The "Friday Finish"

It's the "Friday Finish"!  I honestly didn't know what to title today's mish mash of a post so there you have it!  Here are some random things I have been doing, catching up on, thinking, feeling, or seeing at any given time.

Earlier this week I mentioned that I was working on Raw Vegan Cheesecake Bites!  Here's the finished product!  You can see the full recipe and write up over at The Raw Food World News RECIPE Section as it's today featured recipe!

Also this past week I finally made it thru all of my leftovers of the Vegan Thai Green Curry base I made.  You can view that post HERE.

As you can see in this last photo before I ate the rest of it - it did thicken up quite a bit.  It was even better the 2nd and 3rd day!  YUM!

It's been extremely windy and rainy all this week!  We've had some flooding nothing major, thankfully, but it is out of the ordinary.  We even had a thunderstorm the other night.  Most of the leaves are off the trees and that proves that Fall is turning to Winter, soon.

It's been 'slim picken's' in the kitchen as I have run low on several personal staples.  I hope to fix that this week.  I won't be going crazy, I want to remain fairly thrifty this weekend but I still need to re-stock a few things.

Here's a quick photo of a thrown together dish.
My husband thought it was Vegan Mac & Cheese but it really isn't.  Here IS what I did do - however...I had some leftover marinara and added some Mac Nuts to it in my Vitamix and made it into a sauce of its own.  It's a red sauce meets white sauce I guess.  I topped it with Basil.
It was tasty!

Riley has been doing pretty good lately.  We can really start to see the 'grey' pop out in his coat, tho!  He's probably around 11 years old or so.  Several times a year his ears pose a problem and he ends up with ear infections.  We deal with the problem as it occurs of course but sometimes he rubs his ears or face on the carpet or sofa and he gets bald spots on his ears.  This time around I noticed he gave himself a scab on the top of one of his ears.  This is something new for him.  I have some ointment to put on it and drops for his ears.  Other than that he's been doing fine.

Cricket LOVES to torment him and he's been really patient with her.  I think he secretly likes it!

The other night I couldn't get back to sleep.  I was up at 1am and never did get back to sleep. At least Cricket was able to get some.

That was the same day we had a live broadcast at work and then I attended a Luncheon for the School Partnership.

It was another crazy week - it's true.  Hubby was able to take in some 'brother time' and attended a hockey game with his brother so that was nice.

I'm looking forward to not only attending a football game in November but a Meatloaf concert, too!  Woot!

My eye detox continues.  The throbbing (from wearing the wrong prescription) has finally subsided.  Sometime in the next month I hope to get in for an appointment and most likely a new pair of glasses.  I blogged before about how my days of wearing contacts have probably come to an end.

This is a selfie of me at work.  Note the Ponytail Palm and Sea Salt Lamp in the background.  I'm trying to Feng Shui up my office a bit more.  I just ordered 2 Quantum Balancing Crystals in the CONE versions.  I ordered one of the YELLOW and one of the ORANGE.  I hope to do a near future post on that soon!  I have been trying to get into the crystals more!

I LOVE my Sea Salt Lamp so much that I ended up ordering TWO MORE!  I did get them already but am trying to figure out where to put them.  Originally I got them for home.  Then I thought about putting them in my office along with this one you see here.  But now I am really thinking that I need to work on the atmosphere at home, too!

I ended up getting 2 of them for my friend at work and I got one for my parents and one for my sister, too!  They really like them, too!

I'm trying to think of fun items to get my family members for Christmas.  I have a few ideas but don't want to post them here because I think a few of them might read it.

More MidWeek Munchies!

Yesterday we brought back MidWeek Munchies so I thought I would do another post today about it.  If you would like to participate the current link-up is active THRU next Tuesday the 13th!  Read more about it HERE.  In this first photo you will see it's all produce!  I stopped at my favorite produce stand (Lindell's Hatch Patch) and grabbed a few things...Spring Mix/Greens, Celery, Red Bell Peppers, Spaghetti Squash, Kabocha Squash, and I even grabbed a FREE SAMPLE of one of their newest apple offerings...it's a Blondee Apple.  Kabocha Squash and Blondee Apples are new-to-me so more on that soon!

