What's In My Kitchen For December

Thanks to a few of my blogging buddies for reminding me to hurry up and post my 'What's In My Kitchen' for December!  I'm going to TRY not to repeat too much here, but, this first one I MUST!  The first item on my Top Ten for this month is Grapeseed Oil.  I recently stocked up on the Natural, Garlic, and Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oils from Wildtree as we will no longer be reps but I still LOVE the product!

#2 on my list for this month is Organic Liquid Smoke which also happens to be raw vegan!  I have had this in my pantry for a while and I seem to go in spurts when I use it but for the past month, I have been tossing a dribble or two in many of my dips!  A little bit goes a long way!  This is my FAVORITE brand!

I've blogged about this before.  This is my #3 for this month.  It's Sesame King's Tahini but more specifically their Garlic flavor. 

As many of you know I'm garlic obsessed and will try just about anything that is vegan that also has garlic in it! 

Not shocking that 2 out of my top 3 contain garlic, eh!? 

This is also my secret weapon when it comes to my most recent vegan cheese sauce!

#4 is Dill.  I have been adding a dash of dill in almost everything for the past month or so.  I LOVE the aroma of dill and the taste.

#5 is Chickpeas.  This really isn't a surprise, I realize that but when I don't know what else to eat I bust out a can of chickpeas and throw something together - real quick and easy!

Plus I thought this graphic was a wonderful comparison!  Less Fat, More Fiber, ZERO Cholesterol, Less Sodium, WAY MORE Potassium and Calcium, and More Iron than chicken!  Knowledge is POWER!

#6 is Justo Mayo.  I realize this is a convenience item but it's pretty darn good.  The price is right.  And it seems to be more and more available in my area than any other vegan mayo.  That and if you have followed their battles in the last couple of years I have had a soft spot in my heart for their company and how hard they fought their competitors to stay afloat and get where they are today!  They have been able to educate a lot of people along the way about plant-based foods not having to be more expensive, too!

#7 on my list is Amy's Kitchen VEGAN Soups.  I have to admit that I'm not sure if all 6 pictured are vegan because I have never come across a few of them but I LOVE they have as many vegan options as they do!  And those few days I was sick and didn't feel like making anything or even moving - I was grateful I could find them locally.

#8 on this months list is Potatoes!  Plain and Simple.  Potatoes!  Hillary got me on the bandwagon, finally!  Thanks, girl!

#9 is Bragg's Liquid Aminos and/or Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos!  Since I'm not much of a sea person I like to add these two items to my sauces, dips, vegan cheeses, etc to give it a little more savory flavor while still incorporating more aminos into my foods! 

#10 has to be these Bare Coconut Chips.  They have moved out of my kitchen and into my office.  I like to snack on them while at work!  Yum!

Scroll down for a 2nd post today and swing by the Kitchen Link-Up, too!


 

Oddz & Endz Prior to Christmas

I have to say that we have been pretty spoiled the last month or so in the snow belt!  NO SNOW!  That, however, is supposed to change today, tho.  This first photo was taken last week during one of my lunches.  It was a lovely day!  We were near 70 degrees some of the days!  Woot!

My father works for a company that deals with snacks and beverage companies and he gets free samples a lot.  He recently introduced me to Core Organics and I have to say they are AWESOME!  I have liked every flavor I have tried so far!  YUMMO!  They say VEGAN right on the bottle, too!

A few finds over at The Raw Food World for my last shipment I received were Chocolate Snakaroons and Lemon Snakaroons from Laughing Giraffe.

I also got some Chocolate Kale Chips, Sesame Dijon Zuke Chips, and Tomatoe Pesto Chips!  Woot!

I stocked up for a few breakfasts to keep at work with some Superfood Cereal Cups.  I needed to grab some more UNsalted Sun Dried Tomatoes to add to my pantry as well as 3 pounds of Raw Cashews!  One thing to highlight is my NEW FAVORITE...Salt and Vinegar Almonds!  YUMM!  Sometimes I crave vinegar...I know that is weird but I do...and already tried these almonds and they are AWESOME!

