I can only think of a a couple ways, but that's a-ok. I'm talking about Arnica Gel, people. It's my product of the month. According to wikipedia, Arnica is in the same family as the common sunflower, and has been used for ages as a salve for bruises and aches.
Warning: Frou frou girly-type topics ahead!
Aside from the advertised uses, which I haven't tried, here are my discoveries:
Puffy eyes - It actually works really well when you don't get enough sleep and have puffy eyes, which I manage to get on occasion. The fact that the gel base is witch hazel can't hurt, I'm sure, though witch hazel on its own is just too strong for me. I'd been told hemmorhoid cream would do the trick so when E. and I were at the drugstore once I took a detour to grab some. She seems a little nonplussed, so I explained I was going to try it for reducing eye puff. At that point, another lady walked into the aisle and caught only the last part of the conversation, which was me standing there with Prep-H in hand, and E. exclaiming, "Cool! You've got to tell me how it works, and I might try it!" Anyway, the point is that Arnica works as well as Prep H, and doesn't sting at all.
Post waxing - my poor legs are never happy after having the hairs ripped forcefully out. The gel does a pretty nice job of soothing and making the red go away.
Burns - This is what inspired me to post on Arnica Gel. Last night I was making a caulifower dish and it was boiling away merrily, and I was cooking merrily, until I stupidly popped the top off the pot with my thumb exposed to the crack, and got a wicked steam burn. Those of you who haven't had a steam burn, imagine, if you will, some of your flesh being boiled. Yum. In any case, I cannot over emphasize enough the importance of putting ice immediately and for a long time on burns. I realize this may seem obvious, but I think in the past I've only kept the ice on for a bit, and ended up with a burn that stung for days. I wrapped my hand in a bag of frozen peas, and oh-so-bravely finished the dish, which, by the way was pretty yummy. After a couple hours and a couple change-outs of ice, I tested not having anything cold on it, and it felt basically like someone was sawing my hand off. Awesome! that was when I thought of the Arnica Gel, which I slathered on generously. It cooled it nicely, and within a few minutes, the pain was pretty much gone unless I bumped my thumb on something. Today, it doesn't feel like anything, though there's a vivid red mark there. So next time you get a burn, give it the old one-two: fast and long ice application, and then blob something along the lines of Arnica onto it.
I'm not saying there's nothing that could replace Arnica or do what it does, but I do think it's a handy multipurpose thingy to have around.
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I know cauliflower doesn't top everyone's list of delicious vegetables, but it's actually quite good this way:
1. steam until it falls apart when you poke it with a fork. if you have leeks, add a bunch and steam them along with it.
2. stick cauliflower and leeks into blender or food processor with the following:
- salt & pepper
- nutmeg
- garlic
- dab of cream
3. blend until the consistency of mashed potatoes, and add cream if it's too dry. Basically treat it like mashed potatoes from here on out. Serve with a pat of butter, etc.
It makes a good replacement if you're eating low carb and really miss having a pile of mushy white stuff on the side of your plate. I hate when people say things like "It's juuust like mashed potatoes!" because it's not. It's quite good though, and I really like the subtleness of the nutmeg. Don't compare the two and you'll find it stands pretty well on its own.
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