How to Make a Natural Car Air Freshener

Looking for an all natural, non toxic air freshener for your car?  You can make your own!

You'll need:

• fabric (I used craft fur)
• paperboard or paper
• marker or fabric pencil
• yarn
• glue
• hole puncher
• scissors
• essential oil(s)

Meatless Monday: 4 Vegan Desserts Featuring Avocado

Oh Avocado! If you love the fatty, creamy, and sensual fruit as much as I do, you'll love these vegan desserts where avocado takes center stage. Try one recipe tonight for dairy-free deliciousness*!

Vegan Avocado Ice Cream
Last week, I made vegan avocado ice cream using a recipe I found in Whole Foods Market magazine (North Atlantic Spring 2014 edition; page 22). The ice cream has 5 ingredients: avocado, coconut milk, almond milk, sugar, and vanilla extract. I just blended everything in my Vitamix, chilled it, then put it in the ice cream maker. It was my first time trying avocado ice cream and it was incredibly delicious and simple!!!

image via Free People blog

Happy Earth Day! Join me at Whole Foods in PVD!

There is an awesome kid-friendly Earth Day celebration at Whole Foods Market University Heights in Providence, Rhode Island. 

I'll be there hosting a domestic detox information table from 11:30am to 2:30pm. I will then teach a hands-on, kid-friendly green cleaning workshop from 2:30pm to 3pm.

Green Penguin, EcoRI, and RIPTA are teaming up to stuff a bus with electronic waste to be recycled 11:30am to 3:30pm. Bring your junk! Click here to read what items are accepted. 

At 2pm, Acopia Harvest will teach kids (and me!) about hydroponic gardening.

I'm excited to spend Earth Day with some of the greenest people in Rhody!

How will you celebrate Earth Day?

Thanks so much for reading this blog entry! I hope it was helpful. Let's stay connected: Newsletter // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // Bloglovin' // YouTube

Consider supporting this blog by shopping via my Amazon shop or buying my green cleaning eBook. Thanks. 

Healing Asthma with Non Toxic Products

Guest post by Ginger Stabach, a representative of Ava Anderson Non Toxic.

I found Ava Anderson Non-Toxic because 6 years ago I was diagnosed with severe asthma after being sent to the ER twice by my overbooked doctor and thinking I was having a stroke. Not being one to live on medications if I don't need to, I went in search of what I could eat or do to strengthen my lungs.

While researching, I found the Environmental Working Group. I already knew about their Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen list and, being from a farming town, I already ate fairly clean. I had gone to a talk at one of the farms when I was pregnant with my oldest son. The farmer talked about the fact that you could either pay a little more for organic food or pay a lot later in life for medications.

On the EWG site, I saw a link: "Do YOU know what is in YOUR Cosmetics?" As someone who loves creams and lotions, I clicked in thinking "Wow, this will be fun!" Ha! I typed in what I was using and up comes LUNG LUNG LUNG LUNG sensitivity from everything! I quickly shut the computer off and waited a few days as I was pretty freaked out.

Easy Vegan Lunch Recipe: Carrot Apple Ginger Soup & Fennel Scones

These two easy vegan recipes make one delicious lunch or light supper for Meatless Monday or any day.

This carrot apple ginger soup was inspired by a chilly day, my love of carrot apple ginger juice, and the fact that the produce had been in my crisper for almost 2 weeks. Soup, smoothies, and juices are the best way to use up produce before it goes south.

How to Peel Ginger Easily

Tired of struggling to remove the skin from ginger?

Watch me peel ginger the easy way.


Hate videos? No problem. Click through to read how.

How to Use Coconut Oil to Prevent Frizzy Hair [VIDEO]

Do you know you can (semi-) waterproof your hair naturally with coconut oil? Yeah! Coconut penetrates hair, leaving no room for it to absorb humidity, making frizz impossible.

Watch and learn.

Hate videos? Read on to learn how to use coconut oil to prevent frizzy hair:

Espresso Roller Disco [VIDEO]

Richard and I have been downsizing our possessions lately. Dreams of being able to one day live in a tiny house dance in our head. The reality of how much more focused and lighter life is without the burden of sharing a home with things we don't value is also keeping us grounded in the project. I can't help but feel we're making space for magical possibilities too.

A few days ago I outed myself to Richard that I was storing roller skates that I hadn't worn in ten years in our attic. "You never know when you're going to be invited to a roller disco party," I argued with all seriousness. Then I heard myself.

