Ginger is the New Pink

What's going on?

2012-01-27T08:23:00.008-05:00

Last weekend, playing in the snow I only lasted 5 minutes before I had to use the bathroom.

Hey all! Sorry I went MIA again... A lot going on over here. I haven't been feeling well... At all. I've been sick and on and off of prednisone since I had Baby A. I've been avoiding further, harsher treatment because I didn't want to take stronger meds. But, with nursing and my Crohns being so active, my weight has dropped and I've been up every night for hours feeling ill, bleeding just about everytime I use the bathroom. I didn't want to bring this up on the blog because I knew I would receive a lot of "doesn't diet help..." etc. Well, diet does help me, but when I'm sick, I can't eat raw foods or anything with fiber and I don't want to live on white rice and rice cakes for the rest of my life. So I took the next step and chose to start IV infusions of medication, every 8 weeks. I have gone this route in the past and it helped me stay well for 2 years. I want to be able to do this along with eating the healthiest diet possible. East meets West, if you will. I don't want to disappoint any of you. I know there are gurus who claimed to have "cured" their crohns with diet, but my Crohns is considered a severe case, and while I would love to say diet can cure me, it just isn't happening. For now, I'll stick to this approach. To each his own. Believe me, this is the last thing I wanted.

I'm happy to say, I can still nurse since the molecule in the medication is too big to pass into my milk. I can even take it while pregnant (but since I went into remission while pregnant with Baby A, I think I would stop taking this before we tried to conceive again. We are going to wait another year or so before that happens). I had my first treatment yesterday, it was very hard for me and I even had a little crying breakdown before I went.

Also, when the Mastitis I had cleared up, it left a small lump in my breast that felt like a pebble. I had that checked out this week and it seems to be nothing but my doctor is sending me for an ultrasound, next week, just to be safe. 

So that's what's going on with me. I'm not looking for advice, just the support and love that you all have always shown me. :)

Anyway, T turned 30 on Wednesday and we are going out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate, I'm hoping I feel better by then. My birthday is this up coming Wednesday and we hope to go to dinner at a vegan restaurant. Crohns has had me being a prisoner in my own home the past few weeks. I don't want Baby A to suffer because of me, I want to be a mother who can play with her kids, run around and be fun! Hopefully, this treatment will let that happen. 

Thank you all for listening! Xo

Fa-reeeezing!

2012-01-20T08:47:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday!!! I hope you all stayed warm this week. I have been hibernating!!!! Baby A and I stay in all day, I do not like the cold! We have to venture out early next week though, Wednesday is T's birthday! And the following Wednesday is mine! ;)

I picked up these raw crackers. They were super delicious! They had a corn chip meets cracker kinda taste. They would be perfect with some guacamole.

Baby A and I shared, as always. She loved them, again, as always.

Since the weather has been so cold, we have been eating a lot of warm dinners. One night T wanted to cook (who could turn that down), he made a Butternut Squash Apple Soup. He used an organic vegan box of Butternut Squash soup and some diced apples that he cooked down with olive oil and cinnamon. We garnished with pumpkin seeds and cinnamon. This turned out great!

I also had this meal for dinner one night: quinoa with pinto beans, avocado, raw olives and raw coconut aminos.

My "Naunee" stays in Florida during the Winter months (lucky and smart!), she sent me a box of Honeybell Oranges. These are so juicy and tasty!

Last night, I made lentils for dinner. I used red lentils, tomato sauce, carrots, garlic, celery, olive oil and seasonings. So warming!

Have a great weekend all!! XO

Chocoholic

2012-01-16T08:33:00.003-05:00

Hey Love Bugs! I hope you all had a splendid weekend! Thank you all for the well wishes, I am glad to be feeling better. Breastfeeding is no joke, even after 14 months of doing it, I still have issues! ;)

Anyway, before Christmas I had ordered some Righteously Raw Chocolate Covered Macaroons. Well, apparently, they were on back order and I finally received them on Friday.

They look like a little Bon-Bon.

But with a macaroon inside!!! YUM!

I also ordered some Rawmio Chocolate Hazelnut and Fig Bark.

This stuff is serious!!! So good! They use Rawtella in it, so you can just imagine how decadent it was. (Notice the paw in the background? He he!).

I have posted a lot of chocolate lately, I am eating good stuff too (although, chocolate is BEYOND good!). ;) A friend of mine recently moved to Florida, and she keeps bragging about the delicious citrus. ;) ;) ;) So, when I saw a bunch of different organic citrus at Whole Foods, I couldn't help myself. This was a Mineola Orange. They were just okay, maybe this was a bad batch. Or maybe I just had high citrus hopes. I am patiently waiting for some Honeybell Oranges that my Grandma is sending up. My Grandparents stay in Florida for the Winter, so I have a little citrus advantage.

I also had this juice over the weekend: Beets, Kale, Lemon, Apple, Ginger.

Baby A had this plate for dinner one night: Sweet Potato, Raw Kraut and Chickpeas all sprinkled with Dulse Flakes. She loves Kraut, just like her Mommy!

Have a great day!!!

Back in Business!

2012-01-13T08:42:00.001-05:00

Hey All! TGIF! What a week! I woke up on Tuesday night with an 102 degree fever. Apparently, my Mastitis, from nursing, came back. Thankfully, with massage, lots of nursing and a heating pad, it is gone. Hopefully never to return!!!! So, that's why I am lacking on the posts this week.

Anyway, I had received an Amazon gift card as a Christmas gift, so I ordered some raw goodies from The Chocolatree Cafe (raw and vegan): Pizza Bread and Chocolate Pecan Brownie Bites.

The brownies were rich and soft, they didn't take like a raw brownie at all.. (don't mind my chipping nail polish)

The Pizza Bread was OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD! Baby A and I shared some and before I knew it, the whole bag was gone! I must order more, these were THAT good!

Remember how I mentioned a squirrel ate a hole in my Raw Food World goodies? Well, I emailed them and explained and they were kind enough to send me a new bar!!!! This time I got it before any animal could!

HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!! Wow Wow WOW! So freakin delicious! The chocolate reminds me of the kind your get in a box on Valentines Day, it falls apart in your mouth and the middle is ooey gooey caramel. LOVE!!!!

One day for lunch I made this sandwich which was raw bread with hummus, spinach, avocado, raw kraut and a Sunshine Burger.

For dinner one night, I made quinoa with chickpeas and topped it with avocado, raw coconut aminos and raw olives.

T insisted that I try the lemon, cayenne, agave drink from Blue Print. I told him 100x that I could easily make this at home, but he loved it so much, he said I had to try. Yummy! So refreshing and tasted just like lemonade. I would of definitely loved this when I was pregnant.

Have a great weekend! XO

Raw Food World Goodies

2012-01-09T08:40:00.002-05:00

Hey All! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Ours was busy, as usual. :)

I had ordered some goodies from The Raw Food World (remember, a squirrel ate my chocolate). Anyway, here are my goodies: (All Raw): Pumpkin Seed Butter, Chlorella, Maca Powder, Dried Persimmons (these are so good!), a Tongue Cleaner, Gopal's Power Wraps, a Boku Bar, Olives and a Fig Bar.

Kristen is always talking about Boku Bars, so I was excited to try them. Yum, tastes like a healthy brownie! They reminded me a little of the Raw Revolution Bars.

T had brought me home more raw bread from the health food store. Baby A and I shared a few sliced with hummus on top.

I also picked up another Blue Print Juice from Whole Foods. I know how easy it is to make green juice at home, but when you have no time, these are perfect! Lately, I've been addicted to green juice again!

This was the fig bar that I mentioned earlier. Delicious! I love the company that makes them (Mom and Me), I have had some other goodies from them and they are always really good!

One night for dinner we ordered food from our favorite bistro. I had a big salad with chickpeas, shredded veggies, dried artichokes, mushrooms and broccoli.

Everyone was asking me about the coconut wraps that I showed in my last post. I am pretty sure they sell them online. Just Google! The Raw Food World might even carry them.

No One Messes with my Chocolate!!!

2012-01-06T08:36:00.001-05:00

Hey All! I hope you had a great week. Mine has been rather challenging. We seem to have squirrels living in our attic.. As soon as I close my eyes at night, I hear them and they sound like mice. It's very creepy! We set up humane traps to set them free today, so we will see how tonight goes. I really don't want to hear them crying in the trap! T says he will take them outside as soon as they are caught. Eek! I was very "squirrel friendly" up until yesterday, when they took a chocolate bar from my package of raw goodies that I ordered from The Raw Food World. Yup, right off my porch! This.Means.War!!! Ha ha! No, of course we will continue to trap them and set them free, but I was MAD!! No one comes between me and my chocolate! HA HA!

Anyway, I spotted this raw vegan drink at Whole Foods and although I didn't like the other flavor that I tried, this one was delicious! It contains Turmeric, Ginger, Cardamon, Lemon, Spearmint, Sea salt, Cinnamon, Cayenne, Black Pepper and Coconut Nectar. YUMMY and so healing!

I had this Raw/Vegan Sacred Chocolate bar. The flavor was "Mylk" and it was delicious! So creamy!!

We hit up our local juice bar during the week. They now carry pressed juices! I had "Green Apple Express": Kale, Parsley, Cucumber, Spinach, Celery, Romaine and Apple.

When I visited Dean's last weekend, I grabbed these Chipotle Chia Crackers by New Earth to try. They were really good! Filled with flavor!

I had them with some raw hummus.

At the bottom of the bag, I found this little note!

I also picked up some Pure Wraps. These are raw, vegan and gluten free, made from just coconut, water and sea salt. They are super thin and hold together really well! A lot better then the gluten free wraps that I've had in the past.

