WNY VegFest 2016!

LONG POST AHEAD from WNY VegFest 2016!

This was the 3rd annual WNY VegFest in Buffalo, NY.  It was at a different location this year...Delaware Park.  Each year my sister and I go and make it a Sisters Day!  My sister is NOT veg but likes to try all of the veggie stuff!  This year my parents came a long!  This is a photo of me, my dad, and sister!  We made the Buffalo News (Website)!  I'm originally from WNY and it's always nice to go back and visit!  Afterwards we attended my cousins daughters graduation party!

For the 3rd year in a row I was able to meet up with the Vegan Zombie guys!  I didn't think they were going to be there this year but they were able to go at the last minute!  Jon and Chris are always AWESOME!  I bought one of their hoodies this year!  The first year I bought a cookbook and a t-shirt and last year I bought another t-shirt of theirs!

Chris also gave me one of their rubber bracelets!  You can see the one I am talking about on Chris's left arm.

The VegFest t-shirt I was wear in these photo's was from last years VegFest.  I'm hoping to attend the Erie VegFest in September if all works out, too!

There was a new juice place this year!  Squeeze Juicery and their juices are AWESOME!  Since my parents have been getting into juicing when we are able I thought they would get a kick out of these!  For the most part they did!  I will say that Squeeze kept selling out of them so they MUST have been good, eh!?  We went a little crazy and bought several.  Of course everything that we bought that day we shared so we could all sample everything!

First up we have the 'We Got The Beet' with Beet, Carrot, Lemon, Ginger, and Apple.  Then the 'Espresso Love' and that had Cashews, Dates, Espresso, Cacao, Vanilla, and Sea Salt.  I don't think the Sea Salt was necessary - neither did my parents or sister.  We've never been a 'salt family'.

We ended up buying TWO of the Tiny Dancer you see here on the left.  'Tiny Dancer' had Strawberry, Kiwi, Cucumber, Pear, and Raspberry.  'Good Day Sunshine' was the other one and that had Turmeric, Orange, Lemon, Carrot, Cucumber, Celery, Pineapple, and Ginger.

My mom and sister liked the Tiny Dancer the best and my dad liked the Good Day Sunshine the best.  I liked all 4 of them for different reasons.

I will have to make a trip to one of their two locations SOON!  They are in Elmwood and Buffalo.  Check out their full menu HERE.

For a couple of years I have been hearing The Vegan Zombie guys talk about Tamerlaine Farm Animal Sanctuary.  So when I heard they were going to be at WNY VegFest this year I had to stop by.  I'm pretty sure they were there last year, too, because I tried their hot sauces.  This year they were selling the hot sauces, their hummus (which my parents bought), and their totes and t-shirts.  I bought one of their totes!

I was able to meet the co-founders and chatted with Peter for quite a while.  SUPER nice people!

They sold out of a lot of their hot sauces and hummus by the time we left the event which was only a couple hours in.  The proceeds benefit the animals at the sanctuary.

Last year I passed up the vegan ice cream so this year it was on my list of priorities that is for sure!  My mom and I got 2 servings and shared with my dad and sister.  Since we didn't want it in a cone we opted for the cup!  They served them in temperature changing cups that had the VegFest logo on it!  How cool is that!?

I was in my glory at this event because everything at this event is vegan!  It's nice not having to pick apart and read labels for once!

There were some vendors that I missed this year for one reason or another but there were new vendors that I enjoyed seeing, too!

There was at least 1 new food cart this year, too!

You could buy the whole menu for $25.  As tempting as that was - we didn't do it.  My Dad opted for their Bangarang Taco option, tho!

He seemed to really like them!  They had a crispy coated sweet potato, slaw, and a few other things in there topped with a strong ginger sauce.

My sister grabbed a Quinoa Bowl.  I remember her and I had those last year, too!  She really liked them - so much so - she got another one this year.

Mom chose the Veg Noodle Bowl.  It was a large serving for the $7 price tag.

This year it was on my list of priorities to visit the Indian Food Area and I was able to!!!

The establishment was called Dosa Place and it featured South Indian Cuisine.  I really like India Food but I wanted to try something I had not had a lot of experience with.  I opted for the Bonda and the Vadai.  The Bonda is a Potato Fried Ball with onion and spices.  It was great!  The Vadai was basically a savory lentil donut of sorts.  That was terrific, too!

