Stocking Up on The Raw Food World

YAY!  Happy Mail!  Today I received my box of goodies from The Raw Food World and here's what I got in my most recent shipment from them.

I've been a little addicted to Raw Recipe and Raw Books lately so I decided to stock up on them.  I have been a fan of Ani's for a while and decided to get two more of her books including Ani's Raw Food Asia and Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  I already have her Essentials one.  Then I noticed The World Goes Raw Cookbook and grabbed that one, too!  I think this will be my first encounter with Lisa Mann.  Looking forward to it!

Then I have had my eye on Raw Food Revolution so I finally decided to get that book, too!  Also in this last shipment I got Raw & Simple and Soak Your Nuts - Cleansing with Karyn.  I remember thumbing thru Karyn's book a while back while seeing it in a store and I regretted not getting it. 

I joined the GoodReads App a while back...I guess it was in 2012...but I have been using it an awful lot lately to take not of what books I have been reading.  Mostly Vegan, Raw, and Health related books with some journals/dairies, and books of poetry mixed in. 

And since I have been contributing to The Raw Food World's NEWS Site the last several months and chatting with Matt Monarch I wanted to make sure I added Matt and Angela's books to my collection...so...you will see I finally did that in this last order/shipment!  I can't wait to jump in - but - I have been getting behind the last several months.  So I have decided to PUSH MYSELF and join a Book Challenge on the GoodReads App.  You can see my progress on there!

Like I said - I am stocking up on some things!  I have been out of my brown rice pasta's for a while now and decided to get the Penne and the Spirals.

They had a few new products that interested me including one you see here in this photo.  Turmeric Wraps!  They are raw and paleo - not that I'm into paleo - but still - thought they sounded cool.  I can't wait to try them!  Plus - anything Turmeric is usually pretty awesome...they have a few others flavors as well so I might get those down the road!

They had great pricing on this brand of Kale Chips so I stocked up on those, too, while I was at it!  I'm gnawing on some of the spicy ones while I am writing this!

You can see that I got some Pine Nut Flakes!  Matt spoke so highly of them that I HAD to try some for myself!  I will keep you posted on my opinions on them, too!  Organic Currants was another item I have in there and can't wait to use them in Smoothie Bowls.  I splurged and bought some Raw Chocolate items, too!  Excited!!!!

And...FINALLY...last...but not least...

I thought I would start testing out Copaiba Oil on myself!  More on that down the road, too!

And I got two rings!  But not just any two rings!  These are pieces from the Andean Gypsy Jewelry Collection over at The Raw Food World!  They were hand made and one-of-a-kind from Gypsies in Matt and Angela's community in Ecuador!  The money from their jewelry sales goes to pay for the Gypsy children's schooling.

I have a lot of LEARNING to do with all of these products and books and I can't wait to jump right in!  If you have any of these items - let me know - and let me know what you think of them!

New Positive Project - The Raw Food World NEWS Site

At the end of last week I mentioned 3 wonderful blog related things that happened to me but wasn't able to talk about the 3rd one until YESTERDAY'S debut of The Raw Food World NEWS Site.  As many of you know I try and keep this blog positive and uplifting so when Matt Monarch was looking for contributors on this new project I crossed my fingers that he would choose me to be among them!  AND HE DID!  I am so excited!  Not only am I blogging for them - I'm an Uplifter.  I've been locating and passing along uplifting videos to be used on the site.  If you know of any positive/uplifting/inspiring stories that might be fitting let me know the link and I will check out!  PLUS...one of my blog posts was featured TODAY 'above the fold' if you will...My Yoga For Sciatica post.

You will find this excerpt from the ABOUT US Section that sums up WHY when asked THIS NEWS SITE...

'Turn on the television or scan the top trending headlines on the Internet and it seems to me that we’re bombarded with a slew of negative information. Scare tactics, sensationalism and belittling comments are often the name of the game for the majority of mainstream and alternative media outlets.
Sure, their ratings may be soaring, but so too are our stress levels. The feeling that goodness in humanity is unraveling at warp speed is commonplace. In the end, all we want is more peace, laughter and encouragement. We want to turn to a source that assures us that everything will be ok.' 

