Raw Banana Pancakes

I got a serious pancake craving today. So I turned to my trusty copy of Ani Phyo's Raw Food Essentials  and found her recipe for Brazil Nut Banana pancakes. I modified it for the ingredients I had, and was really happy with the results! I used some delicious coconut nectar for syrup :)

Chia/Banana Pancakes for 1:

1/4 C almond meal (or any other nut)
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 mashed banana
1 tsp cinnamon or mesquite powder
1/2 C> water for mixing

Combine and dehydrate at 105 for 7-8 hours!

Raw Almond Butter Cups

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Valentines Day, and today's post is just bringing you a lil' recipe for some everyday treats you can make in five minutes! These are my favorite raw treats, they remind me so much of Reeses peanut butter cups. They're not to sweet(but adjustable of course!) and not too rich, like so many raw pies and cakes can be. Any raw nut butter will do, next time I will try with coconut butter :) I was really intimidated to try this recipe so here's a step-by-step just for you:

First prepare a batch of liquid chocolate a la Ani Phyo, or just combine one part liquid extra virgin coconut oil to one part ground cacao, I used 1/2 C : 1/2 C. If you live in a warm climate your coconut oil is probably already liquidated, but if you live in a Seattle-like climate just run the jar under warm water a few minutes, it melts quickly. Avoid microwaving. If you're using cacao nibs, which I highly recommend, grind them very well, for at least a minute to avoid graininess. Then sweeten to taste with coconut nectar, agave, stevia, or mesquite(I used 1 T mesquite) and pour half of the mixture into a muffin tin as pictured above. Throw in the freezer for about 5 minutes to solidify the chocolate.

Stir your almond butter with about 1/2 t pink himalayan sea salt and scoop 1-2 t on to your solidified chocolate pieces. Distribute the last of the chocolate over the almond butter and throw in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

What's your favorite raw dessert?

new year

Hola, raw kids :)

I took a few days off and now am back strong with some "Resolutions" for you. After eating all of that Raw Junk Food over the holiday I am ready to reduce some of the high fat and sugar foods in my diet and focus on vegetables and greens as much as possible. It seems everyone in the bloggy world is making resolutions. I admire Tina so much for sharing her sugar difficulties with everyone. As you probably know, many people experience emotional AND physical cravings for sugar that are tough to get over, and I am so happy to see her success!

Some diet/fitness goals for 2011:

1. Eat a salad every day.

You would think I already do this, but sometimes I either crave fat or carbs and choose some 'vegan junk food' instead or simply just want something HOT.

2. Reduce sugar intake.

Sugar shakes me up. Even the natural kind can mess with me and my blood sugar. I would be lying if I didn't say I'd love to eat an entire box of dates in one sitting, so I feel that by purposefully reducing my sugar intake I will also reduce my cravings for it.

3. Make more raw food 'meals,' not just desserts, as to not get bored. 

I got Ani Phyo's Raw Food Essentials for christmas and I plan to use it!

4. Reduce unnecessary fat intake.

Now, I know that fats are essential to life, so I promise to not over-do this. I always have a healthy dose of olive, macademia (I received some Hawai'ian oil from 'santa' this year), or coconut oil on my salad and love to munch on raw nuts and avacados. But just because things are raw it doesn't mean I should exceed the daily normal value. I don't need 10 handfuls of Brazil nuts or 25 raw cookies made of almond flour with cashew icing. This goal is to simply be more mindful, that's all.

5. Fruit for breakfast.

Instead of nothing.

6. No Starbucks food.

My sister and I both work at Starbucks, so this will be a toughie.

7. 30 minutes of exercise a day with one rest day!

My sis and I are both committing to this, you can too!

8. Do yoga once a week.

For some reason this is harder for me than it used to be. I just can't seem to make my mind relax, and that makes me anxious and stiff. I would really like to get back into this. Any tips?

9. Incorporate more fermented foods/probiotics into my diet.


I love Kombucha and Rejuvelac, but I definitely drink a lot more black coffee and tea than I do that. I think that would definitely make a difference in my health and general well being. Any more probiotic food suggestions?

10. Dance, laugh, sing, create, be...


What are your diet/fitness/life goals for 2011?


I raise my green smoothie to 2011, it'll be a good one!

Raw Chocolate Covered Macaroons

Thursday is farmers market day! So I am a happy girl. But before I left, I popped these roonies in the dehydrator. For once a raw treat NOT made mostly of dates and nuts!

My AMAZING Chocolate Covered Nilly Macaroons:
(half batch)
1 C coconut
1/4 C almond or walnut flour
1/8 C coconut butter or oil
1/4 C maple syrup or agave
1 T mesquite powder
1 t vanilla
pinch sea salt

I mixed these all together by hand and then popped them in the dehydrator at 105 for about 2 hours until they were firmed up but still soft on the inside. I then chilled them in the freezer and dipped them a few times in Ani Phyo's liquid chocolate made with real cacao nibs.

I am in LOVE with raw mesquite powder. I was hesitant to buy it because it was $8 for a 16 oz. bag, but I am so glad I did. It has amazing health benefits and is great in oats and with desserts because of its blood sugar balancing properties. I love the taste, so caramelly and smooth, and recommend it blended with dates for caramel apple dip!

These were sooooo foodgasmic :)

Raw Dibs!

You know...these guys ^^ It's hot here...I want ice cream...but I wanted to make them without all the scary, fatty ingredients. There's nothing like MILK INGREDIENTS, MODIFIED MILK INGREDIENTS, SWEETENED CONDENSED WHOLE MILK, SUGAR, WATER, CORN SYRUP, BROWN SUGAR, SODIUM CITRATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE, PALM OIL, UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE, GLUCOSE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, CELLULOSE GUM, CAROB BEAN GUM, CARRAGEENAN, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOUR, COLOUR.

on a hot day, right?

So I made my own version :)

All it is is chopped frozen banana and some of ani phyo's liquid chocolate. Accept, to make the shell thicker and harder I switched the amounts of coconut oil and ground cacao nibs. But if you like a more brittle shell, keep them as they are.

I will be trying this recipe tomorrow to take home to my highly UNRAW family, with blueberries though.

My First Raw Soup

I like hot soup. Hot, steaming, comforting soups that warm your belly and fill you up. I never thought I would like cold soup, I have never even eaten chilled cucumber soup. I just thought it would taste like...COLD, OLD, conventional soup. But today, I made Ani Phyo's Creamy Mushroom Bisque, with a few alterations. And it was AMAZING!!
FOR 1:

Bisque Base
1/4 C Brazil Nuts
1/8 C EVOO<<<<<<<<< I only did this because I ran out of Olive Oil, but it was quite good
1/8 C liquid coconut oil<<
1 t minced garlic
1 T nutritional yeast
3/4 C water

Bisque Toppings
1 C mushrooms, I used white button
drizzles of olive oil
Nama Shoyu or Braggs for marinade
1 T fresh herbs, her recipe calls for Thyme but I used cilantro because it was what I had.

Start by marinating your mushroom pieces. Toss them with oil and nama shoyu. Set aside to marinate at least 30 minutes.

Blend nuts, oil, garlic, salt, and water, and nutritional yeast until smooth. I also added just a single mushroom here for color.

Chill soup for a bit and then pour over toppings, or let it heat up blending if that's what you're into.

It was nummy as hell.