Cacao Cups

5 Dates

2 Scoops Cacao Protein Powder from Garden of Life

1/2 C Agave

1/3 C Melted Coconut Oil

Pinch Sea Salt

Optional Topping Ideas:

Golden Raisins

Hemp Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds

Cacao Nibs

Goji Berries

If you take the top 5 ingredients and work them in a high speed blender - pour them in little cups - and then freeze them for an hour you have a sweet treat that is packed with plant protein!  YUM!

It's hard trying to get into the Thanksgiving and Christmas Spirit the older I get.  With so many other things on our plates and with not having children around it switches up the holidays.  BUT...this is the last Thanksgiving I will be without a child around...STOP...it's NOT what you think!  I'm still without kids by choice...but...I'm going to be an Aunt!  Woot!  I have to say I am excited to be an Aunt.  Just because I don't want kids of my own doesn't mean I don't like kids!  I do!  I'm happy for my sister!  I am sure I will have more updates in the coming months!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Vegan MoFo ~ Presidential Treatment?

Today's Vegan MoFo Prompt is: Barack Obama is coming over because he knows you make awesome vegan food.  Well, I do NOT get political on this blog but just for fun I figured I would play a long and show you some of the ideas I would consider.  Because I am fickle person I most likely wouldn't do actually courses but give the guests multiple items to choose from.  No matter who your guests are they have to have munchies upon arrival so I was thinking Watermelon Candy (which is dehydrated watermelon), BBQ Tofu Jerky, possibly some Raw Vegan Pepperoni, and small raw vegan wraps with a seasoned Nut Meat.

I know the President has Irish Ancestry so I would do a version of Vegan Irish Stew, of course.

We can't forget about Buffalo Bites!  Some might call them Raw Vegan Buffalo Wings.  It's basically a spicy coated cauliflower appetizer with a lovely dipping sauce.

There has to be at least 1 (or 5) different salads to choose from.  pictured here is one of the favorites I have made in the last year...an Apple, Celery, Walnut with Spicy Dijon Mustard Dressing.

More dipping foods are a MUST!  So most likely raw vegan veggie wraps with a peanut dipping sauce would be in order.

We can't stop with salads - there MUST be soups, too!  One of my faves over the last 12 months has been the Creamy Hemp Beet Soup...both raw and vegan, too!

Staying with some raw options - there has to be a raw pasta in there somewhere, too!  How about zoodles with a Tomato-Peanut Sauce?

They will NOT leave hungry, that is for sure!

Let's not forget about the various side choices!

Marinated Tomato and Cucumber with Hemp Seeds, Swedish Green Beans with Garlic and Herbs, a Dijon Mustard flavored Quinoa (or Cous Cous) dish with veggies, Kale Chips of some kind (because we all know how the First Lady brought Kale Chips to the mainstream), Yellow Grits topped with Brussels Sprouts, Hot Sauce, and a vegan sour cream, and one of my name favorites Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Spinach topped with a Vegan Cream Sauce (recipe coming soon)!

And the Desserts & Sweets!

Personal Cherry Pies, Raw Vegan Mint Chocolate Cookies, Raw Vegan Cacao Pistachio Freezer Fudge, Coconut Covered Protein Power Balls would be another good one, and of course different kinds of Vegan Ice Creams...one of which you can see in my blog's header banner.

Those are just a few ideas I have off the top of my head.  I would have to include my version of Dreena Burton's Quinoa Hummus Casserole, tho, that might be one of my personal faves to date!

Smooth Vanilla Nice Cream

Recipe:

1 C Cashews

2 tea Smooth Vanilla OPP

1 tea Vanilla Extract (optional)

1/4 C Agave

6 T Coconut Milk

How's THAT for, short, sweet, and to the point?

Yup!  The recipe upfront!

Now I should probably tell you a little bit more about this recipe and raw vegan vanilla ice cream adventure, right?  Well, here goes!  After soaking my cashews for an hour or two I put all of the ingredients you see above in my Vitamix and blended on high for 30 seconds.  I then froze the 'ice cream' and dished it up and into my lovely bamboo bowl and topped with Jem Organics Maqui Camu Super Berry Butter.  This was off the charts AMAZING!

