Happy Monday Bloggie Friends! Today I started my day with yoga and I never even cracked a sweat because it’s been so cold and rainy here! My day has been a whirlwind ever since I came home from yoga! Paying bills, talking to my insurance company who never updated my legal name change from nearly 6 months ago, lots of phone calls, just what I’d call an Administrative Day. Do you ever have those? Patience is needed for days like this, but I do feel super productive though at the end of it all!
How was your weekend? Mine was good and pretty low key. Saturday I ran errands and more of the same Sunday, but the weather turned totally cold, nasty and rainy Sunday so it made me very uninspired to get too motivated and schlep out anywhere exciting.
Then, just about 12 hours after I posted a question to you my lovely readers and friends about Blogger v. Wordpress, my recent post’s feed would not get pulled through into Google Reader. I think the tech gods read my mind that I was contemplating a move to WP and decided to get glitchy with me. So, I tried again and Re-Published My Highlights of the Week Post. Click Here if you missed it on account of the Feed Glitch. Any other post, I really wouldn’t care so much but that bad boy is huge, so I want you to see it if you’re interested. However, randomly in between those two posts, I threw in a Test Post, and that one “fed” into Google Reader just fine. And I have a Contest for Tea up that fed in fine. So go figure. Trust me, I am talking to a designer and tech fairy and I am going to migrate to WP, but it will take some time to get it all worked out and implemented and she’s backed up for 3 months anyway so til then, I must work on finding my inner zen with Blogger. Very Difficult as I’m sure you blogger blogs can empathize with!
And did you notice the Tabs at the Top of the Page I added? You’ll have to click off your reader to see. So many of you have begged me for a recipes tab, and it’s in the very introductory stage because it’s a ridiculously mammoth timesuck big undertaking, but hey, progress is being made…til the WP switcheroo happens!
Here’s Just a Couple Treats from the Re-Published Highlights and Recap Post
Raw Vegan Caramels and Nut Butter Caramel Bites
And Popcorn with Nooch, Maca, Stevia, Cinnamon, & Chocolate Chips. I love this stuff…totally kicks some Crunch-n-Munch bootie!
Recently, I received some Artisana Products!
The scale of these jars may appear a little larger than they really are. Think a Dixie Cup. About the size of cute little jars of jam you’d find on the table in a restaurant, not full size jars, I wasn’t that lucky!
Here’s the Various Nut Butters
Cashew, Mac, Walnut, Pecan, Almond, Tahini
Coconut Butter & Coconut Oil And Cocao Bliss. I see what all the hype is about, the coconut butter is divine! It’s a little sweeter than coconut oil and for me, that’s just about perfection!
Here’s a Little Chart Showing the Difference that I found on the Artisana Site
(formatting is a little funky on blogger but you get the point and I can’t get these random lines to erase…oh well!)
| Raw Organic Coconut Butter |
| · Whole coconut meat…ground into a creamy butter |
| · Whole Food |
| · Eat it, Spread it, Love it!! |
| · Note: Blisses with unique oil formation on top? That’s Naturally Raw and Organic, of course!!! |
|
|
| Raw Organic Coconut Oil |
| · Pure extra-virgin coconut oil |
| · 100% Oil |
| · Nutritional supplement |
| · Skin moisturizer |
| · Dairy Butter replacement |
| · Cooking aid (sautéing/frying) |
Thanks So Much, Artisana, you can rest assured these jars will not last ’round here with all the Nut Butter and Coconut Oil Based Goodies I make…
Like high Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate
And my No Bake Vegan PB Choc Chip Coconut Oil Protein Bars
Skylar’s Big Surprise in the Mail was the latest Hanna Andersson Catalog
She’s studying this thing like it’s the September issue of Vogue! Too bad we can’t afford clothes from either.
No Worries! Keep her reasonably clean, somewhat coordinating, and with lots of pink on always… and I’ve done my wardrobing job.
I won a Salad Dressing Mix from Homemade Dressings in Sarah of Healthy Mom on the Run’s Contest
I am not a salt, garlic or onion fan as you all know, but it’s GF, and it will always come in handy for Scott’s Green Bowls! We go through dressing like crazy in this plant-based house, not to mention, I make most of our dressings from scratch so this will fit right in!
Thanks Homemade Dressings and Sarah of Healthy Mom on the Run!
Speaking of Salad Dressings, I have a new recipe I created to slather all over this Raw Green Food:
Mixed Greens, Cukes, Asparagus, Tomatoes, Brussels, Sugar Snap Peas
Averie’s Cheezy Hemp Dressing
2 Tbsp Hemp Oil (or use Flax, EVOO, Grapeseed, and for the palate-adventurous folks, Coconut Oil)
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar–ACV (or in a pinch, OJ, lemon, or lime juice)
2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast-Nooch
Pinch Ginger
Stevia or Agave to Taste
Optional: Cumin, S & P, Garlic, Onion to Taste
Blend in Vita, Bullet, etc. or a Whisk Will Work and Enjoy!
