I Think I Have A Problem...

Apparently my newest addiction is obtaining vegan and raw vegan cookbooks. Here are my latest additions!

* Raw Food Quick & Easy, by Rydman & Rodwell

* Raw Food For Everyone, by Alissa Cohen

* Easy Sexy Raw, by Carol Alt

* Ripe from Around Here, by Jae Steele

* Raw Food: A Complete Guide for Every Meal of the Day

* Ani's Raw Food Desserts: 85 Easy, Delectable Sweets and Treats

* Raw Family Signature Dishes

* Rawlicious: Delicious Raw Recipes for Radiant Health

* Living in the Raw Desserts, By Rose Lee Calabro

* How We All Went Raw, by Top Raw Men

I have to say that I've already spent a lot of time with the last one on that list - How We All Went Raw and I really enjoyed it! It's FUN, informative, creative, and is in a binder so the pages turn and lay flat - perfect for kitchen use! I hope to do reviews of all of these books at some point! It might take me a while but that is one of my mini goals I have this coming year!

I stocked up on raw snacks for my office space and my car and since I will be on the road a lot more with my new job I need to have better/best foods by my side so I'm not spending a lot of time and money at not-so-good places and food.  Yes...it's true! This is my latest shipment from The Raw Food World and a bunch of the goodies I grabbed! I couldn't resist the super low price on those Kale Krunch Chips! They were among the at-cost specials they offered! I also grabbed two of the breakfast bowls and one of each of the Gopal's Power Wraps! They are Nori Wrapped Energy Sticks! You can see that I have the Italian, Curry, Masala, Japanese, and Mexican flavors! I tried a few of the flavors in the past and find them to be great snacks for on-the-go!

I decided to break down and by SunWarrior's Vanilla Flavor of protein powder. Not necessarily because I'm worried about my protein intake (I'm not) but more so because of the flavor. Jason Wrobel uses it in a lot of his smoothies and desserts because he says it adds a 'cake batter' like flavor to it.  I also stocked up on various Raw Crackers, too! One of the many things I buy over and over is their raw cashews and this time I grabbed some raw pumpkin seeds. 

  

I will say I've used it once already and I do like the flavor. Even more - tho - I LOVE the aroma of the Vanilla! Very nice!I've been wanting to try Coconut Secret's new sauces so when I saw they had them available on The Raw Food World site I threw them in my shopping cart right away! I've enjoyed all of the other products I have tried from the company so I'm assuming these two new sauces will follow suit. One is a Garlic Sauce and the other is a Teriyaki Sauce. I did grab one of their new deodorants but it's not technically vegan - it has beeswax in it along with Shea butter. So I guess it would be Beegan instead of Vegan for those of you who were wondering.  The price of their D3 and B12 patches were CRAZY LOW so I decided to grab those, too! I have used the B12 in the past and only use them every once and a while either when I'm not eating the best or on the road or feeling sluggish. I have yet to try the D3 patches but with the winters where I live a little extra Vitamin D wouldn't be a bad thing. Again...it's not because I fear I'm not getting enough - just curious about the product, really.  Also in that photo above - you will see my newest Bamboo purchase! Yup! I added Puzzle Party Platters to my growing bamboo collection. I haven't used them yet but LOVE the way the look and hope to be taking photos of food on them SOON. They fit together like a puzzle...and I just might be buying more of them to play with down the road.

The paper bag like package in the back is a bag of Chia Crackers from ChocolaTree Organic Oasis! This is the first chia cracker product I have tried from this company. I have to say that they have one of the best textured chia crackers I have tried so far! It's not hard - but light and crispy - rather. I really like the cayenne kick, too!  Finally - I've had my eye one these Himalayan Sea Salt Lamps for a while and they have them for $16 off this month! I bought one and thinking about buying 2 more. LOVE them! It's not the best picture but perhaps I will take more down the road. Have you found any new-to-you products lately that you are excited about? 

Mailtime Monday...on Tuesday!

I LOVE getting mail!  I always have!  It could be a package or just a simple letter...I just LOVE it! 

Yesterday I received this neat Tea Box from Tea Box Express and I will be doing a Full Length Review over at Sororitea Sisters in the near future.  Tea Box Express is a monthly subscription service for tea lovers.  Each month you will get a featured tea and a few other tea related or tea themed items in your box.  This month Teatulia was the featured tea.  I have had this black tea from Teatulia before and it's a good go-to black tea.  The box is very well done with lovely 'thoughts' and things to make you smile along the way.

One of the other things that was featured in this month's box was tea honey.  No...this isn't vegan.  I will be giving this to my husband - he's a honey fan. 

Another item that I will be sharing because it's NOT vegan is this cookie.  I decided to pass this along to my mother in law.  This cookie was HUGE...like one you might see in a specialty gift shop that is a couple dollars each.

I do really like the tea bag holder or the spoon dish - I guess you could use it either way.  It's sitting on my desk at work, actually.

And you can see the teapot themed stir stick on the bottom of the one photo - it's really neat, too!  Eventho I use Agave I think this would work well with honey or a honey alternative or if you are one of those people who have a milk or milk alternative in your tea and just use it as a stir stick - it's still super cute!  Since I drink all of my teas straight-up with no additives I will most likely be using that for decor OR if I have guests over.


Another piece of HAPPY MAIL I received yesterday was a coupon for an Earth Balance item valued at $6.99 - I won it last week over at the VeganMoFo site!

