I enjoy spicy food, and lately I have been making an effort to move away from pre-packaged meals and eat more whole foods. To that end, I’ve been wanting to experiment with peppers. I’m not a huge fan of green bell peppers; they’re unripe, and to me not that tasty. I prefer orange and red peppers, but I have two issues with them: one, the peppers in the store are always huge (way more than I need), and two, organic ones are expensive, frequently running around $6.00 a pound.

So last spring I decided to try and grow my own. I bought a pepper plant (as well as sage and parsley) and put it in a pretty pot in my kitchen window. It didn’t do anything for almost a year, and then one day it flowered and sprouted a baby pepper. This one is really too tiny to eat, but I’m pleased that my plant seems to be doing okay. I really like the idea of growing my own herbs and veggies, and I kind of wish I could convert my yard into an orchard. However, I’m not a big gardener and we don’t have year-round sunshine, so potted veggies seem to be the best option for me, in terms of having affordable, organic produce on hand.

Interested in trying it? I recommend reading Bob Purnell’s Crops in Pots for tips and ideas.

Last week my friend Mia and I checked out one of the coolest places in Atlanta: Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe. This tiny little gem carries food, supplements, personal care products, clothing and accessories, jewelry and more…and it’s all vegan! No need to stress about the ingredient lists or worry that the drool-worthy twinkies have beef fat in the filling. All the work is done for you. So check it out and sample some of the goodies; I had a vegan Slim-Jim style jerky stick that was yummy.

Cosmo’s is located on Highland Avenue, and features delicious baked goods by Dulce Vegan Bakery. If you don’t live in Atlanta, don’t worry: everything can be ordered online!

Smoothies are a fantastic meal choice. They’re great for breakfast or lunch-on-the-go, and you can sneak tons of superfoods into them: blueberries, goji berries, bee pollen, flax seeds, hemp hearts, protein powder…the list goes on. I love my high speed Vita-Mix blender, because it can pulverize everything into one nice, consistent smoothie. There is one caveat, though. It makes a TON of smoothie (more than fits in a glass) and the pitcher part is so tall it barely fits in my fridge. I don’t have very many to-go cups in my house, so this can make a smoothie-on-the-run challenging. The solution? Personal blenders.

There are a few options here. One is the Blender Bottle, which comes with a ball shaped whisk. Just put your ingredients in, whisk it up, and you’re ready to go. You can drink straight from the cup, which is handy–no messy pitcher to contend with. It comes in two sizes, both under $9.00, which makes it the most affordable option.

Next up is the Hamilton Beach Single-Serve Blender. It works like a traditional blender, and also combines the cup and pitcher, so you can drink straight from it. It’s designed to fit most car cup-holders, and comes in three snazzy colors. It’s also a very affordable $19.99.

The last choice is the Ani Phyo-recommended Tribest Personal Blender. Popular with the raw food community, this blender is a bit more expensive, but also comes with other goodies like spatulas and cutting boards. This one is worth checking out if you’re a raw foodist: it’s a 3-time Alive Award of Excellence winner.

I am a cold-natured person. The minute summer is over I get cold. I’m always bundled up in thick socks and electric blankies, and I carry space heaters from room to room around the house. I’ll also take a couple of hot baths a day, just to keep the circulation going in my feet. One of my other keep-warm solutions is to sip hot beverages. I love hot chocolate, but I usually make it with milk and Hershey’s syrup, so it’s high in fat, not vegan, and doesn’t even contain any of the health properties of cocoa. Sometimes I’ll also drink hot cider or hot apple juice, but that’s pretty high in sugar. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of pomegranate tea, but during the holidays I like to switch it up. I really like Republic of Tea’s Hot Apple Cider Tea. It has apples and a blend of herbs, and while I’m not sure there’s any actual tea in it, it’s a great seasonal beverage with a little honey or agave nectar. Head to your local Whole Foods or health store and pick up a canister today!

I had some free time tonight, so I decided to try my hand at making an allergen-free cake. I have several friends with food allergies, and I try to limit my gluten intake, so this seemed like a fun experiment. I used Namaste Foods chocolate cake mix, which is free of gluten, wheat, soy, nuts, potato, corn, dairy, and casein. The mix does call for eggs, but I’m betting that if you’re allergic (like Lindsay) you could use unsweetened applesauce as a replacement. This particular mix calls for 2 cups of water, which led to very wet batter. The cakes didn’t cook evenly throughout, and I think this is why. The edges were a bit crispier than the middle, though not burned. 

The vanilla frosting I used is by Pamela’s Products and is wheat and gluten free. It calls for butter, which I used, but I’m sure an Earth Balance replacement could be used to make it vegan. I actually didn’t like the butter in it, and I wonder how the frosting would turn out if it were omitted altogether. In the end, the frosting tasted okay, but with a weird aftertaste.

The cake didn’t turn out to be that pretty. The frosting mix doesn’t make very much and the cake really soaked it up, so there wasn’t enough for the sides. As for the taste, my husband enjoyed it with his coffee. I thought it was okay; certainly not bad if you have food allergies. Not the best cake I’ve ever made, but I think I would try it again (maybe without the frosting; powdered sugar as a topping would be a good alternative) to serve to one of my food allergic friends.