I used Garden of Life's Smooth Vanilla Organic Plant Protein in this recipe, too!  The vanilla aroma upon opening the bag was pure HEAVEN!  It added a great deal of flavor and I think next time I might add more to it, too!  YUM!

Raw Vegan Pepperoni

I had a few adventures or 'journeys' in the kitchen this weekend.  This was one of them!  I wanted to try and make Raw Vegan Pepperoni.  I think I was fairly successful!
Here's the recipe:
8 Salted Sun Dried Tomatoes
2 Tomatoes
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Flax Seeds, Ground
1 T Hemp Oil
1/2 tea Original GoL's Raw Protein

After combining all ingredients - while leaving about a quarter of the ground flax for sprinkle - this is what it looked like while going into the dehydrator.  It was too gooey to flatten at this point so I threw them in the dehydrator for about 3 or 4 hours.  That's about when I took them out and flattened them - they were not as gooey - they were more dough-like at that point.

Here's a pic of when I flattened them.  You can see that the more moist insides smooshed thru and you can see two different colors.  I actually like the two-tone color combo going on here but they weren't done yet.  So I put them back in for about another 4 hours or so.  Of course I flipped them at least once right around that time too.


Tah-Dah!  Here they are!  I have a bowl of them to use throughout the week!  I ended up putting some on my Egg Trick Muffin that you saw yesterday.  I will be using them on salads, too!

If I get brave enough I might try and do another raw pizza which was another kitchen fail last week.  I didn't blog about that fee-ask-co but I instagrammed it!

I'm really trying to think outside the box with my dehydrator creations and I think I accomplished that with this one!

Healthy Vegan Friday's Participant

Raw Vegan Eggplant Tips (with Marinade Recipe)

A raw vegan answer to 'beef tips' or 'steak strips' that I made in my dehydrator over the weekend.  It was fun to make and I'm saving them to use on salads and some stir fries this week!

Recipe as follows...

1 Eggplant

 soaked in...

1/3 C Balsamic

1 T Hemp Oil
1 tea (or more) Kelp & Cayenne Seasoning/Mix
1/2 tea GoL's Perfect Food Energizer

After soaking the eggplant strips in the mixture for about a half hour I saved the marinade and will be using it on other things this week.  I put them in my dehydrator for about 6 or 7 hours at about 115 to 118 degrees.

I chose this GoL product to add to the mixture because of the 'green' taste to it from some of the ingredients being Broccoli, Spinach, Brussel Sprouts, and more.  Check out the link above for more ingredients in this powerful blend.

Vegan Mofo ~ Super GREENS Pesto

I've mentioned before just how AWESOME our Basil Plants are doing on our Rooftop/Container Garden...well...I was FINALLY able to do something with the FRESH Basil!  I think I will call this Super GREENS Pesto!

Here's the recipe:

1 and a half C Brazil Nuts
2 Handfuls of FRESH Basil Leaves
2 tea Lime Juice
Splash of Grapeseed Oil (I used Wildtree's Lemon Flavor)

1 T Nutritional Yeast

1/2 C Water

Optional - but I used these add-ins pictured above - and they were AWESOME:

1 tea GoL's Wheatgrass Juice Powder
Wildtree Lemon Pepper to taste

You can see my FULL Plate for dinner that night, too!  I had White Rice with Pesto on top, Pine Nut Hummus and Raw Crackers, and mixed veggies!

One of the reasons I LOVE the GoL Wheat Grass is because of this...

Our CERTIFIED ORGANIC Greens are sustainably grown by our family farmers here in the USA. We harvest before the grain buds (to prevent gluten from forming) and then juice at the farm immediately after harvest. Our juice is gently low-temperature dried and powdered onsite locking in its nutritionally dense, organic goodness. The end result is highly bioavailable and many times more concentrated in nutrients, including Chlorophyll, than whole leaf grass powders, putting the GREEN IN YOUR GREENS!†

A Few Happenings & Reviews

I'm attempting to catch up on blogging a bit before my 'hell week' starts next week.  Then I will once again be behind.  Funny how that works, eh!?

