Blends of the Day

I've recently decided that I need to amp up my green intake, as it seems like "the thing to do" - there is just something inside me that says "yes this feels right!" So today when I made my morning smoothie, I added spirulina and celery in addition to my regular spinach. I often find that I can't handle a lot of spirulina, and always have good intention to consume it, however, it keeps getting put on the backburner. It is my new resolution to eat some every day, and increase my intake slowly. Im pretty sure I can stick to it!

My early afternoon blend turned into a pudding. I call it Swamp Donkey...sounds rediculous (and the name might turn a person off), but it was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it, and it really is yummy! Here's what I threw into the blender:

1 small banana

1 tsp spirulina

1/4 avocado

1 stalk of celery

2 dates

water to blend

goji berries

lucuma

maca

cacao powder

carob powder

msm

vanilla bean

Mmmm!!! It was so delish - This could very well turn into another daily staple for me!

I swear I could live on smoothies, in fact, a few months ago my dad exclaimed, "Your teeth are gonna fall out of your head because you never use your teeth to chew anything. Everything you eat is blended!" Bah...I eat many unblended things, but I usually eat two or more blended things every day. If I were only allowed smoothies or other food for any period of time, I'd go for the smoothies!

Yesterday's lunch turned into this beautiful pink strawberry shake.

Strawberry Shake

1 cup almond milk
1 cup frozen chopped strawberries
½ medium banana
½ tsp maca
½ tsp lucuma
2 tsp goji berries
1-2 tsp agave, or to taste

Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Garnish with a fresh strawberry and enjoy! I drizzled some strawberry sauce on top.

Oh, and PS - I'm in love with maca, lucuma, cacao, msm, and goji berries. I put them into all my smoothies (and lots of my desserts)...small amounts, so that I'm not bouncing off the walls, but I find it particularly great to eat these foods a few hours before teaching yoga classes. Woo hoo! Go superfoods!

Another Dinner Down…And many more to go!

On a cold winter night last Saturday, I held yet another raw dinner party. Greeted by beautiful ice candles (made by my mom), a range of people attended, from those who have been coming to my raw food/yoga classes, to people who had never before tried gourmet raw food. My mom and Darwin ran around that evening, acting as my servers and kitchen helpers, so a huge thanks to them! Many hours of preparation went into this event, but I really loved it all – well actually, ALMOST every part. I was supposed to use red chard leaves for my thai wraps, as I always do. However, four grocery stores in the area did not have it this past week!!! Big uh-oh, but I never had the final verdict until the day before the dinner, as I had placed an order to the local produce department who said it was a good possibility of getting it in by Friday. So, I was left wondering what the heck would be an equal replacement. I ended up using red and green leaf lettuce with the center rib cut out to make them more pliable. Minor setback though. Everyone said they enjoyed the food and wanted to know when the next dinner would be! Sweet As!
Now, let’s get to the good part. Just what was on the menu?!

Appetizer:
Caesar Salad with pine nut parmesan cheese, and almond croutons
OR
Cream of Mushroom Soup topped with marinated mushrooms, almond milk swirl and parsley

Main:
Spicy Thai Veggie Wraps with sweet mango dipping sauce and spicy nuts
OR
Cheesy Broccoli Cannelloni with sundried tomato basil sauce

Dessert:
Strawberry Lime Mousse Cake with strawberry sauce
OR
Apple Crumble with vanilla ice cream

Creating the menu is always so much fun for me, but never easy, as there are so many great raw dishes that it’s hard to decide on just a few. One day I’ll have to make it buffet style, or “chef’s surprise” – actually, I’m contemplating that for my next dinner. No one will know what they’re getting until they arrive! How fun is that?!

All the recipes here are as I’ve made them for the dinner, so they need to be cut in half or more, for a smaller group.

I ended up creating my own Caesar dressing and parmesan, just days before. I’ve made Woody Harrelson’s dressing before, and while it’s great, I was wanting something a bit different.
Here’s a variation I came up with, based on his and Café Gratitude’s dressing.
This salad is my new favourite! I’ve been eating it literally all week (since I had to test the recipe and now I’m enjoying a bit of leftovers from the dinner) and I still love it!

