Make your own natural deodorant and not only protect yourself from toxins but also radiate freshness!

For most of us, deodorant is part of our morning ritual and is as necessary as brushing our teeth or hair before we hit the daily grind. But did you know that deodorants and antiperspirants are often made with toxic chemicals that can contribute to breast cancer?

Aluminum is an active ingredient in antiperspirants that blocks sweat glands so that you stay dry. If it builds up in your system, aluminum can be toxic. Other potentially dangerous substances found in deodorants and antiperspirants include parabens, propylene glycol, TEA & DEA, triclosan, FD&C colors, and talc. And because of the armpits proximity to the breast and the regular absorption of aluminum and these other preservatives and additives into the skin, antiperspirant and deodorant application has been linked to cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease.

In a 2003 study conducted by the European Journal of Cancer Prevention of 437 women with breast cancer, those who used deodorant at least two times per week and shaved their armpits at least three times per week developed breast cancer some 15 years earlier than those who did neither.

While far more studies are needed to confirm the causation, aluminum and other toxins’ influence on breast cancer are enough to cause concern. The best way to avoid the possibility of contributing to the onset of cancer is to control what goes in your deodorant by purchasing one of the many natural deodorants on the market, or by making your own version. This homemade deodorant recipe is a great start!

Homemade Natural Deodorant

 Makes enough to last 6 months

Ingredients

• ½ cup coconut oil (solid)
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 15-20 drops essential oil of choice

Directions

Place the baking soda and arrowroot powder in a bowl and mix until evenly combined. Add the coconut oil and mix thoroughly, either in a food processor or with the back of a fork. Add the essential oils as you mix.

Image: Amber Karnes

The post DIY: Go Eco (and Healthy) with Your Deodorant appeared first on EcoSalon.

Considering the toxic ingredients sneaking around in over-the-counter cosmetics, it’s no wonder that homemade makeup is rising in popularity. And lip balm is an excellent, super-easy to make treat for your lips and wallet, too!

Making our own homemade lip balm is far easier than you think. With just a few easy-to-find ingredients, you are less than an hour away from a personalized lip balm that will soften, nourish and shine your lips to luscious perfection. Pucker up!

This basic recipe for homemade lip balm includes coconut oil, beeswax and shea butter. Coconut oil and shea butter are exceptional moisturizers and beeswax can help to prevent infections and cold sores. With the addition of essential oils, such as vanilla or lavender, you have yourself a lip balm that both tastes, smells and feels unlike any other. And it is pure, authentic and truly individualized for you.

Basic Recipe for Homemade Lip Balm

Makes about 15 small lip-balm containers

Ingredients

• 1/2 coconut oil
• 1/2 cup grated beeswax or beeswax pellets
• 1/2 cup shea butter
• 10-15 drops of essential oils, or a combination of your favorite
• Dropper
• About 15 small, lip-balm size containers

Instructions

Add the beeswax to a saucepan or double boiler over low heat, and once melted, add the coconut oil and sea butter. Let remain over the heat until all is melted, stirring occasionally. Once melted and evenly combined, remove the pan from the stove and stir in the essential oils. Separate the mixture among the containers and let sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature before putting on the lids.

Photo Credit: Kwankan

The post Pucker Up for this Sweet and Easy DIY Homemade Lip Balm Recipe appeared first on EcoSalon.

The first time I saw cardamom bitters on a cocktail menu I was ecstatic. The second time I was amused. The third time I thought to myself, “wait, I should be able to make that.”

Bitters are one of those things that may come off as complicated but are actually relatively simple to make; brewing bitters is really just steeping spices in high-proof alcohol. You have to get the ratios right, and sometimes the ingredients can be a little complex, but the end result is creative and classy, and you turn yourself into a bit of a cocktail connoisseur.

Although we think of them as cocktail necessities, bitters go back to the times when certain alcohols were marketed as medicines. Angostura bitters, one of the most popular brands of bitters, was first made in Venezuela by a German physician and used as a cure for sea sickness and stomach issues. Since then bitters have obviously gone on to bigger and brighter things.

