Sunday, September 13, 2015

Vegan MoFo ~ Kitchen Tour Time!



Today is Kitchen Tour Time but I'm embarrassed at the sight of my kitchen at the moment so I thought I would take this time to blog about some of the things I HAVE in my kitchen.  This may be a lengthy post.  I have a feeling it will be!

Before I get to the appliances I have in and around my kitchen I have been getting a lot of questions about certain ingredients and products I have been using as of late.  I thought I would combine many of these into one post.

First up...one of the most asked about products as of late is this Kelp with Cayenne.  I've also LINKED to the specific product for you in case you wanted to check it out over at The Raw Food World which is where I got it to begin with.  It's part of a line of sea seasonings.  The one I have been referring to a lot lately is the Organic Kelp with Cayenne.  It gives you the benefits of a sea veggie and gives you a little bit of natural saltiness without adding actual salt to your foods.


They have other flavors, too, including a Trio Blend of Dulse, Laver, and Sea Lettuce which I have yet to try...one with Sea Salt, Kelp, and Dulse...another being Dulse with Garlic...on that is straight-up Dulse...you get the idea.  I've had a couple of these in my pantry for a while and they keep well in a cool dry place.  Right now they are only $4.10 each and are TOTALLY worth it!.

I usually make my own dressings but there is a new-to-me line that I am REALLY stoked about!  And it's from a company that I have adored in the past!  Foods Alive!  Check out THESE dressings!  They are AMAZING!  And right now the individuals are priced at-cost!

If you take a look at my sidebar you will see a search button and if you type in Foods Alive you will see the others posts on my blog containing some of their products that I have enjoyed and blogged about in the past.  But these dressing are in a class of their own!  Take a look at the link above and let me know which ones appeal to you most!  Oh...and of course WILDTREE is my favorite brand of many products and I am a Rep if you are interested!
Salad Booster from Living Intentions is another product I keep in my frig as often as possible.  It's a great product to have on hand.

There are TWO flavors...the original and the Vegan Cheesy!  Both are excellent!

The original contains: Seeds, Wild White Chia Seeds, Spirulina, Himalayan Crystal Salt, Chlorella, Organic Dulse, Organic Kelp, Organic Dill Weed, Organic Spices, Organic Lemon Peel and Organic Cayenne.

The Vegan Cheesy contains: Organic Sprouted Pumpkni Seeds, Organic Sprouted Sunflower Seeds, Organic Sprouted Sesame Seeds, Wild White Chia Seeds, Spirulina, Organic Red Bell Pepper, Himalayan Crystal Salt, Nutritional Yeast, Chlorella, Organic Dulse, Organic Kelp, Organic Dill Weed, Organic Spices, Organic Tumeric and Organic Chilies.

SunRoot Sweetener is something I JUST started using.  I need a little bit more time with it before I completely make up my mind but so far so good!  It's an alternative to Agave and other natural sweeteners.

It's made from Jerusalem Artichokes - also known as - Sun Chokes.

It's sweet but I don't think it's AS sweet as some of the Agave's I have tried.  It's VERY dark in color, too.  I made a two layered RAW Freezer Fudge that I will be posting about in the near future and used this as the sweetener.  The flavor of fudge was Pistachio Cacao in case you were wondering.

Of course other things you will find in my kitchen are various Nut Butters, Garden of Life products, raw nuts and seeds, more recently Cacao products, and Super Food Powders among other things.

Now...when it comes to certain appliances I have throughout my kitchen there are a few.  I started with Ninja Blenders before I was able to get a high speed blender.  Once I got my high speed blender I saved all of my Ninjas.  Yes...I have several.  I still use them for food processing, mostly.  I have many different sizes and I also have these containers that I store in the frig at times, too!



Once I finally got a high speed blender I went with a Vitamix...actually the Vitamix went with me, actually!  I was lucky enough to win one.  I'm so grateful I was able to win one.  The only down fall is now I will ALWAYS have to have one.  I hate to say I have a 'prized possession' because that sounds so material but I would have to say my high speed blender is one of the things I just may have to guard with my life.  Is that too dramatic?  Meh.

