Posted by alisa on June 29, 2011 | 10 Comments
For starters, the winner of The Raw Truth giveaway is Pure2raw twins. Congrats! You will get an email from me.
As for recipes, I’ve been a wee bit busy, and haven’t had time to do posts for both sites, but wanted to let you know about two recipes that I recently posted up on Go Dairy Free …
Sweet Cinnamon Caramel Dip or Spread
Gnocchi in a Dairy-Free Tomato Basil Cream Sauce
Enjoy!
Filed Under: Alisa's Recipes
Posted by alisa on June 22, 2011 | 92 Comments
First things first … the winner of the I’m Organic Giveaway from last week is Stephanie! Congrats, and I believe you will have a cute eco-friendly mug coming your way. For those who didn’t win, you can still check out the I’m Organic website for cool stuff (they recently lowered their prices – now cheapo me thinks this stuff is a deal!), and I have another giveaway ….
This week you could win The Raw Truth: Recipes and Resources for the Living Foods Lifestyle by Jeremy Safron …
It’s finally summer, so I couldn’t imagine a better style of “cookbook” to have than one that doesn’t require you to turn on the oven or stove!
This book has a nice informational guide section at the beginning, giving a low-down on raw foods and some of those details that may be fuzzy for us newbies (sprouting, culturing, dehydrating, which foods are classified as raw, how to make the transition, health benefits, etc.), followed up by a plethora of recipes. Today on Go Dairy Free, I note the recipes that caught my eye in terms of which I would want to make, but here are some other recipes in this book that sound really intriguing:
To enter, just comment here on your favorite raw food recipe. If your like me, it is probably a smoothie or salad, but maybe some of you have done a little more adventuring in raw foods!
The winner will be picked next week!
Filed Under: Giveaways
Posted by alisa on June 16, 2011 | No Comments
A bit off topic from my usual recipe posts and giveaways (yes, the one below is still open – until next week!), but I thought some of you might enjoy my guest post on Attune Foods. Click through the pic below to check out the post, and to comment and share your thoughts on this topic …
Filed Under: What's Leftover
Posted by alisa on June 15, 2011 | 57 Comments
I’m a reusable tote fanatic. I have dozens of them, even a beautiful one handmade by the lovely Katie, and I take them everywhere. Perhaps it was my upbringing in the crunchy northwest, but I actually get disappointed in myself when I don’t have one with me and have to choose between paper or plastic. So when I did a guest post for I’m Organic, and went to check out their website, I was in heaven … environmentally-friendly Tote Bags and Organic Lunch Bags with a variety of cute images.
Like this one …
and this one …
Now, with my odd obsession on the table, one would think that I would pick a tote bag when the owners of I’m Organic kindly offered me any item for free from their store. But I got distracted by all of the other earth-friendly goodies on their site … Tees in a Tote, Cards, and, hmm … Eco Travel Mugs – now what in the heck are those?
Like totes, I prefer to save the extra packaging and travel with a mug since I’m a tea-aholic (yes, I have quite a few strange addictions), but both sets of our travel mugs bit the dust in recent months. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the I’m Organic Mugs to be worth the price, but I had to try them. I mean, $15 isn’t a bad price for a good quality travel mug, but when I read that they were made with 100% USA corn plastic, I was imagining a thin shell that would easily melt or warp. But instead, what I received was …
The BEST Travel Mugs I Have Ever Seen or Owned!!!
Oops, sorry, I didn’t dry them off very well for the photo! Anyway, the ladybug is mine, and the more masculine green is Tony’s.
I’m not exaggerating. Trust me. These mugs are thick, thick, thick, very durable, cute, and have a nice simple sip lid that even I can keep from making a mess with. Since when did ‘eco’ start standing for the best quality ever? Seriously, if I somehow manage to destroy these hulks of the travel mug world, I will definitely be back on the I’m Organic website to repurchase.
Naturally, since I loved their products so much, I asked if I could do a giveaway! They were all in, so enter today …
Check out the I’m Organic website, and comment below telling me which product you would like to win.