I then ran to Walmart and noticed these vegan options!  Amy's Kitchen Vegan Burrito (might be my dinner), Hummus (my lunch), Organic Carrots (my Lunch), 2 types of Fig Bars (I LOVE these and now they carry the VEGAN Seal!), Coconut Milk, and I couldn't pass up a new-to-me TRIO of non-dairy milk (Coconut, Almond, Chia).  I also bought a small cutting board and pairing knife for my car/office/Lunches-on-the-go!

Also part of my lunch today was 2 of the Red Peppers from the first photo!  YUM!

One thing I forgot to mention earlier this week is this new-to-me beverage my father gave me.  It's Alo Watermelon Peach and it tastes just like a smoothie!  YUM!  I've had a few of their other flavors before but I have to say this is by far my favorite!

Yes, I have been driving around a lot again and eating and munching on-the-go so you can see I'm in my Fiat while taking this photo!

Have you tried any of the Alo drinks yet?

Last night I had the hee-bee-gee-bees and need to make something in my blender to snack on.  I ended up making this...it's close to a Vanilla Pudding or some sort of Cake Batter Cashew Cream type thing.  It was pretty yummy!  I submitted the recipe to The Raw Food World NEWS Site and their Recipe Section so be on the look out over there.  It contains the following ingredients: Cashews, Almond Milk, Organic Vanilla Extract, Coconut Butter with Coconut Sugar, Agave Nectar and/or NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia, a pinch of sea salt.

After having a little bit of this pudding last night I spent most of the evening doing research and writing.  Cricket sat at my feet when I was at the computer.  She was so patient - which isn't usually her strong point.  So I laid with her for a while before falling asleep.  She seemed to really LOVE it.  Paco was a bit of a slug last night because I had to give him a pain pill for his knees/hips.  He was still running around but you could tell he was like a penguin on slick ice half the time.  Riley was lazing-out, too!

Remember there is still time to LINK UP on this week's MidWeek Munchies - CLICK HERE!

My Blissful Journey ~ Into Essential Oils ~ Intro

I've been reading up on Essential Oils for quite some time.  And the last few months I've actually been ACTING upon my interest.  Before Vegan MoFo started I had a few people ask me to post my findings and my journey with Essential Oils.  I figured now is the best time as any to start posting a few things.  It just seemed like a nice way to start the weekend, too!

As many of you know I contribute to The Raw Food World NEWS Site.  You can find most of my posts within the RECIPE Section of the site or you can click on my PROFILE, too!

This post really won't be a 101 type crash course but some of the things I have done with them and I will start building Essential Oil posts here on my blog as well as over at The Raw Food World NEWS Site.  

First up...one of the Essential Oil combos that I think is great to have on hand and on stand by near your kitchen and/or bathroom.  The Burn Blend.  This blend is made up of a carrier oil, Tea Tree, and Lavender.  By clicking on the link you can see the full recipe and benefits profile of this blend.  As a default I usually use Grapeseed Oil or Coconut Oil as my carrier oil of choice.

Lemon Body Wash is another thing you can do with Essential Oils.  All you do is add Orange, Lemon, and Ginger Essential Oils to an UNscented Body Wash of your choice.

Tomorrow I will be posting a few ideas using Lemon Balm LEAF.  Stay Tuned.

Vegan MoFo ~ Inspiration

Is it weird that this has been the hardest prompt for me thus far during this years Vegan MoFo?  Today's topic...honor a human or non human animal who inspired your veganism.
Well, I can't say I really have one, specifically, to mention here.  I think each step that every individual takes is a PLUS.  Vegan or Non-Vegan.  I can't say there is any one person that inspired me to go vegetarian when I was 15 years old - I just DID IT.  It was mostly because I didn't like meat and because I had daily migraines.  Then about 4 years ago I switched from vegetarian to vegan mostly because of digestion issues.  And I use the term vegan with some nervousness because YES sometimes I do 'screw up' but I believe it's about intention and not perfection.  I talk more about that in an old post you can find HERE.