How to Detox Naturally Without Fasting

Fat is a protective confinement cell for toxins. The toxins that enter your body through chemicalized food, polluted air and water, toxic cleaning and cosmetic products, etc. are stored in your fat cells if not flushed out naturally.

When you begin to lose weight (burn fat), the toxins leave their cozy fatty storage bins. They enter your blood stream, do all those terrible things toxins do, and make you feel like crap: stressed out, tired, irritable... hangry.

The most annoying part is they mess with your success. Have you ever hit a plateau when losing weight? Couldn't lose the last five, ten pounds? This is a natural defense. Your body is retaining water to dilute the poisons that are now running around free in your system.

Wellness Resources explains how this works in greater detail in a blog post about detoxification and weight loss.

You absolutely need to get these toxins out so you can start feeling great and continue losing weight. Good news is you don't have to do some crazy juice fast, Master Cleanse, or colon cleanse to detox. Your body has the ability to detox naturally and safely.

Meatless Monday: Tasty Lately Recipes Round-up

Here are some of the tastiest vegan and vegetarian recipes Richard and I have tried lately.

Broccolini & Tofu Stir-fry and then Southwest Tofu Tacos via Prep Once, Cook Twice article in Whole Foods Market North Atlantic magazine Spring 2014 issue.

Broccoli and Macaroni in Hickory Cashew Cheeze Sauce. The cashew cheeze sauce recipe I used was from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.

"Dang delicious" cheezy broccoli bake following a recipe by The Seasonal Diet.

Yes, I love all things broccoli. I swear I eat other stuff too. Friday night I had Stuffed Ranchero Sweet Potato via Food Heaven Made Easy with Wendy & Jess, topped with Cashew Sour Cream via Whole Foods Market.

Meatless Monday: 9 High Protein Green Vegetables

Beans, nuts, and seeds are popular and delicious vegan protein sources, but don't forget about the veggies! Many vegetables pack a powerful plant-based protein punch too.

You need to eat a lot of broccoli (about 4 cups) to consume 100 calories, but I'm up for the challenge!

Here's a list of 9 high protein vegetables to center your Meatless Monday meals around. All are nutrient dense, low calorie, low carb and have plenty of fiber to satisfy your appetite.

• Brussels sprouts: 6 g protein per 1 cup cooked
• Spinach: 6 g protein, per 1 cup cooked
• Broccoli: 5.7 g protein, per 1 cup cooked
• Turnip greens: 5.5 g protein per 1 cup cooked
• Asparagus: 5.3 g protein per 1 cup cooked
• Artichoke: 6.2 g protein, medium
• Kale: 2.9 g protein per 1 cup chopped raw
• Cauliflower: 2 g protein per 1 cup cooked  (Not green, but it's supergood for you.)
• Romaine letture: 1 g per 85 g (about 1/8 th of a head)

Enjoy a variety of ample servings these veggies throughout the week, along with other nutrient dense foods (including beans, nuts, and seeds) to stay healthy and fit. Speaking of nutrients, check out Dr. Fuhrman's chart of the protein content in green vegetables as compared to meat. Lots of surprises there!

FYI: Adult women need around 46 grams of protein a day, according to WebMD.

Thanks so much for reading this blog entry! I hope it was helpful. Let's stay connected: Newsletter // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // Bloglovin' // YouTube

Consider supporting this blog by shopping via my Amazon shop or buying my green cleaning eBook. Thanks. 

Brand New Thank You Gifts!

If you're not already on my email newsletter list now is the time to join.

Sign up to get your free gifts and my weekly newsletters here.

When you join, I'll send you a free copy of  Please Don't Eat the Plastic: A Quick Guide to Detoxing Your Kitchen.

This new 15-page guide quickly and clearly explains:

• How to reduce the toxins in your body
• What’s the problem with plastic
• Practical ways to avoid plastic at the supermarket, when eating on the go, and when cooking and baking
• How to create an action plan for a plastic-free kitchen.

I created this unique guide so you can only get it through me. Join my list so I can send it to you today along with the following bonus materials:

How to Make a Perfect Salad

Create the perfect salad in a few quick steps. Check out this awesome guide for even more amazing recipes, produce tips, and more just in time for spring:

Get Institute for Integrative Nutrition's FREE Spring Salads Recipe Guide here.

The guide includes...

• 18 delicious salad recipes submitted by IIN students and graduates.
• Tips for creating your own perfect salad, and preserving fresh ingredients.
• IINformation on what our amazing school is all about.

Now that we've made our salad, how about some dressing?