I was surprised that my mom liked the Vadai, actually.  My Dad liked everything he tried that day!

My mom and I visited the Love Beets booth and tried all of their beet samples.  There was a BBQ that was nice - subtle.  My mom really liked the White Balsamic beets.  My mom LOVES beets!  Her and I do - my sister and dad don't care for them generally.

Last photo is the one chat we attended.  It was a group of families that rescued dogs from the Korean Meat Market.  Their stories were heart wrenching!


There are so many other experiences that we had that day!  And so much more food, too!  I remember my parents getting some Vega and Garden of Life Samples and my dad making smoothies the next morning!  I will be giving him some of my protein powder supply soon!  I'm thrilled he enjoyed them!  My dad also bought some Sunflower Seed Butter!  Wheatberry Bake Shop from Snyder, NY, was there and was selling a Vegan Pizza and it was WONDERFUL.  The owner was so nice!  We also grabbed a Lemon Basil infused water from them which gave my mom the idea to start doing that at home with all of the basil she has growing!  It was another great year at WNY VegFest!  I'm so excited that my parents came with us this year!  I hope to attend the VegFest in Erie next month, too!  Fingers crossed it all works out!

Vegan MoFo ~ Weird Food Combo

For today's Vegan MoFo prompt of "Weird Food Combos You Love" I have to admit I was a little stumped.  Mostly because the 'average person' thinks no matter what I eat is 'weird'.  I guess I could tell you about having to go a picnic or potluck where I didn't prepare my own food well and having to 'settle' for a vegan hotdog.  And by that I don't mean an actual vegan hotdog or veggie pup - I mean having Mustard, Ketchup, and Relish on a roll!  People really look at me like I'm going insane.  But desperate times call for desperate measure, eh?

So I guess instead of ranting about all of the weird things I eat or really trying to come up with an out-of-this-world flavor combo I thought this would be a good time to post some of the 'thrown together' wraps I have been creating as of late.  All of which have been pretty darned tasty!  First up is the one you see above!  This one has Potato Patties that I cubed and pan fried along with mushrooms, red sweet peppers, corn, cherry tomatoes, and Vegan Shriracha Mayo.

Next up is this one.  It may not look pretty but it was pretty darn tasty!  This has Zucchini, Red Bell Peppers, Pine Nuts, Mushrooms, Spinach, Corn, Spices,  and Sesame Oil.

This is similar but different, I guess!  This one has Carrots, Spinach, Corn, Red Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Hemp Seeds, Spices, and Jalapeno Grapeseed Oil (Wildtree Brand)

I guess moral of the story besides experimenting with different combos of food is that wraps are a great way to mix it up and throw in various fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds to get more of a nutritional benefit.  Normally I would branch out even more with what I put in each in individual wrap but this is what I had on hand.  This was also an 'eating from your pantry' type post.  

Looking ahead to the weekend I did do some scheduled posts and they were pretty fun.  But I do see some potential rocky roads ahead with these prompts so I might tackle them in a round about way with a loose interpretation.

FINALLY...a FOOD Post!

I should probably save some of these for Vegan MoFo that starts September 1st but since I am already so far behind on posting I figured...why put it off?  So this is going to be a graphic heavy CRAZY mish-mash sort of post but all FOOD related.  Over the past few weeks these are some of the foods I have been throwing together...the good, the not-as-good, and the odd looking! Take this first photo for example...it's a strange combo but it sure was TASTY!  It's a burrito/wrap with Tater Tots, Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes, Corn, Yellow/Red/Orange Mini Bell Peppers, and I topped it with Sriracha Vegan Mayo!

Over at The Raw Food World NEWS Site under the Recipe Section you will see this next recipe popping up on the site soon!  I submitted it yesterday.  You'll have to check out the recipe section for the full recipe when it's up but I will tell you that it consists of Mango, Chocolate Flavored Almond Butter, Coconut Nectar, and Water.

You will probably be seeing a lot more smoothies posted on my blog and over at the recipe section of The Raw Food World NEWS Site because of all of the frozen bananas I still have from scoring them for FREE from a local produce stand!

Another thing I have been doing is working off of what I have in my pantry and you will see what I mean with the next few photos.  Sure I did a few pasta related recipes within the same week but I also used left overs and recreated a new recipe with them.

