Spring Flowers, Vegan Leftovers, Co-Op Cafe Eats

I'm going to start a little backwards here.  When I got home from work yesterday I noticed something colorful in the backyard.  I HAD to investigate!  This is what greeted me!  How lovely!  I moved into the house I am living in prior to DH and I getting married so I think I've lived there about 16 years since our 15th Anniversary is coming up soon.  I don't remember these flowers back then BUT the last 3 or so years they have been popping up!  Nature is mysterious and gorgeous...isn't it?  I can't wait for more signs of spring!  I will be sure to report!

For some reason I could edit all my photos except for this 2nd one and I don't know why but it wouldn't let me flip it.  This was my dinner (times 3) last night!  I worked off of leftovers once again!  Sweet Potato Chickpea Wraps.    In addition to mashed Sweet Potato and Chickpeas I added Corn, Diced Tomato, and Jack Daiya Cheese.  It was way better than I expected it to be!

After I used some of the Diced Tomato, Corn, and Chickpeas I then had more leftovers to use.  I ended up making that happen in the next few photos.  I have to warn you - this will be a LONG post today with MANY photos!  I almost forgot to show you the meal I had at the Co-Op with my parents and sister last weekend so that is below, too!

But before I get to those photos I have these next few pics to share.  It's a progressive dish using leftovers!

It all started as a Bowl.  I used Spinach, Corn, Sweet Potato, Chickpeas, and Diced Tomatoes.  I topped with a Tahini Sauce and sprinkled Nutritional Yeast.  I will have the recipe for the Tahini Sauce in a little bit but first I wanted to show you how the leftovers transformed into additional meals.

I sampled the bowl and it was ok.  It kind of felt like it was missing something.  Before moving on and tinkering with the dish I mixed up what I had and took a pic.

The only other thing I added to this was Turmeric.

Recipe for Tahini Sauce:

1/4 C Tahini
5 T Water
2 T Lemon Juice
1 T Maple Syrup

I also forgot to mention I seasoned the Chickpeas wish Cumin and Garlic.

Now...THIS is the TICKET, folks!  This is the 3rd and final attempt and the real winner of the bunch!

I added more of the Tahini Sauce, Smoked Paprika, Pistachio's, and Jack Daiya Cheese!  BAM!!!

Now the only thing I have left is 1 Sweet Potato, a little Cauliflower, and Spinach.  I'll have to see what I can come up with using those items!

Moving on...

This past Saturday my parents, sister, and I went to Erie to check out Baby's R US and Target for my sister's baby registries.  They had a bunch of questions about car seats and such.

After all of the shopping stuff I suggested we go to the Co-Op Cafe.  The Wholefoods Co-Op Cafe, that is.  We had a nice time!  First up - some snapshots of our drinks!  Mine - the green one - is called Alkaline Heaven.  It had Cucumber, Carrot, Celery, Spinach, and Apple.  My father got the orange one in the back.  It was called Sunrise.  It had Carrot, Apple, Orange, Pear, and Lemon.  He tries to stay away from Cucumbers.  I think it was the only one that didn't have Cucumbers in it.  Both were good.  I sampled everyone's!  My mom and sister got smoothies.  The Triple Berry Smoothies to be exact.  They had Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry, Orange Juice, and Almond Milk.  Yes...the BOTH opted for the Almond Milk over the standard.

Mom, Megan, and I chose the soups they had that day.  Mom grabbed the Tomato Garlic and it was VERY garlicky.  Megan decided to go with the Chickpea one.  They both ordered smalls.  I went with the LARGE and gobbled up the Apricot Red Lentil Soup which is one of my FAVORITES there!  My other favorite is a Spicy Peanut something or other but I haven't seen it there in YEARS.

There is just something about this Apricot Red Lentil that I cannot get enough of!  I could seriously drink it by the vat!  As you can see I was messy with it while putting it in the container.

My Dad went with the Cheese Pizza on Whole Wheat Dough.  It wasn't vegan because of the dairy cheese but at least it was meat-free!

