Recipes, projects & products that don’t suck.

Can you imagine writing an entire vegan cookbook in which every single recipe contains BEANS? I can’t. But Kathy Hester pulled it off beautifully. And it’s not all soups and side dishes, either. From breakfast to dessert, Kathy covers it all. You won’t believe all the creative uses for all kinds of beans. What’s so great about beans? For one, they’re cheap. Plus they’re packed with protein and fiber while being low in fat. And, as Kathy proves in her cookbook titled The Great Vegan Bean Book, beans are versatile. When Kathy invited me to participate in a blog book tour to launch her new cookbook, I jumped at the chance. After all, this isn’t her first rodeo–she also wrote one of my favorite vegan…

Bust out your party hat and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to 86 Lemons!!! Today marks the one year anniversary of my first blog post. It’s kind of fun to look back and see how far I’ve come. While I’m still learning and always will be, my photos have come a long way. In fact, just yesterday I was teaching two friends how to use the manual settings on their DSLR cameras. A year ago, I had no “cool” photo props. Over the past year, I’ve managed to build a nice little collection of plates/bowls, linens, utensils, etc. A year ago, I was still learning about new-to-me ingredients like chia seed, flax eggs, coconut oil, tapioca starch, lentils and dates (to name a few). Now these are…

We all want to look and feel great. Especially for summer. It is swimsuit season, after all. Less belly fat would be good. So would more energy. And how about a well-functioning digestive system? Who doesn’t want that? Wouldn’t it be great if everything was in balance and running smoothly? That’s what this giveaway is all about. It’s your chance to win free admission to a 15-day course from Prescribe Nutrition called Get Balanced. If you weren’t born with a lucky horseshoe up your rear, fear not. I have something for you, too–a 20% off coupon code for this class:  86lemons20. (Register here.) This isn’t the first time I’ve written about this course, and it probably won’t be the last. I signed up for it…

A few times a year, Hubs and a few other guys (the so-called “Back 40 Sportsman’s Club”) venture up to the U.P. where they act like idiots for an entire weekend–shooting off guns, playing paintball–you know, real “manly” stuff. If I have time, I make cookies or some sort of snack for him to take along. This year, when I mentioned making a spicy nut mix, he was all about it. In his book, the hotter the better. He told me to make it so hot that no one would be able to eat it. Nice friend, eh? Well it seems that no matter how spicy I make something, it could always be hotter. So I decided to make it so ridiculously hot that even Hubs’…

Over the weekend, I was talking to a friend who I hadn’t seen in a while. She was asking how the “vegan thing” was going and I was commenting on how much more energy I have now. Looking back on the past week, it’s crazy how much I’ve managed to get done. So much more than I ever used to. I wish I was disciplined enough to keep a journal. It would be interesting to take a look back at a few years ago. To compare notes on how I felt then compared to now. It’s easy to forget. People ask me all the time if I plan on sticking with this. It’s been over a year and right now, and I see no reason…