Vodka, not just for drinking!

Thanks to my sister for pointing out the many uses of vodka! :) These are great:

-Goo Remover: Got a price tag, sticker or label that just won't peel off? Bring on the vodka. Simply saturate a sponge (or paper towel) with the strong stuff, apply to the sticker and wait about a minute.
The paper (and tacky residue) will come right off.

-Chrome "shiner": Restore the beauty of chrome fixtures in seconds with this easy trick. Just moisten a soft cloth with vodka, and then rub down the fixture. Good as new. (This will also work on porcelain and glass!)

-Room Deodorizer: Since air fresheners can often leave a room smelling worse, try this no-odor fix. Fill a spritzer bottle with a 1:1 ratio of water to vodka (this is a good time for the cheap stuff) and mist the air. Surprisingly, the room won't smell like a vodka martini.

-Bouquet Preserver: Bacteria growth can make a pretty bouquet fade fast. To prevent this, add a few drops of vodka to every time you change the water. The flowers will stay lovelier longer.

-Shower Cleaner: The moist, humid environment inside a bathroom can often lead to mold. To clean AND prevent it from happening again, spritz the shower, curtain liner and all, with vodka. Chemical-free and effective.

Black Bean Soup (V)

Hi there! Another soup, can you tell I love soup? :) This was delicious! My husband thought it was a bit spicy but I thought it was barely spicy which was strange for us, so if you aren't sure then I would suggest adding the seasonings a little bit at a time and trying it before you add it all in. This makes a big batch of soup and you could half it if you wanted and still have plenty, or just have leftovers which will get eaten I'm sure! Hope you like it, I did :) I think I orginally had a black bean soup recipe from veg web and then altered it to fit our tastes, anyway here it is:

Makes a lot, at least 10 cups:

4 (15 ounce) cans black beans, or 1lb dry beans soaked over night

4 cups vegetable broth

1 large onion

1 stalk celery (optional)

2 large carrots

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, or 1 1/2 cups

1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbs chili powder

1 tbs ground cumin

1 pinch black pepper

-Start by cooking your dry beans, rinse your soaking beans and put into a very large pot, add water a few inches above beans, bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and let simmer about 1 1/2-2 hours or until soft.

- Chop onion and saute until translucent in another very large pot with a splash of vegetable broth, or water as needed. (Set beans aside and use the same pot if needed)

-Chop celery and carrots into bite size pieces, add to the pot of onion and about 1/2 the vegetable broth, simmer until carrots and celery are just about tender.

-Drain and add half the beans to the pot of vegetables (doesn't half to be exact, just eyeball it)

-Put the other half of beans in a blender with the can of tomatoes, add some of the vegetable broth as needed to get it going, blend until it's as smooth as you can get it. You can leave the tomato in chunks if you want or half and half.

-Add blended beans and any leftover broth to the pot.

-Add seasonings and corn, bring to a simmer until ready to serve, the longer it simmers the better the flavor.

*Click Here for the corn bread recipe!

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day Resolutions

Well as you all know tomorrow is Earth Day! Of course you should always try to make the earth a better place to live in for us and future generations everyday not just on Earth Day. If you don't know how to start or want to do more why not start now? It's not too late, you can do this and make a difference! Make some Earth Day resolutions! Every little thing counts.

My resolution will be to conserve more water, a lot of times I think I am using too much water, I am going to make an effort to be more mindful of my water usage from now on. Also I am going to get my compost bin going within the next couple weeks, and I'm really excited about it :) I'll make sure to post everything on here.

*Check out my Help the World page to see what other little things you can do to make a big difference!

Potato Salad (V)

Picture from healthyblenderrecipes.com

 Ok I'm pretty sure this was the best potato salad I have ever eaten! I am not kidding you, just try it and trust me! I added a tad more mustard, and a bunch of cut up dill pickles. I left out the celery, red onion, and broccoli, since certain people eating it in my family probably wouldn't like that. It's so Incredibly delicious! Here is the recipe from healthyblenderrecipes.com-

• 8 cups (about 8 medium red skinned potatoes) largely diced / cut into cubes
• 1 cup (about 1 bunch) green onions finely chopped
• 1 cup (about 1 medium) red bell pepper (capsicum) finely diced
• 1 cup (about 4 large ribs) celery finely diced
• 1 cup broccoli stalk (slaw) chopped finely
• 1 cup (about 1 bunch) continental parsley finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (about 1/2 medium) finely chopped red onion
• 1 batch of The Blender Girl's vegan mayonnaise (for a nut free version use soy mayonnaise)
• 2 Tbsp organic dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cracked pepper to taste

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold filtered water.
2. Add 2 Tbsp of Celtic sea salt to the water and bring to the boil.
3. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until just done.
4. Rinse them with cold water and drain thoroughly.
5. Transfer the potatoes to a mixing bowl and combine with all of the chopped vegetables (except the parsley)
6. To make the dressing - blend the mustard and apple cider vinegar with the blender girl mayonnaise
7. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix thoroughly.
8. Stir through the parsley, and then season with Celtic sea salt and black pepper to taste.
9. Chill or serve at room temperature. YUM!