Crunchy romaine lettuce, mixed with creamy, tangy, slightly peppery dressing, all topped with cheesy, crumbly, nutty parmesan….and crunchy, very bread-like croutons (from Cafe Gratitude - made from veggie pulp, almond pulp, almonds, carrot juice, and sea salt) Mmmmm!!!! I haven’t eaten a “real” Caesar salad in about 8 years due to all the dairy and who-knows-what-else in it – so this is such a treat! One woman exclaimed that this tasted "just like caesar salad without the bacon bits!" haha

Caesar Dressing

2 medium avocados
½ c cashews
½ c water
¼ c lemon juice
¼ c olive oil
2.5 tbs acv
2 tbs nutritional yeast
2 tsp sea salt
1-2 tsp black pepper
2 medium cloves garlic
1 large date

Blend till smooth.

Parmesan Cheese

½ cup brazil nuts
½ c pine nuts
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 small clove garlic, minced
¼- ½ tsp sea salt

Pulse brazils, yeast, garlic, and salt in FP until almost ground. Add pine nuts and grind until crumbly.

This is the mushroom soup I came up with, also a few days before the dinner. Carmella and I made such a great mushy soup during our kitchen adventures, that I was hoping to use, however I realized that I had no written it down. After creating this version, I was chatting with Carmi one evening when she told me she had our recipe! So I took that into account, and put a slight twist on my new soup. The almond milk and avocado make it deliciously creamy!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

5 cups almond milk (soak 1.5 c almonds)
5-6 cups chopped mushrooms
1 cup dried porcini soak water
2/3 cup dried porcini mushies
½ medium avocado
½ cup chopped zucchini
1/3 c olive oil
¼ c lemon juice
4 sm cloves garlic
2 tsp sea salt

Blend till smooth. Garnish w marinated mushies (sliced button mushrooms in tamari and then dehydrated for a few hours), almond milk swirl, and chopped parsley.


The first entrée is an adaptation of the cheesy broccoli cannelloni by chef Dan Hoyt, from Carol Alt’s, The Raw 50 . I’m not so big on some of the herbs in the recipe (as I did try it before), but I love the idea, so I decided to create a new version. The all versatile zucchini makes the cannelloni tubes, filled with cheddar sauce mixed with chopped broccoli. They get topped with sundried tomato basil sauce, pine nuts and fresh parsley, and were served with a mixed greens salad.

Cheesy Broccoli Cannelloni

Cheddar Sauce

1 large red bell pepper

1/2 c water

1.5 c raw cashews
1 c sunflower seeds, soaked

2 T tahini

¼ c nutritional yeast

2-3 teaspoon sea salt

1 tbs onion powder

2 cloves garlic

¼ cup lemon juice

Blend until creamy and smooth. Chill.

Pulse 1.5-2 heads broccoli, with a bit of nutritional yeast and sea salt, to small bits in food processor. Fold into cheese sauce.
Peel/ make strips out of zucchini. Let sit to soften or dehydrate for a few hours. Roll up with the filling.

Tomato Basil Sauce

1.5 cups packed dried tomatoes, soaked a few hours
¼ cup soak water
1 pitted, medjool date or 2 tsp honey
2 tbs olive oil
2 small clove of garlic
Sea salt & dried oregano to taste
4 large tomatoes, chopped
½ cup fresh basil, chopped & packed

Blend all but fresh tomatoes/basil. Pulse last 2 ingredients into the blend.

The second entrée is one I've made a few times before - Sarma Melngailis’ thai wraps. Chopped savoy cabbage is mixed with a thick, spicy, gingery, tangy, almond butter mixture. This, along with vegetable strips, spicy nuts, and fresh cilantro are rolled into collard or lettuce leaves. Sarma’s are served with a tamarind sauce, but mine were served with a sweet, cool mango sauce.
Mine look quite disheveled (do to probs with the lettuce as wraps) but they do taste great and are fun eaten with your hands!

