Today I'm reviewing Going Vegan, Your Daily Planner: Everything You Need to Transition to a Vegan Diet by Michelle Neff.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson Image Source - Book

Author Links - Link
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Generally I like to start out with a disclaimer. I am identify as a magical Buddhist. I look for the connection between magic and science without the need to search for a creator. I believe in spiritually and holistic wellness.  I find that we can heal the world if we just sit down and and listen to the breath.  I believe that magic, science and nutritional well being are the cornerstone to a well rounded holistic life. I have recently updated my site from Confessions of a Modern Witch to my new page To Live Whole.  I welcome you to come along for my journey of health, wellness and self exploration.

I receive no compensation for these reviews and all my links are standard Amazon links and not affiliate links. I am a practicing photo reader and have spent the last 16 years honing my craft.  I offer personal readings by request and have a strong online history that boasts over 438,000 views.


As you know I'll be switching over to reviewing only e-copies of books shortly.  I will miss handling the books but the amount of trash that I had piling up for all the shipping was just overwhelming.  I will be doing a giveaway for the remaining physical books that actually arrive as well as asking my publishers to provide giveaway copies shipped directly to my winner's homes going forward for all giveaways.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson Image Source - Book

My review copy was a soft cover slightly larger than average sized book. Its a soft cover book in a journal format that requires the reader to crease the seam in order to jot down all the daily food logging that this book recommends.  I should also add, that I am  not a vegan.  I do have a very vegan like diet. I believe that being vegan has a bit of a history around it and leads people to believe certain things about people who wear that badge.  I live a mindful, compassionate life.  I follow the eight fold path and practice meditation. I diet is best described as Whole Food Plant Based No Oil.  Being plant based, that means that it is a type of a vegan diet, however vegan diets include things like canola oil while excluding honey.  My way of eating would be opposite of that. I see tons of health benefits for honey, while oil on the other hand is quite harmful to the body.  That being said, many of the suggested recipes in this book would be strictly off limits for my household, but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's talk about the first part of the book before going into the recipes.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson Image Source - Book

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson Image Source - Book

This book starts out with the author giving us an overview of the Vegan diet as a whole. She covers vitamins and minerals and includes a section on that all important question we are all asked, "Where do you get your protein??"  I like the inclusion of a vegan pantry.  While, I wouldn't recommend going out and purchasing all this at one time, it is a great place to find a list of all the typical things one would find in a vegan pantry.  Keeping in mind that a large majority of people I am meeting in my groups are also gluten intolerant, I would skip the breads altogether in our house. And of course, no oil at all.  We don't use any type of processed oils, spreads, mixes, butters or anything of that nature. I think that some of these items are great to help wean you off of the bad stuff but overall they contain just as much harmful ingredients and should really just be skipped completely. I found the vegan substitution chart to be useful in some cases and in others a tad redundant.  The yogurt substitution is vegan yogurt.  I think that's pretty self explanatory and seemed like just a space filler.

There are a lot of charts in this book. One on fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, meat replacements and of course vegetables. There's even a few blank pages for you to fill in with the nutritional information around your own favorite foods.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson Image Source - Book

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson Image Source - Book

The planner section is next.  It is broken down into weekly sections over twelve weeks.  Each week has a recommendation for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack, with a review page to jot down what you ate, including the nutritional break down, a section for thoughts and a plate diagram to show your fruits, grains, protein, veg and even a little place to tick off your water consumption.

The very first day recommends whole grain toast with peanut butter and sugar free jam with a banana for breakfast.  A veggie burger on whole grain bread with cake and baked beans for lunch and vegetable marinara with whole grain pasta for dinner with a kale and tomato salad.  Not a horrible day but for me, I would have to do a lot of removing.  The pasta and bread are both highly processed and have gluten so both of those would be out for me.  I don't eat nut butters or jam, so both of those are out and of course that veggie burger is processed as well.  Instead of this I would have something like an oat bowl for breakfast with oat milk, blueberries, raisins and strawberries.  For lunch I might have a veggie stir fry *no oil* over brown rice or maybe some vegan Tom Kha soup with Soy Curls.

