Showing posts with label raw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raw. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Sunbutter Bombs



These are SO good! Like healthy little brownie nuggets…no baking, super easy and all natural ingredients!

This recipe is all approximate! I do it by “feel” but this should give you somewhere to start. If it seems too dry add more liquidy stuff like dates, vanilla or agave…if it is too sticky add more dry stuff like ground nuts.

Play with it a bit until the little bombs hold together with out being oily, crumbly or loose.

Sunbutter Bombs


2 cups of nuts of your choice. I used pecans.
1 to 2 cups of pitted soft dates
3 to 4 teaspoons of vanilla
½ to 1 cup of sunflower seed butter
1 to 2 tablespoons of agave syrup
2 to 4 tablespoons cocoa (optional)

* grind the nuts finely in a small food processor or a high speed blender
* move the ground nuts to a separate bowl

For the next steps, start with the smaller amount of each additional ingredient that is listed above…
* Put the dates into the food processor or high speed blender and blend until chopped very small and sort of chewey
* Add the ground nuts to the chopped dates (if you want you can reserve a small amount of the ground nuts to dip the bombs in after they are rolled)
* Also add the vanilla and agave
* Add the cocoa if desired
* Blend all until it binds together…add dry or wet ingredients as needed
* Roll into small balls and dip in ground nuts if desired.
* Refrigerate until ready to enjoy!
…mmmm

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Cold Rescue - Green Smoothie Recipe





















This is a combination of a couple of recipes I found online and just using what I had at home.
I was all sniffly, sneezie and congested and I wanted a green smoothie to help my body fight off whatever was attacking.
This did the trick.

It was soothing and I knew that all of the goodness in these ingredients would be hard at work fighting evil!

Cold Rescue Green Smoothie

1 Ripe banana
2-3 handfuls of frozen green grapes
2 large kale leaves, with the stems
2 handfuls of butter lettuce (or any other leafy green you like)
Finely grated fresh ginger to taste (ginger is strong so start with a little and build up)
Just enough water to make your blender work

Blend it all until smooth and pour it in a pretty, colorful cup to lift your spirits!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Food Art - Dessert Flower

A dear friend of mine was lucky enough to have this thoughtful dessert display created especially for her...while she was on holiday in Greece, no less!

Just shows you how simple ingredients can be arranged in a supremely unique way.

Honor yourself with pretty things.

Handmade Raw Vegan Organic Chocolate Bar - Gnosis

Wow!
This special chocolate was brought to our attention by a thoughtful shop owner in New Canaan, Connecticut. What a treat.

The box packaging was so wonderful...like opening a little gift!
There were other flavors but we only tried this one.
The company mission and literature were so positive and full of love...


Why Call it "Gnosis?"
(no'sis) n. [Greek for knowledge] Knowledge of the Heart, Experiential Knowledge of Truth

Raw Chef Certification Class with Alissa Cohen

My husband, Steve, attended this Raw Chef certification class as a kind of re-entry into civilian society after his year in Afghanistan.

We all went up to Maine together and enjoyed wandering around after his classes.
What a beautifull area.

He enjoyed the classes and meeting many wonderful people.
We benefited with yummy, decadent, raw treats!

Vegan Caesar Dressing - Recipe

We visit a veg cafe (Native Foods in Palm Desert, CA) while visiting my parents and one time they had this recipe in their newsletter menu.

We tried it and LOVED it!!

Thought I would pass it along.

Let me know what you think...
Enjoy!

Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce - Recipe

I have NEVER liked bell peppers!
I don't like the way they taste or smell.

In fact, it is sort of a standard statement from me when ordering in a restaurant ..."no onions or peppers, please"...just automatically.
So you can imagine my utter surprise when I fell completely in love with a recipe that has peppers as one of it's main ingredients!

Shocking.

I actually like it so much I took a break halfway through writing this blog post to go whip up a batch...
can you say compulsive? It was worth it.
I stumbled upon the recipe online and it intrigued me because I haven't been able to eat dairy products for a while due to food allergies.

It is called "Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce" and you would NEVER, EVER know that it has no dairy and is actually a raw-vegan recipe.
We dipped chips in it, poured it over rice and my son had it with chicken...at different meals. He actually packed it in his lunch himself!