Some of the foods I have been making at home prior to the holidays was a vegan taco meat made out of chopped cauliflower, walnuts, and Coconut Aminos!  LOVED IT!

And this Hemp Seed & Hazel Nut Sour Cream!  Not bad!

Many more posts coming VERY SOON!

MidWeek Munchies, Happy Mail, Vegan Products, Raw Snacks

It's MidWeek Munchies Time!  Keep scrolling to check out more and participate!

I will most likely be doing a few MWM posts from now to next Tuesday!  This past weekend I grabbed some lettuce, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, a sweet onion, carrots!  Not overly exciting but still MWM!  I finally received one of my shipments which is pictured above.  Kale Krackers and Kale Chips from Awesome Foods, Organic Bilberries from The Raw Food World, and a new raw foods UNcookbook focused on desserts.

I also received a shipment from Indigo Herbs from the UK that I'm super excited about and will be blogging about VERY soon!  Here are the things I received!  Organic Cacao, Organic Pea Protein Powder, Organic Chia Seed Protein Powder, and 2 nut butters...Raw Almond and Raw Hemp!!!  YAY!  All 5 products are VEGAN!

Love Force is a brand that I am totally loving over the last few years and haven't gotten anything from in a while but will be placing an order for some of the energy bars and maybe even some of the Kale Chips!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE their Kale Chip flavors!  The Raw Vegan Energy Bars I have tried of theirs, too, are pretty amazing, as well!

It's YOUR TURN!  Link up friends!!!

SORRY FOLKS!  Having a little problem with the LINKY.  If you are participating let me know in comments and I will let you know when this week's coding is UP!

Potent Extracts & Happy Mail from TeaBook!

So I've been getting into these Potent Extracts from Medicine Flowers that are available for purchase over at The Raw Food World.  So far I have the Dark Chocolate, Guava, and Caramel flavors.  I'm waiting on the Blueberry to arrive.  I will be placing an order for the Raspberry flavor this week.  There are soooo many flavors!  Last night I tried to make Raw Vegan Cheesecake Bites.  I haven't taken a photo YET because it didn't quite set before I fell asleep.  Hopefully tonight I will be taking some photos of the bites.  I used the Dark Chocolate flavor in the cheesecake base and make a strawberry swirl out of maple syrup and frozen strawberries for the top.

Another thing I would like to quickly share is some Happy Mail this week!  I received this from TeaBook.  It's a Tea Tumbler and a collection of teas.  I will be doing at least one review over at Sororitea Sisters on this Tumbler in the near future.  I might also do a few mini reviews on this site for it, too!  I'm loving the sleek look to the tumbler already!

Questions of the Day: What's the last bit of HAPPY MAIL you received?  What flavors do you think would make neat extracts?

What I Ate Today (Breakfast & Lunch), MidWeek Munchies on Friday, and Inspiring Woman of the Day

The 2nd post of the day!  YAY!  Keep scrolling!  In this point I will share What I Ate Today - at least for Breakfast and Lunch, some more finds that I will LINK UP to with MidWeek Munchies, and an Inspiring Woman of the Day!

I will start with that.  Amy Schumer.  She hosted SNL this past weekend and I thought she did a great job.  I know Christine over at The Raw Project has seen her LIVE and I wish I could at some point.  I really like her because she's not a girlie-girl, she speaks her mind, has things she feels very strong about, and seem like a girl you could go have a beer with!  Her most favorite person in the world is her sister which I LOVE hearing that!  I also love that she goes against the grain when it comes to how Hollywood (or the world) says women should look.  She's her own person and encourages everyone to be their own self, too.  One of her latest adventures is in the fashion industry and dressing for your body type.  Check out this article and video!

Next up...what I ate today for Breakfast & Lunch:

Breakfast:

Strawberry Camu Camu Smoothie, 3 Pumpkin Spice Snakaroons, Mango Ice Cream Black Tea

Morning Snacks:

Handful of Galactic Garlic Onion Pistachios, Lemon Grass & Pandan Herbal Tea

Lunch:

Yet to be determined flavor of McDougall's Soup and a side salad of mixed greens

Now...here are 3 items I ordered over at The Raw Food World!  I've blogged about Awesome Foods products before and I can't wait to try some more!  Starting with Kale Krackers!!!!  Yes...just about all of us have had or at least seen Kale Chips but what about Kale Krackers?  I remember making something like this out of Spinach but I am looking forward to trying these, too!