I made a raw wrap one day: raw hummus, raw kraut, mesclun, avocado and Bubbie pickles.

I also had the same sandwich with a Sunshine Burger! So good!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

No Heat, But We EAT!

2012-01-04T09:13:00.002-05:00

Hey All! Thanks for all the Happy New Year wishes! I had a few comments about the cookies. I am sorry to say, these were not from scratch! LOL! I used an organic gluten free boxed mix, a flax egg and coconut oil in place of butter, then added my own cacao chips. This was the first time that a boxed cookie came out good.

Anyway, while I was on my little "No Heat Vacation", I spent a lot of time at my favorite health food store: Deans. They have so many great raw products! I grabbed lunch one day to take with me to my mother's house. These were Live Nori Rolls made from Live Jolly Foods. Baby A and I shared these, she doesn't chew well enough to eat the seaweed, so I gave her pieces from the middle, she loved them and so did I!

We also shared a large organic fruit salad! Baby A doesn't like Kiwi, but she loves blueberries and strawberries!

And the last part of our lunch (which we actually had before anything else), was a green juice: spinach, kale and apple. Baby A drank almost half of it! She didn't want to share! Hmph!

I also picked up some Go Raw Ginger Snaps. Yum!

On New Years Day, I made black eyed peas with kale (Whole Foods was out of organic collards). This meal is suppose to bring prosperity in The New Year! We will see..

Finally, another Blue Print drink from my Whole Foods: gold pineapple, apple and mint. For some reason they didn't have any green juices, but this was just as delicious! Of course Baby A had a few sips as well.

Have wonderful Wednesday!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T08:41:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year, friends! I hope you all are still reading, I haven't abandoned the blog... I just haven't been home. We had no heat for 4 days (long story), so we were staying at my Mother-in-law's house. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed last night. What a way to end the year! ;) Well, at least 2012 has started on a better note.

My goals for 2012: Eat better (more raw). Be kinder and easier on the people in my life. Love more. Live more. And of course, Heal More. :) Oh and today I am starting P90x2! T and I got it for Christmas and we both did the first P90x a few times, so this will be a nice change. I also forgot to mention that T got me a Kombucha making kit for Christmas!!! Along with some other great stuff including a spa day!! Isn't he the best! ;)
Anyway, my Whole Foods is now selling Blue Print Cleanse products. In case you aren't familiar, Blue Print Cleanse is a liquid cleanse that ships all over the U.S. The liquids are all raw and vegan. They use a juice press for the juices. Awesome, right? I grabbed a White Cashew Mylk to enjoy.

I used some of it in a smoothie along with Spinach, Vega Choc-a-lot smoothie powder, E3live, Chlorella tablets, Banana, Frozen Cherries and Almond Butter.

This was Baby A's meal one night before we lost our heat: broccoli with Dulse flakes, almond milk yogurt and some organic soaked raisins and goji berries. Look at that little hand! ;)

Another meal I made before the New Year: white rice with broccoli. This was a simple meal. I used white rice because I wasn't feeling 100% at the time. I also added garlic and Coconut Aminos.

I was delighted when I spotted these Righteously Raw Chocolate Squares at the health food store. The mint was my favorite! YUM!

And finally, I made gluten free/vegan cacao chip cookies before Christmas. I was planning on bringing them for Christmas,
but T and I got hungry! ;)

Have a great day all!! XO

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2011-12-27T08:33:00.001-05:00

Hey Lovebugs! I hope you all had a Merry Merry Christmas! Ours was wonderful, but exhausting! I don't have much food to post, but lots of fun pictures from both days. On Christmas we ate at my Mother-in-law's before heading to visit T's Grandmother's house and then to see my family. We had gluten free pasta with vegetables (kale, peas, carrots, peppers, garlic).

Here is Baby A and I at my grandparents house with her new "Organic" Dr. Seuss Doll!

Christmas morning, we opened gifts at my Mother-in-laws, before her annual Christmas party. Sueshe and Ginger were worried about getting run over with Baby A's new car!

Baby A made us a nice pretend vegan breakfast with her new kitchen set!

Then she took a nice long nap before the big party!

Here we are during the party..

Me, My Sister and Baby A.

My Naunee and I enjoying the party.

And finally, my Christmas dinner: vegan eggplant parm (made with Daiya), roasted potatoes and salad. We also had vegan cupcakes (GF ones too), but my camera died, so I didn't get a picture!

How was your Christmas? Are you doing anything fun for New Years Eve? Xo

A Festivus For the Rest of Us!

2011-12-23T09:12:00.002-05:00

Hey Loves! Merry Christmas Eve Eve, AKA: Festivus! ;) We bought some Festivus Chai Tea at Whole Foods, we are trying it out tonight. Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts this week, I am sure you all understand that I am busy, busy, busy! I can't wait for Baby A to have a wonderful Christmas (even if she doesn't "understand" yet).

Onto eats, for lunch one day, I made a salad of romaine, live kraut, hummus, Bubbies pickles and a Sunshine Burger.

A dinner from last week: brown rice, lima beans, mushrooms, white beans and tomato sauce.

I made myself this snack while Baby A was napping: "Ants on a Log": celery with raw almond butter and raisins.

Another snack plate: raw veggies and hummus with cayenne and ground pepper on top.

Baby A's plate for dinner one night: (all organic and vegan) lima beans and white beans, frozen blueberries and soaked raisins.

When I wasn't feeling well, one night last week, T made me soup! He used rice, lima beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, garlic and low sodium vegetable broth. This was so good!!! Move over Chicken Noodle!!!

Speaking of T, he brought me home a dozen red roses on Wednesday. I was wondering why, then a little while later, he told me we are going to be gutting our upstairs bathroom (the only one with a shower). LOL!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!!! Merry Christmas!! XOXO

Christmas Time Love

2011-12-16T09:15:00.003-05:00

Hey All! I hope you had a great week! I have been extremely busy and Baby A doesn't want to nap!!! She definitely keeps me on my toes! ;) We did, however, get our tree up! With a big gate around it. Baby A loves to touch, touch, touch EVERYTHING!!

Our stockings hung high, again, far from Baby A. Don't you love the size of her stocking? Seems fair.

I picked up some Sacred Chocolate over the weekend. Mint flavored, of course. So good!

Speaking of chocolate, I won these Sexy Raw Balls from Raw is Sexy. There we 3 of both flavors (plain and coconut) but I had to try them before I took the pic. ;) They were really yummy. The consistency of a donuts with a truffle flavor. She sells them on Etsy, in case anyone is interested.

For lunch one day, I didn't have time to make a salad, so I threw a Sunshine Burger on the stove and had it on top of a kale leaf with hummus, raw kraut and avocado. On the side, a Bubbies Pickle.

For dinner one night, another quick meal: quinoa with chickpeas, avocado and seasoning.

Baby A's plate: organic freeze dried apple and strawberries (she loves these!), avocado and broccoli with peas.

Speaking of the little lady, here she is playing with her yoga mat! Soon enough, she will be doing downward dogs with her Momma!

Have a great weekend! XO

Munchin' and Lunchin'

2011-12-12T09:21:00.001-05:00

Hey Snowflakes! I hope you all had a great weekend! I am glad you all enjoyed my gift post. :) I am feeling much better now and hopefully the flare has past.

Someone had mentioned that they wanted to see a picture of my new fridge, so here ya go! ;)

I had these Havit Raw crackers over the weekend. T had picked them up for me at the health food store he is working near. They were soooo good! I didn't think I would like cranberry, but it was savory and really yummy!

We visited our family over the weekend and we had lunch at my favorite health food store: Deans! I had a smoothie made with cacao, almond milk, rice protein and banana. YUM!

I also had raw vegan crab cakes made by Live Jolly Foods.

They were so delicious!!!! The sauce on the side was so tangy and just perfect. I want more!!!

This was Baby A's plate from one day last week: blueberries (wild and organic), raisins and apples and lentils.

Have a great day all!! XOXO

These are a few of my favorite things..

2011-12-09T09:20:00.002-05:00

Hey All! Sorry for the lack of blog posts this week. Baby A has kept me quite busy and I haven't been feeling 100%. My Crohn's has been slowly creeping on me and I have been trying to get it under control before it turns into a full blown flare. Mostly, my food has been bland but I am still trying to get in a lot of nutrients for breastfeeding. So I've doubled up on my E3Live and Chlorella. I am feeling much better today and yesterday, so hopefully I can get my diet back to normal this weekend. I do have a lot of food pics from last weekend, I will have to get those up soon!

Anyway, I wanted to post a list of my favorite holiday gifts! These are mostly for women because most of my readers are women! ;) Here ya go:

Mango Tree Bangles: These are hand carved and hand panted bangles made from mango trees that can no longer produce fruit. They are eco friendly and made with natural materials. I recently got myself a green one with gold shimmer on it. :)

Glass Dharma Straws: Anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile knows I love Glass Dharma Straws! They are environmentally friendly, they don't leach toxins into your drink like plastic would, and they are beautiful!!! If you are worried about them breaking, the company will send you a new one if that happens!

Yogamatic: Make Your Own Yoga Mat: This is so cool! You can design the mat you want! You can even use your own picture. Baby A, Ginger and Sueshe's face on a mat? Perfect! LOL!

The Candle 79 Cookbook: Candle 79 is my all time favorite restaurant ! This is definitely on my own Christmas list. If you can't make it to NYC to enjoy a meal there, you can make one in the comfort of your own home!!