But to follow suit with today's topic I figured I would blog a little bit about some of the people that have 'stuck with me' over the years.  First up is Howard Lyman.  If you aren't familiar with him he's an author and speaker and former cattle rancher (4th generation).  I met him about 13 years ago when he came to our area to speak and help with a fundraiser for a Farmed Animal Sanctuary I volunteered with for a while.  He's a heck of a guy!  

Another person I have great respect for is Dr. Neal Barnard.  He's the founder of PCRM (Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine).  I've read a few of his books and enjoy his blog.  I think it's great that he's a medical doctor that follows and recommends a plant-based diet.  So many people who aren't veg 'assume' that we as veg*ns lack certain vitamins and nutrients and are unhealthy.  All we have to do is educate ourselves and DO what we learn to make this work!  We need to lead by example and there are many of those that do!  These two guys included!  Of course there are other doctors that fit this bill, too, and I was going to list some of my other obvious favorites that have been in the media lately but I found THIS LIST online of vegan doctors and thought I would link it so you could take a look for yourselves!

Today I will leave you with a yummy treat!  It's very rich on top with a creamy bottom layer, too!
Check out this 2 Layer Cacao Pistachio Raw Vegan Freezer Fudge!

It was recently featured on The Raw Food World NEW Site's RECIPE Section!

Get the full recipe HERE.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What's the last dessert treat you consumed?

Vegan MoFo ~ BREAKFAST (And Then Some)

Yup!  It's FINALLY HERE!  Vegan Mofo 2015!  This is my 4 year participating...I believe!  It's something I look forward to each year, indeed!  I wish Vegan MoFo was EVERY MONTH but I know it takes a LOT of organization and I want to THANK the organizers of this annual event.  Learn more at VeganMoFo.com.

This year the organizers have developed prompts to get us going and I may post loosely based on these prompts but will be participating most days regardless.  I may miss a weekend day from time to time but will do my best in the meantime!

Before I get to my first post I wanted to let everyone know that I have started a BlogRoll for people who comment on my blog.  The direct URL for this BlogRoll is located HERE.  Or you can see the logo in this post on my sidebar, too!

My goal is to network more and more with MoFo-ers each and every day and try and have lasting relationships year-round!

Today's Prompt is...

Rise & Shine!  It's MoFo Time!  Tell us about your breakfast!

Well, here it is!  It's a "Handful Of" Smoothie!

What I mean by that is I literally threw in a handful of all of the following to make this...Cashews, Blackberries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries...and added just enough Cashew Milk to cover it and blended!  It's pretty yummy and I hope to make a Raw Vegan Ice Cream using these ingredients soon, too!

As a mid-morning snack...

I will be having a few (or more) of these dried apple slices!

For course I am drinking various teas - like I normally do - throughout the day, too!

Lunch is yet to be determined but I'm guessing it will be a large salad because I made some pretty awesome tangy ranch dressing last night and it seemed to hit the spot with the thrown together salad I had last night for dinner, too!

Here's a photo of the dressing.  I will most likely be submitting this recipe to The Raw Food World NEWS Site and their Recipe Section very soon so hop over there and sign up for their daily email newsletter to recipe upcoming recipes!  It's FREE!  If you are new to my site here at My Blissful Journey and would like to see more of my recipes that I have contributed to The Raw Food World NEWS Site and their Recipe Section view my PROFILE here.


Again, I've VERY exited about this years Vegan MoFo!  Please let me know if you are participating and/or if you would like me to add you to my personal BlogRoll for this event!  Looking forward to any and all feedback and meeting some new veggie friends!  Woot!

4 Smoothies on a Friday!

Hello and HAPPY FRIDAY!  I'm still working on catching up with recipe posts after all of the giveaways I've had the last few weeks!  And I'm gearing up for WNY VegFest on Sunday so next week I will have TONS of posts from the festivities in Buffalo, too!

