march kitchen madness

i've had a lot of energy in the kitchen lately, which seems to be common for me this time of year. it was five years ago this month that i finished up a vegan cooking class and decided to "go veg". maybe it's the promise of spring that gets me motivated. who knows, but i'm going with it!

on instagram i've been sharing many of my creations. it's just easier to post there, but the downside is i can't go into too much detail. so i thought i'd do a little round-up here in case you wanted to try something i posted.

1 // banana soft serve. this stuff never gets old. (actually, it does. ha! we go through phases with it.) this time i added peanut butter and raw chocolate and the taste reminded us of turkey hill peanut butter ripple ice cream. mmm! cold bits of peanut butter in frozen chocolate creaminess...

banana soft serve:

blend 3-4 frozen bananas in a food processor until smooth and "fluffy". you may want to let the bananas thaw about 15 minutes and you'll probably have to stop a few times to scrape down the sides. once a frozen banana flew up and broke the lid right off my old food processor, so now i hold the lid down tight and let the bananas thaw so they're not so hard. there are also gadgets that make banana soft serve (like this one) but i haven't tried them so i'm not sure how well they work.

2 // raw chocolate peanut butter cookies. john is a sweets lover and wants dessert every night. this week we said no to the processed vegan cookies at the store and i had to hear about it every night. lol, not really. i like to make john treats - he's so appreciative and sometimes cleans up my messes. yesterday i came home to a spotless kitchen, floors and all! i say that deserves dessert.

these cookies were his idea, actually. i used to make raw chocolate chip cookies with a cashew base, and john suggested i try a similar approach with peanut butter and chocolate. (noticing a trend here?=) so what i did was grind one cup raw cashews in the magic bullet, then stirred in peanut butter, melted coconut oil, raw cacao powder, liquid vanilla and maple syrup until a nice dough formed. when i make these again i will take note of the exact measurements and share.

3 // liquid vanilla. i am a huge vanilla fan. when i was a teen i wore vanilla-scented perfumes. a few years ago i got very angry with john for bringing me peanut butter fudge and not vanilla (do you even know me?!). tired of paying $12 for a bottle of organic vanilla extract (the conventional stuff is usually made with corn syrup, even the ones labeled pure), i decided to make my own vanilla flavoring. with the help of sweet gratitude raw dessert book and my vitamix, i easily whip up liquid vanilla in a ratio of 1/3 cup water to 1 vanilla bean. it stores for weeks, even months in the fridge.

4 // chocolate and coconut cream swirl. i've shared this recipe here before. the chocolate cream is made with avocado and the coconut with meat from young thai coconuts. they used to be hard to find, but now our local produce outlet is selling young coconuts. i make both creams in a high speed blender (the magic bullet or vitamix) but i'm thinking the food processor might do the trick.

i hope you all have a very sweet weekend. daylight savings time is here!!!

xoxoxo

raw raspberry brownie bites

to make raw brownies you simply need five things (dates, nuts, cocoa/cacao powder, salt and a food processor) and not even five minutes. they are one of the easiest desserts to make. you blend the ingredients for about 30 seconds, press them into brownie shapes and they're ready.

this time we added raspberries to snaz them up a bit. adding berries and liquid vanilla made the batter a little wet, so we dehydrated our brownie bites a few hours.

as raw brownies are very rich, bite-sized pieces are the best way to serve them, in my opinion. (they're actually more like a delicious nutty fudge than a brownie, but a little less dense.)

raw raspberry brownie bites
(makes about 18-20)

1 C medjool dates
1 C raw nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, or a mixture)
1/4 C cacao powder
8-10 raspberries
3 tsp liquid vanilla*
generous pinch of salt

in a food processor, blend until batter holds together when pressed. shape into bite-sized squares.

*liquid vanilla is made by mixing three vanilla beans, chopped, with one cup water in a high speed blender. in this recipe, lv can be replaced with vanilla extract or scraped raw vanilla bean, to taste.

***

i hope everyone is having a nice weekend. we're snowed in (but not really) and i'm loving it.=)

this week i...

enjoyed cooler days with the trio in the "treehouse"...

the cat goes down the slide!

...took lots of wagon walks...

 

my childhood friend's chickies, bubby and evolet

and their gymnast cat, oscar

...finally let the munchkins explore my "white car"...

 oscar included

...ate lots of tasty salads with raw eggplant bacon...

 green leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green onion and eggplant bacon with leftover nacho cheeze made with white bell pepper and cashews

 

 green leaf lettuce, heirloom cherry tomatoes, cooked quinoa, and raw eggplant bacon with extra-virgin olive oil, himalayan salt and pepper

...was rustled out of dreamworld each morning by this lil' piggy...

new nickname, claws

...started the last book of the lovable anne of green gables series...

  my mom gifted me with the collection=)

...henna'd my gray hairs

and received my new specs in the mail.

plastic aunt jemima head-wrap

...made rawlmond joys and peanut butter cups

yummy

and took photos only with my cell, just because. 

complete the sentence, if you'd like...

this week i __________.

homemade raw chocolates

what does this one remind me of?

the partridge that appears about 12 seconds in.

