Vegan Buffalo ArtiHearts & Plant Based Veggie Chips

I've teased a few of you about the mini haul I was able to get this passed weekend but I almost forgot about 2 items I got prior to that.  These Spicy Artichokes AKA Monterey Farms ArtiHearts Buffalo Flavor showed off the vegan "V" on the back of the package.  So I knew I had to try them at least once.  I found these at the Erie Giant Eagle a few weeks ago!  Tonight I put them in a Sun Dried Tomato Wrap and what I couldn't fit in the wrap I ate as-is and dipped in salsa.  Both were tasty but I will say due to their size they were a bit difficult to eat in the wrap.  I think they would be ideal for stand alone dipping or even thrown in a salad!

Next up are Brad's Veggie Chips CHEDDAR.  Again, they feature the "V" we tend to look for on the packaging.  They are also Raw, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free, USDA Organic, Non-GMO, etc.

These are NOT a new product but rather an updated, re-packaged product.

I'm almost finished with these and wanted to share them with you before I move on to other foods and snacks.  It's been a while since I had Brad's.  Mostly because when I do find them they are really pricey.  But the last time I went to the Whole Foods Market they were on sale for at least 2 bucks off so I was surely tempted.

Have you seen the flavored Artichoke Heart yet?  Have you tried them?  What did you think?

MidWeek Munchies & $5 Lunch

Sorry this is so late in the week!  MidWeek Munchies is BELOW and I would LOVE for you to join!  Remember you can link up ANYTHING Vegan!

For this first photo - I went to our newly transformed grocery store this past week and found these few items that I was thrilled with!  This is the ONLY place in our region that carries Sour Supreme and it was on sale 2 for $5.  I grabbed an Amy's Kitchen convenience meal the other night because I needed something quick!  I got some organic carrots as you can see and then there is this new-to-me bread which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!  All Vegan, YES!  These 5 items I was able to purchase for about $11 and because I spent over $10 in organic items (on the 3 items other than the Tofutti) I received a $2 off coupon!  WOOT!

I went back there today for my lunch.  I didn't want to spend a lot but my lunches haven't been very balanced as of late.  I am working on it.  Today I spent $5 on the photo above.  Seems like a lot but you can't buy a meal here for $5...it's usually closer to $10...so with that in mind I was happy about this purchase.  It's the first time I have tried the Blueberry Yogurt and I have to say I am a fan!  I think it was $1.29 on its own so it was certainly a treat I will only do once in a blue moon!

TWO MORE THINGS I WANTED TO MENTION...that I don't have photos for...a while back I found 6 quarts of Almond Milk at Sam's Club for $10 and some change and that will last me a while.  Another thing I bought locally by the case was JUST MAYO.  My local herb store was able to order 6 of them for me direct.  I think I paid $33 for 6 of them.  This was about 40 cents per bottle cheap than anywhere else I could find them...since my local Walmart hasn't been carrying them consistently as of late.  So YES I was pretty thrilled with my purchases this week!

What did you find?

An InLinkz Link-up

1915 Organics

My husband started drinking juices today...more so the Bolthouse Farms variety but everyone has to start somewhere, eh!?  While he grabbed a few of the Bolthouse Farms flavors I have been wanting to try one of their sister companies called 1915 Organics.  This is the first of their flavors I have tried.  I have to say it was ok and I did finish all of it but I have had better flavors from other companies.  I'm not counting them out because I also bought another flavor I will be consuming this week, too, and will report on thereafter.  Cost-wise they are about double what the small Bolhouse Farms drinks are but then again these 1915 labeled ones are organic and non-GMO, too!  Walmart seems to have both brand names at a fair price at the moment.  Ideally I want to juice my own fruit and veggie combos but the harvest season isn't at it's peak where I live AND the produce that is available isn't that appealing for the price.  Hopefully that will change soon!

MyKind Plant Iron - VEGAN - Giveaway!

TGIF!  Today I'm giving away a bottle of MyKind Organics Plant Iron & Organic Herbs from Garden of Life.  I'm super excited about this product more-so for my sister who has had to take an Iron Supplement since she was just a few years old.  She's always been low in Iron and has suffered from Anemia several times throughout her life.  My sister isn't a vegetarian but always loves learning about the products I find.  She was incredibly excited when I told her about this product not only because it's made fro organic plants and herbs but because it's a liquid.  Up until now she has always taken Iron in pill form.  PLUS...this has a cherry-lime flavor, too!

