Fruity Dream Slushie

I'm thinking about posting a variation of this over at Sororitea Sisters because it uses Yerba Mate!  You could either infuse/steep your own Yerba Mate or use a product like I did here!  I used Garden of Life's Yerba Mate OPP Yerba Mate and it worked nicely!  This was a fruity, creamy, slushie sort of a treat.

Fruity Dream Slushie

1 C Frozen Mango, Cubed

6 Strawberries

1 C Pineapple, Cubed

1 C Fresh Orange Juice (or more)

1 T Garden of Life Yerba Mate Organic Plant Protein Powder

Raising The Bar, Vegan Protein Packed Snacks, & 9 to 5

Yesterday I blogged a bit about some of the vegan treats I was introduced to recently when my parents came home from a Candy Show in Chicago.  Today I thought I would share a few more!  First up is the one you see above!  Orchard Bar...Fruit and Nuts!  It was pretty good but the fruit was very gooey!  Take that for what it is - if you like that or if you don't.  For me - it's all about flavor - and it packed a powerful punch that is for sure!

Speaking of packing a punch...these flavored, roasted Fava Beans are pretty amazing snacks!  It was a very small bag yet they have 10 grams of protein in them.  I'm not one who counts protein often but I know some people have asked me about good vegan protein sources in the past...FAVA BEANS (among other beans) is one of the many suggestions of plant based proteins.  I always like to remind people about the Protein Myths, too!  Remember TOO MUCH Protein often causes gout and other health issues and complications.

Yesterday I also showed a few of the flavors from Bobo's Oat Bars and here is another one!  I think it's their NEWEST offering...Lemon Poppyseed and I have to say I think it my favorite one so far!
Another Part B to yesterday's post is a bit more about the vocal band HOME FREE.  Below you will see one of their many videos!  Between now and August I will be posting more and more of their songs so be sure to keep an eye out!  These guys are a VOCAL Band.  Everything they do is with their VOICES.  Most times you will hear instrument-like sounds but it's their 'beat box guru' that is providing the 'band'.  They are truly amazing, entertaining, and I can't wait to see them LIVE in August!

Fair Food & Furry Friends!

Last week I wasn't online because I was at our county fair.  In 5 days I think we worked about 100 hours.  We do double live remote broadcasts Monday thru Friday from 6 to 9 AND 1 to 5.

Since I took so many photos I will have to break these posts down for you.  Today I thought I would blog about the Fair Food and my Furry Friends.

First up...this building.  It was new last year but this year I helped stain the deck.  I also stained a wooden wishing well near the fair office.

The small area I live in is very much agriculturally based and therefore very involved with the local fair.

My husband is on the fair board and heads up the entertainment committee.  This year was the 85th Anniversary of the fair and there were 4 live concerts which included The Swon Brothers, The Bellamy Brothers, Cassadee Pope, and Confederate Railroad.  I will have more on the concerts in future posts.  The weekend before the fair actually started we were on the grounds volunteering/working on many different projects.  Afterwards a few of us gathered in the pavilion where the concerts were going to be held and I noticed this little sweetie scared in the middle of the floor.  I carefully grabbed two cups and nudged him in and walked him outside into a nearby hole so he could re-coop and be safe from the elements.  It was the smallest mouse I had ever seen!

Monday or Tuesday I visited the Bunny Barn.  I still want a bunny - might I add.  I noticed a group of babies snuggling in some of the naturally-shed bunny fur.  They were adorable!

Of course this didn't help the fact that I have been wanting a bunny!

No...I didn't come home with one but I would be fibbing if I said I didn't think about it.

Oh!  And YES!  The new camper worked out wonderful throughout fair week!  I was very pleased and the bed that we were given by a local business owner worked out great, too!

I was so blessed to have several people 'look out for me' all week with food!  Of course I brought some good old standby's, too!  I had a stash of Triskets, hummus, and vegan mayo and Daiya slices to grab on the fly!

