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  I originally made this for my mother who had major dental surgery a few weeks ago but it looked so good I had to try it for myself.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!

Plum Cinnamon Chocolate Chai Smoothie

This was one of the smoothies I did this week!  It turned out yummy!  I have 2 other posts today and they are below this one.  This one will be short and sweet much like this smoothie!

4 Plums
1/2 Banana
1 Scoop GoL's Spiced Vanilla Chai
1 C Almond Milk
1 T Red Maca Cinnamon Almond Butter

It was sweet and a little spicy.  Creamy and a little fruity.

RAW WEEK - Tuesday!

Hello Lovelies!

It's day 2 of my RAW WEEK!  After posting yesterday I went home and made this CRAZY HUGE Salad!  But not before a mini outing!  I had to swing by and drop off a cat carrier that I borrowed from my parents neighbor and then I went to Aldi's.  Early yesterday morning when I went to a nearby Grocery Store most of their daily produce was WAY TOO Expensive.  Average Every Day NON-Organic Cauliflower was $3.99 a head, their tomatoes were $3.49 per pound and most of them HUGE so I bet they were well over a pound a piece, even their grapefruit was $1.29 each...their avocados were over $2 each, etc.  So I really wanted to stock up and got a bunch of stuff at Aldi's and only spent $22.  I wish I would have taken a photo of my haul before putting everything in their places in my kitchen/frig/pantry.

While at Aldi's I found a super huge awesome hard plastic bowl for $4 - I went home, washed it, and threw this salad in it!

This Salad Contains the following...Romaine Hearts, Cherry Tomatoes, Mini Cucumbers, Orange Sweet Bell Peppers, and Hemp Seeds.  I think it worked out to be between 4 and 6 cups of greens.  I made a dressing last night as you can see in this 2nd photo but silly me I forgot to jot down everything in it...so...here's a guess...I know there was at least 1 C of Mango along with about 2 T Tahini.  I think I added some Lemon Juice and Garlic Sea Salt.

This 3rd photo is a pic of the Salad Dressing I made prior to pouring on the salad.  OH!  Yes...I think I also put about 2 T Dijon in there, too!

I really enjoyed this dressing but think next time I would use less Mango and more Dijon for the extra ZING!

Later in the evening - last night - I had the munchies.  I decided to cut up 2 more Mini Cucumbers and treat them like Raw "Chips".  I made a Raw Vegan Cheese Dip to go along with it. 

In this Raw Vegan Cheese Dip and/or sauce here is what I used...

1 C Pine Nuts
1 C Cashews
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Mini Sweet Red Bell Peppers
2 T Lemon Juice
1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast

I get Raw Cashews and Pine Nuts at my local herb store in bulk.  Mostly when I buy in bulk the prices are better.  When it comes to nuts - especially raw nuts - that isn't usually the case. 

I realize Nutritional Yeast isn't necessarily raw but I do know a lot of Raw Foodists that consume it.

Next up...I made some Raw Vegan Chia Crackers or Chips last night.  They kind of remind me of Blue Corn Chips/Tortillas.

For the crackers/chips I did about 1 C of Chia into 2 C Water for about an hour.  I stirred in about 1 T Garlic Powder - maybe a little less - for the whole batch - and then spread it out on a Dehydrator Sheet and flipped every 2 hours or so until crisp.

I was pretty impressed with myself, actually.  I ended up doing quite a bit last night around the house as well as food prep.

Now...I only had one of these this morning as a Taste Test and I really liked them.  I'm probably going to have them with dinner or as a snack tonight.  And LOOK - I used that Raw Vegan Cheese as a dip since there was SO MUCH in the batch that I made.  I also noticed it thickened up pretty nice over night in the frig.

This will last me a few days.

I felt like I literally ate all day long yesterday.  But I think I did a good job of getting a variety of foods. 

As for today...I started my day with another smoothie which you can see in the following photos. 

For this smoothie I used 2 C Strawberries, 4 Handfuls of Spinach, 2 inch chunk of frozen banana. 

It's not the most beautiful color but it tasted good!

I've been putting my Vitamix to the test as well as my Excalibur!  This REALLY excites me!

Yesterday I was up from about 4am until about 11-ish last night. 

Not Bad. 

