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!?

Raw Food Wednesday - Audrey's Got My Back on Snacks!

It's Raw Food Wednesday here on my blog and I thought I would feature a new(er) find - and by that I mean - a "New-To-Me" find!

Audrey's Pleasure Food & Raw Vegan Food Bites!

I found them a while back on VeganEssentials.com and I placed an order!

I ended up buying the "pizza" flavored ones as well as the "chik'n" ones.  I think I may have clicked on the wrong one because I'm not much for 'chicken' flavored anything even if it's vegan!  That flavored wasn't bad but it wasn't my favorite either.  The Pizza Ones - kicked BUTT tho!  I'm pasting the info below on the product for those of you interested in learning more!

I do really like this product and I do want to try the other two flavors!

Product Descriptions & Nutritional Info:
Amazingly unique, you've never tried anything like these delicious raw food bites before – trust us on this one! We've tried many products that claim to taste like cheese, pizza, etc. that have been flat on flavor, but these are so incredible they must be tried to be believed. Flavors include Four Season (pizza flavor), Vegan Chik (spicy chicken flavor), Indian Summer (a rich coconut curry flavor), and Royal Cheez (possibly the closest thing to a real cheese taste we've ever tried!). Each 3 oz. package is $6.39.

Royal Cheez ingredients - Macadamia nuts, cashews, bell peppers, lime, sea salt

Vegan Chick ingredients - Cashews, coconut, tomatoes, onion, garlic, spices, sea salt

Four Season ingredients - Cashews, tomato, raw organic agave nectar, garlic, spices, sea salt

Indian Summer ingredients - Cashews, coconut, onions, garlic, curry, spices, sea salt

Nutritional information:
Serving size - 1.5 oz. (43g)
Servings per container - 2
Calories per serving - 160 for Indian Summer and Four Season / 220 for Royal Cheez / 250 for Vegan Chick
Total fat - 11g (2g saturated) for Four Season and Royal Cheez / 12g (6g saturated) for Indian Summer / 25g (7g saturated) for Vegan Chick
Sodium - 220 for Royal Cheez / 250 for Vegan Chick / 300 for Indian Summer / 330 for Four Season
Total carbohydrate - 8g (6g fiber, 1g sugar) for Royal Cheez / 10g (5g fiber, 3g sugars) for Indian Summer and Four Season / 12g (7g fiber, 3g sugars) for Vegan Chick
Protein - 3g for Indian Summer / 4g for Four Season and Royal Cheez / 7g for Vegan Chick

I do really love their products and I want to point this lil gem out, too!

California Sushi Chips!  RAW and VEGAN.  They were strangely addictive but in a good way!

A unique raw treat that's unlike anything you've tried before! These tasty chips blend nori and Audrey's incredible raw "cheese" to make a snack chip that's full of nutrition and cheesy flavor. A perfect treat for those wanting try the delicious flavor of sea veggies! Resealable 2 oz. snack container is $5.79.

Ingredients: Organic raw nori, macadamia nuts, cashews, red pepper, lime, sea salt

Let me know if you participate in Raw Food Wednesdays!

Also linking to:
Tuesday Friend Connect