100% Pure Makeup: This is the only makeup I wear. I love the stuff!!! I even got my sister hooked on it. They have some great gift sets and even stuff for kids!

A Josephine Walls Journal our Book of her Art: Her images are so beautiful, mystical and magical! I love this art work. I own the journal with the picture above on the cover (got it at Barnes and Noble). The book of pictures would be a great coffee table book.

Twin Cakes Bakery: I am a big fan of the Pure2Raw ladies and their bakery items are amazing!!! Everything they make is vegan, gluten free and mostly raw. I suggest the macaroons or any of the crackers! YUM! They even have gift baskets. I wish someone would send me a Twin Cakes gift basket!

Rawxies: These adorable heart shaped cookies are raw, vegan, gluten free and delicious!! Callie puts love in every bite. These would be an adorable idea for a stocking stuffer. I hope Santa leaves me some!

One Lucky Duck: I am a huge fan of One Lucky Duck and all of there goodies. The Cheez Quackers are so good! Another great stocking stuffer.

Sacred Chocolate: How could I make a post of my favorite gift without a little chocolate! T gave me a few of their chocolate hearts in my stocking one year. I hope he does so again! ;) Their gift boxes look like a perfect gift!

Love Street Chocolate Spread: Another chocolate favorite of mine! They also have some great gift boxes and also beauty products. Their raw chocolate spreads are delicious!

I hope you all liked my list! I wanted to mention that none of these companies paid me or sent me samples to sponsor this giveaway. These are just some honest gifts I love! :)

A Peak Inside My Fridge!

2011-12-05T09:09:00.002-05:00

Hey All! I hope you had a merry weekend! :) Ours was a busy one as always! But we did get something exciting, A NEW FRIDGE!!! I thought I'd give you a peek inside.

This is the top shelf, stocked with Kombucha, Bubbies and Almond Milk.

The next shelf has raw almond butter, more raw pickles (shocker), raw kraut, raw cashew butter and hummus. I usually buy organic hummus, but this was an unopened left over container from Baby A's party.

In one draw I have all my dried fruit: organic raisins (for Baby A), Dares, Prunes and of course, Raw Chocolate!

Here is some of our produce (all organic) Romaine Hearts, Lemons, Apples, Carrots. I also have another draw that wouldn't open because it is stuffed with 6 heads of kale, celery, spinach and arugula.

In the door, on one shelf we have Sparkling Water, Flax Seed and Raw Sunflower Lecithin (good source of iron and biotin). We have other shelves, but they are boring with T's beer, organic ketchup, organic mustard, Bragg's Aminos, Apple Cider Vinegar, etc.

In the freezer we have our nuts..

Sunshine Burgers, Organic frozen fruit and veggies and a Pyrex glass container with frozen bananas for smoothies.

And of course my E3Live! I bought a case a few months ago! ;)

Our new fridge is a lot bigger then our old one, so it isn't quite "stocked" yet. I also have a new pantry that I will post soon. We have our grains, beans, etc in there.

What are your fridge staples?

Have a great day! XO

Time For Catch Up

2011-12-02T09:07:00.002-05:00

Hey All! Thanks for all the birthday love for Baby A! I still can't believe she is a year old! A little over a year ago we were looking for top rated nursery furniture (that by the way, is used as storage since Baby A sleeps in our bed!). Time sure does fly! Anyway, Happy December (a day late). Are you all excited for the holiday season? I am! Last year, Baby A was only a month old and even though she doesn't understand yet, I am really excited to see her open her gifts on Christmas morning. We may even take her to see Santa this weekend! ;)

I have a lot of food leftover from a few weekends ago. We went to dinner one Sunday, with my whole family, to celebrate my grandparents 62nd wedding anniversary! What an inspiration they are!!! I ordered a salad of spinach, walnuts and pomegranate seeds.

And gluten free pasta with broccoli and sun dried tomatoes. I love that most restaurants now carry gluten free pasta.

I brought food for Baby A and a green juice! She loves smoothies and green juice!

This was lunch one day: kale salad topped with broccoli sprouts, hummus, avocado and a Sunshine Burger.

I made a big pitcher of nettle tea for the fridge. I had to stop drinking it at one point, a few months ago, because it was making my milk supply overflow! But now I think I am okay!

Callie was kind enough to send me some Rawxies in their new packaging! The Banana Bread cookies are divine! Actually, all of her cookies are. I went through these in two days! ;) Thanks Callie!

I had some of my sisters lasagna leftover so I paired it with a kale salad for dinner one night.

And this was dinner earlier this week: kale salad topped with curried brown rice (just added a ton of curry powder while it was boiling), chickpeas and avocado.

And finally, a Whole Food salad that I had last weekend: raw kale, green beans with almonds, white beans and cabbage slaw.

Have a great weekend!! XO

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby A!

2011-11-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hey Lovebugs! Today I bring you Baby A's birthday party!! We had her big celebration last Saturday with 80 of our nearest and dearest, including my lovely friend Maria (who I didn't get a picture with!). Well, I didn't get ANY pictures at all because I forgot my camera at home!! With all the things I had to do, bringing a camera slipped my mind. No worries though, I stole all the pictures my family took. Some even have a date stamp on them! ;) We had her celebration at a community center near my parents house. The place in on the river, so the views outside are beautiful. The weather was in the 60's so we even spent time outside and had all the windows open.

Food table: wraps, chips, dips, hummus, raw veggies.

Baby A had this huge balloon on her high chair.

Our little family, all in pink!

Me, My sister, Baby A and our good friend Erica.

Baby A loved the balloons!

Enjoying time with her family and friends!

This was the big salad that my Mother-in-law made. I had mine without croutons, although they were vegan (but not gluten free).

Raw veggies and hummus!

My plate of salad, raw veggies and hummus.

Vegan/Gluten Free Lasagna my sister made. This is so amazing! You must try the recipe!

And of course, CAKE! We had a vegan cake made at Whole Foods! As you can see, it turned out beautiful! The cake was not gluten free, and I did have a slice. I felt a little off the next day, but thankfully, nothing too bad.

T, Me and Baby A blowing out the candles.

Baby A didn't have any cake (no sugar for her!), but she did have a special treat (that she LOVED!): I blended a date, an avocado and carob powder. As you can see, she had it all over her face! Happy Baby!!!

What a beautiful time she had. I love celebrating birthdays, and although she won't remember it, I will always know that her celebration was a very special day for all of us. <3

A Very Special Thanksgiving!

2011-11-28T09:17:00.007-05:00

Hey All! I hope you had a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving for those in the US! We had a lot going on this long weekend. Baby A had her first birthday on Thanksgiving Day! I can't even express how wonderful her first year with us has been. She truly is a blessing and the light of my life. I couldn't think love could be this strong, my heart has grown bigger since she has been in my life. :) I still can't believe it has been a year! We had a rough start, but everyday with her has made my life complete.

Anyway, I'll post about Thanksgiving in the post and her party in the next one.

My Thanksgiving meal (all gluten free and vegan): Stuffed artichoke!

My plate: Broccoli Casserole (my mother in law cooked broccoli, Daiya Chedder, gluten free bread crumbs and Veganaise in a casserole dish in the oven. Sounds like a weird mix, but it came out AMAZING!!!), cranberry relish (raw, I made this with walnuts, agave, cranberries and orange all processed in the food processor), brown rice with apples and raisins, mashed potatoes (T made those with coconut creamer, Earth Balance, parsley) and sweet potatoes made with pineapple. Everything was delicious! My favorite was the broccoli casserole, soooo good!

Baby A had her own little tray: broccoli mashed with coconut oil, soaked raisins, white beans, apples and avocado and sweet potato. Everything is organic and vegan!

For dessert we had vegan/gluten free pumpkin pie (T bought this from the health food store).

I made a raw apple tart. I used the fruit tart recipe from Going Raw and traded the berries for apples. I have made it with the berries in the past and it is always a hit!

I had a slice of both.. ;)

Mmm..

Baby A had lots of presents to open, even though her party wasn't until Saturday!

I have a lot more coming from her birthday party!!! Come back on Wednesday! ;)

Busy Busy Busy!

2011-11-21T09:19:00.000-05:00

Hey All! I hope you had a great weekend! Thanks for all the comments on my PJ pant wearing! ;) I don't leave the house in them, I just wear them while lounging with the baby! I haven't had a chance to leave the house because Baby A hasn't been napping, so I haven't been showering until T gets home. So no worries, I am not walking around town in PJ pants! HA HA! We were really busy this weekend and this week is going to be crazy with Thanksgiving, Baby A's birthday (on Thanksgiving), and her party on Saturday. So if you don't hear from me, you know why!

Anyway, before the weekend, we had take out from our favorite sushi restaurant. I had avocado rolls with black rice and avocado cucumber rolls with white rice.

We had lunch at Whole Foods over the weekend. I made a kale and avocado salad topped with sprouts, roasted brussel sprouts and roasted butternut squash.

We had to take a family portrait with my cousins and siblings, and lucky for me, the place was near Good Karma Cafe. Once again I had the Love Bowl: greens, beans, brown rice and tempeh in a mustard sauce.

I also took some raw cookies to go! Yum!

Hopefully I will be back Wednesday with more from the weekend! Have a great day!

Pajama Pants are the New Jeans!

2011-11-18T09:20:00.003-05:00

Happy Friday!!! <3 I hope you all had a wonderful week! Baby A has another tooth coming in (that makes 7!!!!), so we haven't been out much. But we have fun dance parties in our living room, daily! ;)

Anyway, I am loving the raw bread I mentioned in my last post. I wish I had more!!! This was a kale salad with raw kraut, Bubbies pickles, hummus and raw bread with soy-free Chickpea Miso spread on it. Mmm!