Best part?  No afternoon energy crash! 

I, did, however, sleep in longer this morning - but - not as long as I usually do - so that's good!

I've also been able to use more of my cute Mason Jar Glasses with the handles and more consistently.

So far - TODAY - I had the smoothie listed above along with 3 Apples and 1 Nectarine.

For Lunch I had some GREENS from the Container Garden...a mix of both the Sweet AND the Spicy Mesclun Mixes...so up to 8 different lettuces altho I think there is only about 5 in what I picked today.  On top of the Greens I threw in about a tablespoon or two of Hemp Seeds and about 1 C of Grapefruit.  For the "dressing" I just used Apple Cider Vinegar to taste.  I also had about 1/4 of a Watermelon on the side.  I'm looking forward to Dinner tonight!

Colorful Weekend, Mason Jar Set, Red Pepper Tahini Dressing & Soup Recipes!

This past weekend was a CRAZY BUSY one...but in a good way!  This is my 2nd post for today - so - be sure to scroll down for the other one as to why half of the weekend was NUTS.

This post, however, will include some other things from the weekend.  As well as some items from last week - when I was under the weather.

First off - this selfie I took.  I'm trying to take some more of them because no one takes photos of me and I'm always behind  the photo while taking pics of groups, events, travel, and food.  I'm not very good at selfies but I'm trying!

The main reason for this one is to show off one of my new shirts I got this past weekend.  Yup!  I was able to go on a bit of a shopping spree for clothes, specifically.  I don't often do that but I was PAST Due for some clothes!  I've been pitching a lot of them but I will wear stuff until I literally am not able to any longer.  That and so many more of the clothes I had are 3 sizes too big!


One of the items I scored at Sam's Club a little over a week ago was this 6 piece Mason Jar Set.  I couldn't resist...it was calling to me!  You get all 6 glass mugs with handles, lids, straws, and burlap holder as you see here - but - it also comes with 6 additional straws (photo below).  These are heavy-duty reusable plastic straws.

Online this set is selling for $16.49, I think...but...for some reason I think I only paid $14 and some change for it.  I REALLY Love the way it looks...so bright and fun!  I can't wait to fill them with juices and smoothies!  Here's a pic of the orange one up close!  They are just too cute, aren't they!?

In food related news...

I made some home made raw vegan dressing and it turned out AWESOME!

And it only uses 3 ingredients!  Here's a quick recipe for you!

2 Sweet Red Bell Peppers
1/4 C Lemon Juice
3 T Tahini


I had a large salad last night with the dressing on it.  A few cups of various lettuces, shredded carrots, red cabbage, Green Peppers, Y.E.L.O. Tomatoes, and Hemp Seeds!

While I was eating it all I could think about was how flavorful it was and then I wondered if I could make a soup out of it.  So I did.

After using more than half of it as a dressing I then made a soup by adding the following...

2 T Minced Sun Dried Tomatoes & Garlic
1/4 C Basil

I have to say I was totally impressed with this flavor, too!

The addition of the garlic REALLY pumped it up!  The Sun Dried Tomatoes didn't hurt either.  It makes me want to do more raw(ish) soups VERY soon!

EcoJarz Wide Mouth Drink Top & Stainless Steel Straws, Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie, Mason Jar Madness!

I mentioned earlier this week I received a package in the mail of EcoJarz and I have to say I already LOVE them!  The items I want to blog about today - specifically - is their Wide Mouth Drink Top as well as their Stainless Steel Straws!  I'm sure you will be seeing a LOT of photos in the future of me using the EcoJarz Products and will surely try and mention each time I post! 

In this first post you will see I did some water with Lemon Peels in it.  This works 'swimmingly' because the peels can be right in there and won't fall out or splash you in the face!

Now...if you have visiting my blog before you know I use Mason Jars for SO MANY things!  I'm so grateful to add this to my list of things to use Mason Jars with!  They are so trendy, stylish, and FUN!  And more importantly "GREEN"...they are VERY good for the Earth!

