Vegan Air Fryer Ideas, Raw Food, More Vegan Finds!

I think I'm back to the point of 'regular' blog posts!  Woot!  So I will do away with the 6-pack of photo splashes for now.

I briefly mentioned getting my parents an Air Fryer for Christmas.  Well, we actually bought my sister and brother in law one - as well as - my hubby's grandmother an Air Fryer, too!

So...basically, I'm the only one in my family that doesn't.  I'm thinking in the near future that might change.  DH also is intrigued by InstaPots so I'm betting that will be in our future, too!

Because I have been spending more time at my parent's house since my Dad has been out of the hospital I thought I would see what the Air Fryer could do!

Mom and I did Sweet Potato Fries from raw...and then we did Asparagus from raw, too!  

The Raw Sweet Potatoes took a little longer than frozen - I would imagine.  They turned out great!  As for the Asparagus - the taste was intense - which we all liked - and we like the crisp - but - if you let these little buggers sit too long they get a little rubbery...so serve immediately!

 While we were traveling we visited a different Ollie's...not the one in our own town...that I normally post about.  I found a Raw Food Cookbook at the other store for only $3.99.  Of course, I had to grab it!

This will be a shorter post today because I'm in a hurry and have a lot on my plate for the day!

Yesterday I stopped in at our local ALDI and found Good Foods Plant Based Dips!!!!  Woot!  Check out this Queso Dip that IS VEGAN!  It was pretty darned tasty!  I have to buy more ASAP!

Cherry Festival at 21 Brix

Blogger is acting up with insert photos so I am sorry I don't have any photos at this time but I do have video!  Two of them, actually!  The first one you can hear my mother in and the second one features my sister!  We took these videos at 21 Brix Winery during their Cherry Festival a few weekends ago!  We had our Wildtree tables set up and took breaks and turns to go Cherry Picking!  I completely nerded-out because they had 16 different kinds of cherries and 2 or 3 thousand trees!  Each video is only 2 minutes!  Take a look!



My sister was pretty funny in this video!  We was "overwhelmed" with the variety of cherries! LOL  And YES we did try all 16 different kinds!  They were sooooo good!  On a side note ALL of the wines that 21 Brix sell are listed as SAFE on the Vegan Wine Site I'm told.  YAY!

WNY VegFest - Part I - The Speakers

This past weekend was the 2nd Annual WNY VegFest and my sister and I attended because we had SO MUCH FUN last year! I have a wonderful sister! She's not a vegan or even vegetarian but has attended this festival both years now and even sat thru 2 of the speakers this year with me! I'm so grateful for her!

Speaking of which...here's a photo of her and I waiting for one of the 'chats' to begin. We did an official VegFest Selfie! Megan and I are 3 years, 2 months, and 1 day a part in age! How cool is that?

Last year was the first year I met the guys from The Vegan Zombie and I wanted to meet up with them again this year, too! Here they are! Jon (on the left) kept saying 'sorry' because he was distracted by the puppies from the puppy rescue on the other side of them. But who could blame them? They were super cute dogs! More on that in a future post I am sure! Then Chris (on the right) and I chatted about social media, T-Shirts, their road trip, juicing, and more! A few months ago I was going to buy a Breville Juicer but had seen Chris's posts on Instagram and totally had to ask which juicer he was using and I ended up getting that one instead. It's a SlowStar Juicer. I had told him on Instagram that I purchased one and he asked me if I used it yet and felt a little bad that I hadn't used it yet. His encouragement is greatly appreciated. I think between them and OPAL over at I;m Celebrating Life - I will be pursuing that more seriously around the 17th of this month. I ended up buying another Vegan Zombie Shirt and also bought a WNY VegFest T-Shirt at the festival's table, too!

This year my sister and I were able to attend 2 of the talks. The first speaker we saw was Karen Ranzi. I will be purchasing her book in the very near future Raw Vegan Recipe Fun for Families: 115 Easy Recipes and Health Tips for Energetic Living.

Another speaker we were able to see was Kristin Lajeunesse. I was lucky enough to meet her, too! I have been following her on Instagram for a while and we were chatting back and forth on there prior to her talk and meeting. She's super nice! 

