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? 

Stocking Up on The Raw Food World

YAY!  Happy Mail!  Today I received my box of goodies from The Raw Food World and here's what I got in my most recent shipment from them.

I've been a little addicted to Raw Recipe and Raw Books lately so I decided to stock up on them.  I have been a fan of Ani's for a while and decided to get two more of her books including Ani's Raw Food Asia and Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  I already have her Essentials one.  Then I noticed The World Goes Raw Cookbook and grabbed that one, too!  I think this will be my first encounter with Lisa Mann.  Looking forward to it!

Then I have had my eye on Raw Food Revolution so I finally decided to get that book, too!  Also in this last shipment I got Raw & Simple and Soak Your Nuts - Cleansing with Karyn.  I remember thumbing thru Karyn's book a while back while seeing it in a store and I regretted not getting it. 

I joined the GoodReads App a while back...I guess it was in 2012...but I have been using it an awful lot lately to take not of what books I have been reading.  Mostly Vegan, Raw, and Health related books with some journals/dairies, and books of poetry mixed in. 

And since I have been contributing to The Raw Food World's NEWS Site the last several months and chatting with Matt Monarch I wanted to make sure I added Matt and Angela's books to my collection...so...you will see I finally did that in this last order/shipment!  I can't wait to jump in - but - I have been getting behind the last several months.  So I have decided to PUSH MYSELF and join a Book Challenge on the GoodReads App.  You can see my progress on there!

Like I said - I am stocking up on some things!  I have been out of my brown rice pasta's for a while now and decided to get the Penne and the Spirals.

They had a few new products that interested me including one you see here in this photo.  Turmeric Wraps!  They are raw and paleo - not that I'm into paleo - but still - thought they sounded cool.  I can't wait to try them!  Plus - anything Turmeric is usually pretty awesome...they have a few others flavors as well so I might get those down the road!

They had great pricing on this brand of Kale Chips so I stocked up on those, too, while I was at it!  I'm gnawing on some of the spicy ones while I am writing this!

You can see that I got some Pine Nut Flakes!  Matt spoke so highly of them that I HAD to try some for myself!  I will keep you posted on my opinions on them, too!  Organic Currants was another item I have in there and can't wait to use them in Smoothie Bowls.  I splurged and bought some Raw Chocolate items, too!  Excited!!!!

And...FINALLY...last...but not least...

I thought I would start testing out Copaiba Oil on myself!  More on that down the road, too!

And I got two rings!  But not just any two rings!  These are pieces from the Andean Gypsy Jewelry Collection over at The Raw Food World!  They were hand made and one-of-a-kind from Gypsies in Matt and Angela's community in Ecuador!  The money from their jewelry sales goes to pay for the Gypsy children's schooling.

I have a lot of LEARNING to do with all of these products and books and I can't wait to jump right in!  If you have any of these items - let me know - and let me know what you think of them!

Where Did This Week Go & Happy Mail

This week has been CRAZY with work and that's the main reason I haven't blogged!  I won't get into all of the busy-body-ness that I have been involved in this week...instead I will look forward and share with you some Happy Mail I received this week!

Starting things off is the shipment I received from Adagio Tea at the beginning of the week.  I decided to cash in a bunch of my credits on Cyber Monday and with their free shipping incentive that day I received all of this at no cost.  Since I have already tried almost all of their cataloged teas I only ordered a few of the black teas and black tea flavors and then they sent me a few samples such as the mango which I have already tried, too.

What I am really interested in from Adagio is the tea blending feature they have on their website.  I've created over 20 blends the past several years.  I finally ordered a few of them including the Love Spell one I blended which was inspired by Victoria Secret's Body Wash.  I know that might sound weird but it's true.  I think the tea aroma smells just like the body wash!  It's a pretty good floral flavored green with a bit of fruit and other natural sweetness in there.  I also grabbed the Mulled Cranberry Apple Cider which was a neat mix of flavors as well.  A 3rd Blend of mine I finally purchased was the one I named Dragon's Palm Tree.  It's mostly a white base tea with a hint of strawberry.  Since I am a Sci Fi Freak I decided to get a few other blends from other tea blenders including two from their FANDOMS.  One was the Dr. Daniel Jackson Blend from the Stargate Series and the other is the Darryl Dixon Blend from The Walking Dead Series.

One thing I forgot to take a photo of was a reusable bag I received from NBC Universal.  You can see it in the background of this photo from their site.  It's pretty awesome.  I received this because I participated in their website One Small Act.

In this 2nd photo - as well as the next 3 photos - you will see the last shipment I received from The Raw Food World.  I decided to stock up on raw snacks for work. 

I got 4 different flavors of Kale Chips from Love Force.  The American, Indian, Mexican, and Italian flavors. 

You will see one of two Nutritional Yeasts, a POUND of Raw Organic Mesquite Powder, and  Mung Bean Pasta.  Oh!  Yeah!  There is a small loaf of Apricot Bread in there, too!  I can't wait to try that!

Pardon the pun...but I went a little NUTS with the Cashews!  Yes...I got 6 pounds of Raw Cashews!  They were having a crazy awesome sale on them!  I couldn't resist!  I also bought some Organic Walnuts.  You will see that I scored some Cashew Cacao Hemp Nut Butter, too! 