The book does include a recipe for every day of the week in the book.  I found that the Vanilla Date Breakfast Smoothie looked really good. I use frozen bananas and dried dates for an assortment of recipes. Once you are able to cleanse, your taste buds will go back to their normal unprocessed setting and you'll find that things taste quite different that you are used to. For example, oats are naturally very sweet. Oat milk is amazing without any sweetener at all and I pour it over my oat bowl every morning.  Raisins are another great sweet treat. Once off the processed sugar you'll find that so many foods are just great tasting on their own.  Over the years (even documented in this blog) you'll find me posting about how much I hate onions, mushrooms and peppers.  I now eat them everyday. It is quite amazing how quickly you can switch over to a healthy lifestyle if given the chance.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson Image Source - Book

Overall I think this is a great book for becoming vegan. The daily entry allows you to take responsibility for your eating habits and the charts and tables provide a great deal of information. I think that going vegan is a great step in the right direction to getting back to where I believe we were naturally intended to eat. 

If you think you might be interested in learning more about the whole food plant based no oil lifestyle, be sure to check out my Facebook page - Real Rations and my Facebook group Real Rations Recipes.  Here my hubby and I share information on health, holistic wellness and nutrition as well as great recipes that will get you on the way. I have lost 137 pounds changing to this lifestyle and Elijah has lost 120.  We welcome you to come over and check it out!

3 Years WFPBNO

I love sharing information I have with others.  I want everyone to experience the joy of changing their lives the way I have. A little over 3 years ago I realized I was quickly headed for a untimely death. I couldn't walk up stairs or even fly in a plane due to my size.  I was morbidly obese. My hubby got me on the right track through reading and moving.  We started with little changes here and there and slowly transformed our lives.  Today I sit here writing this at 50,  feeling younger than I felt in my thirties. No pills, no needles.  Just real food. I want to share that with as many people as I can.


so, having a giveaway for my page over at Real Rations. I know everyone is looking forward to kicking off 2020 with a bang, so I'm going to do a little give back.  I have two FitBit Inspires (gently used) and two books (again gently used) that I'm going to raffle off for the New Year!  The FitBits contain the watch bands for small, medium and large and in the original packaging.  The books are second hand books that I pick up at library sales and thrift stores as a way of getting information out to those who are interested in learning about the Whole Food Plant Based revolution.

I will use rafflecopter to collect the entries. The giveaway is open to the continental US only, due to shipping fees. I'll draw and post two winners on New Year's Day.  Those winners will have 24 hours to reply to my email with a shipping address.  If none reply, I will re-draw.


The first set includes a book that I love.  It was one of the first ones I read on this style of eating.  It is called Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.  Dr. Fuhrman takes a very scientific approach to eating the Nutritarian way.

Here's a talk from 2019 - Dr. Fuhrman did on healthy eating.

Prize 1  - Used Copy - Eat To Live Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Prize 1 - Gently used FitBit Inspire Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

The second prize pack includes the FitBit Inspire as well as the book called Super Immunity by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.


Here's a video he did on curing diabetes and having super immunity.

Prize 2 - Used Copy - Super Immunity Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Prize 2 - Gently Used FitBit Inspire Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Remember, on the US can enter, sorry, that's just due to the cost of shipping and I will need a reply from my winners within 24 hours or I'll move on to a new name.


Good Luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

https://happynewyear2020.com/wallpapers

Hi Everyone!  I just wanted to reach out to let you know there have been some (obvious) unexpected updates to the blog.  My plan was to switch over to reviewing strictly e-books just after my birthday in February.  I was going to make a switch over, rename the blog and start focusing more on my writing and less on reviews.  My goal was to bring you into the world I'm living in now.

Confessions of a Modern Witch is now To Live Whole

When I escaped into the book review scene it was mostly out of sincere frustration and pain. My body was hurting all the time and I was angry most of the time.  My bipolar was out of control and I was feeling pretty helpless. I couldn't focus on writing a single sentence let alone and entire blog post with any coherency.

Photo Credit Renee Sosanna Olson The Rio Grande

My days were filled with frustration and anger. It has been a rocky three years.  I ended up taking a much needed break and heading out to Las Cruces NM for a while to soak up the sun and try to recharge my broken spirit.

We ended up staying there for a year while we waited for the county's decision on buying our property after Hurricane Matthew.  I took some classes and found one that was called Holistic Wellness.  That was the catalyst for me getting my head back in the game.  I finished three other classes including crystal healing certification, mindful meditation and yoga certification. I have to say that it has changed my life.