Her book is Will Travel for Vegan Food: A Young Woman's Solo Van-Dwelling Mission to Break Free, Find Food, and Make Love, and is the founder of the award willing website, Will Travel for Vegan Food.

Not sure if you can see me in THIS vlog she posted on Instagram but I'm in the 3rd row back on the right behind a lady with a black tank top on and she's sitting by a guy with a black shirt and sunglasses on.

HERE is a list of the other speakers that were at the event. I was standing next to Vlad while in line for fresh juice and didn't know it was him until after he left. And I would have loved to catch Jane Esselstyn and Victoria Moran's talks but we were doing other things during those times. Another one I wanted to see was Jessica Meyers Food Demo which was living foods and sprouting and fermentation.

I will be posting more and more throughout this week on the adventures of WNY VegFest so please check back and let me know if you were there! And if you weren't there let me know if you've ever seen any of these speakers and/or YouTubers!

Lunch Break Update, Cheerleaders, and Motivation

I've been switching back and forth from Reggae to New Wave music as of late.  The song in the background is Cheerleader by Omi.  One thing I didn't mention in this video was the song itself.  Eventho it's more of a love song/song of a male/female relationship there were some of the phrases in the lyrics made me think about community/support/a shoulder to lean on of sorts when it comes to vegetarianism, veganism, or raw food.  It could also be applied to those trying to lose weight or stop smoking in a sense it's always good to have a cheerleader, right? I guess that is one of the reasons I started vlogging.  I want to bounce certain ideas off on people with like minds and interest yet be there for people who need motivation and inspiration but I myself need inspiration and motivation, too!

In this video I also talk about my hopes to include a cooler and place inside my car for raw foods, water, juices, smoothies, snacks to enjoy while driving during work.  Not only to make sure I am eating enough quality whole foods during the day but also refrain from purchasing lunches everyday and wasting money!

This Weeks' Smoothies - Secret Weapon? Khorasan Wheatgrass Juice Powder!

I was MUCH better with my breakfasts this week!  Mostly because I was able to do some smoothies and I was totally LOVING it!  I am contributing many of the recipes for upcoming posts to The Raw Food World NEWS Recipe Section so if you haven't signed up for daily news be sure to check it out!

I do have a new secret weapon, tho!  In the purple smoothie on the top - it was my first time using Khorasan Wheatgrass Juice Powder!  And I have to say I LOVE it!  

You may also have heard about this powder being referred to as Kamut.  

This Khorasan wheatgrass juice powder is like a shot of wheatgrass juice on steroids...a super mineralized, nutrient dense and enzyme rich superfood.  Khorasan is an heirloom ancestor of wheat and more nutritious than wheat.  Grown in mineral-rich, nutrient-dense soil Grass has the ability to absorb all known minerals. This product is gluten free, too!

This is one of the products I bought last month while it was on sale over at The Raw Food World and it's totally worth it!  I will probably only use it by the half teaspoon or full teaspoon!  I have to say - I'm a fan!

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!?

Raw Vegan Pepperoni

I had a few adventures or 'journeys' in the kitchen this weekend.  This was one of them!  I wanted to try and make Raw Vegan Pepperoni.  I think I was fairly successful!
Here's the recipe:
8 Salted Sun Dried Tomatoes
2 Tomatoes
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Flax Seeds, Ground
1 T Hemp Oil
1/2 tea Original GoL's Raw Protein

After combining all ingredients - while leaving about a quarter of the ground flax for sprinkle - this is what it looked like while going into the dehydrator.  It was too gooey to flatten at this point so I threw them in the dehydrator for about 3 or 4 hours.  That's about when I took them out and flattened them - they were not as gooey - they were more dough-like at that point.

Here's a pic of when I flattened them.  You can see that the more moist insides smooshed thru and you can see two different colors.  I actually like the two-tone color combo going on here but they weren't done yet.  So I put them back in for about another 4 hours or so.  Of course I flipped them at least once right around that time too.


Tah-Dah!  Here they are!  I have a bowl of them to use throughout the week!  I ended up putting some on my Egg Trick Muffin that you saw yesterday.  I will be using them on salads, too!

