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Miyoko Now Offering Mix And Match!

January 26, 2015 by Nichole Dinato Leave a Comment

Breaking news!!!

I just received an email announcing that Miyoko’s Kitchen has started offering mix and match on their products!!!

Miyoko's Kitchen Logo

Miyoko Creamery Mix and Match Cheeses

Now you can buy whatever cheese you want, woohoo!!!

I just placed an order for the Rustic Alpine, Herbs de Provence and the Double Cream Garlic Herb. I’m so excited, I’ve been holding off on buying anything because they never had a package that matched what I wanted.

Miyoko Double Cream Garlic Herb Vegan Cheese

I will report back on the Double Cream Garlic Herb, I’ve been dying to try it in a baked potato!

You may remember from my review of Miyoko’s Cheeses that the Double Cream Chive was one of my favorites from the shipment. I hope the Garlic Herb is as delicious! I’m excited to eat the Rustic Alpine with popcorn and apples, and the Herbs de Provence will be amazing with salads and crackers :)

Let me know if you place an order, tell me what your magical combination is! Enjoy!

Little black heart

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: announcements, miyoko's cheese, product recommendations, vegan cheese, vegan news

Best Natural Whitening Products for White Teeth and Gingivitis Treatment

January 15, 2015 by Nichole Dinato 2 Comments

Hi bunnies!

I have a wonderful oral care regimen that keeps my teeth white and my gums healthy, so I figured I’d share it with all of you! It’s not cheap, but it is easy and very effective.

You just need two simple things for natually white teeth and healthy:

How to Get Naturally White Teeth and Fight Gum Disease

1. Get Thee an Electric Toothbrush

A good quality electric toothbrush will change your life. I am personally a fan of the Phillips Sonicare toothbrush, I have the Easy Clean model, which is $69.95 on Amazon (there’s a coupon right now for additional $10 off – just “clip and save” under the listed price).

Sonicare Electric Toothbrush

Say hello to your new best friend

The reason I love this model is because it’s compatible with the fancy Diamond Clean brush heads – so you can get the toothbrush for a somewhat affordable price but get the cleaning power of the high-end brush heads.

Different models have different settings, but the standard setting is 30 seconds for each section of your mouth (front right, front left, back right, back left), for a two minute total cleaning time. The brush heads are small, allowing you to fully reach hard-to-clean places like the back of your teeth. The pulsation and the brush heads stimulate your gums, as well, and clean the gumline, which helps quite a bit with gingivitis and other gum-health issues. The pulsating brush head breaks apart gunk on your teeth, which gives you a much deeper clean than a standard toothbrush.

You can of course get a different electric toothbrush (this Oral-B Healthy Clean + Floss Action model would be a great choice, and it currently has a $7 off coupon as well), I just have the Sonicare so am able to vouch for it personally. Whatever you choose to purchase, just make sure to do your research by searching for “electric toothbrush” on Amazon and reading the reviews to make a decision! I would recommend against the super expensive models, all they offer is different timing options for brushing that I guarantee you’ll never use.

Once you brush your teeth with a good electric toothbrush, you won’t be able to go back to analog. From the first brushing your teeth will feel impossibly clean.

2. Swish with Brushing Rinse

I discovered Brushing Rinse at the L.A. Green Festival in 2013 and have never looked back. It’s simply a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, essential oils, and filtered water. You could probably make it yourself for cheaper, but I love this product and am happy to support the company. I usually buy Brushing Rinse in bulk from Amazon. Because I use it everyday, I go through about a bottle a month.

Brushing Rinse - Natural Whitening Rinse

Oral Lightning in a Bottle!

Brushing Rinse is used in place of toothpaste and it’s a totally different experience: you swish with the rinse for 30 seconds, and then you brush your teeth with it. The peroxide, along with the essential oils, kills the bad bacteria in your mouth, gets into your gumline, and removes stains. My teeth are naturally pretty white and whitening was not something I was trying to get from this product, but I saw a half shade whiter within a couple weeks and a full shade whiter within a couple months. For someone with less white teeth, the results would likely be more dramatic.

You can also drip a few drops on your teeth before flossing, to really get the Brushing Rinse into those hard-to-reach places and make flossing even more effective.

Summary
Using an electric toothbrush and Brushing Rinse (or another food grade hydrogen peroxide concoction) you can get sparkly white teeth, happy healthy gums without the use of harsh chemicals or nasty additives.

How I Got Naturally White Teeth

These are my teeth – naturally whitened!