Photo Credit - Elijah Trent Olson

Eli and I managed to switch over completely to a WFPBNO lifestyle and in the process reversed all of our medical issues including my type two diabetes.  We dropped weight significantly.  I have lost 135 pounds as of today.  He's lost over 125.  Together we're taking some time to get back to ourselves. We're back in NC now but we're not letting the poor weather get us down. We have started meditation sessions twice a day and are cooking our meals together.  Always looking for a great recipe to share in our group over on Facebook.  Our page there shares many of the medical opinions that got us where we are today. We would love to have you join us.

As part of our meditation, Eli and I read an hour every morning when we wake about Buddhism. We have begun to see a real change in our lives. Just yesterday I was thrilled and surprised to find see my resting heart rate has dropped down to 49 from 79 a year ago.  Such an amazing change.  So as a part of this I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint and switch over to e-books and stop buying things from China.  I wanted to live simply and share that experience on a new blog.  So I purchased a domain (To Live Whole) and began the process of getting it set up.

Well, let me tell you, Google is super easy about adding your domain to your blogger account.  I literally clicked a single button and boom all my settings were updated and here I was with a new URL for my blog a mere 3 months ahead of schedule!!  Instead of fussing with getting it switched back over I just took it as a sign that I was ready to go and changed my social media accounts as well as my media contacts over to the new blog and here we are!

I hope that my change in the visual appearance of the page w/o make you jump ship.  I'll be sharing the same types of books with a few more related to health, wellness and Buddhism as well as the old magical favorites.  I'll be adding more frequent and personal posts related to what we're doing in the kitchen, what new advances we're seeing in science and maybe a post or two about the Dali Lamma.

I look forward to inviting some discussion on the page and welcome questions and comments. I hope that you'll hang around for the direction. I feel as though it will be something quite special.

Thank you so much for your readership and your attention and I hope I'll be able to share more soon.

Renee

Today I'm reviewing Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul by Deborah Kensten.

Image Credit - Book Cover Src - Internet

Author - Link
Amazon Book Link
Amazon Author Link
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Generally I like to start out with a disclaimer. I am an contemporary witch.  I look for the connection between magic and science without the need to search for a creator. I receive no compensation for these reviews and all my links are standard Amazon links and not affiliate links. I am a practicing photo reader and have spent the last 16 years honing my craft.  I offer personal readings by request and have a strong online history that boasts over 412,000 views.


As this was sent to me as an e-Book I'll not be reviewing the physical book and instead going directly into the review of the material covered by the author.


I was a bit skeptical at first beginning this book. I sometimes find that when modern science begins to address things like prana or the metaphysical in general it usually ends in "magic" being labeled as bunk.  I was pleasantly surprised in this book.  The author takes a look at several different groups and shows how religion or spiritually applies to not only to the preparation of food but also our relationship to it.  She takes us through several traditions, as well as ethnic groups to fully digest, pardon the pun, the impact of food on our spiritual being.

She address the strength in ritual preparations that take place in the Jewish and Catholic communities as well as the spirituality of the meals prepared by Africans taken as slaves to the United States. within the chapter African Roots: American Soul Food, the section "Making Do",  really connected with me.  Living in rural North Carolina and growing up poor many of the food listed were staples in my grandmother's household.  We had many meals of tomatoes and rice or liver-pudding and rice. We made do with what we had, and what we had was pretty limited.  As I grew into an adult and looked back on these times, I remember my grandmother rationing butter and using saccharine because sugar was scarce.

The next section, "Cooking from the Feel", resonates with me.  I can usually tell just by smelling something if its "right" or not. While not subjugated to illiteracy by institutionalized racism, the majority of our recipes were shared by watching and doing.  I watched my grandmother make biscuits every day for years until I finally attempted them myself. And before her passing on, I was able to stand at the table beside her and make them with her.  On several occasions, as I entered the house she would yell in her 97 year old voice, "Rhonda Renee, get in here and make these biscuits. I've been waiting on you!"  Now, some 6 years later, I can still get a whiff of something and tell you if it's just right.

The author goes on to talk about Yogic Nutrition from India.  For me, a student of yoga and with a background in witchcraft, I believe that what you send out comes back to you times three.  If you send out negative, it comes back to you.  If you put in negativity into your food, your life or being it all comes back to you. I believe that the everything round us is made of energy.  That includes our food. For me this is what Empathetic Eating is all about.  I covered this in an article I wrote in February. I've also noticed when I'm in a mood or my husband doesn't feel just right, his dishes aren't as flavorful. To me, this is adding prana, or love to the dish.  The author goes on to tell us about how savoring food with your eyes first with the following quote:

"The food an natural colors are often arranged beautifully, so the eyes appreciated it first.  Then the nose smells the food and digestion has already begun." 