And finally...we scored this VEGAN COOKIE!  It was about as big as my face!  All 4 of us shared it!  Everyone liked EVERYTHING they had!  I have to say this VEGAN COOKIE was probably the BEST I have had to date!  YUMMERS!

It's been another busy week and the next several days are going to follow suit.  I like being busy.  I actually get more accomplish when I am busy than when the days are less filled with various tasks and activity!

But then again...I have always been BACKWARDS.  When I was in school I did better when I had all the extras going on.  Then when I ONLY had studies happening.  The busier I was the better my grades.   Now...the busier I am - all around - the better work is!

Quinoa Broccoli Bowl

Sunday I made this dish - as well as others - to get a jump start on my week of foods.  If you scroll down you will see I did a bit of Meal Planning this week.  This specific dish was inspired by Jason Wrobel.  The video of his recipe is at the bottom of this post.  I made a few changes based on what I had in my kitchen.

Instead of 'just' Quinoa I decided to use a Super Grain Blend of white and red Quinoa, Millet, and Buckwheat.  Instead of 'only' broccoli I used Broccoli, Peas (in the pod), and Yellow Bell Peppers.

I had just a very little bit of Daiya Shreds I need to use so it was perfect for this dish because you only use a very little bit.  I did top it with Hemp Seeds and Kale Chips, too!  For the Kale Chips I used a Mexican Flavor that I had on hand...it was perfect because when you get down to the last little bit of Kale Chips in the bag - it's just a bunch of crumbs - so it was ideal!

Here's a closer look at the dish.  It turned out really well!  It was very tasty!  Towards the end of Jason's video when he samples it - he makes a special comment on the 'mouth feels' of the dish and eventho I dislike that phrase - I totally agree with him.

You are probably wondering why I don't like the phrase 'mouth feel'...no reason, really...it just drives me nuts!  It's right up there with "shindig" and "panties" - I can't stand 'em!


Anyhow...here's the original video and recipe from Jason Wrobel himself.  He's so entertaining I really like his YouTube Channel!  I really need more 'bowls' in my life.  Perhaps that will be another mini goal of mine...to make more "bowls" and one pot meals.  Questions of the day...what are some words that drive you NUTS?  What are your favorite 'bowl meals' or 'one pot meals'?

My Sister (Nearly) Veganized Her Party...

Yesterday my sister had a Norwex Party at her house.  She sent me a text message earlier last week that she was going to make a vegan taco dip and asked me a few questions because she was going to use our Wildtree Taco Blend for it.  My sister isn't vegetarian let alone vegan but she enjoys trying the foods - and if you are a reader of my blog for a while - you may remember she and I went to the WNY VegFest in August and had a BLAST!  Anyway...when I got to her house yesterday - before the party - not only did she make the taco dip vegan - she made this cold bean salad and it was awesome!  With this she used Frozen Corn, Canned Black Beans, 2 Avocados, 1 Tomato, Onion, and some Wildtree Garlic Galore.

Here's what the Vegan Taco Dip looked like!  And here's what she used for this recipe...both of these dishes made HUGE batches...enough for a Vegan Potluck!

1/2 container of Vegan Sour Cream
1 container of Vegan Cream Cheese
10-ounces Salsa
3 T Wildtree Taco Blend
(these ingredients mixed well)
Next layer...
Shredded Lettuce to cover
Tomato
Sliced Olives to cover
Daiya Cheese - Sprinkled on top

My sister really did spoil me yesterday!  I had a fun time!  The best part...she didn't tell anyone the dips were vegan...and no one asked!  Everyone loved them!  The only thing that wasn't vegan was she made the Wildtree Onion Dip with real Sour Cream (it also has dairy in the dry product) I just didn't eat that one item but the rest I did!  She had a large raw veggie tray, too! 

A Little Behind On FOOD

It's been a CRAZY week or so but I wanted to try and catch up on some things TODAY! 

This post will be highlighting some of my food creations over the past week-ish.

