Sweetie Balls

Sometimes the tastebuds just want a good hit of SWEET! These yummy little balls are not only raw, made with nuts and dried fruits, they rank about a 12 on the 10 scale of satisfying that clamoring tastebud. Easy to make, the ingredients are all things that reside in my raw pantry.

In a food processor, pulverize:

1/2 c. organic raisins

3/4 c. walnuts

1/2 c. dried pitted dates (Medjool are perfect for this recipe)

1/2 c. dried apricots, unsulphered (OR, use dried FIGS - my preference!)

2 T. fresh squeezed orange juice

zest from one orange (microplane is the tool to reach for...)

Process a few minutes,until the mixture clumps together. If your fruits are especially dry, you may start the processing, let it set for 30 minutes to soak, then continue to process until it gobs up.

Place about 2/3 c. dry unsweetened shredded coconut on a saucer. Roll the fruit/nut mixure into small balls (about a tsp.), roll in the coconut,

Store the balls in one layer in a sealable container.

Just one of these little sweeties is so very satisfying. Chewy, lovely flavor with a zing from the orange zest.

It's not hard to pass up the chocolate bars with this in hand...honest!

30 DAYS RAW: Rocky Road Ice Cream

A bit of sweet treat goes a long way with a raw lifestyle. This super easy recipe is courtesy of "Rapid Raw", my little go-to recipe book when I need something FAST and EASY!

ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM

In VITAMIX blender:

2 frozen bananas, cut in pieces

1 tsp. raw cacao

1 tsp. raw carob

24 raw almonds

2-3 T. water

The water helps things get going. The VITAMIX plunger is necessary to push the mixture around until it starts to blend. Blend as smooth or chunky as you like.

Serve in a fun dessert glass. Presentation is part of the eating experience - make it special and enjoy every spoonful, S - L - O - W - L - Y.

Treating yourself well is soooo important. Remember, "important" begins with "I"!! I AM WORTH TAKING CARE OF MY HEALTH!

Great Balls o' Fire!

OK, so the song title dates me...but I couldn't resist, 'cuz these balls are so full of ENERGY!


If you've ever indulged in LaraBars, you will appreciate this "recipe". I use the word lightly, because it's more a matter of ratio.

RECIPE: 1 part "wet", to 3 parts "dry".


It was fun to check out a couple of LaraBars and come up with similar flavors. The Lemon bar and the Apple Pie bar looked like a good place to start.

This was a project for the most recent Raw101 Uncooking class I've been teaching monthly over the summer. The topic for this class was "Sweeties". Dividing the students into three groups with three different bags of ingredients/recipes to choose from has been a fun way to do a sort of Raw Iron Chef! The group that got the red bag made Truffles, and these great energy balls.

Each ball recipe began with 1cup of dates pulsed to a paste. Then the 3 cups of dry ingredients are worked in by hand, to form a nutty glob. Bits are pinched off, rolled into balls, then rolled in sesame seeds if desired. Expect to have really sticky gooey hands, but you get to nibble off the bits and pieces that stick to your hands - yum!

In the small balls we used some Young Living Lemon Essential Oil for the lemon flavor along with some microplaned lemon peel. TASTY!! The nuts used were cashews, macadamias and almonds.

The larger balls used a different combination for the 3 c. of dry ingredients: pumpkin seeds, raw sunnies, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamia, almonds, walnuts, hemp seeds, sesame seeds,
diced dried apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of vanilla.

These are great treats, handy for hikers (wrap individually to keep in pockets), great for mid-day pick-me-up, lunch on the go, or whatever excuse you can think of to enjoy a healthy, delish bit of crunch and sweetness!

Strawberry Macaroons!!

Browsing the web for raw recipes can get to be overwhelming - there is so much info out there now, and a plethora of recipes and concepts of raw. But there a few sites I can count on.