Click the link below to see a short video on how easy it is to make this and to get the recipe...

The wonderful creator of this recipe is Kristen Suzanne, a Raw vegan chef, author and teacher. You can visit her website for more information. http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/

Check out her books too...amazing, live, healthy, positive ideas!
Enjoy!

And please let me know what you think about this...

Palm Greens Cafe - Restaurant

A great find on one of our trips to visit my parents.
When we travel, I always google the area for new healthy restaurants and cafes...places we can eat with our personal food choices and multiple food allergies.
I have spent many, many years in Palm Desert and Palm Springs but this was a new find for me.
Lunch at The Palm Greens Cafe was such a treat that we went back two days later for dinner!

There were many organic/vegan/vegetarian/gluten and dairy free options...from stir-frys to wraps to blueberry pancakes. I was even able to have have pizza! The best part was an amazing vegan ranch dressing that would fool anyone.
If you are ever in the area...I highly recommend it. It is a small unassuming place and the food was really good.
Palm Greens Cafe
A Natural Alternative
611 South Palm Canyon Drive, #6
Palm Springs, California

760-864-9900
www.palmgreenscafe.com

Righteously Raw Chololate Bars

I choose not to partake in conventional dessert...loaded with fat, dairy, refined sugars, bad oils, etc...but I do enjoy raw, live treats, made with real food.

A raw foods chef and teacher (Kristen Suzanne) turned me on to these beautiful raw chocolate bars and I wanted to pass along the gift.
I tried the Righteously Raw Caramel...which I LOVED
and the Righteously Raw Maca...which I really liked
I found them at Whole Foods and a local natural foods market while visiting my parents in Palm Desert, CA.
I visited their website and was really inspired by their mission and story. Check it out...
Enjoy!

http://www.earthsourceorganics.com/index.php

Pasta Sauce Fix Up - Tip

I recently made some pasta for my family and did a little alteration to the store bought red sauce.
My son doesn’t like chunks of tomato in his sauce so I decided to blend it to make it smooth.
While I was at it, I thought it was a good opportunity to add some nutrition.
I peeled and rough cut a couple of raw zucchinis and threw them in the blender too. I added some fresh garlic and some more fresh herbs. Once blended it was smooth and creamy and pretty pinkish-red color.
It almost looked like a Vodka Sauce.
Because he is really open to eating healthy foods (if they taste good) I told him about my additions. He thought it was so cool because he didn’t taste the zucchini but still got all of the nutritional benefits.
He isn’t a fan of zucchini on it’s own, so this was a great way to get him to eat…
and most importantly, enjoy it!

Carrot (Pulp) Cake - Recipe

We love to juice!
Anyone that has juiced carrots knows that you end up with a humongous amount of pulp/fiber.

We didn't want to through away it's goodness so I hunted for some easy recipes to utilize it.
I found one for a raw carrot cake type thing...it was amazing!

A bit more like pumpkin pie and completely decadent.
Throw all ingredients in a food processor and press in a pan.
See the link below for the forum that had the recipe we use.

After a bit in the fridge...
this is what you end up with!
Yes, that is raw carrot pulp!

(Forum post #1 by sunshineandstars )
We added a vegan (un) cream cheese frosting...recipe also found online.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Dairy-Free Cheddar Cheeze Dip - Recipe

So I will start by saying that I am truly sorry that I can't give credit where credit is due. I found this recipe somewhere and for the life of me can't remember where. I searched online and didn't come up with anything. If this is yours, please let me know.

With that said, this is one of my favorite raw recipes!!!!

It is so thick, creamy and cheesy
super easy to make
non-dairy, raw, vegan...
Amazing!

We use it as a dip, a spread, a topping...whatever.
When I bring it to parties I am ALWAYS asked for the recipe and the funny thing is, I don't even like red bell peppers! I think it is a texture thing for me. When they are all mashed up in something like this, I don't mind the taste.

I have tried substituting other nuts but it wasn't the same.

Let me know what you think.

Cheddar Cheeze Dip

1/2 large red bell pepper
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Blend all ingredients  in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy.

