Back-To-Blonde, The Good Kind of Peer Pressure, & Library Finds!

YAY for Fridays!

Sometimes Peer Pressure is a good thing!  After reading Vegan Power/Vegan Peace's blog posts about her KeVita Adventures over and over I was vegan-egged-on to go grab one myself!

So this photo is for her!  Mango Coconut Style!

We've been getting snow again...what a WEIRD year for weather!

I've been able to swing by the library a few times to de-compress lately and it's been nice.  I've chalked it up as a lunch hour or two!  I'm pretty sure I have already checked out all of the vegetarian and vegan and even raw foodie books my library has in stock but I visit time and time again to re-view a few of them as well as visit some of them I haven't looked at in a while.  Here are two that I recently viewed again.  I've been thinking about looking at some of the old cookbooks from specific countries and seeing what I can easily veganize.

It's been a few weeks now but I did go back to blonde again.  This is an old photo, however.  I need to get some more pics of me in my glasses again - I guess - but - I also need to get new glasses.  This morning my nose-pieces broke and one of the local eyeglass places replaced them for FREE.  How nice!

Any exciting plans for anyone this weekend!?  Let me know in comments!

I've Been Drinking Again!

Just a short video I shot on Friday.  I meant to post it over the weekend but that didn't happen.  We had a few surprises over the weekend and I hope to share those with you soon!  In the meantime check out this super short video about what I have been drinking lately and what I have been drinking it out of!

Caturday, FurFamily, & Wine

I know I have been 'few and far between the last few weeks - but I think this week that will change.  The house has been a lot more quiet without Suzie and I still think it's all a bad dream.  Paco's next appointment will be Wednesday afternoon.  I hope we see some progress with him.  I want to thank you all again for all of the kind words...they mean a lot!

This past week or so I have taken a lot of photos and will share them with you the next several posts.  First up will mostly be a fur-friend post with a few other happenings as of late. 

In this first photo you will see Jeter, Charlie, and Bernie.  Charlie is our cat and Jeter and Bernie are my parents.  Charlie is our feral cat and we've had him since BEFORE Dale and I were even engaged.  He seems to be doing well even without his tail.  Some of you may remember that he had to have it amputated earlier this year.

Bernie and Jeter are brother and sister - eventho they don't look like it.  One is Calico and the other is Orange.  One is long hair and the other medium.  They are about 12 or 13 years old.  We think Bernie is having arthritis issues.

I mentioned Paco will have his next appointment on Wednesday.  I think the medication he's taking for his skin issues is working or at least starting to.

Wednesday we are hoping for progress on the skin issues as well as to see the white blood cells NOT adhering to the Platelets. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again...ITP SUCKS!  He's our fighter, tho, strong lil guy!  He's gained a few pounds because his main med is a steroid but I'd rather have a chunky-chi than no chi...you know what I mean?

Riley is doing ok...he misses his sister Suzie that is for sure!  He's doing a bit better than I thought he would, tho.

He's a lot more quiet...then again...Suzie was the loud one...she was the leader of the pack and the instigator. 

As you can see they LOVE the blankets and we have several of them around the house.

I have a lot of food related posts but I figured I would save those for separate and stand alone posts - I will start catching up on those starting tomorrow.

Saturday - my mom, dad, sister, and I had a table at 21 Brix Winery in Portland, NY.

Everyone was really nice.  The weather wasn't bad.  The sales weren't crazy-awesome but we did ok.  Our last customer did much of her Christmas Shopping with us which was awesome and made the whole day worth it.  We had a great chat with her as well.

The winery made a warm cider wine out of their Cherry flavored wine and spices.  It smelled amazing!  The winery was decorated nicely, too!  It was a FUN time!

Yesterday - my sister and I helped bottle wine at mom and dad's house.  They are getting ready to give the home made wine as Holiday Gifts to friends and co-workers.

It was fun and we were able to spend some Father/Daughter time.

We bottled a dry red wine as well as a semi-dry white.  I preferred the white over the red for a change...but both were good!

I'm glad I was able to spend time with my sister multiple times over the last week, too!

Weekend Roundup & Rooftop Garden Updates

A little bit of a "Weekend Round Up" as well as an update on the Rooftop Garden/Container Garden in this post!  This past weekend my mom, dad, sister, and I were with our Wildtree Products at Merritt Winery outside of Dunkirk, NY, for the 2nd time this year.  The weather started off not-so-great but it ended on a more pleasant note.  I was able to take a photograph of their vineyards before we left Sunday Night.