First up is this Mango Orange Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie.  I originally made this for my mother who had major dental surgery a few weeks ago but it looked so good I had to try it for myself.

I'm so glad I did!  This recipe was also featured HERE at The Raw Food World NEWS Site RECIPE Section.

It only has 4 ingredients in it and they are all listed in the name of the smoothie recipe!

Another one of my Smoothies was featured on The Raw Food World News Site and Recipe Section...this Strawberry Mangosteen Smoothie.
Click HERE for the recipe.

Not too long ago I bought some Mangosteen Powder from Ojio but it seems to be out of stock on both The Raw Food World and the My Ojio site.  It's part of their Ayurveda Line and suggested for Dosha Pitta.  The main reason I grabbed it was because I cannot get fresh Mangosteen where I live but wanted to incorporate it in my life.  I've had this powder extract as well as freeze dried.  My mother LOVES the freeze dried because they taste like Smarties!

This Smoothie is a Vanilla Chai Smoothie and it will be on The Raw Food World News/Recipe Section in the near future.  So be on the look out for that.

I basically used bananas, chai spices, and vanilla powder to make this flavor and it was delightful!

Eventho I haven't consumed a smoothie EVERY morning I have been doing MUCH better about grabbing them in the morning and starting many of my days with them.  It's a constant goal of mine to reach for a smoothie a day!  I think smoothies are also a great way to keep things interesting and shoot for a variety of colors and contents each day!

This is a smoothie I made the other day right before leaving the house!  It turned out pretty good, too!  Here's what it has in it...

1 C Coconut Water
1 Frozen Banana
10 Frozen Strawberries
5 Frozen Blackberries
1 Scoop Garden of Life Vanilla Organic Plant Protein (OPP)

In other news I have acquired various Mason Jars from my husband's grandmother which couldn't have come at a better time.  If you have visited my site for a while you may remember that I store all of my foods, powders, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, etc

Next I will be on the hunt for some small glass jars for all the pesto I will be making!

Current Vegan Eats & Winner Announcements!

Hello there!  Before we get into all of these vegan eats - even some RAW Vegan Eats...I wanted to announce the winners of my last contest which was the NuNaturals $70 Prize Pack!

Linda K from the USA

Brenda P from Canada

Suituapui from Malaysia

Ashley R from USA

Thanks so much to everyone for participating the feedback was AMAZING!  Congrats to all of the winners!

In the first photo you will see a dip that I did a while back!  My thought behind it was to incorporate Mesquite Powder because I recently received a slew of it in an order from The Raw Food World and I wanted to start experimenting with it.

In this dip I used Cashews, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Red Bell Pepper, Garlic, Apple Cider Vinegar, Mesquite Powder, and Parsley.

Check out the entire recipe HERE it's one of the featured recipes over at The Raw Food World NEWS Recipe Section.

In other news I recently acquired like 20 pounds of bananas for FREE from a local produce stand! How awesome is that!?  They had a SLEW of over ripe bananas and they were due to get more in the following day and asked me if I wanted them!  Of course, I jumped at the opportunity even tho I'm not a fan of bananas I have been trying to incorporate more and more of them in my smoothies because I know how GOOD bananas are for you!  I shared a few pounds with 2 of the girls at work and went home to freeze the rest of them!

I also found a new-to-me flavor of Naked Smoothie at a nearby store.  I REALLY liked this flavor and grabbed it while traveling for work the other day!

Not too long ago I threw together a Farro Dish!

It was similar to the one I did HERE but I didn't have any artichokes or pine nuts to add to it this time around.

Before I get to my next few photos I wanted to let you know that this weekend my sister and I are going to the WNY Veg Fest in Buffalo!  We had so much fun last year we decided to make it a priority to go again this year.  I've already contacted Chis from The Vegan Zombie and he and Jon will both be there again!   This year I think I will make up some cards to pass out for my site!  I really want to start networking more with people in the Tri-State area and more online!

Here's a Mediterranean Chickpea Salad of sorts I did this past week!   Here's what's in it...