Once a staple in the at home bar, bitters fell off the radar for a while, but are back with a vengeance with the resurgence in classic cocktails, like Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. Instead of buying your own bitters, make your own. This allows for a bit of creativity, so you really can start bottling your cardamom/fennel infusion and making your own cocktail recipes out of it. Here are some basics to making your own bitters.

Choose a high-proof alcohol

Depending on which bitter recipe you refer to, you will find anything from Everclear to rum to vodka to bourbon. It all depends on what type of a taste you are going for.

Allow for time

Because you are steeping ingredients, you will not make bitters overnight. Depending on the recipe, you will need to let the ingredients sit for about a week to 25 days.

Source good ingredients

If you use old spices, you won’t get the same results. Make sure you select high quality roots, herbs, and spices to play with. When else do you have the chance to mess around with ingredients like wormwood and quassia bark?

Have jars on hand

When letting your bitters sit and infuse, they will need to be in sealable jars. In other words, make sure you have some mason jars on hand.

Go beyond the cocktail

Bitters don’t have to be reserved for the cocktail glass. You can also use them in cooking, salad dressings and more. Get creative!

Recipes to start with

• Grapefruit bitters are so easy that you will be hard pressed to buy them again.
• Basic aromatic bitters are a good start for anyone looking to build up their home bar.
• Jacob Grier’s recipe for coffee bitters is a must-have, and you get to choose which coffee you use (don’t skimp on the quality of course).
• Hellfire bitters if you’re in the mood to make a bitter with chili and espresso beans and end up with one intense cocktail.
• Cocoa bitters if you are a chocolate fiend.

Image: _gee_

The post How (and Why!) to Make Your Own Bitters appeared first on EcoSalon.

Don’t let the commercials fool you. A Snickers bar is hardly satisfying in the most important ways. Make your own vegan recipe instead.

When it comes to Snickers, the joy is its nutty aftertaste, the contrast of its crunchy and gooey center, and the way it fills you up and gives you a bolt of energy. However, it’s no secret that Snickers could really use a nutrition makeover. Packed with sugar, artery-clogging fats and empty calories, a Snickers bar does not make for the best midday snack; instead, it makes for the worst anytime splurge.

In one Snickers bar, there are 250 calories (110 of which are from fat), 12 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 33 grams of carbohydrates (27 of which come from sugar), and only 1 gram of dietary fiber. If these stats alone aren’t convincing enough, a glance at the ingredient list seals the deal. Snickers contains the likes of sugar, lactose, milk-fat, artificial flavoring, corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Not only are these ingredients quite rich, they are difficult for your body to digest and spike your blood sugar levels.

When faced with the challenge of making a dish healthier, there are many ways to go about it. You could focus on one aspect — calories, carbohydrates, fats, etc. — and try to lower their levels, or you could focus on the nature of the ingredients. In the case of Snickers, I did not want to get rid of the treat’s decadence — its fat and calorie content. Instead, I wanted to replace the ingredients with their cleaner, natural counterparts as well as make them entirely vegan. While its calories and fats may be comparable to a regular Snickers bar, the following vegan version of Snickers contains calories and fats from whole food sources that your body can recognize and process, not struggle to digest. The result: it goes down easy! This recipe feels surprisingly light and refreshing.

Homemade Raw Snicker Bars

Makes 8-10 bars

Ingredients

For the Base

• 1/2 cup cashews that have soaked in water for at least 1 hour
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 2 tablespoons oats
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 6 juicy dates, pitted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Caramel Filling

• 1 cup pitted dates that have soaked in water for at least 2 hours
• 2 tablespoons nut butter
• 1/3 cup nut milk
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Dash of sea salt
• Handful of peanuts

For the Chocolate Topping

• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Directions

For the base, in a food processor pulse all the ingredients until evenly combined. In a dish lined with parchment paper, spread the mixture and press until firmly lining the bottom of the dish.

For the caramel center, blend all ingredients until smooth. Spread evenly atop the base mixture.