First up is a Garlic Alfredo White Sauce that is technically raw and vegan and I ended up putting it on a veggie based pasta as you see here.  For this sauce recipe I used:

1 C Hemp Seeds
1 C Cashews
1 C Almond Milk
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast
2 T Lemon Juice
2 to 4 Cloves Garlic
About 1/2 t Nutmeg

After I mixed it all together I topped it with Nutritional Yeast, Parsley, and Nutmeg sprinkle, too!

The sauce recipe above made a LOT of sauce so I used it on other things throughout the week, too!  With this next dish it's more of a Taco Pasta.  Here's what I did for this one...

1 C Cashews
1 C Almond Milk
1 Orange (or Red) Bell Pepper
1 or 2 T Wildtree Taco Seasoning
1/4 C Nutritional Yeast
2 C Black Beans
1 C Salsa

This was pretty fantastic and very filling I can see myself making this again or variations of this again!  The possibilities are ENDLESS (or should I say the PASTAbilties? LOL)

Are you pasta-ed-OUT yet?

Remember that first sauce I was telling you about above?  Well this was one of the many things I did with it.  I was really short on time that night and it sure did come in handy.   I added it to noodles and brussels sprouts.  I also added some Wildtree Lemon Pepper and thinned it out with a little water.

I usually don't eat that much pasta within a few weeks anymore so this was a rare occasion.  I will say that since I dropped dairy from my diet I have cut WAY back on the amount and frequency of my pasta and potato intake.  My food intake has become much more varied and diverse with little to no effort most of the time.

I guess that just proves I am not lacking variety.

It irritates me when people say I 'miss out' by excluding things from my diet.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  My diet is more diverse now than it even has been.

Up next is raw vegan noodles.  I actually had this for lunch yesterday.  It was a small portion but the sauce recipe made a large amount so I will be using that on other things this week.

1/4 C Water
1 Avocado
4 T Pine Nuts
1/4 C Basil
2 T Lemon Juice
Pinch Black Sea Salt

In other food related news my sister made this jam!

It's REALLY wonderful!

My sister isn't vegan or even vegetarian but likes to eat a lot of veg food and gets pretty creative in the kitchen.

The only ingredients in this?

Blueberries, Chia Seeds, Agave Nectar, and Lemon Juice!

Is her big sister rubbing off on her?  I don't know.  I don't think I can take credit for that.  But I do know that my sister is SUPER AWESOME!  And I'm not just saying that because she might be reading!

HI MEGAN!  (it's ok to comment, LOL)

Random Vegan Creations & Pear Walnut Balsamic PIZZA

I had a message from a reader of the site that checks-in often but rarely-if-ever-comments asking if I could post more of my vegan food creations.  She mentioned that she enjoys the other daily living posts but missed the vegan foods I use to post.  No Problemo!  The reason I haven't been adding as many to the site is because I haven't been all that creative in the kitchen as of late.  I have been throwing together a bunch of things or referring back to old favorites.  BUT...here are some random foods I haven't posted about yet.  First up is this Vegan Cheese Sauce.  It turned out WONDERFULLY!  I can't wait to make more!  And YES...I poured it over top of Grits!  

Here's the Recipe:

2 C Raw Cashews

1/2 C Nutritional Yeast

1/2 tea Garlic Powder
1/2 C Almond Milk
1 T SeaClear (Fermented Kelp Chlorella Miso)*

To purchase SeaClear CLICK HERE.  The ingredients include: Organic non-GMO soy and barley miso, raw apple cider vinegar, fermented kelp (Kombu), Chlorella, Tumeric, Black pepper.  But you could also just use your favorite Miso, too!

Not too long ago I made some Chickpea Sandwich Spread...with a twist!  Here's that recipe:

2 C Chickpeas

1/2 C Dried Cranberries

1/4 C Chopped Walnuts

1/2 T Wildtree Garlic Garlore (or Minced Garlic)

This was tasty, too, and I have found myself craving more.  I wasn't sure if I would like the walnuts and cranberries in there but they were REALLY great!

And finally...we had to go to Erie for my husband to see a Crohn's Specialist...afterwards we went for lunch at a place called The Public House.  They had some veganizable foods on their menu which was very neat and I opted for this.  It's one of their pizzas that I had them 'hold' the cheese on.  The other ingredients I kept on were the baked pears, onions, walnuts, and balsamic and it was pretty darn awesome!  I've never had anything quite like it but I would LOVE to have it again!