My sister and parents went on a little outing not too long ago and grabbed a drink or two at a Greek Restaurant and saved me this bottle.  WHY?  You might ask?  Well, because it has a Unicorn on it - of course!  If you don't already know - I've been a life long unicorn collector...I added this to my collection.  I posted this photo on InstaGram and noticed Mythos Beer is really popular overseas...I saw posts from Greece, Turkey, Italy, and other countries, too!  Pretty neat!  I made a spot for this empty bottle in my Craft Room.

Another thing I wanted to take time today - to update you all on - was some more Rooftop Garden/Container Garden updates!  On the right are two Dragons Tongue Bean plants BUT on the left is a container of Yard Long Beans that are crawling over and attaching themselves to the Dragons Tongue.  The Yard Long Beans are CRAZY HUGE!  They really can grow up to a YARD long!  Hence the name!  One of these days I will try and take a pic of me holding one so you can see just how long they really are!  They are so cool!

Here are some peppers we are having luck with now!  These are the Big Jim Peppers!  They are supposed to be mild to medium on the heat scale.  I think we will let them go a bit longer before picking because they can get to be between 7 and 10 inches long and I've read they also can turn red, too!  These are doing pretty well under our stairs in partial sun.

Questions of the Day...How was your weekend?  Do anything interesting?  How's your garden going and growing?  Any surprises there?  Have you tried Yardlong Beans or Big Jim Peppers?  What are your thoughts on those two produce picks?

Weekend Surprises - Gaming & Snow

This past weekend hubby and I decided to purchase a Sony Play Station 3 Bundle which INCLUDED "The Last Of Us" Game.  It's been a few years since we have gotten into gaming.  We don't really watch all that much TV - and what we do watch is via Hulu Plus and Netflix via our Apple TV.  Currently we are all caught up on the few TV shows we do watch and we thought that we would get into a game that we could try and figure out together in the evenings to upwind after work.  Since hubby gets up REALLY EARLY to start his air shift he usually goes to bed around 7:30.  So after dinner we try and fill our time with a together activity such as catching up on a show or NOW in this case playing our game.  An inside joke that we have shared for awhile now is the name of this game.  When we started seeing the promos for it on Hulu Plus it must have been the way it was printed and the font they were using I swore it said "The Last Doofus" - teehee - which our dog Riley has been known to go by at times - when he pulls a 'bone head move'.  But all-in-all the game storyline and graphics drew us in.  We've only played it a few hours this past weekend but it sure hasn't disappointed.  I can see how it would be EASILY Addicting.  I will will say, tho, that this is certainly an ADULT game.  It's basically like watching an R Rated Movie...with the language and violence.  But we are in our 30s and 40s - and do NOT have children - so it's 'fine' for us.

Another surprise this past weekend was the weather.  Well, NOT REALLY considering it's been a really crazy weather year already but he ended up getting about 5 inches of snow within an hour or two.

Another ODD bit of info to this story is that yesterday it ended up melting quickly by mid afternoon and today is supposed to hit around 60 degrees!

I thought I would take some photos for you tho - not only to show you the snow but to show you Riley ENJOYING the snow! 

There were many times this past winter not even Riley liked it...but he sometimes like to roam and EAT the snow even!  What a weirdo!

You can see some of my neighbor's yard in these photos, too, they have a HUGE garden but they aren't the most approachable people.  Some of their brush is even growing on to our property and the other neighbor on the other side's fence is starting to fall.  Yeah...our neighbors are a bit 'odd'.  Oh Well!  Bring on SUMMER!

Pups & Plants of the Weekend

I have two posts today!  Be sure to scroll down for my first one regarding FOOD OF THE WEEKEND.  This one will be a bit longer but it's specifically about Furkids...Pups to be exact...and progress on the plant life at the office.

This first photo my sister took of me with my parents Puppy Lexi.  She's doing really well!  She's a very good girl...very sweet and VERY smart!  She loves to slow dance as you can see here.  Yes, I even got some puppy kisses!  Another thing you may (or may not) notice is that their floor is different.  Yup!  My father totally re-did their kitchen floor in less that a day!  It looks SHARP!  He did a GREAT JOB!