If I get brave enough I might try and do another raw pizza which was another kitchen fail last week.  I didn't blog about that fee-ask-co but I instagrammed it!

I'm really trying to think outside the box with my dehydrator creations and I think I accomplished that with this one!

Healthy Vegan Friday's Participant

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?

A Few Happenings & Reviews

I'm attempting to catch up on blogging a bit before my 'hell week' starts next week.  Then I will once again be behind.  Funny how that works, eh!?

Anyhow...I have been munching on a bunch of different foods lately and many of them I have done reviews on or will be doing reviews on SOON.

One of them being the Season Kale Krunch.  I REALLY liked them!  I gave them 5 out of 5 starts over at the Raw Food World.  Read my FULL REVIEW here for the Seasonal Spring Onion Kale Krunch.  YUM!  Tastes like Sour Cream & Onion!!!

Another one of their products I'm super excited about is their dried pineapple!  It's wonderful!  Again...another 5 out of 5 stars!  There is a story that goes along with this product as to why I ordered it!  I originally ordered it for my father and a whole slew of people ended up eating the package!  I've since ordered more specifically for my dad and both times he's LOVED them!  For the full review on the Puckery Pineapple - Click Here!

Eventho I do dry my own things at home I enjoy trying everyone elses, too!  PLUS a lot of the items I have been getting from the Raw Food World I do not have access to locally.

I also wrote up a review about their Cheezy Chipotle Kale Chips.  Since I haven't had the best looking fresh Kale lately or readily available for mass Kale Chip making this was a nice alternative!  Read the full review HERE - Kale Krunch Helps Me on Krazy Days!

In other news I'm REALLY enjoying the books I recently got, too!  So far - out of all of them - I have hit this one up several times.  My goal was to focus on some Breakfast Ideas.  Since I'm not much of a breakfast person I really wanted to push the envelop and jump outside of my comfort zone and try some of them and that's exactly what I did!  Of course I put my own spin on it and wrote about it on The Raw Food World's news site and it was featured under RECIPES.  I called my version Nutty Fruity Breakfast - check that out in its entirety HERE.

I still have so much more to tell you about so stay tuned!

Rooftop & Container Progress

I've been wanting to post these photos for a while now but JUST got around to it today!  Sorry about that!  Thank  you for those who have been asking about our Rooftop Garden and Container Garden Projects!  Thanks for the continued encouragement, too!

In this first photo you will see 4 Brussels Sprout Plants in the orange buckets.  These 4 are doing really well. 

Next to that in the off white pail is one of the Dragons Tongue Plants.  These are doing really well too!  We've since brought another one of these plants outside but we have 3 others inside, too!  In the 2nd photo you can see what the Dragons Tongue Beans look like!  We absolutely LOVE them.  They are so unusual.  So fun!  So flavorful!

And we have a LARGE Broccoli Plant at the bottom that is MASSIVE.

We are eager to see the Broccoli Head start as well as eager to see the Brussels Sprouts start coming out of the side of the stalks.  I will surely keep you posted on that, too!

Mostly we have been gnawing on the beans - raw - to snack on throughout the day.  Some of our Little Marvel Peas are harvesting, too, and we've been snacking on them.  Most of the Little Marvels only have 1 or 2 peas in a pod.  This morning we found a few that were 'hiding' and the pod wilted but the pea inside was still fresh and tasty.

Our Basil has really taken off, too!  I had to grab some a week or two ago and it's really helped with the growth by keeping up with the plucking.

I ended up making some Walnut/Pinenut Pesto with the picked Basil.

In another week or so I will probably pick some more.

I just LOVE the aroma of the Sweet Basil and could just go out and breath in the scent and be happy!

Our Loose Leafy Greens are the WINNER so far.  With the little bit that we planted we have already harvested it about 6 times.

I harvested quite a bit yesterday and haven't used it yet so I might try and do a green smoothie with it tomorrow and/or maybe try and do a sauce or dressing with it, too!

A few select 'greens' on the spicy mix (on the left) flowered and was close to going to seed, I think.

The Spicy Mix sure is spicy so I might try and juice it, too!  Oh...the possibilities!

