Raw Macaroons, Raw "Cheetos"

Hello! 


It's been quite a while since I have posted... I have been super busy with work, summer projects, Mackenzie being out of school and I guess just life in general. Next Tuesday Mackenzie and I are headed to Southern California for a 7 day vacation of hanging out Lake Arrowhead and then going to Disneyland... we are both very excited! I can't even remember the last time I took a seven day vacation or got to spend 7 relaxing days with my little girl!

I have been busy trying new recipes too. I stumbled upon these protein cakes on the site Foods of April after reading about the protein ice cream that Heather of Heather eats almond Butter makes.  These are both two of my new favorite recipes. The protein cakes are really good and easy to put your own twist on. What I used was...


1 and 1/2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon apple sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon
splash vanilla extract
sprinkle of stevia


Mix it up and microwave for a minute. They are so good cut in half and smothered with almond butter. They keep well in the fridge too. 


I also made Stacy Neely's  raw "cheetos" but used Kristen Suzanne's cheezy hemp sauce for the coating. Soooo good and easy! Here's how to make them...
Cut cauliflower into florets

Coat with sauce (use Kristen's Hemp sauce or Stacy's "cheeto" sauce {recipe follows})

Dehydrate until crisp... overnight for me.  

Enjoy! 

Stacy Neely Stower's Cheeto Sauce recipe is here...

"Stacy's Fabulouso Cheeto Puffs" and "Spicalisous Nori Nachos"

1 cup sunflower seeds soaked and sprouted
1 c raw soaked cashews soaked
1 c raw soaked almonds
1 big orange
1 cup red pepper diced
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
2-4 Tbsp of nutritional yeast

Process all ingredients and use this as a batter to coat small pieces of RAW CAULIFLOWER. dehydrate at 108 for 24 hours or until crunchy. ENJOY!

I use this same "batter" for the inside of my "Spicalisious Nori Nachos"....except I omit the nutritional yeast and I add cayenne pepper for the SPICALISOUSNESS! Spread batter between 2 layers of raw unroasted nori sheets and dehydrate at 108 for 24 hours or until crunchy. cut into triangles.

I know your family will looooove these!

I also decided to make raw macaroons since I ordered this huge bucket of coconut from Tropical Traditions...

I used...

2 cups shredded coconut from Tropical Traditions

3/4 cup ground cashews

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon coconut oil from Tropical Traditions

small squirt of agave

1/3 cup ground flaxmeal

chocolate chip (to half the batch)

pop into dehydrator...

Then devour!

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend! 

Kombucha... it is multiplying! Heather's Mango Tart

Hello Friends! 


Hope everyone is doing well. The weather here in Northern California has been gorgeous! 


School is almost wrapping up for Mackenzie and I am trying to plan out the summer. I have planned a trip to Disneyland in the beginning of July... we can't wait! I also want to attend the Health and Harmony festival in Santa Rosa, California and the Raw Food Expo in Santa Rosa. Are any of you planning on attending these? Do you have any summer plans yet?


I had posting about making my own kombucha. I love kombucha but it gets expensive at 3.00 a bottle, so I am glad mine has been coming out good. The batch just keeps getting bigger and bigger. The scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) doubles every time you make a batch. I went from one batch...

 to this...

I have been flavoring some with different fruit juices. Yum!

Onto dessert! I made Heather of Sweetly Raw's Mango Tart. The only things I changed were to use apricots instead of raspberries, added raw oats to the crust (I posted about the raw oats here) and I omitted the cocao butter because I didn't have it. 

The mango mix

The crust

Layer of apricot slices

The finished product. Mine did not set as well due to not adding the cocao butter but it still tasted great... as any of Heather's recipes will. 

The past couple days eats have been mostly smoothie for breakfast or whole grain waffles with coconut butter and fruit. 

I have also been enjoying salad with roasted sweet potatoes, beets, onions, and raw corn all tossed in Kristen Suzzane's Cheesy Hemp Sauce. This sauce is good on everything.... use it as a dip or dressing. Yum!

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend! 

Happy Earth Day! Raw chocolate. Manna Bread link :)

Well we are more than half way through the week. Where does the time go? The weather is still cold and windy here in Northern California, it has been a month since Spring began and we have only had a few nice days. I am ready for some nice weather already!


I went for a 9 mile run and packed a little bag of dried fruit to eat along the way if I was feeling tired. Thanks to those who have given me running advice. It was sooooo windy I felt as if someone was pushing me backwards while I was running. 


When I got home I made a smoothie with banana, cantaloupe, a mandarin orange, almond milk, twister powder, ice, huge handful of swiss chard and a few drops of stevia. Yum. It kept me full until lunch when I had a almond butter and honey sandwich on sprouted bread, carrots, and a piece of raw chocolate that I had made last weekend when trying my hand at moonie pies. For the chocolate I used...

coconut butter (melted)

coconut oil (melted)

carob powder 

cocoa powder

agave (to taste)


Sorry I didn't measure anything, just eyeballed it. 