Kicking things off with this sandwich spread.

It's a version of Vegan Egg Salad, I suppose.  Here's what I did...
2 C Chickpeas (sprouted, mashed/in Ninja)
1 T Tahini
2 T Vegan Mayo
2 T Dijon Mutard
3 T Onion "Greens" (Onion Sprouts/Shoots)
1 T Lemon Juice
1/2 tea Garlic Powder
1/2 tea Kala Namak (Sea Salt)
1/4 tea Turmeric

I was able to eat that over a few days.  I had it on a simple sandwich, with tossed salad, and on a 'hot dog bun' with tempeh.  Next up...Portabello Mushrooms on the Grill.  Hubby made these for me.  When I do them I usually use Balsamic for the marinade but he used vegan Worcestershire sauce for these.  He topped them with some Daiya Cheese.  Hubby will use the vegan version of the Worcestershire Sauce on his stuff, too, and he's far from veg.

Speaking of Daiya Cheese...I was sort of craving some nachos with con caso so I made this vegan version using a mixture of both Cheddar and Mozzarella Daiya...here's the recipe...

1/4 C Moz. Daiya
2 Slices of Cheddar Daiya
1/4 C Coconut Milk
2 T Earth Balance
1/2 C Salsa

I did this over the weekend, too!  I was thinking picnic type foods and haven't really had much pasta lately so I did this!  Vegan Macaroni Salad!  Recipe for this as follows...
2 C Cooked Pasta
1/2 C Vegan Mayo
1 tea Apple Cider Vinegar
1 T Dijon Mustard
1 Small Onion
1 tea Organic sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners)
1/4-1/2 tea Wildtree California Garlic Pepper
2 Pickle Spears, Diced

Normally I would add celery - but I was plumb-out!  So sorry for the short post today - I do have lots more to share and I hope to be back tomorrow!  What have you been up to!?

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 Mac & Cheese (Daiya Sauce), Coconut Almond Date Balls, Garden Of Life Hull

I'm still catching up on posts from the last week or two and today I am going to blog about some of my foods and finds!  Starting off with this super easy recipe for a Vegan Cheese Sauce using Daiya Shreds to make Mac & Cheese.

1 C Daiya Shreds
1 C Almond Milk
2 T Nutritional Yeast
1 T Earth Balance
Pinch of Garlic Salt and/or powder
I have to say...this was super tasty, a great comfort food, and one of my better attempts at a Vegan Mac & Cheese.

I really don't know what possessed me to make these Coconut Date Balls but they turned out pretty good - especially for my first attempt!

1 C Almonds
3 Soaked Dates
1 tea Coconut Oil
1 tea Cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
zest of a lemon (or two)

All in a high speed blender!  THEN...I rolled them in shredded coconut!  I used Approx 2 to 3 cups.  It was a little messy but it was worth it!

This past Monday I received my box of goodies from Garden of Life!  I'm so excited about these products and will be blogging about them often because of the amount in which I received!  I guess you really don't know how big the containers are until they are smack-dab in front of you!

This box couldn't have come at a better time because I'll be going into work EARLIER than usual for the next week or so and I'll be putting their Energy-Blends to the test for sure!  Yeah...like 4am...FUN! 

The very first one I tried was the Perfect Food Raw - Apple Flavor.  It's a Brand new flavor of theirs!  I have to say the aroma was very nice!  The flavor was peppy right from the start!  An energizing yet welcomed smack in the face.  As I continued to sip I found myself liking the flavor more and more.  For this first taste-test I decided to do it straight-up...1 scoop in 8 ounces of water.  I will be adding this to recipes for quick breakfasts in the near future, too!  This morning I did the same thing with the Raw Protein Marley Coffee Blend...1 scoop in about 8 ounces of water.  I enjoyed this flavor even more than the apple which I was a little surprised at because I'm not much of a coffee drinker.  I prefer tea...as many of you know.  This Marley/Garden of Life Partnered Combo is exclusively available at Whole Foods Stores.  I'm looking forward to my attempts with both of these products as well as the other products I received.  But I have to say they are pretty tasty and satisfying as-is and straight-up with water, too!  Just a preliminary mini review of sorts with MUCH MORE to come on these products, soon!

