Dandelion Season: Go Out and Forage for Upcoming Recipes!

I went dandelion (a.k.a. lion’s tooth) foraging yesterday with my sweetie. See, I bought a few books last year that feature some of the best Appalachian recipes, and dandelions are featured quite a bit in wines and jellies. It was torture learning about these exciting traditions last August, knowing that I had to wait months and months before I could try them out. My test of patience is over now though, the dandelions are out and about! I woke in the morning with my first thought being “no computer just yet, go pick dandies instead.”

It’s kinda funny not funny, but only in America would a weed so full of medicinal and nutritious properties be considered a “pesky intruder”—the bane of manicured lawns all over the country. Think too of our superfood friend chia, and how it’s sold as a hairy clay animal to set on the shelf. Le sigh. The only way to change perspectives though is to introduce people to new ideas, or “recycled” ideas, right? So go out and forage for these vitamin-rich yellow beauties because we are going to make fun recipes with them real soon. Read more…

100% Natural Toxin-Free Spider (and bug) Repellent

As most of YU know, I am spending time in the country lately and like Chicago, there is a lot to love, and a few things that are well, unnerving, like spiders. Not small ones, but ones the size of a baby’s fist. And hairy (see pic below). Until I visited the cottage for the first time, it had been about 14 years since I had seen a spider like that (I grew up and went to college in the country but I had forgotten)—it was shocking. I didn’t jump up on a table and scream, that’s not my style, but for the rest of the week I was checking every sleeve of every sweater, every shoe and every pant leg before I put them on. After I spotted the 3rd one in a week (yes, in the shower), I accepted that I would have to find a way to deal with this pronto—catching them in a glass and tossing them out the door wasn’t enough.

The cottage is on an organic farm, so a natural spider repellent recipe is in order. One that doesn’t kill the little buggers (I don’t blame them, the country is a banquet of “spider food”) or contaminate the soil, just one that keeps them out of my home. Cross your fingers that it works—so far so great! Read more…

Genetically Modified, Conventional or Organic—Going Beyond PLU codes

In the wake of the the Organic Elite’s (Whole Foods, Stonyfield Farm and Organic Valley) betrayal, I have been thinking about ways that folks can empower themselves as more genetically modified foods inevitably make their way into our “health food” stores.

Many of you may be familiar with PLU codes—an identification number found on produce, herbs and a few other grocery store items—that makes check-out and inventory control easier and more efficient. A PLU code is believed to be your key to identifying if that tasty looking apple is conventionally grown (full of pesticides and grown with petroleum-based fertilizers in depleted soil), organically grown (pesticide-free and non-GMO) or genetically modified frankenfood (not from nature, not food). Read more…

Meet Lauren Scruggs, Founder of LOLO Magazine

Let’s take a break with some fashionable fun today. Meet Lauren Scruggs, founder of LOLO. Lauren has interned in wardrobe for Gossip Girl, the Michael Kors showroom, and she reports for New York, Paris and Montreal fashion weeks. Her hunger for style has fueled a successful blog and now a soon-to-launch online magazine that will feature what’s hot in everything from beauty to food—LOLO Magazine! This is where YumUniverse comes in—look for me as an official LOLO food expert, sharing recipes and tips for delicious plant-based livin’. Cartwheels! Thanks LOLO.

Get to know the inspiring woman behind this new online magazine. Lauren tells YU about her favorite healthy foods, her eco-conscious inspirations, how LOLO is different from other fashion mags and even where the adorable name “LOLO” comes from…

So, sit back with a YumUniverse treat (Lauren recommends Raw Cacao Pudding) and read on.

Read more…

Easy Non-Toxic Natural Air Freshener

My workout of choice is boxing. And thanks to the fact that I sometimes leave my boxing gloves and wraps in my car overnight, it smells like my favorite workout is boxing. The other day, I realized that I should not only try harder to take my gear out of my car every night, but I should also make a quick, natural, non-toxic air freshener to keep in there for those nights when I’m too wiped out to remember.

I am a big fan of Sophie Uliano’s book Do It Gorgeously: How to Make Less Toxic, Less Expensive, and More Beautiful Products and when I picked it up last winter, I read it cover to cover about 3 times. She is an amazing woman. I remember her having a recipe for a natural air freshener using vodka in there somewhere. The other night, I had 20 minutes left to spare before I had to leave for class, and an agenda to make some non-toxic air freshener before I left. Frustratingly, I couldn’t find the exact recipe in Sophie’s book, but I did have a box of organic essential oils, a 1 oz. dark glass spray bottle and some organic vodka left over from the YU launch party.

So, mix, bang, boom—easy non-toxic air freshener. Out the door and made it to class on time, in a ride smelling like a box of flowers. Read more…

Easy DIY Beet Blush and Lip Gloss: 3 Ways

The color of fresh, organic beets is unmatched. After making Raw Veggie Bacon, I would often look at my stained hands and wonder if beets could be made into chemical-free cosmetics. Then this summer, I read a super article in ReadyMade magazine about the book No More Dirty Looks, and it shared a simple recipe using beets for lips and cheeks as well as a tip for easy lip stain—slice a beet, kiss and go!

So, I conducted some research that turned up many blush and lip gloss possibilities using a variety of oils and combinations, even including strawberries. In the end, I whipped up my own simple mixtures with 3 simple ingredients that I already had in the house. Read more…