Making food appealing to the eyes is something I strive for. I believe that if you can look at it and see the beauty, you're taking that beauty into your body and becoming one with it.  For me that is the essence of soul food. You'll see and appreciate the life-force contained within.  Of all the eating styles in the book the Indian style is the most I am aligned with.

The author goes on to tell us about the Islamic meal traditions which include fasting as well as Buddhisms look at mindful meals.  She then journeys to China and Japan to explore food, folklore and tea. She reaches into the Native American vision quest and the wedding feasts of Hinduism showing us how teach culture connects the act of preparing and consuming food with our spiritual well-being.

Two important chapters are 11 & 12 - Enlightened Eating and The Starving Spirit take the reader into the mindset of what can happen to a person who has a disconnect between food and spirit. From a personal level, as a person with an eating disorder, body dysphoria and morbid obesity, I can tell you that when you have lost that connection to good food you suffer.  Filling my body with highly processed foods and an animal product rich diet, I felt ever bit of pain those animals endured.  I felt the pain of the chemicals in my body through Fibromyalgia.  I felt the sickness of pre-diabetes with each bit of garbage that passed through my lips.  My body ached from pain feeling each death blow dealt to the animals in the slaughterhouses that fed my addition.

Understanding the connection between the food and the mind is tricky. The author dedicates an entire chapter on understanding how each food type can work with or against our emotions. Leading us to crave foods that are good for us or foods that will break down our bodies.  That emotional connection is something I struggled with for a long time.  I'm happy to say that today I'm able to move past that and look at the food as sustenance, while thoroughly enjoying dishes I make with the same zeal, excitement and satisfaction of a young girl watching her grandma make biscuits.

Overall this is a fantastic book for those interested in understanding the spiritual connection we all have to food.  I love the way the author included the scientific background and included personal stories to fully demonstrate the power and the connection of food between human beings. As a foodie myself, I believe that those interested in learning more about how we as a race have similar practices related to food, will enjoy this book.

If you're interested in learning more about my journey you can find it here.  If you'd like to join me in learning new recipes and the science around Whole Food Plant Based living you can find my page here.

At some point in everyone's life there comes a moment when you look back at a relationship, a job, an event where your friends around you offered suggestions, encouragement or support.  After that moment has passed retrospection usually follows.  As an analytical person, I spend a great deal of time looking back over tasks, jobs, positions and the like trying to determine the best course of action.  Did I follow the rules?  Did I meet my goal?  Was the outcome, the best outcome?

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

One of my recent blog posts was a book review about a great book that helped me really sit back and look at what brought me bliss. This retrospection is all about understanding what brings you happiness and contentment.  Today I have a great job, a wonderful family and am working on getting my health to the best it can be for a 50 year old.  I may not ever be a kick-boxer, but I know that I will be able to take care of myself in my golden years, instead of relying on someone else to bathe me.

Over the last few years I have read everything I can get my hands on related to health and wellness. I have poured my soul into understanding the best course of action to fully take charge of my health, my well being and my surroundings.  I took a year to live in an RV in the desert just to come to terms with what is really important for me.



What I needed to do was read that my weight, while maybe normal for someone on a SAD eating plan, it wasn't normal for my body. In those articles I learned that all the oil I was putting in my body, all the sugar was killing me. And I needed to change that.



I commented this morning on a article about kicking wellness to the curb on a page called "Fat Fe..... Wi...."  Name blurred to protect the innocent.  I was met with the reply of, your comment is off topic and will be deleted shortly.  I removed my comment and un-liked the page.  You see, sometimes people, especially fat people who are unhealthy (and I can speak to this because I was one), don't like to be told they are accountable for their own actions.  This article was speaking to how people fall into stereotypes and go into one fad diet after another to try to "fix" what isn't broken. Because you know, if you just love fat people (who are unhealthy) they'll be fine.  To that I say bullshit.