Here's a photo of all three of our dogs - together!  This was shortly after they ate dinner.  One of the things they enjoy doing after a meal is to 'wash' for some reason.  That's what Suzie and Riley are doing anyway.  Paco has his eye on something else in the next room, I guess.

This weekend was COLD...especially yesterday and on to TODAY.  It was only 10 degrees when I parked my car this morning!  The dogs don't like the cold either...it's not just me!  Eventho it was bitter cold at least we had nice sunshine that shined thru the windows!

Some sad news from last Friday...my mother-in-law lost her last of 3 dogs.  Wally was a 9 year old Boston Terrier.  He wasn't feeling well Thursday Night or Friday Morning and she took him to the vet.  They found a mass in his stomach that was larger than a softball. She lost her other 2 dogs about a year ago to other cancers, too.  And before that her 1st dog to Mouth Cancer...that dog was also a Boston.  She says she's 'done' with pets and decided to give all of her stuff away.  She wanted us to have some large dog beds and after she cleaned them she gave them to us to bring home.  Both Suzie and Riley LOVE them!  Paco tried to pull the other one around the house until I folded it and put it infront of the TV.  I hope he warms up to it as a bed and not a toy.  Time will tell.  I feel really bad for my mother-in-law - it was VERY hard for her.  MY Mother text messaged me this morning and told me one of their cats was sick so we are waiting to hear back regarding her text results, too!  AND...Charlie has a vet appointment for Friday because he split open that wound on his tail again...I thought it was doing so well, too!  Grrrr!

On to the plant and planting news! 

We are still rolling along with the Container Garden which will then transform into our Rooftop Garden if all continues to go well! 

Here's a photo from this morning!  It's our very first sprout of Brussels Sprouts starting!  YAY!  We thought we would start small and then transplant them if all continued to progress!  We tried about 12 of them, I think.  I will keep you posted on the progress!

And speaking of 'first time sprouts'...here's a look at the very first signs of life from our Broccoli!  We have the Broccoli started in a 1 and a half gallon bucket.

Did you know that Broccoli is part of the Cabbage Family?  Broccoli is high in vitamin C and dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as diindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium.  A single serving provides more than 30 mg of vitamin C and a half-cup provides 52 mg of vitamin C.

Now...on to the updates and progress of our "GREENS"!!!

We now have signs of life from all 6 of the 'greens' that we started!  5 lettuces and kale!  Here's a look at the Grand Rapids Lettuce.  I am aware that some of these lettuces we will most likely have to transfer and transplant into another area or space them out a bit more but some of the lettuces are said to 'thrive' in various conditions such as in more confined spaces.

That's NOT really the case with the Rosalita Lettuce you see here.

Rosalita is a 'head' lettuce...so we will have to replant these and space them out better.  Oops!  Live and Learn, I guess, right!?

This is our ROCK STAR so far, tho, so perhaps it will 'transfer' alright.

I just LOVE how it looks like they are reaching for the sun!  I told my co-worker that I thought they were dancing too...she giggled at me and called me a 'hippie'...but from her that is a compliment and fun little joke her and I have going!

We are still waiting to see 'movement' on our Carrots as well as our 3 onions.

I do realize that onions take longer.  With the 3 that we are trying first...one is about 70 days, another 80 to 110, and the other about 180 days.  Of course the "Ron Burgundy" onions take the longest LOL...inside joke...see previous gardening posts for more on that!

So...gardening buddies...what do you think so far?  For a first timer!?

Foods Of The Weekend

Happy Monday!  This post I will show you some of the foods that I did at home over the weekend.

This was the large lunch I had on Saturday.  I wasn't sure if I was going to eat much of a dinner so I wanted to make sure I ate an early lunch before visiting my parents.

We ended up going out to a Buffet later that night and there were quite a few options for me there as well!

As for this specific plate, tho, here's what's on it...starting on the top...I made Seasoned Rice!  Here's the quick recipe for that...

1 C White Rice
2 T Earth Balance
2 T Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tea Garlic Powder
1 T Dried Basil

It was so simple but was so flavorful!  I really enjoyed it.  Then...moving to the right...I have Mango Chunks topped with a little Cashew Cream that was left over from the other day.  My husband had some on a cracker and really liked the Cashew Cream.  He asked me to make more so I did that last night.  Then on the other side of the plate you'll see 2 Indian Vegetable Burgers.  I have yet to eat these as an actually veggie burger on a bun.  I love these so much!  The main ingredient is potato.  I was able to stock up on 2 boxes of them while at Trader Joe's in Buffalo last weekend!  I think they are GREAT stand-alone.

