GC and I began planting our apartment garden over the weekend! Before we both began working full time, we spent a few weeks at an organic farm that is run by a professor we both had at Hopkins. This guy is awesome--he runs his own private consulting practice, wrote the organic laws for Maryland, is a professor, has an amazing farm, and is getting started bottling his own organic cider. We learned so much from him in such a short amount of time. Like how to make peace with bees--I have always understood how much bees are needed to make the world go round, but was terrified of them after being stung multiple times when I was younger.
I was able to grab the lavender in handfuls from the base of the plant, and gently shake it back and forth before cutting it with scissors. The bees stayed happy and simply moved to another lavender stalk. As I walked back with two big buckets full of lavender, I brought back several of my new bee friends who were content to follow the buckets a quarter mile back to the house and hang out. I finally made peace with them! Needless to say, we absolutely loved our time working at his farm, and it inspired us to try our hand at growing plants indoors. On our final day, he gave us a few plants to take home. Anyways, we went to the store to get all our materials we needed for this year's garden. Unfortunately, we had a slight bug infestation problem last summer, so we wanted to start fresh with all new dirt. Luckily the bugs never actually left their pots, but since we live in an apartment I didn't feel comfortable with them all there. We spent an hour perusing the options. We knew we wanted organic seeds, and we knew we needed some larger pots, but beyond that anything was fair game. Once we were settled on everything we needed, we brought it home and got to work. We laid out the plastic tarp so our floor didn't get dirty, and brought all our old pots and materials out. All the old dirt? Bye bye. Into the garbage it went. Farewell buggy friends, please don't return.
All of my succulent babies started from one plant I got at a farmer's market with a friend in Baltimore last year. So many new ones have grown! We then planted the seeds into the little sprouting trays we bought, putting 3-4 seeds in each tray. I filled the trays directly in the empty pots for easier clean up, and then took them out, filled the pots with dirt, and placed the trays on top. We used the spritzer bottle to we the soil for all of them. You're probably wondering why the last photo is covered in plastic wrap...the only place we could put the trays is right where our heating vent blows. I noticed after a few hours that the soil looked completely dry, and I had already read on the eggplant seed packet that you should cover the seeds until they germinate, so we put the plastic wrap over them to keep in moisture. Not sure how long we are going to leave this on yet, but will keep you posted! Do you grow anything at home? I used to think that it was impossible to garden while living the city life, but it really isn't! Start with a little plant and go from there. I'll be keeping you posted on our apartment gardening adventures every month. You may also like:
This bowl is just perfect on nights you can't decide what you want to eat. Or when you have tons of random food in your pantry and haven't been grocery shopping in a while... Although it looks complex, you can work on one thing at a time and it will all come together at the end. This is one of those dishes I love to pack up the leftovers and take to work for lunch the next days. The flavors all mesh together overnight and the bowl is even better the second day. Plus, this bowl is packed with colors, nutrients, and love. I think you'll enjoy it! Directions
Directions
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Hello faith in plants friends! Today we have some BEAUTIFUL salted tahini caramels for a sweet but healthy dessert. Something about the cold weather always makes me want a yummy dessert after dinner. In the summertime, fruity and light foods call to me, but winter time comes and I'm all about drinking tea, making soup, and of course, the occasional sweet treat. Does this happen to any of you? Anyways, back to these little salted caramels. These babies are cute, they melt in your mouth, and best of all? They don't use any refined sugar! That is a serious win in my book. As a general rule, I don't eat refined sugar, but still have maple syrup and raw honey in my life (and pantry!). These caramels use dates to sweeten them, which is a nice change from regular liquid sweetener. We always try to eat whole foods whenever possible, and dates fit the bill. I love having these with some warm peppermint tea, but you could eat them for breakfast with your coffee if you wanted. Salted Tahini Caramels 30 minutes | serves 6 Ingredients 1 c pitted dates 1/2 c organic tahini 2 Tb coconut oil 1 ts vanilla 1/2 ts cinnamon 1/2 ts himalayan sea salt Directions
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Oh, quinoa. The elusive grain that people struggle with pronouncing it, let alone cooking it. Despite these challenges, I'm here to tell you that, in fact, it is not difficult to make at all! I've been cooking and eating quinoa for years, and always noticed I was slightly uncomfortable and would get bloated when I finished eating. This caused me to really dislike quinoa since I never felt good after eating it! I couldn't figure out what was the cause of this for the longest time, until I learned about soaking nuts and grains before using them.
