Hot Spiced & Spiked Cider

This will serve approximately 12-24 people. You can leave out the rum if you want.

4 pretty oranges (washed and dried well)
2 oranges (to be sliced into wedges)
2 apples (to be sliced into wedges)
cloves to decorate oranges
1 gallon apple cider
4 cinnamon sticks
2 1/2 to 3 cups light rum (depending on your preference)

1) Stud pretty oranges with cloves. Make holiday designs if you want. Place oranges in punch bowl
2) Cut other 2 oranges and 2 apples into wedges and put in punch bowl
3) Heat cider and cinnamon sticks over medium heat in saucepan for about an hour
4) Pour cider mix over oranges and apples and add your rum to taste.

Serve warm

Thanksgiving Preparations & Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie Recipe

We will be having Thanksgiving dinner with my family tomorrow and I'm in charge of making the dressing/stuffing, a "cheese" ball and pumpkin Pie. The "cheese" ball turned out great and by tomorrow the flavors should all be blended together. It's been so warm here that I still have calendula in the garden so I was able to use it to decorate the top.
My Vegan Cheese Ball recipe






Vegan Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie Recipe

You will need:

1 ready made prebaked crust

1/2 a package Sweet and Sara Vanilla Marshmallows

PIE FILLING:
1 15oz can of pure pumpkin
1 cup almond milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 T molasses or agave
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t cloves

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Using 1/2 a package of marshmallows: cut or tear each marshmallow into 1/4 and place them directly on top of the prebaked pie crust. You can use the other half for another recipe, roast them, or eat them straight from the container.

In a bowl, combine all pie filling ingredients together until totally smooth, no lumps! Pour this mixture on top the marshmallows and bake for 1 hour.

So easy and so darn good!

The Joy of Vegan Creamer

For many years, there was no good alternative to dairy based creamer. Even the ones that were labeled as dairy free contained milk proteins which made them unsuitable for vegans and those with severe allergies to milk derivatives. Then, the folks from SavingOpusOne came up with the perfect solution! These individually wrapped creamer packets are not only delicious, creamy and vegan-friendly, they're all natural and completely lactose-free. And to make them even better, they are made from organically grown soy.

I'm not a coffee drinker but sometimes I like cream in my hot tea and this does the job. Thank you SavingOpusOne!

Purchase SoyGo Creamer

About Mineral Makeup

It seems that a lot of mainstream cosmetics companies have jumped on the bandwagon and started creating mineral makeup, but after a trip to a local big box store and careful examination of the ingredients in these products, I think they are way off base. Mineral makeup should be pure, without preservatives and chemicals, but these products are chock full of stuff I would NEVER put on my face such as talc and other nasty stuff:

TALC: The dangers of talc have been well characterized by studies that show it to be similar in structure to asbestos, a well known cancer causing agent. Even more disturbing is a study that showed that women who used talc in their genital area had a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. This is particularly disturbing since this cancer has such a poor prognosis when diagnosed at an advanced stage. Equally unsettling is the fact that talc has been associated with lung cancer when inhaled on a frequent basis. Because the particles of talc are so tiny, they can easily enter the lungs and set up an inflammatory reaction. This inflammatory reaction can cause short term problems such as pneumonia as well as chronic problems such as lung disease and cancer. Studies have shown that talc miners who are in contact with this substance on a daily basis have a higher rate of lung cancer as well as a higher rate of nonspecific mortality. SOURCE:
Ehow.com


Please take a look at the ingredients when picking out your makeup!