Below you will see some additional info regarding this product but first I wanted to tell you how to enter to win this product here on my blog!  All you have to do is be a US resident and make a comment on this post along with an email addy.  Tuesday I will choose one winner and contact them by email to tell them they are the winner!

Additional info about this product...


Support your blood health and provide energy to the entire body with 10mg of whole food plant iron!

Promote iron absorption and utilization with organic Amla vitamin C and whole food vitamins B6 and B12!

Support healthy iron and energy levels with ayurvedic organic herbs: Ashwagandha, Amla and curry!

Offered in a delicious organic cranberry-lime flavor, it's non-constipating, easily absorbed!

Biomarkers & Essential Oils

The other day I went to visit my local herb lady and we were talking about Essential Oils.  She told me that she has this system that can focus just on which Essential Oils would be right for me if I wanted to try it.  Usually she uses this tool to see if a customer is lacking a specific vitamin or nutrient.  But she's also able to set it up to focus on specific things like Essential Oils, for example.  I figured WHY NOT...she rain the test which was basically me standing there for 5 minutes with my hand on this device you see here.

She then provided me 2 print outs.  One was the Product Assessment Results and the other was the description of the Essential Oils based on my Assessment.  My results showed that I had 34 Biomarkers out of range.  Of those 34...16 of them could be brought back into range by using Patchouli, 7 of them brought back with Pink Grapefruit, 6 with Pine Needle, 2 with a Massage Oil, 1 with Core Balancing Blend, and 1 with Lemon grass.

She explained to me that these Biomarkers were just areas in which I could focus on improving for my overall wellness.  I took into account that it's 'that time of the month' and that I have been dealing with pain issues as of late.  She told me that these ranges could change daily and they are just based on my current energy.

I've read online that a lot of people think ZYTO devices are "who-E" but I've also heard some positives, too!  I figure because I was just focusing on which Essential Oils could benefit me it couldn't hurt.  After I found out that 16 of the 34 could be brought back by the use of Patchouli I was thrilled.  I will be focusing on that for a while.  She said that she wouldn't even worry about the others.  Patchouli is the big one and Pink Grapefruit and Pine Needle are ones to assist.  Patchouli isn't the cheapest essential oil that is for sure.  My herb lady has 3 different brands to choose from that vary in price from about 22 to 28 bucks.  I have found a few online for around 14 bucks but I want to make sure it's of good quality if it's the most important one for me.  One of the 3 she offers is organic and put thru over 200 quality assurance tests.  If I don't go with that one I might do the one other brand because I have used some of their stuff before, too!

I'm thinking PAIN is my "BIG THING" at the moment and it doesn't help that it is really getting cold where I live, too!  OYE.

MyKind Organics Organic Plant Calcium Giveaway!

It's time for another giveaway!  MyKind Organics and Garden of Life is letting me giveaway a bottle of their Organic Plant Calcium!  It's VEGAN and made of organic whole foods!  It gives you an extra boost of Vegan D3, Vitamin K2 (MK-7), and Magnesium!  I have yet to try these myself but I am a fan of MyKind Organics sprays, etc.  I was not compensated for this post but am able to try Garden of Life products in exchange for honest reviews.  I'm just posting this because I want people to know that there ARE Vegan and Whole Food/Plant-Based Supplements out there if you so choose to use them!

All you have to do to be entered to win a bottle of these is to be a US resident, leave a comment, and let me know your email addy!  I will choose a winner on Wednesday and contact the winner via email.

Thanks so much for playing along!  I hope you had a great weekend and have a wonderful Thanksgiving for those who celebrate!

Thrown Together Meals, Vegan Sour Cream Recipes, & Fur-Siblings!

I'm back to eating mostly from my stash/pantry with the exception of some fresh avocados I bought on Sunday.  I rarely by Vegan Sour Cream because it's NOT in my area and I would rather spend money on something else so you will be seeing more and more Sour Cream alternatives that I have made myself at home here on my blog.  Take this one for example.  On top of this heaping pile of nachos I made a sunflower seed based sour cream.  I also used chickpeas, avocado, corn chips, taco sauce, nutritional yeast, and tomatoes. With the chickpeas I put them on stove top first with paprika, onion, cumin, and garlic and chili sea salt.