Easy Cheesy Vegan Hummus & Christine's Creamy Tomato Soup

 A few Food items from the weekend...I needed to stock up on my quick midday meals and snacks and many of you know I am a fan of soups as well as dips and spreads for veggies and crackers and such.  First I have this Easy Cheesy Vegan Hummus.  It's my first attempt and it was pretty good but might tweak it a bit down the road.  Here's what I did with it...
2 C Chickpeas, 2 T Tahini, 1/4 C Nutritional Yeast, 1 tea (or less) Turmeric, 1 T Grapeseed Oil, Juice of 1 Lemon, 1 T Wildtree Garlic Galore, 1 tea Parsley, 1/2 C Water, small handful of Potato Flakes as a thickener.

Another thing I did in preparation for this evening's dinner was Christine's Creamy Tomato Soup that looked awesome on her blog from last week and I HAD to try it.  Since it's her recipe I've linked it but won't give away the recipe here.  Swing by her place and check it out.  The only thing I switched (because I didn't have Onion Powder on-hand and was low on fresh garlic) was I used Wildtree's Garlic Galore instead.  All other ingredients were the same.  I'm thinking the texture difference was mostly because I used a Ninja and Christine (I Think) uses a Vitamix.  When it comes to creamy soups in my Ninja I still need a little work with it...but I do LOVE my Ninja's for almost everything! 

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!

Participating Post in:

• Aloha Friday
• Find + Follow Friday
• Foodie Friday
• Foodtastic Fridays
• Freakin' Friday
• Freaky Friday Follow
• Freedom Fridays
• Friday Chaos
• Friday Flash Blog
• Friday Food Fight
• Friendship Fridays
• Healthy Vegan Fridays
• Hop Along Friday
• Orange You Glad It's Friday
• Strange But Good
• Color Connection

Flax Oatmeal, Sugar & Spice Mix-In, Thai Inspired Pineapple & Sticky Rice, Paco's Sweater Adventures, & A Look Ahead

Hello My Pretties! :)  Hope you are having a FINE Day!  I have yet another Combo-Post for you all today!  Multipurpose!  I've been finding more and more Nature's Path Products available in my region and at a fair price!  This Flax Plus Oatmeal was one of the 4 flavors I recently found!  I'm learning to like Oatmeal again...mostly to up my nutritional values that they offer as well as force myself to eat breakfast more.

This isn't as bland as I thought it would be so that is good.  There is a little bit of cane juice in there - among other things - but I did doctor it up a bit, too!

First...here's a look at what's IN this Oat Meal:
Organic rolled oats, organic evaporated cane juice, organic flax seeds, sea salt. 

Fairly simple.  I like that.  BECAUSE...then I can add THIS!  It's a new product from Wildtree!  Hearty Oatmeal Mix-In Sugar & Spice!  At first I was wondering what the heck I would use it for but it's DARN tasty!  I've used it a few times in Oatmeal and really enjoyed it but will be tinkering with it in other things in the near future, too!  As for the ingredients of this new product - there are only 4!  Check out the nutritional info HERE.

After checking out some other things Wildtree suggested to do with this product I was hooked!  Roasted Cinnamon Sugar Chickpeas - YES, PLEASE!  Cinnamon and Sugar Baked Doughnuts?  Perhaps!  I wonder if Chia Seeds in Water would work as an egg substitute?  Cinnamon Sugar Tortillas with Strawberry Salsa - Whaaaaat?  That's up my alley - for sure!  And Cinnamon Sugar Plantain Chips?  Those might be interesting, too!  WOWZA!  I'm stoked about this product now!

In other food news - I tried another Thai Inspired Food Last Night!  Grilled Pineapple with Sticky Rice!

I used the following for this dish...

1 C Basmati Rice - Cooked
Roughly 1 C Coconut Milk
1/2 t Ground Cardamom (or Coriander)
1 T Coconut Sugar/Granules (you could also use Brown Sugar)
1 C Pineapple - cubed

This was very sweet but also very tasty!  It was almost like I was eating dessert for dinner!  I would have this again!  I really enjoyed it!