Revlon Colorstay Mineral Makeup
Active Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide (0.9%)
Inactive Ingredients: Talc, Silica, Nylon 12, Polymethylmethacrylate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Perfluorononyl Octyldodecyl Glycol, Grapeseedate, Polyethylene, Mother of Pearl, Topaz, Quartz, Serica (Silk), Cymbidium Grandiflorum Flower Extract, Lactobacillus/Eriodictyon Californicum Ferment Extract, Lilium Candidum Bulb Extract, Malva Sylvestris Flower Extract (Mallow), Dimethiconol, Dimethicone/Silsesquioxane Copolymer, Copolymer, Triethoxycaprylysilane, Lecithin, Alumina, Lauroyl Lysine, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Mica, Iron Oxides (CI 77491, 77492, 77499), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163)

Maybelline Mineral Power Blush
Polyethylene, Dimethicone, Boron Nitride, PTFE, Synthetic Wax, Cetyl Dimethicone, Acrylates Copolymer, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Trisocetyl Citrate, Aloe Barbadensis (Leaf Juice), Tocopheryl Acetate, Alumina, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Polyethylene Teraphthalate, Polymethylmethacrylate, Chamomile Flower Extract (Matricaria Chamomilla), May Contain (+/-): Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77499, CI 77492, CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride), CI 77007 (Ultramarines), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30), CI 15850 (Red 7), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 77510 (Ferric Ferrocyanide)


Covergirl Trublends Mineral Makeup:
Mica, Talc, Methylmethacrylate Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Methicone, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Sodium Dehydroacetate, May Contain (+/-): Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide


There are safe mineral makeups out there:

Herbs of Grace Mineral Foundation (suitable for vegans):
Color Foundation Ingredients: titanium dioxide, iron oxides and mica powder
Translucent Ingredients: serecite

Pure Mineral Color Makeup by Herbs of Grace

Pure Mineral Blush Colors by Herbs of Grace

Lip Luminosity by Herbs of Grace


Again, please do some research before buying cosmetics, for your health :)

Easy Vegan Stuffed Peppers

This is so super easy! You will need 4-6 green peppers, a box of Fantastic Taco Filling Mix, a can of spanish rice (available at most grocery stores), a packet of Roads End Chreese, fresh cilantro, and fresh onions or green onions

PREP:
1) Cut the tops off the peppers and scoop out the seeds. Prepare an oven safe baking dish with just enough water to cover the bottom of the dish.

2) Preheat oven to 325 degrees

3) Prepare taco filling and chreese according to package directions

4) Heat spanish rice to warm

5) Cut up cilantro and onions and add them to the rice

6) Once the taco filling is done add it to the rice mixture

7) Now, fill each green pepper with the rice mixture and top with the chreese sauce. Put the peppers in the oven safe dish and bake for 25 minutes or until the peppers become soft.

Pure, Natural Deodorant that Really Works!

Just finished the video presentation for the 100% natural deodorant by Florere. I absolutely love this product and it has ended my search for the perfect all natural, vegan deodorant that actually works!





For All Skin Types

• Vegan patent pending formula
• Free from aluminum chlorohydrate, propylene glycol and harsh chemicals
• Subtle, natural scent - won't interfere with perfume or cologne
• Long lasting, effective protection
• Goes on clear
• Gentle to delicate skin and environment
• CCIC-Certified (no animal testing)

Florere's natural deodorant stick with essential extracts of organic lavender and clary sage is a unique and gentle formula, yet highly effective and long lasting. It helps keep underarms fresh without aluminum chlorohydrate, parabens, petroleum by-products, or harsh chemicals. The bacterial inhibiting properties of pure essential extracts suspended in our creamy stick base helps reduce odor and perspiration. One stick should last 3 - 4 months with daily use.

Simply pure ingredients: Hydrating and protective cocoa (theobrama cacao) butter. Soothing unrefined Shea (Butyrospermum parkii) butter - Naturally occurring earth mineral deodorizer - sodium bicarbonate. Derived from dried corn kernels - cornstarch - soothes and freshens. Palm tree (copernica cerifera) wax - hand milled and naturally processed. Coconut (cocos nucifera) oil - moisturizing and restorative. Essential oils of lavender (lavandula augustifolia), (salvia sclarea) clary sage. Tincture of lemon balm, lavender flowers and ecologically wildharvested benzoin (healing, antioxidant, and preservative.); and nothing else.




