The Smoothie Vegetarians

For the last three months are so I have been OBSESSED with essential oils! I have incorporated them into just about every aspect of my life. From my beauty routine to cleaning, to a quick fix for a headache. My box of oils has a solution to any problem I throw at it. Today I am going to go over the essential oils I use in my beauty routine and the benefits they have. If I missed your favorite essential oil, let me know in the comments below! ~Stella~ Frankincense Essential Oil Frankincense oil is wonderful for all types of skin. It has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits. These benefits make it best for acne-prone skin. You can also use it as a toner. It can reduce the appearance of pores and helps even the skin tone. It also helps encourage new cell growth. This will help tighten skin, reduce wrinkles and the appearance of scars. It also is wonderful for soothing chapped or dry skin. Lavender Essential Oil As if Lavender oil...

This is such a wide and varied area, it is near impossible to capture all of the necessary points in one article. Additionally, there are so many fruits worldwide, this is beyond a mammoth task to undertake. That stated, an overview of the basics is attempted in terms of an outline here. Fruits are the Hallmark of a Healthy Lifestyle, as far as diet goes. Firstly, in an ideal world, all of your fruits consumed are local and in season. For persons outside of the tropics and subtropical regions, they are not so fortunate to have this luxury. How Best To Define Fruit What is fruit? A fruit is a plant source of food, grown mainly on trees( Bell Peppers, cucumbers, zucchinis and tomatoes being some exceptions and are non-sweet fruits) the seed of which often used to grow new trees. Fruits have the characteristics of Internal seed(s)or stone/pit, with an outer external skin, soft( grape, plum, nectarine, peach for example), semi-soft(mango, papaya), hard(watermelon, canta...

The last few months I have really been focusing my efforts on losing the waste coming from my home. One of the responses I have gotten from people when this topic comes up in conversation is "Do you really think you would be able to save the planet?" To me, this question basically means do you think your efforts mean anything? Because I don't. So, do I think I am making a difference? The average American throws away 4.4 pounds of trash a day, or 29 pounds per week, or 1,600 pounds per year. The average American lives to be 77 years old. This is 123,000 pounds of trash over the lifespan of one person. By taking a few steps I have reduced my household's trash by half. Going by the statics above, my husband and I should produce 58 pounds of trash a week, but at this point, we fill up one tall trash bag a week. It weighs between 6-8 pounds every week. We feel that this is still quite a bit of trash and want to reduce it even more. This is the change we have ...

Why do `we juice, and why do we blend, and which is better? The simple answer: Neither is better and selecting one over the other is solely: a) Out of preference or b) Based on what one wishes to achieve Juicing: Juicing is the process by which the natural liquids within plant foods (fruits and vegetables) is extracted for consumption, without the fibrous component. There are different ways to extract these juices. Manually Some persons (many frugivores/fruitarians) opt to making their juice manually; this however, limits the options to juicy fruits which can be easily massaged to release the natural juices. This also means that most if not all vegetables are exempt. Centrifugal Juicers These are relatively medium to high speed juicers more geared for rapid output, and more often than not, requires minimal produce preparation. These are ideal for commercial use. Masticating Low rpm Juicers These are my favorite, as their output is cold pressed juices ...

How do you currently put food on your table? The advent of supermarkets in the late 1940’s brought commercialization and a decline in overall health as we moved away from the natural to the unnatural. Today’s challenges are a lot more serious and detrimental to health with the introduction of GMO’s(Genetically Modified Organisms), Weed killers severely toxic to humans, more harsh herbicides and pesticides, gene altering preservatives, just to name a few. The food we buy is always in question, as we remain in want as to the details of its source/origin. Do we know? Was it imported, if yes, from where and when? Is it organic? Is it non-GMO? Is it herbicide and pesticide free? All the answers to the above  remain largely in the hands of others as long as we are solely consumers. As many of you may know, I strongly promote eating wholly and fully plant based live/raw foods as part of a healthy lifestyle. This is by far the optimal way to heal...

Hey guys! Today, I am going to share with you one of my favorite recipes. It is so light and delicious! Although this is an original recipe, I got the inspiration from my favorite middle eastern restaurant here in Louisville, Kentucky. It is called Jerlusum Kitchen. Restaurants like this are a god send when on a plant based diet. This restaurant in particular as many wonderful vegan dishes and I always enjoy my meal there. They also have some dishes that have meat in them so it is an awesome place to take my family as well. This can be eaten on it's own, added on top of something else. or eaten as a side. At Jerlusum Kitchen, I always order it with falafel and hummus. I love to break up the falafel and mix it with the hummus and salad. When I make it at home, I eat it as a side with something else or on top of a bean burger.  I hope you enjoy this recipe! Happy cooking! ~Stella~ Jerusalem Salad makes 2 servings - 1 Cucumber diced ...

I am not a really big sports fan, however, I always look forward to Super Bowl Sunday! This is not because of the big game or the funny commercial.  No, it is because right before Super Bowl Sunday avocados and tomatoes go on sale! Avocado and tomato are the two main ingredients for this delicious pasta salad. Growing up, I used to love my Mothers Pasta Salad. Since I transitioned to a plant based diet I have had a hard time finding substitutes for the mayonnaise. I tried vegan mayonnaise and hated it! I do not the chemical taste of miracle whip so I was left in a bind. One day I decided to try masking it using avocados, I had seen other examples where people used it as a mayonnaise replacement and thought it was worth a shot/ Boy was I right! It was delicious and creamy. It was perfect and just right!  After a few times of making this recipe, I had perfected it! Check it out below. Happy cooking! ~Stella~ ...