I had this next dish for Dinner last night and saved some leftovers for my lunch today.  It's Polenta Triangles (Sun Dried Tomato Flavored) that I did on my stove top in a dab of Wildtree Tuscan Dipping Oil.  The herbs in that oil when well with the Sun Dried Tomatoes.  I then added in some plain corn and plain peas - both organic and both from my freezer.  I added a few table spoons of Medium Salsa at the end - the Salsa was from Trader Joe's, too!  It was on sale!

Another thing that happened this weekend was while I was doing some kitchen cleaning I decided to check Facebook on my phone and saw that Opal tagged me and challenged me to some Vegan/Raw Vegan Food Creations in my Excalibur.  I said I would join in!  So...this week you will be seeing more dehydrator recipes and ideas from me.  In the meantime...make sure you check out Opal's site too!  For my first recipe and idea...some Nut/Seed/Cheese Crackers that I just took out this morning!

Here are a few of them I ate this morning for my first taste test.  I think they turned out wonderful flavor-wise!

I must say I sampled a bit of the 'mixture' after smoothing it out on a 'sheet' using a spatula.

I think I would make this recipe and use it as a sauce, too, it's just that good!

Here's the recipe...

1/2 C Cashews
1/4 C Walnuts
1/4 C Brazil Nuts
1/4 C Hemp Seeds/Hemp Hearts
2 T Lemon Juice
2 Mini Sweet Red Bell Peppers
2 Mini Sweet Orange Bell Peppers
1 Large Stalk of Celery
1 Small Zuke
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast
2 Cloves Garlic
1 T Bragg's Liquid Aminos

I know that this is more 'nuts' than Opal would use but I thought they were really good.  And I think just a few small crackers is enough for a snack!  They were really filling so a little goes a long way!  I do think that the Zucchini and the Celery helped break it up a bit, tho!

SUBMIT Your Raw Food/Dehydrated Creations on this week's Dehydrator Challenge! 

In The Spotlight

I thought I would start the week off with something a little different that I hope to continue with from time to time...IN THE SPOTLIGHT.  Things that I have found interesting of the past week or in this case WEEKEND and mention a visitor or two to my blog. 

First I would like to thank Pioneer Momma for the visit and nice comment over the weekend.  Her blog is really amazing if you have time swing by and say hello!  She's also in charge of What'd You Do This Weekend which I would like to make a point to participate in weekly.  Speaking of which...my Raw Vegan Burgers were featured on the post today!  I'm so excited!  Thank you so much for choosing my 'burgers' to highlight on the post!

And speaking of being featured...I was featured as a Guest Blogger for Garden of Life!  Be sure to stop by and check out the post.  They are working on fixing the photos but the recipe is up NOW.  I did a blog post specifically for their blog using their Vanilla Protein Powder.  I like to call it a Vanilla Ginger Turmeric Tonic.  I also mentioned a few different tweaks on the ingredients to make it more user friendly and versatile.  I was very pleased with how this Herbal Tonic turned out!  And overly excited to see it featured on their site this morning!  YAY!

Before the weekend officially started I blog about my hopes and dreams for our Rooftop Garden Project at work.  We've had so much encouragement from people we know locally and online and I want to thank everyone for the PUSH and advice!  In the past week I have been able to meet some really great people that are a great source of information.  When I took the class I blogged about on Friday there were not only Master Gardener members Penn State but Saturday I met a Master Gardener thru Cornell at an event that we participated in with our Wildtree Products.  BOTH Master Gardeners thru the Penn State AND Cornell groups were GREAT and the gave us information and said to contact them with questions.  Juliette - a new friend of mine who works for Penn State Ag Extension and was the teacher of the class on Thursday pretty much gave us an open invitation to ask questions as well!  Everyone has been kind and generous!  This morning I opened my email to find some more great blog posts to get my creative juices flowing, too!  To bad we are in the process of getting another awful winter weather storm this week!  I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever end!

