Monday is here again!  Well, think of it this way, lots of you may have a break from your regularly scheduled Monday grind Monday events next week, on account of it being Easter Monday and many schools and businesses will be closed.  But, that’s next Monday and didn’t do diddly for you today!  Hopefully your day has just been humming along nicely!  What did you do this weekend?  Fill me in on everything!

I’ve got 17 irons in the fire and have been a super busy girl today!  Everything from a mega Kinko’s morning with tons of printing and faxing, which is possibly the most expensive place ever to print and fax documents but my little in-home printer and fax machine just was not up to the task I had at hand, to doing a little at-home yoga session to Monday phone calls up the wazoo!  I have been going in fifth gear all day!

But I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized that another recipe of mine was published!  My Post about my Last Published Recipe Is Here.

But today, this is a picture of my No-Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Protein Bars That’s On The Tropical Traditions Site! 

The recipe Tropical Traditions used is for my No-Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Protein Bars

My No-Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Protein Bars are Super Fast and Easy and many of you have written to me telling me you’ve made them, or a similar version, and I am glad to hear you’re getting your homemade bar groove on!  

And for those of you who aren’t big on Coconut Oil or don’t have it, you can make these bars without coconut oil:  No-Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Protein Bars 

The addition of the coconut oil makes them solidify and hold together just a little better which is great but if you don’t have a coconut oil, don’t let that stop you from making these!

Big Thanks to Pam who tipped me off before I even knew it!  The Last Time I had a recipe published, Pam tipped me off, too!  I posted about my Last Published Recipe Here.

It was for my Vegan Gluten-Free Pancakes 

The Recipe is Here.

I do want to note that these pancakes are not going to fluff up and be as light as the pancakes in a Denny’s Grand Slam Breakfast.  There is no egg, and there is no wheat-gluten, so they are more dense than traditional pancakes, but we love them around here!  And so does Kris! 

So yesterday’s Highlights of the Week Post certainly sparked some attention after I posted about the Hazards of Bulk Bins!  

For me personally, I won’t be purchasing bulk anything (I was never huge on it anyway).   Although I believe the food supply system is far from safe, even when buying pre-packaged items you can still encounter less than sanitary things, or from unwashed produce that’s been handled by dozens of others, those are inherent hazards of simply not growing your own food.  If you must rely on others for your food sources, and 99.9% of us do, then there is some inherent food safety and health risks.

However, knowing the cross-contamination issue from an allergen perspective that is present in the bulk bins to knowing the hazards that are present such as dead insects, dust, and debris, and still purchasing items that way….well, that’s not something I am ok with.  Click Here to Read About The Hazards I mentioned in That Post.

Here was a comment from NYSoonerGirl:

“I actually used to work in the bulk section of our local grocery store. I’ve been leary about anything bulk ever since. When we washed the bins (which was probably less than once a year) we washed them on the floor of the back room…. Disgusting. And I definitely recall moths living in the bins! And I never thought of it at the time, but we used the same scoop to fill each bin. That means that candy, nuts, flour, organic, non-organic everything all touched the same scoop. Now that I have a severe nut allergy, I just can’t risk the bulk section even if I could stomach it”

But, I know everyone’s comfort level is different and for all the people who believe our immune systems are meant to be challenged and that a little dirt never hurt anyone, that’s cool for you, just not for me.  But let’s get off the Salmonella Highway now and move along!  


Other than Bulk Bins, I also posted in my Highlights of the Week Recap About Everything from
Natural “Gatorade” using Coconut Water

To Cookie Dough Reviews

 and Gave You My Thoughts How It Compares to my Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Balls!

To Lots of Dessert Recipes Such As…
Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

Raw Vegan Apple Crumble

And Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate

And There Was a French Press Tutorial

It was a busy and fun week and I hope that you Enjoyed the Highlights & Recap Post!

Moving Along to This Week…
When I was out on one of my grocery runs, I picked up this Luna Bar.  After nearly a year of reading about it, I still had not tried the Chocolate Peppermint Stick action.  Til Today.

What the heck was I waiting for?  This bar rocks!  It tastes just like a Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie and from what I can tell it’s vegan and gluten free (I am not sensitive enough to the trace gluten in oats for that to be an issue.  The Gluten in Oats Is Tackled in This Post at the Bottom and Why I don’t Purchase Certified GF Oats)

On one of my recent Blogger Meetups At Whole Foods, I bought Skylar some Sesame Tofu.  And she fell in love with it! 