Fat (who are unhealthy) people don't need to be told their beautiful. We need to be told we're in danger. And I say that with a loud fucking yell because I heard from all my friends how beautiful I was at 300 pounds.  I heard them tell me what I was loved and I was find just the way I was.  But you know what?  I wasn't fine. I was close to death. I couldn't breathe when I walked up a slight incline. I couldn't sleep well because the fat around my throat was choking me while I slept. What I need was someone to come to me and say:

Photo Credit Elijah Olson Pic 1  July 2016 - Pic 2 July 2019 128 lbs lost

1. Hey, Renee, you should really get rid of all the processed food in your cabinets.  
2. Hey Renee, you should toss out that milk because, you know you're not a fucking baby cow and you shouldn't drink it.
3. Hey Renee, you can't breathe because the fat around your neck is getting so think that its choking you to death while you sleep.
4. Hey Renee, your knee and hip arthritis is so bad because your knees weren't intended to carry around three hundred fucking pounds.
5. Hey Renee, stop eating pizza or you're going to die, way early and way painfully.

I completely understand being a support system for those who are unhealthy.  You see my weight, my size was directly related to my health. Today I'm a much healthier person and a side effect of my new eating habits are having lost 128 lbs. My blood work is amazing now.  I no longer have issues with sleep, my knees, my hip or my fibro. I have completely reversed my type 2 diabetes and have seem to have no continued issues with my congestive heart failure.

Photo Credit - Screen Cap UNC Health

Photo Credit - Screen Cap UNC Health

Just so I'm clear, I'm not saying we need to be ugly to people who are overweight. I'm not saying you need to call names or shun anyone.  What I am saying is look out for your tribe. If you see someone struggling, lend a hand.  A real hand.  Don't tell someone a dress looks great on them when it doesn't.  A real friend will tell you that you have a booger showing. A real friend will tell you that you need to address certain things.  Be someone who helps straighten a crown when NO ONE is watching.

I'm also not saying that everyone over a certain size is unhealthy.  We are all different. We all have different body make ups and there is no perfect size.  Your body will tell you what is right for you when you give it the nutrients it needs.  I figured this out the hard way.

I am putting this offer out there.  Anyone at all who is interested in learning about WFPB lifestyle and healing your body holistically feel free to reach out to me via this blog or on my support page at Real Rations.  I share science based resources to learning to live and heal your body using food. I share recipes in my group Real Rations Recipes as well as welcome stories and before and afters here.  Everything I share there is free.  My goal is to help those out there who were like me.  Those who were morbidly obese and utterly hopeless.  Those who felt as though they wanted to die.

I'm not trying to change your mind on plant based eating. That's not my business and frankly, I don't have the energy for that fight.  I'm here for those who want to change.  Who want to try something new. Those who need to try something new.  For those, this message is for you.  I see you.  I hear you. You are important. You are worth it.  <3

Happy Thursday!  This is an update on my work with Hungryroot.  Eli and I have been using the service for about two full months now.  We are continuing losing weight and it is really something. We have coined a new phrase that we use when we're asked, "What's for dinner?"   We say - REAL RATIONS!

Another unboxing of Hungryroot

So this was a pretty full series. I managed to test out several different food box delivery services and had mixed results. One thing I have found is that I prefer the boxes where I actually cook. Most of the food delivery that was heat and eat were pretty much not good.

I ended up sticking with Green Chef.  They are by far one of the better services out there. Recently they removed the ability to look up your recipes on their website to replicate later.  Which is a bummer. I really enjoyed being able to recreate the seasons and sauces they provided in their meals on my off days.

This is their site and the recipe for one of my favorite dishes.  I think we have made it four times since we got it the first time.  The only way we could recreate is that we found the actual named seasoning online.

Green Chef Website

Clicking on the magnifying glass provided information on the item selected.  Here my amounts are missing.

Green Chef Website

Below you can see the ingredient amounts for the seasoning.  They are still available on the older recipes.

Green Chef Website

That aside, which I hope they change back, over all I really enjoy my Green Chef recipes weekly. It is working out fantastically for us and my only complaint is that I wish I could get five days instead of just three.  If you think you might be interested in giving them a try just follow this link and sign up. You can also reach out to me on Facebook if you like with a personal message.  I sometimes have free trials I can share.


Look at these fantastic meals.  The Cuban Tofu and the Israeli Salad were my favorites!  If you sign up before to share your dishes with me.  I'd love to see what the Meat Eaters and the Vegetarians are munching on.

