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.

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

Rosemary Hemp Seed Pesto

A fairly brief post today - basically to share with you one of my new favorite sauces I made last night!  I think I will call it Rosemary Hemp Seed Pesto! 

In my Vitamix I put...
1 T Lemon Juice
1/3 C Hemp Seeds
1 T Grapeseed Oil
1 teaspoon of Rosemary
1/2 tea Turmeric
1/4 C Nutritional Yeast
1/4 C Onion Shoots (Sprouts from the tops of Onions)
Pinch of Cayene

* You could use Green Onions or Chives instead of the Onion Shoots, I suppose!

This turned out SUPER tasty!  Even better than I expected!  And surprise, surprise...I didn't even use Garlic!  That just might be a first!

I put this on the remaining Pasta-Oh's I've had for a while now...I finally finished them off!  YAY!  And I added a handful of Frozen Peas to it, too!

I did enjoy the hint of Cayenne in there and think I might add more next time because I enjoyed it so much!

This is a sauce or a Pesto-like alternative I can see myself making a lot of!  I really want to try it on Broccoli and/or Cauliflower!

Speaking of Cauliflower...my Roasted Coconut Curry Cauliflower was featured on Urban Naturale's Pot Luck Party from last week!   Thanks, girl!

Vegan Foods of Late

Yes!  Another post, today!  There have been several today because I have been trying to catch up from the last couple of weeks!  If you are new to my blog - I invite you to keep scrolling and commenting!  I'm always looking for like-minds to be blogging buddies with and link up with!  That being said...a shout-out to those visiting from the BLOG HOP today!  This post is specifically about some of the foods I have been eating lately.  My Eating Schedule has been a little off lately but I still have some things to share, regardless!

First up is my adventures in Roasting Veggies!  I recently roasted some Carrots, Brussell Sprouts, and Parsnip and they were wonderful.  Many of you know that when I do use oil my default oil of choice is Grapeseed Oil.  This worked perfectly for these roasted veggies.  I did half with the Garlic Dipping Grapeseed Oil from Wildtree and the Brussell Sprouts I did with some of the Balsamic/GSO.

Next up...I have been enjoying more and more smoothies the last month or so!  I hope to continue with this, too!  One of the best efforts so far has been Frozen Mango in with Garden of Life Raw Protein Yerba Mate.  It was VERY good.  Even BETTER?  I used their Packets!  They are PERFECT for on the go!  Super Quick!  Super Easy!  Super Packed with Raw Vegan Goodness!

Some of these foods are from a few weeks ago and I have switched phones since then and lost my recipes for them!  So sorry!  I will say another effort of mine that went really well was this Cashew Tomato Pesto Sauce that I hope to tweak a bit (to get even smoother) and re-post at some point.  I only soaked the Cashews for about an hour and I think overnight would be best.  The flavor was VERY yummy, tho!

The last time I went to our local Farmers Market I couldn't resist their Tomatillos again so I wanted to see what I could do with them besides the given-in salsa.  The last time I did a Cashew Tomatillo Sauce and it was awesome...if I do say so myself.

So...I did this Colorful Dish, here!  The majority of what you see is the Heritage Grain Blend from Nature's Earthly Choice!  I totally LOVE this stuff!  This may have been repackaged and rename, however.  I see in on the website now as 3 Continent Blend.  I also used Onion, Tomatillos, Cilantro, Oregano, Cumin, Kidney Beans, Tomatoes, Lime Juice, etc.  It turned out really yummy!  Another great way to get some creative grains in your diet!  Quinoa, Amaranth, Brown Rice, Wild Rice!  YAY!

And FINALLY...another colorful dish!  This Veggie "Cheesy" Pasta!  Total YUM!  I used a Vegan Cheesy Sauce I made with Daiya Shreds and Cashew Milk as the base.  I also added Tomatoes, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Onion, Garlic to it! 

I had a lot of positive feedback on this one on Instagram!  I was so excited about it! 

What foods have you experimented with lately!?  Don't forget to check out the BLOG HOP Today, too!

Vegan MoFo Coming TO A Close ~ Raw Vegan Swiss Cheese Spread & Altered Framed Art

I've been taking it easy getting back into crafting lately.  I have been working on this upcycled frame.  I used Powdered Chalk blended with acrylic and metallic type paints to get this color.  I painted on several layers.  I also painted right over the glass frame.  No real reason - just felt like it!  On top of the glass I used these embellishments.  I think it would look neat over our faux fireplace mantle for Fall/Autumn.  I bought this frame a while back for a dollar at the Dollar Tree.  I think I bought a few others as well so I will probably end up doing more altered and upcycled art with it.  I've also been into Mixed Media and Art Journaling more lately, too!