=)

still got chocolate on the brain...

tonight i whipped up my adaptation of Raw Goddess Heathy's Nutless Chocolate Creme from her Just Desserts ebook, topped with blackberries and Carmella's Whipped Cream. so good!

 

then i remembered i had chocolate chips in the freezer!

 

even better!

Chocolate Dream

(edited) 

adapted from Heathy's Chocolate Nutless Creme

(serves 2)

one ripe large avocado

1/4 C. agave

2 Tbsp water

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

5 heaping Tbsp cacao powder

in a high speed blender, blend first five ingredients well. add remaining ingredients, and continue to blend until smooth. chill for a few hours before serving.

tastes delicious plain, or topped with bananas or berries!

Whipped Cream

(1/3 of Carmella's recipe)

1/3 C. cashews

1/3 C. coconut milk (you can blend 1 part dried coconut flakes to 3 parts water)

1 T agave

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

2 T+2 tsp coconut butter/ melted

1 tsp non-gmo soy lecithin*

*lecithin is derived from soybeans and acts as an emulsifier. look for lecithin (preferably non-GMO), in granules or powdered form, at your local health food store. if using granules, make sure to grind them up in a high speed blender of coffee grinder.

blend all ingredients except lecithin until smooth. add lecithin and blend until thoroughly mixed. set in fridge for about 1 hr.

enjoy! 

♥

xo

happy v-day!

still mastering the art of chocolatery...

(yes, choc-la-tree. it's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?=)

for valentine's day i made johnny boy his favorite - rawlmond joys and peanut butter cups. 

♥

my chocolates always taste scrumptious, but sometimes look sad. 

 

this reminds me of a "gift" a dog might leave you. =)

making chocolates is easy. making chocolates look pretty, is not.

the teacher in me wanted to post these pictures. i'm big into celebrating small accomplishments. baby steps. like praising a child's story, though most words are misspelled. (as opposed to my former principal, who asked me to take a paper down from the wall because it had a few misspellings. we're talking first grade here! of course i left it right where it was. and i eventually left that school right where it was. =)

so i'm posting this to praise my efforts in creating raw, animal-friendly chocolates for my loved ones, and to inspire you to celebrate your small accomplishments. =)

and when life hands you funky chocolate....

make chocolate chips!

♥

wishing you a sweet and chocolatey day!
xoxo
♥

raw chocolate

Carmi's Dark Chocolate

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 cup cacao powder

2-4 Tbs maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk ingredients together until smooth. Add in fruits and or nuts of choice. Pour into mini silicone molds or paper lined muffin tins. Chill in the fridge until firm.

*i halved the recipe to get the amount shown above - enough for dipping and one chocolate in a muffin cup with goji berries, cashews and walnuts. next time i shall double the recipe!

~*~

 did you know that cacao and cannabis are the only plants known to contain cannabinoids? these natural chemicals that are also found in our system lock into receptor sites in the brain to make us feel elated, or "high".

cacao and cannibus make me happy, and i'm not ashamed to admit it. =)

 these blogs also make me happy. you should check them out.

http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/

http://rawgoddessheathy.blogspot.com/

http://therawjournal.blogspot.com/ 

http://kubiclekitchen.blogspot.com/ 

 

have a happy weekend!

=)

peanut butter cups

makes 12 mini cups

(i found this recipe here)

1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter + 2 Tbsp to add to chocolate (i like 365 brand but any natural brand will work)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp natural vanilla extract
pinch sea salt

line mini muffin pan with 12 mini cupcake holders.

mix PB, vanilla, salt (i like 2 pinches, the saltier it is the more it tastes like Reese's to me), then add powdered sugar. roll mixture into 12 balls (i weigh mine out to 15 grams on a scale), place on waxed paper, and set aside.

melt chocolate in a double boiler, stirring often. add 2 Tbsp PB and mix well.

pour 1 tsp chocolate mixture into liners and spread to the top of the liners, coating entire inside (i use a new cheap paint brush but you can use the back of a spoon). place in fridge to harden.

when chocolate has hardened, re-roll pb balls and place in cups. re-rolling warms the ball and allows it to spread nicely into the cup.

spoon about one tablespoon chocolate on top to cover (more or less, depending on your muffin cups). refrigerate or place in freezer. ready to serve when top hardens. (it's best to eat them straight out of the freezer or fridge since the chocolate tends to stick to the paper at room temp.)