Affordable, Easy Home Remedies for White Teeth and Gum Disease

If you don’t want to go the expensive electric toothbrush and fancy rinse route, there are home remedies you can do cheaply and easily for whiter teeth and healthier gums:

  • Eat hard, crunchy vegetables – veggies like celery and carrots are nature’s toothbrushes! The hardness of the veggies and fiber helps to clean your teeth, and the chewing can make your jaw stronger, something modern humans lack.
  • Avoid processed foods, sugar and additives – people don’t realize that before we had so many additives and preservatives in our food, our teeth were bright white without brushing, and certainly without bleaching! Modern food is what makes our teeth dingy and cavity-ridden, so the closer you can eat to the earth, the better. Try cutting out processed food as much as possible, you’ll see vast improvements in your teeth AND your overall health.
  • If you can’t afford the Brushing Rinse and don’t want to bother with all the essential oils to make your own, rinsing with plain ol’ food grade hydrogen peroxide can still work wonders. I have a friend at work who started doing this and her chronic gum issues have completely cleared up. Just make sure to use 1-3% peroxide (typically, the stuff in the brown bottle that you can find almost anywhere). You can swish with the straight peroxide or, if you find it too harsh, you can cut it with some water. Try to keep it at at least 1% for it to be effective – so if you buy 3%, you can do one part peroxide to two parts water. Rinse after brushing and flossing for best results. Do this daily, or at least a few times a week and you’ll see great improvements after a couple weeks! Some people use peroxide in their Waterpik to really get into their gums, though I’ve read you shouldn’t do stronger than 1.5% for this (so, one part 3%, one part water)
  • If you’re feeling DIY-crazy, you can make a paste of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda and brush with this once a week. It’s kind of like chewing on a towel *shudders* but it’s extremely effective for whitening and oral health.
  • Oil pulling! By swishing a tablespoon or so of oil around in your mouth (typically sesame or coconut oil, but I hear pretty much any oil will do) for 15-20 minutes, you can pull all the bad bacteria out of your mouth. I did this for a time with great results and I have a ton of friends who swear by it. Don’t swallow the oil, make sure to spit it all out and rinse your mouth with water after to avoid consuming all that bacteria you just pulled out, and make sure to spit it in the trash, not the sink, or else it can clog your pipes.

Enjoy your sparkly smiles!!!

Little black heart

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: brushing rinse, natural oral care, product recommendations, sonicare, white teeth

Last Minute Vegan Gift Ideas

December 22, 2014 by Nichole Dinato Leave a Comment

The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value. – Charles Dudley Warner

Sparkly Silver Wrapped Gift

Hello bunnies! Happy holidays, whatever you celebrate (if at all!)!!!

My beautiful vegan gal pals and I just had our annual holiday party & gift exchange, where we dress up, eat vegan cheese and desserts, and have a White Elephant/Yankee Swap gift exchange of all of our favorite vegan things. The exchange is always wonderful, full of amazing gifts for around $20. It occurred to me this might be helpful to anyone looking to buy a last minute gift for the passionate vegan in their life!

Last Minute Vegan Gift Ideas

1. Cookbooks (natch)
Cookbooks are always a good route with a vegan, or anyone who likes cooking. The top two books for us this year were the Oh She Glows Cookbook and the Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*uck cookbook.

Oh She Glows and Thug Kitchen Cookbooks

Oh She Glows is a gorgeous, feminine compilation of over 100 healthy easy recipes. Thug Kitchen is a hilarious, naughty compilation of over 100 easy recipes. Both have coffee table appeal and are well loved by my group.

2. Local Gifts
Being the conscientious little vegans we are, there were a ton of gifts from local artists/vendors/shops. We are fortunate to have some cool stores in San Diego, but I think almost every town has some kind of shop that features local goods.

JaxKelly Jewelry Collage

Some highlights were earrings made from pyrite and an adorable little herb garden in a wooden holder.

3. Gift Cards!
Who doesn’t love a good gift card?! Top choices for us are Lush, Veggie Grill, Native Foods and Whole Foods.

Lush Gift Card

(If you would like to buy a gift at Lush instead, read my top 5 best vegan Lush products review).

Cards to local restaurants and stores are even better, if you have one that you love (for us, it’s Plumeria Vegetarian Restaurant in San Diego and the Ocean Beach People’s Coop).

4. Jars/Bottles/Bags
It may sound silly, but us vegans love our reusable containers! Mason jars are a big hit in our group, as are glass water bottles and reusable bags and totes. A lot of vegans are aware of the environmental impact of our choices, and because of this, long-lasting, non-plastic gifts are great. Plus, we need somewhere to store all our nutritional yeast!

Envirosax Anastasia Bag

One company I love to recommend is Envirosax Resuable Bags. They are a San Diego based company that is committed to helping the world reduce it’s dependency on disposable plastic. Their bags are GORGEOUS (check this Envirosax Anastasia 5-pack, the designs are stunning) and extremely comfortable to use – I own several and keep them in my purse because I refuse to shop without them. My ex loved them as well, we’d keep them in the car so we wouldn’t forget them. Great for guys, gals and every one in-between/outside! Envirosax also offers water bottles and wine bottle carriers.

