Kelp Noodles with a Spicy Thai Sauce

Seriously...WHAT happened to this week!?  Anyhow...before I get to what this dish is and the recipe...I want to remind you about the His & Hers WHOLE FOODS Vitamins from KIND ORGANICS...I will be choosing a winner Monday.  CLICK HERE for more info!

Now...on to this dish!

This is Green Tea Kelp Noodles with a Spicy Thai Sauce

Recipe for the Sauce:

2 T Nama Shoyu

2 T Flax Oil

1 T Apple Cider Vinegar

1 T Lime Juice

1 T Agave

1 T Wildtree Garlic & Herb Blend

2 T Hemp Butter

1/2 T Crushed Red Pepper

1 tea Red Jalapeno Powder

1/2 tea GoL's Perfect Food Energizer (with Yerba Mate)

I topped this with Sweet Red Bell Peppers and a little bit more sprinkle of GoL's Perfect Food.

CocoMint Ice Cream (Nut Based)

I took a stab at making Vegan Ice Cream last night and it turned out great!  I will say it's treat that you shouldn't over eat as it's nut based and very rich, creamy, and fulfilling. Here's the recipe I came up with...

1.5 C Raw Cashews

1 C (or more) Almond Milk
3 T Coconut Oil
1/4 C Maple Syrup
3/4 tea NuNaturals Cocoa Mint Syrup
1/2 Scoop Garden of Life Chocolate Cacao Raw Protein

Prior to freezing this - yet after blending everything in my Vitamix - I added some Coco Mint Swirls with more of the NuNaturals Syrup.  It was wonderful.  It was butty - like a Cashew Butter flavor because of the Cashews and Almond Milk Combo for the base but it was a nice Chocolate and Mint flavor thanks to the GoL and NuNatural's combo!  I will definitely be making this again and with more flavor combos, too!  YUM!

Participating Post...

Virtual Vegan Potluck

Happy, Healthy, Green, & Natural

Real Food Wednesdays

A Little Jicama Diddy...

Well, last week I really failed at reaching my personal goals for the week so I am going to carry them over to this week, instead of making a new one.  Instead of dwelling on what I didn't accomplish last week - I'd like to share one of the SIMPLE foods I did as a raw snack last week!

I Julienned some Jicama and soaked it in Lime Juice.  I then sprinkled a combo of Cayenne Flavored Kelp and GoL's Wheatgrass Powder on top.  This was pretty tasty.  I think next time I might add more Cayenne.  I enjoyed the kick of it all!

What have you done with Jicama lately!?

Happy Mail ~ Nuts, Bamboo, Books, and More!

Today I received a box from The Raw Food World - or as I like to call it - Happy Mail and here are a few photos of what I got and why!

I know...I know...this looks like an awful lot of NUTS, doesn't it?  Well, yes...it is...but of course I'm not going to eat them all at once.  I was stocking up because they have a bunch of these items "At-Cost" this month. 

The 4 packages in the back I have enjoyed other flavors of but not these so I thought I would try them!  Mesquite Pod Maple Walnuts, Spinach Pesto and Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame Teriyaki Cashews and Almonds, and Lime Mojo Cilantro Pistachios and Pepitas!  I like to keep some near my desk at work to munch on every once and a while when I get hungry and don't have any other items to eat at my desk.  I also like to add them to salads!

In front you will see LOTS of Love Force Energy Bars.  This is the first time I am trying these bars but the flavors sounded wonderful and I figured half of one or maybe even a full one to have on hand for those days I leave the house with no breakfast in my belly.  These will last me a while...that's for sure!

Another thing I don't really NEED but continue to buy and stock up on are nut and seed butters.  I can't help myself.  They are wonderful.  I only use a very little bit of them at a time and only about 1 or 2 times per week.  I have really started to LOVE Jem Organics!  And this Apricot Kernel Butter just sounded too interesting to pass up!  I probably won't open these for quite some time because I have a number of other 'butters' I'm currently working on consuming.

The other one that is pictured is the Raw Black Sesame Tahini.  I've liked other products from Living Tree Community Foods so when I saw this one I thought I would throw it in my virtual cart.  You will see that I got Coconut Secrets's Aminos and Nectar.  I have had both of those in the past and like them very much.  It's been a while since I have had them in my pantry so I figured it was time to re-stock.  Lately I have been using their Coconut Flour and Coconut Sugar which I am not really getting low on anytime soon.