Also this past weekend I have been trying another Raw Vegan Burger and I might post that this week - depends on the taste test.  I also want to do Kale Chips this week!  What did you do this weekend?

Weekend Recap, A Very Special Benefit Fundraiser, Groceries

(I meant to post this yesterday but I was interrupted more than once! LOL)

A little recap of my weekend...Friday Night my husband and I met up with my mom and dad for dinner for Fathers Day.  We went to a local golf club/restaurant that I have posted about before.  I again had their salad bar but didn't partake in an adult beverage like I had hoped.  My one wisdom tooth was REALLY giving me some troubles and it got worse the later in the evening it got!  I thought for sure I was going to wake up with an infection there but somehow beat it!  Thank GOD!

Saturday I sort of slept in a bit.  Since I was running behind that morning I wasn't able to attend our Farmers Market but that's ok because we still don't have all that much local produce ready in our area.


These photos are from the Benefit/Fundraiser for Melissa.  I've blogged about her and her (lost) battle with cancer the last  couple weeks.  With all of the medical bills piling up and her family still 'with us' they followed thru with the fundraiser to help with those costs.  It was the most amazing turn out I have ever seen!  As soon as you walked into the fire hall I saw over 400 'bags' for the Chinese Auction - every kind of themed basket you can think of as well as gift cards and gift certificates!  My sister and I had fun looking thru all of them!  We dropped our tickets into many of them.  We also donated $88 dollars worth of Wildtree for a Basket as well!  There were a lot of people who put their tickets in the Widtree one which was nice!  Megan and I won a few things!  The wooden statue with the ivy and bunnies on it we gave to our mom/dad for their front yard!  The Margarita Basket was cool, too, my mom got a lot of the mixes and I got the salsa and corn chips.  We divvied the Sombrero's, etc.  There was also a tea basket that I took most of the contents - suggested by my sister.  They did various 50/50s, a Chicken BBQ - of course I didn't partake, they sold t-shirts and cups in her memory, they had a beer garden, they had special prize/auctions, a LIVE Auction, chance/drawings, and a Cornhole Tournament.  Incase you are not familiar with the game of Cornhole (I know I sure wasn't up until a few years ago!)  It's basically a lawn game played with bean bags and raised platforms.  You try and throw the bean bags into the platform hole.  In the first group of pictures you can see a few outdoorsy-photos with people playing the game.  It's a BIG thing around here and people make and purchase custom Cornhole 'Boards' or Platforms.  I have to say I am super excited about the handmade heavy duty cutting board I won, too!  It's pictured in clear wrapping above - my sister got the big one and I got the smaller one but the small one is still a good size.  I have already used it several times.  The wooden hearts are hand made towel holders, too!  In the LIVE auction my father bid and won 4 rounds of golf at a local golf course - he was super excited about that as well!  He then won this HUGE Purple Hanging Basket for my mom - it was the size of at least 3 Hanging Baskets!!!  It was gorgeous!  There was a couple of signed NASCAR plates that weren't getting many bids so I told him to go for them and we would send them to my cousin and her husband in TN - they have a HUGE room filled with Racing Stuff!!!  It was a really nice day!  I wish I could have shook the hand of each one of the volunteers because they did an AMAZING job!

YES!  I shop at Aldi!  I wanted to go to Wegman's but didn't have time on Sunday but I always like to stop in at Aldi and check out the deals!  In our Aldi's Store - they unload the truck and put all the produce out RIGHT AWAY - there is NO back room for that so we are getting it right off the truck.  I know it's not as good as your local farmers but we still have very little local an fresh produce here - especially for the fruits and veggies you cannot grow in our area, ya know?  So, anyways, we did our shopping there on Sunday and I stocked up on some stuff!  I have noticed more and more Organic labeled items in our Aldi's as well!  That makes me VERY happy!  You will be seeing some of my new creations very soon!

How was your weekend?

Animal Friends, Dijon Quinoa & Veggies, and Vegan Buffalo Sauce

I took so many pictures this weekend that I had to consolidate them so my blog posts weren't too long.  I will have at least 2 entries today - this being the first.  I used a few free photo collage makers online and I will continue to tinker with them.