Sprinkle the peanuts over the caramel filling and press lightly with the edge of a spatula so that the nuts stay in place.

For the chocolate topping, in a small bowl, whisk together the agave and cocoa powder until smooth. Pour over the peanuts so that the surface is entirely covered. Place into the freezer for at least one hour or until the snickers have hardened.

After it has frozen, remove the dish from the freezer and pull the parchment paper so that the frozen Snickers cleanly releases from the dish. Cut into desired shapes and sizes. It’s best eaten cold. Enjoy!

Photo Credits: Sundeep1106, GlowKitchen

The post Snickers Bar Makeover: Homemade Vegan Snickers Recipe appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s just about that time of year when our hair begins to show the signs of Winter wear. With cold, brittle air and excessive blow drying come the dry, frizzy, and lackluster tresses that are anything but flattering. Instead of using an over-the-counter moisturizing condition or mask, look no further than your refrigerator and pantry, where some of the most potent home hair treatments can be found.

1. Yogurt

This dual-purpose solution gives your hair the glistening, soft shine it so desperately needs. The lactic acid in yogurt breaks down the dirt in your hair and the milk-fat goes a step further and helps to moisturize it.

How to Use: Twice a month, take 1/2 cup of plain, full-fat yogurt and massage it into your scalp and damp hair, down to the tips. Let the yogurt sit for about 15 minutes. Rinse and proceed with your beauty routine as usual.

2. Eggs

Raw eggs are known to build muscle, but did you know that they are also one of nature’s greatest hair moisturizers? The egg yolk is packed with moisturizing fat and protein and the egg-white contains enzymes that strip your hair of unwanted oils.

How To Use: Crack an egg and whisk it until smooth. Massage into scalp and hair and let sit there for 20 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water and continue with your beauty regimen. Repeat once per month.

3. Honey

This sticky situation will turn out for the better. Honey is a natural humectant, which means that it attracts and locks in moisture. It also leaves behind a sweet and delicious scent. Raw honey is preferable to any other kind, because it contains live, active enzymes that will benefit your hair even more!

How to Use: Take about 1/2 cup of honey and massage it into your scalp and hair. Let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing. Repeat once per month.

4. Avocado

Ancient Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations used the avocado for skin and hair health. The oils in avocado are light, much like those in our skin secretions, and are thus a great tool in repairing damaged scalp and hair.

How to Use: Cut an avocado, lengthwise around its core. Twist the avocado open, remove the core, and scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Mash the avocado in a small bowl and apply to damp hair, massaging into the scalp and strands. Let the avocado sit for approximately 15 minutes and then wash out with water. Repeat twice a month.

5. Olive Oil

Olive oil is an excellent moisturizer for your scalp and hair. If you suffer from dandruff during the winter months, massaging olive oil into your scalp will help to lock in moisture and prevent dandruff.

How to Use: Massage about 3-4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil into your damp hair and scalp and let sit for 20 minutes. Repeat weekly.

Images: Helga Weber, GlowKitchen

The post 5 DIY Home Hair Treatments To Keep Hair Moisturized Through The Winter appeared first on EcoSalon.

Something’s fishy about sushi.

Many people regard sushi as light fare – individual bites of effortless, diet-friendly goodness. However, the Japanese delight bears some danger zones that you should consider before making sushi a regular occasion.

Just like a salad, sushi can easily turn fattening if the add-ins begin to overwhelm the point of it all. One tuna roll has some 200 calories, but if you opt for the shrimp tempura roll, we’re talking upwards of 500 calories and 20 grams of fat. Many of us don’t even stop at one roll, either, so while each bite may feel light, the calories are adding up.

Other sneaky offenders include soy sauce, rice, and raw fish. Soy sauce may be low in calories, but it makes up for it with its high sodium content – one tablespoon of regular soy sauce contains up to 900 milligrams! White rice alone is adding both empty starches and extra calories to your diet while raw fish is putting you at risk of foodborne diseases by way of bacteria, viruses, parasites and mercury.