And speaking of Kale Chips...I thought I would try these from Awesome Foods!  They have other flavors, too, and I am sure that I will try all of them at some point but these jumped out at me this time around!

Then I got more Raw Organic Sunflower Seeds to add to my stash.  I have been using various nuts in a lot of dips, spreads, sauces, etc but silly me I should be using Sunflower and/or Pumpkin Seeds MORE because they are even more powerful and nutritious than nuts AND they are CHEAPER!

Remember to LINK UP for MidWeek Munchies before the end of TUESDAY!!!

MidWeek Munchies is BACK (LINK UP)

Well HELLO everyone!  It's Wednesday!  And I'm bringing back MidWeek Munchies!  It's just another way to keep all of us blogging and networking and spreading the vegan word!

How it works is...

blog about your VEGAN shopping experiences and LINK UP!

Visit other participants and link back to this blog post to help spread the word!

We will be posting this each Wednesday and it will remain open until the following Tuesday.  The next day we will start another one!

Special THANKS to the "Off Season" Community Welcome Wagon and Co-Hosts:

Mary Ellen @ V Nutrition

Kyra @ Vie De La Vegan

Vegan Power/Vegan Peace @ My Cat Loves Daiya

Deborah @ Urban Naturale

Jennifer @ MyBlissfulJourney

Here's MY post for TODAY for MidWeek Munchies!

First up...Laughing Giraffe is jumping on the Pumpkin Spice Band Wagon and I'm ok with that.  All of the items you see today I'm waiting on in the mail from The Raw Food World.  Don't these Pumpkin Spice Snackaroons look AWESOME?

Divine Organics Coconut Blossom Sugar sounded interesting and I can't wait to try it!

I went a little crazy or should I say NUTTY and bought a slew of Living Nutz NEW flavors!  I can't wait to try them!  One of the new flavors is their Old World Italian Herb Almonds!

Then...check out these bad boys!  Apple Krisp Karma Walnuts AND pecans?  Are you serious!?  Gosh!  Can't wait to gnaw on these!

Let's NOT forget about the Zesty Almonds!  I bet their GREAT on just about anything but I will probably just eat them as a snack while at work and/or traveling!

And I couldn't pass these up!  Galactic Garlic Onion Pistachios?  I'm GAME!

Tell us about your Vegan Grocery Haul this week!

LINK UP BELOW!!!!

Vegan MoFo ~ Fave Herbs & Spices

Just a quick post today but still sticking with the Vegan MoFo prompts...today's being...my favorite herbs and spices!  This one is probably going to be non-climatic because I pretty much like them all for different reasons.  So I guess I will point out a few individual ones to keep this months posts consistent!

Basil

I LOVE the way it looks, smells, tastes, and grows!

We've had a LOT of luck with Basil - both indoors, outdoors, in a rooftop garden, and on a window sill garden!

Turmeric 

One of the healthiest things you can consume - some say!  And my favorite Turmeric to buy by far is from The Raw Food World!  Turmeric is one of the most powerful therapeutic herbs on the planet – it is highly regarded in the ancient Ayurvedic healing tradition of India and one of the most popular spices in the world. Turmeric is used in traditional Indian medicine as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral*. This Raw Wildcrafted Turmeric extract is made of pure turmeric root harvested by local farmers in the wetlands of India, low temperature dehydrated and cold water extracted to a standard of 95% Curcuminoids.

Dill

Helps Digestion.  A teaspoon a day can reduce 80 percent of bloating in only three days.  Its antibacterial oils not only kill any possible stomach bugs but also help in the breakdown of carbohydrates and proteins.  Plus I love the smell and taste!