I don't claim to be a good Food Pairings person and I am known for throwing together odd-ball foods on the same plate.  This is the perfect example of that.  I had a HUGE helping of that Grilled Pineapple with Sticky Rice last night and threw some Green Beans on there as well as a handful of Walnuts.  It was very filling!  It was yummy.  I was pleased with my dinner last night.

A few MISC items I'd like to share with you - I started sprouting Broccoli Sprouts and will let you know of the progress in the coming days!

After posting the review of Jokerz yesterday I received a very nice email from the Go Max Go Company thanking me for posting it on my blog.  They also mentioned it on their Facebook Page AND Twitter.  I was VERY excited about this!  Thanks guys!  I also found out that there are several online outlets I can purchase their products on so I hope to do that soon!

Another thing I mentioned yesterday is how Paco has been constantly on the move in the evenings.  So I decided to put his sweater on him and he almost immediately calmed down!  I didn't know if it was a coincidence or if it 'worked' so I put it to the test again last night!  Viola!  WINNER!!!!  It's working!  He must have just been cold!  He started acting all cuddly and a bit calmer and then started chillin' out!  YAY!

He sat on my chest - which he NEVER does.  He sat on DH's shoulder - and NEVER does that either!

A little later he went under the blanket and laid with me on the sofa!  Ahhhhhh!  Peace and Quiet!  Well, Paco!  You'll be wearing sweaters in the evening from now on 'lil dude'.

In crafting news I have been tossing around different ideas with Modge Podge and Glues and other "stickies" and "textures" while using chalks and stencils to create a velvety look.  I'm going to push myself to complete at least ONE Project in the next week.  A little Mini-Goal of mine, I guess.

Speaking of Mini-Goals...I accomplished Ethiopian Foods last week - a few Thai Foods this week (thanks for the suggestion Eddie) - and NEXT week LINDSAY suggested Pakistani Foods so I'm going to accept that challenge.  The following week I'm thinking Norwegian Foods...just a heads up!

Participating Post In:

• Fresh Foods Wednesday
• Show & Share
• Wednesday Extravaganza
• What I Ate Wednesday
• What I Love Wednesday
• What's Cookin' Wednesday
• Wholesome Food Wednesday
• Wicked Awesome Wednesday
• Wonderful Food Wednesday

Manic Monday & Weekend Food

I'm optimistic this week will be better than last week.  That's all we can really, do, right?  Talk ourselves into a better week!?  Anyhow...I have LOTS to share with you today!  Lots of RANDOM Stuff but still - it's STUFF - at that!

I ended up LOVING the Peanut Butter Company's Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter and when I went to Tops on Saturday THEY had Mighty Maple so I got that one!  And BOY oh BOY is it GOOD!  I put it on toast yesterday for Breakfast and it was YUMMY!  I also did Vegan Cheesy Grits with Daiya Cheddar - those were pretty awesome, too!  I found Potato Cakes at Aldi's a while back and they didn't have any animal ingredients in them!  Woot!  I did two of those in a frying pan with some Earth Balance and that was my LARGE Sunday Breakfast.  I'm not usually a Breakfast person but I am REALLY trying to be because I know how important it is!  I made a Potato Cake for my husband and that is why I used Earth Balance instead of Grapeseed Oil.  I am out of my Nautral Flavor and I don't think he would have liked the Garlic or the Basil Pesto with this!  I also have a little bit of the Discontinued Chili left...I'll have to savor it!  I might have to try and make my own.  I know it won't be AS good but it will be an option to my flavored Grapeseed Oils.

Last Week I did a few Ethiopian Dishes and I enjoyed them both.  This week I am going to try a few things from Thailand.  I do like Thai Foods but haven't MADE very many...YET.

Friday Night I was waiting for my Husband's Dinner to be done (in the oven) and while I was waiting I decided to do some "Thai Curry Chickpeas".

They turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!  I would 'chalk this one up' as one I would do over and over again!

Here is what I did for these Chickpeas!

12 to 14 ounces of Chickpeas

1/2 C of Cilantro or Coriander (I used Cilantro)

1/4 C Lemon Juice

1/4 C of Onion & Chive Blend (Wildtree)

1 T Garlic Galore (Wildtree)

1/2 t Cayenne

1/2 t Cumin

1/2 t Ground Coriander

2 T Braggs Liquid Aminos

2 T Garlic Grapeseed Oil

4 T Coconut Milk

Dog Break!  Yes!  I have more food in this post but I have to add some pics from the furkids this weekend, too!  Eventho it was SUNNY it was COLD and WET and all-around questionable weather!  At least we didn't get the FEET of snow they were calling for!  