The Sunflower Sour Cream had 3/4 C Sunflower Seeds, 3/4 C Water, 2 T Lemon Juice, 1 t Wildtree Garlic Galore, and 1/2 t Wildtree Absolutely Onion which is NOW Vegan AND Organic!  The old version of their Absolutely Onion Blend had whey in it.  Since it now has the organic label on it they revamped the ingredients and recipe and it's now on the VEGAN list!  YAY!  So many of the Wildtree products are naturally vegan and nearly the whole catalog is at least vegetarian (with the exception of just a few items)!  If you would like more Wildtree ideas when it comes to vegetarian and vegan dishes go to the search box on my sidebar and type in "wildtree" and they will all pop up!  If you are ever interested in purchasing anything let me know!

Here's another meal I threw together using what I had on hand.  I made another sour cream but this time it was made with a Macadamia Nut base.

Here's the recipe for this specific vegan sour cream using Mac Nuts...

1 C Macadamia Nuts, 1/2 C Water, 1 t Grapeseed Oil, 1 t flax meal (or flax seeds that you grind yourself), 1 T Minced Garlic, 1 T Lemon Juice, Pinch of Black Himalayan Sea Salt.

I found this one was creamier than the Sunflower Seed recipe but both were tasty in their own right.

Yes - those are plain black beans on the left.  And on the right that is cubed tempeh that I did on the stove top with Wildtree's Golden BBQ Sauce.  I really like this product - it has a subtle mustard base.  It doesn't really taste like a 'BBQ Sauce' but has a nice flavor regardless!  Yes!  It's another Wildtree Vegan offering!

And just for fun...my fur-siblings!  YES...siblings!  These 3 are my sisters and brother - my parents furkids!  Lexi is the dog and the cats are Bernie in the middle and Jeter on the right.  And in case you didn't make the connection - the cats are named after Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter both former New York Yankees!

Sometimes I think my parents put this sun room addition on just for the furkids! LOL

MidWeek Munchies: Trader Joes & Walmart

It's MidWeek Munchies Time! 

For this link up, all you have to do is blog about your VEGAN shopping experiences and LINK UP! You can share your hauls, finds, farmers market trips, or online shopping purchases. Even a Vegan Munchie you created yourself! We will be posting the link up each Wednesday and it will remain open until the following Tuesday. The next day we will start another one! Today I will be sharing my trips to Trader Joe's in Buffalo and my local Walmart. I MIGHT have a Part B to my MWM later this week with local produce. 

Over the weekend I traveled to Buffalo to visit the Trader Joe's there! It's been too long since my last visit! Here are a few items I picked up! Tempeh - again because it's been too long since my last Tempeh Attemp - Beet Hummus which was AWESOME - their Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa - and their Vegan Moz Cheese. This was the first time I have seen their cheese so I grabbed it. It's ok in a pinch but I don't love it. It melts almost 'too well' and gets a little oily and runny when melted. It might be good as a melted cheese for pasta but for bread items such a bagels or pizza I found it to be too thin.

Hubby actually picked out this Tomato Basil Marinara! And I actually grabbed the Strawberries from Wegman's in Lakewood, NY.   I blogged a little bit about why I made a last minute purchase of these strawberries HERE. They strawberries didn't last long only 2 days. Thankfully I used most of them before they went bad.  I was sorry that I couldn't find the Indian Vegetable Burger that I used to love from TJ's this time again. I hope they didn't discontinue it. It had a Potato Base and it was awesome!

I did pick up some convenience items while I was at Trader Joe's because it's not often that I am around a TJ's. It takes me about 2 hours to get to the Buffalo Trader Joe's. I think I only go about twice a year if that. I also picked up some corn chips. The total was about $27.

The only thing I bought at Wegman's were the strawberries and I think they were $3.99.

I also went to my local Walmart and grabbed some Organic Garbanzo Beans. I am loving they are carrying more organic items! I was craving Brussels Sprouts and bought 2 bags of the only frozen kind they had. Their frozen veggie section was a little thin over the weekend. In fresh produce I did add a head of lettuce to our cart. The real surprise was seeing Sweet Earth Seitan Bacon in the Freezer Section at my local Walmart. This might not be a big deal for some of you reading but it is to me because my local Walmart only has a limited stock of Morningstar, Amy's Kitchen, and Boca at the most!