When eating out, avoid making tuna your go-to roll in order to reduce your risk of mercury exposure. If you can’t separate sushi from tempura, cream cheese, or any other fried or decadent add-ins, look at sushi as a rare indulgence rather than a daily pick-me-up. And if you want to keep things super safe, always order the veggie roll.

To keep the standards high and the mystery at bay, try making your own vegetable sushi. The following recipe is a homemade, frills-free way of doing just that. Packed with veggies, cauliflower rice, and the creaminess of the avocado, you can have your sushi and eat it too!

Homemade Cauliflower Sushi

Makes 6-8 rolls

Ingredients:

• 6-8 nori sheets
• 1 cup shredded cauliflower
• 1 carrot
• 1 cucumber
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 avocado
• 2 scallions
• Nama Shoyu for dipping
• Fresh ginger for a palette cleanse

Directions:

Place the pepper on a stove top on high heat, making sure to turn it occasionally until it is completely blackened. Immediately place into a paper bag, store, and set aside while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Julienne the cucumber, carrots and scallions. Slice, core, and remove the avocado meat – slice into thin pieces. All the vegetables should be the same size. When the red pepper has cooled, remove it from the bag and under warm water, use your hands to wipe off the blackened skin. It will come off easily. Remove the pepper’s stem and seeds and julienne it.

In a food processor, process cauliflower florets until rice-like in consistency. This will be the “rice”.

Lay out each nori sheet and on one end, parallel to the dotted lines on the sheet, layer the cauliflower rice, 2 slices each of cucumber, carrot, red pepper and avocado.

Roll tightly, folding the nori unto itself as you go.

Wet the edge with a bit of water to help it stick closed.

Slice into sushi-sized pieces and serve with Nama Shoyu, which is unpasteurized soy sauce, and fresh ginger. Enjoy!

Images: Avlxyz, Aylin Erman

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Nutritional Breakdown: Veggie Sushi (Without a Speck of Rice) appeared first on EcoSalon.

The strawberry comes out of the shortcake and onto your next salad.

As Summer approaches, fresh salads are looking a lot more appetizing. For me, the only way salads don’t get old fast, is if I have a steady arsenal of dressings at my disposal. With strawberries coming into season, what better time to make a homemade version of strawberry balsamic vinaigrette?

For this vinaigrette, I roast the veggies to optimize their flavor before mixing them with the rest of the ingredients. The sweet and savory elements of this dressing work perfectly together, so it’s really no wonder why mass marketing has caught on and packaged it. Sure you could easily snatch this off any grocery store shelf, but nothing beats homemade (especially when it’s this easy to make).

Strawberries pack more than just taste. They are rich in antioxidants, fight against inflammatory disorders, prevent cancer, promote healthy eyes, contain 136% of the RDA of vitamin C in just one cup, and contribute to bone health. Strawberries are also an excellent source of magnesium, which helps to reduce cardiovascular disease.

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Makes 1.5 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups strawberries
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Stem 2 cups of strawberries and slice each in half.

Place on a baking sheet and pop into the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, or until the strawberries caramelize and soften.

Allow the strawberries to cool down. When they reach room temperature, combine them in a food processor with the remaining ingredients.

Blend until smooth. Chill before serving.

It will be hard to refrain from drinking this like a smoothie.

Bon Appetit!

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Recipe: Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette appeared first on EcoSalon.

Making it yourself is at the core of a sustainable lifestyle. Are you ready to roll your sleeves up?

We humans evolved from our simian roots by becoming toolmakers, so it’s no surprise that crafting – building, recycling or even just splashing paint across a wall – is a deeply empowering experience. Let’s look at seven examples of taking matters into your own hands.

Try volunteering. I know, I know, this is not what people usually think of for fun, but my husband has shown me otherwise. He regularly volunteers for behind-the-scenes help at music festivals and expo’s, which means he meets lots of great people and attends the event for free. I’ve done it with him and I have to admit, it’s more fun than simply buying a ticket and being part of the audience.

Broke? 20 Fun Things to Do without Spending a Dime

At the moment, I am battling the worst cold I’ve had in years. Yes, it is so bad that I have dragged myself out of bed to work, hoping that it will distract me from the constant sneezing, headache, and a nose that feels like it should be tied off. Work will save me, right?