Here are some photos of Paco!  The top left one and the bottom left pic where of him while Dale was playing his new guitar!  He got quiet the deal on a Martin D41 - He's been a Martin Guitar Enthusiast for a long time and he's owned several since we've been together.  He traded in two valuable ones for this guitar.  NO...he didn't pay ticket price on that!  But he couldn't pass up the deal he got either!  It was UNheared of!  So, he's a VERY happy camper today!  We've noticed that Paco LOVES it when we play our String Instruments.  I loves being serenaded and he loves the 'concert'.  He calms right down and sits there and watches who ever is playing.

The other pictures of him are sleeping or almost sacked-out.  He was pretty emotional this weekend like that.  It was nice!  Dale took the photo of him sleeping on the upper right last night.  I am usually the one snapping the photos but he couldn't resist with Paco being SO sound asleep on his lap!  The cat remained pretty low key all weekend as did Suzie other than her barking at the neighbors during their yard work and the other noisy neighbors getting home VERY late at night.

Here's another collage of furry friends I took over the weekend.  Of course you can see Riley here on the bottom - he was pretty much a slug all weekend, too!  He decided to fall asleep that way - silly boy!  The top to furkids are my parents!  The orange cat is Jeter which is my Mom and Dad's beautiful boy and Wolly is my Mother-In-Law's kiddo!  You might be wondering why we/I spell WOLLY that way...well, YEARS ago my MIL had another Boston who's name was MOLLY and when they came across this one - a rescue - she wanted to pay tribute and turned the M into a W and that is how WOLLY came about.  This passed year she had two other dogs pass-on which was really hard.  This is the only dog they have now.  I'm tempted to bring Paco over for a visit soon, tho.

We FINALLY got to get groceries over the weekend, but I think I will go thru my whole weekend ins and outs in my next post.  I will stick with the Furkids and the Food Attempts in this one.

Here is dish that turned out REALLY well - that I am quite proud of, actually!  I think I will call it Dijon Quinoa & Veggies.

I ended up mixing a few flavors together that were sort of a ying and a yang but it turned out really tasty and very flavorful!  Here is what this dish has in it:


2 C Cooked Quinoa
1 C Frozen Peas
1 C Corn
1 Small Red Pepper, Chopped
1/4 C Fresh Basil - Finely Chopped
1/4 C Hemp Hearts/Seeds
2 T Grapeseed Oil
2 T Lemon Juice
1 tea Maple Syrup
To Taste - Wildtree's Lemon Pepper

Last night I threw this together - just because.  It ended up being my dinner and it was better than I thought it would be.  I know it's missing some green but I did eat another meal earlier in the day that filled some nutritional holes, here. Corn off the Cob with Wildtree's Spicy Chipotle Ranch Sprinkled on top and I cut up a spicy vegan "chick'n patty".  I thought it needed a dipping sauce so I tried to throw together a Buffalo Sauce of sorts.  I didn't write down the measurements but this is what I put in the sauce:

Wildtree's (now discontinued) Spicy Chipotle Hot Sauce
Water
Onion
Garlic
Tomato
Apple Cider Vinegar
Veganese
Agave Nectar
Ketchup
Potato Flakes (as a thickener)

What did you do this weekend for food?  Did you take any photos for your animal friends?  Stop back later today for another post!

Spicy Chipotle Stir Fry & Sunridge Farms Peanut Butter Power Chews

This is my 2nd post of the day so be sure to scroll down!  Prior to doing the Vegan Stew (I talk about in the next post) I did a quick Veggie Stir Fry!  I didn't have a lot on hand so this is what I do for this - I used Onions and Red and Green Peppers as well as Frozen Green Beans.  I used Grapeseed Oil for the stir fry and Wildtree Spicy Chipotle Ranch for the seasoning!  It was very simple yet flavorful!  I was very pleased.  I ended up getting a small package of julienned Onion and Peppers from my local 'mom and pop' grocery store.  I don't know this to be fact but I think that when their deli makes their items fresh each day they have left over fresh produce and they package it up for a reduced price.  Since I had been making a LARGE grocery run this coming weekend I thought I would buy this little but to hold me over.  It only cost me 97 cents and there was enough for my Stir fry AND my Stew (next post).
 
