New Year, New Kitchen [Before and After]

Today is my birthday. I just settled back home from a there-are-no-words-to-accurately-describe-how-stunning-it-was trip to Maui (there are some meager attempts to capture some of it in Stories>Travel and here). I hadn’t thought at all about the trip until the day before we left when I had to pack. 2018 wrapped up with some very stressful […]

Beeswax Wraps with a Vegan Option and a Free Beeswax Baggie Pattern

I started using beeswax wraps a while back, supplementing my small stash with a few more I picked up when I went to Australia and New Zealand a few summers ago. I haven’t needed to use plastic wrap at all for years because of them. Along the way, they’ve become priceless to me for wrapping […]

Spiced, Easy Elderberry Syrup for Cold & Flu Prevention

I looove playing with herbs, infusions, oils, and tinctures, combos for home cleaning and air freshening, oven cleaning, natural bug repellents, natural beauty products for everything from bathing to blush to balms—witchy good stuff. Nature provides so much of what we need to be balanced, happy, and healthy… This summer, a pal of mine who’s a […]

Vanilla-Orange Epsom Salt Soak

Dare I say it, but the days are getting a bit shorter. From mid-June to mid-August I was able to take shots for the new book all the way until 7:30–8pm, but this past week I can tell the light is diminishing… When walking to the post office this week, a summer breeze passed and I could almost […]

Make Your Own Toxin-Free Dry Shampoo (For Dark and Light Hair)

A while back, Darling Magazine asked me to share my dry shampoo recipe with their readers. And this summer, every time I brush some into my hair I tell myself “you gotta share this with the YU community now—this stuff is a lifesaver.” I’ve made two variations you can make for color—dark and light—and infinite variations as […]

How-Tos(day): Keep Herbs Fresh with These Storage and Usage Tips

Keep herbs fresh and learn a bunch of storage tips and uses with this How-Tos(day) video post…

How To’sday: Popping Amaranth

I’m sure by now that everyone knows about quinoa around here. You can make everything from cereal to tacos with it, but are you familiar with another ancient powerhouse grain called Amaranth? Well, like quinoa, it’s also a fantastic source of complete plant-based protein but it is also high in lysine which is known to help promote collagen growth, accelerate tissue repair and it keeps cold sores at bay. These tiny powerhouse seeds are a great source of fiber and they are just as versatile for cookin’ as our friend quinoa. And you can pop it like popcorn. That’s right, teeny tiny popcorn. I’ve made a How To’sday video to show you how it’s done.

Sprouting 101

I have a few posts on the site that walk you through the benefits and steps involved for soaking and sprouting, but I have a feeling many of you are still intimidated by it, so I made a little video (after the jump) to show you how ridiculously easy it is. 2012 is the year you will take on sprouting! I know YU can do it.

Homemade, Natural Citrus Glass and Surface Cleaner

I consume a lot of citrus fruits like lemons and oranges during the week. Living in the city with a deck on a busy, high-traffic street, makes composting and a garden something I will do once I get a place in nature. For now, I’ve been using my lemon, orange, lime, even grapefruit rinds to […]

Soaking and Dehydrating Nuts, Legumes, Grains and Seeds

Soaking Nuts

Nuts are packed with healthy fats, protein and minerals, but to get that all good stuff assimilated into your body, it is recommended that you prepare your nuts by soaking them. See, nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors to keep them from sprouting until nature delivers the sun and rain that they need to grow. Have you heard people, maybe even yourself, say “nuts are hard on my stomach”? Well, this is why. By soaking nuts and seeds, enzyme inhibitors are neutralized, the beneficial enzymes are activated and the vitamin content increases. Soaking nuts and seeds makes them easier to digest and the nutrients more easily absorbed.