass of water within reaching distance, go find some! 
2. Wash your hair less. Try every other day to start, it’s recommended that you only wash your hair a few times in a week (3 or 4) to keep it healthy.

 3. Buy shampoo and conditioner without ‘sulfate’ listed in the ingredients. Sulfate is the chemical in the product that strips the oil from your hair and damages it. What I’ve found is that cheap shampoos contain sulfate and expensive, salon shampoos do not. Luckily, I’ve done some researching to find a happy medium, aka, products under $10.00!  

·         Any of the Burts Bees line of S&C

·         Any of the Organixs line of S&C

·         Aveeno Pure Renewal S&C

·         L’oreal Everstrong  S&C

 4. Reduce the amount of heat you put on your hair with blow dryers, curling irons and straighteners. If you must use heat, always use a heat protector product, less the $5.00

 5. Use a leave in conditioner and a split end protector. I like Aussie’s Hair Insurance leave in conditioner and split end protector, also less then $5.00 a piece. 

6.  Take a Biotin vitamin. This is the main ingredient in Hair, Skin and Nail vitamins. It makes all of these things healthy and strong. I take 1000mcg a day. Most drug stores have these for under $5.00 as well. Just remember, this makes ALL of the hair on your body grow...so you may want to invest in extra razors ;)

 7. Get your ends trimmed when you notice split ends. It’s possible that even with protection, the ends of your hair will split. When you notice the little white tips on the ends of your hair, get them chopped off! If you don’t, the ends will continue to split until they break off because they are weak. Most hairdressers will do this for under $10.00.

Finally, hair grows around 1/2 inch a month. This may be faster or slower for some people. However, the better you treat your hair the healthier it will be and longer it will grow.

Good luck & happy growing!

How To Make Chicken Scampi!

I’m sure most of us can relate to that one meal our mothers make that seems to have no recipe. She judges each ingredient by eye measurement as she whips up the seemingly most delicious entrée you’ve ever eaten. This recipe in relation to my mother is chicken scampi….and I sat her down long enough to figure out exactly how to make it so others taste buds can be as permanently delighted with this dish as mine are!

Gather Your Ingredients

• 1 pound of boneless chicken (any style! Stir fry sliced, breasts, etc)
• Italian Bread Crumbs
• 2 Eggs
• Pasta of your Choice
• 1 Stick of Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
• ½ Teaspoon of Parsley…once Pasta is mixed, sprinkle some more
• ½-1 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice, depending on how tangy you like it!
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive Oil

For the Chicken,

1. Cut your chicken into small pieces. Place two eggs in a bowl and scramble them. In a separate bowl, put a hefty amount of bread crumbs. Cover the chicken pieces in the raw egg mixture, then roll in the bread crumbs.
2. Place the covered chicken in a pan sprinkled with olive oil. Heat on Medium and cook chicken through.

For the mixture, 

3. In a pot, place butter, garlic, parsley and lemon juice. Let melt on low heat and stir occasionally until the butter is melted. Turn the burner off and just allow the pot to stay warm by the left over heat until the rest of the meal is prepared.

 Finishing touches

4. Cook your choice of pasta and drain.
5. Sprinkle half of the butter mixture into a bowl, followed by half the chicken and pasta. Stir. Repeat this step until all of the chicken, mixture and pasta are used.
6. Garnish with extra parsley and tons of cheese.

Enjoy!!