Dip and enjoy!
....mmmmmm

Juice Recipe - Valentine's Fruit Punch

A happy accident...

Last Valentine's Day Steve whipped up this random juice.
We simply used what felt good and what we had in the fridge.

The result tasted like sweet fruit punch and was very pretty.
The perfect color for Valentine's Day.

This recipe makes a lot...
about 4 large glasses to share!

Valentine's Fruit Punch
1-2 heads of romaine lettuce
1 lemon
3 red beets
5 or 6 apples
1 pear
1 inch of ginger
half a cabbage (we used napa)
half a cantaloupe

wash well and then run all through a juicer...

Pour and enjoy!

Let me know what you think.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Sun Butter Cups - Recipe


OMG!

These were so good!

I waited to post this recipe until I had made it a few times...
thinking it was a fluke that they tasted so good.
No way could these be "safe" for us.

They were actually better each time!

This is our altered recipe, due to our food allergies.
Try it...see what you think.
They are super easy and can be ready for a party or special event in a short amount of time.

We have plans to try different fillings...
Raw caramel? Mint? Berries?

Sun Butter Cups

This recipe looks long but it is so easy!
Once you do it once you might not even need to look at this again.

1 to 1 1/2 cups of sunflower seed butter
1/3 cup organic powdered sugar
2 to 2 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
10-14 paper or tin muffin cups

Melt about 1 1/4 cups of the vegan chocolate chips...90 seconds - 2 minutes on half power in the microwave or use a pot on the stove top. Stir. Be sure not to burn the chocolate.

Using the back of a spoon, press a thin layer of chocolate into the muffin cups... along the bottom and into the groves of the sides, stopping about half way up. If you want taller cups bring the chocolate higher up the sides. We preferred a thinner layer of chocolate to a thick one.

Don't expect them to be "perfect"...have fun, get messy.
They will taste good and some of the rouge chocolate will break away later, when you remove the muffin cups.

I placed my muffin cups on a cookie sheet or platter for easy transport in and out of the freezer or fridge.
Place the chocolate muffin cups into the freezer or fridge to harden.

In a bowl mix the sunflower seed butter and salt.
Fold in the the powdered sugar, breaking up the clumps as you go.

Make sure the chocolate cups have hardened. If they have, move on to the next step...
Warm the sun butter filling in a pot on the stove or in the microwave for about a minute. Let the filling sit for a minute.

Spoon the sun butter filling into the hardened chocolate cups, leaving room for the top layer of chocolate.
Place the filled cups back into the freezer or fridge while you prepare the rest of the melted chocolate.

Repeat what you did in step 1...melting the remaining chocolate.
Spoon the melted chocolate over the filled cups, gently working the melted chocolate into all edges.

Place the completed cups back in the freezer or fridge and wait (if you can) for them to set and harden.
Once set, peel the muffin cups off and enjoy!

After, I stored mine in the refrigerator and they kept for several days.
We couldn't tell for exactly how long because everyone ate them!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Dairy Free, Homemade, Raw Ice Cream Tip

After giving up conventional desserts about 8 years ago
and then discovering an allergy to dairy products,
I just figured my ice cream days were over.

Then I discovered raw ice cream! Yea!
By adding a few extra natural ingredients,
you can turn almost any smoothie
into creamy, delicious, decadent raw ice cream.
The best thing would be to google “raw ice cream recipes” for specifics
but most of them simply add coconut oil, young coconut meat and sometimes nuts
to a fruit smoothie type thing.

Throw it all in the blender and blend till smooth.
Then you chill it in a bowl in the fridge.
Later you can add things like vegan chocolate chips, fruit or chopped nuts.
An ice cream maker isn’t imperative
but it does help with the consistency when freezing.
I picked up an “out of the box” Cuisinart model for about $30
at a national bed and bath store.

I just load the chilled mix into the frozen bowl,
turn on and wait about 30 minutes.
Just think, in the time it takes to clean up the kitchen after dinner,
you could have a custom blended, healthy raw treat
that you feel good about putting in yourself and your family!

I store the bowl from the ice cream maker in the freezer
so that it is always ready to go!
If you put it in a plastic bag
it won't get frostbite.

Spreading the Word!