Purchase product here:
VeganGoods.com

What's Blooming in My Garden?

Took pictures of some of the plants that are blooming yesterday.

Red Velvet Yarrow:



Pink Primrose



Crocosmia Lucifer



Red Bee Balm



White Bee Balm


Black Eyed Susans (a variety that doesn't have black centers)


Borage



Calendula


White Butterfly Bush with Hummingbird Bug


Lavender Hyssop



One great thing about our house is that the previous owners put bird houses everywhere, which saved me some time and money.

Orange Trumpet Vine Growing up an Old Tree

Skunk Rangling & the 4th of July

When you live in the country you never know what kind of wildlife you may encounter on a daily basis. On this particular day, it was a hungry skunk that had roamed into my parents garage trying to eat dog food. I pulled in their driveway and could smell it before even getting out of the car- whew! Well, their black lab Bingo was relentlessly chasing the skunk in the garage. So, I go in for the removal. The best idea I could come up with was to scoop him up on the snow shovel using a broom. It worked and luckily we made it out without me getting skunked!



Headed out to watch fireworks last night. I was able to capture a few good pictures with my phone. Feels like summer is moving so fast and I have many things I still want to do before it ends. Going out to look for chickweed today.

Salad Spinner: Must have for your greens

This is the salad spinner and a best friend to the veggie gardener! I never really understand what it was good for until this year. We are growing lettuce and all kinds of mixed greens in the garden. Right now, I can go out and pick enough to make myself a huge salad everyday and it's heaven! The only problem is the greens can get really gritty and dirty, I mean really gritty.


I take the little basket part out to the garden and gather what I want to eat. I give them a quick rinse with the faucet attachment. Then I put the basket inside the salad spinner, put the lid on and start cleaning the greens. In the picture at the top, you'll see a hole where running water from the faucet goes. Then you use the little crank to spin the basket around. All the greens go out to the sides to get washed and the spinning motion dries them off when you're done washing. Super invention!

I put my chives, greens, salad burnet, basils, cilantro and purslane together. It makes a wonderful salad and I grew it all myself so I know it's pesticide free!

Calendula Infusion

Calendula a.k.a. pot marigold
Internal Uses: Petals & leaves can be used in a tea to induce sweating, promote menstruation, increase urination, relieve stomach cramps, indigestion and stomachaches, and for relief from flu and fevers.
External Uses: Flowers & leaves can be made into a salve or ground into a powder to be used for various common skin ailments: cuts, scrapes, abrasions, scald burns, blisters,acne, rashes (including diaper rash), chicken pox, and athlete's foot. The fresh calendula flowers can be rubbed directly on a bee sting to relieve the pain. Calendula has also been used to lighten hair.


The Making of an infusion which will become a salve

For years I've wanted to make my own herbal infusions but lack of space and time have kept me from doing it until now. I finally have plenty of room for my herbs and flowers and I'm finally making the time.

This is my first batch of calendula infused olive oil. The process is easy. Take a mason jar and add calendula flowers, cover the flowers with olive oil, put cheesecloth and a rubber band on the top of the jar. Sit it in a sunny window and rotate daily. Let this steep for about a month. Once it's done I will be making my own vegan calendula salve. Can't wait!

As you can see I don't have a lot of flowers in there, because I don't have a bunch of flowers to pick but as I get more I will add them in along with more olive oil. Only one calendula plant came up from the seeds I planted but it's producing a decent numbers of flowers. I may try planting some more seeds this weekend and hope for better germination.

I encourage anyone who can to experiment with herbs and edible plants. It makes me feel good to know I can make some of my own medicines and grow my own food. I feel less dependent on this busy, chaotic world we live in.