According to EcoJarz:

• Perfect for all your Pint-and-a-half sized sipping
• Sleek stainless-steel style for your wide-mouth to-go cup sets
• The first stainless steel wide-mouth drinktop 3-pack on the market 

Our wide-mouth stainless steel lids are entirely non-reactive and can be used with hot or cold beverages without any worry of chemical leach.  They are completely BPA and phthalate free.  We recommend washing your new Ecojarz lids thoroughly with soap and water before use.  Dry your stainless steel lids and jar bands well after washing and store in a dry place.
You can choose to ship your lids in their lovely retail packages (pictured on the left) or save paper and select “Ship WITHOUT Retail Package” from the drop down menu at the right.
A “Jar Band” is the metal ring which threads onto a glass jar and is necessary to attach an Ecojarz top.  It works just like a canning jar lid.  If you already have wide mouth jar bands you are good to go, but if not you can add them to your order for just $2.50 using the second drop down menu on the left.  Add 3 stainless steel straws for only $8.50, or 3 sets of straws and bands for $11.

Now when it comes to the Stainless Steel Straws...I must say I think they are great, too!  I've only ever had 1 heavy-duty re-useable straw and it was still plastic and I'm sure contains dyes and chemicals...but NOT this one!  This is HARDCORE AWESOME!  They are quite TALL, too, but I'm cool with that!  They even have Straw Cleaners...something I have been lacking...and I'm so HAPPY that I can now clean my straws!  Woot!  A little bit more from EcoJarz about their Stainless Steel Straws...

• Strong, durable, reusable drinking straws
• Elegant shape with small permanent bend 
• Easy to clean
• Work with all Ecojarz lids

Disposable straws are so out-of-style; all the classiest hippies sip through stainless steel!  For a glamorous green juice on the go, show how much you love the earth and add some bling-bling, stainless steel sustainability to your drink.
Featuring a sleek and slender design, our drinking straws have a slight bend that resemble the familiar flexible disposable straws (though ours are not flexible).  Best for sipping liquids like fresh-squeezed juice or tea, this drinking straw fits both our silicone and stainless steel Ecojarz lids.  If you need a great straw that can handle thicker drinks like smoothies check out our Smoothie Straws.
We recommend to wash your new stainless steel drinking straw thoroughly with soap and water before use.  Cleaning your drinking straws is easy with our excellent stainless steel straw cleaners!

I'm VERY happy with BOTH of these products!  I love the way they look, too!  Here's another look at the lid when I put it on the wide mouth Mason Jar.  As you can see there are 2 holes.  One for the Straw and the other for something I will be posting about down the road!  Oh the suspense! LOL

The special tops sit right on top of the rim of the Mason Jar and then on top of that you put the ring on and secure!  It's clever!

So far I've tried flavored water, juices, smoothies, and Flavored Soy Milk in it.

Here's a photo of the very first smoothie I did in it, too!

Recipe for this smoothie...

1 C Frozen Strawberries
1 C Coconut Milk
1/2 Scoop of GoL Apple Flavored perfect Food
1 Meyer Lemon
1 tea Hemp Hearts/Hemp Seeds

It was simple and flavorful!

Here's another look at the Smoothie itself!  I took the peel off the Meyer Lemon and threw the whole thing in there.

Usually Meyer Lemons don't have very many seeds present - but this one apparently DID.  That's ok...it was still yummy!  I just had to blend it for longer.

Another optional addition for this would be Banana - I still have a few other frozen - I just didn't feel like the sweet at the moment...I was looking for a Strawberry Lemonade type flavor this time around.

I hope you enjoyed reading about these EcoJarz Products!  I know I'm having a BALL with them!  I am sure to be posting LOTS more in the very near future about their products, too, so stay tuned!

Mason Jar Make Over - Part 2 - a Look at My Pantry!

Last year (or more) I posted a lengthy post about me totally re-doing my cabinets and cupboards with 90% Mason Jars...well...it's still that way but even more so.  So much so that I think I finally need to get some more Mason Jars!  This past weekend I took quite a bit of time to reorganize them and make them more tidy.  I'm not the most organized person BUT I have TRIED my best when it comes to my Pantry this past year.  This first photo is taking a look at my Spice Cupboard.  It goes about 4 to 5 rows deep and takes up a whole side.  I have a small spice spinner underneath this cupboard as well.  I usually buy in bulk and reuse old containers.  So when you see some of those old McCormick containers and off-brands most likely I have reused those time and time again.  Some of the clear glass containers that you see (with Cumin in it and Ginger Powder, for example) are from the same place I get my bulk spices from.  The local store I buy bulk from gets most of their items from Frontier Co-Op.

