Today I am sharing with you a highly requested post on composting & my organic home garden. I hope that you find this useful and that it helps you start or improve your own garden!
What is compost?
Compost is defined as organic material that can be added to soil to help your plants grow. The material is decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment and is a key ingredient in organic farming. The resulting fertile soil also has far greater moisture retention, allowing you to use less water in your garden.
What are the benefits compost?
- Reduces the amount of waste that we dispose of >> especially if you eat a high raw or even just vegan diet. I have A LOT, and I mean A LOT, of scraps daily from my fruit meals, and practically fill up my CompoKeeper (info and discount below) every other day, and sometimes everyday.
- Enriches the soil and therefore reduces the need for chemical fertilizers (no thanks, miracle grow). helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.
- Encourages the production and growth of beneficial bacteria and fungi
- These break down organic matter to create humus {the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms. It significantly influences the bulk density of soil and contributes to moisture and nutrient retention}.
- Reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint (as does veganism ;) Please check out Cowspiracy!).
- Surprise plants in your garden! >> From compost, my mother has grown a mango tree, avocado tree, papaya tree, fig trees (yes, two of them!), pumpkin, acorn squash, tomatoes, herbs, and peppers. What I mean from surprise is that from simply composting the scraps of herbs, fruits and vegetables, new plants have emerged without us intending to do so. The trees are still very small, but we plan on planting them in our backyard and that of friends and family to hopefully have large fruitful trees in the future :)
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Butternut squash that grew from compost![/caption]
Reporting live from my kitchen in Los Angeles, I have breaking news! It has been done, a BREADLESS bread pudding. I repeat, a BREADLESS bread pudding is now on your list of recipes to make...haha but really, this is too good to be true. Keep on reading, and you'll realize that you need this in your life, like right now. 
This isn't just any old bread pudding, this is bread pudding is....
A few weeks ago, my cousin and 
Were any of you hooked on Pizookies like I was prior to going vegan? I swear my friends and I would go to BJ's and eat 1-2 pizookies, weekly! If you have no idea what a pizookie is, it is a Pizza + Cookie, where a cookie is baked on a skillet/cake pan, then served warm with ice cream. It used to be like the best thing ever until I actually became aware of how bad it was for me.
A few weeks ago, my cousin went to BJ's and posted a photo of her pizookie. It brought back memories of the times I used to spend with friends out at the restaurant, and also of my love for these pizza cookies. And I guess that love was pretty strong, cause it got me to create a whole new recipe!
You ready for this? I don't think you are....High carb, low fat, raw vegan corn chips, oh yeah!
These chips are gluten-free, nut-free, seed-free and fat-free! That was a mouth full, but you get the point. These chips are everything-free and you have no excuse NOT to make it cause I gave you the option of baking these babies instead of using a dehydrator. 
I woke up in excitement for Cinco de Mayo, with ingredients that I was going to use for my smoothie already in mind. Last year, I created