Green Chef Website

Green Chef Website

This week I'm doing a review of some of the amazing products from Miyoko's Kitchen.  My life as a vegan has been a sort of struggle as it relates to my life with Cheese or rather without it.  I love cheese. I would think nothing of sitting down and eating and entire block of cheese with crackers.  I would tell myself it was healthy because I would use "good" cheese.  But frankly my body was telling another story.  After hubby and I decided to go vegan, we took all dairy from our diet. My heart would yearn for the stringy bubbly goodness of a hot slice or a creamy grilled cheese. I had resigned the fact that I would never have that back in my life again.

Until now!

A while back I did a search and found a video of Miyoko and her amazing cheese recipes.  I started writing down everything so I could make her a cheese for a pizza.


Then while searching I found her website where she sells her cheese already done!!  We ordered the cheddar cheese sauce, the double cream and chive spread and the fresh mozz.

From http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/

This spreadable cheese replacement is amazing. We have it with crackers and it was simply amazing. I loved it.

http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/

The Fresh VeganMozz was simply amazing. I have not had a pizza with cheese in years.  Now I have had ones with Daiya and it was like eating cardboard.  I grabbed some pizza dough from the deli section of my grocery store and added some vegan butter with garlic a few herbs and this cheese grated.  YES GRATED.  You can slice or grate it and it melts and browns so amazingly. I am in love. I will have this in my house forever!!!

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

From: http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/

Finally we tried the Cheddar Style Cheese Sauce.  Sadly the cheese sauce was really strong with nutritional yeast and mustard.  I took one bite and spit it out.  It was just horrid.  So my quest for mac and cheese continues, however I will be purchasing the VeganMozz and the Creamy Spreads again!

In my search for Vegan food delivery I have found myself reviewing this new prepared food delivery services.  This week I ordered four dishes to try out.  This week we're trying Mama Sezz.


Here's a bit about the company.




My food arrived in two days because I happened to order just in the right time window.  The package comes with a return FedEx label.  You have to put all the product back into the box and schedule a pick up from FedEx.

 I was so excited to see Mac & Cheese as an option.  Of course I tried that first!

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 I ordered Gardener's Pie.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 Moroccan Stew

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 Quinoa Stack

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

We also ordered the raw bread which we did not care for at all. We ended up tossing that into the bird feeder.  They loved it.


My mac and cheese was pretty tasty.  I warmed it on the stove but I think next time I would do it in the microwave to avoid the mac getting broken up.  The flavor was great.  I was really pleased.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

The next thing we tried was the Moroccan Stew. The smell was incredible.  It was extremely hearty and looked amazing.  About three bites in however the spice was over the top.  I had to stop eating it because it was so spicy hot.  This would certainly be something I wouldn't order again.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Our next adventure was the Gardner's Pie.

Well, I had high hopes for this one but again, I was disappointed.  The potatoes were loaded with an onion puree that over powered the entire dish.  Then the carrots on the top were almost raw.  It did not make for a pleasant experience.  we ended up tossing the whole thing.  :(

Finally we got to the Quinoa Stack and it just didn't look right.  We decided not to eat it.  I contacted the company to let them know about the quality of the food we received and they were amazing. The founder herself contacted me and we spoke on the phone.  She offered me a full refund on my order which I accepted and she included my choice of anything on the site to test out.  I opted for some chili and another go at the Mac Attack.  This time I'll heat it in the microwave and hopefully it will be better.

I really love the concept behind this company and with this personalized dedication to quality and customer service I believe they will go far.  If you have a chance, head over and check out Mama Sezz. I highly recommend them!

Our last recipe with Purple Carrot is the Herbed Barely Bowl.

So let's get started.  The greens that came with this were pretty badly wilted so I just used some mixed green salad from the grocery store.

Here's the whole group.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Here's my wilty salad.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 I had to pick up some parsley from the store as well.  As you can see it was a bit damaged in transit.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 Next we cleaned and cooked up the mushrooms.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 All the while, our barely just cooked and cooked.  It took about twice as long as the card said to become soft.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 We thinly sliced our peppers and cooked them in some sugar water to create a pickling effect.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 Finally we plated.  It was just ok for me.  Hubby really liked it, I wasn't feeling the mushrooms.  They were pretty slimy from the butter and just reminded me of an oyster.  Gross.  :P

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

So pretty much we had no luck with Purple Carrot.  I did try everything that we got from them though. We are still getting our GreenChef meals regularly and I love them. I still take photos and share my meals from them on Instagram and on Facebook.  If you think you'd like to try them here's a link.