Vegan MoFo 2013 is coming to an end.  The last day is Monday which also marks the end of the month.  I will miss it but will continue to post more Vegan Dishes and Recipes here on my site as I did before.  I've meet a few great people thru it this year and I hope to keep in touch with them and their blogs.

As for today's food related post - I decided to try and do a Raw Vegan "cheesy-like" spread.  It ended up tasting VERY good and resembles the flavor of Swiss Cheese.  I would like to try this again and get it more firm to try and slice it for 'cheese slices'.  

Here's the recipe for this one...

Raw Vegan Swiss Cheese Spread:

1/2 C Pine Nuts

1/4 C Hemp Hearts/Hemp Seeds

1 T Nutritional Yeast

1 T Lemon Juice

1/4-1/2 C Water

Splash of Garlic Grapeseed Oil

Pinch Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

The Grapeseed I use is organic and in raw form.  I realize Nutritional Yeast isn't necessarily raw but many raw foodists still use it in their foods.  I think that if I try and dehydrate the spread for a bit it might be able to be sliced but I will experiment with that at some point.  This works well for a dip and/or a spread as it is right now and full of flavor!

Vegan MoFo ~ Foods, Findings, Fun!

Warning!  Warning!  LONG Post Ahead! 

It's been a crazy busy week and this is the first chance I have had to post so I have a lot to blab about so I will try and cram it all into one post! 

First...I'll write about this food adventure!  This first photo is a dish I made the other day and was originally inspired by a blog post of Suituapui.  I'm not even sure what to call this dish!  In his post he was blogging about nyonya chang and
pulut.  He used a meat filling.  I thought the idea of it was great so I did a vegan version.  Thanks for the idea Suituapui!  For my filling I decided to do an Eggplant Curry of sorts!  Here's what I put in mine...

1 White Japanese/Oriental Eggplant
1 Purple Japanese/Oriental Eggplant
Splash of Garlic Grapeseed Oil
2 T Black Seasame Seeds
1 T Mustard Seeds
1 Onion
2 tea Turmeric
1/4 tea Cayenne
1 1/2 C Peas
2 T Cilantro
Water as needed

I ended up using about 3 to 4 C of White Rice for the bottom and top layer, too!  A few side notes...I used all local produce for this...locally grown...from our Farmers Market Farmers, here.  The long and skinny eggplant were labeled "oriental Eggplant" but online I have also seen it labeled as Japanese Eggplant and in some cases Chinese Eggplant.  I've been using Black Sesame Seeds lately - I get them at my local herb store in bulk and organic.  A conversation on Instagram last night under this photo of this dish one of my buddies mentioned it would be called cavala baingana paratem - they said it would translate to "Rice Eggplant Layers" in Hindi.  I wasn't able to locate that on a Google Search so I don't know if I spelled it even close.  But regardless I thought it was fun.  For lack of other ideas - I think I will call this Eggplant Curry Rice Pie.

Saturday we were over at Liberty Winery with our Wildtree stuff!  It went incredibly well!  A very good day despite the rainy weather!  It rained so much that they broke a record for this time of year even before noon that day!  I think someone said that it rained over 2 inches by that time.

There were 8 bus/limo/group tours and all of the regular walk-in customers, too!  It was a great day!

I came across these Kiwi Berries not too long ago and they are fabulous!  You can check out their website for all sorts of info!  I was going to eat some as-is and then try and juice some of them but they didn't make it to the juicer!  They are wonderful!  They are like Mini-Me Kiwi's!  They taste JUST LIKE Kiwi Fruit!  They are also considered a Super Fruit!  YAY!

I will be on the look-out for these from now on - now that I know how awesome they are!  I'm still trying to locate the Candy Candy Grapes that Christine chatted about.

