Spice up your life!

Just picture a beautiful market full of various aroma's of herbs and spices. Your walking through looking at the beautiful display of incredible colors, and textures that the market has to offer. As you glance over at each sample of spices, you quickly reminisce to the last dish that you used that spice in or you may be a little more daring and conjure up some whimsical recipe in your mind of a spice that you have yet to try but drawn to getting. You smile at the chance to be able to embrace the bounty of the earth and to have the power at the same time to create a little piece of heaven through the yield.

What if you could have that same picture in the luxury of your own home. What if you could have the flavor of the world at your fingertips? Well, you can. Check out Pendery's World of Chilies and Spices. They have been around since the 1800's, s that means they know what they are doing. I know that I love the quality of having spices and herbs that are truly from their place of origin and not growing in someones lab. Pendery's values itself on its incredible products that you can't get anywhere else. A great example of this is their granulated onion, Which has been carefully grown and harvested to be used in some of your most flavorful dishes.Visit their site and see what I am talking about. Interested in other items as well? They also have a wonderful selection of gourmet foods, books, skin balms, and rubs. As a matter of fact, I think I will go over to Pendery's site right now. I need to take a stroll along their (Internet) market and see what other fresh creations I can come up with.

AWESOME RAW Indian Carrot Curry Soup!

Look at that soup... Doesn’t it make you want to snuggle up with a good movie or book by the fireplace? I fell in love with this soup. As a matter of fact, the first time I made this soup I cut the recipe in half and was so disappointed that I didn’t make the full recipe. It brought my taste buds to a new level of enjoyment with the different spices. The sweet yet savory flavor for the red onions, raisins, and cilantro made me so want more. The creaminess of the avocado and the crispness of the carrot gave this soup a very filling yet not heavy undertone. and it packed a powerful punch with the ginger, garlic, and apple cider vinegar. My husband is not a RAW foodist and he thought the soup was very good. My three year old was all over this soup. I had to make another batch (this time the full recipe) and have frozen half of it to have a couple of days from now. This soup is good kept in the refrigerator for about two days, however, I have learned that in my kitchen I make so many different things that I may not get to have this soup again for about four or five days (though I think that this one wont make it that long). LOL! Enjoy and tell me how you like it!

RAW Indian Carrot Curry Soup

(Serves 4-5)

2 carrots (chopped)

1/4 c red onion

1 clove of garlic

3 c tomatoes (diced)

2 avocados (pitted and peeled)

1/2 c fresh cilantro

1/4 c tahini

2 T curry powder

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

1 t garam masala (spice)

1/2 inch of ginger root (peeled)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 t sea salt

3 T sesame oil

2 T apple cider vinegar

3 T agave nectar (or raw sugar)

2 T nutritional yeast

1/2 t fresh green chili (chopped)

4 c hot water (not boiled)

1/3 c raisins (put these in after the soup is blended)

Mix half of the ingredients and half the water at a time in a blender and pour the contents into a large bowl or pot to combine them (this is only done because most blenders are not big enough for the whole recipe). Serve at room temperature or heat on low only until it gets warm because you don't want to lose all the amazing enzymes in this soup! Garnish with tiny cubes of chopped up red onion, shredded carrot, fresh cilantro, raisins and freshly ground black pepper. Serves 4 or 5.

"A few of my favorite Things" Mondays!!

Hello my RAW Vegan, Vegan, and Vegetarian family!!!

It's Monday and a little dreary today. It is not as cold outside as it looks but I still didn't want to venture outside today (other than to go pick the kids up from school). While, I am at home with my three year old and making a salad, I started thinking about some of my favorite things that I am using in my RAW vegan journey as well as some things that I would love to try and have. So, I thought I would share them with you. I will devote Mondays to doing just that.

I am going to kick off this weekly post with an absolute favorite of mine. I absolutely love coconut oil.

When I say love it, I MEAN LOVE IT. I use it in our meals, on our bodies, and in our hair. It is something we use a lot of. First, I always use extra virgin, organic raw coconut oil meaning that is has not been heated over a certain degree or treated in any way. The smell is incredible and it does the job when it comes to our overall needs.

Let me give you some healthy facts about coconut oil:

"The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. These benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, soothing,etc.."

www.organicfacts.net

Coconut oil is amazing in smoothies, shakes, salad dressings, desserts, and anything else you can think of. A tablespoon a day is all you need. You must try it and see why I love it so much. Well I am going to make this a short quick post......gotta go order some more coconut oil. ;-)

Here's to taking your health back,

TwinkieR*

RAW NEWS FRIDAY!! "Raw and Uncut" by TwinkieR

RAW NEWS FRIDAY!! "Raw and Uncut"

by TwinkieR

Hello My Vegetarian, Vegan, and RAW Vegan Family!!!