Sarma’s Spicy Thai Wraps

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 cup lemon juice

¼ cup chopped ginger

2 tablespoon chipped red chile, seeds included

3 tablespoons nama shoyu

2 cups raw almond butter

1-2 heads savoy cabbage, shredded

24 very large collard green leaves

2 large carrots, cut into matchstick-size pieces
1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1 red and green pepper, sliced thin

1 handful cilantro leaves
*Spicy nuts/seeds

In a high-speed blender, puree the maple syrup, lemon juice, ginger, red chile, and nama shoyu. Add the almond butter and blend at low speed to combine. Add water to thin if necessary, to get a thick, cake batter - like consistency.In a medium bowl, add the shredded cabbage and the almond butter mixture and toss well to combine.

Roll with veggies into collard leaves, along with spicy nuts.

Spicy Nuts/Seeds2 cups soaked almonds, chopped
2 cups soaked sunflower seeds
2 tbs sesame oil
1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper
1/2- 1 tsp chili powder
cumin to taste
Mix spices with nuts. Dehydrate until dry.

Sweet Mango Dipping Sauce
5 cups mango
½ medium banana
Lemon and lime juice to taste
Agave to sweeten

Blend until smooth. Serve with thai rolls.

Onto dessert...I decided to try the apple crumble recipe from Purely Delicious magazine, and I'm glad I did. I warmed the crumble for a few hours in the D, to get that "just outta the oven" warmness. Mmmm, perfect winter dessert, paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.


Apple Crumble

Crumble Topping:

2 cups pecans
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pitted and packed, medjool dates

In a food processor, combine all ingredients until they become crumbly.

Filling:

10 medium sized apples (2 pureed/ 8 sliced)
2/3 cup pitted and packed, medjool dates
1/3 cup raisins
2 -3 tsp cinnamon
3-4 tbs honey or agave
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sea salt

Puree 2 apples and rest of ingredients till smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Peel and thinly slice the 8 apples. Toss with cream.
Place into a large dish, sprinkle with nut crumble topping. Warm at 115F a few hours.

(Heathy’s Note: For soft “cooked” apples, let the sliced apples sit in the blended cream overnight)

Vanilla Ice Cream

3 cups soaked almonds
6 cups water
2 large bananas
¾ cup packed, pitted dates
2 tbs lecithin

½ tsp salt

2-3 tsp pure vanilla extract

Blend the almonds with water and then strain in a nut milk bag. Blend the almond milk with remaining ingredients until smooth. Chill overnight. Process in an ice cream maker, or freeze in an ice cube tray and then process through a juicer.

The second dessert is my all time favourite creation- Strawberry Lime Mousse Cake. I just can't seem to make this enough. It was served with a simple strawberry sauce and garnished with a fresh berry.

So overall, I think the dinner was a success - meaning everyone enjoyed good company and good food. I now look forward to my next big dinner which will be held outside in the summer. Im already dreaming up new possibilities...

All things blended...Meal in a glass

Ok, maybe I'm obsessed, but for me there is just something about a blended smoothie, pudding, or dip. Really its the creaminess that I love, and generally, I want it to be sweet, as opposed to a savoury blend, like a soup (they are good, but definately not my comfort food!).

My first meal of the day is a smoothie (if not a fresh juice), after my hot lemon water. These days they consist of: spinach/red chard, banana, water, orange. It is super yumm. Sometimes I add goji berries, blueberries, msm, maca, and/or cacao beans...and the other day I had some leftover almond milk that I added to my green smoothie. Even that small amount made such a difference! It was so creamy and smooth! I've only added almond milk to sweet smoothies before, never green ones, so this was a nice little change.

My other new favourite thing is to swirl the leftover bits that are stuck to the blender, with water and then pour that into a glass of its own and drink it. It often looks icky if it was a green shake, but I love it, and it makes me feel good to be using all my precious food to the last drop!

But some of the best green smoothies I've ever had were at Carmella's. Her "daily green fuel", as she calls it, is made up of greens, fruit, water, and avocado. I must try to make it that way again...its the lime/lime that give it such a delicious tang. I've not yet been abke to achieve the same taste, but will keep trying! Check our her recipe, along with other smoothie recipes and info on the benefits of glorious greens. She's a superstar with blended soups too, and has lots of great recipes for those.