In this case, yes! Because as fate would have it, I’ve been tasked to research homemade cold and flu remedies. The fact that fate also reduced my New Year’s Eve celebration to being shaken awake at midnight by my boyfriend to learn 2010 had arrived is beside the point. Who doesn’t want to celebrate amidst a pile of Puffs with lotion? After all, a bad cold on New Year’s Day means a year of good luck, right?

5 Foolproof Cold & Flu Remedies You Can Make Yourself

Personal Sustainability in a Recession: There is only so much we can do to control the world around us so the best place to start going green and saving money is in your own life, home and expenses.

Specific Sustainability and Money-Saving Tips: Once you decide on general strategies for going green you will need these – an arsenal of 25 essential tips for actually making your life greener.

Daily Ways to Go Green: Sustainable options stare us in the face every day, from how we travel to how we transport our foods and work with what we have. Here are some common-sense tips for going green daily.

The Recessionista’s Ultimate Green Do-It-Yourself Guide

True, we are still living in a material world, but cotton grown with pesticides is no longer the fabric of our lives.

The green movement is making huge strides replacing toxins and waste in the marketplace with organic fibers like bamboo and hemp, as well as good old corn starch, throw-away cork and used paper.

The brave, new soldiers of eco industry believe enough is enough when it comes to creating more waste and adding to our grossly overflowing landfills and plastic islands. Bet you do, too!

Instead, the trend has been to meet a growing consumer demand for renewable and reusable resources, seeking out the scraps of industry (glass, cork and plastic bottles) and growing plants without pesticides to make healthy fibers with no trace of petroleum.

A Handy Reference Guide to the 20 Greenest Materials

Is there a hole in the heart of that beloved camel cashmere from your freshman year at Stanford?

Don’t become unraveled! The crafty set – people like Stefanie Girard, who wrote Sweater Surgery – take the green approach to spinning yarns, reconfiguring new objects d’smart from those ratty pullovers that once warmed our bones.

Handwash your old sweater (I like to use baby shampoo) and treat it for unsightly coffee or red wine stains. Then circumvent those Jarlsberg cheese holes in the wool and make something cool!

Operation Old Sweater: 10 Great DIY Resources

Is the economy beating you up? It’s time to get creative. Next time you have an ache or pain, forget about a costly trip to the drugstore and test drive some of your grandmother’s remedies instead. It’ll save money and be gentler on your body and the environment. Recessionistas (and Gents), welcome to the DIY medicine cabinet.

Best Natural Remedies for the 15 Most Common Aches, Pains and Health Complaints

There’s a new crop of gardeners on the scene: they’re young, handsome, and they know their way around a pile of dirt. Some are latter-day hunter-gatherers and others are aesthetic geeks who drool over orchids like some dudes salivate over fantasy football trades.

The guy gardener is not an entirely original phenomenon. In the United States, The Men’s Garden Clubs of America (TGOA/MGCA) was first established in 1932 to promote camaraderie among men and facilitate community beautification as well as gardening education. Today, the organization has more than 2,800 members, though due to organizational changes in 1992, women are now amongst that number.

Manscaping: These Guys Have Stems Attached

Main image: rintakumpu

The post From The Vault: You Made This appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnBecause sometimes ingredients are meant to go together.

To say that I am obsessed with sea salt could be an understatement. In fact I recently made a commitment to tweak any recipe that I come across to incorporate sea salt, because when it comes down to it, just like cardamom, food sounds sexier when there is sea salt involved.

Although sea salt and table salt have the same nutritional value, when it comes to taste, for adding flavor to many dishes, sea salt is superior and has become the darling of food lovers. It’s flakier, crunchier and has a larger surface area which means you need less of it to flavor your food.

Sea salt’s popularity is nothing new, it has been making the food trend lists for the past several years, but what we’re doing with it is. No longer a simple seasoning, it’s now the finishing touch to everything from your appetizer to your dessert. This much was clear to me when a couple of friends and I topped off a foodie-centric dinner [note to self: always put arugula on pizza] in San Francisco last fall with a panna gelato topped with olive oil and sea salt.