There are a few things that haven't going well for us - such as Onions and Carrots.  So far all of the onions we have tried haven't done anything.  We are trying one more carrot container in the meantime but so far no such luck with carrots either.

And check this out!  Our very first Pepper!  This will grow to be a Sweet Orange Pepper!  We have a few other varieties that are getting plentiful as well.  This is the most progressed one, tho! 

We've transplanted nearly everything at least once.  We were able to transplant a few things easier than some others - but - I guess - you will have that, eh!?

Most of our Contender Beans didn't make it but we were able to save TWO of them and we brought them back from the brink and they are flowering and budding right now. 

Sam can't wait for the Sunflowers to get big but I will say they are growing quickly!  And FINALLY we have a few heads of Rosalita Lettuce that we were able to bring back from the brink, too, but they still have a ways to go!

Ponytail Palms, Cats Without Tails, Simple Foods from the Container/Rooftop Gardens

I know I have been posting a lot of food lately and you know I will continue to but I also have a lot of other things to post about too!

Here's a mish mash of things that aren't really food related - for the most part - that have been going on lately!

First - this AWESOME Ponytail Palm!  A few months ago my co-worker Sam brought one in for her office and I LOVED it so much!  I would do up and check it out each time I visited her office.  Her mother found one for me last week and it's now sitting on my desk.  I'm NOT next to a window but we will see how it does.  I have regular florescent office lights.  Hers is next to a window.  Mine isn't.  So I figured every Friday afternoon I would take mine upstairs and put it next to hers for the weekend near the window!

It's been a few weeks now since Charlie's surgery.  I wanted to wait to post about it until I was sure he was ok.  He had to have his tail amputated.  He has been doing remarkably well without this tail.  They left a bit of a 'nub'.  It's still healing but doing good.  When they took his tail off they noticed he had very small warts all over his tail that were NOT visible until after they shaved his tail to remove it.  They said to look for other unhealing wounds that may pop up.  They aren't overly concerned at this time that there is much else wrong.  However, IF he does have other unhealing wounds that form they said it may be cancerous. 

So of course when I saw this about 2 weeks after his surgery I was concerned!  After we took the cone off of him he had this small - yet clean - hole on his arm.  The first day it bled but I'm sure that was because he was licking it.  Ever since then it's been dry, clean, and unchanged - yet open. 

FINALLY yesterday morning I noticed this wound was closing!!!  I think we are on the upswing! 

As you can see on the other arm - that's the arm they shaved to put the IV in.  NOT the arm with the wound.  BUT...as long as it continues to heal - we are happy!

Okay...Okay...I know I said I wouldn't talk about food...but I can't help it!  Simple Foods left from last week!  Yes...I've now gotten 4 salads from our containers at work!  YAY!  I used some leftover dressings I made to top it and it was a nice simple lunch. 

I will have a post very soon with the progress of our Container Garden and Rooftop Garden Attempts!  We've also been doing updates on MyFolia.com which you can follow via my sidebar but I will be posting that more soon too!

Colorful Salad with Mandarin Walnut Dressing

This salad doesn't have many ingredients but I do LOVE the color of it!  Romaine Hearts for the lettuce and Yellow and Red Bell Peppers for the top.  Everything tasted amazing!  I then came up with the following dressing to mix in...

Mandarin Walnut Dressing!  And it was WONDERFUL!  I used...

4 Mandarins

1/2 C Walnuts

1 Date

1 T Lemon Juice

1 T Apple Cider Vinegar

Water as needed

 

What's the last dressing you made at home?

RAW WEEK - Thursday

It's my 4th day of RAW during my RAW Week this week!  I thought I would share some of the Kitchen Adventures with you from last night and today.

In random order...

These Carrots with "Cheesy" Walnut Tomato Dip!

Recipe - All in Vitamix:

1 C Walnuts
3 Sun Dried Tomatoes
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast
2 T Lemon Juice
1 tea Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tea Paprika


I had some of these as a snack last night as well as part of my lunch today.  I still have some of the dip left over.

I jumped back in with the smoothies today after skipping only one day. 