Paco's Pouting, Suzie's Scratching, The Rouse is Rockin', and Sassy Cheesy Salsa

It kind of looks like Paco is pouting here.  I took this picture over the weekend - in the evening - when we were comfy on the sofa.  I believe this was Saturday Evening.  This was before I was so RUDELY Awakened by Suzie at 5am Sunday Morning Nailing just below my left eye as she jump off the back of the sofa and did her best impression of a Guard Dog while seeing something she questioned outside of the Living Room Window!  She woke me out of a dead sleep with that nail-scratch and I'm certain it will scare.  I've been putting Aloe on it a few times each day in hopes it will help in the meantime.  I don't usually wear make-up but I am trying to 'rock' the cover-up today while at work to try and hide it.  WOWZA!  Did that hurt for most of yesterday! 

Suzie knew she 'got me' and was trying to 'butter up' to me the rest of the day yesterday - her way of apologizing.  Of course I couldn't stay mad long.  I mean...LOOK AT This!  I sometimes call her my 'lil pot belly' cuz she lays on her side and shows her belly like a baby pot belly pig.  She cracks me up!  Yeah...so I couldn't stay made long even tho the scratch is clearly visible to everyone I come in contact with.

In other Weekend News - Saturday - during the day we went to Youngsville, PA, for the Rouse Summerfest with our Wildtree Stock.  Rouse is a local historical name known for quite a bit around here.  Now the Rouse Name is known for the Rouse Home/Estates.  It's a Retirement Home/Nursing Home/Transitional Care/Day Care, among other things.  It was a fun time, the weather was cooler than it has been, there were a few bands playing Bluegrass, Oldies/Beach Music, etc.  It rained a little bit but held off until almost the end for the heavier rain.  We didn't do awesome business-wise but we didn't do awful, either.

At the end of a busy weekend and headed into the busiest week of my work year I needed some comfort food and noticed I had some Daiya Cheese I needed to use.  I wanted an EASY sauce type thing for Corn Chips so I added the remainder of the Daiya Shreds into a splash of Almond Milk and melted it down and added a half of a jar of Natural Salsa - Medium - to it.  It's VERY tasty and I have lots to get me thru this week!  I think I might thin a bit out for pasta early this week to stretch it a bit further.  Rice mine work well, too!

Raw Collard Veggie Wraps with Apricot Tamari Dipping Sauce & Super Creamy Vegan Mac & Cheese

I'm not usually one to pat myself on the back but I was pretty tickled with myself on this attempt!  I mentioned yesterday that I bought some Collard over the weekend at our little Farmers Market and wanted to make sure I started using it pretty quick!  So last night I made Raw Collard Veggie Wraps with an Apricot Tamari Dipping Sauce.  Here is what I did for the Dipping Sauce:
2 T Tamari Sauce (I did half Tamari/half Braggs)
1 teaspoon Ginger Powder
2 Cloves Garlic
2 T Lemon Juice
2 T Sesame Oil
4 T Apricot Preserves/Jelly/Jam (or fresh Apricots)
* A while back I located some Apricot 'preserves' that happened to be vegan and bought it only because it was inexpensive and I love Apricot flavored things AND it was vegan!  So...without this addition I thought this dipping sauce was a little saltier than I wanted it to be and added 4 heaping tablespoons of it and it turned out AWESOME if I do say so myself!

I remembered to take a picture of the inside, too!  I cut thin slices of the following for the insides:
Cucumber
Sweet Red Bell Pepper
Carrots
Snow Peas

It's what I had on hand but you can really put anything inside, I purpose!  That's the beauty of wraps!

I just realized I forgot to locate a photo I took using the cut-up veggies in a Stir fry of sorts so I will probably post that tomorrow.  It was a last minute decision using 'leftovers', really.