But take a look at this!  The wonderful lady who ran the 4-H Restaurant hooked me up with Cantaloupe 4 days in a row!  2 of those days she also had blueberries and one of the days even some grapefruit!  Bless her!  4 days I paired that with peanut butter toast and the last day I did English Muffin with Peanut Butter instead.  It worked out GREAT!  Monday we had a Media Lunch and the organizer of that made me a HUGE salad which I will talk more about that later!

One of the other food booths that I volunteered at brought me strawberries for brunch or lunch almost everyday, too!  They really DID spoil me!

Another food booth I volunteered for - I know has a designated fry frier.  Only fries go in it.

And they use Soy Oil.  I didn't want fries to be my fair food staple but I splurged on the last day and had some from there.  They also hooked me up with a pretzel and mustard on a few of the days, too!

I mentioned on the airwaves - no matter what diet or lifestyle or food choices you standby - just ask and most if not all of the booths will accommodate!

Vegan Giveaway Day 5 - Raw Organics Flax With Fruit!

TGIF friends!

It's day 5 of 7 for my week of giveaways and tod
ay's prize is Raw Organics Flax with Fruit!  I would love for you to win this prize and/or the prizes I will be giveaway Saturday and Sunday!  Be sure to check back over the weekend for those!

If you want to WIN keep reading! REMEMBER comment on all 7 posts to be eligible for the grand prize (even if we already drew a winner!)

The winner of the OPP Vanilla was JORDAN and the winner of the Raw Kombucha was Vegan Peace!  CONGRATS!!!

What I really LOVE is that these products are ALL on Garden of Life's No-GMO List! To learn more about their Non-GO Project - click HERE.

AND...The grand prize that I will be choosing a winner for will take place after Monday, July 13th. The grand prize includes the following...

* Dr. Formulated Organic Fiber

* Perfect Food Wheat Grass Powder

* Raw Meal - Spiced Chai

* Chia Seeds

* Organic Plant Calcium

* OPP (Organic Plant Protein) Chocolate

* OPP (Organic Plant Protein) Energy

HOW DO YOU WIN?

If you would like to win TODAY'S PRIZE leave a comment below and I will choose one winner! 

*If you don't have a blogger profile please remember to leave me your email addy in the comment, too* 

If you would like to win the GRAND PRIZE - the Prize Pack - leave a comment on all 7 daily contests and I will choose a winner for the prize pack next week! U.S. Shipping addresses only, please. AND YES...you are still eligible to win the prize pack if you won an individual prize! GOOD LUCK!

Organic Herb & Vegetable Garden at The Breakers

One of my FAVORITE parts of The Breakers was that they had an Organic Herb and Vegetable Garden on the grounds that they grew and maintained themselves.  They also used what they grew in their restaurants.

I had heard about their organic garden prior to our visit and I was super excited to check it out.

Dale and I took a stroll thru the gardens one morning and I took another walk thru them at least once.  I absolutely LOVED them. 

In this first photo you can see a huge cactus/aloe-type plant they potted.  It was mammothly large!  They had a lot of potted plants and numerous raised beds.

Here's a look at some of the raised beds.  We were free to walk in and take a look at any time, stop by touch/feel/smell the herbs - it was so neat!

They offered a weekly garden tour, too, but we weren't around while that was going on...I think we missed it by a day! 

Some of the chef's would come out in the mornings to pick what they wanted to use for the day!  Talk about 'from garden to plate', eh?

The decorative bricks that surrounded the raised beds were delightful, too!

But it wasn't just this area that featured what they grew...many of the fruits were along side the one golf course walkway!

But before I get to those photos I thought I would post another shot of the herb gardens.

I counted at least 5 different kinds of basil!  Now that is impressive!

There were a few other raised beds that they were prepping for the next item to plant/grow but almost everything was well into the growing stages!

Nearly everything was clearly marked, too!  Which was super helpful for someone like me who was interested in what they were growing!

I probably nerded-out a little bit but it was so fun!

Just past the herb section of their garden was a walkway that ran along side the one golf course.  Again you could see the decorative brick under  your feet and green at every glance!