One is Raw-mazing, with Susan Powers. Her concepts are sane, her recipes delicious - ranging from simple to elegant - and I always come away from her site feeling good! What more could a raw foodie ask?

I choose her CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY MACAROONS to share at our last Raw Potluck. They were a definate hit, not a crumb left. Easy to make, too!


STRAWBERRY MACAROONS

Dice: fresh strawberries to measure 1 c. - set aside.

Mix in bowl: 1 c. almond flour/meal
1/4 c. raw maple syrup
1/4 c. agave
1/4 c. coconut butter, softened
pinch sea salt
2 c. dried unsweetened coconut, fine shred

Stir in berries. Shape cookies with teaspoon onto fine mesh screen. Dehydrate at 140 degrees 30 minutes then at 116 degrees for 3 - 5 hours. I like chewy macaroons, so I just did about 3 hours. They firm up as they cool, too, so take that into account. While warm from drying, dip in chocolate. Place on waxed paper on try, chill until chocolate sets. Serve on platter sprinkled with more shredded coconut, keeps chocolate from sticking.

CHOCOLATE DIP

Whisk together: 1/2 c. raw cacao powder (or carob, or mixture of both; carob tames the
intense cacao)
1/2 c. agave
1/4 c. cacao butter, melted

Make the chocolate just before ready to dip cookies - if it is made ahead, it can stiffen. Warm gently, or add a bit more agave. (Do NOT add water, it sets up chocolate.)

This recipe made two platters the size as seen in the photo. I left some undipped for those who don't care for chocolate. Philistines.

These are worthy of any fancy dinner or afternoon ladies tea!

Chocolate oo-la-la!

The cabin and farm are hosting the second round of Camp Purple (check it out at Wisconsin Snapshots http://staufferbirds.blogspot.com/ - four homeschooling families totaling 11 punks) for the next two days. The youngest munchkin celebrated her 2nd birthday among friends and family, complete with cupcakes and candles.

Not to be left out of the celebration, my thoughts went immediately to Raw LouLou's recipe for Chocolate Pie. I've just been waiting for a good excuse to make this rich treat - not something I'll be indulging in very frequently. Definately a celebration food.

One of the middle-size punks is a chocolate enthusiast, and helped with the taste-testing of both chocolate fillings. I halved the recipe and made four small pies. I cut one little pie into samples, which were quickly devoured by the gang, pronounced wonderful, complete with requests for recipes.

Without further ado, here is

LOULOU'S RAW CHOCOLATE PIE
PIE CRUST -
*2 cups of almonds
*2 cups of pitted dates
Blend these up together and press in a greased pie dish, or in individual rings/pans to create small portion pies. (note: I didn't grease the pans, turned out fine...the frozen pie came right out of the pan, to be placed on a saucer for slicing.)
CHOCOLATE FILLING
*2 cups of soaked cashews
*12 pitted dates
*1/2 cup filtered water
*2 T cacao powder
*2 T coconut oil
*1/8 tsp Chinese 5-spice (or cinnamon - but do try the 5-spice, it's unique)
Blend all of the above together in a high speed blender (VitaMix) until smooth and creamy in texture then pour on top of the crust.
Freeze to set, and take out of freezer 1 hour before serving. (I just froze them about 30 minutes then took them out to serve immediately.)

I garnished the pie (photo) with a sliced strawberry, tiny mint leaves, and a drizzle of cashew cream (Soak 1 c. raw cashews several hours. Drain, blend in VitaMix with 1/2 c. water. When smooth, blend in another 1 c. water, 1 tsp. agave - optional but really brings out the flavor. This is supposed to be "milk" but is nicely thick like cream - very delicious!)