5. Portable Food Prep
Vegans need healthy food on the go, since we often have to bring our own food to everything. Anything that can help us transport food and/or prepare it on the fly is much appreciated. This includes things like a Magic Bullet Blender for making smoothies at work, cool lunch boxes (Bento Boxes are all the rage), or reusable sandwich bags.

Le Creuset Mini Bean Pot

One of the cutest and most unexpected gifts of the night was this Le Creust Stoneare 20-Ounce Mini Bean Pot, a ceramic pot that can withstand freezing to extremely high heat. This pot is great for transporting and heating up individual servings of stew, beans, soups, etc. It can be microwaved or baked. Also cute for condiments or seasonings.

Summary

I hope some of these ideas help you out in your mad-dash to find the perfect gift for the vegan in your life. At the end of the day, buying for a vegan isn’t as hard as it might seem. Just try to think of what will make their life a little easier, or what will represent their values. Think local, think reusable/eco-friendly, and think practical.

Happy holidays everyone!

Little black heart

Filed Under: Blog, Vegan Tips & Advice Tagged With: Christmas, gift ideas, holidays, product recommendations, vegan gifts

Miyoko’s Creamery Cheese Review

December 16, 2014 by Nichole Dinato 2 Comments

Miyoko’s Kitchen was kind and generous enough to send me a huge package of their artisanal vegan cheeses to try and review:

Miyoko's Creamery Cheeses

My girls and I threw a big cheese party to try them all out, which was hella fun but I realized ruined my chances for decent pictures! I nabbed some pics from Miyoko’s site, and for really amazing shots, check out my friend Melissa’s Miyoko cheese review over on Vegenista.com.

For those of you not familiar, Miyoko Schinner made a name for herself with her amazing book, Artisan Vegan Cheese, which details how to make stunning vegan cheeses from scratch. I’m lucky enough that I have a few friends who have mastered the art of vegan cheesery, and am summarily spoiled every time we have a potluck.

So, Miyoko was a big name in our group and when we heard she was coming out with her own line of artisanal vegan cheeses, we done ’bout lost our minds.

Miyoko’s Creamery Vegan Cheese Review

I’m happy to report, Miyoko did not disappoint. These three were my favorites:

Miyoko Creamery Double Cream Chive Cheese

Double Cream Chive was by far the crowd favorite, that one didn’t make it past our little cheese night. It tastes like an cream-cheesy chive spread. It was the one cheese that I would want to purchase again to actually cook with – I’ve been told it’s amazing to mix into mashed potatoes, makes for great stuffed mushrooms, and I’d love to spread it on a wrap or bagel with a ton of fresh or roasted veggies. I think this is the most versatile cheese.

Miyoko Creamery Fresh Loire Valley Cheese

The Fresh Loire Valley In A Fig Leaf was an amazingly mild cheese wrapped in an edible (delicious) fig leaf. This one was good on salads, but was the one that I took the most joy out of eating plain, by itself. Excellent with fruit and crackers, I’d be tempted to try this with an actual fig or maybe stuff into some dates. The presentation of this wheel is absolutely gorgeous, it’s a show stopper.

Miyoko Creamery Herbs De Provence Cheese

The Herbs De Provence was probably my overall favorite. I loved the flavor and texture. It was stunning on crackers, and went well with salad. I could see it being a nice addition to certain sandwiches or wraps as well. This is one I would personally buy for hosting a party, it’s beautiful and highly addictive!

Summary

All of the cheeses were a hit, there wasn’t a single one we didn’t like. I would recommend purchasing based on your taste with cheeses. So, if you like soft, herby cheeses, get the Double Cream Chive. If you like smokey, get the Aged English Smoked Farmhouse. If you like mild whites, get the Fresh Loire Valley or the Herbs De Provence.

The prices are quite reasonable given the quality – the cheeses average $10-11 per wheel, plus $9-30 for shipping and handling. The cheeses come via 2-Day FedEx in a Styrofoam container packed with dry ice.

The only downside is that you have to buy the cheeses in a bundle, so you can’t go in and pick and choose what you want (for right now, at least). This is fine if you find a bundle you like, but can be frustrating if you wanted to buy multiples of one or just choose a few unrelated cheeses. I’m hoping at some point they will be able to offer more flexibility around purchases.

Miyoko's Creamery Cheeses Stack

Resources
– List of available Miyoko Creamery Cheeses
– Miyoko’s Creamery Vegan Cheese Packages
– Where to buy Miyoko’s Cheese (northern California only)

Have you tried Miyoko’s cheese? What did you think? Which was your favorite?