In the meantime - another thing I did last night was make this cheese sauce.  Yup!  Another 'cheese' sauce.  It's almost like I don't make the same 'cheese sauce' twice - but - you know what?  I like the differences - it keeps me guessing!  Since this made so much I used some on a funky type of Macaroni Noodle I found at Big Lots for cheap and saved the rest for 'dipping' corn chips!

I really like this one because it's truly creamier than my other attempts thus far!  It's quite thick! I think the only thing I would change in the future is to add some Garlic.  Here is what I did for this:
1 C Almond Milk (or more if too thick)
1/2 C Daiya Shreds
4 T Nutritional Yeast
1/4 C Rice Crumbs (can use Bread Crumbs, too)
Paprika to taste

It's been a while since I grabbed some Daiya Cheese so I thought I would treat myself.  Ask Opal and I have discussed in the past I don't want to over use it but on occasion I do like to indulge.

What are some of your recipes for vegan cheese sauce?  What kind of Dipping sauces have you made recently?  Do share!  Have you made Collard Wraps?  What do you put in them?  What other kind of raw wraps do you like to make?

Foods of the Week

This is the 2nd post of mine, today, be sure to scroll down for more!  Here are the foods I have been grazing on this week!  This first one I have done before or a quite similar dish with a few variations. 

This is simply - Cooked Quinoa with Black Beans, Corn, a handful of Hemp Hearts/Hemp Seeds, and I stirred in Salsa that I cooked down and added some Agave Nectar.

This was a large batch that lasted me two days!  This is one of my favorites the more and more I make it and eat it!

This plate, here, is literally a bunch of stuff I threw on a plate based on what was handy and quick!  I had some Lima Beans that I seasoned with just a sprinkle of Wildtree Lemon Pepper and nothing else.  I also cut up some tomatoes and the larger portion of this plate contains cut up Quinoa Polenta topped with Pepper Jack Daiya Cheese and Salsa.  It was quick, it was easy, I worked from my cupboards and Frig, and it was tasty!

Today I didn't break for lunch AGAIN but I was able to go down the street and get a HUGE salad from Wellness Cafe.  They made a vegan version of their Salad for me and when I got back to the office I sprinkled some Nutritional Yeast on top of it.  This salad had Strawberries, Grapes, Walnuts, Baby Spinach, and a Balsamic Reduction of some sort. 

It totally hit the spot!  I had some fresh squeezed Lemonade, too!  YUM!

Earlier this week I made some Salad Dressing!  I knew I wanted to use carrots and Avocado.  Here is what I came up with in my Ninja!

2 Carrots
1/2 Onion
1 tea Ginger (powder)
2 T Miso
2 T Rice Vinegar
1/4 C Grapeseed Oil
1 C or less of Water
1 Avocado

I'm pretty excited about this attempt!  I loved the creaminess of the Avocado, the sweetness of the Carrots, and the vinegar notes, with a gentle hint of saltiness from the Miso!

What are these?  You might be thinking, right?  Well, there were supposed to be Vegan Cheese Sticks but I turned them into Spicy Vegan Cheese Balls instead.  It was my very first attempt and altho it was a FAIL they ended up being quite tasty as a mistake!

I used Pepper Jack Daiya Cheese and added some Soy Milk.  I froze the mixture and then TRIED to make 'sticks' out of them.  When that didn't work I ended up 'rolling them' into BALLS instead.  The Cheesy Mixture in with Vegan Bread Crumbs.  I then used a little bit of Wildtree Chili Grapeseed Oil (it's now discontinued) from my stash to 'fry' them.  I just did them in a frying pan.  They were creamy, cheesy, crunchy spicy, and tasty for a vegan "cheat" food.

Here is a photo of one of them 'cracked open' showing the inside!

They were a treat - I wouldn't do them often because I technically 'fried' them but still...on a rare occasion...these were fun!

So...what kind of foods did you experiment with this week!?  What are some of your favorite things to throw together from frig/cupboard/pantry to bowl on a whim?  What are some of your 'cheat' foods?  Have a great weekend!