Much love and Blessings to you on this wonderful Friday. It is very rainy here in Arkansas this morning but I am enjoying it. We didnt get much rain in Arizona so for me it is welcomed. I just hope my garden can tolerate it (you know I am a newbie at gardening). My hubby is off today so I am expecting a great day all the way around (Yay, me)! ;-)

Well since it is VeganMoFo, I thought I would devote my Fridays to showing love and support to my family as well as informing people of what is going on in the Raw and Vegan food world. If I miss anything going on, let me know (twitter or FB) and I will make sure to show you some love. I pray that my posts on Friday will give some people encouragement to try some new things to promote their health. PLUS, to have some fun because eating healthier AWESEOME!

Some of this information is a recap of what went on this week as well as upcoming details of some events, products, reviews, and anything that I think should be known.

I want to start off with Jim Carey, his "INCREDIBLE" Dr. Ann Wigmore Raw living foods Lifestyle Home Study program on DVD is back! Now you can have the best of both worlds (online or DVD). Find out more about this great program at http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/2009/10/ok-you-win-its-back-sometimes-i-get-too-hightech.html .

Congratulations are in order for a beautiful Raw Goddess, Kristen Suzzane of Kristen's Raw http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/ . Kristen is expecting a wonderful bundle of joy. I am so excited for her. Check out her blog, you will be so glad you did! Kristen, Get some rest and enjoy your alone time with hubby because once the little one is here......Raw Energy will be needed! Smooches....

Now for those Rockstars out there, (you know who you are) Philip McCluskey has revamped and relaunched his site "Loving Raw: the Raw food Rockstar Community" http://www.lovingraw.com/ ! I am loving it. Here is a guy that knows how to party Raw style! Philips is also planning a bi-coastal rockstar birthday party(ies) in November. He is looking to celebrate in N.Y. and L.A. Philip, I am looking forward to partying Rawkstar style!

Matt Monarch, The Raw Food World Presents a very special interview with Dr. Gabriel Cousens on his radio program on October 15, 2009, 10 pm Eastern time (7pm Pacific time). I am not going to miss this! Listen in and learn from one of the most knowledgable health experts on the planet. You can check out the details and sign up at http://www.rawspirit.org/radioshow.html .

I also want to give a shout out to the grand opening of the resteraunt/shop/educational facility- 105 Degrees! I so wish I could have attended that event. I know it was absolutely MARVELOUS!! I have seen so many pictures and video's of the celebration and I know that a great time was had by all. I guess I am going to have to take a trip to Oklahoma City (I will blog about that experience when I go) really soon. Man, I am going to book that trip after this blog post. LOL!! In the meantime, check out their site at http://105degrees.com

I am sure that there are many other things that are happening in the Raw Food World but I thought I would give you a taste of what Raw News Friday will be about. If you have something awesome coming up or going on, email, FB, or Twitter me. I am sure the family would love to know what is going on.

Until next Friday...Many RAW Blessings to you! Kisses....

TwinkieR* A.K.A. The Raw Twinkie

Its Vegan MoFo!!

Hello Everyone!! It’s been a while since I have posted something (well a couple of weeks) and I have had some things going on here in Little Rock. I am enjoying myself learning my way around (thank God for GPS). I was so consumed with acclimating myself with Arkansas, that I almost forgot about VeganMoFo. I wanted this to be the first year participating and I almost missed it. Thankfully I have some amazing friends who kept me in the loop! Thanks Robyn, @ www.girlonraw.com!

Okay down to business, I am going to be posting every day this month some fantastic recipes as well as a look into my life being a mom, wife, and RAW Vegan foodist. So pretty much you will enjoy the fast paced comical world in which I live. This month will be so much fun (well, for me at least). LOL!! Let me start out by re-introducing myself. I am TwinkieR A.K.A. The Raw Twinkie and between my Awesome Hubby (A.H.) and I, I am a mother of 10 children (I physically had three of them). I have been married to my A.H. for going on four years, I am a Raw Food Chef, Life Coach, Writer, and Educator. I lived in Phoenix Arizona until July (my husbands job relocated us) when we moved to Little Rock Arkansas. I can tell you in my household there is not a dull moment. Not even during the sleeping hours. LOL! So now that I have introduced myself, I will say nice to meet you again. Now on to the good stuff.....

I was in the kitchen cleaning out the fridge yesterday when I decided to make a soup out of what I had left. I will tell you that it was one of the best soups I have ever made since going RAW. I was impressed with how incredible the flavors meshed together. The boldness of the herbs gave way to the Campari tomatoes and let them be an incredible star in this soup. Since I am used to really warm weather in Phoenix, I was trying to prepare my

mind for the fall here in Arkansas. It is starting to get cooler and I was looking for some tips and suggestions on how to adjust to being RAW in the fall and winter. After this soup however, after eating this soup, I dont think I will have to worry at all!

Fall RAW Vegetable Soup!