I mentioned in an earlier post that the salamanders and lizards were NOT afraid of humans and popped out to surprise passer-byes often.

The same went for the local squirrels.  As you can see this one didn't take his eyes off of me as he was ready to climb this tree.

I wish I had been able to more of the local birds - we did see some in the sky - flying by - but not as many on land as I had hoped but then again we didn't got outside of The Breakers all that much in the few days we were there either.

While walking by several different varieties of fruit plants, trees, etc...we saw these CUTE pineapples! 

They also had an Avocado tree that was doing well and a Lychee that already had a permanent sign...among others!

There was one tree on the opposite golf course that I was unfamiliar with and am still wondering what it was.  I'm tempted to call The Breakers and ask them.  I don't think it was a Sugar Apple but then again I haven't seen a Sugar Apple up close and personal before.  I will try and post it here down the road in case anyone has any ideas on what it COULD be.  I was so excited I was able to see The Breakers Organic Gardens while we were there!

My Very Own RAW WEEK!

I mentioned in a post earlier today that I declared this week RAW WEEK for myself. 

I'm going to try my darnest to do all RAW all WEEK this week! 

Since I woke up between 4 and 4:30am - and woke up pretty well - at that - I decided to start using a new shampoo/conditioner combo - one of the few things I actually add to my body.  (I don't wear make up or much else for that matter - but I do put Shampoo - usually every other day - and conditioner maybe once a week). 

Naturally Speaking...Tomorrow I will start Oil Pulling again.  I use either Coconut Oil OR Grapeseed Oil.  About once a month - if I remember - I will use a 'scrub' that was made by a friend of me - locally - that contains - Coffee, Olive Oil, and Sugar.

As far as food intake is concerned here is what today looks like for me...day 1 of all raw...

2 Large Glasses of Water
1 Large Mason Jar of Green Smoothie (2 C Mango, 1/2 C Papaya, 2 Large Handfuls of Spinach, Water)
2 Apples
2 Mandarins
1 Grapefruit
1 Peach
1/4 of a Large Watermelon
Various teas and herbal tonics
1 Super LARGE Salad - yet to be determined - with homemade Raw Dressing.

All of the fruits you see listed above were eaten individually throughout the day.

I will try and log more attempts at what kind of activities I will be doing, too. 

At least 5 times a week I walk for about 30 to 40 minutes each day!  I hope to increase this most days.  My plan is to walk from home to work and back 5 times a week in addition to 15 to 20 minutes each day.  By walking from home it's a mile one way...so I will probably walk at the very minimum 2 miles, 5 times a week.  I hope to do a minimum of 15 to 20 mins of yoga 5 times a week up to an hour a day at the most.  In addition - I hope to do Step Aerobics at least once a week.

I'm not really doing this to lose weight - but if it happens, it happens.  I'm doing this more for well-being, mostly.

I do better when I am accountable so my points here at my blog will certainly help with the accountability part.  More on this - throughout the week!

Fruit Friday - EPIC Breakfast Jar

Last night I made some Cashew Cream and it turned out FAB!  I'm so very excited about this Cashew Cream!  More on that later in the post! 

But first...I might be spoiling the rest of the photo's by posting this one first...but here-goes!  My Epic Breakfast Bowl!  I layered various fruit...starting at the bottom and moving up...Peaches, Strawberries, Mangoes, Raspberries, Blueberries.

On top you will see that I added some Cashew Cream to the top!  YUM!

Before I get to the recipe for the Cashew Cream - I have to say the next time we do fresh. sliced Strawberries - I'm going to do this Cashew Cream for dipping!  Another thing I want to use it for is straight-up "Peaches & Cream"!

Okay...without further "ah-due"...the Cashew Cream I made last night!  Here's a little pic of it.  I wanted it a bit thick but you could add more water if you want it thinner.  Here's what it contains...

