How’s your weekend going so far? Mine’s been going well! Scott got home really late Friday night after a week of business travel as I mentioned, and it’s nice to have my partner in crime parenting back home because to help with Skylar. Today I decided to hit up Trader Joe’s, and apparently so did half of Phoenix. What a zoo! But even on a random Tuesday TJ’s can be a zoo, so really, it doesn’t matter when I go I’ve determined. And the Contest for the Naturally Nutty Nut Butter for 3 Winners that I have going on has generated a cool 550+ entries in not even 24 hours so far. So things in my inbox have been kinda busy but I love it! I love that you guys are stoked for the nut buttahhhhs!!! What have you been up to? I’m going to be cruising everyone’s bloggies here in a hot minute after I publish this post! Can’t wait to see what’s been happening with my bloggie friends, but fill me in if you’ve been up to anything fabulous!
It’s Saturday, and it’s time to break out the Highlights of the Week in Food & Life. If you missed Last Week’s Highlights, Check out This Post.
This Week:
Sunday I made Vegan Coconut Banana Cookie Bites
Another Coconut Banana Bite: Top & Bottom Sides. They are soft in the middle and just slightly crunchy on the outside. Sweet and coconutty, but not overpowering. Perfect, just the way I like them! They are Gluten & Soy Free, too!
My Blogger-Meetup-Taste-Tester and Phoenix BFF Raved About Them!
Tossed with my homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing
Dessert was a Combo of Vegan Homemade Coconut Oil Chocolate…
…And Vegan Coconut Banana Cookie Bites
And Popcorn!
I Gave You My Super Fast, Easy, Healthy, No-Junk Added, way to Make Popcorn. And I told you that I sprinkle it with Nooch, Cinnamon, Stevia, Cooking Spray or Coconut Oil Spray, and chocolate chips!
And the Comments were Bustin’ Loose after I asked you If You’ve Ever Been Cheated On? What do you think of the Tiger Woods situation? Would you stay or would you go, especially with kids involved? It was Great Hearing Your Stories, Personal Experiences, and Thoughts!
Monday I Shared My Recipe for Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse!
Four ingredients, including a Secret Ingredient, and 5 minutes later, this ridic thick, fudgy, decadent, but super healthy, chocolate mousse could be all yours!
Just sayin’, you may want to give this mousse recipe a whirl!
Thanks for also telling me if you’re a Carob or a Chocolate Person, and what you Fave Brands for Carob or Chocolate are.
And I Won an Oats Give Away!
I love Oats and have an Entire Post devoted to nothing but Recipes Using Oats so I can always use more oats! For My Recipes Like…
Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
To Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (yes there are oats in them)
I love the chunks of (vegan) chocolate chips in the high Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
With a Fresh Batch of Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing
High Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate for Dessert!
I asked you If and How You Believe the Foods You Eat Effect You. From mood changes, skin changes, to digestion and sleep changes, I believe the power of food and how we nourish ourselves is manifested outwardly and in all aspects of the body. I loved reading Your Comments and What You Think and What You Notice based on What You Eat. Great Stuff, thanks everyone for chiming in!
Tuesday I Announced the Winner of my Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter Give Away
Click Here to See Who Won…maybe it Was You!
And I Had a Blogger Meetup
Got Some Goodies in the Mail
And I shared my Recipe for Homemade Vegan Gluten & Soy Free Granola
Green Food included Brussles, Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Carrots, Cukes, Sugar Snap Peas
Tossed with a newly made Batch of Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing
And I made a Fresh Batch of high Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs
And you told me about your Favorite Snacks or On-the-Go-Foods.
And It Got Steamy in the Comments! You Told Me If You Like to Sweat, Or Not, when You’re Working Out. And if you can handle working out in extreme temperatures.
Wednesday I Had a Major Produce Haul at the Grocery
Grapes, Bananas, Organic Carrots which were the same price as conventional so I Scored there!