For dinner one night I made this high raw meal: cooked brown rice topped with pinto beans, raw corn salsa and guacamole.

Another lovely salad: kale, raw kraut, a Sunshine Burger and raw bread with hummus spread on it.

Finally, a little humor for your Friday, Baby A, SueShe and Ginger. Oh and my legs, with pajama pants on. I haven't left them all week! Oh the joys of motherhood! ;)

Have a great weekend! XO

It's Orange Food Season

2011-11-16T09:07:00.001-05:00

Hello there! Happy Wednesday! I can't believe Baby A is going to be one years old in a week from tomorrow!!! Her party planning is underway, big time! ;)

Anyway, onto eats, I made a kale salad and topped it with Kabocha squash and Quinoa. I love having a hearty salads like this for dinner.

Baby A had some Organic Pumpkin with chlorella, some kabocha squash and a little organic quinoa. This was her first time having quinoa and she seemed to like it. Especially mixed with pumpkin (which she loves!). She is still being breastfed, I plan on going over a year, probably over 2 or 3 years if all works out. I actually don't want to stop until we want to conceive baby #2! ;)

I made a delicious sandwich on the raw bread that I mentioned in my last post. The bread is made by the same company that makes the wraps (Havit Raw). I actually like the bread better. It was soft and chewy. Yum! My sandwich had arugula, avocado, raw kraut. raw Bubbies pickles and I spread some soy-free chickpea miso on it. Perfect!

I made the same dinner that I made last week, except this time I used brown rice. Super good!

I am really happy it's Persimmon season! Baby A and I are patiently waiting for these organic ones to ripen. She has never tried them and I am excited to see what she thinks. She loves all fruit!

Have an awesome day! XO

An Engaging Weekend

2011-11-14T09:15:00.002-05:00

Hello Loves! I hope you all had a great weekend!! On Friday, my sister got engaged to her long term boyfriend! I am so ecstatic for her!!! <3

Anyway, T brought me home raw wraps he spotted at the Health Food Store! :) He is working in a different area and has been getting sandwiches there for lunch. I was so excited to try these!

I made a raw wrap for lunch: broccoli sprouts, avocado, raw kraut and arugula. So delicious! I was happy that the wrap actually wraps and doesn't crumble like most gluten free wraps do. We hit up the health food store together over the weekend and I grabbed raw bread made by the same company. That will be in my next post!

I made Lauren's Comfort Cabbage Soup one night and it came out so good! I had 3 bowls!!!

I was super happy when I spotted So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk! As I have mentioned in the past, Mint Chocolate is my favorite flavor! This does not disappoint. So yummy! My sister and I shared some on Sunday, to celebrate her engagement!!!

I also made myself a decadent smoothie with some: Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk, Spinach, Chlorella, E3Live, Vega Choc-a-lot shake powder, frozen banana and almond butter. AMAZING!

I also grabbed these Spicy Flax Snax at the health food store. I have never seen this flavor. They were pretty good, but the Pizza Flax Snax are still my favorite.

On Sunday, my sister came up to celebrate her engagement and we met up with my bestie sister-in-law for lunch and shopping (Baby A too!). I had a big salad of mesclun, broccoli, shredded vegetables, chickpeas and dried artichoke.

How was your weekend? Anything exciting going on in your life? ;)

Have a great day! XO

Move Over Kale, Arugula is Here!

2011-11-11T09:00:00.002-05:00

(Not really, KALE WILL ALWAYS BE #1 TO ME!)

Hey! Happy 11/11/11!!! I hope you all had a great week! As I mentioned, my Dad was in the hospital, and Good Karma Cafe is nearby! When I went to visit him (which by the way, he is doing great and is home now!), I grabbed myself takeout. I had their Love Bowl: kale, tempeh, beans and rice with sesame seeds and a sweet mustard sauce. So GOOD!

I also grabbed some raw truffles! These were so rich and decadent! I wish I had more!

For dinner one night I made some raw kale topped with red lentils and raw kraut.

Another night I made brown rice pasta topped with white beans, sundried tomatoes, garlic and arugula. I pretty much cooked the sundried tomatoes in garlic and olive oil then added the beans, some soy free miso and seasonings, when the pasta was done boiling, I added it to the sauce with some raw arugula. Then let the arugula wilt with the burner off. This came out delicious!

Speaking of arugula, I forgot how much I love it! I had it with some raw kale, broccoli sprouts and raw kraut for lunch one day. I expect you will be seeing more arugula in the future! ;)

Have a wonderful weekend! XO

Fall Love

2011-11-09T09:09:00.002-05:00

Hello Sunshine! I hope you are all having a great week! The weather has been amazing here (in the 60's), so we have been enjoying going for walks and playing at the park. I think I post a picture of this tree in my yard, every season! ;) It's just so beautiful!

Anyway, I mentioned I had more food from the weekend, we went to Whole Foods on Sunday for lunch. I had a kale and avocado salad topped with green beans, nuts and butternut squash.

I also picked up some broccoli sprouts! I saw on Dr. Oz that they are very effective in Breast Cancer prevention! :)

We also hit up the Farmer's Market on Sunday. The Farmer's Market near me has a vegan baked goods stand. I went there a lot while pregnant, last Fall. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything gluten free. But I did get my favorite Fall treat: Apple Cider. This was unpasteurized too, which is a double plus!

I also bought some organic butter lettuce and organic mesclun. I find homegrown lettuce to be so much softer then the kind you buy in the store. Oh how I miss my garden! :(

On Monday I made a big salad with the lettuce, sprouts, raw kraut, Bubbies Pickles, hummus and a Sunshine Burger.

I had this little snack plate of Honeycrisp Apple slices with raw almond butter. Baby A LOVES apples, I gave her a few bites sans the almond butter.

Speaking of Baby A, here is one of her plates this week: soaked organic raisins, avocado with carob and apple with cinnamon. Her new favorite food (besides breastmilk, of course!) is raisins. She is such a good little eater!

My Father had both of his hips replaced on Monday. He had bad arthritis and was having a lot of issues. He is doing well now. We went to see him yesterday and since the hospital is right behind a vegan restaurant, I got myself some takeout! I'll be back with that on Friday! Have a great day!!

New Products and Weekend Eats

2011-11-07T09:14:00.005-05:00

Hey All! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I love weekends in the Fall. So many snugly things to do! ;)

Also, I wanted to mention that I am now an affiliate for NutraVege vegan DHA, GLA and SDA oil. So if you want to purchase any, please use the link on the side bar of the NutraVege bottle. I reviewed it here, if you are interested! Thanks! :)

Over the weekend, I picked up some Raw Carob Powder at Whole Foods. I wanted Baby A to try some before her birthday (instead of a cake, she is having avocado and carob). She loved it! Speaking of cake, I did order a vegan cake from Whole Foods for the party. I will be sure to post a picture of it after her little shindig.

I was also happy to find my Whole Foods has So Delicious new Greek Style Coconut Milk Yogurt! Although, I wasn't too impressed. I have never had regular Greek Yogurt, so I can't compare to anything. I found it to be less sweet and thicker then the normal coconut milk yogurt, nothing too special.

Something that was special, this raw raspberry flavored chocolate bar from Organic Nectars! Yumm-o! I am in love!

One night I made spaghetti squash with roasted vegetables and sauce. I wanted to switch it up from my normal gluten free pasta and spaghetti squash is a great substitute.

I had some marinated tofu leftover from Trader Joes so I made a tofu sandwich with broccoli sprouts, avocado, hummus and raw kraut on Millet Bread, on the side I had some sweet potato fries. This was a fun, different dinner!

For dessert I whipped up some Banana Softserve. I added a little carob powder and topped it with Rawtella Mint and Rawtella Silk! BOTH RAWTELLA'S ARE AMAZING!!! The silk especially!!! I can't wait to get more!

For lunch we went to our favorite little bistro in town (as usual). They are going to be making sandwiches for Baby A's party! They have a lot of vegan options! Anyway, I had a mesclun salad topped with chickpeas, mushrooms, broccoli and artichokes.

I also had lentil soup!

Liebster Award

2011-11-06T08:04:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday All!!

I was awarded the Liebster Blog Award by The Green Lean Bean and Barefoot and Frolicking (two GREAT blogs). So I am finally getting around to posting it! ;)

“Liebster” is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favorite’.

The rules of winning this award are as follows:

1. Show your thanks to those who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

Never one to pick favorites, (since I LOVE SOOOOO MANY BLOGS!), I am awarding this to anyone who hasn't received it yet! ;) Feel free to post on your blog and share! Have a great day! I'll be back tomorrow with a yummy post! XO

Giveaway Winners and Eats

2011-11-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!!! Thank you for the sweet comments on our Halloween pictures. Baby A was surprisingly comfortable in her costume. When I saw the watermelon costume at The Children's Place, I had to get it, being that I ate watermelon non-stop while pregnant!!

Anyway, for dinner one night, I made a kale salad topped with lentils that I boiled with garlic, olive oil, carrots, celery and kombu. I am hooked on red lentils right now. After not having many soups or bean dishes over the Summer, I am gladly bringing them back into my diet as the weather cools down.

We cut open our pumpkin and took out the guts, so I could dehydrate the pumpkin seeds. I drizzled them with olive oil then sprinkled cumin, cayenne pepper and Himalyan sea salt on top. They went in to the dehydrator over night and came out delicious! T and I can't stop eating them! ;)

I added some to my kale salad along with hummus, Bubbies pickles, a Sunshine Burger and raw kraut.