That’s it! I’ll be picking a winner on Tuesday, so go peruse their awesome eco-offerings, and comment now!
Filed Under: Giveaways
Posted by alisa on June 13, 2011 | 7 Comments
From all of the cookie recipes I post here, you would probably think that I truly am a sugaraholic … well, I am. But, I have to give myself credit. Since I’ve never been a pop or juice drinker, I actually consume far less of the sweet stuff (as defined by me as ALL sugars – agave, honey, maple, coconut sugar, etc.) than your average American. Still, I wanted to do better than better than average. Do you follow me?
What this is all leading up to is My Guest Post on Run to the Finish! Check it out and you will see the strategy I incorporated a couple of months ago to make a lifestyle change. And yes, it is working! I’m just not very good at documenting recipes from meals … so my blog will probably still look like a cookie and snack fest!
Filed Under: What's Leftover
Posted by alisa on June 7, 2011 | 30 Comments
Just in case you missed this recipe over on Go Dairy Free, I thought I would add it here. I think this one is just one more shred of evidence that peanut butter and chocolate go with almost everything.
Choc-oco-nut Thumbprint Macaroons
Recipe adapted from Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season (spring section) by Hannah Kaminsky. Reprinted with permissions.
If you need a nut-free option, and seeds are okay, feel free to sub SunButter for the peanut butter. That stuff is pretty darn awesome. This recipe is Vegan, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, and optionally Nut-Free.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and line a couple of baking sheets with silicon mats (my choice) or parchment paper.
In a large bowl, blend the peanut butter, milk alternative, maple, sugar, vanlla, and salt until nice and smooth. Mix in the potato starch until smooth. Stir in the coconut by hand. It will get pretty darn thick.
Now, I used about a tablespoon and a half of dough per cookie by pressing the dough into a tablespoon measuring spoon in a billowing, rounded style …
As an alternative, you can roll the dough into ping-pong sized balls. Place the cookie dough scoops or balls on the prepared baking sheets, and using either the back of the measuring spoon (may want to lightly spray it with oil) or your thumb, press a well in the center of each cookie.
Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes (I bake one sheet at a time and rotate them, or simply bake one batch and freeze the rest). Remove from the oven and place about 6 chocolate chips in each well. If the wells have filled in, just give them another gentle push down.
Bake for another 2 to 6 minutes. Mine needed more time, but Hannah’s sounded as if they finished more quickly. Remove from the oven and swirl in a wee dollop of peanut butter with the chocolate chips (they should now be melted and swirlable (new word, per me)).
Let those cookies cool for at least 5 or 10 minutes before attacking.
Makes about 40 cookies
Blog Events:
What’s your favorite PB & chocolate recipe or creation?
Filed Under: Alisa's Recipes
Posted by alisa on June 3, 2011 | 25 Comments
May was an insanely busy month for me, and while I like travel, three conferences in one month (right after we did a long distance move in mid-April) is a bit more than I can handle. They seriously wore me out. But I wanted to share my experiences with y’all here, and also get your feedback on conferences and events – what you enjoy, recommend, hope to attend … or not.
Gluten-Free Allergen-Free Expo (Chicago, IL) – This event was incredible from a social perspective. The amazing AndreAnna of Life as a Plate “was my bitch” (her words, not mine!) for the event, which made it that much more fun. We cruised the expo on Friday, sampling everything that was dairy-free (for me) and pretty much everything for her since the entire expo was gluten-free. My stomach was hating me after that, but getting a taste of the various foods was pretty cool. It was a nice-sized expo, the food served for lunch was actually pretty darn good, and the dessert and drinks party for those of us who were presenting was fabulous. Talk about an amazing line-up of ladies – dozens of bloggers who I am friends with and admire (you all know who you are!). Oh yeah, and the desserts were pretty awesome too. I couldn’t get enough of the frosting on the cupcakes – seriously, dairy-free frosting people … like I’m going to hold back. Throughout the three-day event, AndreAnna and I worked together at the book table where I was honored to have several of my mentors signing books right next to me, and we had a fabulous time talking to the many conference attendees.