1 C Soaked Cashews
1/4 C Water
1 T Wholesome Sweeteners Vanilla Flavored Agave
1/2 tea Natural Vanilla Extract

I think I am going to do a variation of this and submit it to the Garden of Life Blog, too, because I had some extra toppings for additional options and additional protein!  This was amazing and I just might have to try something similar on a weekly basis!

Raw Food & Mono Meals

 I took a few days off but I'm back and have LOTS to post about!!!  This is one of them!  Fresh Produce!  Raw Food!  Mono Meals!  Clean & Healthy eating and Snacking!  I also posted these on Instagram.  I'm working on adding additional tabs to my site, here, and will try and connect other places you can find me.  I've made some new friends on Instagram and have really enjoyed their posts.  I've also found out a lot of them have blogs so I will be linking up to them soon!  Let me know if you are on Instagram and I will FOLLOW you on there, as well.  As you can see I have Apples I bought this past weekend!  They are Organic Gala Apples.  My area is a little short on Organic foods so when I find them at a good price I try and buy them!  I found these at Aldi.  This post is also a little earlier for my Midweek Munchies Post but I really stocked up so I will have more to post on Wednesday - stay tuned for that too!

 I also found Avocados!  They tend to be expensive here so when I saw them for 68 cents at Aldi's I couldn't resist.  I just found out they will be even cheap on Wednesday so I hope to go back!  They should be 48 cents then!  Woot!  I bought two this past weekend and ate one already.  I usually try and buy at least half of them ripe and the other half not ripe so I have time on them.

 I also got some Blackberries!  Another thing I usually don't buy because of the price...but these were only 99 cents!  YAY!  I brought them with me today and might have them for my lunch today or breakfast tomorrow!  I'm thinking about using them in with Grapenuts & Coconut Milk!

 Mangoes!  LOVE Mangoes!  Another fruit that is pricey here but they had these crates of 6 at Sam's Club for about $6...I HAD to get them!  As you can see I already ate half of them.  I'm getting my husband into them, too!  But they have to be almost over-ripe for him to eat them!  We had 1 each and split the 3rd for a snack yesterday!  It was AWESOME!

And I got these little cuties at Aldi's too!  Mini Sweet Red Peppers!  I haven't eaten any of them yet but might try and do something with at least half of them tonight.  I am thinking at least half of them I might slice up and dip in hummus and/or Guacamole.

Now that we are Sam's Club members I hope to get more bulk fruits and veggies but the closest one is a good 40 minute drive from our house so it won't be consistent...but when we do I hope our trip is meaningful.  I'm also sprouting again which I will do another post about in the next few days!  Right now I am sprouting lentils!  So far - So Good - on the attempt!

Since it's just ME that eats this way in my house...it's EASY for me to do Mono Meals.  Much of what I have learned about Mono Meals came from Dan McDonald (AKA The Life Regenerator) and Dara Dubinet!  Both of which are on YouTube as well as many other Social Media Outlets.  I have Dara on Facebook and I'm super excited because Dan recently LIKED one of my photos on Instagram!  It was of my Lentil Sprouts!  Woot!

Participating In:
Marvelous Monday
Monday Mellow Yellows

Top 20 Ingredients I Can't Live Without!

Alicia Silverstone over at The Kind Life posted about the 20 ingredients she can’t live without. As did Cadry at Cadry's Kitchen.  So I decided to follow suit!  Here are my TOP 20 Ingredients in random order.

TEA - As many of you know I drink A LOT of tea.  All day...all night...I have even started using it in dishes!  All sorts of tea...Black, Green, White, Yellow, fruit and herbal tisane's, Oolongs, Pu-erh, Blends, Purple, Guayusa, Rooibos, Honeybush...the list goes on and on!

CHICK PEAS & BLACK BEANS - I was going to list these separate but came up with too many items I MUST HAVE in my kitchen, apparently!  The older I get the more I LOVE Chickpeas.  They are so versatile!  I would have also put HUMMUS on the list but it's not just ONE Ingredient it's a FOOD, a dish, a delicacy, really.  Okay, okay...you can tell I LOVE hummus!  Well, Chickpeas are one of the ingredients so it works, right?