Anyhow...I have been munching on a bunch of different foods lately and many of them I have done reviews on or will be doing reviews on SOON.

One of them being the Season Kale Krunch.  I REALLY liked them!  I gave them 5 out of 5 starts over at the Raw Food World.  Read my FULL REVIEW here for the Seasonal Spring Onion Kale Krunch.  YUM!  Tastes like Sour Cream & Onion!!!

Another one of their products I'm super excited about is their dried pineapple!  It's wonderful!  Again...another 5 out of 5 stars!  There is a story that goes along with this product as to why I ordered it!  I originally ordered it for my father and a whole slew of people ended up eating the package!  I've since ordered more specifically for my dad and both times he's LOVED them!  For the full review on the Puckery Pineapple - Click Here!

Eventho I do dry my own things at home I enjoy trying everyone elses, too!  PLUS a lot of the items I have been getting from the Raw Food World I do not have access to locally.

I also wrote up a review about their Cheezy Chipotle Kale Chips.  Since I haven't had the best looking fresh Kale lately or readily available for mass Kale Chip making this was a nice alternative!  Read the full review HERE - Kale Krunch Helps Me on Krazy Days!

In other news I'm REALLY enjoying the books I recently got, too!  So far - out of all of them - I have hit this one up several times.  My goal was to focus on some Breakfast Ideas.  Since I'm not much of a breakfast person I really wanted to push the envelop and jump outside of my comfort zone and try some of them and that's exactly what I did!  Of course I put my own spin on it and wrote about it on The Raw Food World's news site and it was featured under RECIPES.  I called my version Nutty Fruity Breakfast - check that out in its entirety HERE.

I still have so much more to tell you about so stay tuned!

2 Raw Soups - Tomato Carrot & Tangy Tomato Corn Chowder

Towards the end of my Raw Week last week and on to the weekend I decided to try and make 2 Raw Soups.  Some of the Raw Soups I've done in the past have been hit and miss but I REALLY enjoyed BOTH of these two Raw Soups and can't wait to try more!

First up...this Tomato Carrot - Spice Optional.

2 Tomatoes

4 Sun Dried Tomatoes

2 Carrots

1 T Grapeseed Oil

1 Onion

1 Clove Garlic

Optional Add-ins:

Salt & Pepper to taste (I used Wildtree's California Garlic Pepper)
Red Jalapeno Powder
Hemp Seeds/Hemp Hearts

This next raw(ish) soup is a Corn Chowder of sorts with tangy tomato.

2 C Almond Milk (or Water)

2 C Corn

1 Clove Garlic

5 Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 tea Braggs Liquid Aminos

1/2 each of Cumin, Cayenne Powder, Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

This soup is more of a Raw(ish) than actual Raw because of the Almond Milk but you could use water instead...or if you make your own raw Almond Milk, I suppose.  But I did really like the flavor of this one, too!

What kind of Raw Soups do you like?

Raw Tomato Garlic Herb Bread

Continuing on with my almost week-long Dehydrator Journey - I wanted to do a Raw(ish) Vegan Bread.  I was SUCCESSFUL!  Woot!

Here's a photo of the Tomato Garlic Herb "Bread" I did.  I have to say I'm pretty pleased with myself for this one!

This first photo is 'open-faced' sandwich using the finished 'bread' I made.

And here's one with the whole sha-bang!  As you can see I used Mini Zukes with Spinach and sprouts.  I also added some Minced Sun Dried Tomatoes and Garlic Spread to it.

The recipe for the Bread is...

1/2 C Flax Meal (I grinded myself)
1 C Sun Dried Tomatoes (NOT in oil)
5 Mini Tomatoes (such as Cherry or Plum)
1/4 C Sunflower Seeds
1 tea Basil
1 tea Oregano
1 T Minced Garlic

Here's a photo of them ALMOST finished while I was checking on them.  I put 'batter' on a sheet and dehydrated for about 14 hours or so at about 120-ish.

I've tried other 'breads' before and I really didn't like the 'dry' taste - it was too grainy or something...not sure...but these are 'just right'.  I really think it was the Sun Dried Tomato along with the Fresh Tomato, here, that made the difference.

In case you aren't really interested in making this a 'bread'...