A while back I received some Peanut Butter Power Chews from Sun Ridge Farms!  I have been 'sitting on' my tasting notes for these babies for a while now.  I figured today was as good of a day as any since I found myself CRAVING them and don't have any more left!  Ahhh...at least I will have the memories, right!?  I remember these Power Chews SMELLING like wonderful peanut butter!  The squares or rectangles were of different sizes but substantial, regardless!  They were VERY filling and even at my hungriest I could only eat 2 or 3 of them!  They did last a good amount of time.  The Peanut Butter flavor was amazing and oh-so-natural, too!  They were crispy and fun!  These were a nice alternative to 'Rice Crispy Snacks'.  And they were jam-packed with Protein, Iron, and Calcium!  What a treat!  I sure LOVED them while they lasted!

Tonight my husband and I are taking my mom and dad to Jackson Valley for dinner for Father's Day.  I'm quite excited about it.  I think I will partake in an 'adult beverage' as well!  It's been a long week!  I do like their place for dinner as they have a great salad bar!  Tomorrow - my mom, dad, sister, and I will be attending a fundraiser for Melissa - who passed away a few weeks ago - we are still doing a Wildtree Fundraiser for her family as well as attending to show support for her and her family.  I know I will recognize people throughout the day.  Sunday I have plans to clean and grocery shop as well as Farmers Market HOP both days this weekend!  I hope you have a great week, too!  Drop me a note and let me know you stopped by!

Some Product Reviews & Near Future Happenings!

I have a few things to share with you today - a few products and such - as well as some things in my near future that I am looking forward to - but I will get to those in a moment.

First I would like to tell you about yet another Raw Revolution flavor that I was luck enough to try a while back!  It was their Cherry Chocolate Chunk and it was marvelous!  The Cherries were awesomely flavorful!  Juicy!  Sweet!  Plump!  It really activated the taste-buds!  The chocolate chunks were HUGE!  Some where even the size of my thumb!  This flavor completely lived up to it's name, that is for sure!  It was VERY Fresh and terrifically chewy!  The cherry flavor lingers with a somewhat creamy and slightly tart finish!  This has been one of my favorite flavors from Raw Revolution YET!

Another product I recently finished was New Earth's Awesome Almonds!  These Almonds are RAW - therefore - a living food!  They've been activated!  Their website explains how and why they do that!  It's quite interesting!  They are crispy and certainly helped curb my hunger!  The best part?  I only needed a small handful of them at a time in order to do this!  So this bag of Almonds DID last me a while!  They have just a pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt - which is GOOD - because I am not much of a salt fan!  The amount they used was perfect for my palate.  These were wonderful! 

Remember my post earlier this week when I used Boku Super Greens in my Fruit Berry Smoothie?  Check out this link!  I really like this product, too!  I'm trying to educate myself MORE about Superfoods and tinkering around with them and the powders and "green" powders more! 

For this specific one - Boku - I do like it because it doesn't have much flavor to it when you blend them in with berries and/or fruit!  I'm going to try this one again, tho, because I have only tried a few teaspoons at a time so far and it says to work your way up to about 4 Tablespoons!  I might take that leap next week!  I think it will be easy to do, actually, based on the successful attempts I have had so far with this product!

This weekend is going to be a nice one...almost a clam before the storm...of busy weekends, that is!  Eventho the weekends of the 20th and 27th are going to be busy I AM looking forward to them VERY much!  Our busy events season is now underway!  Both of those weekends we have Wildtree/Vendor events!  On the 20th we will be at the Youngsville Art & Vino Venue in Youngsville, PA, and the following weekend we will be at Liberty Winery in Sheridan, NY.  I will do my best to take some pics and post them here once they take place!

Last night I went over to my parents house and my mom and I got two shipments in and sorted them.  We had a Wildtree Party last week over at a Salon in Russell, PA, and then we had The Vendor Showcase I blogged about earlier this week in Jamestown, NY.  In addition we submitted another order last night!  We had several people who wanted to order and re-order various Wildtree Products from us.

We also decided to FINALLY do a website last night for our Wildtree Business.  I will add it to the sidebar next week but incase you would like to take a look you can visit it HERE or HERE.  It's the same website but we have 2 different extensions!  If you have any questions about anything with the Wildtree Line let me know!  And/Or feel free to shop 24/7 on the website!

What are your plans for the weekend!?  Have you tried any of these products yet?  I will have more smoothies next week, too!  And more Recipes!  And more Products!  LOTS and LOTS on tap! 

I'm just really itching for Farmers Market Season to get here!  YOU DON"T EVEN KNOW!!!! :)
Have a BLISSful Weekend, everyone!