I’ve seen these bars on blogs and figured I’d pick a couple up for Scott’s lunches or Skylar. Have you tried these? What do you think of them?
And I gave you my Recipe for Coconut Ginger Roasted Vegetables: Fennel and Potatoes
Dabs of Coconut Oil make the veggies extra delish!
And the Potatoes
And Scott Raved about his Ginger Coconut Roasted Potatoes, too!
Lots of Popcorn with Nooch, Cinnamon, and Stevia Was Munched!
And I really savored your comments about if you feel you’re in charge of or the boss of your own life? Or is your life in charge of you? Many of you said that you do feel in charge, but that you’re people pleasers or that you’re struggling taking the reigns of your life back under your own control. The are you driving the train of life, or is the train driving you, question seemed thought-provoking judging by your awesome comments, and it’s something I check-in with and evaluate where things are at to make sure life doesn’t get toooo offtrack, which can happen in a hurry!
Thursday I went to Whole Foods
And Scored Some Coconut Oil Spray!!
Perfect for my Popcorn Fests!
It’s Refined and if you missed the Difference between Refined and Un-Refined Coconut Oil, Click Here.
Picked up Maca for the First Time
And Talked About the Benefits of Maca and Gave You Lots of Links to Check Out
You Told me Your Fave Ways to Use Maca, If You’ve Tried it Or Not, and What you Think of It
Then I Had Some Gifts in the Mail
Including Agave
I mentioned the Controversy Surrounding Agave. Some of You Told me If You Think Agave is Safe? Or Not. Is anything Perfect? Nope, I don’t think so!
And Flax Oil
And I talked about Superfoods. I am inclined to believe that most natural, non-processed foods that grow in the ground or on trees, that are found in nature, can be called “superfoods”. We don’t need to drive ourselves crazy sourcing the latest, greatest, and exotic berries from the Amazon. Click Here For More of My Thoughts. But, I wanted to hear about what you had to say and Your Comments About If You “Believe In” Superfoods were Great!
And I told you about How the Blogosphere has Influenced My Food Choices. I loved Your Comments about How The ‘Sphere Has Influenced Your Food Choices and Cooking! Thanks for telling me about everything from Soaked Oats, Chia Pudding, Green Monsters, and more! It was so interesting to hear how the Blogosphere has helped Shape Your Foodie & Dietary Path!
There was Green Food was a with some of the Roasted Coconut Ginger Fennel Mixed In
Topped it with my Maple Ginger Dijon Vinaigrette
Dessert was Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse!
Friday I Began my Give Away for Naturally Nutty! 3 Winners will be Chosen and Each Winner Will Receive 1 Jar of Naturally Nutty!!!!
Have fun everyone! Thanks Naturally Nutty!!!!
***The contest ends on Tuesday, March 2, 2010***
Have You Entered Yet? There’s tons of ways to enter, and Naturally Nutty is Fabulous, so I hope you’ve entered! Click Here to Enter Now!!!!!
Whew….That Was Massive! Next Week I need to pare that down a bit for all our sakes…haha!
If you’re still with me, today I wanted to give a major shoutout to April! I finally jumped on her Protein Cookie Dough Bandwagon and she’s a Protein Genius! Although I have been seeing her recipe all over the ‘sphere, I was a little skeptical for a couple reasons:
First, most of the Protein Cookie Dough recreations that I’ve seen being made ’round the ‘sphere use whey or soy protein which I think is naturally “fluffier” and more voluminous than the Raw Vegan Brown Rice Sun Warrior Protein (or sometimes Jay Robb) that I use. So I was fearful I wasn’t going to get good results because of the Type of Protein Powder I use.
And, secondly, I was worried that quantity was going to be too dinky. Let’s call a spade a spade, I was wondering how one little scoop of protein could turn into something satisfying and called “cookie dough” no less? This is what I usually call cookie dough:
My High Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
But, I was totally wrong on both accounts!!! April, Your Recipe Rocks!!!