I use my Vitamix EVERYDAY at least once.  However, I have  often wondered the differences between the Vitamix and the BlendTec.  I'll get to that in a moment.  But first I would like to jabber about my Vitamix.  I supposed I should name her, shouldn't I?  Anyways, I LOVE my Vitamix as I have said but there are only a few things I wish were better about it.  One being I wish it was glass and not plastic but that isn't a 'make it or break it' for me.  When making thicker dips and spreads like nut butters and hummus for example it is hard to get all of the 'good stuff' from under the blade.  I feel like I am wasting a lot when this happens.  Also...it's not the easiest to clean when doing a lot with nuts...they tend to cause a build-up under the blade.


Enter the BlendTec WildSide Rebel Jar and XR Vitamix Fit Jar.  These jars make it so that you can have a BlendTec and a Vitamix at the same time, basically.  I wanted to try this prior to possibly purchasing a BlendTec, too.  I'm glad I did.  Yes, I know...I'm a bit of a blender freak now.  I have noticed a few things with this WildSide Jar.  I LOVE the jar.  It fixes the problems I was having!  It's so much easier to clean and under the blade stays cleaner with little effort.  I also get nearly everything out of the jar with little effort - that was the other concern I had with the Vitamix Jar in the first place.  There are 2 things I'm not overly thrilled about, tho.  One being it's MUCH louder than the stand alone Vitamix and the other is I don't think the BlendTec gets 'chunks' as smooth as the Vitamix.  I think the BlendTec breaks them down better but I like the textures of the Vitamix better.

This could be because I'm using a BlendTec blade and Jar on the motor of the Vitamix that is yet to be determined.  There are pros and cons of each but I have a love for both of them because of their pros.

Next up...yes...I have an Excalibur Dehydrator.  I love it and I need to use it more than I have been as of late.  I think that will be a goal of the upcoming season.  If you want to search for my past recipes feel free in the search box on the side just type "Excalibur" in there.  I will be gearing up for snacks and breakfast bars and cookies with this soon I have a feeling!  I'll tell you it was one of the BEST Christmas presents I even got (thanks Hubby!)

More recently I added this to my kitchen...it's the Tribest SlowStar Juicer.  I'm ashamed to say that I haven't put it to the test YET but will very soon!  Prior to this one I had a Jack LaLanne Juicer.  I liked it but it didn't get the juice as 'juicy' and 'clear' as I wanted so I decided to get this one.  I almost purchased a different brand and made a last minute switch-a-roo because of the Instagram photos that Chris from The Vegan Zombie posted.  It seemed like he was getting the results I was looking for and that is what switched my mind at the very last moment.

Another thing I should mention is that I have a SLEW of Mason Jars throughout my kitchen!  Dozens!  I store everything in them.  You can read more about that HERE as to why I started that when I did.  It has just grown since.  HERE is another post and HERE is another post - both with pictures!  I guess in a way you can see my kitchen in those photos and posts, too, when it was a little more 'put together'.  Another example would be HERE.

28 comments:

  1. I loved the tour of the stuff you use! I love the cheesey salad booster. I'm loving my Ninja blender, it's super easy to clean, but it is so dang loud! You are like a food processing and blender queen!

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    1. I have the first few ninja's they came out with but not the heavy duty one. I've been tempted to buy it tho! LOL

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  2. You've got some really interesting sounding food products in this post that we definitely don't have in the UK. I'm intruiged by the artichoke sweetner. My Vitamix made my kitchen tour too though I agree with you about the stuff stuck under the blade issues. I still love it though and it's in daily use.

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    1. Have you tried The Raw Food World UK Shop? You can get a lot of those products on there!

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  3. You have some super interesting stuff in your kitchen and I am just so so jealous of your dehydrator. I have a Froothie blender but I would be curious to see how it compares to the Vitamix. And Sunroot, wow that is interesting that is it made with Jerusalem artichokes

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    1. Froothie Blender I will have to look up! I still have to play with the SunRoot Sweetener a bit before chatting about it more. It's darker and rich but not as sweet as agave from what I have seen/tasted.

