How to Fix a Ceramic Kettle or Teapot with Nontoxic Glue

My husband gifted me the loveliest electric ceramic tea kettle for my birthday. Less than a month later, the spout-- along with my heart-- broke when I swung it into our countertop in a moment of absentmindedness.

The thought of tossing this fancy new kettle into a dumpster made me sad, while the thought of drinking tea made with hot water that passed through a spout covered in potentially toxic glue gave me the heebee geebees. Determined to repair it safely, I did some research to find a glue that:

• wouldn't poison me when it leached into water as it passed through the spout 
• would create a bond that could handle the heat of boiling water
• would create a waterproof seal

In short, I needed strong, durable, nontoxic and food-safe glue.

I found DAP 00688 Household Waterproof Adhesive Sealant. It's a 100% silicone glue that is food grade and costs less than $5.

I followed these simple instructions.

How to Start a Vegan Cookbook Club

Looking for a fun way to expand both your collection of recipes and your network of neighborhood friends? You should create or join a cookbook club!

A cookbook club is essentially a hybrid of a book club and a potluck. Periodically, the group chooses a cookbook and each member selects one recipe from the book to cook and share at the next meeting. During the meeting, members discuss their opinions and experiences using the cookbook over a potluck meal.

Last May, I was inspired by an article on thekitchn.com to start a vegan cookbook club here in Hastings on Hudson. In just a few months, the club has become quite popular. Over a dozen couples participated in our most recent meeting!

We are learning healthy, novel, and ethnically diverse ways of preparing food. We are making new friends with people who just moved to town, while also getting to know our long-time neighbors better. We are having long, interesting conversations and sharing resources about more than just food. We are talking about childcare, relationships, local politics, business openings, our new projects, local services, etc. All the kind of stuff you that makes it easier and more fun to live in a community.

I think every town could benefit from a cookbook club. If you can't find an existing club near you, here's how you can easily start one in your community.

Sweet Potato Carrot Apple Juice Recipe

Did you know that you can juice a sweet potato? You can! The terrific tubers make a juice that is both creamy and mildly sweet. Make the following recipe the next time you get a sugar craving or just want to try something new.

Best Vegan Cookbooks of 2016

Best Vegan Cookbooks of 2016*

Check out the 24 awesome vegan cookbooks that came out this year. Let this list inspire you to choose a book for your next local vegan cookbook club meeting or to explore new recipes on your own. There's a book in this 2016 bunch for every vegan and every vegan-curious person!

The 22-Day Revolution Cookbook
From the author of the massive bestseller The 22-Day Revolution comes a plant-based cookbook full of the tools you need to live a healthier, happier life, with more than 150 all-new, mouth-watering recipes and customizable meal plans to create your own 22-Day Revolution program.

Aquafaba: Sweet and Savory Vegan Recipes Made Egg-Free with the Magic of Bean Water
This groundbreaking cookbook is the first to explore the many uses for aquafaba – a miraculous plant-based egg replacer made from simple bean liquid. The bean liquid we used to throw away turns out to be one of the most astonishing culinary discoveries of the decade. With its amazing egg-replacement abilities, miraculous "aquafaba" can be used as an egg-replacer to make everything from French toast to lemon meringue pie. Aquafaba can be used as a binder in both sweet and savory recipes and is a boon to vegans, people with egg allergies, as well as anyone interested in innovative cooking with a magical new ingredient.

Baconish: Sultry and Smoky Plant-Based Recipes from BLTs to Bacon Mac & Cheese
Baconish is the only plant-based healthy bacon cookbook. With your plant-based bacons, you can make everything from Quiche Lorraine and a Bacon and Butternut Galette to BLTs, Bacon Cheeseburgers, and more.

Sweet Beet Walnut Bread Recipe [Vegan]

Carrot cake and zucchini bread, move over. There's a new sheriff in town and she's un-beet-able! If you have two medium beets and an hour to spare, you'll want to have a coffee date with this sweet and beautiful loaf. 

Asian Omelette with Napa Cabbage and Shiitake Mushrooms Recipe [Vegetarian, Gluten-free]

This omelette was inspired by a CSA-induced surplus of cabbage and unwieldy scallions, as well as a bottle of this flavorful Asian stir fry oil that is infused with fried onions, garlic, and ginger. However, I adapted the recipe below so that you can make it without that specific oil. (If you have the oil, you're free to omit the ginger and garlic.) If you don't have napa cabbage, use bok choy as a substitute.

Kohlrabi Kale Coleslaw Recipe [Vegan, Gluten-free, Raw]

Have you tried kohlrabi yet? It's the texture of broccoli stems and has a mild, slightly sweet flavor. I love it sauteed with other veggies, but it's also yummy raw and really shines in this coleslaw.  This unique and impressive simple slaw is a great vegan and vegetarian dish to serve at your BBQ or picnic.