Here is Riley and Suzie.  If you zoom in you might see that Riley was sticking his tongue out.  Suzie was barking at my husband.  He likes to mess with them sometimes.  He'll talk and she'll bark and half howl back.

I ended up finding some Tofurky items at Tops, too!  I will post more about those on Midweek Munchies.  But I did jump right in with a dish last night for dinner.  It was a Saute of Sorts.  

2 Carrots

2 Celery Stalks

A Random Amount of Green Beans

1/4 - 1/3 C Onion & Chive Blend (Wildtree)

1 Tofurky Italian Sausages (the ones with Sun-Dried Tomatoes) 

2 T Garlic Grapeseed Oil

This is what it ended up looking like when it was done!  I decided to do some Brown Rice to put underneath.  This is WAY different than most of the foods I have been making flavor-wise.  I think next time I would add Potatoes and FOR SURE Some Balsamic.  It's pretty good the way it is here but I liked it even more when I tossed and mixed everything together!  I also added some Vegan Parmesan Cheese on top, too!

I stepped outside my comfort zone on this one and it was a pretty good attempt!

Another Furkids break!  This Furkids Break is being brought to you in part by...PACO!

This was a rare capture!  I just happened to have my iPhone on me and him on my lap FACING me and somewhat vegging-out for the afternoon on Saturday!

I'm so excited I got this pic of him.  He looks so serious...it makes me laugh!  Of course shortly after this photo he was back up and running around!

I warned you I had a lot to post today!  Here is ANOTHER thing I did Last Night!

It's a Mediterranean Walnut Sauce!  Again, VERY different from anything I have ever tried doing before but I was very excited about it!

I used one of my Ninja Blenders for this and it worked awesomely!

For this sauce I used...

1/2 C Walnuts
1 C Parsley
2 T Garlic Grapeseed Oil
1 T Tomato Paste
3 Cloves Garlic
1/4-1/2 C Water to thin

I used half of this sauce to top Bowtie Pasta which you see here and I am going to use the other half to top Veggies, I think.  So...I think that is about it for now but I hope to do my Meal Planning later today and need to do another dish for tomorrow...so stay tuned for additional posts!

This is a participating post in the following:

• Blue Mondays
• Just Another Meatless Monday
• Macro Monday
• Made By You Monday
• Make The Scene Monday
• Mandarin Monday
• Meal Plan Monday
• Meatless Mondays From A - Z
• Menu Time Mondays
• Mix It Up Mondays
• Monday Mellow Yellows
• My Meatless Mondays
• Postcards From Paradise
• Project 52
• Simple As That
• Veggie Mama's Meatless Monday
• Marvelous In My Monday 
• Camera Critters
• Shadow Shot Sunday
• Clever Clicks 
• Getting To Know You Weekend
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Food Fight Grocery, Weight Loss, What I've Been Up To Lately!

Food Fight Grocery Store

You've already seen some product reviews from me and you'll be seeing a lot more and soon because I have been on a shopping spree!  It all started with Food Fight Grocery out of Portland.  I have been wanting to buy from them for YEARS...but shipping just seemed to be more than it was worth.  BUT...since I have been about 99.9% vegan these days - it was NOW worth it!

My experience was a good one - I have to say - sure - they were out of a few things - but they contacted me via email in a timely fashioned and asked if I wanted to switch to a different flavor or otherwise.  Since I bought almost all new-to-me products I thought I would keep the order as-is and change to different flavor on the two items in question.

I received my shipment about a week later and everything was in perfect condition.  I was very happy.

Another thing NEW with me - is - since going from Lacto-Ovo-Veg for over 18 years to Near Vegan in the past 3 months I have worked out my digestion issues AND have lost at least 20 pounds already!  I'm a VERY happy camper!  

I also re-joined a small exercise and weight room locally that is MUCH cheaper than the local YMCA and other fitness club options but for what I will be using and doing it's JUST RIGHT.  Since I have been hella busy lately I have only been able to go about twice a week but that will be changing very soon!

TONIGHT - my mom, sister, and I are having our Holiday Open House for Wildtree and will be doing a Dessert Party!  It should be FUN!