Today I made strawberry lime cake for a dinner party next weekend. I left about 3 tbs in the bottom of the blender, added about 1 1/2 cups water, and blended on high. Ooooh, Ahhh...I got the creamiest/limey/strawberry milk out of it! Here's what it came out looking like.


Lately I've been on a blueberry kick too, since we still have heaps in the freezer from the summer. I've been adding them to smoothies, and making yummy puddings. Recently, I made this delicious soupy pudding with: blueberries, walnuts, banana, maple syrup, and lucuma powder. Divine! I could eat that every day! A friend gave me these cute dessert plates with the polka dots, and this was the first time I got to use one of them (even if I didn't eat directly off the plate, lol). The simplest thing can turn a regular dish into something really exciting, since afterall, we eat with our eyes first. I just love the bright colours here :)

The same blueberry pudding, sprinkled with lucuma powder

I got to play the other day, when I made these drinks for a few friends. First (the tall glass), I started with blueberries, almond milk, banana, raspberries, strawberries, handful walnuts, and a date. To that, I added on (front left)...with some pineapple, more banana, lucuma, and some lecithin to thicken it slightly. (sounds like a strange combo, I know). And now, onto the chocolate smoothie, I started with bluberries, banana, almond milk, cacao powder, maca, and some dates. Sprinkled with more cacao.

Just like eating off cool plates, I love to drink out of funky glasses. They totally snaz up a regular smoothie!

So remember, smoothies are cool!!!! Drink many of them and add heaps of greens for some sound nutrition. Cheers!

Mmmm, green goodness!!!

Lunch for a friend...

Last week, a friend of my mom's helped me out with some business consulting. What she wanted in return was a raw lunch. Easy enough for me! I needed something that I could throw together a few hours before taking it, as I was busy the day before. No time for soaking, dehydration, etc.

What's easier than a Stir UNfry?! I've tried recipes by Rawvolution, and Carmella - both being great! Check out this, and this (variation 2 is the one I've made multiple times). This time I decided to try veggies in teryaki sauce, adapted from a recipe by Joz on RFC. I have eyed that picture of Carmi's numerous times, thinking how wonderful it looks, so I finally got my opportunity.

For my veggies, I used: red and green bell peppers, broccoli florets/stocks, celery, and carrot.

Marinade:

2 tbs Nama Shoyu

2 tbs honey

2 tsp oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 " piece ginger, grated (I used 2", minced)

2 tbs lemon juice

1/4 cup orange juice

Mix all ingredients together. Toss with veggies, and let marinate for a few hours. After sitting in the liquid for a while, I put the veggies into the dehydrator for a good hour to soften. Sesame seeds make a great topping!

Of course, a side of rice goes well with the veggies. The past few times I've used cauliflower and cashews to make rice, but decided to use parsnips this time. Oh boy! I've tried parsnips for this, once long ago and can't believe I havent used them since. The rice turned out great! The texture was good (although I think the cauli makes the rice look more like rice), the flavour was somewhat sweet. Not at all what I remember parsnips to taste like! Now Im going to be on a parsnip kick - I have a few left and am thinking up ways to use them :)

Here's the rough recipe:

4 large parsnips

1/3 cup cashews, ground (approx)

Sea salt to taste

In my mind, no meal is complete with something sweet so I packed 2 of my grawnola bars and 2 coconut/almond balls for her. I also threw in a bag of zucchini crackers.

Here is lunch, all packed up and ready to go! Hope she likes!

Staying on the theme of meals for other people, the other night at yoga, one of my students brought me a piece of raw pizza. I thought it was the sweetest thing! I am so greatful when someone makes me food, because it is rare. Usually I am the one making food for everyone else. She calls this "cheaters pizza", with Ani's black sesame seed bread for the crust, topped with chopped tomato, red/green peppers, mushrooms, and raw cheese (dairy). Guess what I ate for dinner?! :)

Isn't it cute?!