You could also break them down into smaller pieces for chips or wedges...or pitas, even.  Dips go GREAT with these!

In this photo I used it to dip some Baba Ganoush.  It was lovely!

C'Mon folks!  Bust out those dehydrators?  Don't have one?  Bake in your oven at a lower temperature!  Who's with me!?

SUBMIT Your Raw Food/Dehydrated Creations on this week's Dehydrator Challenge! 

Lemon Avocado Tahini Dressing & Carrot Slaw

Friday I wanted to do more with carrots so I dug out my Spiralizer and made these spirals and circle slivers.   I made a Lemon Avocado Tahini Dressing for them and ate a bit of it.  It was super tasty.  I wondered what it would taste like if I coated the entire Carrot Slaw with it and put it in the frig over night!  It was AWESOME.  This dressing was MADE for something like this.  I just didn't know it until after I did it, I suppose!  I had so much left that I bottled the rest of it for later use.  As a marinate or sauce I would keep it as-is as my recipe below indicates...it's pretty creamy and thick this way...so I ended up adding just a little bit of water to thin it out for salads.  Either way works well, I think!

Here's what I used in this Dressing I made:

1 Avocado
1/4 C Tahini
1/2 C Water (or more if you like it thinner)
4 T Apple Cider Vinegar
4 T Lemon Juice
2 t Parsely
2 t basil
2 Cloves Garlic
1 T Garden Of Life Perfect Food Raw (Regular Flavor)
Splash of Grapeseed Oil if needed/wanted.

Another thing I wanted to share is that I have been saving all of my bottles and reusing them for my Dressings and Sauces.  This one worked really well in an old Wegman's Brand Salad Dressing Bottle.  I have found I rarely (if ever) buy Salad Dressings for myself anymore since I have been making them all!

Vegan MoFo Coming TO A Close ~ Raw Vegan Swiss Cheese Spread & Altered Framed Art

I've been taking it easy getting back into crafting lately.  I have been working on this upcycled frame.  I used Powdered Chalk blended with acrylic and metallic type paints to get this color.  I painted on several layers.  I also painted right over the glass frame.  No real reason - just felt like it!  On top of the glass I used these embellishments.  I think it would look neat over our faux fireplace mantle for Fall/Autumn.  I bought this frame a while back for a dollar at the Dollar Tree.  I think I bought a few others as well so I will probably end up doing more altered and upcycled art with it.  I've also been into Mixed Media and Art Journaling more lately, too!

Vegan MoFo 2013 is coming to an end.  The last day is Monday which also marks the end of the month.  I will miss it but will continue to post more Vegan Dishes and Recipes here on my site as I did before.  I've meet a few great people thru it this year and I hope to keep in touch with them and their blogs.

As for today's food related post - I decided to try and do a Raw Vegan "cheesy-like" spread.  It ended up tasting VERY good and resembles the flavor of Swiss Cheese.  I would like to try this again and get it more firm to try and slice it for 'cheese slices'.  

Here's the recipe for this one...

Raw Vegan Swiss Cheese Spread:

1/2 C Pine Nuts

1/4 C Hemp Hearts/Hemp Seeds

1 T Nutritional Yeast

1 T Lemon Juice

1/4-1/2 C Water

Splash of Garlic Grapeseed Oil

Pinch Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

The Grapeseed I use is organic and in raw form.  I realize Nutritional Yeast isn't necessarily raw but many raw foodists still use it in their foods.  I think that if I try and dehydrate the spread for a bit it might be able to be sliced but I will experiment with that at some point.  This works well for a dip and/or a spread as it is right now and full of flavor!

Several Recipes & Foods From The Weekend!

I know I am going a little crazy with my posts, today, but I had an awesome weekend and wanted to share with you all!  This is the 3rd and last of my posts for today so be sure to scroll down and see the other two!  This post is specifically about all of the fun foods I made this weekend!

I'm starting off with Jicama Radish Slaw

I have been on a Jicama kick lately and I started off by munching on it stand-alone but then decided to get a bit more creative with it.  Here's what I did with this Raw Vegan Dish!