How to Make Iced Coffee at Home [Cold Brew Coffee Recipe]

You don't have to be a genius to figure out that your iced coffee habit is expensive. Why not make your own? It's easy and it costs just 32 cents to make a pint of this cool beverage using fair-trade organic beans! Making your own iced coffee is great way to redirect 90% of your coffee allowance and the cumulative hours that'd be spent waiting in the coffee bar line for summer adventures.

IIN's Spring Cleaning Guide [Free Printable!]

Looking for a fresh and holistic take on self-care? Get the new Spring Cleaning Guide from Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

A healthy home is as important a part of self-care as diet and exercise. (Just think about how light you feel when you enter a freshly cleaned room or think about how down you feel when your home or office is messy.) This FREE exclusive guide will help you:

• Cleanse your home using ingredients right from your pantry.
• Balance the energy flow in your home to nourish your mind and soul.
• Enhance your quality of life!

My favorite part of the guide is "5 ways to use house plants to enhance your quality of life." I knew plants are useful for cleaning the air of toxins, but I was surprised to learn that plants increase dopamine production in the brain, which contributes to feelings of happiness, enhanced cognitive ability, and even heightened creativity.

Check out the free spring cleaning guide now while it's still available. (It's downloadable and printable too!)  

Leave a comment and let me know if you feel a connection between your home and your personal well-being.

Olivia Lovejoy is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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Thai-rrific Cilantro Kale Smoothie Recipe [Vegan, Gluten-Free]

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, a new green smoothie recipe!

Thai-rrific Cilantro Kale Smoothie

Not only is this smoothie healthy but it's a great way to use up fresh cilantro when I've used some for garnish in Mexican or Thai dishes but have no idea what to do with the rest. 

This recipe comes from my fabulous surfer friend Jane.

Course: Beverages

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• ¹⁄₂ frozen banana
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• ¹⁄₂ bunch cilantro
• 2 kale leaves (Frozen is fine. Spinach and romaine are tasty substitutes.)
• 3 or more ice cubes
• Seeds or vanilla protein powder if you wish, (I do seed cycling for hormonal balance so I usually add the seeds I'm supposed to be eating that week.)
• Almond milk or coconut milk beverage or water) to cover, then add more to taste

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in a high speed blender. 
2. Blend on high.
3. Taste.
4. Add more pineapple or banana (then a bit more liquid) if you'd like the smoothie to be sweeter.
5. Enjoy!

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I Haven't Used Shampoo in Over 2 Years

...and I swear I don't smell like a hobo!

One day I ran out of my beloved Alaffia shampoo. I figured I'd try the No-Poo method before replacing the bottle. No-Poo method simply means washing your hair without shampoo and using just water, conditioner, or baking soda instead.

Why No-Poo? Many people find that shampoo leaves hair dry and frizzy, especially curly and kinky hair. Personally, I've never experienced this. I think it's because I don't wash my hair as often as most people do. I wash my hair once a week in the summer and sometimes just once a month in the winter. If it feels un-fresh in between, I just rinse and scrub with water. Why waste time removing the naturally perfect oils in my hair just to replace them with products that don't work as well?

It's been over 2 years and I have yet to buy shampoo. I love washing my hair with baking soda! It gets my hair at least as clean as shampoo. It might even be cleaner because baking soda is much easier to rinse out. Plus, there's no plastic bottle to recycle, no ingredients to investigate for safety, and each cleaning cost just pennies.

Here's how to clean your hair with baking soda instead of shampoo:

Peek Inside My Cosmetics Bag

I'm sharing the contents of my cosmetics bag because I think you know someone better when you know what's inside their bag. Also, I'm curious if you carry around any of the same stuff. 

Here's what in my Sustain organic cotton pouch cosmetics bag:

What is Dry Brushing and How to Do It

Dry brushing is exactly what it sounds like. It's literally brushing your body without using any oil, butters, or other moisturizer.

Why dry brush? My first experience with the holistic skin care ritual proved that it makes your skin smoother and softer almost instantly. I felt it removed much more dead skin cells than using a brush (or even my beloved exfoliating gloves) in the shower.

In short: Dry brushing keeps you from being ashy. 

It's also supposed to be really good for supporting your body's natural detoxification system. Refinery 29 reports on dry brushing:

According to aesthetician Susan Ciminelli, dry brushing increases the circulation of lymphatic fluid and blood flow. It helps circulate nutrients through the body as well as waste, helping to take pressure off the kidneys to regulate the amount of water in the body. Excess water is secreted, and Ciminelli even claims that it "helps to keep the layer of fat under the skin's surface very thin. The thinner that layer of fat, the easier it is for the body to excrete toxins through the skin."