Another food creation I made earlier this week is this Vegan Spinach Dip.  Last week I was craving Spinach and even more recently had thought about Spinach Dips and wanted to try and make one!  After researching a few of them online I did a combo of two of them and added a few personal touches to make it my own.  Here's what's in this Spinach Dip:

2 to 3 C Spinach
 1 Tomato
3/4 C Cashews
1 Onion
2 to 3 T Tahini
2 T Lemon Juice
1 tea Wholesome Sweeteners Raw Coconut Palm Sugar (can use Agave)
1 tea Nutritional Yeast (Optional)
2 tea Sesame & Nori (or you could use Dulse)

This makes a VERY LARGE amount of dip but it's quite tasty and even better the next day!

Yesterday on my way back to my car after work I saw a slew of ducks coming out of the river and on the bank near the hospital.  It was so adorable.  I tried to get closer but they weren't interested in socializing - it appeared they were on a mission.  Perhaps it was dinner time.

There were many more ducks there than I had in this photo.

Earlier in the day it was VERY foggy but my walk to work there were HUNDREDS of birds sitting on a telephone wire from one end of the bridge to the other end.  It was quite a sight to see, actually.

 Last night I wanted to use up the rest of the produce I had on hand before it 'turned'.  I decided to do this Breakfast Bowl.  I LOVE how colorful it turned out!  I used Potatoes, Peas, Red Bell Peppers, Yellow Bell Peppers, Onions, Garlic Grapeseed Oil, Tuscany-Type Spices, and some Nori.

The flavor was pretty good.  Now I must go buy some more produce, eh!?

I will probably start doing more casseroles as there are LOTS of seasonal squash happening around here this time of year.  One of my FAVORITES is Quinoa Hummus Casserole that Dreena Burton has in Vive Le Vegan Cookbook.  That's become one of my favorite foods!  You can try it with various flavored Hummus's.  For the top layer you can do whatever veggies are in season and roast them.  The bottom layer is Quinoa but I have also tried using various rices and they work great, too!  Yup!  Might have to do one of those soon!

What have you been up to!?

Homemade Sauces and Such

WOWZA!  What a Week and THEN Some!  Glad I'm able to take a few moments to start trying to catch up on my blog and many other things around the house!  I was extremely busy with work and our county fair last week but I will be chatting about that throughout this week, I am sure!  For now I would like to share a few things I did last week for quick food in between all of the CRAZINESS!  I didn't crop these photos - sorry about that!  This DARK Sauce was VERY rich and flavorful.  I used it as a dip, a dressing, and a sauce.  It's a variation of a recipe in one of my many Moosewood Cookbooks I have laying around the house. 


Here is what's in it...
6 Sun-Dried Tomatoes
1 Tomato
2 Cloves Garlic
A Few leaves of Sweet Basil
2 T Balsamic
Water for Consistency

Here's a strange angle on my funky pasta noodles I had the one night.  I did a Chunky Tomato Marinara which included:

1 Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
1 C Crushed Tomatoes
2 T dried Basil (ran out of fresh)
1/4 tea Thyme
1/4 tea Oregano
1 T Parsley
2 tea (or less) of Grapeseed Oil
Raw Cane Sugar to taste from Wholesome Sweeteners

This is just a little something I threw together - sorry I didn't have the exact measurements.  But I used what was left of the Daiya Shreds, a bit of Almond Milk, a few Tablespoons of Medium Salsa, and a bit of Earth Balance and melted it down.  It was thin but super flavorful.  It was a nice comfort food that night.

I'm still re-cooperating from all of the hustle-bustle last week.  Actually it was Saturday the 3rd thru Yesterday!  I did quite a bit of volunteering, tho, so that felt good.  I worked in two food booths for the fair in between all of my other responsibilities between work, concerts, and helping the hubby with his stuff, too!

Vegan Jamaican Stir Fry

Just a quick post today to tell you about the Tasty Jamaican Stir Fry I did last night!  With a few broccoli-tempting posts by a couple of blogging buddies as well as Opal's Stir Fry "Eye Candy" to put me in comfort foods mode I decided to try one last night but this time it's Jamaican Style!

I was VERY happy with this Stir Fry!  I like the heat of the Jalapeno Oil with the Hot Sauce but also like the tropical flavors of the Coconut Oil and Jamaican Jerk Seasoning which had a nice Cinnamon and Nutmeg Combo to it, too!  Sorry this post is so short today but I MIGHT have some exciting news tomorrow, MAYBE!