Here's another cupboard that I worked on over the weekend.  On the top row you can see some Spaghetti O looking dry pasta noodles, next is my vegan bread crumbs, Barley, then some Farro, and some Quinoa, and then Black Bean Noodles.  On the middle shelf are a lot of my sprouting seeds.  On the bottom one you can see most of my Wildtree Collection, some more sprouting items, some dry soup mixes, and Potato Flakes.

As you can see most everything is in Mason Jars.  When I was getting low I ended up using some old hard plastic ones I had not used in a while like when you see the one marked Quinoa, for example.

Here is a look at the section I have for some of my alternative flours and sweeteners.  These go about 3 deep so you can't really see everything but when you are standing in front of it it's easy to look at everything there.  What you can see on the top row is Bob's Red Mill's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour, Garden of Life Flax Seed with Fruit & Anti-Oxidants, more Flax Seeds, Arrowroot, a Granola from Bob's Red Mills, and what you can't see in the back are various alternative flours such as Soy, Garbanzo Bean, Spelt, etc.  On the bottom row you can see some of my alternative sweeteners - mostly from Wholesome Sweeteners.  Coconut Palm Sugar, Raw Cane Sugar, Sucanat, etc.  Behind that I have others such as Coconut Crystals from Coconut Secret and a few other things.

For this self you will see some of my husband's items that are not vegetarian/vegan but most of it is.  On the top row he has his sugar - regular/standard sugar, there are some raw honey's, Liquid Smoke, Steel Cut Oats, and overstock of flours.  On the middle row you can see Coconut Flour, my NuNaturals Stevia Collection, Bragg's including Nutritional Yeast and Liquid Aminos, followed by Chia Seeds, and Wholesome Sweeteners ZERO.  On the bottom shelf you can see our canned goods.  Most of which are from Aldi.  Yes...you can eye some Tuna which is NOT mine (I don't eat it) that's my husband's!  There are some canned beans and veggies but recently I found some fruit toppings and fillers from a discount store that happen to be vegan so I bought them and might play with those soon!

And FINALLY...the last section...mostly on the top shelf you can see our Coffee and Tea Cups along with some pills for hubby and the pets.  But...underneath that you will see some Pink Sea Salt which will last me a LIFE TIME as I hardly ever use salt but it was on sale a long time again and I bought it.  Next and in the back are various rices...standard, white rice, brown rice, long rice, multi-grain, black rice, purple rice, forbidden rice, Jasmine Rice...you name it!  You may even spot some Millet, Couscous, Polenta, Red lentils, Amaranth, grits, etc.

So that's a look at my updated pantry, cupboards, and cabinets!  I was going to include my Bento Box for today along with a recipe or two but I will put that in a separate post!  Questions of the Day...what do you see that are your favorites?  What haven't you tried!?  I'd love to hear!

Vegan Sandwich Spread, Cheesy Tahini Kale Chips, Jalapeno Cajun Cashews, Sprouting Again, and Cleaning!

Yesterday was a CRAZY Blogging Day...I think I had 4 posts!  Today I will probably have more than one but this first one will cover multiple things!  First up is this Vegan Sandwich Spread I made over the weekend!  It has...
1 Can of Kidney Beans, Mashed
1/2 C Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus
1 tea Onion Powder
1 tea Garlic Powder
1 tea GoL Wheat Grass Perfect Food

I ended up putting this in my Ninja for a smoother consistency, tho, but you could mash it by hand if you want.  This was tasty!  I ended up putting it on Whole Grain Bread and put a few Sun Dried Tomatoes on top that had been in oil.  It was yummy!  You can also use this as a hearty dip, too!  But it's really great on sandwiches.

I ended up making a few different kinds of Kale and Spinach Chips last week as well but these were the best ones of the batch.  So I thought I would share the recipe with you!

4 C Kale
1 T Tahini
1 tea Balsamic
1 tea Garlic Powder
1/4 C Cashews
1 tea Crushed Red Peppers
1 tea GoL Wheat Grass Perfect Food

They turned out pretty good, too!  They didn't last long...so that's a good sign!  I FINALLY restocked my Nutritional Yeast at the end of last week, too, so I will be doing some more soon...I also found a great deal on a HUGE bag of Kale so I need to use that fairly quickly!