GRAPESEED OIL - Why GSO?  I think this sums it up nicely!  I LOVE IT!  If you want to order some let me know!!  I can have it shipped directly to you!

LEAFY GREENS - I know this is more than ONE but I couldn't resist!  There are so many Leafy Greens to choose from and they ALL have their benefits!

CASHEWS - And other nuts, really.  I'm very fortunate to NOT have allergies to Nuts!  I don't think I would be able to deal with that intolerance, to be honest!  I'm finding Cashews are very versatile as well and now that I'm NOT doing dairy there are many things I can do with them as a substitute. 

NUTRITIONAL YEAST - I have used it for YEARS - but have been using it on a weekly - sometimes daily basis these days!  Along the same lines would be HEMP HEARTS and CHIA SEEDS, I guess, too!  For Digestion Issues/Benefits as well as a protein option.

VARIETY of RICES - Again, I am a REBEL, here, and noting more than one but I really can't help it!  Just when I think I know which RICE is my favorite I discover new ones...like Medleys from Bob's Red Mills as well as FORBIDDEN RICE, lately, too!

QUINOA - Quinoa is in a category all of it's own for me!  I have been eating it for years but continue to be amazed by it!  I LOVE the nutritional benefits as well as digestion support but also the texture and flavor and the ability to make it MORPH!

TOMATOES - Any kind, really.  I could go on and on about THE TOMATO but I will let it speak for itself!  YUM!

BALSAMIC VINEGAR - Yes!  BALSAMIC VINEGAR...Wildtree Brand, specifically.  And I'm not just saying that because I sell it!  The flavor CANNOT BE BEAT!  Plus it has the Grapeseed Oil Base, too!

TAHINI - I thought it was just for HUMMUS but it's good for SO MUCH MORE!!!  I'm using lately in Cheese and Cream Alternatives, too!

GARLIC - Need I say more?  I just LOVE it!  I can't get enough of it!  I'd put it on cereal if it were allowed.  Okay...that might be a stretch...but...you know what I mean, right!?

ONIONS - They give flavor to EVERYTHING and they make the perfect base for many things!

LEMONS & LEMON JUICE - I almost over looked this one.  It's one of those things I really use a lot of but just USE it and tend to forget about it BUT if I run out...there is HELL TO PAY, Mister!

CORN - It's so sweet, It's so cute, It's SO GOOD!  I have been using it more and more to kick certain recipes up a notch as well as add to leftovers, wraps, salads, etc.  So simple - yet - SO effective!

COLORFUL BELL PEPPERS - LOVE them!  In every way!  I find myself adding them to EVERYTHING and then some!  The sweeter the better!

SPROUTS - When I was a toddler they used to be one of my 3 favorite foods (next to Dried Apricots and Lima Beans - which SHOULD also play a part in this list somewhere...there...they just did!) and I lost touch with Sprouts for a while but have been having FUN Sprouting my own Sprouts at home on and off again for a couple of years!

CARROTS & CELERY - Mostly because I can't have one without the other - and because they are right up the same alley as Onions and Garlic and Corn!

ALMOND MILK - I prefer Almond Milk to any of the other Milk Alternatives.  It's my default, really.

AVOCADOS - I wish I could have one everyday but they are really expensive here but when they are on sale!  I'm ALL OVER THAT!  Nom.Nom.Nom.

Hope you enjoyed my list!  If you do one let me know!

Random Protein Percentages

Protein Content of Fruits
Banana: Papaya: Peach: Avocado: Orange: Watermelon:	4% 7% 7% 5% 9% 7%
Average protein content of fruit: 5%
Protein Content of Vegetables
Tomatoes: Cucumber: Lettuce: Celery:	17% 21% 59% 25%
Average protein content of vegetables: 20%
Protein Content of Nuts & Seeds
Almonds: Sesame Paste (tahini): Sunflower seeds: Pumpkin seeds:	15% 12% 15% 17%
Average protein content of nuts and seeds: 15%