I LOVE carob powder and the coconut butter makes these super yummy!


I LOVE nut butter and honey sandwiches but it did not agree with my tummy. The gluten? I might need to try making lettuce wraps with the nut butter and honey instead. Or... I need to find a raw bread recipe that is not flavored with herbs or onion, you know, a neutral flavor... do you have one you can share with me?


Did you catch my Manna Bread recipe? I have been eating it and it is soooo simple but so good, I love the raisins and nuts and the breads dense texture. You should try it!


Since it is Earth Day I decided to buy myself one of these eco friendly reusable water bottles with filters from Bobble. Today only, for each bottle you buy, get one free. I ordered a few. 


Tomorrow I have a raw spanish "rice" recipe for you that I made for my Spanish meal. 

11 week initiative, day 7. Raw Curry Cilantro Corn Soup & More raw cupcakes!

Happy Friday!


I am so glad the weekend is here and the sun is shining! What are your plans for the weekend? I ordered some raised veggie beds  that I have been waiting to set up so I can plant some veggies. I want to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, beets, potatoes, lettuce, kale, herbs and anything else I can get to grow. 


I think I will take Mackenzie to see the new movie How To Train Your Dragon, and make a much needed trip to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Where do you do most of your shopping? I live in such a remote area that I have to drive about 50 minutes to get to TJ's or WF's. Other things I am aspiring to do... clean my car, long run on Sunday, yoga on Saturday and some cleaning of the house.... save the best for last right? Wrong! :)


Yesterday I made some soup with a few ears of corn I had in the fridge. Here it goes...

Raw Curry Cilantro Corn Soup

3 or 4 ears corn (kernels shaved)

1/4 cup cashews

1 cup water

1 teaspoon garlic

1 green onion

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon tumeric

dash of salt 

handful of cilantro

1/4 jalapeno pepper

Shave kernels from corn cobs.

Reserve about 1/4 cup of the corn kernels for garnish. Blend the rest of the ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor. 

Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining kernels. Optional garnishes are avocado, cilantro or a  drizzle of honey. Enjoy!

After breakfast I decided to make some more raw cupcakes from Shannon's Cupcake E-Book. I made 4 of the Bunny Spice Cupcakes with Nut Butter frosting from the book. So good! These are perfect for me as I love pie spice and nut butter. Perfect! Here they are....

Naked Cupcake...

 Frosted Cupcakes...

One with coconut and golden raisins..

One with walnuts...

and one with pecans...

All yummy! Don't you want to eat one Ellen???

Have you joined Shannon in her quest to get Ellen to eat a raw cupcake? Jump on board, it is so much fun!


Before I get to my eats for the day,I have to update yesterdays... around 10:00 last night I was starving so I made Danielle's microwave banana cake... yum!


For today... after my five mile run I made a huge green juice with romaine, celery, ginger, an apple, and a grapefruit. 

The finished product...

For breakfast I had some mixed fruit (banana, blood orange, strawberries)  topped with cinnamon. 

Lunch was some of the corn soup from above, some tofu and a salad with corn and cherry tomatoes. 

Later I had a raw cupcake and some popcorn at the movie theater that I brought along with me. 

Dinner was kelp noodles with veggies and tofu... I have been on a tofu kick lately. 

Dessert was banana soft serve with a few pecans on top... yummy!

Also, tomorrow is the big weigh in for the 11 week initiative... be sure to come back and check my progress!

Vita Mix... I love you! Raw Brownies and Roasted Butternut Squash soup

When I first started eating raw I was using my regular food processor and blender, which worked okay for most recipes but not great for others. Before long I decided to buy a Vita Mix. I was torn between the Blend Tech and Vita Mix and ended up buying the Vita Mix because I got a good price on a reconditioned model off the Vita Mix website. I am so glad I bought this appliance! If you are going to invest in something to make your raw lifestyle easier and more delicious... get a Vita Mix... YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT! 

My soups are so creamy! Even my favorite cooked soups, like a recipe from Ina Garten that I love, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Curry (recipe below) tastes even better when blended in the vita mix because it comes out velvety smooth.

The raw sweet potato cassarole that I love to make would never get so smooth and creamy in a regular blender. And green smoothies are like having dessert! The greens get blended so well you would never know they were in there if the smoothie were not green!

All of this aside, today I fell in love with my Vita Mix in a whole new way! I am a huge chocolate lover and my favorite non raw dessert is the ooey, gooey brownie! I LOVE brownies and for some reason had not tried to make them in my Vita Mix yet. I have tried in my food processor and the texture was just lacking for me.
Today I tried them in Vita Mix and I am a happy girl... REALLY happy! They are fantastic. Just as good... well, better than the original! Here is what I used...

