Category: Kitchen Basics
Have you ever wondered if you could make your own apple cider? I wondered this myself, and quickly found out that in fact, its extremely easy and hands-off! I was able to make nearly a quart of apple cider for Thanksgiving this year that was not only delicious, but also had no preservatives, thickeners, and very little added sweetener. Read below to get my customizable homemade apple cider recipe!
If you’re just stepping into a healthier lifestyle and diet, or cutting out gluten/grains, you may be missing a lot of your old favorites! Dishes like spaghetti, fettuccini alfredo, macaroni and cheese, etc. And let’s face it – pasta is amazing! It’s a staple comfort food! Luckily for us, in the past few years many alternative pasta brands have been cropping up at the grocery store – and they aren’t half bad! In this blog post, I’m going to share my favorites (because I’ve tried A LOT), and where to buy them. Consider this your guide to the best gluten free pasta brands!
One of the most important things you can do when starting to eat a plant based or vegan diet, is to become extremely familiar with all of your local grocery stores. Grocery shopping as a vegan is a little bit different than how the average American shops. There are a lot of unique ingredients, things in strange places – and what about that ‘hippie foods’ section of the grocery store?
Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered! In this article, we’ll be diving in to the logistics of shopping as a vegan; what stores you can rely on to have different ingredients, where you can find the best prices, and navigating different types of supermarkets.
Continue reading “GROCERY SHOPPING AS A VEGAN: A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO A VEGAN KITCHEN”
Over the past two years, I have been working diligently to make my kitchen more eco friendly. Some things were easy fixes – like switching from paper towels to reusable cloth rags. Other things I really struggled to find good options for – like dishwasher detergent that actually worked! In these last two years, I have tried a lot of products. I wanted to share with you my absolute favorites – so you can try them too! Here are the Best Eco Friendly Kitchen Products I’ve found and come to love!
Simple Coconut Rice – easy to make, delicious, and the perfect pair for Thai, Indian, Hawaiian, and several other cuisines!
My personal favorite, is homemade coconut milk. Homemade coconut milk is a little bit lighter and has a fresher flavor than canned. Additionally, its less expensive, has no additives or thickeners, and you don’t have to worry about cans with BPA (something I am sensitive to). Also, if you shop bulk, you can cut down on waste too! Check out our easy recipe for DIY homemade coconut milk. If you do decide to make your own coconut milk, you don’t need to strain it for this particular recipe! So you can very quickly add hot water to your flaked coconut, blend, and add it right to your rice to cook in less than five minutes.
However, you can easily use canned coconut milk with this recipe, too. If I am going to buy canned coconut milk, I like to buy this Native Forest brand. Its organic, BPA free, and well priced.
Making your own coconut milk might seem like a daunting task, but it is actually surprisingly easy, and only requires two ingredients – hot water, and unsweetened shredded coconut! Additionally, you can make 2 cups of coconut milk for about $1.20 (or even less if purchased in bulk at the grocery store). Compare that to a can of organic coconut milk for $3+ and you can really rack up the savings!
Another great benefit to making your own – no additives, preservatives, thickeners, or worrying about BPA lining in cans (something I have a sensitivity to)! Continue reading “HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN COCONUT MILK”
I honestly hated sauerkraut until I made my own! I hated the texture and the flavor. However, I knew how good it was for me (full of probiotics), so I would buy packages of it at the store and try to find ways to add it to foods so I would like it more. But I never really came to enjoy it.
Luckily, I had a very wise friend suggest to me that I try making my own, since its so much better made ‘fresh’ than the stuff you buy at the store. I decided to give it a shot, since this theory has proven true for a lot of things I’ve made on my own!
Lo and behold, it was amazing! And I could eat it by the forkful! The best part was that it didn’t have that slimy texture I disliked, and I could control how fermented it was, and how salty it tasted. All of the things I wasn’t a fan of with store bought kraut, I could easily control by doing my own ferment. I was hooked!
Check out the rest of this article to learn how to make sauerkraut at home!
Nothing pairs better with Vegan Chili comfort food than a warm piece of Vegan Maple Cornbread! Cornbread was a favorite of mine growing up, so knowing how to make a plant-based version has become essential!