Recap of the Week

TGIF!  I'll get the not-so-great-news out of the way, first!  This past week Paco (our Chihuahua who has immune issues) had a puffy nose and I took him to the vet and they are thinking it's tooth related so long story short...they are going to do dental surgery next Thursday.  Because of his immune issues and those issues having to do with clotting and NOT clotting properly they have to treat this a bit differently.  I'm hoping all goes well.  Please send positive thoughts, prayers, vibes our way!  In other crazy news...my Fiat needs 4 new tires!  Blah!  Plus...I'm still without a dishwasher!  AND...our gutter fell off the house...so...YEAH...it's been a rough go-around!

Anyways...on to more positive things...such as FOOD...First photo is part of my lunch from Monday.  It's a Red Cabbage Crunch Salad of sorts.  Raw...carrots, cabbage, onion, pumpkin seeds, parsley, sunflower seeds, etc...

Next photo is simply Oil Roasted Brussels Sprouts with herbs!

I got both of these at Wegman's which are clearly marked whether or not they are vegetarian, vegan, or otherwise.  Why can't every eating establishment be that obvious!?

I was able to meet up with my sister for lunch that day since I was in her neck-of-the-woods.

Not too long ago I made this Pimento Cheese.  It turned out super YUMMY!

Silly me...I didn't save the recipe!  I can tell you that it has Cashews, Pimentos, Nutritional Yeast, SeaClear, and more in it, tho!

I've been into more comfort and convenience foods as of late and need to throw in more grains.
I hope to do more casseroles, one-pot-meals, and thrown-together-bowls in the near future, too!

So  many vegan food combos - so little time, eh!?

Last night I did this Plant-Based Cheese and once again I don't have the recipe with me.  It is in need of some tweaking, first, so it might be for the best that I don't post it now but I will tell you that it had potatoes, carrots, cashews, almond milk, nutritional yeast, minced garlic and onion, and a few other little things thrown in.

It turned out ok but I felt it was missing that last little something-something.

Something else I should mention that was pretty awesome this week was that it reached 72 degrees the other day!  Yes...in mid-march...in the snow belt!

Last week I stopped in at a semi-local produce market.  I say semi-local because it it still about 40 minutes away from my house but since I am traveling up that way for work at least once a week now I am able to stop in and see what they have.  It's also one of the few places of its kind that is open year-round in this area.

I found these Honey Tangerines on sale 2 for $1.  I also found Honey Bell Oranges that you can see in the next photo.  The Honey Bell Oranges were 79 cents each.



This might not sound like a deal to some of you in sunny Florida or California where citrus is plentiful but here for this time of year the price was right for me.

So these 4 items made up my lunch that day!

I'm still waiting for a semi-local restaurant to re-open.  It's a vegetarian and vegan restaurant that has been under construction for well over a year.  The owner is doing all the renovations himself so I understand the delay but I won't lie...it's nearly killing me! LOL

I will leave you with this photo of Cricket.  She's doing well and still a crazy lady that is for sure!  Riley is doing good, too, and so is Charlie the feral cat we have!  Here's hoping all goes well with Paco's dental surgery on Thursday!

I will say I have been tempted to adopt another dog from a local shelter...his name is Tipper.  I think 3 dogs is maximum capacity for our house but I will tell you that this specific dog has been 'haunting me' for WEEKS.  I have been visiting him at the shelter and smuggling in treats for him.

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!?

RAW WEEK - Tuesday!

Hello Lovelies!

It's day 2 of my RAW WEEK!  After posting yesterday I went home and made this CRAZY HUGE Salad!  But not before a mini outing!  I had to swing by and drop off a cat carrier that I borrowed from my parents neighbor and then I went to Aldi's.  Early yesterday morning when I went to a nearby Grocery Store most of their daily produce was WAY TOO Expensive.  Average Every Day NON-Organic Cauliflower was $3.99 a head, their tomatoes were $3.49 per pound and most of them HUGE so I bet they were well over a pound a piece, even their grapefruit was $1.29 each...their avocados were over $2 each, etc.  So I really wanted to stock up and got a bunch of stuff at Aldi's and only spent $22.  I wish I would have taken a photo of my haul before putting everything in their places in my kitchen/frig/pantry.

While at Aldi's I found a super huge awesome hard plastic bowl for $4 - I went home, washed it, and threw this salad in it!

