Vegetarian Baked Beans

For our family, Baked Beans are such a reminder of summer. Cookin' out after a day on the lake or the beach-there's nothin' like it. However, in our quest to eat less meat I had to figure out a way to save the flavor without the...bacon. According to my kids' reaction, I figured it out! Not only that, you cook it in the crock pot-easy easy!

3 cans pinto beans (vegetarian style)
1C Organic Ketchup
2TB Spicy Mustard
1TB Worcestershire sauce
1 Medium Onion chopped (preferably a sweet onion from Vidalia, Georgia)
2TB honey
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
ground pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a slow cooker on low setting, give it a stir, cover and go sit on the porch and sip some sweet tea for two hours.

Community Gardens

Gardens just make people happy and community gardens are popping up everywhere. Since the idea of prepping and turning your own soil can seem daunting, especially to urban dwellers and suburbanites, it’s a nice way to share the work load. Not only do you share the weeding and watering, you also share the fun part…harvesting!





Highland Community Victory Garden in Raleigh, North Carolina is not only serving those who directly care for the garden but excess produce is donated to “Plant a Row for the Hungry”. This allows families access to fresh produce who might otherwise go without.



Cullen Whitley is the Garden Coordinator and both his BIG heart and Masters in Horticulture help get the job done.


If you’re in the Raleigh area and interested in joining the Highlands work, it only takes $10 and a commitment of 10 hours. Though Cullen assured me that while no one is turned away because of money, everyone gets their hands dirty! Not in the Raleigh area, no worries, Find a community garden near you

Organic Strawberries

Strawberries are repeatedly on the dirty dozen list as one of the fruits with the highest pesticide residue. That’s enough to make you want to grow your own. Which is just what I did with my niece recently. We drilled holes in the bottom of old pots and buckets, dropped in some empty recycling containers so we didn’t need as much dirt in the large buckets then filled them with organic potting soil almost to the top. Gently placed the organic strawberry plants in the soil and added more around them, packing lightly until the plants were securely in place.

Grace will tell you what to do next.

"Put them in the sun, water them with water and wait til they turn red."

25$ off carpet cleaning

Get $25 off your service with Zerorez by telling them Jennifer Fuller, The Everyday Organic, sent you (tell them at the time service is scheduled). Request Matthew if he's available.

50% off Coupon

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, Earth Fare is giving you 50% off their Hot Bar & Salad Bar. Get the coupon and Save!

Gluten Fee Cake Mix Review

After the taste test with gluten free cake mixes from Betty Crocker and Cherrybrook Kitchens, Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Cake Mix needed a test. As far as pricing, it's about the same as the others ~$4.50/box but Arrowhead Mills coupons are easier to come by.

Just like Betty Crocker, this mix calls for eggs in the recipe. Remember, there are many options for baking without eggs. Applesauce (1/4 C:1 egg) is an easy vegan substitute for eggs. Though in this case, I made the cake as suggested on the box.

The flavor of this cake was vanilla so I have to take that difference into account (the others were chocolate). The texture of it was gritty and even though the mix was really runny, the cake wasn't as moist as you would expect. That could've been because I left it in the oven longer to make up for the liquidity of the mix to begin with...which came first?... If I tried it again, I'd use less water but I have to admit, I'm still liking Betty's mix.

Egg Substitutes-Baking without Eggs

When baking, eggs add moisture, bind ingredients together, and/or they leaven. What’s the egg’s purpose in your recipe? If the egg is the main liquid ingredient, it adds moisture. If the recipe has one egg but nothing else to hold the other ingredients together (i.e. bread crumbs, nuts, flour) the egg is the binder. If there are no other rising agents, such as baking soda or baking powder, the egg is the leavening.

The following is a list of substitutions for eggs in baking.
The amounts listed are what are needed for each egg being replaced.
Keep in mind the fewer the eggs in a recipe; the easier it will be to alter it without noticing a difference.

=1 EGG



2 TB H2O, 1 TB oil, & 2 tsp bkg pwdr

2 TB water & 2 tsp baking powder

1 TB soy powder & 2 TB water

1 average size banana-also adds flavor

1/4 C soymilk

1/4 C Applesauce

3 TB Veganaise

1/4 C Flax Meal mix-grind 1heaping TB whole flax seed until a fine meal in a coffee grinder. Add 1/4 cup cold water & flax seed to blender & blend 2-3 minutes til thick & has the consistency of eggs.