My Dehydrator blew!

What is a girl to do..... CELEBRATE!!! YES!!! I had an older model Nesco snackmaster dehydrator. It was a good item for me to start out with and get my feet wet in the world of dehydration. So when it blew out (as it exhaled its last puff of air) Puff..puff...puf...pu....p, I promptly held it close to me as if I had a sick child in my arms.

Now, I am not sure if my AH thought I had lost it or what but when he sauntered into the kitchen and saw me ever so tightly clutching this huge electric food dryer (as my AH calls it), he let out a big laugh, turned and said, "well you said you wanted that Excalibur 9 tray food dryer, so it looks like I am going to have to get it now". If you could have seen the look on my face as I put the Nesco down on the counter and followed my AH into the living room, you would have thought I was put into a trance and he had the power. I yelled out "are you serious?" He said "yes, I was just waiting to see what you could make with that food blower". Well everyone, my hubby is ordering my Excalibur as I am typing this blog post! I can not wait! Though I had good times with the Nesco dehydrator, I am looking for even better times with the Excalibur! What to make first....what to make first???

Rawsome Blessings to you,

TwinkieR*

WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON???

Okay, okay,

So last nights post turned into this mornings post. My two year old was running a fever and I has to take care of her (though my AH does a great job with her as well). I also got a chance to make a black and blueberry cobbler from Ani Phyo http://www.aniphyo.com/category/recipes/page/4/

It was so delicious! I was going to post the pics of the cobbler but I think my stomach wanted the first look. LOL!! I will take a pic of maybe what's left...

On to what has been going on in my world. For those of you that dont know I have started a social networking site for women celebrating the RAW food lifestyle www.womenintheraw.ning.com. I have also been getting back into the swing of writing (amongst my other talents). I had been working on something I call a blogvel (blog/novel) a while ago and I have decided to get to work and continue with it. You can check it out at www.twinkier.synthasite.com (and please keep in mind that back then I was not a raw foodist-LOL). I will be updating that site once a week. Also I am almost finished working on a site for others that would like to showcase their writings in a blogvel format. More on that later.

I have decided to go for a RAW chef certification. I have had so many people try the dishes I create and then ask me to make more for them. They even pay me!!! WOW!! I love the way I feel helping others. I feel like I am in some way helping to contribute to their health. I also love the feel of being in the kitchen creating dishes and recipes). From their I am looking forward to having a business as a raw food chef as well as start a non profit-organization for Seniors and those that are looking into being and staying healthy. I have quite a few other things up my sleeve as well but for now these are the things that I am working on. I will keep you posted as I complete each goal. Thank you all for the support and encouragement. I really appreciate it!

Now..hhuumm....for a mentor....Let's see....Kristen (http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/) are you available? ;-)

Love to you all,
TwinkieR*

Trying to experiment on planning!

Hello my RAW, VEGAN, VEGETARIAN Family!!

I have had a lot going on in the past few weeks which I am going to spend some time tonight (later) to catch you up to speed (hyper speed) LOL!! So, I am having this discussion with the AH (awesome hubby) and we are talking about setting up a budget for myself specifically for my lifestyle. I totally agree with this mind you. I am all for budgeting but what I was doing was as I felt the move of the wind, I would just get up and go shopping and getting whatever I saw in my path. I would get home and then I would try to figure out what I had bought and what I was going to use it for. I would wait until the last minute and see a recipe that I wanted to try, go and get the ingredients for it and would come out spending more than what I told my AH what it would be. I basically didn't have a plan.

Well, here is my experiment (of sorts). I spent some time today comprising a menu for myself of what I would eat for the week. I then created a list of ingredients for those dishes that I would need to get. Keep in mind that there are things that I already have at home so the list would be what I would need to pick up. I will document exactly the cost associated with what I have to get as well as how the week went planning this way. This might be a great way to get myself in order (let's see). So here is what my menu looks like this week:

Menu for the week:

Breakfast:

Smoothies (everyday)

Snacks:

Cauliflower & Carrot Chips (from RawDog Rory) http://rawdawgrory.com

Creamy Taco Sauce http://rawdawgrory.com/

Seeds/Nuts (various)

Home made Tahini

Food:

Creamy marinated Kale Salad (from Latrice at http://www.lifeitdetox.com

Jalapeño burger & Avocado fries (from Carmella) at http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com

Kelp Noodles (my own creations)

Mock Tuna Salad (from Rawvolution by Matt Amsden)

Plenty of leafy green Salads

Desserts:
Raw black and blueberry pie (Ani’s Raw)
Raw chocolate Ice Cream (from Sheri at http://greenandcrunchy.blogspot.com )

Chocolate Pudding (back up) (from Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis)

Here is my grocery list:

