It's 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 my first year participating and I almost missed it. Thankfully I have some amazing friends who kept me in the loop! Thanks Robyn, @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 our 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 t

he 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!

My weekly newsletter! Enjoy!

http://www.therawtwinkie.info/The_Raw_Twinkie/The_RAW_Truth_Blog/Entries/2009/9/17_september_16_newsletter_files/september%2016%20newsletter.pdf

TwinkieR* A.K.A. The Raw Twinkie has moved to Little RAWK!!

Thats right family!! I have just moved to Arkansas. Little RAWk to be exact. I am so excited to be in a new place with a fresh new start. I have not been blogging much since I found out that we were going to be in transition to a new state. I had been trying to prepare myself for where it might be and what life has in store for me. My family and I have finally settled in and I am now able to commit to my life's purpose. To help others and enjoy life to the fullest. I had so much fun this weekend going to the Riverfront Farmers Market here in Little RAWk, that I thought that I would share it with you guys.

Oh yes, I also started my RAW business here in Arkansas. If you are interested check out my site (still working on it as I blog) www.therawtwinkie.info. I will be adding various recipes, videos, articles, etc... So pop on by when you can. Also, I am so looking forward to seeing you on my social networking site www.womenintheraw.ning.com. Well, I guess thats all for today. I will be blogging tomorrow with a few great updates. Until then enjoy the video.

Much Love,

TwinkieR* A.K.A. The RAW Twinkie

My New Dehydrator and my New Life!

GOOD morning my awesome RAW Family!!





My last post was about my dehydrator blowing up and I mean it blew up big time!!! I was so excited that my AH ordered me a new one and I was waiting like a little girl on Christmas eve sleeping with one eye open waiting on the jolly guy with the red coat. I was elated when the day it arrived, my AH just happened to be outside washing the cars when it arrived. He had just as big a grin on his face as I did as he carried the box in and looked over towards me. I kept thinking "MY HERO", as he sat the box gently down upon the counter. Okay, I was going into fairytale mode but you get my enthusiasm, don't you? LOL!! So, I opened the box (my AH helped) and we set it up in the place we had dedicated "food blower station" in our kitchen. I started pulling out all the recipes that had collected while waiting on the dehydrator to arrive. To say the least, sheer joy was in our household. The kids were happy and jumping around (although my two year old wasn't quite sure of the "why" but she was more than excited to jump around anyway). I will say that I have had the dehydrator for a couple of weeks now and I am enjoying all the wonderful creations that I am able to make with it. From banana chips to jalapeno sun burgers, I am truly satisfied but my real reason for having this dehydrator is so that I can take the next step of my journey in to being "The RAW Twinkie", a raw food chef. I know that you should be prepared with the very best when embarking upon such an amazing life so "Excalibur" is truly the way to go. I am going through my RAW chef certification class today so that I may gain additional knowledge in the field of becoming a raw chef. I also would love to take (I am putting this our there into the universe) some classes through Living Light Culinary art Institute. I am just taking my life one day at a time and enjoying the steps that I am taking to get where I want to be.


Love to you all and have a FABULOUS life!!


TwinkieR*

WHAT'S 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 as well).
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!!