No Bees, No Almonds - No Bees, No Pumpkin Pie!

Photo from National Geographic

One of my favorite sites to learn about Bees is Opal's site of course!  Over the years we have heard so much about the population of Honey Bees diminishing.  This past week I have received 4 different emails from different non-bee-specific sites with different findings and articles having to do with bees!

Earlier in the week one of the emails concentrated on Almonds.  Saying if there were no bees - there would be no almonds.  The other was from the Center for Food Safety saying that if there were no bees there would be no pumpkin pie.  When you clicked on their campaign link it goes into more depth about just how much we NEED honeybees!  Things like No Cranberries, No Pumpkins, No Green Beans...just about EVERY fruit and veggie we consume is because of BEES!  So if the Center for Food Safety's campaign was timely for Thanksgiving it sure does make me think...this Thanksgiving I will include being THANKFUL for Honey Bees this year.  Not that I wasn't to begin with but when  you have the info right in front of you it sure does put things into prospective. 

Another site I came across was The Business Insider.  This site went into even more saying all fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds rely on bees!  Nearly 1/3 of the world's crops depend on them!  Where are they going?  Why are they dieing?  Well, various reasons!  Pesticides, Disease, Parasites, Poor Weather, Environmental Conditions, etc.  What can we do about it?  Well, I for one, will continue to follow Bee Keepers Blogs like Opal.  I will also be looking into local and regional people in our area to try and support them in some way.  I, personally, don't eat (much) honey...I prefer Agave but that doesn't mean that vegetarians, vegans, and every day people that are meat eaters or otherwise shouldn't support your local bees!  After all...you benefit and are fed because of what Bees do for you!

This Thanksgiving...one of the MANY things I am thankful for is Bees!

Lush Gourmet Foods Coffee Nuts & New Earth Chocolate Goddess Clusters

 I'm so happy I was able to try each flavor of nuts Lush Gourmet Foods offers!   I LOVED every single one of them - all for different reasons!  They were FAB!  The last flavor I would like to share with you is their Coffee Flavor.  According to their website here is their product description of this flavor:

Have that craving for a cup of coffee? You can get your quick fix with Coffee Lush Nuts. Coated with freshly brewed coffee that has been cooked down to a concentration, this blend is great in the morning, after dinner or on the go!

My very first thoughts after biting into one of these was "COFFEE...is right!".  I'm not saying I am a coffee expert by any means but I do enjoy these coffee flavored nuts!  They were crispy and gently crunchy.  They were a little salty - just a hint of salt, tho!  The aftertaste is that of creamy peanut butter and a hardy coffee combo.  They were slightly bitter - but in a good way - and the peanut and salt - smooths it out a little nicer! Like I said...I'm not much of a coffee fan but these are darned tasty!

Another product I have enjoyed recently are the Chocolate Goddess Clusters from New Earth! 

Here is a little more about this product - directly from their website:

Brownie Love Bites (formerly Chocolate Goddess Clusters) = Rich, Raw Chocolate Brownie... Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Grain Free.... and Yummy!

Nourish your heart, Sweeten your life, Feed your INNER GODDESS!

Imagine rich, fresh, gooey brownies - now add a bit of texture from coconut chips, and viola! - you have the flavor of Brownie Love Bites! 

• Balinese Raw Cacao Powder is rich in antioxidants, neurotransmitters, and is high in magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese.
• Coconut chips Coconut Chips are rich in HEALTHY saturated fats and fiber
• Raw Honey boosts our immune system, supports digestion, and contains 27 minerals, 22 amino acids, and 5,000 live enzymes!
• Maple Syrup is an excellent source of manganese and a good source of zinc

*All ingredients are organic and/or wildcrafted from the most pristine growing regions around the world!

CONSCIOUS NUTRITION:

Brownie Love Bites are for nourishing your Heart and Bringing Sweetness into your Life!  Everyone deserves CHOCOLATE!!!

Our ingredients:
organic coconut chips, organic raw balinese cacao powder, organic extra virgin coconut oil, organic maple syrup, wildcrafted raw honey, organic mesquite pod, organic vanilla powder, wildcrafted himalayan pink salt, inner beauty and lots of love.

Worth noting:
Whoa! Where is all that saturated fat coming from? Cacao powder, coconut chips, and a touch of coconut oil - all clean-burning, healthy sources of fats! According to our lab-generated nutrition label, our 4oz bag contains 2.5 servings. According to my eating patterns and preferences, our 4oz bag contains 3-4 servings.

**Formerly Chocolate Goddess Clusters, Brownie Love Bites have a new Delicious Name!

Now...because these have Raw Honey in them they aren't TRUE VEGAN by definition...they refer to them as BEEGAN or like I have mentioned on this website before Apian Vegan.  I found these to be VERY Brownie-Like!  You can only eat one or two at a time!  They are VERY RICH.  They have a delightful chewiness to them, too!  They are heavy on the chocolate and coconut and that makes it a wonderful sweet treat!  Right after I tasted all the lovely coconut it follows quickly with a terrific creaminess to it!  These are TOTALLY YUM!  But you can't have too many of them in one sitting!  But that makes it stretch even farther and last longer!

So there you have it!  Just a few products I have been able to try the last few weeks and have enjoyed!  Have your tried any new-to-you products in the last few weeks?  If so - what were they?