I also love how dry brushing makes me feel warm and energized. If you often crave a good back scratch like I do, you're gonna really enjoy dry brushing.

How exactly does one dry brush? Is there a specific way to do it?

How to Clean a Coffee Grinder

If you've ever used your coffee grinder to grind whole spices, you know how gross your next cup of coffee can be if you don't clean it out well enough before you use it again. But do you know the easiest and most effective way to do it?

Here's the best way to clean your coffee grinder after grinding spices:

Interview with Susie Schnall for The Balance Project

Check out my recent interview for The Balance Project. You'll see why I don't think everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur and discover my favorite time management tool.

The Balance Project is a recurring interview series that features fun, brief, relevant, informative, and refreshingly candid interviews with inspiring and accomplished women who are in the midst of trying to balance work, life, and, for some, kids as well.

Writer Susie Schnall has published over 100 interviews so far! A few of my favorites are those with entrepreneurs including Sara Blakely who founded SPANX, Anita Shepherd who founded Anita’s Yogurt (it's made in Brooklyn and vegan), and Institute for Integrative Nutrition grad Adina Grigore who founded S.W. Basics (a super natural skincare line, also made in Brooklyn).

The project ties into one of the main themes of Susie's first novel On Grace as the main character tries to find her own balance upon turning 40 and re-entering the work force. It’s also the theme of her second novel The Balance Project: A Novel which was inspired by the interview series and has been called The Devil Wears Prada meets a fictional Lean In.

Integrative Nutrition Released a Cookbook! And it's just 99 cents!

Exciting news guys: Institute for Integrative Nutrition just released a cookbook and it's only 99 cents on Amazon now through Friday, February 19th!

In The Integrative Nutrition Cookbook, Joshua Rosenthal provides 80+ simple recipes for health and happiness, spanning multiple dietary restrictions and preferences from vegan to grain-free.

Joshua Rosenthal, founder and director of IIN (and author of the book) explains why this book is special:

You might be wondering... “I have so many cookbooks. Why do I need this one?”

I’ve spent 30 years in the nutrition world, and noticed one major challenge: recipe books often over-complicate.

Cooking has been glamorized on TV with shows like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Cutthroat Kitchen. But just because you’ve never cooked “sous vide” salmon or learned to “chiffonade” basil doesn’t mean that you can’t make delicious, wholesome meals that will make you feel nourished and satisfied.

We’ve all tried a “15-minute recipe” only to have it take an hour. And don’t get me started on how many pots and pans some recipes require!

You’re not alone – this happens all the time.

So let me help you un-complicate cooking once and for all!

6 Simple Vegan Soup Recipes

The February 2016 guided group 21 Day Vegan Soup Challenge experience starts tomorrow! Below are my selections of soup recipes. I'll be cooking these over the next three weeks. I hope you'll try a few. They're all easy enough to make on a weeknight even if you don't have a lot of cooking experience.

6 Simple Vegan Soup Recipes (selected for 2016 Vegan Soup Challenge)

Week One
Ridiculously Easy Cream of Broccoli Soup
Asian Dumpling Soup with Shiitakes

Week Two
Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Mexican Red Lentil Soup with Spicy Cilantro-Almond Pesto

12 Easy Vegan Soup Recipes

Vegan soups make it easy to stay hydrated and eat more veggies-- two things that are hard to do in winter months. Plus, since you can make a big pot of soup using inexpensive, (mostly) unprocessed whole foods, vegan soups can help you to save money on groceries and take out while you spend less time cooking.

Pictured: Secret Weapon Purple Miso Soup, Spicy Pumpkin Chili, Curry Cauiflower with Spinach Soup, Blender Borsch, and Spiced Red Lentil Tomato Kale Soup.

I love vegan soup so much I created the 21 Day Vegan Soup Challenge. Every February I lead a group though the challenge. You can also do the challenge on your own at any time of the year. (Click here for details and registration.)

The first day of the 2016 guided group challenge is Sunday, February 7, 2016. The last day of the guided group challenge is Saturday, February 27, 2016. 

Here are recipes I featured during last year's challenge. They were selected because they all include nutrient-dense whole foods. Many also include orange root veggies, healthy fats, and protein-- three important factors in reducing cravings for unhealthy sweets. 

12 Easy Vegan Soups (featured during 2015 Vegan Soup Challenge):

How to Freeze Leftover Vegan Soup

One of my favorite things about the 21 Day Vegan Soup Challenge is the bestovers (that's what I call leftovers). Personally, I could eat the same yummy thing every day. However, if you like variety it's a good idea to cook two or three pots of soup each week during the challenge. This means you're likely to have leftovers.