*Please note, I have posted the recipe from healthyblenderrecipes.com just in case the link should ever stop working.
* Click here for my other favorite mayo recipe that is lower in fat.

Bugs

-Ever get those little bugs in your flour or pasta? Well they say If you put a bay leaf in there with it that it helps keep them pesky things away, I've been adding it to everything, sugar, oats, etc. and so far so good! Just make sure you don't scoop it into whatever your making lol, It doesn't alter the flavor of your food either.

-I also hear they don't like spearmint so I had some old gum lying around and just opened up the wrapper and set a few sticks in my cabinets.

-Peppermint is a good one as well, I blotted some peppermint extract on a cotton ball and put it in little mesh bags. Careful it has a strong sent.

-Vinegar of course, if you spray and wipe where the ants have a trail it basically erases it so they don't use it again.

-I hear lavender works but I have not tried this yet.

Happy Easter!

Lebanese Beans and Rice (V)

My grandma used to make "green beans and rice" although she used steak instead of kidney beans. I recently had a vegan version at Emily's Lebanese Deli that tasted similar only it had kidney beans and no green beans, it made me want my grandma's dish, so I combined the two and made it with the green beans and kidney beans, just no meat :) so in a way I still get grandmas green beans and rice. I hope you like it.

About 5-6 servings of 1 cup sauce mix and 1/2 cup rice each:

1 can cooked red kidney beans (or 1 3/4 cup cooked beans if you make your own)
1 medium onion chopped
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 15oz can tomato diced
1 tsp garlic powder, or 1-2 cloves minced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups green beans
1 cup uncooked brown rice


-Start cooking your rice, Click here for a method of cooking rice to reduce arsenic which is my favorite way to cook brown rice.

-Saute chopped onion and garlic in a different large pot until soft and translucent, just splash with water while cooking instead of oil.

-Add the tomato sauce, diced tomato, green beans, kidney beans, and seasonings to the pot with the onion, cover lightly and bring to a simmer on low heat for about 10 mins, stirring frequently.

-Put some of the bean/tomato sauce mix on top of a serving of rice and devour! S&P to taste.

Biscotti, Almond (V)

    I've been searching for a vegan recipe for biscotti for a while now and I think I found a keeper! Yum!  I love biscotti and used to make it all the time so I was excited.
    Not only did I add chopped almonds, I used the left over almond meal from making my almond milk, I didn't use as much sugar, and I had to cook it a little longer since I like mine super crunchy (you could prob leave it at 325 degrees the whole time), and don't forget to grease the pan! I was able to use 1 large cookie sheet pan and formed my logs directly on the pan.

    It's fun to display your biscotti in a glass cookie jar on the counter. (wanna know a secret?... I have never eaten a store bought biscotti! lol) Here is the original recipe from food.com:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached cane sugar
• 3/4 cup smooth unsweetened applesauce
• 1 -3 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups almonds , toasted and chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven the 325°F.

Lightly oil two cookie sheets.

Use double layer shiny ones, if you have them.

If yours are very black, line them with foil.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, applesauce, oil (1 TBS for a hard biscotti, 2-3 TBS for a softer biscuit), and extracts.

Stir the sugar mixture into the flour mixture, add the nuts; finish mixing with your hands.

With floured hands, shape the dough into two 3-inch wide "logs" about 3/4 inch thick, with the ends squared off.

Place these on the cookie sheets.

Bake the logs for about 25 minutes.

Remove the pans and reduce the oven heat to 300°F.

Cool the logs on a rack for 15 minutes.

Cut the logs carefully with a sharp knife straight across into 1/2 inch wide slices.

Place the slices cut side down on the cookie sheets (you can remove the foil, if using).

Bake 5-10 minutes, or until golden on the bottom

Turn the slices over and cook 5-10 minutes more, or until golden on bottom

Cool on racks, then store airtight for up to two weeks

Click Here for the recipe on the actual website.

More Documentaries

Again thanks to beautiful vegan for showing me more, I was going through the documentaries and thought I would share the link with you and on my documentary page. A lot of info there, I highly recommend watching some. Click here for the beautiful-vegan documentary page.

I just watched the one about Fluoride Click here to watch.