Vegan Russian Universal Sauce, Co-Op Cafe Foods, Winner, & Chocolate Crave

Over the weekend we made a quick trip to The Whole Foods Co-Op in Erie.  And by "Quick Trip" I mean...over an hour there, NOT a large-hull of groceries like we usually do when we go there, and over an hour back.

And by Whole Foods Co-Op I don't mean the large chain.  I mean the members and community owned old school Whole Foods Cooperative!

I picked up just a few things including 2 different flavors of Polenta that I have been craving lately!  My biggest treat were the two meals I picked up in their Cafe!  You can check out their food menu here!

I ended up getting the VEGAN Versions of the Erie ForCheeseSake Sub and the Crowd Control Burger.  They were both tasty!  Since I don't do much with Seitan myself, I wanted to try something I normally wouldn't eat so I got the Erie CheeseForSake.  I kept that for my large meal yesterday - it made it thru the night in the 'frige' nicely!  The Crowd Control Burger was totally yummy but was a little crumby.  Not that I was bothered at all by that - as I enjoyed the flavor very much! 

I went back and forth about which country to feature this week on my blog!  My initial thought was Russia - but had a hard time finding a lot of vegan options.  Then I wanted to focus on Jamaica.  But something kept telling me to go back to Russia!  So that is what I did!  Probably for two reasons...one...because I have been keeping an eye on my traffic and audience stats and have seen a large increase of readers to my blog from Russia!  Hello to my Russian Readers!  I would love any comments or suggestions on foods I can vegetarian or veganize!  Another reason is because I have been going thru my Las Vegas Photos again and keep coming across the photos of the Russian Restaurant inside Mandalay Bay called RED SQUARE.  Altho I have never been inside - it's been closed the 4 times I have been to Vegas - and in that part of Mandalay Bay - I love the layout and lighting!  It's very eye-catching!

So...I'm going to do my best with Russian Inspired flavors this week!  As you can see above I have a sauce!  It's the very first attempt at Veganizing Russian Flavors and I have to admit I LOVED the taste!

This sauce I found online - it's called Russian Universal Sauce.  Of course I tweaked it just a bit as well as used Vegan Cheesed instead of real cheese!

Here is what I used in this sauce:

2 Large Kumato Tomatoes
2 T Minced Garlic
2 T Earth Balance
2 T Grapeseed Oil
2 T leftover Tomato Sauce from last week
1 C Daiya Cheese
2 T White Cooking Wine

The only thing I would change is to omit the oil next time - I think the Daiya has enough of it in there - just be careful when melting!

This is a very rich and flavorful sauce!  I really LOVE it!  In the other photo above you will see I added rice to the sauce!  I think the addition of carrots and mushrooms would be lovely, too!

I almost forgot to mention the HUGE Salad I had on Friday Night!  I did mixed greens with slivers of cabbage and carrots along with cherry tomatoes, Avocado Ranch Dressing I blogged about last week, and topped it with Hemp Seeds!  It was AMAZING!

I'd also like to take this time to say CONGRATS to Elena Vo who won last week's contest for the Fearless Chocolate Bar!  Thanks for entering!  And for visiting my blog and commenting!  

Stay tuned for more contests coming very soon!

And finally, I would like to share with you another bar from Raw Revolution!  The flavor of the day is their Chocolate Crave! 

Organic Cashews, Organic Sunflower Seed Kernels, Organic Agave Nectar, Organic Dates, Organic Cocoa processed with Alkali, Organic Almonds, Organic Sprouted Flax Seed. CONTAINS TREE NUTS. PEANUT-FREE.

NUTRITION FACTS: Serving Size 1 bar 1.8oz (51 g) Amount Per Serving: Calories 230, Calories from fat 130, Total
Fat 15g (23%DV), Saturated Fat 2.5g (12%DV), Trans Fat 0g (0%DV), Cholesterol 0mg (0%DV), Sodium 0mg (0%DV), Total
Carbohydrates 22g (7%DV), Dietary Fiber 4g (16%DV), Sugars 12g, Protein 7g, Vitamin A 2%, Vitamin C 8%, Calcium 6%,
Iani 5%, DV=% Daily Value.