Just for fun, I made one little pie with a chocolate mousse filling. You'll never guess the magic ingredient. The chocolate taste-tester watched me put the ingredients in the VitaMix and gave a little shrug. He never batted an eye, bless his heart. This mousse got raves from several of the moms...
(again, I halved the recipe)

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse
It makes a wonderful chocolate pie as well - just double the recipe. Makes about 2 cups.
* 2 small ripe avocados
*1/2 -3/4 c. agave nectar
*1/4 C raw cocao powder (or carob if you prefer)
*2 T coconut butter or oil
*1 T vanilla
*dash of sea salt
*dash of cinnamon (optional)
Preparation:Place everything in a VitaMix or high-powered blender or food processor and blend (on high) until very smooth. You may need your tamper to move the contents a little so the motor doesn't bog down on you. VitaMix blenders come with one.
Keep stored in an air-tight container in the fridge - that is, if it lasts long enough to make it to the fridge.
(note: I used one avocado, it amply filled one small pie crust. With just enough left in the blender for a couple of spoons of yum! to enjoy. I used the same Almond Date crust as the LouLou recipe...you could use any similar raw crust)

(Mousse recipe courtesy of Purely Delicious Magazine - www.PurelyDelicious.net Check out their Raw Recipes on my sidebar.)

Since the other pies were in the freezer setting up, I put this one in also. I figured since you can get frozen quacamole, this avocado mousse should freezer OK.

And it did. Yummo!

Freedom

Besides just having fun indulging in one of my favorite hobbies - reading cookbooks and recipes and learning more about foods - I have noticed something that is a bit unusual in my many years of all sorts of "diet" experiences: I'm not thinking about how the food I'm eating is affecting me. Is it too high in fat, carbs, etc, or no sugar or trans fats, and so on. Because as long as it is RAW, or really close to it, there is no need to fuss over it. No counting calories, or amounts, or servings. What a concept.

I find that so refreshing and FREEING. It is an actual feeling of lightness - both of mind and of body. Hmmmm. I've been reading about how results of eating raw can be very quick - this is interesting. The more I learn, the more convinced I am that my angels led me to this.

Here's the fastest icecream recipe you'll ever make:
Put 3-4 frozen bananas, cut in chunks, into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. The end.

Told ya so.

If the bananas were really ripe, you don't need any sort of sweetener for this. If I really wanted to gild the lily, I could drizzle it with honey or pure maple syrup. Might even add some flavors like maybe cocoa powder, or frozen berries. It's a whole new world out there in "raw-land"!

This was my treat last night, and there's still more in the freezer, in 1/2 cup containers.

Into the Vita-mix: 3 frozen bananas, about 1/2 c. frozen raspberries (fresh from the garden two hours previous - now THAT'S eating "zero miles!"), a dash of vanilla, about 1/3 cup finely chopped walnut/pecan mixture, 1 cup cold goatmilk. Whizzed into icey, creamy yumminess in about 30 seconds. Made 5 nice little cups of frozen treat.

If I had to choose again, I would make it with a nut or seed milk, rather than the dairy. The goatmilk is delicious but milk does cause me some problems, always has. One of the things I need to remove from my personal eating pattern is dairy. That means my lovely chevre will be a treat item, not an everyday snack. Dairy is in one of the circles, but really doesn't do well with fruits (this is a "food combining" principle). Which is why next time I will make my treat with almond milk.

Now that's something I have to wrap my mind around: food combining. I used to do the old popular concept of a certain amount of beans with a certain amount of appropriate grain or veg, etc. to make sure I was getting "adequate protein" (Adele Davis era - I know, that dates me). It was complicated and ultimately too much trouble.

Now, with the help of a simple four-circle graph (looks like Mickey Mouse - the ears, you know), it's very very EASY to figure out this concept of food combining. I'm not going to get too hung up on it at the moment, my aim for this week is just to start eating mostly raw (100% so far), and enjoy the journey.

But eventually, when I get out of kindergarten, I will graduate to the high school concept of food combining put forth by Traci Sellers in her "Traci's Transformational Health Principles", and meantime I can still enjoy "Traci's Transformational Kitchen Recipe Collection" which does it all FOR me!

A good place to explore:

http://www.bestfoodist.com/