And speaking of Morningstar...when I first went veg I grabbed what I could when I could for transition foods. At that time it was ONLY MorningStar. I have to admit I wasn't really fond of (m)any of their products. And when I dropped dairy I found even less that I ever picked up. BUT...here's one of their offering I actually kind of like. I don't buy them often but if we are going camping I have them on standby.

Soooo...it's YOUR Turn!

An InLinkz Link-up

Vegan MoFo ~ Late Summer Foods

Today's Vegan MoFo Prompt is...What's Your Favorite Late Summer Food?

I wasn't completely sure how to take this prompt so I am running with what came to mind first which was...what IS food?  Food is fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, grains...not packaged or prepared stuff.  FOOD is what makes up those prepared items, right, so for this post I will focus on 4 of my favorite summer foods and by that I mean 4 individual ingredients.

The first 4 late summer foods/ingredients that I LOVE are...Watermelon, Squash, Corn, and Tomatoes.  I will expand on that each on in just a moment but first take a look at this Watermelon Gazpacho I made not too long ago.

The recipe for this raw vegan soup will be posted on The Raw Foods World NEWS Site RECIPE Section in the near future.  I won't release the entire recipe here YET but I will tell you it has 5 Cups of cubed Watermelon, 2 Cups of Cubed Mangoes, and some Lemon Juice, Agave, and Mint.

I LOVE watermelon and could eat it all year if it was available.

Another food I LOVE for a different reason is various squashes!  The main reason I LOVE squash is because there are so many different types of it.  Zucchini is one of the best and more readily available.  Last year I made Raw Vegan Salt & Vinegar "Chips" made from Zukes in my Dehydrator.

 Another Summer Food I can't get enough of is CORN.  But I have 'issues' with corn in general but if you LOVE something you make it work, right!?  Here are my issues with corn...one...I don't like eating it straight off the cob like I used to when I was little in fear of getting it stuck in my teeth.  That is one my pet peeves as I get older.  So for the past several years I have been cutting off the cob and eating it that way.  It's just as good so that's awesome!  What isn't awesome is that corn is one of the MOST GMO-ed foods these days.  That's awful, isn't it?  But in my area there are not many non-GMO and organic corn offerings available so I have to do my best, right?  In this photo you will see a little thrown together dish of seasoned rice, corn, and sun-dried tomatoes.  YUM!

Here's a photo of a dish I made last year that combined my love of corn and squash (among other wonderful veggies) and can you tell what kind of grain that is in there?  It's Freekuh!  If you aren't familiar with Freekuh check out THIS POST.

I was going back thru my archives and didn't see this photo posted apparently I forgot to put it on my blog!  But I did put it on my InstaGram!

Oops!

Oh well...you get the idea!

That leaves us with my 4th choice for Late Summer Foods...TOMATO...and for some reason Blogger won't let me post anymore photos today, sorry about that...but we all know what tomatoes look like and they are oh-so-good!!!!

Happy Mail & Crazy Color!

A bit more of back-log-blogging before I start posting about my WNY VegFest Adventures from the weekend.  I have some HAPPY MAIL and Crazy Color to share with you right now!

First up...Happy Mail from NuNaturals!  They repackaged the Oat Fiber and sent some more of the flavored stevia and syrups!  I will be doing more with these in the very near future that is for sure!

You may remember a few months ago that 52 Teas was doing a KickStarter Campaign to change hands from Frank to Anne.  Well, it happened and the new owners have taken over 52 Teas and sent the KickStarter perks to those you participated!  Here are the reblends I received and I am super excited about them!

PLUS the company will remain vegan and organic!  Woot!  Congrats and THANKS to Anne and her daughter for continuing this label or great teas!

I have already tried their Pancake Breakfast Black Tea and LOVE it!  I think it's more bakey-crusty tasting than before and I'm LOVING that!

This morning I received a surprise in the mail from OPAL!  She hand-made this amazingly beautiful knit hat and also send some embossing folders for my Cuttlebug Machine.

I really MUST get back into scrappin' and paper craftin'!

Maybe after fair is over :)

Again a HUGE Thank You to OPAL for these!

