Recreational Herb

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If you’re anything like my husband and me, you are already booking up your weekend with projects and perhaps even picking up some materials on your way home from work. Here’s a quick and easy DIY for your kitchen that will give you lots of satisfaction and good bang for buck.

We wanted fresh herbs on hand for all our cooking but don’t like the look of an over-crowded window sill nor did we want to install one of those greenhouse windows because—while luscious from the inside—they look completely tragic from the outside. So I came up with this simple solution—glass bathroom shelves with rectangular planters—and my husband sourced the below materials for a chic, minimalist, and bountiful kitchen herb garden.

Would be a wonderful way to bring greenery (and a little privacy) to a bath or bedroom window as well…they don’t need to be herbs!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy projecting!

Photography by Laura Moss
Glass shelves are 23 5/8″ wide HJÄLMAREN from IKEA and were $18/ea.
The 10x4x5″ ceramic containers we used were similar to this one, $7/ea.

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RECIPE TO REFRESH

REPOSTED FROM the style blog of the chic, NYC-BASED, SURF-FRIENDLY FASHION BRAND, LOOMSTATE, WHERE I WAS A GUEST BLOGGER LAST WEEK.

You’re probably feeling a little guilty from overindulging throughout the holiday season…nibbling the cheese cubes at the holiday party, exploring the innerds of every chocolate in the box (invest some time and you might actually find the caramel one) and bathing your liver in a stream of hot toddies. Luckily, it’s 2014 and a chance to refresh your mind and body!  Meredith McBride Kipp, Creative Director at New York Spaces magazine and editor of her own design & style blog aMereLife.com offers us a simple recipe for a refreshing green juice AND bread made from the leftover pulp…

Meredith: I’m no heady health fanatic, but I’ve really gotten into making fresh juice once or twice a week. I usually drink it as a meal supplement through breakfast and lunch a few days per week. It makes me feel great and keeps me firing on all cylinders. I don’t need my usual caffeine fixes when I’m “juicing” either, so it saves me from having to buy expensive breakfasts, lunches and coffees in manhattan during the busy work week. I stock the green juice in dishwasher-safe rubber-seal glass bottles that I found on the cheap so that they are always ready-to-go and shake-friendly. Standard pitchers will require that you stir before you pour (the juice settles: don’t be turned off), so sealed/lidded containers are best. Here’s my loose recipe for a large batch of Green Juice. Enjoy!
GREEN JUICE | makes a few gallons (good for 2 people for 3-5 days)
       3 heads romaine
       2 bunches parsley
       3 large cucumbers
       4-5 green apples
       3 bunches of kale
       1.5 bunches celery
       ginger (the size of a golf ball): juice this last because it will clog up
       your juicer
       juice from 5 large lemons
If you are in need of a full 3-day cleanse (similar to the well-known and extremely expensive Blueprint Cleanse), make a batch of my green juice, along with the Spicy Lemonade and Cashew Milk recipes from this site.
GREEN BREAD | makes 1 loaf
       1 1/2 cups juice pulp (aim for the apple, cucumber and kale)
       1/2 cup oil or 1/2 cup butter, melted
       1/2 cup brown sugar
       2 eggs, beaten
       1 teaspoon vanilla
       1 1/2 cups flour (could do whole wheat)
       1/2 teaspoon baking soda
       1/2 teaspoon baking powder
       1/2 teaspoon salt
       1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
       1/2 teaspoon allspice
       1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
       1/2 cup raisins, dates or figs (optional)
Directions:
       1. Beat together oil and honey, then add eggs, vanilla and pulp.
       2. Sift dry ingredients and add to pulp mixture.
       3. Add nuts and fruit last.
       4. Bake in a greased 9″ loaf pan at 350F for 45 to 60 minutes.