2 T Coconut Oil

1Splash of Jalapeno Grapeseed Oil

1 Large Red Bell Pepper

2 Carrots

2 Stalks Celery

2 C Broccoli

1 Onion

1/2 C Almond Milk

1 T Wildtree Jamaican Jerk Seasoning

1 T Hot Sauce

Juice of 1 Lime

Potatoes with Chive Basil Pesto, Creamy Avocado Power Pesto Over Pasta, Vegan Banana Nut Bread, Kale Pesto, Vegan Creamed Spinach and 'Refried' Beans

This post is a look at some of the foods I have been throwing together over the past week or so!  I do have more, too, but here are just a few to get things started!  I had some Baby Red Potatoes I needed to use so I sliced them up and pan fried them in Wildtree's Natural Butter Flavored Grapeseed Oil.  If you have read a few of my posts about this specific flavored Grapeseed Oil before you may remember that it's dairy-free!  The "butter" flavor comes from a coconut! On top of these potatoes I used a Chive Basil Pesto Sauce I threw together!  Here is the recipe for this sauce!

1 C Chopped Chives

1/2 C Basil Peso Grapeseed Oil

1 Clove of Garlic

2 T Lemon Juice

3 T Almond Milk

1/4 C Hemp Hearts/Seeds

1/4 C Nutritional Yeast

I did some spiral pasta a little over a week ago and did another 'green' sauce.  This worked really well with this pasta, I must say!  The reason I did this one is because I wanted to do a creamy avocado sauce but also use some Hemp Hearts/Seeds!  Here is the recipe for this one!

 

2 Avocados

2 T Lemon Juice

2 Garlic Cloves

1/2 C Basil Pesto Oil

1/4 C Heamp Hearts/Seeds

1/3 C Almond Milk

 

 

To break up all the 'green' for a moment - here is my first attempt at Banana Nut Bread!  I was pleasantly surprised at my first attempt and will be doing this again!  Here is what I used for this:
4 Bananas
1/2 C Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Coconut Palm Sugar
1/4 C Coconut Oil
2 T Maple Syrup
2 C Bob's Red Mill's All Purpose Flour
1 tea Baking Soda
1 tea Cinnamon
1 tea sea salt
1/2 tea nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 C Walnuts
1/2 C Raisins

Looking back - I guess I forgot to tell you about our trip to Edible Earth Farm in Tionesta, PA!   The season is still young, here, but they had some greens and I bought two of them!  Their Kales, to be exact!   This Kale, pictured here, is their Red Russian Kale!  I have to admit it's the first time I have done anything - myself - with Red Russian Kale - and I LOVE it!  I did a simple yet flavorful Kale Pesto with it!  For the "flavors" throughout this Kale - here is what I did:
2 Cloves Garlic
Handful of Hemp Hearts/Seeds
1 T Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oil
Vegan Parmesan to taste
1/2 tea Nutmeg

After my horrible trip to the dentist last week I wanted to continue to be extra careful since my teeth were even more sensitive now that they were clean and naked.  I stuck with softer foods...after eating Hummus for a few days prior.  I changed it up a little bit with this! I threw together some Vegan Creamed Spinach (but I didn't save the recipe, sorry!)  I know I used Earth Balance, Almond Milk, Nutmeg, and Vegan Parmesan Cheese but can't remember the measurements.  I also did some vegetarian "refried" beans with some crackers for dipping.  Oddly...if you spread the beans on the cracker and then top with the 'creamed' spinach it was very tasty!

So there you have it - a few of the foods I had consumed over the last week or so - I do have many more to share with you, too, and hope to do that soon!  What kind of foods have you been cooking-up lately?

Scenic Shots, Community Fun, Chihuahua Butts, Cardboard Characters, and Funky Vegan Food

It's been another BUSY week and it's just going to get busier and busier!  Earlier in the week I told you about going out to eat last Friday at a local Golf Course/Restaurant.  Here are some photos from the overlook.  I took these from our table!  I LOVE all that GREEN!  Funnies part...I can't GOLF to save my life but I LOVE looking at the scenic views of the different courses.  I think we are going to go back again tonight. 

The name of the Golf Course is Jackson Valley Country Club.  They have re-done the restaurant and bar area and I was pleasantly surprised that they had a nice little salad bar last week!  I think I am going to smuggle in some of my own "Earth Balance" and "Organic Brown Sugar" from Wholesome Sweeteners for my Baked Sweet Potato.

