Whole Foods: to shop or not to shop? and some giveaways...

Today's post is short.  I haven't shopped at a Whole Foods since August.  Thought it would be hard to do, especially where I live, because there aren't any other health food stores nearby and my local grocery chains don't carry most of what I need.  So I ended up ordering a lot of stuff online from Barry Farm and Pangea.  They've got a ton of great stuff.  But....I was almost considering shopping at WF again, at least for bulk grains,etc...and some frozen items.  I'm not sure I can get myself to do it.  I stopped going there after the whole John Mackey thing....and I also see WF as catering to the wealthy as opposed to the healthy.

So I'd like some opinions please.  I wonder if it's cheaper or more expensive to buy the bulk grains there, rather than online.  I wouldn't have to pay shipping, so maybe it would even out?  And I'd like a bit more access to some specialty items and not have to wait for a once every 3 months online order....like some vegan cheese, etc.  I know a lot of you still shop there and I just wonder if it would be awful for me to start again....it would be only once a month or less. Or am I caving in and giving up on my boycott?  Or was I not making a difference anyway, since I'm only one.

And onto a different subject: Giveaways!

VeganChickie is giving away a copy of The Blissful Chef's e-cookbook!

HungryVegan is giving away 5 coupons for FREE Turtle Island (So Delicious/Purely Decadent) items!
       -go there and leave a comment and tell them I sent you, so we can BOTH win!

LoveVeggiesAndYoga is giving away a Celestial Seasonings Natural Wellness kit!

VegIsSexy is giving away a Spiralizer! See here for my recent use of a spiralizer.

So please leave your opinions about Whole Foods and if you shop there and if I should start going there again or not. And why....thanks!

Eat smart,
T.

Market produce and more tacos

Wow, I'm getting behind, aren't I?  Sometimes I just don't feel like blogging....I mean I do, but I'm not in the mood to crop the pictures, etc....you know what I mean?

Anyway, here's a list of what we got at Saturday's market: purple kale, lacinato kale, mixed greens, purple top turnips, radishes, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries (let's keep those comin'), collard greens, mustard greens,  and hydroponic tomatoes.

It wasn't a ton this time, but that's ok.  Not every week can overtop my box!  And can I say I think I have a problem?  I'm addicted.  Yup, addicted to kale and broccoli.  And there was no green curly kale or broccoli in this week's box....I almost panicked.  But I was able to buy a few bags of their purple kale and I got broccoli and green curly kale at the grocery store.  Phew.

I made tacos again this week, using what I had in the fridge, so here's the recipe:

Millet Tacos:


4 corn tortillas
1/2-3/4 cup cooked millet
3/4 cup cooked kidney beans, mashed up
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 yellow/white onion, chopped
2 tsp dried cilantro (or use fresh if you have it!)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup pureed/crushed tomatoes
chili powder
onion powder
chipotle powder
garlic
salt


Saute the onion in 1/4 cup water until soft.  Add the carrots and broccoli.  Saute another 5 minutes or so, adding water as needed so it doesn't stick to the pan.  Add the millet and mashed beans. Mix it up well and add 1 tsp of the cilantro, and the rest of the spices to taste.  It's done when it's heated through.  


For the sauce: Mix together 3/4 cup pureed/crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp cilantro, salt and chipotle powder to taste.  Heat the tortillas, fill them, and top with the sauce. Easy!

Blogger of the Week: Lindsay at CookingForAVeganLover blog.  She's got reviews, recipes, and giveaways galore!  Check her out.


Oh, and check out my little tomatoes growing! And my herbs:

Until next time....
Eat smart,
T.
PS-I was thinking: Mexican kidney bean burgers.....thoughts?

Quick Tacos

Raw "noodles" and almost raw tomato sauce

Ok, so I've seen so many amazing raw recipes online on various blogs and I've been really excited to try some.  Recently, I was introduced to the SPIRALIZER on some blogs.  I had no idea what that was!  What an awesome little kitchen gadget. (ok, maybe it's more medium sized) Well, mine arrived a few days ago and I had to try it out.  So I went right out to the store and bought some zucchini.  I found a great recipe for Raw Vegan "Pasta" Noodles and Raw Marinara. on Averie's blog.  And she has links to info about the spiralizer too (thank you, Amazon).  I believe I have the same spiralizer.

And here are the beautiful "noodles":

This is the leftover piece after it's done (don't worry, I used it in the sauce!)

And the final product:

I just think those curly "noodles" are so pretty.....don't laugh! Anyway, I used 1 zucchini per person and that worked out well.  For the sauce, mine was almost raw. I didn't have any fresh peppers, so I used a roasted red pepper from a jar.  Peppers are so expensive these days and not in season from the farmer's market, so....I have to deal with what I have.  I guess I could just leave it out next time and add extra tomato.  Here's what I put in my sauce (adapted from Averie's recipe): tomato, roasted red pepper, leftover zucchini pieces from spiralizer, 2 regular sized carrots, fresh basil from my herb garden, salt, pepper, a dash of agave nectar, and garlic.  Soooo good! These raw foodies sure know what they're doing.  And this is so easy.   The spiralizer was so easy to use, and so fast.  For the sauce, everything went into my 3-cup food processor and then it was done.  I did leave a few wedges of the tomato until the end, so it would be a little chunky. It was so good, I made it again for our lunch today at work :) So check out Averie's recipe...you won't regret it.

So there you have it, a deliciously almost raw meal :) I guess it should be completely raw next time....no cheating.

Tune in this weekend for my farmer's market goods!
Eat smart,
T.

Beer and other good food

Ok, so the NOLA Brewing draft packs finally showed up at my local grocery store...yay!  Got the blonde ale....you can see the bottles of the new Abita seasonal too: Strawberry Harvest.  I think we're set :) Pictures were taken before we opened up the sucker....it is now officially open.

I finally roasted some chickpeas, after reading several blogs about it.  I soaked the chickpeas overnight, then cooked them in the morning (yes, I'm trying to cook more of my own beans rather than buying cans).  So I needed to do something with them.  Made hummus and the roasted chickpeas. I froze the rest of the chickpeas. You can find the recipe I used for roasted chickpeas here.

I made that Broccoli Bake again, but left out pasta.  Used only vegetables. I used lots of broccoli, some shiitakes, carrots and kale.  It was a bit mushier than normal....I guess because there wasn't any pasta to hold it together, but it was still really good.

I also made my whole wheat spelt chocolate chip cookies, but left out the oil and used EnerG instead of real eggs. Well, it wasn't great.....still tasted good. They are more like biscuits rather than cookies. I think the oil adds crispiness which these didn't have.  Well it was worth a try.  I had to add a ton of water through the mixing process because it was so dry.  Still good though :)

And now for the Blogger of the Week: Choosing Raw.  Gena's got a great blog and talks a lot about raw food, which is my new thing (no I'm not going totally raw). It's the website where I got my delicious banana "ice cream" from!! Thanks, Gena!


Eat smart,
T.