Today's was a Blueberry Hemp Smoothie

Recipe - All in Vitamix:

2 one-inch chunks of frozen banana
1 C Blueberries
2 T Hemp Seeds/Hemp Hearts
1 C Water
1 Handful of Spinach
1 Date

This was super tasty!

My energy level has been pretty good.  I noticed a blemish on my chest yesterday and I'm chalking it up to my body's way of detoxing.

 I took another selfie this morning.  My hair is pulled back into a pony tail.

Other that no afternoon crash - which I don't usually get any ways - maybe once or twice a week - and the blemish I found - I haven't seen many major changes after 4 days.  I've been waking up better which is nice. 

I have already made a choice tho...eventho...I will be going back to cooking foods after this weekend...I'm going to try and stay High Raw...my goal is roughly 75% or so.

So I'm sure you will be seeing a lot more salads from me in the near future.

One thing I have noticed about my "senses" is I have found that I LOVE pickles in my salads now.  I have tried it every once and a blue moon before but I'm totally digging pickles in my salads now.

Speaking of Salads...here's mine from last night!

The lettuce variety I used for this salad was Petite Tango.  I did a whole head again.  I also threw in a good amount of Cherry Tomatoes, a few mini Orange Bell Peppers - diced, pickles - diced, and a really tasty dressing!

Apple Walnut Mustard Dressing

1 Apple
1 T Raw Grapeseed Oil
2 T Lemon Juice
1 Date
1/2 tea Mustard

I really enjoyed this dressing!  I will say this is the first oil I have added to anything this week!  Eventho it was 1 T or less even - I am pretty sure that is what was 'going on' in the toilet POST my visit earlier today! 

:)

RAW WEEK - Wednesday!

Check this bad boy salad out from yesterday!

This Salad was a bit of a Mish Mash of things and it turned out pretty tasty!

The Lettuce you see here is Petite Oak.  I used a whole head of it for this LARGE Salad.  I read up on this lettuce and noticed that it averages over a gram of protein per serving.

I also added 2 good sized carrots, 1/4 of a pickle, and about 10 raw Almonds.  This was my Dinner in addition to leftover Chia Seed Crackers and Raw Vegan Cheese Dip.

I made another dressing last night for this LARGE Salad.  I think I will call it Tomato Tahini but it's much more than that.  Here's what's in this Raw Vegan Salad Dressing...

4 Roma Tomatoes
1/3 C Tahini
2 T Braggs Liquid Aminos
2 Lemon Juice
2 Mini Sweet Red Bell Peppers
Cayenne to taste

And once I mixed in the Salad Dressing this is what it looked like!

It was YUMMY!  I'm looking forward to a different Salad and Salad Dressing tonight, too!

This morning I didn't make a Green Smoothie and I must say I missed it!

Last night I didn't get enough sleep due to major Thunderstorms in our area.  The thunder was cracking from 12:30am to after 9am.  I probably only got about a half hour of sleep.  Considering that - I'm actually not feeling too bad today!

Today I have consumed 4 Mandarin Oranges, 1 Pink Alice Apple, and over a cup of small kale leaves from our container garden.  I massaged the Kale Leaves in (fresh squeezed) Tomato Juice and Spices.  It was just what I was hungry for!

I found a Pink Alice Apple at one of my local stores the other day and tried it today for the first!  I must say I am a fan!  It sort of smells like WINE when you first cut it...very pleasant.  Here's a little bit more info about this kind of apple!

• Description: This new and distinct apple variety possesses several unique and desirable characteristics such as having a distinct pink stripe over a creamy-yellow background, which distinguishes it from other known varieties. The background color deepens to an orange-yellow after harvest. Lady Alice possesses a distinctive taste and its dense flesh is sweet with a hint of tartness. The shape of the Lady Alice is round and somewhat broad with a shallow, slightly open calyx.
• Parentage: The Lady Alice apple was discovered as a chance seedling in Washington State and is therefore a *Washington Original*.
• Availability: Available February through May or while supplies last.
• Usage: It is slow to brown after cutting which makes it excellent for eating fresh, cutting into salads or served on fruit trays. Additionally, the dense flesh holds its texture when baking. Lady Alice is an excellent all-purpose apple.