I took advantage of their At-Cost Pricing on the Hurraw Vegan Lip Balm and grabbed a mint that was at regular price, too!

I've totally been getting into Bamboo more lately and I LOVE wooden spoons so I decided to grab a 2nd set of the Bamboo Kitchen Tools you will see in the netting.  I also decided to get another set of the Bamboo "silver" ware...a spoon, knife, and folk.  I LOVE these.  And I finally broke down and bought the "Edward" Salad Hands.  I just LOVED the name and never had anything for large salads or tossing so I figured WHY NOT?

More snacks for the office!  GO RAW Flax Snacks - spicy and pizza flavors as well as two cookie flavors - Chocolate and Ginger Snaps!

And let's not forget about the books!  This time around I picked up a Vice Cream Book and the Simply Dehydrated Book which I have been wanting for the last several months!

I have been wanting one of Cherie Soria's books for a while now and I decided to get Angel Foods.  I've been a fan of T. Colin Campbell and added The China Study Cookbook that his daughter Leanne Campbell wrote.

I have been wanting to get into and educate myself more on Micro Greens so I bought one of the many Micro Greens books that the Raw Food World has for sale on their website.  Another book I threw in was Go Further by Actor Woody Harrelson and Friends.  It's a book about 'being greener'.  The photos aren't that wonderful but I think it will be a good read and a good book to refer back on from time to time.

One of my goals for the new week SHOULD BE to dive into some of these books, eh!?  What do you think!?  Anything you have and LOVE or anything you see that you might like in my recent Happy Mail photos?

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?

Raw Food World Shipment Thoughts

Last week I received my last shipment from The Raw Food World and here are the highlights from that shipment.  In this first photo you will see I have 2 Parma! products.  I have never tried them because I don't have them in my region.  There was a 'problem' with the Garlicky Green one and they replaced it PRIORITY MAIL which was awesome!  It's been a while since I have looked into purchasing Kelp and when I saw this one shaker seasoning that had a Cayenne kick to it I knew I had to try it!  The Lemon Pecan Fig Bars were not necessary but more of a treat to myself.  I must say they are wonderful.  I shared with 2 of my co-workers and still have some of it left.  They are super rich and flavorful so a little nibble goes a long way.  I bought some more Freeze Dried Mangosteen for my mom.  You may remember reading previously how much she loved them so I wanted to make sure I bought some for her to support her new love.  I wanted to grab some Sun Dried Persimmons for a few reasons.  One because they are a product I can't get around here even on my best attempt and two because they were straight from Ojai, California.  And next to those you can see I scored some Adzuki Bean Spaghetti.  I have tried the Black Bean and enjoyed it and still have some.  Christine over at the Raw Project has been blogging about her attempts with this brand of pasta, too!  Right now over at The Raw Food World they have the Mung Bean, Black Bean, and Soy Bean Pastas for $4.99 - last month they were $3.49, I think.  RIGHT NOW you can get the Adzuki Bean Pasta over at The Raw Food World for $3.49!!!  Woot!  Take a look at my sidebar for the affiliate link if you want to check it out more!

Next up...I wanted to get some Apricots and Peaches for my Dad.  He tried them but they were 'too dried' for what he was looking for.  He's completely in to the Pineapple I blogged about before so now I will now to get him more of that when I place orders.  As for the HUGE batches of Peaches and Apricots I will most likely be using them in recipes and maybe snacking on them from time to time, too.   I have been sharing my shipments of Cashews with my sister so I had to get more.  AND it had been a while since I had Red Quinoa on hand so I included some of that in my last order, too.  That AND the Red Quinoa was one of their At-Cost Specials last month.  So now my pantry is all stocked up again!  YAY!

So...yeah...now I'm a little addicted to buying more Raw Food Books.  These are my latest additions to my collection.  The Philip McCluskey ones are a little thinner but I have been thumbing thru them quite a bit and have tweaked a few Salad Dressing ideas that he has in them and they are great.  I can see myself using them often.  I'm not really into desserts since going dairy-free but I figured I would TRY a few and that book in the center really looked interesting.  Then...I have been overly into Matthew Kinney's books and wanted to get two more...his flavor combos and photos are amazing!

I'm kind of a Blender Geek

I'm Kind of a Blender Geek.  Not that I know a lot about Blenders, per say, but I do like LOTS consumables I create IN my blender!  Perhaps it's because it's so easy - not sure- but I have had some good luck with Blender Recipes!  

That's why I thought THIS book...

 would be right up my alley!  BUT - My InterLibrary Loan Program was unable to find any locations.

It's ok, tho!  I just might have to place an Amazon Book order soon!

A few other books my InterLibrary Loan Book Program was unable to find recently were...

BUT...come to find out it's only available via a Kindle Purchase!  Oops!  My BAD!  I don't have a Kindle but I have iPad.

My questions for YOU today are...

Which books are currently on your Amazon Wishlist?

AND/OR

Do you buy books via Kindle and/or iPad?  If so...where do you purchase them?

 

I have LOTS more books I will be commenting on very soon!  I have been a little behind on my posts - among other things!