And...finally...the small jar with gold top and white label is some of Angela Stokes-Monarch's Handmade Herbal Salve.  I'm looking forward to trying it on my legs as well as some of the scars I have.  The ingredients in this salve are...Comfry Leaf, Plantain Leaf, Matico Leaf, Rosemary Essential Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Cacao Butter, Olive Oil, and Love.

I saw two newer flavors of Kale Chips that I had to try but it's a constantly reminder 'why the heck am I NOT making more of my own at home'.  Perhaps that will be on my Goal Book list in the near future.  I will say the Indian Kale Chips will NOT last past today...they are THAT GOOD.  Also pictured here is a small Bamboo Bowl which is so darned cute!  I'm slowly accumulating a Bamboo Collection which I adore.  I'm thinking about a future purchase of one of their VERY LARGE Bamboo (Salad) Bowls but it's $90.  Might have to work up to that one down the road!  In the meantime another Bamboo Item I grabbed was this tray for my Silverware Drawer in my kitchen.  A few months ago we tossed a bunch of our old eating utensils and purchased new ones and the ones I purchased were too long for the tray we had.  When I saw this online it called to me.  I guess one of my near-future projects will be totally re-organizing that drawer now that I have this tray, eh!?  I finally decided to try the Moringa Leaf Extract, too!  Looking forward to messing around with that...and...the surprise of the Sacha Inchi Protein Powder...hum...more on that down the road.

Last but certainly not least...these two books...and here's why...

The Coconut Oil one I wanted to have on hand to show our Wildtree Customers the benefits of Coconut Oil as a whole but to also educate myself about some of the home remedy type recipes that I might try, myself, at home soon.  The other Raw Star Recipe Book just sounded really cool and interesting and I thought I would build my Raw Food Book Collection up a bit.

So - out of everything you see - what products have your tried?  What items would you like to try?

Foods Lately and Check-Ins

I know I haven't been posting a slew of stuff lately but I have been around and have been busy and do have a LOT to share with you! 

I'm waiting on a few things to fall into place before I post about a few other things.  Mostly good.

As for some other things that have been happening - my brother in law had part of his bowel removed but he's recovering nicely.  My husband has been having stomach issues, too, and they are 90% sure it's Crohn's.  We are just waiting for another test to come back.  His mother's Kidney Readings were high and she had went to a specialist today and they don't seem to be overly concerned about it but going to retest in 5 months. 

My foods have been very simple foods, raw foods, mono meals, and some comfort meals tied in, mostly for the last several weeks.  In the first photo you will see I did a Mason Jar Meal.  It turned out wonderful.  From top...marinated corn, peas and carrots, then seasoned chickpeas, and plain Quinoa on bottom.

One of the snacks I have been enjoying are kicked up Cashews which I have blogged about a few times before.  They are just as good as previous attempts.

Something I've been tinkering with and LOVING since I received it in my RawFoodWorld Shipment has been this Pistachio Pesto - OMG - it's marvelous!  I hope to do a full review on that soon but here's a little teaser of my first attempt with it...I simply added it to elbow macaroni.  I wanted to try it pretty plain-jane first to really taste the flavor - but this is a product I will re-order that is for sure - I absolutely LOVE it!

Another thing I have been enjoying from my shipment has been my new Bamboo Plate.  I plan on order one more of this size as well as 2 smaller ones.

 As you can see on the Bamboo Plate I have some peppy Guacamole that I threw together.  I used my Wildtree Gauc Blend in addition to a teaspoon of the Pistachio Pesto - I mentioned above.  For an extra kick...a bit of Sriracha Sauce!

As you can see here I have some gorgeous Cherry Tomatoes.  They are actually from my Tumbling Tom Tomato Plant which was in the form of a Hanging Basket.  I think I have gotten roughly 80 to 100 tomatoes from it so far and they are SO AMAZING!

Last week I couldn't resist purchasing these 4 quarts of Snap Peas with edible pods from our local produce stand which has recently changed hands.  I'm LOVING all of the new offerings and the friendly service.  Of course it helps that I know almost everyone in the large family that works there!

Yes!  You see that right!  4 quarts for $6.99 and they were GREAT!  I had large batches for snacks and mono meals PLUS I shared some with my parents as well as a friend AND brought the rest into work and about 4 of us gnawed on them for a few days!  While I was there I purchased some sweet cherries as well as some black berries which were top notch, too!

And FINALLY to round out this post - a funny photo of me eating this Oat Based Superfood Cereal.  I really liked it and reviewed it for the The Raw Food World NEWS Website and once it's up I will link to it so you can see the full review!

I've also reviewed a Kale Chip they offer so I will keep you posted about that as well!

So...what have you been up to lately!?