1/2 Pound of Jicama, Julienned
2 Radishes, Julienned
1/4 C Cilantro
3 T Lemon Juice

Seriously!  That's all!  Totally simple!  Raw!  Awesomely Flavorful!  This is one of my favorite attempts in a while!  I will certainly do this again and soon!

I told Christine I was bound and determined to try a dressing using Jicama so here is what I did and I am pretty pleased with it so far!

1 C Jicama, Cubed
1/2 Lime, Peeled
1 Clementine, Peeled
Pinch of Ginger Powder
1 C of Water
1+ T Balsamic Vinegar

All in my Ninja!  YUM!

Another thing I did this weekend was a dip!  Actually I did a few of them - but this one is an Avocado Tahini Dip...

1 Handful of Spinach
1 Avocado
1/3 C Tahini
1 T Lemon Juice
1/2 tea Cumin
Water to Consistency

This was amazing!  It was Tahini-Rich but I was also able to "Get My Greens On" a little bit!  I could have probably added more Cumin or maybe even some Red Pepper Flakes to spice it up more, too!

For another side dish or even a snack I did these!  I have been wanting to try them for a while and they turned out pretty awesome so I will have to try them again and SOON!  They are Sugar & Spice Pan-Fried Chickpeas!

1 Can of Chickpeas
1 T Wildtree's Butter Flavored Grapeseed Oil (It's Vegan -Flavor comes from a coconut!)
1 tea Wildtree Hearty Oatmeal Mix: Sugar & Spice Add-In
1 tea Agave

Yesterday I found a package of Fantastic Foods Tofu Burger Mix in my Pantry and figured I should probably use it!  It's been there a while!  But I really didn't want to do a Veggie Burger so what I did was Tofu Loaf!  I have been wanting to try one of these and figured I had the time to try one before my husband got home from a weekend in Pittsburgh and Erie with his mom and brother! 

Friday they went to the Pittsburgh Penguins Game and then Saturday they went to visit my mother-in-law's husband who is currently in the hospital out there.

Anyways...Here's what's in this Tofu Loaf:


1 T Wildtree Butter Flavored Grapeseed Oil
1 Onion
2 T Minced Garlic
8-ounces of Mushrooms
2 Carrots
1 Pound of Extra Firm Tofu
1 Package of Fantastic Tofu Murger Mix
1 and a Half C cooked Black Rice
1 Cup Chopped Cashews

(added half way thru baking)
Just enough to top...
Vegan Bread Crumbs
Tomato Soup
Daiya Pepper Jack Vegan Cheese
Vegan Parmesan Cheese

I have to say - this surprised me - I had two pieces yesterday and will have some of the leftovers tonight!  It's jam-packed with protein, fiber, calcium, and much more stuff!  Pretty Good!  I might add some Black Beans next time, too!

AND...finally...

Baba Ghanoush!  Yup!  I FINALLY made it for myself!  I found a nice sized jar of Roasted Pureed Eggplant at Big Lots a while back and wanted to try it in Baba Ghanoush!  I wasn't sure how much to use so I used about half the jar which was about 1 Cup!

Here's that Recipe!

1 C Roasted/Pureed Eggplant
2 T Minced Garlic
3 T Tahini
3 T Lemon Juice

For some reason I thought it was more involved than this!  I started with a recipe online and tweaked a bit based on the Puree.  It was fantastic!

So...what do you think about all of my attempts this weekend?  I'm really pleased at my efforts if I do say so myself! 

Vibrant Vegan eBook - 20 Amazing Raw Vegan Kale Chips Recipes

I don't usually purchase cookbooks (I borrow a lot of them) and I don't think I have ever actually BOUGHT an eBook...UNTIL TODAY.

I found this little gem!

And you know how I have been searching and searching for more ways and flavors of Kale Chips - so - I figured I would buy it!  It was a little over $6 with the tax.  

This really is THE book to get on KALE and KALE CHIPS!  I'm very surprised just how much info is included in it!  It's wonderful!

I am excited to try some if not all of them!  Plus - once I get used to more flavor combos - I'm going to create my own combinations with Wildtree blends and report back!

I'm so happy I purchased this eBook!

If you would like more info on this eBook or to buy it - check out the link HERE.