The hat will surely come in handy for the cold winters here.  She knows I LOVE LOVE LOVE hats!  And she's incredibly talented!  She is brilliant with fiber crafts!

In other news...

The rooftop garden is going very well!  We didn't do as much of a variety of things this year but what we are trying is doing well!

We started these peppers inside several months ago and actually these three peppers were indoor and window sill gardening attempts.  We didn't take these outside.

These are SUPER HOT!!!  I like spicy but I will be using these in moderation that is for sure!

They are about the length of my finger so they are pretty small but pack a powerful punch!

And I have been blogging about how we are gearing up for fair time and this is where this next photo comes into play!

This year we are going to have a Prize Wheel and here is what it looks like.  My father let us borrow it from his work and DH altered it.  Doesn't it look COOL!?  What CRAZY COLOR, eh?  Sure is colorful!  And we already have a LOT of prizes to giveaway!  That is above and beyond all of the travel mugs we are given to pass out from a local company and this year we also have about 300 bags of chips to pass out, too!  There will be 4 concerts in 5 days so that is where most of my time will be spent once radio life is wrapped up for the day!

Day 6 SATURDAY'S Vegan Prize - Raw Organic Fiber!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!  I have 2 more prizes to give away!  One TODAY which is this huge TUB of Raw Fiber and tomorrow I will be giving away MyKind Organics D3 Spray so make sure you check back tomorrow for that!  If you want to WIN keep reading!!!

What I really LOVE is that these products are ALL on Garden of Life's No-GMO List! To learn more about their Non-GMO Project - click HERE.

AND...The grand prize that I will be choosing a winner for will take place after Monday, July 13th. The grand prize includes the following...

* Dr. Formulated Organic Fiber

* Perfect Food Wheat Grass Powder

* Raw Meal - Spiced Chai

* Chia Seeds

* Organic Plant Calcium

* OPP (Organic Plant Protein) Chocolate

* OPP (Organic Plant Protein) Energy

HOW DO YOU WIN?

If you would like to win TODAY'S PRIZE leave a comment below and I will choose one winner! 

*If you don't have a blogger profile please remember to leave me your email addy in the comment, too* 

If you would like to win the GRAND PRIZE - the Prize Pack - leave a comment on all 7 daily contests and I will choose a winner for the prize pack next week!  U.S. Shipping addresses only, please. AND YES...you are still eligible to win the prize pack if you won an individual prize! GOOD LUCK!

Vegan Contest DAY 2 - MyKind Organics

It's Tuesday and that means it's the 2nd Day of my 7 days of giveaways!  First...let's get to the winner of YESTERDAY'S Contest which was Jennifer over at One Sonic Bite.  Congrats!  Jennifer I dropped you an email if you want to let me know your shipping info for your prize!

Next up...TODAY'S Contest/Giveaway!  Above you will see that today I'm giving away a bottle of MyKind Organics B-12 Spray!  I have tried this and do really like it on those days were I'm traveling and not sure about food intake.  I also like to use this about a week before 'my time of the month'.  I've tried to up my intake of B Vitamins since I was a teenagers around that time of the month it seems to help with stress and emotions for me personally.

What I really LOVE is that these products are ALL on Garden of Life's No-GMO List! To learn more about their Non-GO Project - click HERE.

AND...The grand prize that I will be choosing a winner for will take place after Monday, July 13th. The grand prize includes the following...

* Dr. Formulated Organic Fiber

* Perfect Food Wheat Grass Powder

* Raw Meal - Spiced Chai

* Chia Seeds

* Organic Plant Calcium

* OPP (Organic Plant Protein) Chocolate

* OPP (Organic Plant Protein) Energy

HOW DO YOU WIN?

If you would like to win TODAY'S PRIZE leave a comment below and I will choose one winner! 

*If you don't have a blogger profile please remember to leave me your email addy in the comment, too*  

If you would like to win the GRAND PRIZE - the Prize Pack - leave a comment on all 7 daily contests and I will choose a winner for the prize pack next week!  U.S. Shipping addresses only, please.  AND YES...you are still eligible to win the prize pack if you won an individual prize! GOOD LUCK!

Vegan & Raw Vegan Food Hauls - Wegman's & The Raw Food World

I've been backed-up with posts lately but I wanted to share with you my online shopping and Wegman's hauls! 