I'm looking forward to this adventure for so many reasons and in so many ways!  I hope you will subscribe to get the daily SMILE in your inbox, too!  Thanks so much for reading and staying positive!

Blissful Art Journey ~ Mandalas

One of the things I have been tinkering with lately in my Craft Room is Mandalas.  What got me interested in Mandalas was THIS VIDEO from Matt Monarch of the Raw Food World and Raw Food TV Show.  But after really doing some research I've found they are close to the Sand Art that Monks do and while I was in college back in '97 took a trip to an Art Museum in Cleveland where Monks were set up for 2 weeks working round-the-clock on their masterpiece while in silent mediation and only eating fruit and drinking water.  It was amazing.  Now that I know more about Mandalas in all walks of life I'm finding there is no wrong way to do them.  I'm not going to lie...I'm certainly NOT a mathematician therefore I doubt I will ever take a contractor to it they did in Matt's video.  I have seen several other videos of people free handing them and I tried my every first free hand Mandala over the weekend. 

The one you see above is from a book I bought and it's not quite done yet.  I think I will be leaving some white space in the first one but not as much as you see here.  I also like the fact you can work on these over time or all at once.  It's very calming.  I'm enjoying them.  The free hand one I did is the 2nd photo.  Again...it was my very first one.  I think I will continue to do these.  My husband already has requested one for the home recording studio.

Have you ever seen mandalas before or tried doing any on your own!?

Fiesta Quinoa, Fiesta Stuffed Peppers, Raw Happenings, A Little Cuteness!

(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Last night I wanted to make something stuffed and decided to do these stuffed peppers.  I have also declared it QUINOA WEEK as my own personal goal.  Try and do as much with Quinoa as possible, I guess.  On the left you can see the "stuffing" and it made a BUNCH so I used the left overs for my lunch and then on the right is the actual Stuffed Peppers.  Here's (roughly) what I used in this for the stuffing:

1 Small Sweet Onion
2 Cloves Garlic

3 tea Wildtree's Fajita Seasoning

1 Can of Black Beans

2 C Cooked Quinoa

1 Can of Diced Tomatoes

***I stuffed this into Mini Yellow Sweet Peppers - I cut them in half and scooped the mix into each one and baked it for about 25 minutes***

Raw Happenings

Yesterday I watched one of Matt Monarch's videos on YouTube and he's back in California for a while and while he's here is popping in to his business The Raw Food World.  It was neat to see a tour of their facilities.  I also like to watch the videos of the Raw Foodists and their visits to the Farmers Markets.  Especially the ones in California.  I have to live vicariously thru them, I guess.  I was so happy to see Matt purchasing some wild fruits!   Another Raw Food Happening for me this week - and I'm really excited about it - is I finally took that step and ordered one of Dan McDonald's DVDs.  I have been a follower of his on YouTube for a few years as well as part of his INSIDERS Club.  No...I didn't buy this DVD shown, here, but I haven't seen a graphic for his newest DVD that just came out today which is called "Blending Mastery".  It has over 40 recipes all done in a high speed blender and all done raw vegan style.  He said that with all the suggested variations it was more like over 400 recipes!  Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!  

After a full day of work yesterday hubby and I went to our county fair and worked on a new seating chart for the concerts.  He's a board member of our county fair.  When we got home I had a HUGE salad and ran out of a really awesome Lemon Garlic dressing/marinade so I'm eager to see what kinds of raw vegan blender recipes Dan's DVDs suggest.  After he went to sleep I was working around the house and sat down for a while and this is what Riley was doing.  I'm not sure why he was looking at the back wall like that or why he looks so pathetically sad.  I think he does that to get my attention sometimes.  Speaking of attention-getters...Paco was lazing out again last night.  While I was running back and forth from room to room I noticed he was under various blankets in the Living Room.  Last night was more muggy than it has been but he didn't seem to care.  Suzie seemed to keep to herself a bit last night.  All-in-all I feel pretty good about the last few days...with work at actual work, with home, with community events, and planning for events in the future!  What do you have on tap!?