On a cooler night this week, I made my favorite Escarole and Bean Soup! This is one of my favorite childhood dishes!

Here is one of Baby A's plates: Broccoli sprinkled with spirulina, diced apple and lentils with parsley.

Speaking of feeding Baby A, my friend Joanna let me borrow her copy of Evie's Kitchen! I am loving this book (when I get a chance to actually read it). I think I am going to have to buy myself a copy because this is a book to hold onto! Great for Mommy's and Mommy's to be!

Finally, the 4 winners of my NuStevia giveaway are...
Melissa
(more then one Melissa entered, so please make sure it's you!).
Cee
Color Wheel Meals
Junghwa
CONGRATS!!!!

Please email your name, address (no PO Boxes) and email to me at LaurenGingerRose@gmail.com

Thanks to all that entered!

Have a great weekend all!!!

Halloween Fun

2011-11-02T09:18:00.001-04:00

Hey Butterflies! I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween! Baby A had a very busy first Halloween. We had to visit so many family members. No treats for her, but she did get some cash! ;)

Anyway, back to the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted So Delicious new Coconut Milk Nog. I have had Soy and Rice Nog in the past and found them watery. This is sooooo creamy! I can barely drink a glass because it's so rich! But "SO DELICIOUS!"

My Bro-in-law and Sis-in-law were suppose to have a Halloween party on Saturday night, but because of the snow, they had to cancel. I was planning on making these gluten-free vegan brownies..

But instead, I made them for T and I. We had them with some Nog sprinkled with cinnamon while watching "The Fighter". I am glad I didn't bring the brownies to the party because they came out VERY hard! I had to dip mine in my nog to soften it. This is why I don't bake! LOL! I followed the directions and still screwed up somehow. I even screw up BOXED BAKED GOODS! HA HA! I'll stick with raw desserts for the holidays.

We warmed up with Black Bean soup (from Dr. McDougall). I added brown rice and avocado to spruce it up.

We also went to our favorite bistro for lunch over the weekend. I had the Split Pea Soup. Their vegan soups are sooo good!!

On Halloween morning I made myself this SCARY green smoothie! ;) Spinach, Frozen Banana's, E3Live, Wheatgrass Powder, Almond Milk, Pumpkin Pie Spice and Vega Choc-a-lot Smoothie mix.

With all the running around we had to do, we barely had a chance to eat on Halloween. We stopped at Dean's for some soup. I had a Carrot Pumpkin soup and some raw crackers.

I also picked up two small bottles of Rawtella: Mint and Silk. Can't wait to try them!

And finally, the moment you've been waiting for.... BABY A as a WATERMELON for Halloween! You all know how much I love the pink stuff (ate it daily while pregnant). Baby A loves it just as much (oh and T too!).

Our little family. Sorry for the blurry pic, this was the best quality I could get for some reason!

How was your Halloween? Did you do dress up as anything?
Have a great day all! XO

A Snowy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:13:00.001-04:00

Hey Snowflakes... YES SNOWFLAKES! I'll get to that later..

Happy Halloween! I will have some pictures of Baby A in her costume in my next post.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great weekend. Before the weekend, I made some raw kale with quinoa, acorn squash, raw kraut, and my new favorite thing: Horseradish Hummus!

I picked the hummus up at Trader Joe's. So yummy!!! I wish it was organic..

The pups went for a nice walk, before the weekend cold front came..

I enjoyed my favorite forgotten about snack: apple and banana slices stuffed with raw almond butter! Mmm..

T and I took Baby A to our favorite Sushi Restaurant on Thursday. She was a little angel and sat and played while we ate. I gave her some mango and avocado out of my salad and she was as happy as can be!

I ordered 2 avocado rolls with black rice and 2 regular avocado cucumber rolls.

By the time the weekend arrived, the weather had gotten dramatically colder. Winter storm COLD!!! On Friday night I made some canellini beans with brown rice, tomato sauce, mushrooms and peppers. This came out like a soup. Perfect!

On Saturday, we hit up Whole Foods for lunch. I made a salad of potatoes, white beans, raw kale and chana masala.

We headed home after that because it was SNOWING!!! Yes, we had a snow storm before Halloween! Here is my backyard. We lost some branches because the trees were so heavy because the leaves haven't fallen off yet.

More from the weekend soon! Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway!!!

NuNaturals Review, Recipe and GIVEAWAY!

2011-10-28T09:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Friday Everyone!! Today I bring you a review, recipes and a giveaway! Whooohoo!

The kind people at NuNaturals sent me this little package of goodies! You can imagine how excited I was! Stevia is the only sweetener I use, and NuNaturals is definitely my favorite. I find their Stevia to be the least bitter. I also like that a little goes a long way. I use about half a packet per cup of tea. :) They have baking powder now which is great for those who want to avoid adding a ton of sugar to your baked goods. This will definitely come in handy around the holidays.

I made the Rawnola that I posted in my last post with their Vanilla Stevia drops. Here is the recipe:
Almond Rawnola
1 and 1/4 cups of almond flour (or almonds crushed in the food processor)
4 tablespoons of raw almond butter
1 drop of Vanilla Stevia
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/2 cup of coconut flakes
1/2 an apple diced very small

Mix all ingredients in bowl and spread onto dehydrator sheet (or you can use the oven). Dehydrate overnight or for about 12 hours.

I also made the same recipe into cookies! YUMMY! These need a little longer in the dehydrator, probably about 18 hours. Just check on them every so often. You can probably also put them in the freezer to get them to stick together too.

Now onto the giveaway, sponsored by NuNaturals!

The people at NuNaturals are giving 4 lucky winners a bottle of their Vanilla Stevia Drops (2 oz bottle).

And a box of their White Stevia Powder (50 ct. box)!

This contest is open to U.S. readers only (SORRY!). To Enter Simply Leave a Comment Telling Me Your Favorite Sweet Treat.

For additional entries:
1. "Like" Ginger is The New Pink on Facebook.
2. Tweet this giveaway, make sure you use my Twitter name (@LaurenGinger).
3. Follow my blog in Google Friend Connect.
4. Blog about this giveaway.

Please leave a comment for each thing that you do!

I will announce the winner one week from today: Friday, November 4th, 2011.

Good luck!!!

NuNaturals also has a "Free Samples Program" for those in the U.S. You just need to send a self addressed, stamped, #10 envelope to:

NuNaturals, INC
2220 West 2nd Ave. # 1
Eugene, OR 97402

PLUS,

ALL of you can take full advantage of SPECIAL DISCOUNTS on all future orders only available from ordering through their website :

www.nunaturals.com

When you go to their website CHECKOUT PAGE, ENTER THIS CODE : BLG1211 , and you will receive a SPECIAL DISCOUNT of -15% on your TOTAL ORDER. Also, when ordering from their website you also receive FREE SHIPPING to the CONTINENTAL U.S. on all orders TOTALING $35.00, and over, AFTER this special discount.

This offer to your readers EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, ENDS DECEMBER 31, 2011.

Have a great day all!!! :)

Birthday Planning

2011-10-26T09:05:00.002-04:00

Hello Sunshines! I hope you are all having a fantastic week! Baby A turned 11 months on Monday! I can't believe she is almost a year old!! Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year (she was born the day before, last year). I can't think of anything to be more Thankful for, she is the light of my life! ;)

Anyway, we are planning her first birthday bash and I have invited over 80 people! HA HA! While I don't think she is ready for cake, we are having a vegan sheet cake made at Whole Foods and I am making vegan/gluten free cookies. For her I am thinking a little avocado mixed with carob. I know I am going to get some eye rolls for that one! :) There will also be vegan/gluten free lasagna and some other yummy vegan eats. If you have any good ideas, please send them my way. I am looking for something to entertain the kids. I'm thinking a pinata filled with healthier treats (organic lollipops?and stickers..etc?) I want my brother-in-law to dress up as a character! We will see how that goes..

Onto food, I mentioned we made pizza on Sunday night. Mine was a gluten free crust topped with sauce and raw massaged kale. I call it a "high raw" pizza! ;)

T is back to growing wheat grass! Look at these trays, beautiful, right?

I made some rawnola in my dehydrator this week. Recipe in my next post..

I had some on top of a green smoothie. Perfect!

I also made some raw almond cookies in the dehydrator. They turned out really good. Again, recipe in my next post (along with a giveaway!!!).

Baby A had her first taste of lentils the other night. So far she has only had fruits, veggies and of course, breastmilk. I boiled her some plain red lentils with carrots and a sheet of kombu. She loves them!!! She also had some diced apple and avocado.

Speaking of lentils, I made my Lemon Lentil/Chickpea Stew for T and I. This is my favorite Fall/Winter soup! A stick to you ribs kinda meal!

I'll be back on Friday with a review and giveaway! Have a great day !! XO

Baby Steps

2011-10-24T09:16:00.005-04:00

Hey Loves! I hope you all had a great weekend. We had so much going on! Baby A had her first birthday and Christmas pictures taken (we wanted to get them done before the rush). Then SHE TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!!!! I almost fainted!!! She was holding the table and T was watching her, I walked out of the room and as soon as I walked back in, she took her hands off and took 5 steps! Then fell and got up and did it again, over and over!!!!! My heart almost burst out of my chest! What an amazing moment. I am still recovering!! ;)

Before all that went down, on Friday night I made this delicious dish. As most of you know, I rarely eat soy (I get very bloated and phlegmy, sorry TMI!!). But once in awhile, I crave it. My favorite kind is an organic marinated one they sell at Trader Joe's. I added it to some veggies (mushrooms, peppers, eggplant) and sauce and brown rice and it came out really comforting and delicious!