I mixed 1 scoop which according to the can is 22g of Chocolate Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein with 3 Tbsp of Water
Note: April says to use 1 Tbsp, but I had a ball of chalk with only 1 or 2 Tbsp, so I upped the water to 3 Tbsp. I also omitted the addition of any nut butter.
Then I added a few drops of my NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia and a pinch of Cinnamon
Stirred…
I transferred it to a clean dish and added just the tiniest drizzle of agave over the top of it! Perfection!!! Sweet enough, filling enough, and cookie dough enough to make me happy!
Thanks, April, Your Recipe for Protein Cookie Dough is Genius and sooo simple!
Yoga Today is Kapotasana (King Pigeon Pose). Please do not try this unless your back is thoroughly warmed up as well as your quads. Yoga is not a competition and so please don’t force yourself into a pose! I don’t want you to hurt yourself. This is a pose to work towards with patience, compassion, and mindfulness for any limitations your body has. That said, it’s a beautiful pose, your heart opens, love and lightness enter, and peacefulness & calm ensue over me when I am in this asana!
Tip of the Day: First, Try iHerb.com and use Code AVE630 at Checkout to Save $5 Bucks on Your Order!!!!
I get my protein powder (Sun Warrior) hello Protein Cookie Dough!, my probiotics (Jarrow), my supplements and natural food (Navitas Naturals when I plan ahead and don’t get them from WF where they’re twice the price!), and my natural body care products (Jason) or my Stevia (NuNaturals or Wisdom) iHerb.com is your One Stop Shop for it all!!!
Second Tip: My Give Away for Naturally Nutty! 3 Winners will be Chosen and Each Winner Will Receive 1 Jar of Naturally Nutty!!!!
Have fun everyone! Thanks Naturally Nutty!!!!
***The contest ends on Tuesday, March 2, 2010**
Have You Entered Yet? There’s tons of ways to enter, and Naturally Nutty is Fabulous, so I hope you’ve entered! Click Here to Enter Now!!!!!
Questions
What’s your Fave Thing You’ve Seen on Blogs Lately that You Want To Have to Try?
One of mine has been April’s Recipe for Protein Cookie Dough. And, I also wanted to try maca like I discussed Here.
And now I can cross those two items off my To-Make or To-Check-It-Out List!
Next up, I want to make Chrysta’s Banana Cigars
Because it’s a way I can use up extra ripe bananas and put my Dehydrator to Good Use.
That’s if I don’t end up making my Vegan Coconut Banana Cookie Bites again with my ripe bananas!
There are sooo many other recipes I want to make!!! More recipes than I have time or a big enough appetite for! This would be a good time to be friends with the football team so I can make all this stuff, and then have lots of hungry kids to help me eat it! Every day I see about 8767876 recipes in the sphere that I want to try! haha!
What Do You Want to Make?
Do You Consider Yourself an Adventurous Eater? Will You Try Anything at Least Once? Or do you prefer to stick to your predictable grub?
I would say that I am adventurous to a point and am intrigued by the beauty, the artistry, and the creative mindset that it takes to create or make certain recipes. I can appreciate Jessica’s Savory or Meat-Based Dishes because the recipes & flavor combos are lovely and the food is beautifully showcased and photographed, even if I would not eat that particular dish because that is not my dietary path. But give me a veggie-based dish, and yes, I will definitely try anything once! There are certain flavors, however such as garlic and onions that I do not enjoy no matter how many times I have tried to like them, and that’s just me. So, that’s why I say I’m adventurous to a point…But I love, love, love to Create Recipes and am always onto the next thing…particularly dessert recipes!!! Yummy!
How about you? Adventurous or Predictable? Or a Combo? Do you like to be creative in the kitchen? Or are you a recipe follower? I am definitely the former and the later is next to impossible for me….haha!
Stay Tuned For a 3 Ingredient 5 Min Raw Vegan Dessert that actually doesn’t involve chocolate…
Comments