First up was my last few shipments from The Raw Food World.  I am waiting on a few other items from them but they should be on their way soon!  Including my new SlowStar Juicer!  Woot! 

I decided to grab some heavy-duty Spirulina Tablets - they were on sale a while back!  I think I ended up getting 500 or so and I want to try and ground them and use in recipes.

I had to re-order Nutritional Yeast and they started getting CGF Organic & Freeze Dried items back in stock!  YAY!  My mother LOVES the Mangosteen!  So I got her some and I wanted to try Durian because we can't get fresh Durian where I live so this will probably be the closest I come to it for a while!  Then I grabbed some dried Pineapple and Mango for my father - he loves both and I wanted to try some dried pitted prunes for myself.

Oh yeah!  Almost forgot!  If you got back up to that first photo you will see I splurged a bit and scored some Ojio Vanilla Powder!  I have been wanting to try this for a while.  I don't usually trust grocery-store vanilla extract and powders but this is organic and Ojio and they pride themselves in quality products so I thought I would try them.  Plus the other products I have gotten from Ojio have been fantastic!

To the left...YUP!  I bought another Spirooli Spiralizer - I already have one and love it and bought this one for my sister.  I did save the one on top for myself tho and that slices ribbons - a bit different from the one I have!

Now...on to the Wegman's run I made WEEKS ago!  I grabbed some of their Organic Applesauce - it looked too good to pass up - and the price was right, too!  I have been a little low on lentils lately and really craving them since that lovely lentil dish while in Florida so I decided to get the sprouted green lentils I found at Wegman's.  PLUS...I had been out of Farro for the LONGEST time so I well passed due to get some more of that, too!  The prices were fair on all three of these products!  I did grab some Daiya Cheese, too, I only get it when it's on sale for 2 reasons...it IS expensive...but I also don't want to eat too much of it because it is a processed food.

In their deli area I found wonderful chickpea salad!  One of the MAIN reasons I LOVE Wegman's is because their label ALMOST everything with the V if it's VEGAN.  Yay!  The flavor of the bean salad was great and I also wanted to try it because of the tri-colored chickpea factor.  Of course the default is your regular chickpeas that you see everyday but there were brown and black ones in this salad, too, and they were pretty tasty, too!  Then I grabbed some of the Wegman's brand Tofu for some Egg Trick Muffins I made (shout out to The Vegan Zombie and Strong Hearts Cafe)

I was running low on mustard - and still am - didn't realize I was also out of yellow mustard, too, but I was able to purchase some of their Dijon and it's GOOD.

I was happy to see that they came out with some flavored beans that also happened to be vegan including these Chana Masala Garbanzo's!  I couldn't resist the Artichoke Hearts - I hope to be making my favorite Farro Dish with them soon and some yellow wax beans!  Yum!

Last but not least I finally broke down and bought some of Eat Pastry's Cookie Dough and let me tell you it's everything I was dreaming of and more!  I have been hearing The Vegan Zombie go on and on about this line for a while and now I finally see what all the hype is about! 

Again, I don't want to get too used to it and over indulge but it is a tasty treat on occasion and in moderation.

Below you can see some of the cookies I made with the dough...but it is certainly tempting to eat prior to baking, too!

Nom, Nom, Nom!

I'm not going to lie...YUM!

So there you have it!  My hauls from Wegman's and The Raw Foods World!

I have LOTS more to share with you so stay tuned!  It's been so busy as of late but things are going fairly well!  How are you and what have you been up to lately!?

Raw Eats, Organic Fresh Pressed Juices, Salads, and More from West Palm Beach

Yes...I'm still trying to catch up with vacation pics!  Today I will have a photo heavy post about the food I enjoyed!  For the most part I enjoyed a lot of raw food...pretty impressive for being on vacation, eh!?

First off we have some organic fresh pressed juices!  This red one is called ZEN.  It had Red Beet, Red Apple, Fresh Ginger, and Lemon.  It was great!  It was part of my lunch that day along side a salad.  I had a LOT of salads and they were all great!  I also got a bunch of ideas for salad dressings, too!

For this GREEN Juice...it's called Garden Tea and it was made up of Parsley, Mint, Kale, and Pineapple.  It was WONDERFUL!!! 