2 C Chickpeas
1 C diced tomatoes
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1/4 C Parsley
1/4 C Chives
1 T Oregano
3 T Balsamic
Sea Salt/Pepper to taste

I loved the way this turned out!  It was so yummy!

Question of the Day...what's the last dish you made using Chickpeas?

And FINALLY...some raw vegan ice cream...

What it contains:

4 Frozen Bananas
5 T Almond Milk
1 C Frozen Strawberries
3 to 4 T Nut Butter of your choice

For the Nut Butter I used Jem Organic's Super Berry Maqui Camu and it was wonderful!

I blended the Frozen Bananas first (with the Almond Milk) and then added half of the nut butter.  I blended the strawberries separately and added both mixtures into a large glass dish and mixture by hand because I wanted chunks of fruit.  I then added the remaining nut butter.  It was great!

Spiralizers, Noodles, and Quick Meals

I will have 2 posts today!  This first one is foods I have been eating lately.  I've really been on the Zucchini Noodles hardcore the last few weeks and I don't see an end in sight!  I've had the Spirooli for at least 2 years now and I like it BUT since getting my newest appliance I can now say I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Joyce Chen Spiral Slicer even more!  I used the Joyce Chen when I did these noodles shown!  I think I like it better because they make a thinner and more consistent noodle with less effort and it's even easier to clean!

I've been messing around with several raw sauces and will be posting them over at The Raw Food World NEWS Recipe Section in the near future!

I have had several days over the past few weeks were I have had about 5 minutes to make something if I was going to eat anything at all other than fruit!  I've even been a lacking in the greens department!  Oye!

So I remember buying some of the Wegman's Brand Chickpeas that were already flavored.  The flavor was Marsala and they were pretty good!  I have them pictured here over brown rice.  It's a very light brown rice but it's still brown rice.

I'm still in the process of trying to pack my foods for the day in my car.  My mom had an extra cooler bag which will work nicely until I find a larger one at a better price.  I saw a YouTube video that John Kohler did a while back with a Coleman Cooler that plugged into your car and was like a refrigerator which was awesome but I haven't seen one locally yet!  Video is posted at this end of this post so check it out!

As for this elbow mac dish it didn't turn out the best but it was still edible.  I really wanted it to be thicker and creamier.

I used Corn Pasta and for the sauce a combo of almond milk, 6 cherry tomatoes, spinach, soy flour, minced garlic, hemp seeds, and topped with Vegan Chipotle Parmesan.

I had a bit of a surprise over the weekend that I will be sharing with you later today!  So be sure to stop back!

Now take a look at this video that is from OKRAW's YouTube Channel.  If you aren't familiar with the YouTuber - that is John Kohler!

Yacon, Food Trends, and Pineapple Strawberry Popsicles Made at Home!

It's funny...when I was younger I didn't think much about learning.  As I get older I am almost obsessed with learning something NEW everyday!  That's yet another reason why I am so excited and grateful to be contributing to The Raw Food World News Site.

Recently I have been reading up on Yacon.  I've learned how it can be helpful for not only losing weight but beneficial to 'gut' health and digestion.  The latter is what I am more interested in, personally.  Digestion issues was the main reason I ended up switching from lacto-ovo veg to vegan 3 and a half years ago.  I've battled with digestion issues even as an infant.  To learn a bit of what I am been researching when it comes to Yacon be sure to check out the article called Yacon to Maintain a Healthy Weight and Gut.

I've been on a Pineapple kick ever since eating so much of it while in West Palm Beach last month.  When I got back I was still on the kick and have done a few recipes that feature the fruit including Pineapple Strawberry Popsicles.  I also found out that Pineapple is good for fighting motion and morning sickness.  NO!  I'm NOT pregnant people!  Don't even think about it!  LOL

And finally I just HAD to share with you this article I did recently on Food Trends for 2015!  Check it out and let me know which foods you think are getting all 'trendy' on us so far this year!