Pesto Pea Salad

We whipped this up last week inspired by something at our local Kroger deli.
Here's what you need:

Box of Bowtie pasta
Mayo Substitute
Bunch of Green Onions
Package Frozen Peas
Small bag of Pinenuts
2 packages of Pesto Mix

Cook bowtie pasta according to package directions and rinse with cold water. Also, cook pesto mixes according to package directions. In the meantime, cut up your green onions and slightly cook your peas to thaw them (or you can thaw them out ahead of time). Once pasta and pesto mixes are done, add the pesto to that pasta and mix well.
Toss in your green onions and peas. Now, slowly mix in some mayo substitute. This will vary depending on how creamy you like it. Next, mix in some pine nuts. You can add some garlic salt, salt and pepper if you want. Let sit overnight for best flavor.

This makes a great potluck or picnic recipe. It's pretty likely you'll be the only one who shows up with it.

Fried Morel Mushrooms

Here in Ohio, these mushrooms are hard-to-find but so good to eat. I went out three times this year and didn't find any, but luckily someone found over 400 and was willing to share.


You can prepare these by soaking and then rolling them in a flour and corn meal mixture (with garlic salt of course) but this year I bought a beer batter mix and they turned out really, really good. All I did was add beer to the mix, roll them in it and fry. Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper.


You'll never eat better mushrooms than these, I promise!

What we did for earth day

Last Saturday, in celebration of Earth day, the street where Different Daisy is located held an Earth Day Festival. In store, we fed visitors
Loma Linda Big Franks and Tings and passed out literature outlining the environmental impact a meat based diet has on the planet.





Flyers we passed out (PDF, you need Adobe for these):
Page 1
Page 2
Feel Free to print these and hand them out at your next event.


For the kids we made "Rabbit Food" Gardens that they could take home. Each child got a reused flower pot with stickers and ribbons to decorate it and spinach & lettuce seeds. The child first places soil in the pot, the adds the seeds, covers lightly with more soil, waters and covers with plastic wrap. The seeds will germinate in about 10 days and in 40-60 they will have "Rabbit food" to eat.






For the adults, we made a body scrub they could take home. We used epson salt and sea salt, sunflower oil, and NOW foods essential oils. Each person got to pick their choice of scent for their personalized scrub.


Recipe for a small take-home container of scrub:
4 T Salt
1/2 to 1 T oil
Serval drops essential oil

Stir and enjoy!





People came up with all sorts of combinations but lavender was a top choice and an invigorating blend containing tangerine, orange and grapefruit was a close second.

New Favorite Flower & Salad Burnet

Salad Burnet is a cool herb that many people have never heard of before. It is pretty new to me as well. What's fun about this plant is that if you eat a whole leaf you suddenly, magically taste cucumber. I mean the exact taste of cucumber. Just one bite of a leaf and nothing, but the whole leaf and there it is.
You can add this herb to salads, dips and sandwiches. It is perennial in zones 4-9 so you can use it all spring and summer as a substitute for cucumber.
These are my salad burnet starts which I just got potted up and on the porch tonight. It's April 22nd and the last expected frost date for Southern Ohio is May 7th, lots to do outside before then!






Wow, I absolutely love these Rananculus plants! The flowers are so pretty and the blooms have been lasting over 2 weeks, they're amazing. This is the first year I've had these and it won't be the last...










I picked these 2 plants up at a local garden center but I also have some seeds for these so hopefully they will do well for me.

New USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map/Climate Change

For the first time in 20 years, The USDA is updating the Plant Hardiness Zone Map in response to climate change. The map shows where various types of plant species can thrive, and as warmer annual temperatures move northward, the more than 80 million U.S. gardeners and farmers will be looking to the map to see what new plants may be able to grow in their area.

View the Map:
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html

Indoor Tomato Update & Mandevilla

Last year I posted about the indoor tomatoes I purchased that were supposed to live indoors in the winter and still produce tomatoes. Sadly, they didn't make it through the winter in my house. To be fair, I didn't have them under a grow light so maybe they needed more light to survive. We did get some tomatoes off them last year so they weren't a waste of money but I was really hoping they would produce all year. Maybe if I had a better set up they would have survived.