Raw Brownies

2 cups walnuts

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons carob powder

squirt agave 

9 medjool dates

Blend until smooth, press into tupperware and store in fridge or freezer. So easy but perfectly delicious! 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Curry Condiments

recipe by Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded
• 2 yellow onions
• 2 McIntosh apples, peeled and cored
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 to 4 cups vegetable stock (or water)
• 1/2 teaspoon good curry powder

Condiments for serving:

• Scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and sliced diagonally
• Flaked sweetened coconut, lightly toasted
• Roasted salted cashews, toasted and chopped
• Diced banana

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the butternut squash, onions, and apples into 1-inch cubes. Place them on a sheet pan and toss them with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Divide the squash mixture between 2 sheet pans and spread in a single layer. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, tossing occasionally, until very tender.

Meanwhile, heat the stock to a simmer. When the vegetables are done, put them through a food mill fitted with the medium blade. (Alternatively, you can place the roasted vegetables in batches in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add some of the stock and coarsely puree.) When all of the vegetables are processed, place them in a large pot and add enough  stock to make a thick soup. Add the curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Taste for seasonings to be sure there's enough salt and pepper to bring out the curry flavor. Reheat and serve hot with condiments either on the side or on top of each serving.

This soup is fantastic and comes out very creamy when blended in your Vita Mix! 

Mock Mashed Potatoes, Heathy's Parfait, Pecan Pie, Creamy Corn & Avocado Soup and more...

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a great weekend! I am bit sleepy as I worked until 10:30 last night and it was the first day of my new job. It is always hard to start new jobs but it feels great to be working as a Nurse after going back to school to become one. I am working again tonight but will have Sunday off. Which leads me to ask you... will you be celebrating Easter? My family will be spending the day together and I have been busy thinking of what yummy raw dishes I want to bring. I have decided on these for sure...

Mock Mashed Potatoes 
(adapted from the RAWvolution book)

2 1/2 cups cauliflower
1/4 cup cashew nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
small clove garlic
pepper

Blend everything together until fluffy and smooth. 

Sweet Potato Cassarole

Heathy's Coconut Creme and Fruit Parfait 

It looks fantastic, light and I have almost everything I need in the fridge already... always a plus!

Coconut Cream

Fresh strawberries, diced

Fresh mango, diced

Any other fruit of your choice
Coconut Cream
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups young coconut pulp
(my pulp was pretty firm)
1/3 cup coconut water
1/4 cup agave
2 Tablespoons agave powder (I don't have this so might substitute Lucuma)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy

Thanks for the recipe Heathy! If you have not checked out Heathy's Just Desserts E Book, you really should. It is filled with yummy desserts and is a great price. She also has a new e book on Moon Pies and a contest going on.... click here to check that out.  I would love to be a judge for that contest!

I am also going to make Pecan Pie from the new book I ordered RAWvolution. Great book by the way, really delicious and simple to make recipes. Here is the easy recipe...

Pecan Pie


For the crust:


2 cups raw almonds 
1/3 cup agave nectar


For the Filling:


1/3 cup coconut water
1/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup raisins


Mix together crust ingredients and press into pie plate/ tin. 
Mix filling ingredients and pour into crust. 
Garnish with pecans. 


How easy is that! Only 5 ingredients, that is my kind of recipe. Lots of the recipes from RAWvolution are like that. One of my new favorites books. 

Today after my workout I decided to make some soup. I had a couple ears of corn and avocado that needed to be used so I made this...

Creamy Corn and Avocado Soup

2 ears corn (shave corn from ears)

1 avocado

1 cup water

1 heaping tablespoon miso (optional)

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon coriander

dash cayenne pepper

dash sea salt

1 tomato

garlic (to taste)

Blend in Vita mix or food processor until smooth and creamy. Yummy!


Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

Eggplant Roll ups, Liquid Gold Elixir, Lydia's Organics copycat bars, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Cookies

Another beautiful day here in Northern California! I went for a run this morning with my running buddies. I ran 14 miles and the first seven were uphill, that was my first time running uphill for that long. I am used to doing rolling hills, you know, a little up, a little down, then do it over and over. The rolling hills are so much easier because you actually get to recover a little. The seven miles back downhill was a treat!

Today I have eaten...

Protein shake before my run made with a banana, protein powder and a tablespoon of almond butter.

After my run I had a tall glass of Green Lemonade and some mixed fruit drizzled with cinnamon honey. I used a banana (love bananas!) a mandarin orange, a couple strawberries, and a nectarine. Yum! The cinnamon honey rocks!

For lunch I made a green salad with lettuce, asparagus, carrots, cucumber, some of the thai curry tofu from last night, and drizzled with Natalia Rose's Liquid Gold Elixir salad dressing made of...