Mango Cream Smoothie, Dijon Walnut Sauce, and Raw Vegan Eggplant Strips

One of the issues our household has been battling since we've been back from West Palm Beach has been Kidney Stones.  Hubby has battled with them for years now and now that we know he has Crohn's we have found that they are connected.  While looking for foods that help certain issues I came across how the might mango may help fight kidney stones.  We will be incorporating more of them in our diet to see how they can help him.  I recently made a Mango Cream Smoothie and it turned out tasty so I shared it on The Raw Food World News Site.  

If you have been to my blog in the past you may have picked up on me being a SAUCE type person.  Above you will see the photo and excerpt of the Dijon Walnut Sauce I did for raw vegan zucchini noodles.  It was very flavorful and creamy.

On the bottom you will see Hearth Healthy Raw Vegan Eggplant Strips.  I paired that with info on heart health - of course!   I made those in my Excalibur Dehydrator.

In other news - I FINALLY ordered a new juicer!  I opted for the Tribest SlowStar Juicer.  It's a Single Auger Juicer and Chris over at Zombie Gate/The Vegan Zombie was the one who twisted my arm to finally make the purchase.  His Instagram Juicing Photos are amazing!  I'm still waiting on the juicer to arrive but I'm VERY excited to jump right in!

Recipes & Info for a Soup, Smoothie, and Jerky!

In case you are getting sick of seeing all of my vacation photos I thought I would get back to posting some food!  It's been extremely busy since we've been back home - I can't believe it's already been a month that we've been back!  WOW!  

Anyhow...to the food, eh!?

Above you will see some of the posts I have been doing for The Raw Food World NEWS Site lately.  I will try and be better about cross posting them here on my blog, too!  First up is the recipe I did for the Raw Vegan Creamy Tomato Soup.  I paired that with some info on how it can help strengthen bones.  Below that you will see a photo and excerpt from the Blackberry Orange Smoothie Recipe I did and I wrote about how it may help with healthier skin.  And in the last of those 3 posts you will see a recipe I did for Tofu Jerky that may help with Type-2 Diabetes.  As I post this I see that I have a typo in the first line - OH MY!  I will be changing that very soon!  It's supposed to read I am NOT a 'pro' when it comes to tofu!  Eeek!

Foods From Last Week...This Week!

Yup!  I'm still behind with posting!  Here are some of the foods I have been eating the past week or two!

Up top on the left - it's a comfort food and not ultra healthy due to the store-bought vegan cheese but I considered it a CHEAT and haven't been doing that all the much lately!  I made Egg Trick Muffins!  Yum!  To the right of that you will see one of the recipes I have submitted to The Raw Food World NEWS Recipe Section!  It's a Nut and Seed based "meat" inside a raw vegan paleo wrap!  On the bottom is an awesome salad with greens, pineapple, tomatoes, peppers, almonds, coconut, and Balsamic!

Of course this isn't all I ate but some of it...and with the post from Friday with the smoothies you can get a good idea of some of the things I have been working on!  

Soups & Social Media

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

In other news...

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

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

Reflecting on Last Week and Recipe Posts

This past week I was trying to focus on my Lymphatic System and I think I did a pretty good job with it.  I was able to try almost everything on my list from last week.  However...I didn't get around to the Plantains, Echinacea, and didn't do as much Yoga as I had hoped.  I made it about 90% or more with RAW FOODS last week, too! 

 It's been extremely cold over the past week - or month for that matter!  We've been seeing temperature anywhere between -18 and -29 and YES that is BELOW ZERO!  Brrr!

Because I am having some discomfort in certain areas of my body (and I am chalking it up to what time of month it is) I will be trying to focus on these things this week.  Most of the suggestions I have found online I already do with my diet.  So I think I will be upping my herbs and essential oils - as well as my green juices and smoothies.  I think I would be more excited about juicing again if I had a different juicer.  I'm still tossing the idea around of getting a new one.  Right now I am HOT on both a Breville and an Omega NC900.

In other news - I have been concentrating on Recipes over at The Raw Food World News Site and I will continue to but I will now be contributing articles again.  More on that down the road.