I also mentioned earlier this week about the Community Event that we attended this past weekend.  I was so bummed I forgot to take some photos of our area but a friend of ours took this one and I just noticed it on Facebook today!  He did the tye-dye shirts for us!  My sister didn't come this past weekend but my mom and dad are pictured here with me.  For this weekend we will be at Nobel Winery in Westfield, NY.  We also plan to spend some time at camp but the weather is supposed to be really cold this weekend!  I can't believe it was 93 earlier this week and there were reports of SNOW this morning about 10 minutes from my house!  My husband's family has a little over 100 acres in the woods nearby so I hope Sunday to take some photos of that!

This week at work has been NUTS once again!  We had another remote today - Part 2 - at the local car dealership.  It was fun!  LOTS of interviews with the staff and it went really smooth!  I found this cute lil guy in the corner and HAD to take a snap of it.  I took this with Opal's Daughter in mind!  I think she'll find it cute - Happy Belated Birthday by the way!

I had another online shopping experience this week over at VitaCost and I will blog about that next week!  I didn't get that much, really, but some neat Sprouting options and a few things I was totally out of like Tahini, Nutritional Yeast, and I finally decided to get some Coconut Oil/Butter.

I've been very busy around the house this week in the evenings!  I have been cleaning like a crazy person!  The 'furkids' don't really like that I am not there to snuggle up with in the evenings but there is work to be done! 

FINALLY after a few hours of running around the house the other night I laid down and watched an episode of NASHVILLE on Hulu Plus.  We don't have Cable/Satellite but we do have Netflix and Hulu Plus.  It saves a LOT of money!  Anyhow...as you can see here Paco appreciated the fact I decided to 'call it quits for the evening'.  It was just too funny NOT to take a photo of his lil Chihuhua Behind!

Now on to the FOOD for this past week, eh!?  One night I decided to just pile my plate high of various things I had on stash!  It's hard to tell by looking at it but here is what this large dinner plate included the one evening...Green Beans, Baby Red Potatoes - Pan Fried with Grapeseed Oil and Savory Spinach from Wildtree (also used a little California Blend), and I did some Maple Tempeh over Baby Spinach with a Lemon Garlic Marinade/Salad Dressing I got from Wegman's a while back that was clearly marked VEGAN.  It is darned-tasty for a store-bought dressing!  With the Tempeh leftovers I ended up doing a large salad with greens - mostly Spinach, Yellow Heirloom Tomatoes, the dressing mentioned above, and carrots.

I have been eye-balling this Wildtree Asian Skillet Meal for a while now and I finally decided to do something with it the other night.  I had some Rice Noodles that I cooked up and added the Asian Skillet Meal from Wildtree to it along with some Water, Veggie Bouillon, Green Beans, and Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  It was just the right kind of spicy.  It worked out really well and made a nice large batch so I had leftovers for lunches.  I was so excited that this was another vegan Wildtree option!

Last night I had the munchies and wanted to work off some of the things I had on hand I wanted to finish-up or get rid of.  I found some Artichokes and roasted them up and made this Vegan Dip for them.  The dip has the following in it:
4 T Vegan Mayo
1 tea Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tea Wildtree Lemon Pepper
1 T Minced Garlic

And since I usually have dips around my house I made this one last night, too, to have on hand for a quick snack.  It's a Zesty Lemon Lima Bean Dip and I got the idea in a back issue of Vegetarian Times.  Of course I put my own little twist on it.  It has 1 C Lima Beans, A Splash of Jalapeno Grapeseed Oil, 1 T or more of Minced Garlic, 1 tea Red Pepper Flakes, 1 or 2 T Lemon Juice, and a little bit of water.  It was pretty good!  I hope to make more dips with a Lima Bean base soon!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Part 2 on the Grain Dish From Yesterday & Savory Spinach Butternut Squash

 I knew I forgot something yesterday!  I told you about my Heritage Blend Dish and forgot to post the photo of the actual DISH!  Sorry about that!  So, here, it is!  Recipe is in yesterday's post. 

I was also mentioning yesterday how CRAZY BUSY it's been because of everything happening in the news, nationally, well the last few days we have had several BIG local stories, too!  There are LOTS of scary things happening.  Once again...I am grateful to have this blog as an escape!

Last Night I had an eventful and productive evening.  I went Late-Night Grocery Shopping - I haven't done that in a WHILE!  I basically got a bunch of larger items - dog and cat food - paper products - etc.  I was able to find a deal on Mangoes for just 66 cents each so I bought 3.  I also found some bagged, pre-cut, organic butternut squash so I bought that!  I ran home and came up with this Squash Dish!