I did have good luck wintering over my Pink Mandevilla. This plant is an incredible bloomer but tropical so it can't survive the winters here in Ohio. I put it in the basement and just watered it occasionally. A few weeks ago it looked dead! All the leave were brown and crinkled. But, to my delight when I got up close it was producing new green shoots. These last 2 days have been in the 60's here so I've been putting the mandevilla and my orange citrus plant outside to enjoy the warm sun, they seem pleased.

New Video Uploaded- Vegan Cosmetics I Love!

In this video I will be showing you the vegan cosmectics items I use on a regular basis. To purchase these item please visit:
VeganGoods.com
All items are 100% vegan and cruelty free



vegan cosmetics, plants, herbs, gardening, herbalism

Preparing for Spring

I finally got the Aerogarden back out to use again. We moved and it had been packed away for a few months. I planted it with an herb kit last week and they are all sprouting except 2 which take a little longer. For Christmas I got a second Aerogarden so I'm about to plant it using a Garden Starter Tray made for the Aerogarden, shown here:

I will be able to start up to 70 seedlings at once to transplant into my garden this spring. I chose the following seeds to start:

Winter Savory, Creeping Thyme, Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot, Salad Burnet, White Horehound, Beetberry, Chinese Wolfberry (Goji), Lovage and Pot Marigold. I'm starting these a little early and plan to keep them growing using a grow light in the basement. I hope it works!

I tried to get all heirloom or organic seeds. I couldn't for a few of these. I chose these plants specifically because they are edible or medicinal. I will do another planting with pretty flowers later, maybe in the Jiffy Greenhouse. They work well for starting seed. You should be able to pick one of these up at Lowes, Home Depot and maybe your local garden center. You can purchase refills so this greenhouse can be used over and over.

At a local department store I picked up some everbearing strawberry runners. This $3 bag should keep me and my family in strawberries all summer and hopefully I will have some extras to sell. Some strawberries produce only during 1 month in the summer, these are supposed to produce all summer. We'll see.

I also picked up a Bowl of Beauty Peony root. I love this type of Peony and have wanted one for myself for at least a year.

This plant is not edible or medicinal that I know of and it will be years before I see the first flowers, but it will be beautiful for sure!

Lastly, there was a brightly colored bluebird making a bunch of noise outside day before yesterday. I tried to get a picture but that crazy bird was flying all over the place. Back and forth he flew yelling at his refIection in the truck mirror. This was the best shot I could get of this pretty but very distraught bird:

vegan cosmetics, plants, herbs, gardening, herbalism

Vegan Cheeseball/Spread

I make this every year around the holidays and every time I make it I wonder why I don't make it year-round. You will need:

2 tubs Tofutti Cream Cheese

Green Onions

Vegan Worcestershire Sauce

Nutritional Yeast Powder

Bac'Uns Baconless Bits

Garlic Salt

Onion Powder

Chop your green onions up really fine. I use almost all of one bunch. Put your cream cheese out into a large bowl and let it get a little soft, then stir in at least a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and mix. I basically just do all these ingredients to taste so there are no definate amounts. Add more nutritional yeast if if needs to be cheesier. Add garlic salt and onion powder to taste. Then, add worcestershire, you want it to flavor the cream cheese but NOT be runny, so add it slowly. Stir really well, then add fake bacon bits.

Depending on whether you want a spread or a cheeseball:

For a spread just put into a bowl and let sit overnight.

For a cheeseball, put in the fridge for about an hour, then take out and form a ball. You can roll it in nuts if you want, but I prefer it without. Then put cheeseball in fridge overnight so the flavor will set up.

Serve the next day with crackers. Delicious!

vegan cosmetics, plants, herbs, gardening, herbalism