Little black heart

Filed Under: Blog, Food Product Review Tagged With: miyoko's cheese, product recommendations, vegan cheese

COOLA Suncare Sunscreen Review

October 1, 2014 by Nichole Dinato 3 Comments

I’m a total jerk. The heatwave is over, summer is coming to an end…and NOW I’m doing a sunscreen review. I know, I’m the worst.

COOLA Suncare Products

For those of us living in SoCal, sunscreen is relevant almost year-round, and, hey, people take vacations, right?! Amiright??? (Pleeease validate me so I don’t have to stew in the discomfort of my procrastination!)

Anyway, I was lucky enough to receive an insanely generous sampling of various Coola Suncare products, a company that’s right here in San Diego, and let me tell you: I am in love. I am head over heels for this stuff. And I adore the company! Coola’s products are all 70-97% organic, cruelty-free, solar-powered and as “green” as possible (they’re little slogan is that they are “eco-cool,” which I think is adorable). Coola uses natural plant phyto-protectors to limit the number of “active ingredients” they have to use.

Products that I (now) cannot live without:

COOLA Sport SPF 30 Pina Colada Sunscreen Spray

Coola Pina Colada SPF 30 Sunscreen Spray

I am not dark but I do tan well and my skin generally loves the sun. So, sunscreen is not something I wear often. That being said, southern California sun is HOT and you can burn much more quickly here than in my beloved former home of New Hampshire. If I’m going to be out for a while directly in the sun, I definitely need some kind of protection to prevent a nasty burn.

Queue COOLA’s Sport SPF 30 Pina Colada Sunscreen Spray. They sent me a regular-sized bottle of the stuff, and after trying it the first time and falling in love, I ended up keeping it in my purse all summer and spraying down anyone who looked like they needed it. Seriously, I ended up spraying a random dude at the farmers market one day because his shoulders were starting to burn.

The Sport SPF 30 Pina Colada Sunscreen Spray is phenomenal. It smells fantastic, it goes on light, it is not greasy or sticky AT ALL (it makes your skin feel nice), AND it works!

For the purposes of this review, I am lucky enough to have a very light skin-did, sun-sensitive friend to experiment on and I’m happy to report that she also LOVES this sunscreen and is planning on buying it for herself. We went to my company’s summer event together at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and using this sunscreen she did not get burnt at all despite it being a scorchingly hot, very sunny day and her being akin to a vampire. She gets burnt like, “Hey girl, you wanna go outside?” “Sure!” -takes two steps- “Oh damn, girl, you burnt!”

Summary: “I don’t usually wear sunscreen. But when I do, it’s COOLA.”

COOLA Face SPF 20 CC Cream in Rose Essence Tint

COOLA Face SPF 20 CC Cream in Rose Essence Tint

So, the best way I can explain how my skin looks after applying COOLA’s Face SPF 20 CC Cream in Rose Essence Tint is like I’ve just been running through a sun-dappled forest, being chased by a cute boy, and I’ve fallen into a meadow of soft grasses and flowers to laugh while he catches up to me. In other words: radiant and a little sweaty…but, like, sweaty in a sexy, dewy sort of way.

Face evens out my skin tone and gives a gorgeous creamy look to my skin. I love how my face looks and feels in Face, and I will definitely be ordering more once this bottle runs out. It’s perfect for every day wear, to make your skin look glorious while it protects you from the sun and nourishes you with antioxidants, B vitamins, and all other kinds of good stuff. The Rose Essence version of Face is great for sensitive skin types and is 98% natural ingredients. It’s great for all skin types and tones.

COOLA SPF Liplux

COOLA SPF Liplux

Lastly, I adored the SPF 30 sport Liplux that COOLA sent to me. I’m always burning my damn lips. Unlike my face, they can’t seem to tolerate the sun as well and I always forget to protect them. Fortunately, I kept Liplux in my purse all summer and managed to save my lips from the mean ‘ol sun. Liplux smells divine, goes on smooth, and seems to last for a long time. It’s even water resistant for up to 80 minutes. I will never be without lip protection again!

Coming to COOLA Conclusions

I loved everything I received from COOLA, but the three listed products were absolute standout stars for me. Above what I’ve mentioned here, COOLA makes a sun recovery line, to help reduce and reverse sun damage, as well as products for babies and even pets!

I know the world of suncare is a tricky one, full of scary chemicals and confusing information, so I’m glad I can recommend this local company that I trust more than the national brands.

Filed Under: Beauty Product Review, Blog, Reviews Tagged With: cc cream, coola, product recommendations, san diego businesses, suncare, sunscreen, vegan skincare

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