Weekend Reads 3/26/2010

Afrobella discusses her search for a natural hair salon in Chicago and the natural hair tax  (for example a relaxer at a salon may cost $60 but for a simple natural hair style may begin at $100+) that seems to be added on to services rendered for natural hair

Do you shop vintage, resale or thrift? Avoid bringing bedbugs home with these simple tips.

Got an iphone (apple stopped making screen protectors), Nokia n900 or other electronic device that hard to find a screen protector for? DIY an easy, cheap one with material that you probably have laying around the house.

A clever way to keep track of outdoor laps using pebbles

Reach great heights! Tips for learning and perfecting wearing fabulous high heels

Recipe of the Week
I have not personally tried this recipe, but when I came across it I had to share!
Hangry Pants posted this vegan brownie recipe using avocados; its supposed to be chocolaty and cakey---yum! Recipe at Hangry Pants here.. and below!


Ingredients

• 1 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 3/4 C Cocoa Powder
• 3/4 C Raw Turbinado Sugar
• 1/2 t Baking Soda (these really rose, less is better if you like less cakey brownies)
• 1 T Flax
• 3 T Water
• 1/2 Avocado
• 2 T Almond Milk (or as much as needed to create a batter)

Directions

1. Peel and cut 1/2 of an avocado and blend in a food processor until it’s a creamy texture.
2. Add 3 T of water and 1 t of ground flax to the avocado to make a flax egg. Let it sit for a few minutes while combining the rest of the ingredients.
3. In a large bowl mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and baking soda.
4. Blend the avocado and flax egg in the food processor to combine.
5. Add the avocado flax mix to the fry ingredients and mix.
6. The mix will be too dry to mix completely. Add as much of the Almond Milk so that it creates a batter.
7. Bake in a prepared baking pan for 20 minutes at 350*

Just a note, I used a loaf pan and it made about 10 brownies of varying sizes.

--Note- If you don't want it to be vegan--substitute one egg instead of the (flax/water "egg" mixture) and regular skim milk instead of almond milk--maybe with a drop of almond extract.