It has about 1 pound of Butternut Squash
1/8 C Wildtree Savory Spinach
Splash of Garlic Grapeseed Oil
Sprinkle of Wildtree Lemon Pepper as well as Wildtree California Garlic Pepper Blend to taste!

Just a quick note to say HI and show you these two dishes!  It's been another DO-ZEE of a day!  How are things in your part of the world?

Irish Tomatoes & Hot Curry Nuts From Lush!

Some people refer to something like this as Irish Tomatoes or Breakfast Tomatoes or even Irish Breakfast Tomatoes - whatever you call them - they are easy and FLAVORFUL!  Of course you know me...I had to put my own little spin on them!

I've done these in my toaster oven before.  I added a little Grapeseed oil to the pan so they didn't stick.  In a case like this - any of the flavors would work - I usually like to use either the Garlic or the Basil Pesto!

Sometimes I just cut them in half if they are smaller tomatoes or sometimes I will slice them in rounds or dice them largely.  It depends on my mood sometimes!

I also like to drizzle a little Grapeseed Oil over top of them then sprinkle Garlic and Thyme.  BUT...these are fun because you can really put anything on them!  Any herb!  Any seasoning!  Do them plain!  Add Balsamic!  Or stand-alone with Nutritional Yeast!  You could also sprinkle some Daiya Shreds or real cheese if that is your thing.  I also like to add minced Garlic and Chopped Onions to these!  The possibilities are endless!  And they are OH-SO-GOOD!

I have another Lush Gourmet Foods Review for you today!  This time around...it's their Hot Curry Flavor!

This daring flavor has become a favorite of the bunch. The flavor of the curry is a wonderful compliment to the peanut, and the heat from this spice will leave you with a bite.

I LOVE Curry!  And I LOVE Spice!  So my level of spice might be a little over estimated by some.  For example...both my mother and sister do NOT do spicy at all...so they may want to stick to some of the other flavors.  BUT... found these to be AWE-SOME!

They are not overly hot but they have a nice spice!  A 'warming' aftertaste with lovely curry likeness to them!  They are somewhat candied and somewhat spicy!  I think they are perfectly coated!  They are really done to perfection!  If you like curry - these are a MUST!

PLEASE Scroll down...I have another post today!  And coming soon...I hope to have a review and a giveaway for the Vegan Delish App on iPad and iPhone!  PLEASE check back!  I hope your Friday is going well!

Guacamole - Recipes & Leftovers

Yes!  One of my favorite things is Guacamole!  And the Guac Blend that Wildtree has is VEGAN!  Here is the ingredient list and nutritional values! 

The way I do my "normal" Guac is to take 2 Avocados and mash them, add 1 Tablespoon or more of this dry blend and add a splash of Lemon Juice.

Other variations...

* I sometimes add a little vegan sour cream to make it creamier.

OR

* I might add a tablespoon of Salsa or tomatoes.

OR

* I like to add onions, sometimes, too!

Some things to do with Guacamole...

Use it as a topping for a Bagel!

Add it to Hummus for an interesting Guacamole Hummus!

Here's one of my recipes for Guac Hummus:

(I haven't made it in a while so I don't have a pick, so sorry!)

1 Can (or 2 Cups) of Chickpeas
1 Avocado - Mashed

1/2 Tablespoon (or more to taste) Wildtree Guacamole Blend
1 Clove of Garlic
2 T of Grapeseed Oil

2 T Lemon Juice

I want to try these few recipes with this Guacamole Blend, too!

Vegan Summer Taco's

Black Bean Dip

Need more ideas?

What to do with that left over Guac?

EASY!!

* You can use it on a Baked Potato!

* Make a Sandwich with Lettuce, Tomato, Tempeh (or Fakin' Bacon) - maybe add some Sauerkraut, even!

* Thin it down and make a salad dressing!  Just add a bit of Balsamic Vinegar

* Add it to Toast

* Sandwich idea #2 - Vegan Mozzarella, Tomato, Guac, Basil Leaves

* Add it to Chili or make a soup out of it!

* Make a Salad with it and add Black Beans, Corn, Diced Tomatoes (or Salsa), Peppers, etc

* Get a little daring an make a SMOOTHIE!

The possibilities are ENDLESS!  What have you done with leftover Guac?