 As for these Cashews...YUMMMMM!  I will be making various flavors of these soon!  This was the first of many!  And it was a success!  Here's what I did by putting it in a zip lock bag and massaging everything together...

1 C Cashews
1 tea Cajun Spice
1 tea Red Jalapeno Powder
1 tea Wildtree Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oil
Sprinkle of Garlic Sea Salt
Sprinkle of Paprika

Another seasoned snack I would like to try is a Green Holiday Cracker Snacker...yet another mini goal of mine, I guess!  I'm having a lot of FUN making homemade snacks!  I must say!

And - speaking of mini goals - one that I blogged about was jumping back into sprouting again!  Well, I started in with that again Sunday Night!  First up is Marrowfat Peas and Broccoli Sprouts.

It was easy and FUN to start in with sprouting again once I cleaned up my Cabinets and Kitchen yet again!  Let's just say I was a little over ambitious Saturday thru Monday.  I took Monday off.  I need to use vacation before the end of the year so I have a couple of full and half days!

Here I am soaking the sprouting seeds the first night.  I'm using my old tops as well as the Sustainable Santa Cruz Kit I blogged about in the past, too!  I really LOVE that system!  It's wonderful!

I was going to show pictures of my cabinets and cupboards but I think I will save that for another post.  When I purchased nearly 200 Mason Jars I never thought I would use them all - but - you know what?  I think I have to purchase some more - because NOW I am using them for almost EVERYTHING!

Participating: What I Ate Wednesday, 

My Many Mason Jars & The Vineyard is GREEN

 I will be doubling and tripling up on posts today to try and catch up from my wild week or weeks lately.  One of the many things I have been working on - it's a constant battle - but I couldn't be more proud of it as petty as it seems - is my Mason Jar Kitchen Cabinets!

My original post happened almost a year ago and I have been tweaking it ever since.  I'm not the most organized person but I try.  Mason Jar are the way to go for me!  It's what has helped me the longest and I have stuck with it!  I have been getting more and more grains, sprouting items, powders, and more and these are PERFECT for them!  Not only have I been using Mason Jars I have been reusing other glass jars that I have come across as you can see in the 2nd photo. 

The one with the Green Lid is a reused Tahini Glass Jar.  I believe I bought these sprouting seeds over at VitaCost.  Take a look at the right hand side bar for the refer a friend program.  I LOVE this online store!  Anyhow...back to the Jars!  You can see in the first photo I have Marrowfat Peas.  I haven't used them yet but I hope to soon!  On either side are some of my Wildtree items.  In the 2nd photo I have Arugula and Sunflower Seeds.  I sprouted Sunflower Seeds before but didn't blog about it.  I wanted to get a 2nd attempt under my belt first.  Yesterday I started my first attempt at Arugula and I will blog about that later today, too.

In my 3rd photo - you can see the glass jars I bought FIRST even before buying the Mason Jars.  I bought those from my local herb store where I buy bulk often.  I started using those for 'meals' and alternative flours but I also use them for sprouting beans, seeds, etc now, too!

In this last photo - I have some Quinoa but also some Farro.  I have to admit I am still new at using Farro but will be posting about this, soon, too!

In another section of my cupboards I have recently added Maca Powder containers and a Maca-Hemp-Cacao Powder. 


I have been running out of a few of my rices - wild rice, long grain rice, and various brown rices that I had from Lundberg as well as a few other brands.  I have also just finished up my Rice Crumbs and one of my Vegan Panko Bread Crumbs.  Lucky for me I found a box hiding and replenished my stock.

In other news - we went back to Noble Winery in Westfield, NY, on Saturday with our Wildtree set-up and did pretty well!  We LOVE the Noble Winery Crew!  They are beautiful people!  The last time I blogged about Noble - it was cold!!!  This time around it was gorgeous!  The grounds and vineyard were MUCH MORE GREEN!  Afterwards we went to Quagliana's Bark Grill - as we did the last time - it's becoming a favorite!  It has a neat set-up as well as SUPER FRIENDLY people!  They have an awesome cheese-less Bruchetta I had as well as something similar but with Eggplant and Red Peppers!  YUM!