1 cup lemon juice

tablespoon garlic

tablespoon ginger 

3 tablespoons Nama Shoya

1 tablespoon raw honey

3/4 cup olive oil

It makes a big amount, so I store it in a mason jar and use it all week.

I used the same dressing to marinate some thinly sliced eggplant and mushrooms and have then warming in the dehydrator.

Here they are all nice, soft and warm...

I spread some pesto on each piece of eggplant, topped with a mushroom...

And rolled them up into little logs. Perfect snack!

Mackenzie and I watched a movie in the late afternoon and I snacked on some nuts while she enjoyed a bag of popcorn.

I started a few things in the dehydrator. I am making raw chocolate chip cookies, which I threw together a recipe based on the ingredients in the cookies I bought from One Lucky Duck, but with several tweaks. I used....

Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup almond meal

1/2 cup buckwheat groats

1 tablesspoon vanilla extract

dash of sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup cocoa nibs

a little less than 1/4 cup agave nectar

I blended the almond meal and buckwheat groats in a food processor then added the agave nectar, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. I stirred in the cocoa nibs by hand and dropped the dough by the teaspoon full onto my nonstick dehydrator sheets. I have then dehydrating at 105 and will remove them when dry on the outside but still chewy inside. 

I also started some more of my copycat Lydia's Organic's bars  but added a couple strawberries and a heaping tablespoon of hemp seeds. I dehydrate these at 105 until totally dry. 

The mixture...

On the sheet...

Remember to score it into bars after about 4 or 5 hours. 

Just for fun... a picture of Mackenzie with the Easter Bunny on Saturday. 

So nice to finally have her not be TERRIFIED of the bunny like she used to be!

Manna Bread, Apple Crumble, Juice & Chocolate Shake recipes

Hello Bloggy peeps!

I feel like I have not posted on here in FOREVER! With my laptop getting fixed, well virus being removed, I have had to resort to using my desktop, which I don't like so much. I like the freedom to be able to move around if I want... know what I mean?

I have a few recipes to share. First, Manna Bread. Have you tried this? I LOVE bread and it is one of the things I can not go without. Raw or not, I have to have it. I saw some manna bread in the freezer section of my local health food store and had to try making my own after hearing rave reviews. So here it goes....

I started by sprouting 2 cups of white wheat berries....

In the food processor, I put a 1/4 cup of each, cashews, pecans and almonds and pulsed until roughly chopped and transfered to a mixing bowl.

I added 1/2  the sprouted wheat berries to the food processor.

and blended until it formed a dough.

I added 1 tablespoon cinnamon and a dash of sea salt and mixed that in. Then I moved the mixture to the bowl of nuts and added 1/2 cup raisins.

Mix well and form into an oval shape on a baking sheet or your dehydrator sheet. You can bake the bread in your oven at 200 degrees for 3 hours or dehydrate until the outside is crisp and inside is still tender, about 7 hours.

With the other half of the dough I processed it with 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning and some salt. I formed an oval log and placed it on the cookie sheet. I chose to bake this batch in my oven at 200 degrees for 3 hours. I have done a loaf in my dehydrator and it comes out perfect either way. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside... YUM!

Yesterday I made some juices... first my Green Lemonade...

Romaine

Dark Greens

Lemon

Apple

Ginger

Pear

Then I made some Carrot Juice with...

Carrots

Apples

Pears

Romaine

Cucumber

Last weekend I made Averie's Apple Crumble with a couple tweaks. It was so good! I took it to my sister's and I swear we could have finished the whole thing ourselves!

I mixed 1/2 cup oats, 5 medjool dates and about 5 dried mission figs, splash of vanilla, dash of pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 cup alond meal in the food processor and pressed into a tupperware container.

I chopped an apple and a pear, with the skin on and tossed with cinnamon, lemon juice and agave nectar.

I then added the apple/ pear mixture to the crust.

The I mixed 1/3 cup oats, 1/4 cup pecans, splash agave nectar, splach of stevia, splash of vanilla and more pumkin pie spice, then topped the apple mixture with the crumb topping.

This is to die for! So yummy and easy to make... Thanks Averie for the recipe, I can't wait to try it with other fruits... strawberries, peaches, blueberries.... whatever!

Last, but not least, last night I wanted something chocolate, so I made a Banana Chocolate Shake in the Vita Mix. I threw in...

1 frozen banana
1 tablespoon carob powder
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
6 drops liquid chocolate stevia
1 cup rice drink (from Trader Joes, can sub almond or any nut milk)

Blended it up...


Topped with cocoa nibs and a strawberry. Pefect!

Tomorrow I will be sharing with you... homemade Good for your Dog, Raw Carrot Pulp dog treats!