Cayenne

It has thermogentic properties that increase your blood flow and metabolism. Individuals who only use cayenne infrequently also find it reduces hunger.  I just like to give my foods a KICK every once and a while and Cayenne certainly makes that easy!  I think the BEST quality Cayenne can be found online...HERE.

Curry

And you can't go wrong with Curry!  I mean...want can't you do with curry!  Check out some of the curry flavored products you can easily find online!  And of course with fall and winter near Curry is the perfect addition to many dishes!

Vegan MoFo ~ Traditional Local Foods

Today's Vegan MoFo Prompt has to do with traditional local foods.  Since I'm originally from the Buffalo, NY, area - which is the birth place of Buffalo Wings - I really wasn't sure what to post for today.  I knew I HAD to post about a local product and favorite FRANKS HOT SAUCE and that is where the beginning of my thought process started with this one.

Sure there are vegan alternatives to look into for vegan Buffalo Wings such as this one...and they aren't bad...considering I'm not much for fake meats.  I have tried this product a time or two and will consume in a pinch.

But I have been making my own versions of Buffalo Sauce with some success!

And a recipe I am very proud of...Vegan Cauliflower Bites...which is a much better version that we can make at home with plant based ingredients!  

So...if I am working on a local traditional dish for the prompt I guess this would be it.  I no longer reside in the Buffalo area but visit as often as I can.  Where I live now there aren't any real traditional dishes for the area to speak of.  I even tried to search Erie, PA because I am fairly close to that city and still don't know what I would consider to be native to Erie as far as foods are concerned (other than Smith's Hot Dogs and NO those aren't vegan).

In other news...I thought I would share a new product with you today.  Check these out!  I just gnawed on them and they didn't last long!  They are from Awesome Foods based out of Bridgeport, PA, and raw and vegan.  I got them from my recent shipment from The Raw Food World and I can't wait to check out more of their products soon!

Vegan MoFo ~ Childhood Food VEGANIZED & Happy Mail

It's the 2nd day of Vegan MoFo and I wanted to stick with today's PROMPT which is to "recreate a meal from your childhood."  Well, this isn't really a complete meal per say but it was what I had for dinner last night and it certainly hit the spot!  Cheesy Broccoli!  YUM!  Yup!  That's 'from scratch' vegan cheese sauce!

Here's the recipe for the Vegan Cheese Sauce:

2 C Raw Cashews

3 T Lemon Juice

1 C Water

1/4 C Nutritional Yeast

1 t Minced Garlic

1/2 t Turmeric

About 1 t Yellow Mustard

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper & Black Himalayan Sea Salt

Remember you can join MY Vegan MoFo Blogroll by commenting on THIS post.  I decided to make one since I didn't see a 2015 BlogRoll on the VeganMoFo.com site.

I thought I would also show you my latest shipment from The Raw Food World!  They now have tote's!  YAY!  They are ONLY $2.95 and I LOVE them!  For the direct link to these neat reusable bags CLICK HERE!

The Raw Food World recently got a whole slew of new items from Chocola Tree and I HAD to scoop them up!  CLICK HERE to see them all!  There are Raw Vegan Wraps, Raw Vegan Flatbreads, Nori Nachos, and Raw Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sprinkle as well as Raw Vegan Parmesan Cheese Sprinkle.

Just for good measure I did a close up on the vegan cheese sprinkles!

I ended up getting a few items for friends and family, too, but then I wanted to try these 3 new-to-me Living Nutz flavors.  They also have some new Vegan Coconut Bacon which are on sale this month for only $4.55!  It was also time for me to re-order cashews and salad booster, too!  I finally decided to get some Camu Camu Powder as well!

I added to my Raw & Vegan Book Stash with these 4 books!  I was luck enough to meet Karen Ranzi at the WNY VegFest last month so I wanted to grab her book.  I have first Raw Foods For Busy People so I figured I should grab the 2nd one, too!  I have been into learning about fermentation and added to that category.  And then the Raw Food Nutrition Handbook looked interesting so I decided to go with that one, too!  Have you read any of these books yet?