What I Ate Wednesday Participant

Mesclun "Spicy Mix" Salad (From Our Garden) with Salsa!

It's EASY being GREEN!  Check it out!  The very first edible from our Container Garden - soon to be - our Rooftop Garden!  This is my lunch today!

Spicy Greens Salad with Salsa!

Isn't it gorgeous!  And there's MORE where that came from!  Yup!  Our lettuces are doing well so far! 

This is a Mesclun Spicy Mix of Greens/Lettuces and are of the loose lettuce varieties!  Which varieties?  Well, let me tell  you!  It's a mix of different Arugula, Endive, Mustard, Mizuna, and Tatsoi.  I think there was supposed to be some Red Loose Leaf in there, too, but I didn't see any!

I have been eating a LOT of salads lately - even more than I usually do.  But this is the first one that we grew ourselves at work!  I hope to do another one tomorrow, but it will be the Sweet Mix of the Mesclun growth from our containers.

We hope to start hardening off some of our items after this week because it is going to get cooler again.  I can't WAIT until we have them outside full-time!  YAY!

Lunch Time Sowing

Today Sam and I spent our lunch hour working on our Containers in preparation for our Rooftop Garden.  Today we started from seed 3 more produce items.  You can see them above.  They are Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Contender (Bush) Beans, and Wando Peas.  We are germinating the Wando Peas in damp paper towels like we did for the Progress #9's.  Speaking of which...about half of the Progress #9's have started spouting already so we decided to plant those in small biodegradable pots and will transplant them when it's time.

I have decided to look into tilling the garden spot in my backyard and try and do some gardening at home, too!  I will only do starters in my home garden.  Not from seed like we are here with our Container & Rooftop Gardening.

More progress next week!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

Happy Weekend, too!

Colorful Weekend, Mason Jar Set, Red Pepper Tahini Dressing & Soup Recipes!

This past weekend was a CRAZY BUSY one...but in a good way!  This is my 2nd post for today - so - be sure to scroll down for the other one as to why half of the weekend was NUTS.

This post, however, will include some other things from the weekend.  As well as some items from last week - when I was under the weather.

First off - this selfie I took.  I'm trying to take some more of them because no one takes photos of me and I'm always behind  the photo while taking pics of groups, events, travel, and food.  I'm not very good at selfies but I'm trying!

The main reason for this one is to show off one of my new shirts I got this past weekend.  Yup!  I was able to go on a bit of a shopping spree for clothes, specifically.  I don't often do that but I was PAST Due for some clothes!  I've been pitching a lot of them but I will wear stuff until I literally am not able to any longer.  That and so many more of the clothes I had are 3 sizes too big!


One of the items I scored at Sam's Club a little over a week ago was this 6 piece Mason Jar Set.  I couldn't resist...it was calling to me!  You get all 6 glass mugs with handles, lids, straws, and burlap holder as you see here - but - it also comes with 6 additional straws (photo below).  These are heavy-duty reusable plastic straws.

Online this set is selling for $16.49, I think...but...for some reason I think I only paid $14 and some change for it.  I REALLY Love the way it looks...so bright and fun!  I can't wait to fill them with juices and smoothies!  Here's a pic of the orange one up close!  They are just too cute, aren't they!?

In food related news...

I made some home made raw vegan dressing and it turned out AWESOME!

And it only uses 3 ingredients!  Here's a quick recipe for you!

2 Sweet Red Bell Peppers
1/4 C Lemon Juice
3 T Tahini


I had a large salad last night with the dressing on it.  A few cups of various lettuces, shredded carrots, red cabbage, Green Peppers, Y.E.L.O. Tomatoes, and Hemp Seeds!

While I was eating it all I could think about was how flavorful it was and then I wondered if I could make a soup out of it.  So I did.

After using more than half of it as a dressing I then made a soup by adding the following...

2 T Minced Sun Dried Tomatoes & Garlic
1/4 C Basil

I have to say I was totally impressed with this flavor, too!

The addition of the garlic REALLY pumped it up!  The Sun Dried Tomatoes didn't hurt either.  It makes me want to do more raw(ish) soups VERY soon!