Freezing soup is the best way to deal with leftovers. Most vegan soups will still taste fine when thawed and enjoyed after 6 months. Here are some tips for freezing soup and ideas for what to do when you have no freezer space or hate leftovers.

General Tips for Freezing Soups

• Soups that freeze best: Bean soups, vegetable soups, broth-based soups, soups with brown rice or wild rice, and pureed soups. 
• Don’t freeze herbs in soup. Just add them to reheated soup. 
• You can, however, freeze herbs like cilantro and parsley separately: Wash and dry. Chop in food processor. Pour in olive oil as it processes. Freeze in ice cube tray or in freezer bag. (More details here.)
• Don’t freeze cooked pasta. Instead, boil fresh pasta and add this directly to the reheated soup.
• Slightly undercook vegetables, especially potatoes. If you're making some soup to eat now and some to freeze, scoop out/put aside the portion of soup you plan on freezing before finishing/fully cooking the soup you plan to eat.
• Freeze in quarts or in single portion sizes. This makes it easier to tote to work, store in the freezer, and reheat.

Pantry Essentials for Excellent Vegan Soup

The Vegan Soup Challenge starts soon. It's a challenge to enjoy one delicious bowl of homemade vegan soup every day for 21 days in February. (It's free to join so check out the details here.)

During the challenge, I'll give you a weekly grocery shopping list of specific ingredients needed to make the two featured recipes. Still, it can be helpful to have a general idea of the kinds of things you should have stocked in your fridge and cabinets. At least, that's what one past participant told me so I figured maybe more folks would like this too. 

Perhaps having on hand the foods listed here will inspire creativity and cause you to cook soup without a recipe, but just based on what calls to you. That's always fun!

Below are the building blocks of vegan soup. You should absolutely always have them on hand during the challenge:

• Your favorite bouillon, broth, or stock: I love Organic Better than Bouillon vegetable soup base because like bullion cubes it's economical and takes up less space in the fridge/cabinet, but it is 100x more flavorful than those cubes.  If you prefer something more DIY and less processed, learn how to make vegetable broth with kitchen scraps at Oh My Veggies! 
• sea salt
• black pepper
• bay leaf
• yellow onions 
• garlic 
• vegetable oil: I use extra virgin olive oil, canola, and extra virgin coconut oil.

Salted Chocolate Almond Chia Muffins [Vegan]

OMG, these muffins! Salty, sweet, and moist with a slight crunch. In a word: heaven.

I discovered this recipe on Real Simple's Instagram feed and the next day I was in the kitchen baking them (with a healthier vegan twist). Do you ever do that-- see something on Instagram and actually make it right away? In my dreams I do.

In reality, I rarely actually leave a photo, go to the poster's Instagram bio to click the link, and then leave the browser window open long enough that the recipe is available to me when I can actually use the information.

Fortunately, I recently cracked the code to getting recipes I discover on Instagram (or anywhere else via mobile) into my belly. Check out my blog post to find out how I use Plan to Eat to save and plan to make recipes I discover online.

Below is my version of the recipe. (You can check out the original muffin recipe at Real Simple.) Maybe one of these will be the first recipe you add to your Plan to Eat recipe book.

Essential Kitchen Equipment to Cook Delicious Vegan Soup

The Vegan Soup Challenge starts soon. It's a challenge to enjoy one delicious bowl of homemade vegan soup every day for 21 days in February. (It's free to join so check out the details here.)

When developing my first wellness challenge in 2015, I knew that vegan soup would be the perfect food to focus on. Besides being easy to cook and a good source of veggies, I believe the fact that you don't need fancy equipment, expensive ingredients, or lots of cooking space makes vegan soup accessible to almost everyone.

Here are things you should have in your kitchen to cook souper awesome vegan soup:

Big bowl: Handy for washing greens and for holding chopped ingredients before they go into the pot.

Big pot with lid: 6 qts is ideal. If you only have space or budget for one pot, I recommend getting a dutch oven because it can be also be used to braise, saute, and bake.

Cutting board: To chop veggies.

Colander: To rinse and drain beans and veggies.

The Secret Tool to Save, Plan, and ACTUALLY Cook Instagram & Pinterest Recipes You Love!

Make 2016 the year you actually make all the healthy and yummy recipes you discover on Pinterest and Instagram.



To save, organize, and literally plan to eat recipes you discover online right from your smartphone, you need my secret tool: Plan to Eat.

If you don't already have an account, join Plan to Eat for free now. (You can do this from your phone or computer.) Once that's set up you're ready to find recipes, plan meals, make grocery lists, and cook from your phone!