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  4. I love this veganmofo prompt, it's so interesting to see what everyone has in their kitchen and what products one's using! I recently bought a new blender (it's an omniblend - from germany), it's a bit cheaper than the vitamix but it's nearly as powerful. So excited to try more with it, but the things I've made so far has been very convincing (hazelnut milk, smoothies,..). I want to try cashew cheese as soon as possible :D

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    1. I've been hearing a bunch about Omniblend! Neat! Yes...you MUST try a cashew based nut cheese SOON :)

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  5. I forgot to comment on the sweetener made with the Jerusalem artichokes. I read about this sweetener awhile ago. Thanks for the review, I'll have to keep my eye out for it!

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    1. I was intrigued by it and the jug I have is HUGE!

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  6. So far this prompt is my favorite to read. I wouldn't of guessed that it would!

    I worked at coffee shops and a smoothie shop and it is funny because Blendtec has a hold of the coffee market, while fresh smoothie bars prefer Vitamix. I can't tell which is best because it has been awhile since I used Blendtec, but it still seemed pretty nice. The downside is that when I was using blendtec I usually was blending up powder mixes and smoothie puree bases. So I never could see how well it can make a nut milk or how well it blends dates. But I agree I wish that the vitamix blender was glass. It seems like it would clean easier... but would be easier to break I guess.

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    1. I will have to start using the BlendTec for smoothies more! Thanks for the suggestion!

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  7. You have some cool stuff. Hopefully no vegans will break in to your house and steal it after this post.

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    1. LOL - all they have to do is ask - I would most likely give or share in most cases! LOL

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  8. I've never seen the kelp with cayenne! I have the plain. I bet this one is delicious!

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  9. Some great ingredients and equipment there 😊 I have an
    Omniblend, a Magimix and a small grinder which get used many times a day. Omniblend has the same hummus and nuts issues as Vitamix though.

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    1. There are others that have posted about their Omniblends they sound great! I have to look into the Magimix tho! I have a small coffee grinder for spices, too, I forgot to mention that! Thanks for the reminder!

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  10. Great tour , we have a lot of the same goodies! :-) Think I need to add that Blendtec jar to my wishlist since I'm a huge blender freak too!

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    1. Thanks! I know some of your posts have made me want to buy or actually buy certain things :) Peer Pressure! LOL And I think you should look into that blender jar, too! I thought of you when I first got it in!

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  11. Interesting food stuffs. All the super food dressings sound like yummy blends to me. I must put these on my list and try a few.

    My kitchen is full of mason jars too...we use them as drinking glasses; any regular drinking glasses don't last with us; they always end up broken somehow.

    I'll be interested to find out how you like your new juicer...

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    1. Mason Jars as drinking glasses - yes in deedy! I also like to use them for Mason Jar Meals :) I hope to post more of those down the road :)

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  12. Oooh, I would love to own an Excalibur dehydrator. I received a hand-me-down (NOT-Excalibur) dehydrator from my grandmother. It has one temperature setting and it's not very efficient. So I'm suffering from kitchen envy right now. :)

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    1. I started with a $20 dehydrator from Kmart or Walmart or something like that...it was a circular one it was ok but I wanted trays that were square instead of circle.

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  13. I like your take on this post. Your kitchen sounds fun! I like the seasonings & salad boosters you have.
    I love my vitamix too but have also wondered about the blendtech for the very same reasons you mentioned (hard to clean, can't get everything out of the bottom, etc). I'm not sure the Vitamix will actually last forever though, maybe I'll try a Blendtech next.
    And we have the same dehydrator =)

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    1. I'm still thinking about getting a BlendTec straight-up, too! I need to pump the old 'fun' account up tho before I move forward! LOL

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  14. It's so nice to get a peak into the magic behind your amazing recipes. Like you, I have a VitaMix and a juicer. I wish my VitaMix had a glass jar. I have had it for years and it still works quite well. I use it every day! I have a small apartment kitchen so I don't have room for a dehydrator but I do have a wonderful Royal Berkey Water Filter which I can't live without. Thank you so much for sharing your Kitchen Tour with us at the Healthy Happy Green and Natural Party Blog Hop. I'm pinning and sharing.

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    1. Awwww thanks! I agree with the glass jar wishes on the Vitamix! Your water filter sounds great!

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