As for the recipes - I will include some quick links and sort descriptions throughout this week!  First up...Raw Tomato Garlic Herb Bread that I made in my dehydrator a while back...it strayed from the version just a little bit that I posted previously on my blog.  Brazil Nut Pesto was another recipe that was featured this past month.  You know I LOVE my Pesto's!  And the last preview for today is the Ginger Wasabi Noodle Bowl.  I did this a while back using a Wildtree Product but have since made it from scratch and enjoy it just as much!

Work has been going real well.  Incase I didn't mention it before I've been switched over to sales and I have already met my goals for the first two months of this year and I am really happy about it.  I'm still keeping a few of my responsibilities from before, too, so I won't solely be doing sales eventho that is my main priority from now on.

Furkids Update: Riley has been showing his age a bit and I think he is either getting random muscle pains or spasms or arthritis.  Paco has another appointment today for his ITP and they will be doing another full blood work up to check his levels.  We have been going about every other month since his levels have been coming back better the last few times, however, I have been getting meds for him every month.  Charlie seems to be doing as well as he has been since his tail amputation...so that is good!

Hubby has been on and switching meds for his Crohns and doing fairly well with it, however, our insurance changed over the last few months and things are NOT working to our benefit with the changes and his prescriptions.

As far as my love of Pop Culture as of late...I was able to watch the 40th SNL Anniversary Special and LOVED it!  We are back into The Walking Dead and will watch Sunday's Episode tonight.  Nothing, really, in the way of movies, lately, and my ears have been enjoying a split of Reggae and New Wave, it seems.

What about you!?  Do tell!

Eats this week - Salads, Fruit, and a Cashew Dip Treat!

Since I am doing a mostly raw week while focusing on my Lymphatic System I thought I would show a few things I have eaten over the last few days.  I'm also thinking about extending this adventure into next week.  Time will tell.

First up a MASSIVE Salad.  I wish you could see how big this bowl was!  The salad turned out awesome!  It has 5 different kinds of lettuce in there, mini cucumbers, raw walnuts, 2 different colors of sweet bell peppers, and I topped it with a Braggs Dressing that had Ginger and a few other things in there.  Also on top is Garlicky Green Vegan Parm.

Yesterday for lunch I had 6 Kiwi Fruit.  I've also been gnawing on Kale Chips a lot this week.

I was able to find a few different kinds of Apples yesterday - including Grapples that are NOT pictured.  Cantaloupe - YAY - I hope to make a smoothie or at the very least Cantaloupe Milk with it.  A few oranges - hopefully I will make some dressings with those.  And MORE kiwi fruit!

Later in the day I bought 3 bananas and will be freezing them either today or tomorrow after they have ripened a bit more. (Frozen and in smoothies are the only way I can stomach Bananas!)

The Salad was amazing and I can't wait to have another one!

I had some Spirulina Chips left from a while back and wanted to get rid of them.  The reason I bought them was because they were Spirulina based but when I got them and tried one I knew right away they had a good amount of banana in them. Oye.

Well, last night I attempted to make a Cashew Dip and OMG it turned out AWESOME.  I dipped the Go Raw Spirulina Chips in it and PROBLEM SOLVED it was an AWESOME Combo!  I am going to be doing a recipe for The Raw Food World NEWS Site but I will tell you NOW that I used Cashew Butter, Lemon Juice, Coconut Oil, and Coconut Aminos in this recipe and now I'm kind of addicted to it!

Dressings, Bamboo, Lip Balm, Marinated Mushrooms & Rice, Chlorella To Relieve Pain, and a Stellar Vegan Buffalo Chickpea Pasta Dish, too!

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a great Christmas - and for those who don't celebrate - I hope you had a nice Thursday!   Ours was nice - we went to DH's Grandmother's House for the extended family gathering on his side Christmas Eve - then went to my parents for about an hour and a half after that.  Christmas Day we went back over to my parents for a few hours and then when to the home to meet with DH's Family.  My Step-Father-In-Law is here for long term/rehab - he had surgery last week but has been in and out of the home and hospital most of this past year.  The weather was very mild for our area.  Christmas Eve it got up to the higher 50s and even reached 60 in some places. 