In a food induced haze I remember hearing something along the lines of “we should put sea salt on everything,” come out from someone’s mouth. The path to sea salt obsession is a very slippery slope. One minute you’re gingerly crushing some sea salt on to your salad and the next minute you’re putting it into cakes.

Somewhere in between the salad and the cake situation lies flavored salt making. Because nothing says, “I’m fancy and I love food,” like whipping out a small jar of homemade Sriracha Salt. Citrus Salt, Roasted Garlic Salt, Lemon Salt with Fennel and Chili… you can make just about any type of salt that your heart desires. Feeling extra crazy? You can even buy Merlot Infused Salt. All of which got me thinking about chocolate sea salt.

There’s no doubt that chocolate and sea salt is the food pairing du jour. Chocolate and sea salt bars grace the shelves of even chain supermarkets. Just type in “chocolate sea salt” into Google and see what happens. I can assure you that you won’t leave your computer for hours, and you’ll come out with a weird hunger pang and 18 recipes bookmarked in your “Food” folder. What you won’t find however is a recipe for chocolate sea salt itself.

If chocolate and sea salt are so good together, why is nobody combining them into one delectable seasoning? Someone should do something about that.

So I did. Because there’s nothing difficult about chopping up a bar of chocolate; that would probably make it into chapter 1 of Intro to Foodieism.

Enter an afternoon of chocolate sea salt brainstorming that resulted in asking, “do you think you can sprinkle chocolate sea salt on kale chips?” Laugh all you want, but let’s remember two things about cooking in the Foodie Underground kitchen:

1. We’re here because we love food. Chances are you love kale chips, sea salt and chocolate. Why not put them together?

2. This is not Julia Child’s kitchen. “Quick and classy” is my motto – if it can’t be done in under an hour, it’s probably not worth doing (macarons obviously being the exception).

Given that criteria, if you can whip up a batch of kale chips and douse them in chocolate sea salt you obviously should. Just like you should quickly blend together some hazelnut butter with sea salt, otherwise known as “homemade Nutella that will impress your friends.”

As I have quickly come to learn, sometimes the best way to come up with a recipe is to start with a problem. In this case: if you make Chocolate Sea Salt, what are you going to do with it? Yes, First World Problems are easily found in the kitchen.

The beauty of it is that Chocolate Sea Salt already combines the sweet and savory worlds, meaning that you can use it on pretty much anything. Sprinkle it atop Rosemary Walnut Scones? Yes. Raspberry Almond Tart? Yes. Arugula salad? Yes.

Chocolate Sea Salt might just be the foodie dream seasoning. Bottle it up and give some to your friends, because you’ll want to have some on stock from now on.

Chocolate Sea Salt

Ingredients

• 100% cacao, unsweetened baker’s chocolate
• Flaky sea salt

Directions

• Finely chop the chocolate.
• Combine equal parts chocolate and salt and store in an airtight container.

Rosemary Walnut Scones 

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (make this a gluten-free version with 1 1/4 cups all-purpose gluten free flour and 3/4 cup coconut flour)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled + cut into cubes
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup walnuts

Directions

• Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and rosemary. Add cold butter and mix together until it resembles coarse meal. [Easiest way to do this is in a food processor, but using your hands to do the job works just fine]
• Whisk egg in small bowl and pour half of it into a measuring cup. Add milk until you get 1/2 cup. Add to flour mixture and mix until dough forms large curds.
• Make two round balls and flatten on greased pan. Cut each round into eighths. Add a tablespoon of milk to other half of egg and brush over scones.
• Preheat over to 450F, bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with Chocolate Sea Salt and let cool.

Hazelnut Spread with Sea Salt (adapted from orginal recipe on The Kitchn)

Ingredients

• 1 cup roasted hazelnuts
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Chocolate Sea Salt
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 tablespoons canola oil or hazelnut oil

Directions

• Put all ingredients in food processor and mix until a spreadable consistency – note that it may be slightly runny but will firm up when you put in refrigerator.
• Pour into an airtight container and store in refrigerator.