Makes about 3-4 servings

1 carrot (chopped) 1 cucumber

1 1/2 cups of spinach

1 clove of garlic

3 campari tomatoes

1/2 of a red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, and a yellow bell pepper

2 green onions

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of fresh sweet basil

1 tablespoon of italian herb seasoning

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of hemp seeds

1/2 teaspoon of celtic sea salt (more if you desire)

1/2 cup of Water

Blend all ingredients together until soup (creamy) consistency and enjoy!

To add some texture to the soup I chopped some additional bell peppers, carrots, and green onions and tossed them in after the soup was finished blending. I loved it! Not only me but........

My three year old was all over my soup.

I am grateful that she loves fruits and veggies though. Eat as much as you like Ce Ce, just save mom some! ;-)

Much love to you and yours,

TwinkieR a.k.a. The RAW Twinkie

The Raw Twinkie's Weekly Newsletter! Enjoy!

I have started a weekly newletter. I hope you enjoy it!

Much Love!

http://bit.ly/1a87xJ

Organization is key! A lot of Changes going on!

Hello my Raw, Vegan, Vegetarian Family, Yes it is I. It seems like it has been forever since I have last posted (and indeed it has been). I have been doing some blogging just not on this particular blog. I have a website that I just started up and I have been doing some blogging there. Also I have another Blog on Blogger also. I also have a family blog that I have been working on too. Needless to say, I have not been very proactive on informing you on this information highway. So with that being said, I am committing myself to keeping this blog and my website updated. I must get organized with everything that is going on. I love writing and sharing with others. I just needed to concentrate on where to do that at. Now that I have that resolved, lets get down to business.

Let me update you on a few things that are going on in my life right now, as well as some awesome RAW food that I have been eating. I have moved from Sunny Arizona to HUMID Arkansas! My Awesome Hubby's job relocated us and I do feel that it is for the best. I am excited at all the opportunities that I will have to share, educate, and create in regards to the RAW vegan lifestyle. A gentleman who was helping us with some work around the house said he had never heard of RAW vegan food before. He said "you should open up a little cafe' or something, I would come sometimes, though I am not saying I would go totally RAW vegan or anything" LOL!! That got me happy. Not because he said that he would come to a cafe' if I opened one but at the prospect that he was open to hearing what I had to say. He was willing to give something he had never heard of a try. Family, I am LOVING what I am and what I do. So The Raw Twinkie is about to RAWK Little RAWK Arkansas!

Another thing that I have started while here in RAWRKANSAS (Can you tell I love playing with RAW), is a garden. I have never had one before but have always wanted one. I am so grateful for a beautiful backyard up on which to create nourishment for my family and myself. Please keep in mind that I am an amatuer at gardening. I became ecstatic when I saw the seeds start germinating and green started peeking out from the earth. I could not contain myself last on Wednesday when I woke up and looked outside and saw life coming forth. I had to make my AH (awesome hubby) get up and take a look.

I planted some zucchini, squash, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, spinach, cabbage, romaine lettuce, bibb lettuce, purple hull peas, mint, thyme, sage, basil, rosemary, and oregano. (the basil, rosemary, and oregano are in pots and they were plants). I am so grateful to be able to eat something that came from my backyard. It feels so good to be able to know where my food is coming from.

I have also been to our farmers market here and it is AWESOME. Buying local is truly the next best thing to growing your own food. I have meet some really nice people there and the vegetables and fruit are off the chain. I was so happy about going to the farmers market, I took along my video camera (please excuse the video quality, I am learning to use the camera). LOL! It is great to get to know the people who are also growing the food you are eating. I say if you cant get to a farmers market, see if you can join your local CSA. That way you can still get your food local.

Wow, that is a lot of information for now... I will share more with you on Wednesday. I have a couple of exciting recipes to share as well. Oh, I almost forgot....I can not leave you with out a recipe, now could I? This dessert is absolutely delicious!

“ORANGE YOU GLAD YOU LIKE CHOCOLATE PUDDING”

Makes 2-4 servings

1 1/2 of coconut milk (blend 1 cup coconut water and 1 cup coconut flesh together)

1/2 to 1 cup of cashews, soaked

1/2 cup of Agave

1/2 teaspoon of orange zest

1/2 cup of raw cocao powder

1/8 teaspoon of fine sea salt

In a high powered blender begin by combining the coconut water and coconut flesh to make your milk. Once it has a milky consistency add your cashews. Blend until your cashews have become nice and smooth. Then add your remaining ingredients and blend until it has a creamy texture. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for about an hour. Then serve.

You can serve this just as it is in a nice glass or add some RAW granola, or fruit in between layers, or you can put them in freezer popsicle containers for a nice cold treat. The name of the game is enjoying yourself. I know I am!

Many Blessings!

TwinkieR* A.K.A. The Raw Twinkie