DIY Laundry Detergent & Fabric Softener

Hey all! I wanted to let you know I added some links on how to make your own laundry detergent and fabric softener in my Make Your Own page. It's super easy, chemical free, and a lot cheaper, check it out! :)

-Info on chemicals found in some commercial laundry detergents.

-List of chemicals found in fabric softeners.



Oil Substitution & Italian Dressing Recipe

I'm so excited I found a recipe for an oil substitution for dressings, YAY!  I made a little bit more than the original recipe so that I could use it in this Italian dressing recipe I found. It totally works, I know it's basically gravy but what a great idea. I can't believe I never thought of this before, I can't wait to make it for other dressings! Just make as much as you need in order to replace oil.

1 cup vegetable broth (you can use just cold water but I used broth)
2 tsp corn starch, or arrowroot powder

-Whisk the powder into your liquid of choice
-Cook on high, stirring constantly until it thickens, only took me a few mins.

It's that easy! Just add to the rest of your dressing mixture in place of oil.

I found this recipe on Fatfreevegan.com

Zesty Italian Dressing Recipe

Ingredients
1 cup of the vinegar (any type is fine, whether ACV, wine vinegar, rice vinegar, etc...)
1 1/3 cup of olive oil or other oil (I usually do half olive oil, half cheaper oil)
2 tablespoons of water
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon honey, white sugar, or sucanat
1 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoons salt

Instructions
1. Pour ingredients into a glass jar or bottle with a cover. You may need to use a funnel, in which case pour the dry things in first before the liquids.
2. Cover and shake well.
3. Use, or refrigerate for months and months.
4. Enjoy!

Dressing Recipe, from pennilessparenting.com

Caffeine, Good or Bad?

I have decided for an abundance of reasons that I need to quit caffeine for my health, I am otherwise a coffee addict. It bothered me that I could stop other things that are not good for me but not caffeine, so I'm going to do it, if I'm going to help other people try to be as healthy as they can be I have to first help myself.
Today is day 1 of operation goodbye caffeine, so far it's only been 45 mins, lol but hey in the morning is when you drink coffee for sure right? I decided I will have an herbal coffee called teeccino, it is all good for you with out the caffeine, it's non acidic, helps restore alkaline balance, has potassium and soluble fiber, also inulin from the chicory root which supports beneficial microflora that improves digestion, and intestinal health. I have also tried a more neutral plain herbal coffee called Pero which is also delicious click here to see my post and more info on that.
The ingredients in my hazelnut flavor: Organic carob, organic barley, organic chicory, dates, almonds, organic dates, natural hazelnut flavor, organic figs. It tastes great to me with a tiny bit of honey, sugar, or maple syrup. It comes in tea bags or a larger bag of loose grounds that you brew like coffee.

If you are interested in why I'm no longer consuming caffeine/coffee, are interested in cutting back yourself, or are just curious about what it does to our bodies then check this out-

http://www.vega-licious.com/health-nutrition/to-caffeine-or-not-to-caffeine-why-caffeine-is-not-a-great-idea/

Just a snip-it of what you will read from her blog post:

There are many reasons why we should avoid caffeine, but I will give you a couple. If you read my free report you know the negative impact of acidic foods and substances on your body. Acidic foods (think animal foods and byproducts, junk and processed foods as well as alcohol, coffee and caffeine products) bring our body’s PH levels down. The body, however, has to maintain alkalinity to survive. To fight the acidic impact of these foods, the body uses its mineral storage, primarily calcium, to buffer the acidity. Calcium is extracted from our bones, it buffers acidity, bringing the body back into its alkaline state, however, at the end of the process the used calcium cannot be reabsorbed back into our bones, so the body dumps this precious mineral with urine… leaving our bones deficient, making us prone to all bone related diseases, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, etc. , not to mention that acidic conditions are a prime requirement for diseases such as cancers to thrive in.