This Salad Contains the following...Romaine Hearts, Cherry Tomatoes, Mini Cucumbers, Orange Sweet Bell Peppers, and Hemp Seeds.  I think it worked out to be between 4 and 6 cups of greens.  I made a dressing last night as you can see in this 2nd photo but silly me I forgot to jot down everything in it...so...here's a guess...I know there was at least 1 C of Mango along with about 2 T Tahini.  I think I added some Lemon Juice and Garlic Sea Salt.

This 3rd photo is a pic of the Salad Dressing I made prior to pouring on the salad.  OH!  Yes...I think I also put about 2 T Dijon in there, too!

I really enjoyed this dressing but think next time I would use less Mango and more Dijon for the extra ZING!

Later in the evening - last night - I had the munchies.  I decided to cut up 2 more Mini Cucumbers and treat them like Raw "Chips".  I made a Raw Vegan Cheese Dip to go along with it. 

In this Raw Vegan Cheese Dip and/or sauce here is what I used...

1 C Pine Nuts
1 C Cashews
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Mini Sweet Red Bell Peppers
2 T Lemon Juice
1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast

I get Raw Cashews and Pine Nuts at my local herb store in bulk.  Mostly when I buy in bulk the prices are better.  When it comes to nuts - especially raw nuts - that isn't usually the case. 

I realize Nutritional Yeast isn't necessarily raw but I do know a lot of Raw Foodists that consume it.

Next up...I made some Raw Vegan Chia Crackers or Chips last night.  They kind of remind me of Blue Corn Chips/Tortillas.

For the crackers/chips I did about 1 C of Chia into 2 C Water for about an hour.  I stirred in about 1 T Garlic Powder - maybe a little less - for the whole batch - and then spread it out on a Dehydrator Sheet and flipped every 2 hours or so until crisp.

I was pretty impressed with myself, actually.  I ended up doing quite a bit last night around the house as well as food prep.

Now...I only had one of these this morning as a Taste Test and I really liked them.  I'm probably going to have them with dinner or as a snack tonight.  And LOOK - I used that Raw Vegan Cheese as a dip since there was SO MUCH in the batch that I made.  I also noticed it thickened up pretty nice over night in the frig.

This will last me a few days.

I felt like I literally ate all day long yesterday.  But I think I did a good job of getting a variety of foods. 

As for today...I started my day with another smoothie which you can see in the following photos. 

For this smoothie I used 2 C Strawberries, 4 Handfuls of Spinach, 2 inch chunk of frozen banana. 

It's not the most beautiful color but it tasted good!

I've been putting my Vitamix to the test as well as my Excalibur!  This REALLY excites me!

Yesterday I was up from about 4am until about 11-ish last night. 

Not Bad. 

Best part?  No afternoon energy crash! 

I, did, however, sleep in longer this morning - but - not as long as I usually do - so that's good!

I've also been able to use more of my cute Mason Jar Glasses with the handles and more consistently.

So far - TODAY - I had the smoothie listed above along with 3 Apples and 1 Nectarine.

For Lunch I had some GREENS from the Container Garden...a mix of both the Sweet AND the Spicy Mesclun Mixes...so up to 8 different lettuces altho I think there is only about 5 in what I picked today.  On top of the Greens I threw in about a tablespoon or two of Hemp Seeds and about 1 C of Grapefruit.  For the "dressing" I just used Apple Cider Vinegar to taste.  I also had about 1/4 of a Watermelon on the side.  I'm looking forward to Dinner tonight!

What's Growing In My Kitchen & Produce Nook

I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot of things to blog about.  I will try and pair 'like subjects' in each post but there will be a couple per day so I can try and catch up from when I was away.

I enjoyed my time off - we took Monday and Tuesday as vacation days.  My husband's Birthday was March 10th and mine was the 16th.  We decided to take his Fiat on some day trips.  It worked out well and we were able to hit up a bunch of places that we had been wanting to go but more importantly we were able to get out of town without having to get a place to stay because we came home each of the two nights.  More on where we went in various upcoming posts but I will tell you that we hit-up 3 states...New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. 

But for this specific post I will tell you about a few things that I have been working on in my kitchen in the way of Produce and Window Sill growing.    As you can see in this first photo I chopped off the bottom of my celery and am trying to regrow it in my kitchen.  I've talked to someone who has done this many times as well as chatted online with some people who have tried it with success, too!  Some have done it in just water - making sure that the water is FRESH...and others have started it in their kitchen and then transplanted it in a container or in the ground after it started sprouting from the middle.  So I'm going to try this! 

Another thing I started in my kitchen recently was herbs.  I've done this in the past but this time around I found these neat tins with holes in the bottom that sit on a try so the water can drain but also soak from the bottom.  I'm doing Basil, Chives, and Parsley.  Both of these attempts - the Celery and the Herbs - are on the Window Sill in my Kitchen.