I was wondering what the 4th would have been like on the hill of the winery!  You can see for MILES.  I bet you could see various fireworks that night.  We only stayed until about 7pm so it wasn't dark yet.

We have a party this Wednesday in Little Valley, NY, and we are expecting quite a few so we are looking forward to that and we have a few shows in the works, too!

Midweek Munchies, Mason Jar Meals, Global Juicing, Vegan Fridays, Foods of the World!

It's been a crazy few weeks and I haven't been as consistent with my Mid-Week Munchies!  I figured I should update you on a bunch of the interesting FINDS I have been into lately as well as several other things!

As far as some semi-'normal' grocery type things I have purchase the last week or two I have found in random order from various stores: Apples, Carrots, Celery, Walnuts, Tortillas, Hot Dog Buns, Oatmeal(s), Dates, Pineapple, Tomatoes, Avocados, Bottled Water (since my tap water has been questionable lately), Cashews, Green Beans, Chickpeas, Stewed Tomatoes, etc.  As for more 'interesting finds' - I recently came across good prices on Tofurky Italian Sausage and Kielbasa at a semi-local "Tops" as well as Eden's Sauerkraut and Vegenese.  I was also very excited to local and purchase Full Circle Organic Popcorn - Vegan!, Orgran Falafel Mix, and Peanut Butter Company's Mighty Maple Peanut Butter!  Over at my local Herb Store - I bought a few things including Organic Lemon Juice but more recently (today) I bought in Bulk - Organic Barley for $1.19, Red Lentils for Sprouting for 90 cents, and Cacao for just 79 cents!  Last week over at Aldi I found Coconut Milk, Vanilla Extract, and Tequila Lime Salsa!  From Wildtree I recently got the new Hearty Oatmeal Mix-In Sugar & Spice which I blogged about PLUS the brand new Asian Skillet Meal - I'm thinking about doing Asian TVP Sloppy Joes/Sliders with it!  AND...at Big Lots I found an AWESOME Granola!  LOVE CRUNCH from Nature's Path.  I assume it's just seasonal for Valentine's Day, tho...sigh...OH!  And...many of you saw that my SeedsNow.com order came in so I have those Sprouting Seeds, too!

 A new thing I will start doing here at My Blissful Journey will be Mason Jar Meals.

A while back I blogged about ALL of the Mason Jars I bought and what I did with them!  Knock on wood - STILL - So Far So Good!  YAY!  (You'll have to read the post to see what I mean by that!)

So...I still have a bunch of unused Mason Jars and have been doing TONS of research on Mason Jar Meals!  They sound like they would be right up my Alley!  

Here you will see a few examples of Mason Jar Meals!

The Photos I didn't take and I found them on Wildtree.com.  They have a growing Recipe Section featuring these Mason Jar Meals!

With a few small changes I think I can veganize most of them!  Of course when and if I do I will be sure to report my results, here!

Some of the ones that interest me the most are:
End of Summer Mason Jar Salad Asian Chick Pea Mason Jar Salad

Moroccan Couscous Mason Jar Salad

  

Fiesta Quinoa Mason Jar Salad   

Curry Rice Mason Jar

Mediterranean Quinoa Mason Jar Salad

And I am sure I will come up with some others along the way!   

I LOVE that you can see everything that is IN each jar but also LOVE that it's easy to store and transport to work and other travel. 

Some Wildtree Reps have been doing Freezer Meal Workshops and I have been thinking about doing Mason Jar Meal Workshops instead!

Of course I will have to play around with this well in advance and feel comfortable with it myself before sharing workshops with others.  But it DOES seem like a great idea, to me!

In other news...

I listened in on some of the Global Juice Fasting Day that Steven Prussack and Bo Rinaldi co-hosted today.  It was very informative like I knew it would be!  They had a few guests, too, including Jay and Linda Kordich and Health Pioneer Dr. Jameth Sheridan.  