I really enjoyed both juices!  There were about 3 or 4 other choices, too, but they were REALLY expensive.  They averaged between 13 and 15 dollars each.  I opted for those rather than the 'adult beverage' options. 

The colors of the juices were AMAZING!  And they were oh-so-tasty!

Here's one of my many salads.  It was one of the restaurants at The Breakers CHOP Salads. 

The dressing was a citrus balsamic...yummy, yummy, yummy!

As you can see it has greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.  ALL of the lettuces were so crispy and fresh.  I am pretty sure that all of the tomatoes they used in all of the restaurants there were heirlooms, too!

Don't you just LOVE hierlooms?

Each morning I started my day with various fruit and fruit juices.  In this case I had strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe.

The juice you see in this photo is fresh squeezed grapefruit juice!  It was terrific!  I need more grapefruit juice in my life...I have missed it a lot!

Other mornings I have various berries, melons, some pears, lots of citrus, etc.

Around mid to late afternoon I had a lot of veggies and some fruit too.  Here is a plate from one of those mini meals.  I had corn chips with a really great salsa, some guacamole, plus some raw squash, cucumbers, celery, and jicama.  I must have eaten my weight in jicama!!!  I think I had a slew of it each day!  YUM!

Other days I had various sweet peppers, carrots, zukes, beans, tomatoes, grapes, etc...

YUM!

And speaking of YUM...Mango Gazpacho!  Most of these photos are tidbits from our offerings at the Flagler Club Level.  The one girl specifically knew that I was vegan and I think she put in a good word for me so she pointed out this cold soup and I adored it!  I want to try and makes some VERY SOON so I will be sure to share those attempts with you! 

And I just LOVED these little shot glasses they put them in, too! 

This Mango Soup had, of course Mango, citrus, red pepper flakes, and some herbs!

Here's another salad I had and was great, too!  LARGE heirloom tomatoes, walnuts, pears, onions, cranberries, leafy greens, all with another citrus balsamic dressing but it was different from the one I mentioned above.  I think it had some kind of wild flower in it, too, the dressing not the actual salad...it was very unique!  I had another salad that was similar but it had marinated hearts of palm and pink beets!  I need more salads like this in my life, too!  VERY SOON I will be continuing on with some of these things!  I really enjoyed HIGH RAW during vacation and now that spring is here and the farmers markets are opening close to me again I hope to get back to it SOON!

One of my many mini goals during this vacation to The Breakers in West Palm Beach was to have coconut water straight from the coconut and you know what?  I did it!  Here is a pic of the one I got!  It was AWESOME!  And I pulled some of the coconut off and gnawed on it a bit, too!  SO GOOD!

Yeah...so...the coconut water IN the coconut was still $12!  Oye!

But it's not like I get REAL coconuts and fresh coconut water here in the snow belt so I was stoked to get it when I could!

The last full day we were there we decided to go to their Italian Restaurant and when I made the reservations they asked us if we had any special requests and I said 'Well, I'm looking for vegan options' and when we showed up our super nice waitress was WONDERFUL and said 'I know you are vegan let me tell you what we can do for you' and suggested the roasted brussels sprouts (with a bit of onion) in oil and they were done to perfection!

I also had a salad similar to the one with the pears and leafy greens above.  There was also a bruschetta, too!  YUMMO!

And FINALLY the last food photo I wanted to post was this dish!  It was listed on the menu as Vegan Porridge but I would just call it Vegan Lentil Chili.  It was excellent!  They topped it off with root veggies and a single apple crisp!

I could have eaten this dish every day I was there but the salads, fruits, and juices were DELISH, too! 

So...what do you think of some of the foods I consumed on vacation?  I think I did really good!  I certainly behaved myself and kept things interesting!

Monday's the last day!

Remember THIS POST about the 52 Teas Take-Over?  Well, they've reached their goal but are trying to go above and beyond to help even more with the future of their business!  I just donated as well!  

Of course I am partial because ANNE and her daughter are behind it - but - they are keeping and moving forward with everything being VEGAN and organic! 

EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS...so if you are reading this and a buddy of mine and you can even do the $5 pledge that would help out immensely!

I have two posts today...be sure to scroll down for the other one!

Weekend Contest - Garden of Life Organic Plant Protein!