However, once you soak them, the enzymes become activated, which makes them a lot more easily digested. For this quinoa, I try to soak the grains for 30 minutes or so before I cook them, but if you don't have time for that, even rinsing them in a metal sieve or nut milk bag can help! Since eating them this way, I've noticed a HUGE increase in their digestibility. If you do too, I'd love to hear :) Perfect Quinoa Recipe 20 minutes + soaking time | serves 2-3 Ingredients
Directions
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Hi my fellow Faith in Plant-ees! I shared this photo a while ago on Instagram, but it is just such a tasty dish I want to share it here! Every time I've made it, people literally cannot believe that there is no heavy cream, butter, cheese, or any of those other not so beautifying ingredients in it. Instead, it is actually a pretty healthy appetizer, and one that is sure to please your non-health nut friends. I've made this for a party, a holiday potluck, for friends while we were in Miami, and lastly for one of our chef friends while we were home in Pennsylvania. This guy has some seriously high standards, and even he was shocked that it was actually vegan. Oh, the wonders of cashew cream :) It comes together pretty quickly, so I recommend getting all your ingredients ready before you begin cooking anything. Although this calls for lots of artichokes, it really makes this app delicious and have an intense artichoke flavor. We always buy the artichokes in glass jars, as I find they taste more fresh that way. I also use my super high powered Vitamix to make the cashew cream. If you don't have one, fear not! Simply soak the cashews in water for 1 - 6 hours before you make the cream, and they it will blend a lot smoother. Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip 30 minutes | serves 6-8 as an app Ingredients
Enjoy with your favorite chips--we love the blue corn chips, but we also tried it with fresh baguette slices and that was also amazing, but a little heavier. Let us know what you think! The Super Bowl is coming up--this could be your chance to try it out :) You may also like:
Hello friends! Today I'm going to share with you this super easy, fast, and tasty salad dressing. I've been having this one ever since I was little, so feel free to share with any kiddos in your life! Easy Everyday Salad 10 minutes | serves 4 Ingredients
Directions
*Unfiltered honey may cause allergies for some people. If you are sensitive to honey, you can replace this with agave or maple syrup. This is also delicious with no sweetener at all! You may also like:
Happy Sunday my friends! We've been playing chess for the past few weeks. I vaguely remember all the moves from when I was much younger, but I had quite the learning curve to keep up with since GC was in chess club back in the day! I finally won one game though :) Have you tried Rishi tea? I usually buy their loose leaf tea but I found out that amazon sells some types online! Rishi tea is all organic and very high quality tea. I got some of their matcha tea for Christmas and have been completely loving it! It has a really nice earthy flavor.
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It's recipe time! These easy, delicious, and dare I say healthy peanut butter cups are pure melt in your mouth deliciousness. I promise your non-vegan friends and family will still love them. I use organic peanut butter in this recipe. It is really important to buy peanut butter organic. Peanuts are one of the most contaminated and toxic foods out there when not handled properly, which is the reason many people recommend not eating it at all. I think if you buy high quality, organic nut butter, it is likely okay for you--in moderation, of course!
Directions
Try these out--and if you do, let me know how you like them! xoxo
Frances Well, Happy New Year! This will be a pretty exciting one for me--GC and I are getting married this year! Sometimes I still can't believe it, but when I think about it I am just so happy! Last year we graduated, got engaged, moved to a new state, started new jobs...lots of big changes. This year will probably be more calm. So, what are my resolutions for the year? I actually don't believe in resolutions since it has become almost a joke that they are always broken within a matter of weeks or months. Instead, I like to set some intentions of what I would like to focus on this upcoming year. 1. Prioritize my fitness We're really settling into our apartment, adjusting to the working world, and finally exercising on a regular basis. GC was always good about going to the gym every day, sometimes even twice a day! But I've struggled to get the motivation to wake up at 6 am and just go! So now I am turning over a new leaf: going to bed earlier, winding down with no computer before bed, and trying to not press snooze...it has been pretty successful so far! 2. Cook at home I already do a decent job at this, but I still buy lunch out every once in a while. This year, I want to focus on cooking 95% of my meals at home, for multiple reasons. Firstly, I feel much healthier when I eat my meals at home--eating meals out always makes me feel sluggish and not 100%. Secondly, it is cheaper! There is no reason to pay 2-3x for food I can easily make at home! I just have to keep reminding myself that :) If you want some cookbook inspiration, check out our favorite books. 3. Take time to disconnect Technology addiction is a real thing--and I've noticed it myself. When I wake up, walk to the metro, wait in the grocery store line, etc-- I feel empty if I don't have my phone in hand. Realizing that I have this feeling is pretty disconcerting, so I am making a conscious effort to engage in the outside world, to be with the people I'm with, instead of spending my life in a black box. 4. Practice gratitude every day Gratitude--we always hear that we should have it, but it can be so hard to maintain. I've been doing a meditation on the "Breathe" app on my phone called Gratitude, and it has been very grounding to me. It reminds me that even the little things in life deserve gratitude: running water, waking up with electricity, having a job, being close to my beautiful family. I have much to be grateful for in this life! 5. Only buy useful things Stop buying junk! This is a big thing for me that has been a focus over the past few years. My parents' motto is to "Only buy things once". (i.e. don't buy something crappy that you know you will need to replace in a year or two or three. This goes for really anything you need). Invest in what you put in your home and life, and you will be come richer, both mentally and in your bank account, from not wasting time and money constantly replacing items! I love to look at secondhand places for beautiful furniture and other home items--things seem to be made much more sturdier in the 'olden days', and if you can find a piece of beautiful wood furniture, go for it! Anyways, on to the celebration of the New Year! We rang in the new year up in Pennsylvania...our new home. Oh, and we got matching PJs. Can you tell we love them? :) We had a big feast New Year's Eve. I started my day with this amazing new almond milk yogurt I found at the grocery store. If you look carefully, there is an unsweetened one by Kite Hill. I mixed it with a mango, some raw local honey, and candied pecans. Have to say, it was a great way to start the day! Our family's mushroom man stopped by and gave us these beauties below, and I turned them into delicious mushroom crostini + balsamic glaze, and a white wine mushroom risotto. We also put to good use the new cookbook we got, Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen! These two recipes, the eggplant lasagna and homemade tiramisu are both from her. Even the non-vegans couldn't believe they were vegan! Great success! What are your favorite family size meals? I find Italian always works really well for family size portions :) Have a very happy new year!
Frances |
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