Also in my kitchen - but ALWAYS in my kitchen - are fresh fruit and veggies.  This is a look at what I currently have.  Multi-Colored Sweet Mini Peppers, Onions, Tomatoes, 2 or 3 different kinds of Apples, Bananas, Mandarins.  I have my greens in the frig along with some bigger yellow and orange sweet peppers, a large cucumber, and a few others.

Last night - the Bananas were ripe - so I cut them up and put them in the freezer.  This is the only way I can tolerate Bananas.  LESS is MORE.  1 or 2 chunks at a time in smoothies.  I recently finished some sprouts in the kitchen and hope to start some more tonight.  What are some of the things you have going or growing in your kitchen these days!?

Gorgeous Weekend! Colorful Produce Is Starting To Trickle In!

Happy Monday!  I'm sad to see my weekend end but REALLY enjoyed my time the last few days and am still grinning from ear to ear about that!  I think I will do 2 posts again today as I have so much to share it will be quite long!  So to kick things off - here are my foods of the weekend!

On Friday I went over to my parents house to visit and put a fairly large Wildtree Order in - in preparation for our next 4 events!  We have next weekend off, but then we have at least 4 weekends in a row where we will be booked with events!  I know it sounds crazy but I am excited about this!  Excited about being busy!  YAY!  While I was over at my parents house my mother surprised me with these Veggie Sushi Rolls from Wegmans as well as a nice sized mass of Jicama!  I've been CRAVING Jicama lately!  In these Sushi Rolls you will see Wild Mushrooms, Asparagus, Avocado, Cucumber, Nori, Sticky Rice, and Sesame Seeds!  They were wonderful!

I was so VERY excited that Saturday was Awesomely-Sunny!  I soooo needed the sunshine!  It was fair weather and terrifically positive the WHOLE day!  I am FINALLY starting to see produce!  I still had to buy some from regular grocery store but it's even starting to look so much better than it did!  Here is most of what I bought!  I stopped at Tops Markets but also stopped at Hatch Patch - a local produce stand here and Brigiotta's in Jamestown/Lakewood, NY.  Considering all I bought I didn't spend that much!  I spent more in gas than actually buying the produce! 

While I was out I decided to treat myself to lunch.  I went to The Labyrinth in Jamestown, NY, and had this awesome Havana Shakedown Wrap!  It was jam-packed with goodness!  Black Beans, Seasoned Rice, Tomatoes, various seeds, hot sauce, Avocado, etc.

I did something that I have never done before.  I sat down and ate lunch in the cafe by myself.  I know it doesn't sound like a lot but I usually get stuff to go when I am by myself!

 One of the things I bought on Saturday were these babies!  Basil and Chive Starter Plants.  I'm really thinking I must replant them in a hurry because they are already starting to get limp.  The Basil smelled amazing - all the way home, tho! 

I have decided to DO IT!  I'm going to do a garden this year!  I'm not going to do it in the ground but rather in boxes and try that for this year!

My husband is already excited about the Chives for his Baked Potatoes!

As I type this...I'm thinking I might actually do THREE posts, today, instead!  Next up - in a couple of hours - I will be posting all of the foods from the weekend!  Yeah!  I went a little crazy!  But it was fun!

How was your weekend!?

Smiles, Savings, & Sprouts!

 This was my husband's fortune in his fortune cookie the other day!  It cracked us up!  Immediately we thought of Mike Meyers' LOVE GURU.

 If you read my post from yesterday you will see I went shopping!  Sure I spent some - but I also saved!  I found these babies at our local Big Lots!  I love finding random goodies there!

 Like I said I started sprouting again and here is a pic of the Lentils I am sprouting!  More coming soon on these and what I will do with them!

 And if you have been to my blog before you know I have been posting a lot about my cats and dogs!  Well, here are some more pics of my pups!  The top two are Suzie and Riley.  They are BUDS!!!

 And here is Senor Paco!  This was taken Sunday Night...he totally did this himself.  He sure knows how to bundle up!

 Okay...more produce!  These are from Sam's Club.  I bought 3 pounds for $2.99!  OMG!  I LOVE these Zima Tomatoes!

I bought 3 different kinds of Granola at Big Lots the other day!  This was one of them!  All 3 I bought were free of animal products - thus being - VEGAN!

Like I said...I have LOTS to post!  So stay tuned!  These are just a few of the many things that have made me smile lately, the sprouting I have been up to, and the savings I have found!

How about you?

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