New calling cards are on the way...Yea!
I am so excited to be able to share what we have learned.

Posting on a blog will be much easier than responding to individual recipe requests via email!

Having everything in one place where people can visit, at their convenience, is a wonderful thing.

My wish is that this blog helps others to not feel so helpless when it comes to food issues.
I also hope that we enable people to feel empowered and grateful for the abundance they have.

Juice Recipe - Tropical Sunrise

.....mmmmm

Steve whipped this refreshing juice up one morning
just pulling from what we had in the house

The color was amazing...it almost glowed!

One sip and I was transported to a sandy beach on a lush island...
all that was missing was a fancy glass and an umbrella.

It was sweet and  tropical...
it sort of had a Pina Colada flavor.

I have an allergy to pineapple, so discovering a tropical flavor like this (without pineapple) was a treat for me.

Tropical Sunrise Juice

6 Carrots
2 Apples
1 Pear
1/2  Cantaloupe
1/8 Watermelon
1 inch of fresh ginger

Run all the goodies through a juicer.
Pour and enjoy!

Let me know what you think!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Semi Raw Vegan Homemade Brownies

Treats we make to share with friends...
no wheat, no eggs, no dairy, no peanuts.
They always get a big "thumbs up"!

I think this is a great recipe to start out with...
tastes amazing and begins introducing you to the wonderful world of "raw foods".
I can't remember which books
some of this came out of..
so I apologize that I can't give an accurate reference.

Vegan Black and White Brownies:
* 2 cups pecans (or any nuts you like)
* 2 cups dates pitted and soaked in water for 5-10 min.
* 2/3 cup raw cacao powder (available at Whole Foods or health foods stores)
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* pinch of sea salt

Blend dates in a food processor or high speed blender till a paste.

Separately grind nuts in a blender or chopper. Mix all ingredients in a bowl with your hands and press in a glass pan. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to set up.

When set, cut into squares, remove from pan and place on a platter, top with the frosting below and drizzle with the chocolate syrup below.

The chocolate syrup turns into a shell when refrigerated! yum

Frosting:

“Pamela’s Products” Vanilla Frosting Mix (available at natural food stores or Whole Foods)
I use Earth Balance in place of the butter to eliminate the dairy.
Just follow the package directions.

Chocolate Sauce:

½ cup Raw Cacao Powder (available at Whole Foods or health foods stores)
¼ cup Coconut Oil
¼ cup Agave syrup
mix by hand in a small bowl till smooth
* great on any dessert!

* Note: I did non create these individual recipes
but I did combine them to make these yummy treats.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Vegan, Dairy Free Mozzarella Style Shreds - Daiya

So I already posted about the cheddar flavor shreds from this company,
a nice option...

But yesterday, I tried these...the mozzarella style

I think I'm in love.

I made a little toaster pizza type thing
using my "safe" sliced bread
some tomato sauce
and these shreds...
yum!!

and that coming from a recovering cheese addict.

They look a little weird, sort of ruffled
but when I took a bite, the texture was like dairy mozzarella.
Creamy, stretchy, smooth.

Today I took two "safe" pumpernickel type bread rounds, toasted them with the mozzarella type shreds and then topped it with some cool, fresh, smashed avocado...with a little nutritional yeast mixed in...
it was delicious.

But the BEST part was that it was allergen free for me.
That is a true gift.

Let me know if you try them...

Dairy, lactose and casein free,
Gluten and soy free,
Cholesterol free.
 

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Welcome

As a labor of love, I created this blog to help others move easily along the path of food choices, based on dietary restrictions...due to medical needs or personal choice.

A little over a year ago, my then 9 year old son and I were both diagnosed with multiple delayed reaction food allergies, and while not life threatening at this moment, they have caused us to alter our lifestyle and food choices dramatically.

Everything is different.

Traveling, parties, events, celebrations, picnics, school lunches, snacks...everything.

In our case, it has been, for the most part, a blessing in disguise. It has caused us to look at our eating patterns and change our bad habits. It has also filtered into the rest of our family and beyond.

I hope to share our discoveries and knowledge in an effort to help others in our situation.

It's not the end of the world...and we are not alone!

Till next time...
Pam