I am fairly intolerant to soy and try to minimize my consumption of it, and haven’t made tofu in years, so after perusing the beautiful Gliding Calm’s site and being inspired by all that tofu, I figured I’d pick up a package and give it a whirl!


Averie’s Sesame Ginger Maple Baked Tofu
1 Tbsp Ground Ginger
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
1/8 c Sesame Oil
1/8 c Maple-Agave blend (mine is from TJ’s, but use whatever combo you have or desire)
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Optional: Garlic, Onions, Salt, Nama Shoyu/Bragg’s Liquid Aminos/Soy Sauce, to Taste
Optional: bake and/or garnish with sesame seeds

Instructions & Baking Info
Blot the tofu with paper towels (or if you’re as cool as Anna, you own a tofu press) & Slice into Uniform Sizes

Combine all ingredientsin a small bowl, stir…

….and Pour Over Tofu Slices.  I had also sprinkled some extra ginger on them before applying the sauce.

Bake at 425F for 35 Minutes

I flipped the tofu slices over once, halfway through baking (at about 17-18 minutes).

After 35 Minutes

Scott likes the well-done parts

And Skylar loved them!

And I popped the extras in a container to store in the fridge for gran-n-go snacks.  
I’ve been giving Skylar a slice here and there as snacks and she’s digging it!  
Woo-hoo for toe-food tofu loving toddlers!

I sliced and plated up the Tofu Over Raw Green Food: Romaine, Cukes, Sugar Snap Peas, Asparagus, Tomatoes, and Cauli

And Dressed it with my Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing

I enjoyed a very few bites with no major allergy symptoms to report, which is perfect!  I do have trace soy in my life, in say Jokerz Bars so I am not soy-free, just very soy minimal.

And I hit up the  Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate Squares For Dessert!  

Yoga today is in between Camel (ustrasana) and King Pigeon (kaptosana).  The pic was snapped before I got all the way down.  So you have a half-n-half pose today.

1. Tip of the Day: Free Pastry at Starbucks Tomorrow, Tuesday March 23 until 10:30am!

2. Tip of the Day: My Lunchbox & Cooler Set Give Away!

This set is a great way to Tote Your Snacks, Lunches, and Food!  This is a really Practical Give Away for all you brown-baggers, students, soccer moms, pretty much everyone!

Questions
1. Do You Like Tofu?  What’s your favorite way to prepare it?  Baked, fried, uncooked? (tofu is one thing that must be cooked fairly well for me to enjoy it!)  Do you use dry rubs or sauces and marinades?  What’s your exact cooking method?  Oven, skillet, covered, not?  Details and links if you have them, please!
I may try to make tofu once a month or so and am always on the hunt for fave recipes and cooking tips!  
Or does Tofu gross you out?  Never tried it?  Scott’s not the biggest fan, but he will eat it, especially when seasoned and cooked well.

2. Fave Thing You Ate, Drank or Did All Weekend?  Or for you lucky people just coming off a week of Spring Break, fave memory or story from the week?
My fave thing over the weekend = My Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate, followed by the tofu, and then hanging out with my family enjoying springtime weather!


3. Easter.  Do you celebrate it?  Do you have childhood memories from Easter, Passover, or from this time of year? And for me, this has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with the festivities and magic of the Bunny, chocolate eggs, and such.

For me, I would wake up Easter morning to chocolate eggs strewn all over the house!  The Easter Bunny always came to my house and my sister and I would scramble to see who could collect more chocolate eggs and candy!  Sounds crazy and I was like this with my Halloween candy too, but I preferred color-coordinating the foil-wrapped eggs and sorting them than actually eating them.  Clearly a smart kid because could the chocolate they use for those chocolate eggs be any junkier or chalky tasting?!  And prior to Easter, I’d color eggs with my mom or Grandma.  Again, that was all about the activity and not the end result because I didn’t like eggs then and hate them now.  Probably because I’m intolerant and allergic to them!  This week I’d sort of like to color eggs with Skylar but she doesn’t eat eggs, nor do I, and Scott has high cholesterol.  So not sure about that one!
Do You Have Memories of Easter or of Special Holiday Times or Traditions from your past or things you do every year now?

Stay Tuned For Dairy FAQ’s.  A Super Informative Post on All Things Dairy…