The bar itself - looks like a BUNCH of chocolate!  YUM!  It does taste very chocolate-E especially with the dates!  The Cashews add texture and mass!  There are no big blocks or chips of chocolate - like in some of their other flavors - but it's still VERY tasty and flavorful, regardless!  The aftertaste is lovely, too!  The Chocolate and Date Combo linger sweet and near creamy and I found it really fantastic!

 

Leftovers, Vegan Mexican Casserole, Winnings, Reviews

Once again...I have LOTS to share today...including the 3 winners of my VeganDelish iPad/iPhone App Giveaway!  But first...I have some other things to blog about including WHY I am posting a photo of cracked-up Corn Shells!

Yesterday I posted about my Tacos and my Husband declared this week Mexican Foods Week so I wanted to try a few things I have never tried making before.  Well, that's a whole world of foods because I have never been much of a 'cook' before now and even now I use that term loosely!

So, yes, I had leftover corn tortillas from the other night!  I didn't want to throw them away or waste them!  So I ended up attempting this Vegan Mexican Casserole and I must say I am in LOVE!

I started off by pouring out a layer of Salsa on the bottom of the glass pan.  Then I started layering!  Next layer was the corn chips and then a layer of bean/tomato/pepper/onion mix, and then a little Daiya Cheese, and then layer after layer until I got to the top!

Please disregard the grow-dee pans...I am in the process of trying to find new ones at a good price!

What's in the bean mixture, you ask?  Well, let me tell you:

2 C Diced Tomatoes
2 C Black Beans
4 Mini Red Sweet Peppers
4 Mini Red Yellow Peppers
1 Onion
2 tea Wildtree Fajita Seasoning (because it was heavy on the cumin)

Other things you will need for this is:

Vegan Cheese of your choice - I used Daiya - or you could probably use Nutritional Yeast or Vegan Parmesan (or even bread crumbs or potato flakes)

1 small jar of Salsa or about 1 to 2 cups of your own Salsa.

Optional Ideas Include:

Jalapenos, Greens, Olives, Capers, Red Pepper Seeds, Vegan Sour Cream, Vegan Cream Cheese, you could even add some seasoned or flavored TVP, Meatless Crumbles, Tempeh, or other meat alternative if you wish!

And here is a photo of the finished product!  Yes...I'm sporting my Red Bowl!  Yes...I need to get some new Bowls for photos and presentation!  They are on tap AFTER the new pots and pans!

Now...for some WINNERS!  Here are my 3 winners for the VeganDelish iPhone/iPad App:

Christine, ChickpeaFreak, and Azzrian!  Congrats to all three of you!  I will be in touch with you today for your info!

And speaking of winners...I WAS A WINNER over at CarrieOnVegan!  It was announced on Monday!  I am the winner of this awesome cookbook and I can't wait to get it and jump right in!  YAY!

I will be posting another contest TOMORROW so be sure to come back and check it out!

You know how I have been on a Raw Revolution KICK lately!?  Well, I have another flavor to share with you today!  It's their Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Bar!

 

There is a good amount of chocolate flavor throughout the Raw Vegan Bar but there are not HUGE chunks of chocolate like in a few of their other bars but it works out great with the chocolate and the raspberry ratio!  The juicy Raspberry has a glorious flavor and aroma!  The Cashews give you that nutty goodness you are looking for - which is nice, too!  The Cashews with the addition of the various seeds provide a good texture and 'filling' crunch.  The Dates contribute to the overall sweetness and chewiness - that I just LOVE!  This is the perfect go-to for fresh, nutritious, nutty, fruity, sweet snack or quick meal on the go.  The Dark Chocolate and Sweet Combo are always a lovely addition to any day!  YUM!