After Baby A had her photo's taken, we met up with my bestie sister-in-law and brother-in-law for lunch. I had a big salad with chickpeas, scallions, hearts of palm and carrots.

On Sunday, I made T take a ride to the Redbank Farmer's Market so I could hit up The Cinnamon Snail vegan lunch truck one last time before the season is over. I had an amazzzzzing raw salad that had kale, arugula, spicy cashews and fresh made local Kimchi! The guy who runs the truck told me that his friend makes the Kimchi and I was the first to try it!! All I can say is WOW! I must order some from his friend, it was absolutely delicious!

I also had a raw raspberry bar from the truck. Talk about yummy! I wish I got more then one..

More from the weekend soon and a giveaway coming up!!! XOXO

Eating for the weekend..

2011-10-21T08:52:00.005-04:00

Hey All! Thanks for all the kind comments on my guest post for "Good Health is Gorgeous"! You are all too kind. :)

Anyway, this week was filled with yummy eats. I made another squash bowl, this time I had raw kale topped with quinoa and Acorn Squash. Yummy, I love doing this with different grains and varieties of squash.

I made the most delicious Pumpkin Pie smoothie one morning.

Green Pumpkin Pie Smoothie:
2 frozen bananas
1/2 cup of pumpkin
1 tablespoon of almond butter
1 cup (or more depending on how thick/thin you like) almond milk
1 handful of spinach
Sprinkle of Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 scoop Vanilla Sunwarrior Protein Powder

Add all ingredients to blender and blend! ;)

I had left overs from my Fergalicious Stew so I added them to a kale salad. I also added avocado, Bubbies Pickles, raw kraut and hummus. This was delicious!

Here is one of Baby A's plates: Acorn Squash mixed with soaked and blended prunes, carrots and broccoli mixed together and avocado sprinkled with dulse.

Finally, I had some cauliflower that I didn't know what to do with, so I cooked it with olive oil and garlic, pureed it, added a box of butternut squash soup and topped it with Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs! I love making meals with what's already in my cabinets!

Have a great weekend all!

Guest Post for "Good Health is Gorgeous"

2011-10-20T16:41:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to let you all know that I did a guest post on Maria's blog for her "Good Health is Gorgeous" campaign. Check it out and let me know what you think! :)

Click here to read!!

I'll be back with a new blog post tomorrow!
XO

Good Health is Gorgeous, A Recipe and Pups

2011-10-19T09:06:00.008-04:00

Hello Buttercups! Happy Hump Day (I actually don't like that expression..lol). Anyway, before I get on with the post, I wanted to mention that my beautiful friend Maria has an amazing campaign going on called "Good Health is Gorgeous"--

"its purpose is to set a new standard of beauty in a society that focuses on unrealistic and unimportant standards and characteristics of beauty and projects them onto its members."

Amazing idea right? You have to check out her posts so far. She is so inspiring (even going to be on the Dr. Oz show to talk about her work with hospice!!!). Go Maria!!

I had mentioned that on Sunday we were making pizza, here is my gluten free/vegan pizza topped with tomato sauce, kale and olives. Yummy!

I found these Coconut Secret Bars at Whole Foods but I am not going to lie, I am not a huge fan. They were kind of dry and dense. Oh well, I know a lot of people really like them.

Also picked up some incense at Whole Foods. I'm a big incense person!

I made my own version of Lubiya, a recipe I found on Gluten Free Vegan Family. I actually don't even think what I made would be considered "Lubiya" so I will call it something else.

Here is my recipe:
Fergalicious Stew (hehe, get it?) (adapted from Gluten Free Vegan Family):

1 pound of dried black eyed peas soaked over night
2 quarts of low sodium vegetable stock
1 jar of tomatoes (or I used about 5 fresh ones)
1 large bunch of kale
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 tablespoons of South River Chickpea Miso
1 bunch of parsley (for garnish)
Cumin, Ground Pepper, Cayenne Pepper Dried Basil and Curry Powder
Olive oil

In a large soup pot drizzle olive oil and add garlic and onion, along with cumin and curry powder, cook until broken down. Add carrots and cook until soften. Add 2 quarts of vegetable broth along with black eyed peas. Bring to a boil let cook for 5 minutes then lower. Do this step until beans are softened (about 4-5 times). Add chopped kale, all seasonings and miso. Add salt to taste (or leave out if okay). Serve with fresh parsley on top. This recipe is nice to make early and let it cooked all day because it will thicken up a little. Just add the kale and parsley before serving. Enjoy!

I received my free sample of Sunwarrior's new Warrior Blend Powder!

I had it in a smoothie with spinach, banana, 2 brazil nuts, wheatgrass powder, e3live and almond milk. At first the taste was a little "off" to me, then I slurped the whole thing down!! I really like Warrior Blend and I think I will order some when I run out of the regular powder.

And finally, the girls sharing a bed! Ginger likes to snuggle.. Sueshe, not so much! ;)

Have a great day all!

Rainbows and Happiness

2011-10-17T09:04:00.004-04:00

Hey Sparkles! I hope you all had a nice weekend. Mine started off on a positive note: a rainbow filled sky, on my way to Whole Foods!

For dinner I made gluten free pasta with sauce and broccoli. I have been in the mood for Italian lately! ;) Even had gluten free vegan pizza last night (that will be in my next post). Yummy!

Baby A had broccoli, squash and pear. Once again, more was on her face then in her mouth. She cracks me up!

On Saturday, we had lunch at a local bistro. I had the lentil soup. So warming on a beautiful Autumn day.

Then we headed down to my parents house and met my brother at Whole Foods. Here is Baby A showing him the ropes in the produce section (in her organic shopping cart cover). ;)

After that, we dropped Baby A off with my parents and T and I headed to Good Karma Cafe for our date! I ordered the Live Lemonade (lemon, ginger and apple juice).

Then I started my meal with the special salad which was spinach, walnuts, Dr. Cow Nut Cheese, sliced apple and dehydrated apple. So good!

For my main course I ordered something I rarely have: raw pasta. As I mentioned, I have been in the mood for Italian, I am usually not a fan of raw noodles, but this was really good. The nut balls were very tasty and the "cheese" on top was the perfect touch!

T ordered the special soup (which I forgot to get a pic of: tempeh and white bean) and the taco salad. He said it was pretty good.

For dessert we shared the gluten free Tiramisu Cup. Wowza!!! So good!!! Definitely my favorite part of the meal! ;)

We had a great time, date nights are a necessity (even if they are only once in a blue moon!).

Have a wonderful day all! XO

HELLLLLO Weekend!

2011-10-14T08:54:00.003-04:00

Happy Friday Everyone! Can I just say, TGIF!!!! Wow, what a week! I am really looking forward to this weekend. T and I are having a date night and we are bringing my brother to Whole Foods, for his first Whole Foods experience (EDITED TO ADD: no he isn't coming on our date, as someone had commented, it's just T and I)! ;) He says he wants to get some fake meat products to replace his deli chicken and chicken sausages. I am thinking Field Roast would be perfect for him. I like the ingredients in their products, but unfortunately, I can't eat them anymore because they contain gluten. He doesn't eat red meat or pork at all, so he is already kinda ahead of the game! ;)

Anyway, onto eats, I had this AMAZING lunch yesterday: a raw collard wrap (brought back from Dean's) stuffed with sprouts, cabbage, carrots, tomato and cashew mayo. On the side I made a little salad of raw kraut, avocado and tomatoes from my garden. I also had some RAWbundant sun dried tomato crackers. Mmm, so good!

For dinner one night I made a Buttercup Squash and red rice/quinoa mixed on top of raw kale. This was delicious, I see myself having this a lot this season.

Baby A had her first try at squash and LOVED it! Her plate was avocado, banana and squash with dulse flakes sprinkled on top.

And finally, after the week I had, I was in need of chocolate!! Ah, happy again! ;)

Have a wonderful weekend all! XO

Hi Universe, Give me a break!!!

2011-10-12T09:19:00.004-04:00

Hey Pumpkin Pies! I hope you are all having a fantastic week. Mine got off to a rough start (more on that later), but it's shaping up now! ;)

The nice people at Alexia Foods sent me some products to tryout, including their new Sweet Potato Puffs. These are kinda like Tator Tots, but made with sweet potato instead. Why they didn't remind me of Tator Tots a whole lot, they were very tasty and the perfect side dish to my Sunshine Burger (topped with fresh tomato, Bubbies Pickles, stone ground mustard and avocado on a romaine leaf "bun"). T really liked them, so I am sure we will be buying them when I see them at Whole Foods. I like that they are healthier then regular tots, I am sure Baby A would enjoy them once she is older as well.

Going back to the weekend, we had dinner at my Mother-in-law's house one night. This was a big salad with brown rice and green beans with garlic and olive oil. Sorry for the blurry picture, my pictures always come out this way at her house. Must be the lighting.

Baby A is still being breastfeed, but I do give her smoothies here and there and other foods to "start her palate". I breastfeed her before giving her any solids so that she gets full nourishment from me first. I plan on continuing this for as long as I can (while she is young). When we eat dinner, I make her a little plate, this one had avocado, apples and bananas. All cut up small for her tiny hands. We find it so funny to watch her feed herself, although most gets on the seat and not in her mouth! ;) She already loves so many healthy foods and even drinks smoothies that are too strong for me to handle (heavy on the kale). By the way, my Mother-in-law bought her this cute plate, it is BPA/Phthalate free!

