Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Homemade RAW Almond Butter!

 It was a snow day today, and all the kids were home from school, so  I didn't want to go out to get groceries, but I needed something for sandwiches the next day.  (My 9 year old son is fixed on having PBJ sandwiches every day  - except we use almond butter.)  I always used store bought, and suddenly realized I could make my own.

I just put about 1 cup of almonds into the Vitamix Vitaprep 3  dry container and pressed the button. Then I added a dash of salt and a bit of sweetener (this time coconut sugar). It was taking longer than I liked to come together so I added 1 tablespoon of raw coconut oil. Voila!  It is creamy and delicious! And I don't have to scrape the ice and snow off of my car to go to the market! All in all, it took less than 5 minutes! And right afterwards my littlest girls wanted to eat it by dipping snap peas into it. (Their idea.)


Sunday, January 20, 2013

ISHA'S Raw Vegan Chia Pudding

This is FANTASTIC! It is from my dear friend Isha, who is a raw food chef. I swear, this is as simple as throwing some things in a blender, and pouring into a pan! You CAN do this!





ISHA'S Raw Vegan Chia Pudding (a bit altered by Loni, but not much!)

1) Soak 2 cups of Raw Cashews (can be overnight or just a couple of hours - 2 cups raw will yield more than 2 cups soaked, but it is nice to have extra for snacking)

2) Put 2 cups water and 1/2 cup Almonds in blender to make almond milk. Blend and pour out to strain in Nut Milk Bag

3) Put 1/2  Cup Chia Seeds in a wide shallow pan

4) in blender:

3/4 Cup Macadamia
2 Cups Cashews already soaked
1/2 Cup Agave
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Blend and add 2 Cups of the Almond Milk you made
Add 1 or 2  very RIPE Bananas


5) Melt Coconut Butter and Coconut Oil (a bit more oil) until it is a bit more than 1/3 Cup, add this to blender
Sweeten to taste with maple syrup or agave, and a scant tablespoon of lemon juice
(I FOUND I COULD ADD THIS AT THE SAME TIME AS THE REST OF THE STUFF ABOVE AND IT WORKED FINE. THE MAIN THING IS TO BLEND AND TASTE, then add any extra sweetener if needed.)

6) Pour the mixture over the chia seeds in pan, and mix for a while to prevent sticking.  Then let rest 20 minutes. Then transfer to freeze for at least half an hour.

7) Combine 7 tablespoons cocoa powder, a tablespoon of coconut oil, a tablespoon of coconut butter / manna if you have it, and add maple syrup and agave to taste, along with a bit of vanilla extract if you like. Spread this chocolate glaze on top of chilled pudding.

8) Top with dried coconut and goji berries that you have blended into an orange colored powder

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Organic Designer is MY SISTER!

The Holidays bring fun and visits from those we LOVE... in this case my sister Ananda Bhavani, the designer of the organic yoga wear brand called Green Apple Active!  We are always wearing something of hers, and the hoodies and yoga pants are SO comfortable and super soft! I LOVE the colors and designs! To see some of our current offerings of her collections, click HERE....

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

RAW CHEESECAKE for the New Year!




This is the most wonderful thing EVER! My sister Ananda and I made it for our family's holiday gathering and everyone loved it- even the children!



Raw "Cheesecake" recipe:

Crust ingredients:
1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts (or a combination of cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts - anything works!)
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut
1 pinch sea salt
White cheesecake filling ingredients:
3 cups cashews
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup agave or honey
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
Up to a 1/4 cup of water, if necessary to facilitate blending
Fruit topping ingredients:
2 cups frozen strawberries
1/2 cup dates

Directions

How to make this raw cheesecake recipe...

1. Use a cheesecake pan (or just a basic glass brownie pan or pie dish) and sprinkle the coconut on the bottom as your very first layer. The point of doing this is to make it so it's easier to remove the cheesecake and the coconut stops the crust from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
2. Put the macadamia nuts and dates into your food processor. Process nuts and dates until well processed but still airy. Then press the mixture of nuts/dates down into the pan (on top of the coconut you already sprinkled in) to form the crust.
3. Throw all cheesecake filling ingredients into your high-speed blender and blend! Add as little water as necessary to facilitate blending. (Try to add as little water as possible.)
4. Place the above in freezer for an hour or so (so that it will firm up).
5. Meanwhile, throw your strawberries and dates in your high-speed blender. Blend until nice and smooth. Pour this mixture on top of the crust/creamcheese, which was just in the freezer for about an hour. Replace the raw cheesecake recipe back in freezer. Freeze until this raw cheesecake recipe reaches the desired consistency!
6. You can defrost this raw cheesecake recipe for about one hour before eating (or just slice from freezer and enjoy this delicious raw cheesecake)!

STEP by STEP pics:
Note that we were out of macadamia nuts and so we used some pine nuts, and it is fine - even straight almonds/cashews is great!