This dressing totally worked! I know there are alot of versions of Nooch + Hummus seen lately in the ‘sphere, but my dressing recipe takes hummus (beans) out of the equation, which is fine by me, and adds Nooch and Healthy Oil (fat) so that’s a bonus for those of you working on incorporating more healthy fats to your diet.
Here’s some info I found about Nooch (Nutritional Yeast) for all those who ask me about it.
And yes, it tastes cheezy, it’s a little salty tasting, like cheese is, there’s a little “grit” or texture to it, but when blended with liquids or whisked, it “smooths” out the texture.
The Twins did post on Nooch awhile back
Evan also did a post on Nooch recently, too
From a Foods Alive email I received:
– Vegans and vegetarians have used Nutritional Yeast for years as a source of vitamin B-12. Health seekers who strive to eat primarily a whole foods diet use nutritional yeast because it
tastes good with certain foods and adds extra nutrients to their diet. Nutritional yeast contains 18 amino acids (forming the complete protein) and 15 minerals.
– Nutritional Yeast is grown on a mixture of cane and beet molasses. B-vitamins are added during the process to provide the yeast with the nutrients it needs to grow. When harvested, the yeast is washed, pasteurized, and dried before it is ready for market.
Dessert was an UliMana Chocolate That I mentioned Here
I also hit up the Vegan Chunks of Energy Snacks
Over the weekend, I made some awesome Brownie Cupcakes for Scott, but in the posting mayhem and glitchy-ness of Blogger/Google Reader these may have been overlooked by you. But not by Scott!
He Broke into the Brownie Cupcakes with Mint Chocolate Frosting with White Chocolate Drizzle. I have Made something very similar to these Before, Click Here for the Exact Blow By Blow Recipe Steps & Ingredients.
The centers of the cupcakes have Dark Chocolate Caramels, Milky Way Darks, or Reese’s PB Cups.
Click Here for the Exact Recipe Info.
They look complicated but really soooo easy. However, they’re not vegan and not exactly a superfood.
Yoga Today is Kukkutasana
Full lotus first, but be sure to warm up your Hips and pay attention to your hip opening, rather than just thinking this pose is about the knees, when entering full lotus. Then, insert your arms through the holes. Then lift off. Lean Forward if you’re lifting off. Lean Forward far more than you think you need to. You need to bring your center of gravity forward or else your bootay is going to weigh you back and downward and you won’t achieve liftoff. As I’ve mentioned before, these are poses to work towards; not feel bummed if you’re not there today. And really just have fun with yoga!
Tip of the Day:
And here’s Andria’s Give Away!
Also Amazing Grass has their 8.5oz bottle of Berry Green SuperFood, 40% off. The promo code is ‘berry10’. Promo runs 3/8-15.
Questions
1. Do You Like Nooch? Have You Tried It?
Do You Need Nooch Recipes? Never fear, I am coming out with a Nooch Recipes Post this Week….I’ve gotcha covered!
I happen to love the stuff in everything from Kale Chips to Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups to Popcorn with Nooch!
2. Fave Thing You Did or Ate This Weekend?
yoga; and noochey maca popcorn with chocolate chips. Love It!
3. In my Highlights and Recaps Post, I mentioned that I bring reusable bags to the grocery store and on my shopping trips when ever possible, but that I’m not perfect and sometimes forget.
So that’s my non-holistic confession, that sometimes I use plastic.
Other non-holistic confessions are that I bleach my teeth. Maybe about once a month, just to give them that bright white pop!
And my guilty food confession is white sugar. But you all know I have a sweet tooth, and sometimes stevia just doesn’t cut it and I do like and use real white sugar, not agave, date paste or lucama. Pour some sugar on me, baby!
I would say that 95% of my choices in life from my dietary & health choices to products I purchase and use are eco-friendly, holistically-minded, and “good for me” but no one is perfect and it’s unrealistic to hold ourselves to standards that only will serve to frustrate ourselves when we don’t live up to them which is why I don’t stress out when I know that I am consciously choosing things that others may not “approve of”. But as I discussed in This Post, I try not to feel like I must defend myself or my choices anymore. Rather, I just choose what’s right for me given my current reality, do my thing, live life, and let others live theirs with no judgment from me!
So with that said, what’s your “guilty” pleasure or your little secret, or not so secret thing, that you happily indulge in? And I hesitate to even call it a “guilty” pleasure, it’s just another choice. Something you do. But guilty pleasure gets us all on the same juicy page!
Stay Tuned For A Nooch Post and a Raw Vegan Dessert Recipe Post..
Organic virgin coconut oil has many health benefits. I have been using coconut oil since 2012. It has changed me in an amazing ways. I am using coconut oil for cooking, Skin and hair. I love to eat cupcakes. Thanks for giving the recipe. I will definitely try this recipe.