I mentioned that my week got off to a rough start, well, Miss Sueshe was extremely ill on Sunday night and T and I were both up bringing her outside and cleaning up after her. Both of us exhausted, we threw a few paper towels into the toilet (major NO-NO!), and the toilet clogged. Which as a result turned into a clogged pipe and our downstairs bathroom backing up all over the place. Water was everywhere!!! T and his father spent Monday afternoon and evening fixing it and cleaning it up (I also helped cleaned, which involved sanitizing my whole house with Method Natural Bacterial Killer). Phew, on top of that all, my great-great uncle died (which wasn't a shock, he was 91), so this will be the 3rd wake in my family in the past couple of months. Seems like a whole generation is gone.

After dealing with all of this, it was pretty late so T and I ordered take out from Tinga Mexican restaurant. I ordered a grilled vegetable, bean and rice platter. I added guacamole and some organic salsa we had in the fridge. I have never been so hungry in my life! :) This hit the spot!

Finally, my favorite meal so far this week: kale salad topped with a Breakfast Patty Sunshine Burger, raw kraut, Bubbies Pickles, hummus and avocado. Mmm.. heaven!

I hope you all have a great day! We have the wake tonight, which means a trip down to the shore.. sheesh, I can't wait for a break! :)

Apple/Pumpkin Picking and Weekend Fun

2011-10-10T08:37:00.003-04:00

Hey All, Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Thank you for all the love on my last post. I am so happy to be feeling better again.

This weekend was filled with adventures. We went pumpkin and apple picking..

Baby A LOVES apples!

My little pumpkin with the pumpkins..

Loving the white pumpkin..

After that, we stopped off at Delicious Orchards, which USE to be a farm market with lots of homemade specialties, homegrown produce and other fun stuff. I say USE to be because the place is like an amusement park of junk food now. They set up stands outside which serve every fried food you could imagine along with hot dogs, hamburgers, cheese fries, funnel cakes, fritters, ice cream and every other horrible food that children love to consume. The amount of overweight children pouring caramel sauce on their fritters was beyond sad. The parents, not any better. I saw numerous women walking away with ice creams the size of their heads, and as T mentioned, it was like 4pm, when are these kids having dinner tonight..? That probably was their dinner. Anyway, I was outraged, as you can see. What a sell out!

I did indulge in my favorite Fall treat, Apple Cider! I try to get the unpasteurized version when I have it. Not sure if this one was, my guess would be no. But that's okay! ;) The styrofoam cup, don't even get me started.

They have every kind of dried fruit you could imagine. Even KIWI! Unfortunately, they added HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP to most of them! WHY?????????? So disturbing. Anyway, I grabbed dried pears sans HFS.

And dates also sans HFS!

On Sunday, I woke up and made myself this yummy cranberry smoothie. You may remember my love of cranberry when I was pregnant, last year at this time. This one had coconut milk, cranberries, banana, chocolate Sunwarrior, e3live and wheatgrass powder.

We met my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for lunch at Whole Foods. I had some raw crackers from Two Moms In The Raw..

With some raw veggies and guacamole. Mmm..

I have more from the weekend to post, so I will be back soon! Have a great day! XO

Crohn's, You Sneaky Bastard!

2011-10-07T09:16:00.004-04:00

I'm back! After a little hiatus, I am back to blogging (and eating). I had mentioned that eating sprouted wheat had messed me up, boy, that was an understatement. I have been in a full on flare since then, just getting worse and worse. But I am happy to report, I am feeling a lot better now!

Now that I am feeling well, I've been slowly adding more fibrous foods back into my diet. After a lot of smoothies, soft grains and veggies, I had this for lunch one day: brown rice cakes with hummus, tomato (from our garden), avocado and cracked pepper. This tasted soooo good!

I also made a lot of meals like this: quinoa with Kaboocha Squash. Yum! Kaboocha Squash is so delightful! I plan on picking up another one at the store this weekend.

Lots of smoothies were in order. I would normally have had a lot of juice, but since I am still nursing, I can't cut back on calories. This smoothie was Frozen Banana, Spinach, Almond Butter, Chocolate Sunwarrior Powder, Wheatgrass Powder, E3Live.

This one was Vanilla Coconut Milk Yogurt, Frozen Banana, Vanilla Sunwarrior Powder, Coconut Milk, and Fall Spice Blend.

Finally, this one was super creamy: Frozen Banana, Vega Shake-N-Go Choc-a-lot smoothie powder (this stuff is amazing!), Wheatgrass powder, E3live and Coconut Milk.

Have a wonderful weekend all! XO

2 Updates and Lots of Food

2011-09-28T09:24:00.003-04:00

Hey All! Thanks for all the sweet comments on my last post! :)

Two fun updates: I know I mentioned before, but Ginger is The New Pink has a Facebook Page! I post relevant articles, pics, and other fun updates! You can "Like" it HERE!!! Also, you can now receive emails of my blog posts right when they go up, just add your email to the box on the right. I promise, NO SPAM! ;)

Anyway, to finish up the weekend, T and I had dinner at his mom's house on Saturday night. She made a big salad, brown rice and broccoli rabe. Yummy!

On Sunday, we went to a festival in town. We had lunch at a restaurant nearby. I had a salad that had radicchio, arugula, endive, cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinegar in it.

I also had a side of escarole sauteed in garlic and olive oil.

I started my Monday off with this delicious smoothie. I used 3 figs from our tree, almond milk, frozen banana, spinach, wheatgrass powder, e3live and chocolate Sunwarrior Protein Powder.

I adore Pure Bars, but I had never tried the apple cinnamon flavor...

I am happy to report, I LOVE IT! Best. Flavor. Yet! ;)

For dinner one night we were going to have Buddha Bowls, but for some reason I was craving cooked kale (which is rare, because I LOVE RAW KALE!!!). I cooked it with olive oil, garlic, kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes. Then I added white beans and cooked quinoa. Perfect!

Have a great day all! XO

Some of the Weekend and The Yoga Festival

2011-09-26T09:16:00.003-04:00

Hey Love Bugs! I hope you all had a great weekend!

On Friday, T wanted to make dinner. He make a broccoli/potato/bean soup. Basically he just cooked down the potatoes with garlic and added broccoli, sundried tomatoes, carrots, kidney beans, low sodium vegetable broth and spices. Then he blended most of it. This turned out amazing!!! He also made croutons with sprouted grain bread. I hadn't had sprouted bread in a long time, and I use to be able to tolerate it. Not anymore!!! Looks like no form of wheat works with me! Boo!

After the soup, I enjoyed a truffle.. or two..

No post is complete without some chocolate! ;)

On Saturday morning, T picked a bunch of figs from our tree!! We gave more then half away to family, so I didn't get a chance to make anything. Baby A LOVES figs!

After that, we headed to the shore to attend The Yoga Festival. I must say, I was a little disappointed. They had all these cool vendors on the announcement, and I would say half of them were there. :( It was pretty small! They did have a few vegan food stands and even a vegan cupcake stand! Too bad they weren't gluten free!

My sister and I shared a bag of pizza flavors kale chips to snack on. I love that they are called "Chippin' Kales" and it is a picture of kale in tuxedos. LOL!

Since the Yoga Festival was a block over from The Twisted Tree Vegan Cafe, we went there for lunch. I started with the White Bean Soup! Sooooooo good!

Then I had a garden salad with a side of hummus. Yummy!

After that we headed back to The Yoga Festival to see if the missing vendors decided to show up. Unfortunately, they did not! But I did pick up raw macaroon from Good Karma Cafe's stand.

These were really good! They tasted like a cookie macaroon. If that makes sense. ;)

Here is Baby A, T and I at the Yoga Festival.

And again, our little fam!

More from the weekend soon! Have a great day!

The Week Round-Up

2011-09-23T08:53:00.005-04:00

Hey Loves, I hope you all had a wonderful week! The weather got sticky and humid again, so much for Fall! Boo! Anyway, I am super excited because this weekend, we are going to a Yoga Festival down at the shore. T, Baby A and I along with my sister, her boyfriend and some of our friends are going. They will have lots of vegan and raw food (that is what I am most excited about), live music, vendors, yoga (DUH!). I can't wait!

Anyway, I have been obsessed with chocolate ever since I became pregnant with Baby A (anyone else start liking something more while pregnant and still like it when not?). I always LIKED chocolate, but NOW I LOVE IT! ;) Raw especially! So right now I am loving these Chocolate Raw Revolution Bars. This one had a raspberry flavor! Mmm..

I have been looking for these Amy's Sonoma Burgers for awhile. They are similar to Sunshine Burgers--soy free, gluten free, vegan. I was so excited when I found them over the weekend at the health food store. I'm not going to lie, they aren't as good as my beloved Sunshine Burgers, but they are pretty good. Better when cooked in a pan then in the oven. I found they don't hold together as well as Sunshine Burgers do.

Beside having them in a salad (obviously), I had them on a gluten free English Muffin with spinach, avocado, raw kraut and a Bubbies Pickles. On the side I had some Alexia Sweet Potato Fries (another new find). The sweet potato fries were really good, but I prefer to make my own since these had some preservatives in them.

Before the weather got warm again, I made a big pot of red lentils with celery, garlic, kale, carrots and white beans. I love having soups for dinner when it cools down.

Baby A and I took a few nice walks when it was still cool outside. This picture I took on Monday, when the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

I picked this very fragrant rose from my yard. ~~Roses~~ FLOWERS make me happy!

My sister went to the IIN Convention last weekend and sent me this Fall Spice Blend. This has cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and a few other warming spices in it. I added it to my smoothie this morning. :)

And finally, more lentils! This time on top of some raw kale. This is a great high raw-warm meal. I will be eating this a lot this winter.