Last Christmas Eve Night we had high winds which caused some damage in certain spots.  Yesterday for Christmas Day it was cooler but still warmer than usual for Christmas!  I think it was mostly in the mid to upper 30s.  We had NO snow.  I'm okay with that.

Today I thought I would catch up cross posting about some of the things I have been submitting to other sites.  Mostly The Raw Food World.  I took a few screen shots, too!  Above you will see my Peanut Curry Dressing that I made a while back but tweaked for the site.  Check out the updated version of the Peanut Curry Dressing Recipe.  Another thing that I reviewed in greater length was the Bamboo Bowls I got from them a while back.  Not only did I find a vegan alternative for Burt's Bee's Lip Balm - I found one that was RAW, too!  Check out the full length post for Hurraw! Mint Lip Balm.

I'm still REALLY excited about the Vegan Buffalo Chickpea Pasta I did a while back - so be sure to click on the link above for that full recipe!  It was converted from various Chicken Wing Pizza Recipes I saw online.  NOTE - there isn't any Fake Meat in that recipe - just whole and natural foods!

You'll have to check out the testimonial I did for Chlorella - To Relieve Pain, too!  I've very pleased with some of my own personal findings!

And finally - a very simple and flavorful dish - Marinated Mushrooms & Rice!

My Valencian Rice & Beans Recipe Was Featured!

Another one of my Recipes and Photos were featured over on The Raw Food World NEWS Recipe Section!  Check it out HERE and for a short list of ingredients here's what's in this dish...

• 1 cup, cooked rice
• 1 T grapeseed oil (I used Wildtree Brand)
• 1 onion
• 3 T garlic, minced
• 1 cup, cooked kidney (red) beans
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch black pepper, to taste

My Chickpea Casserole Was Featured!

Hi Gang!  One of the many projects I am involved in is writing for The Raw Food World NEWS Site!  They have a lot of great recipes in their recipe section, too!  This is one of the many recipes of mine that I submitted - and guess what...they featured it TODAY!  For the entire recipe, instructions, and information CLICK HERE.

A short list of ingredients that were used in this recipe were...

• 2 cups brown rice pasta
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1 cup almond milk (or nut-milk of your choice)
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 2 cups chickpeas
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Pinch paprika

Goal Book ~ So It Begins...

I figured I would do a stand alone post for this one.  I've officially started my Weekly Goal Book and thought I would share it with you.  By posting it here on my blog it will give me a bit of accountability to stick with it, I hope.

I've had this sketch book for a while and have been stain pages and trying to use different inks for junk journaling and art journaling for a while but didn't really have a purpose...now I do.  You can see the edges are starting to change because of the inks and dyes and I think that is completely fine.  I want it to be pretty funky.  The outside is fabric so it's soaking up the liquid pretty well.

Here's a blank page - randomly - in the book that I will use down the road so  you can see that each page will be different. 

I receive daily emails from DailyOm.com and last week they sent me this quote and it pushed me over the edge to finally start this project.

"Take the time to reclaim your creativity and watch your life blossom as a result."

 So this is my very first page...my first week!  What do you think?  Yes...I think the penmanship is a little rushed but I'm ok with that for the first one.  I am looking forward to seeing things change each week.  I found a small photo and the width of it was perfect and decided to use it at the bottom of the page.  Plus the colors match up with what I already had on the page.  I used mostly alcohol inks and Tattered Angels spray for this page background.  I used a glue stick in certain spots and used a very fine clear glitter to accent it.  I scribbled a hand drawn line boarder around the page, too.  And finally jotted down 5 goals I would like to focus on this week.  Some people say if you hand write your goals you are a more apt to do them VS typing them or saying them.  I want to write at least 5 articles (or Uplifters) for The Raw Food World News site this week.  I sort of slacked during the month of September.  I want to make at least 1 veganized World Food dish this week.  Eventho I started this Goal Book this week I still want to start a Vision Board, too!  So I added that one to the list.  I want to at least start it.  Then I want to Breathe more and Smile more this week!