Participating In:
Aloha! Friday
Foodtastic Fridays
Foodie Friday
Friday Food Fight
Healthy Vegan Fridays
Strange But Good

Artichoke Burgers by Five Star Foodies

About a month ago I placed an order with VeganEssentials and I came across these lil discs of awesomeness!  Visit the Product Page from Five Star Foodies!  

I have to say this is my new FAVORITE Veggie Burger!  By a LARGE Margin!  I LOVE these Artichoke Burgers from Five Star Foodies!  They are wonderful!

They are SO flavorful!  They are made up of Artichokes, Cashews, Cashews, Brown Rice, Potato/Corn Starch, Oil, Cane Sugar, Spices!

These come out pretty good in the microwave but my favorite method is to do them in a frying pan with a little bit of Grapeseed Oil!

This is FOR SURE a re-order in the NEAR future!

Spicy Cheese-E Quinoa Pasta Bake

Originally inspired by this blog post

 This is one of these dishes that one thing turned into another that turned into another!  This first picture is the Cheese-E Sauce in the above link but tweaked a bit based on what I had on hand!  Here's what I used:

• ½ cup + raw cashews
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• pinch of Garlic Sea Salt
• 2 cups Almond Milk
• 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
• ¼ cup Grapeseed oil
• 2 tbsp light miso paste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

 I added to Quinoa Pasta and topped with Rice Crumbs!  I figured here is one dish!  Mac & Cheese - Vegan Style!

 And for left-overs...I added a bit of medium-spicy salsa!  I sampled a bit of each and I'm totally proud of both!

I also used my Magic Bullet for this PREP!

Currently In The Oven: Two "Cheese" Baked Cauliflower

I told you I was going to use that new-to-me-vegan-cheese!

I tweaked a recipe I found on VegWeb and did this!

Almost a full head of cauliflower
2 T Tahini
2 T Mustard
1 T Grapeseed Oil

Water for consistency
Vegan Cheddar Cheese on top

It's in the oven now and I hope to take another pic when it's done!

Happy Vegan MoFo Day #2!  What did you do?

Raw Zucchini Hummus

This is also from Philip's Book - mentioned below - but I left the skin on.  I must say I'm not as jazzed about this one but will be experimenting with it more.  I think if it were IN something...maybe as a topping on a Sandwich it might work but something doesn't really jive stand-alone for me, I guess.

Again, I tweaked it a bit - so it could totally be something on my part and not the original recipe! 

I used Black Sesame Seeds, Grapeseed Oil, Tahini, Sea Salt, Lemon Juice, Zucchini, Water, Garlic

I also found that my mini-grinder decided to bite the dust last night so I have to go find another one.

Raw Tomato Soup

					Yesterday I posted about getting Philip McCluskey's Book on InterLibrary Loan and I have already attempted TWO recipes.  This first one I am REALLY liking!  It's his Chilled Tomato & Rosemary.  I won't give away the whole recipe but this is what I put in it with a few small tweaks...
					Tomatoes, Nutritional Yeast, Grapeseed Oil, Garlic, Juice of a Lemon, Dried Rosemary Leaves, Water
					It's TANGY but I really like it!  This is something I would make OFTEN as it's super easy and made with ingredients I almost always have on hand!

Quinoa with Tomatoes, Corn, and Zukes

I have been going to the library WAY TOO MUCH LATELY!!!  BUT...it DOES get me out of the office, LEARNING, and on the move...so it's GOOD!

Last week one of the many books I looked into was LOVE SOUP by Anna Thomas.

This dish was originally inspired by one of her recipes, alto, it's not a soup that I ended up with...it was a mighty-fine starting point, tho!  I guess that is what happens when you stray from the recipes - you get to create your own off-shoot!

Quinoa with Tomatoes, Corn, & Zukes!

1 C Quinoa (doubles - at least - when cooked)

1 Super Large Tomato

1 Large Zuke

2-3 T Wildtree Grapeseed Oil - Natural

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

1/2-3/4 C Frozen (or Fresh) Corn

1/4 Large Candy (Dandy) Onion

Fresh or Dried Basil to taste

2 tea Wildtree Garlic Galore Blend

Splash of Wildtree European Balsamic 

Instead of a soup - this was more of a warm Quinoa Salad.  This made a TON and I had a small dish last night and brought a good portion for my lunch today.  I have enough for at least 2 nice-sized meals still, too!