Celiac Disease Foundation Conference (LA, CA) – No, I don’t have Celiac and I’m not gluten-free, but lately, I’m beginning to think I’m an honorary member of the gluten-free community. I attended this event as an Attune Ambassador and really had fun handing out organic cereal and probiotic chocolate bar samples (yeah, handing out chocolate samples is REALLY difficult (insert sarcastic tone here)). It was great to talk shop with the varied group of expo attendees, and a few even bought my non-gluten-free book! They had what looked like some incredible speakers at the event, and the expo was very similar in style and size to the Gluten-Free Allergen-Free Expo. I only wish the trip hadn’t been such a whirlwind. I flew in the night before, worked the conference from 8am to 4pm, and flew out at 6pm. Next year I’ll make sure to book some extra time to hang out at Universal Studios.
BlogHer Food (Atlanta, GA) – I really enjoyed being on a panel (that’s me chattering away) at this event, seeing a few great blog friends, and meeting some new faces. I found some of the controversial posts on BlogHer Food fascinating. I definitely didn’t think this event seemed “high school” as several reported. Conferences do involve quick meetings and mingling, which can easily make it seem surface-y (particularly when there are groups of people who already know each other), but you have to take from the time what you can. I met some very wonderful people there, and never felt like anyone was rude. Just a lot of different personalities as one might expect. I did wish that the food during the event and the venue location had been better (Sarena of The Non-Dairy Queen (co-panelist and good friend!) informed me that there are some happening foodie spots like Midtown in Atlanta, but the event was hardcore downtown with virtually no activities, restaurants, or even people and it was the weekend!). However, I thought the after-party on the last day was pretty great, with much better food and a very lively atmosphere. Because the food and venue were so much better at the BlogHer Food in San Francisco, I have to give last year my top vote – but other than that, they were very similar. Overall, the BlogHer Food team is awesome, and I’m looking forward to seeing where they go next (Pick Seattle! Pick Seattle!).
Straight-up, I won’t be doing three conferences (across the country no less!) in one month again if I can help it. By the third one, I was worn out, pretty impatient, and not able to mingle and enjoy the people as much as I would have liked to. I just wanted to be cuddled up at home in the northwest with my cat and husband. But, now that my exhaustion has worn off, I realize that I don’t want to write off these events forever. I just need to manage the time a little better.
Oh yes, and I’m not done yet! I will be speaking at the Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference in three weeks. I think I will be fully recharged for that one though.
After this month … I’m bound and determined to make it to Expo West in Anaheim next year, I’ve missed it Every. Single. Year. But from there, I’m keeping an open mind, and would love to hear your own thoughts on all of these events that seem to be popping up …
How do you feel about attending blogging and food events / conferences?
Are you attending any in the near or not so near future?
Any that you recommend? Or not?
Shirley, Heidi, Alexa, and Me resting and noshing on healthy snacks at the Gluten-Free Allergen-Free Expo between events.
Filed Under: What's Leftover
Posted by alisa on June 2, 2011 | 4 Comments
A couple of weeks ago I won an awesome giveaway from Love Veggies and Yoga, which allowed me to get several awesome items from Ecolissa …
Thanks to both, as I love these products! The Hip to Bamboo yoga wear (which I actually got in the opposite colors of those above, the top in blue and the bottoms in brown) runs a little large, but works great for light yoga for me, and is insanely soft, lightweight, and comfortable. The earrings have some real presence in size, but are incredibly lightweight. My wimpy earlobes are appreciative for the low impact decor.
This week, I have a giveaway going on Facebook for a very cool Eco-Bowl plus Goodies to fill it …
And Kim is giving away two copies of Simply … Gluten Free Desserts, written by the very awesome Carol Kicinski
Any more giveaways to share? I love blog giveaways, as the odds of winning are pretty high … barring those on the Pioneer Woman of course … that woman has more followers than Oprah! Okay, it’s close anyway.
Filed Under: What's Leftover