Raspberry Almond Tart

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups almond meal
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup raspberries

Directions

• Beat together eggs and sugar. Mix in dry ingredients. Melt butter and add to mixture.
• Pour batter into a greased 9.5 inch round baking pan.
• Evenly place raspberries on top of batter.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 F, or until golden brown.
• Let cool and sprinkle with Chocolate Sea Salt

That’s only the beginning. Chocolate Sea Salt on panna cotta? Yes. Chocolate Sea Salt on Coconut Ice Cream? Why not. I’ll let you take it from here.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s weekly column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground, discovering what’s new and different in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to the culinary avant garde.

Images: Anna Brones

The post Foodie Underground: Adventures With Chocolate and Sea Salt appeared first on EcoSalon.

Sustainable Is Good

This design blog gets high marks from us for focusing on not just green products and packaging, but “the whole lifestyle associated with being sustainable in the home.” It certainly does more than pay lip-service to eco-friendly living – Sustainable Is Good purchases 100% renewable energy uses only green energy to power its site.

Ecoki

If you’re looking for offbeat design and lifestyle news (eco-friendly cigarettes, anyone?), you’ll find this at Ecoki. From nature-inspired decorating themes to how a 71-story tower in China can possibly be the most energy-efficient building in the world, this site digs up fascinating nuggets of info that will interest just about anyone.

TreeHugger

Backed by the same company that produces the Discovery Channel and Planet Green, TreeHugger is the go-to site for the latest in design and architecture. They’ll keep you in the know about all the emerging trends in eco-friendly design, like this wicked-cool clip-on plant room for apartment buildings (uh, you step out there first).

re-nest

What’s not to love about this amazing design site that blends whimsy and charm with a touch of class? Bloggers here seem to have a knack for finding original home decorating eye candy that’s still eco-friendly with a nod to sustainability in addition to syndicating smart, savvy tips from around the green web.

Planet Green

Also backed by Discovery, the bloggers at Planet Green love to explore ways to inject natural and sustainable themes into ordinary homes and dorm rooms!). You’ll find timely tips on decorating on a budget, ideas for celebrating National Garden Month, and even what to do with those awful packing peanuts companies like to use.

Whole Living

The best part about this site’s green living section is how approachable it is for people just learning to navigate the waters of sustainable living. If you’re looking to start small and incorporate little changes one at a time, Whole Living teaches you neat things like how to make your own natural cleaners or where to find the best eco-sneakers.

Inhabitat

This site’s for the big dreamers who want to check out the future of innovative design. It covers everything from where to find upscale, eco-friendly hotels to the concept designs of some of the leading architects in field. Add Inhabitat to your daily reads to stay on top of the latest and greatest in good, green design.

Haute*Nature

There’s so much to love about this site, it’s hard to know where to start. You’ve got green building, furniture, DIY projects, fashion, and more, all wrapped up in one green little package. You’ll find all kinds of cool stuff here, including a wooden henhouse that’s nicer than our first apartment. Pay particular attention to the “Recycled” category for nifty finds like adorable handbags made from recycled plastic to catch-all baskets made from old rubber tires.

Righteous (re)Style

Here’s a design site with so much information it practically jumps from the screen. You won’t be able to look away from amazing finds like tin can wall coverings and vintage furniture you’ll adore. In fact, if you don’t come away from a visit to Righteous (re)Stylewith an overwhelming urge to redo a room, you’re not really trying.

Erika Richmond Green Roof Design

Not everyone is able accommodate a lawn or vegetable garden on the roof, but this is a terrific site to visit if you want to live vicariously through the people who can. You’ll also get fantastic ideas on how to grow flora and fauna in odd and unusual places. If a restaurant in Mexico City can grow a huge wall of greenery, surely you can glean some info on growing organic tomatoes in a window box.

There are so many fantastic design sites out there, we couldn’t possibly get them all in one post. Check back for more soon!

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