Grocery List

1 Cauliflower
2 Bags of Carrots
Hemp oil/Olive oil
Chili Powder
Nutritional yeast
3 bags of spinach
3 bunches of kale
2 packages of mixed organic greens (salad)
Tomatoes (various types) about 20
15 lemons (maybe more)
2 bags of raw sunflower seeds
1 bag of Raw Pecans
1 bag of Raw Walnuts
1 bag of Raw Cashews
1 bag of hemp seeds
2 bags of Dates (1 medjool and 1 honey)
1 bag of sun dried tomatoes
10 reg avocados and 2 California avocados (the big ones)
10 pounds of banana’s
2 onions (yellow)
1 bag of green onions
1 pound of ground flax seeds
Garlic (2 heads)
Chipotle powder
Agave
2 stalks of celery
10 coconuts
4-6 red and yellow peppers
Mushrooms
Dulse flakes
Dried dill
2 pints of strawberries
2 pints of blueberries
2 pints of blackberries
2 pineapples
10 pounds of apples

Let's see how I do! Let's get this experiment party started! Dont forget I will be back tonight with how things have been going for me!!

Love ya;-)

TwinkieR*

Day One Smoothie/Juice FEAST

Hello my AMAZING vegan, vegetarian, raw family!!!!



First of all good morning! I greet you with smoothie in hand (as I have one almost every morning) and with a large smile. Do you remember why???? Well, today is day one of my seven day smoothie/juice feast!! I was going to just do smoothies at first but I thought about how much I love juices (both veggie and fruits). I am used to having fresh juice at least once every other day so I decided to get the best of both worlds and combine them for this seven days. I can tell you that I am excited because I really started thinking about what I would love and anticipate happening during this time. I thought I would share them with you (also, those who may be doing this as well might have the same thoughts).



I would love more of a spiritual connection, clarity, energy, weight loss. I will as well be in great reflection on some of the goals that I have set for myself and my family. I am grateful for this time to give my body the rest, and rejuvention that it needs. I am sure that I will be posting here throughout the day as well as over the course of the next seven days about what is going on during this time. I am expecting some INCREDIBLE things to happen. So with that being said....Let me get back to my smoothie! YUM!!!


What I have had so far today:



Water (16 Ounces)

Banana, peach, coconut oil smoothie (1 quart-enjoying this right now)


I will keep you posted!!

A GREEN SMOOTHIE DETOX plus loads of other exciting things!!!

Hello my wonderful Vegan/Vegetarian/Raw family!!!

I am so excited because there are so many things that are going on in my life right now. I am excited about being a RAW vegan! I am excited that I have decided to start a business in creating and preparing RAW food and RAW desserts. I am also going to start speaking about the important benefits on living a RAW vegan lifestyle. I am so excited that my women in the raw website (www.womenintheraw.ning.com) is going forward and I have some AMAZING ideas going forth with that. I have a mission that I am also going to need support on. My grandmother has moved here to Phoenix a few months ago and I am going to assist her with some of her eating habits. She has quite a few hurdles to cross such as diabetes, a pace maker, high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, and a few other things that she is facing. If you have any suggestions on some books, websites, blogs, or any other form of media that I may be able to research and purchase to gain some assistance to what I am going to be doing with changing her diet, I would appreciate it. Also if you yourself have overcome some of these obstacles let me know what tips you may have as well.

I am going to start something that I have been wanting to do for sometime now and that is a smoothie feast/smoothie detox. I was looking through some of my favorite blogs and Eve (thank you) at http://eves-journey.blogspot.com started my RAW senses to perk up! She had done a video blog on one of her posts where she talks about Victoria Boutenko's book "Green For Life" and how she was doing a 7 days smoothie detox. The wheels started spinning in my head. "You know you have been thinking about doing this for quite some time. You know that you can do anything you put your mind to." And with that the decision is made! Starting on Friday I will be starting my green smoothie feast/detox! I love it!! Anyone who would like to join me during this time......LET'S DO THIS!!!

I'm so excited......and I just can't hide it........I'm about to lose control and I think I like it..... (oops, sorry that's an old Pointer Sister's song). LOL!!! I'm just so excited........

GOING RAW!!!

Hello My Vegan/Vegetarian family!

I havent posted in a while (and no I have not fallen off the vegan wagon). LOL!!! I have actually taken some time to think about my life and my values. Yes, I enjoyed all the benefits that have come with eating a vegan diet however I have been really considering taking it to the next level, which for me was going towards a RAW Vegan lifestyle. Let me tell you this!!! IT IS AWESOME!! So what I am going to do is write about this journey that I have undertaken and I hope you enjoy every aspect of what I will be sharing with you. Come along for the ride! We can do this together!

I have been eating RAW veggies and fruits exclusively pretty much for the past two months. I am so excited about this new quest that I also created a social networking site so that I may also help encourage others as well as get some additional support myself into the RAW lifestyle. My site is http://www.womenintheraw.ning.com/ . It is free to join and I welcome all women wherever they are in their eating journey! I have missed you all and I promise I wont be away that long again!

Here is to much success in living the most incredible life ever!!!

Love ya!
TwinkieR*