Have a great weekend all! XO

Fall-in Adventures

2011-09-19T09:07:00.005-04:00

Hey Lovely People! ;) I hope you all had a great weekend! Fall is in the air around here, and I couldn't be happier. This is my favorite time of year. We have so much coming up-- Baby A turns one on Thanksgiving this year!!!! Can you believe it? I can't!!

Anyway, we started off our weekend at Whole Foods on Friday night for groceries and dinner. I was very happy to see they had this new RAW coconut water, too bad it had a sour taste to it. My favorite is still Taste Nirvana.

At the salad bar, I loaded up with raw kale and veggies with chickpeas and a few falafel. Yummy!

On Saturday, we headed our west to one of our favorite health food stores and hit up some farms! ;) At the health food store I had a salad that was filled with fresh raw veggies, sprouts, avocado and a "housemade" veggie burger!

I was pleased to see they had this: Sorghum "Popcorn". Lauren had just posted about this and I was excited to see an alternative to regular popcorn (which tends to cause my Crohn's to flare). This was super yummy and just like the real thing! I only wish I bought more then one bag.

I followed that with some Gingerade Kombucha. Mmm, so warming!

We stopped at a farm so Baby A could see the animals. We like to bring her to different places so she gets to see new things.

The baby goat were so adorable!!! I wish they were roaming free though! :(

This cow was just a baby, so sweet. I couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be eaten in the future. :( I will keep positive and say no, it will live a happy long life on the farm! ;)

The farm had soy candles and I couldn't resist when I saw the scent "Hot Apple Pie". Smells amazing!

For dinner, T wanted to make vegan garlic mashed potatoes. I paired them with a kale salad. So yummy! T makes the best mashed potatoes. So easy too, he steams the potatoes, peels them, then puts them in the food processor with some roasted garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. So creamy!

For dessert, I picked up this raw organic Fearless Chocolate Bar at the health food store..

I love the little bite it comes with! So cute!

Later that evening, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law stopped by with their pup, Bella. Ginger and Sueshe had fun with their cousin! ;)

Have a great day! XO

The Good Life

2011-09-12T08:58:00.001-04:00

Hey Loves, I hope you had a great weekend! :) We had a lot going on, as usual. Including our annual block party and T running The Spartan Race. Baby A and I didn't go to the race since it was in PA, he said it was fun but tough. I'm thinking of doing Warrior Dash with him next year. He did it a month ago and said it was a blast. Have you ever done a mud run?

Anyway, before the weekend started, I had this dinner of millet with black beans topped with raw peppers, raw kraut and avocado.

Since T had off the whole week, we took a ride to Good Karma Cafe on Thursday and grabbed some lunch. I had Raw Nachos! These were so good. Raw Mexican food in my favorite!

I also had a "Live Lemonade"- Apple, Lemon and Ginger juice.

We had our lunch as takeout and brought it over to the marina and ate. Baby A enjoyed watching the boats.

I also grabbed some raw cookies...

These were delicious! Cacao chips, sunflowers, buckwheat groats, sesame seeds, mmm, so tasty!

For dinner I made a HUGE salad with raw pickles, a Sunshine Burger, hummus, cucumber, avocado and cherry tomatoes.

Baby A and I shared cantaloupe blended with ice for dessert. She loved it!

I have more from the weekend, I'll be back soon! ;) Have a great day all!

Book Review: Thrive Foods by Brendan Brazier

2011-09-08T08:55:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone! Today I bring you a book review of Brendan Brazier's new book: Thrive Foods. For those that don't know, Brendan is a a vegan Ironman triathlete who created the company VEGA. I was thrilled to receive a copy of his new book to review.

In Thrive Foods, I was pleased to see an easy to follow guide filled with great information on Brendan's eating philosophy along with 200 delicious recipes. I don't know what to make first, I have bookmarked so many pages!!! :)

Brendan's 5 Thrive Guiding Principles :
Eliminating biological debt: acquire energy through nourishment not stimulation.
Go for high net gain foods: make a small investment for a big return.
Aim for high percentage of raw and low temperature-cooked foods.
Choose alkaline foods.
Avoid common allergens.
Pretty much the principles I follow as well!!! :) All plant based, high quality whole foods.

I like how he discusses how our diets have an environmental impact, so it isn't just about health anymore, it's about eating sustainable food. I love that this book represents a mixture of eating cooked and raw. Or as some may say "high raw!" There is also a fantastic list of "must have" staples for your kitchen. Such a great book for someone interested in eating a vegan diet, but looking for facts. I found myself reading out loud a lot to T. He needs FACTS, "It costs 6 times as much to gain nutrition from chicken breast then it does from lentils." Take that T!!!! ;)

The recipes, as I mentioned, will blow you away! Some raw, some cooked, all sound delicious! There are even recipes from celebrated chefs such as: Tal Ronnen, Chad Sarno, Matthew Kenney and restaurants such as Millennium, Candle 79, Blossoming Lotus, Pure Food and Wine and MORE! Honestly, I haven't been this excited about a book in awhile. Usually, when I get a book with recipes there are a handful I want to make, but with Thrive Foods, I found myself bookmarking every page. I HIGHLY recommend getting a copy of this book for yourself and for your irritating friend that always wants to know where you get your protein! ;)

The book is being released this weekend but you can pre-order it on Amazon now!
Also, check out Brendan's Facebook page where you can enter for a chance to win a trip for two to meet Brendan at
the Alive! Green Expo Lounge, surrounding the 63^rd Annual Emmy’s!!! Also, receive a free PDF download of the intro and of 3 recipes here.

Have a great day all! XO

Vega on Facebook
Vega on Twitter
Brendan's Fan Page on Facebook

More From the Weekend and Beyond!

2011-09-07T08:41:00.000-04:00

Hey Loves, I hope you are having a great week. As I mentioned, T is on his annual "staycation".. Unfortunately, the weather has been bad. Rain all day yesterday! BOO! So we haven't done anything too exciting yet.

Going back to the long weekend, T and I had another date night (whoohoo, 3 in 9 months! Ha Ha!). We were still down at the shore visiting our family, so my parents took Baby A for an hour or so and we went to The Salt Creek Grille for dinner. My sister suggested going there because they have a few options that they easily make vegan for her. I started with the house salad (hold the cheese, please!). This had green apple, tomatoes, walnuts and a balsamic vinaigrette. As usual, I added lots of ground pepper! ;)

Then I ordered the Stuffed Pepper which also came with cheese on top (I just told the waiter I was vegan and he got it!). This was stuffed with quinoa and black beans and on the side was spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil! YUMMMMY!

There wasn't anything on the menu that I could veganize for dessert, so instead we hit up the famous "Lighthouse". I spent many of my childhood/adolescent Summers eating Italian ice from there so I was pretty excited when my sister told me that the ices are vegan. Although, I did double check with the girl working the counter. ;) I had chocolate and peanut butter ice! Tasted exactly as I remember!

We headed home on Sunday night and on Monday, it was raining, so T, Baby and I had lunch at Whole Foods. They had a premade kale salad with raw beets, carrots and peppers. I filled my carton to the brim!

For dinner Monday night, MORE KALE! ;) We had Buddha Bowls: raw kale, avocado, tomatoes (from my sister's garden), olives and cooked millet with red kidney beans.

I made Baby A and I a delicious "mocktail" yesterday: cucumber and romaine. Mine was served in a martini glass, Baby A had hers in her new cup!

And finally, the people at Navitas Naturals sent me their new Power Snacks to sample. I am loving the Cacao Goji Superfood flavor! The Citrus Chia Superfood flavor is great too, I am just not too crazy about citrus in this kind of snack. But I love that they are raw, vegan, gluten free, high in fiber and vitamin C and contain no refined sugar! The perfect healthy snack for after my workout.

Have a great day all! XO

Long Weekend Fun

2011-09-05T10:02:00.001-04:00

Hey All! I hope you had a great weekend! Ours was extra long and extra fun! ;) T is off of work this whole week, so have have some fun stuff planned for our "staycation". We were at the shore the whole weekend. But before that, on Friday night I made some raw kale and topped it with some gluten free cous-cous (found it at Whole Foods) and sundried tomatoes. Yummy!

For dessert (later on), some of my favorite, WATERMELON! Gotta eat it up while it's still in season! Most of you know, our love for the pink stuff. When I was pregnant, I ate it daily! ;)

On Saturday, we headed to the shore to begin our long weekend. We hit up The Twisted Tree Cafe for a yummy vegan meal!

I ordered a smoothie called "The Twisted Hippie"--Strawberries, Bananas, Oat milk and Hemp Protein Powder.

I also had a garden salad with a side of hummus! The hummus was so good and their Miso Dressing is to die for!

On Saturday night, we had an anniversary party to go to. T's Great Aunt and Great Uncle were celebrating 60 years together!!! Here we are! Baby A had her ears pierced earlier! :)

On Sunday, we started our day at the beach..

It was Baby A's first time!

After that, we hit up the Farmer's Market in Red Bank. Lucky for me, The Cinnamon Snail Vegan Lunch Truck is there every week! I ordered the raw pizza, it came with a kale/arugula salad on the side. The salad had some spiced nuts on top that were so good! The pizza was amazing, best raw pizza I have ever had. Their raw pizza actually tasted like pizza. The crust was soft and thick, like bread and the sauce was sweet. The olives on top gave it a nice salty flavor. Mmm..

I also had a raw brownie from the truck..

So rich and chocolately! I was in heaven!

Just a reminder..

2011-09-02T08:43:00.000-04:00

Have a great weekend everyone! :) I'll be back Monday with an extra large -food filled post! ;)