I've listened in on several of the calls that Steven has done in the past and he does a great job!  As a fellow radio person - that in itself IS a draw for me, too!  BUT...Steven was even MORE full of energy today than he usually is!  It was awesome!  He 'spilled the beans' on some of the near-future projects he's working on and one I am REALLY excited about it Juice Time Tuesdays.  He mentioned it would be FREE and I asked if there would be a blogging circle of people to list of participants - I think that would be cool...I will let you know if I hear any more about that!  

If you would like to check out some sites he's involved with - here you go!

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Juice Fasting"

http://www.vegworldmag.com

http://www.vegworldfans.com

http://www.tweetvegworld.com

 

 And...let's NOT forget about Healthy Vegan Fridays!

Here's a recap of my other food posts for this week!

Tahini & Parsley Chickpeas

Raw Hemp Cinnamon Sauce

Flax Oatmeal with Sugar & Spice

Thai Inspired Pineapple & Sticky Rice

Vegan Reuben Sandwich 

Vegan Cheesy Grits 

Thai Curry Chickpeas 

Vegan Sausage & Veggie Stirfry

Walnut Sauce

So...that is what's been happening in my world!  What's been happening in yours?  Any plans for the weekend?  REMEMBER...next week is Vegan Pakistani Foods Week where I will be attempting a few Veganized Dishes from Pakistan or Pakistani Inspired.  The follow week is Norwegian Foods Week!  Do you have a suggestion for an upcoming week?  Let me know!

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Mason Jars For Prevention and Storage Solutions

I'm certainly not an organized person...far from it actually but a few months ago I threw everything away in my cupboards and put all other items in Mason Jars.  I did this for several reasons.  The photo above was one I found on a DIY Site for Food Pantry Organizational Ideas.

The first reason I came to this Mason Jar idea was that we live in a very old house and twice a year I get unwanted guests in our kitchen that I want to evict but NOT kill.  I just can't bring myself to kill them - even if they find their way back.

Anyhow...I tried all the natural suggestions online.  Either they wouldn't work at all or they would work for a limited time and then I had to find another way to 'keep them out'.

Perhaps I went a little overboard...but...knock on wood, I haven't had a problem in MONTHS.

Here's what I did...

Like I said...I ditched MOST everything from my cupboards - which was a good thing because I found some really ancient packages shoved way in the back that I didn't know I had!  I placed the little I wanted to keep in Mason Jars.  I ended up buying 4 dozen pint size and 4 dozen quart sized jars.  I still have leftovers and unused jars which is PERFECT because now I can add to my pantry this way!

Another reason I LOVE this is because I am a very visual person.  I'm not organized but I have to SEE everything in front of me and can function better that way.  Not only that but all 'little critters' are NOT tempted by the aroma of cupboard contents this way...they are all tightly sealed in the jars!  This past Summer I heard of a lot of local people having moth and worm problems, too, especially in grains and flowers, etc...this way...is MUCH safer...and you can SEE it before opening it!

In addition to the Mason Jars - I did the following to eliminate and prevent future 'friends' from scoping-out-the-joint...

I wiped everything down with warm water and soap.  I then wiped it down with Tea Tree Oil AND Peppermint Oils.

I bought CHEAP Dryer Sheets and placed them on every shelf, in every cupboard, drawer, under the sink, etc.  Mice and other 'friends' do not like the aroma of Peppermint OR the Dryer Sheets so they tend to stay away from them.  Not only that - but for weeks afterwards - my house smelled awesomely fresh!  We have cats AND dogs and BOY was it a change!

I also put cotton balls soaked in Peppermint Oil on window sills, counter tops, and near kitchen utensils.  I covered them with Bean Sprout lids that I no longer use (I have since upgraded my Sprout Lids and use those for Sprouting instead!).

I used SOS Pads (Generic/CHEAP Alternative) to fill holes in between shelves, walls, pipes, etc.  I also used Aluminum Foil for super-tight spaces.

I use Melaleuca Cleaning Supplies as well.  I try to use their Disinfectant as often as possible on my stove, counter tops, and shelves.

And I still buy and use Humane Traps where I can catch and release them back in to Nature.

With all of these things - knock on wood - I haven't seen 'anyone' sneaking around my kitchen in MONTHS.  I figure they are sick and tired of striking out on a food source now and me throwing off their senses couldn't hurt the efforts either.

Just a few ideas if you have the same problems or if you are looking for a way to store items in your food pantry or cupboards!