Raw Brownies

I have a new favorite raw sweets recipe - raw brownies! These have a mere 3 ingredients and are so wonderfully satisfying.

Raw Brownies

1 1/2 cups fresh pitted dates
1 cup raw pecans
1/2 cup raw cacao powder

Place dates and cacao powder in a food processor and process until fully incorporated and a "dough" forms. Add pecans and process until the nuts have the desired sized chunks (the mixture will be crumbly). Press the mixture onto a 6"x9" glass pan (lightly grease the pan with oil - I used coconut) and place in freezer for about 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Store in refrigerator to keep up to 2 weeks - if they are around that long :)

Enjoy these awesome treats with your friends and family.

Sassy Green Juice

This afternoons juice made by my wonderful husband is tangy and sassy! So good!

5 apples
2 lemons
8 cups spring lettuce mix

We are really enjoying this juice. Makes my mouth happy :)

Reboot - Juice Feast!

Yesterday my husband and I started juicing after being inspired by the film Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. You can find the movie on Netflix or Hulu for free and if you haven't seen it I would recommend it. I'm inspired most by how ordinary people (many from my home state of Iowa) took charge of their health. I've wanted to try a reboot for quite some time and never have it a go, until now.

So I'm praying for grace to do a juice feast, as I like to call it. I'm choosing to focus not on what I'm missing out on but rather the abundance of nutrients that I'm consuming as I feast on fresh juice. I haven't determined how long I will be juicing exclusively yet. Just taking one day at a time for now.

So some of the combos we've tried so far and loved are:

Apple, beet, pear, kale & broccoli
Carrot, orange, romaine & cucumber
Watermelon, kale, cilantro
Watermelon, cilantro, lime

We've enjoyed all if these so far. I'll post our favorites and some photos as we go.

Raw Crumble

This crumble recipe is inspired by one introduced to me by my friend Stephanie. The crumble can go over any fruit salad or combined with a good quality yogurt (raw or not, yogurt has wonderful live cultures that make the gut happy. Probiotics are our friends ;)

I always use raw organic ingredients whenever possible.

Raw Crumble
1 cup almonds
1 cup dates
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt (optional)

Process nuts, dates and seeds separately in a food processor to a crumbly consistency. Combine all ingredients in processor and pulse until well mixed. Spoon over your favorite fruit salad. Store in airtight container in refrigerator to maintain freshness.

Watermelon Cooler

Summer is here and I wanted something fast and simple to cool off.  I've never tried a watermelon smoothie before but couldn't resist trying.  Watermelon is naturally sweet and juicy, alkalizing and a staple of a summer diet.  Here is what I came up with:

Watermelon Cooler

2 cups watermelon cubes

1 cup ice

That's it!  Place the watermelon in the blender first.  It's so juicy that you don't need to add any water.  Blend, serve and enjoy.  Its that simple.

This recipe makes one large serving or could be two smaller servings if you are willing to share.

I've been using tiny ice cubes from a special tray I bought that creates little cubes rather than the standard large cubes and I love it.  The tiny cubes blend more easily - my Blendtec can easily handle the large cubes but I like how the littles blend up so quickly and with a lot less noise.

I am committed to consuming a lot more smoothies this summer so I will be posting mostly smoothie recipes for a while.  No doubt I will come across some raw food recipes to post now and then as well :) Here's to summer!!

Mango Salsa

I've been searching for inspiration and found it on Facebook via Beni Johnson - the wife of one of the most influential people of my spiritual life, Bill Johnson.  I've subscribed to iBethel.tv for a couple of years now and recently purchased the Wellness Seminar held at Bethel Church in Redding, CA in which Beni speaks about wellness and advocates raw food.  I don't have much time these days, as usual with full-time school, parenting, providing child care, and now gardening season.  It's important for me to note that every time I take advantage of listening to podcasts or watching streaming sermons online from Bethel it never fails: my life is changed from a deep place in my heart - always.  I NEVER go away thinking, "that was a waste of time!"  

So Beni recently asked if others had had much luck growing cilantro at home.  I never have had much luck myself, but had a nice big fresh bunch of cilantro in my crisper waiting to be used and after a trip to the Iowa City Farmer's Market over the weekend I scored a bag full of hothouse tomatoes and it's time for my first batch of salsa of the season!  I just happened to have a very ripe mango here as well and decided to try out some mango salsa.  Success!

The recipe made exactly enough to fill this cute jar and because I strained the tomatoes first I got another little jar of fresh tomato juice as well.  Mmmm, good!

Mango Salsa

7 small tomatoes, strained
1 medium mango, chopped
1 sweet bell pepper (I used orange to match the mango ;)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder (you can use fresh if you have it, I didn't have any on hand)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

First cut tomatoes in quarters and place in a strainer over a pot or bowl.  Gently mash massage the tomatoes to extract juice and allow to sit for 5 minutes or so to drain.  Pour tomatoes, chopped mango and all seasonings in a food processor and pulse a few times.  Do not over process.  Pour into a jar to use later or a bowl to enjoy now!

This is a sweet and tangy salsa and is delicious with raw tortilla chips or in a raw wrap.  You can also enjoy it with tortilla chips if you aren't eating all raw.  Either way, it's worth giving a try for a new twist on salsa.

Raw 'Cheese' Sauce

Back to my hunt for a raw cheese that feels like a satisfying substitute for the real thing.  This one passed my "kiddo taste test" so it's a winner for the whole family!

I found a recipe for a cooked vegan cheese sauce that used almost all raw ingredients.  I thought, "Why cook it?"  So I modified a few things like using raw bell pepper instead of jarred pimentos and changed up quantities to make a smaller batch.  I used dried seasonings but if you like you could easily use raw garlic and onion (they just don't sit well in my tummy these days so I didn't want to risk it.)

I'd like to experiment with this recipe and dehydrate some on a paraflex sheet sometime but that's going to have to be another day with another batch.  I have big plans for this one.  This is a cheese substitute that fits the bill right now and I don't have to wait hours for (except for the soaking part but I did that this morning and came back to it when I was ready to start the recipe.  Soaking is somehow different for me.)

Raw 'Cheese' Sauce

3/4 cup water
1 cup raw cashews (soaked for 6 hours if possible)
1 lemon, juice of
1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 orange or red bell pepper
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (optional - cut 1/4 cup water if not used)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Add more water if needed for desired consistency.  Enjoy with vegetable crudites or as a sauce over raw noodles.

I haven't had any kind of non-raw cheese substitute that has even come close to this.  I absolutely LOVE it!  Hope you enjoy it, too.