  

I've had a lot of questions from people lately about purchasing from The Raw Food World!  If you click the banner above you will see all of the 'At Cost Specials' this month!  That's a great place to start looking!  And remember you can also save 7% on your order with the code rawfood7.
What do you think of my latest haul?  And what do you think about the veganized childhood dish?

Latest Shipment From The Raw Food World

I received my latest shipment a few weeks ago but have been so busy that I had not had time to blog about it yet!  So today is the day...here's the latest haul from The Raw Food World!

I've been tinkering with more and more essential oils the last few months.  I have been researching and learning a lot and SOON I will be sharing some of the things I have been doing and using.

Here are the latest 3 oils I have added to my stash...Ginger, Rosemary, and Orange.

I finally bit the bullet and got my hands on a copy of The Art of Fermentation.  I know a few of my blogging buddies including Opal and Christine have this book and/or other fermenting books.  I'm looking forward to jumping in this new JOURNEY as well.

Also in this photo...Hemp Seeds...I was almost out...and a new-to-me-product I am darn excited about...Sun Root Sweetener.  The main ingredient?  Jerusalem Artichoke Root.

With this last shipment I gifted a lot of the products I have already sampled myself.  I bought some vitamin patches for a co-workers husband, a few goodies for a old high school buddy, and some items for my mom, dad, and sister - as well as - her husband.

I couldn't help but grab a few flavored Kale Chips that were on sale which came in handy during Fair Week.  Then you will see that I also got some Monkfruit Sweetener, too!  And that little blue bottle with the white cap is tooth powder that I thought I would try!

Happy Mail This Week!

I'm super excited about the goodies that came in the mail both yesterday and today!  I got my latest shipment from The Raw Food World!  Check out the NEW Foods Alive Salad Dressings!  Woot!  I've had the Garlic Paprika before and LOVED it!  I can't wait to try the others on salads SOON!  I already sampled them by themselves and they are great!

Yes!  I was plum out of Nutritional Yeast which rarely ever happens!  Well, it did this time - so I stocked up on some!  I grabbed 3 of them!  I have also been sharing some of my nut butters while out with our Wildtree stuff on weekends at festivals and I usually bring my own food for snacking!  Well, I have a few others HOOKED on these Jem Organics Nut Butters so I got one of the Red Maca's for a friend and another for my sister as well as the Superberry Maqui Camu.

Also in that 2nd pic you will see Hemp Oil I got for another friend who has MS she's been taking it for pain and some Agave Powder jut because I was interested it working with it PLUS some Valerian Powder that I wanted to start using in evening tonics to help with sounder sleep.

In this next photo you will see I grabbed some Pineapple and Apricots!  The Pineapple is for a co-worker and I thought I would try using the apricots in dressings sauces, smoothies, and such.  Plus they all make great desk snacks to have at work or while on the run!

And speaking of snacks for work or on the go - check these bad-boys out!  Jumbo Figs!  A few Pro-Biotic Nuts, and even some Pili Nuts, too!  I hope to start working with Pili Nuts in the near future so be on the look out for that!

Then I FINALLY broke down and purchased some Purple Corn Flour.  TannyRaw was the one who pushed me over the edge on it.  It really contributes to the color and also can work as a thickener!  I have been in to TannyRaw's YouTube Channel the last couple of months!  I like her personality and positive outlook!

I've also been into Lisa Montgomery's books more lately, too, I have found myself referring back to them often so I decided to check out a few more of the ones she has her name on.

The Liquid Raw I can see myself using often I glanced thru nearly the whole thing last night already!  I'm thinking the Potluck one will come in handy, too!

And I will have to check out the Raw Challenge one when I am able to, too!

I have been interested in other detox books and some others from David Wolfe and I will keep you posted on that progress, as well!

There were a few things that were on back order from my last order that I got in the mail too!  2 Foods Alive Flavored Flax Crackers - I have had them before and LOVED them - they were on sale when I tried to purchase them before!

Then I got HOOKED on the Sprouted Trail Mix - Pineapple - but it has just the right amount of spice, too!  YUM!  And I have tried the other breakfast crusts before as you see in front in the last photo but not the Spirulina ones, yet, so I wanted to include those with that last order, too!