Would you like to win a bag of Garden of Life's NEW Organic Plant Protein SMOOTH CHOCOLATE Flavor?  If so...all you have to do is comment on this post along with an email address I can contact you at IF you are the winner!  I will choose one winner at random on Monday the 2nd and contact them by email to let them know they are the winner!

I've been tinkering with these new OPP's (Organic Plant Proteins) in my recipes and will be sharing more on my blog very soon!  In the meantime visit their website for more info OR check below...

• USDA Organic
• Non-GMO Project Verified
• Grain Free
• Vegan
• Gluten Free

Garden of Life Sources clean, pure ingredients from organic family farms to bring you the best nutritional products in the world.

• 15g of complete protein
• Smooth, with no gritty texture
• Tasty and flavorful
• Includes essential fatty acids, probiotics and enzymes
• Gluten free with no allergenic ingredients like soy, wheat and dairy

Typical Amino Acid Profile 

Alanine 710 mg

Arginine1445 mg 

Aspartic Acid 1910 mg

Cysteine 140 mg

Glutamic acid 2830 mg

Glycine 680 mg

Histidine 400 mg

Isoleucine*ˆ 790 mg

Leucine*ˆ 1435 mg

Lysine* 1215 mg

Methionine* 180 mg

Phenylalanine* 925 mg 

Proline 700 mg

Serine 740 mg 

Threonine* 585 mg 

Tryptophan* 160 mg 

Tyrosine 605 mg 

Valine*ˆ 850 mg

* Essential Amino Acids

ˆBranched Chain Amino Acids

Soups & Social Media

Just a quick little check in today with a HELLO to all!  I HAD to share this soup photo with you but because I wanted to submit it as a possible feature over at The Raw Food World NEWS Site under their RECIPE Section I thought I would wait to mention what's in it. I have to say I'm pretty proud of this soup, tho!  The main ingredient is BEET and YES those are Hemp Seeds you are seeing!  Eventho I'm not a girlie-girl and not fond of the color PINK the color of this soup is out of this world!  The flavor was amazing, too!  It's considered a RAW VEGAN Soup as well!

In other news...

There is only 2 days left on my friend Anne's Kickstarter Campaign if you have a few bucks to help her out it would be greatly appreciated!  She's in the process of trying to purchase and take over 52 Teas which is a really creative tea companies that prides themselves on organic and vegan ingredients.  Read more about this and contribute HERE. 

Incase you aren't already following me on InstaGram you can find me HERE.  I try and post at least 1 photo everyday but most days I go a little crazy and post several and especially with the upcoming plans we have I will be posting almost everything on InstaGram before I post it anywhere else.  If you are on InstaGram make sure you let me know in comments!

Smooth Chocolate Organic Plant Protein - First Impression

This is a blog post about Garden of Life's new Organic Plant Protein - specifically - their Smooth Chocolate Flavor.  This is also a FIRST IMPRESSION post - therefore - I tried this as a single serving - straight up with Almond Milk - nothing more and nothing less.  My first encounter was last week when I mixed the dry powder in with the Almond Milk and used a Blender Bottle to shake it well.

I will completely agree that this new Organic Plant Protein (OPP) is VERY smooth.  It's NOT grainy like some other powders.  The Smooth Chocolate Flavor was tasty but I will say the aroma is what got me hooked up front!

Overall I really did enjoy sipping on this smooth chocolate flavor!  There was an undertone of 'green-ness' to it...similar to that of a pea or spinach.  I can't wait to start playing with this brand new line from Garden of Life!

Grain Free

We source clean, pure ingredients from organic family farms to bring you the best nutritional products in the world.

• 15g of complete protein
• Smooth, with no gritty texture
• Tasty and flavorful
• Includes essential fatty acids, probiotics and enzymes
• Gluten Free, with no allergenic ingredients like soy, wheat and dairy.

Super SMOOTH and delicious, our family friendly Grain Free Organic Plant Protein is packed with energy-giving protein and wholesome fiber.

Directions

Mix 1 level scoop in 8 ounces of water (scoop included). Delicious with unsweetened almond or rice milk.

Warning

Store in a cool, dry place. Do not use if seal is damaged or missing.

Does Not Contain:

Contains No dairy, soy, tree nuts, added sugars, filler ingredients, artificial flavorings, colors, sweeteners or preservatives. Grain Free