That alone was enough to tell myself it stops now! I have a hard time knowingly doing something that is this harmful to my body. People still tell me " you'll die of something eventually anyway" and I just say well if I can help it why do something that hurts me? I want to be as comfortable as I can in my old age, hopefully I make it that far, I know anything can happen at anytime, but if there is a chance I could live to be an old lady I want to feel as good as I can when I get to that point with the least amount of suffering, that means starting now. I do it for myself, my future children, and family so that I can be in their lives as long as I can, and they don't have to suffer a loss that may have been postponed.

**Update: Well I can't remember when I posted this the first time, but I haven't touched coffee since this post! Woot! Go me! Other than eating some chocolate I have not consumed any caffeine and I'm going strong, I guess it can be done! :)

M.L.T. Sandwich (mushroom, lettuce, and tomato)

I was inspired to make this after I saw a picture of something similar, it looked good so I made my own version, it wasn't called an MLT though ;) However this was something that just hit the spot, I was craving a sandwich and this combination called to me even though I never used to like mushrooms I'm starting to think it's not the foods we don't like, sometimes it just the way it's prepared. I'm finding since going plant based I like mushrooms and maybe it's the way I'm making it, just the way I like it. Anyway this is super easy to make, filling, and it is definitely hard to eat as a whole sandwich, I had to make it an open face but you can just adjust the ingredients to your liking, I was just really hungry :)

Serves 1:

2 pieces sprouted grain bread, or bread of choice, a wrap would work too
1/2 avocado
1 tsp lemon juice
2 slices tomato
1-2 oz romaine or other leafy green
About half of 1 large portabella mushroom, more if you like, sliced in thin strips
1/4 of a medium onion, cut in strips, or desired pieces
couple dashes of lemon pepper, or other favorite seasoning
1 garlic clove, minced
S&P to taste


-Saute your sliced mushroom, garlic, and onion with small splashes of water as needed, add a few dashes of your favorite seasonings, I like lemon pepper on mine.

-Mash up your avocado, add lemon juice and S&P to taste

- Toast your bread, spread avocado mixture on each slice, add tomatoes and lettuce.

-When the mushrooms and onion become soft and limp, about 5-10 mins, then add to the rest of your sandwich and devour!

Notes:
*I'm sure other mushrooms would be delicious as well :)
*My husband really liked this as an open face on beer bread, which is also really good.
*You could also add the closed sandwich back to your pan and flatten to make it more like a panini or similar.

What the heck is a Jicama (hecama)?

 

It's amazing ever since I started eating plant based it's like a whole new world opened up to me, I'm eating foods I never even knew existed and I'm loving it. There is so much variety in just fruits and vegetables out there I decided to take on a new one every month, and now I will start to blog about them so you can be aware of their existence too, although you might have already heard of some of these you can rejoice in my personal experience of discovery ;) I may blog about some normal every day ones as well and just promote the benefits of them for your learning pleasure! Isn't it great how these little things make me happy?.. Hey I'm not complaining.

 

 

Jicama, pronounced "heck-ama" is a root vegetable that I recently discovered and now it's one of my favorites. I just found out about it after watching the show How To Live To 100 with Jason Wrobel and he had used it as a vessel for dipping into a bean bell pepper salad he made. When I went to the grocery store I saw one and I thought for 1.29 a lb sure I'll try one, so this became my featured food of the month and let me tell you I am glad I tried it, jicama has a very almost unnoticeable mild rutabaga/turnip flavor, and is very similar in texture to a water chestnut, it's crisp, watery, and most refreshing. Jicama is also a good source of vitamin C, and dietary fiber. So far I like to peel it and slice it into thin chips and dip it into hummus, add it to my salads, or you can put it in stir fry like you would water chestnuts, yummy! So go out and check your store and try one today, if you can't find one well expand your horizons and see if there is anything else in the store you seem to always overlook and never thought to try, you won't be sorry!

 

Click here for more nutritional information on Jicama

 

Click here to check out some videos with Jason Wrobel for recipes, tips, and info, he does use oil in some of his recipes but you can skip the oil or try to replace it with something else.