Raw Mexican Class

Fun was had in my kitchen last Saturday afteroon as I held a small, mexican raw food class for 4 women. Our time began with a refreshing "lime rawgarita". A simple mixture of freshly squeezed apple juice, lime, frozen pineapple, and ice. Mmm-Mmm-Mmm! We all enjoyed this one. It was my goal to show the ladies, yet again, how easy it is to prepare raw food, no matter what flavour or texture the cooked version has. I chose recipes that only required the use of a food processor, blender, and knife. No dehydrators needed (although the women who don't have one, now have it on their wish list ;)

It was then time to get started on the recipes. *

Mexi-Live Margaritas!

1 cup Pineapple, fresh or frozen
3-4 tbs Lime juice
1 cup Fresh apple juice

Blend all ingredients with some ice until smooth. Drink Up!

The next task was the fajita veggies. These are soooo good and I highly recommend! This recipe comes from Joz on RFC . We made it without the mushrooms and used red onion in place of the sweet onion.

Fajita Veggies

1 of each sliced thin:

red & green bell pepper

zucchini
small red onion

2 cloves garlic crushed

1/4 cup Nama Shoyu

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 tbsp. of chili powder

1 tsp. of cumin powder

1/4 tsp. of cayenne powder

Combine ingredients together in bowl and marinate 2-4 hrs.

Drain in a colander. Serve in collard leaf with toppings.

Next was walnut meat from Rawvolution. It's so simple and really does taste like taco beef.

Taco/Burrito Walnut Meat
1 ½ c walnuts, ground in a food processor
1½ tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp ground coriander
2 tbs nama shoyu or braggs

Stir all ingredients together to combine. Spread some of the mixture into a collard (burrito) or crunchy romaine leaf (taco) and roll up. Top with shredded lettuce, fresh salsa, guac, sour cream, and nacho cheese.

Salsa
3-4 medium tomatoes
½ each green and red bell pepper, cut into big chunks
¼ medium red onion
Handful cilantro
Sea salt and lemon juice to taste

In a food processor, pulse ingredients (using short quick pulses) into small pieces. Careful not to puree!

This sour cream recipe comes from chef, Diana Stoevelaar. Thie recipe calls for such a small amount of lemon juice that I find it doesn't give it that proper tang that sour cream has. We ended up using 1/4 cup lemon juice. Also, it firms up as it sits in the fridge a while.

Sour “Cream”

1 1⁄2 cup Cashews or macadamias

1⁄2 cup water

1⁄2 tsp. Celtic sea salt

1 Tbsp. Lemon juice

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy.

Nacho/cheddar sauce was next on the list. I won't bother posting it here as I've posted it a few times already. It was a big hit with the ladies. They couldn't believe how much it tasted like cheez wiz, hehe!

Refried beans is essential for any good burrito! This is a really simple recipe, and cost effective since it's made with sunflower seeds. Some of the women had never tasted refried beans before, so had no idea what these were supposed to taste like! lol

“Refried Beans”

2 cups soaked sunflower seeds (~1 ¼ cups before soaking)

2-3 Tbsp. raw tahini

1/3-1/2 cup pure water,

2 “ piece of white or yellow onion, chopped

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. cumin powder

1 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt

In a food processor, puree all the ingredients until smooth. Note: Add more spices and some olive oil if needed. Add cayenne for spicy beans.

Guacamole - something everyone knows well, esp if they've ever had mexican food.

2 large, ripe avocados

1 small tomato, chopped

Cilantro and green onion, chopped, to taste

Sea salt and lemon juice to taste

Mash avocados and add other ingredients. Mix well.

Finally, a delicious pesto, perfect as a condiment on a taco/burrito, or as a dressing on salad! We had a little mishap here, as the recipe calls for 1 tsp jalapeno or a PINCH of cayenne. Someone read that as 1 tsp cayenne!!! The recipe also ended up with 2 tsp MINCED garlic, when I'm sure it probably meant chopped - but who knows. The recipe says 2 tsp. So it was the perfect opportunity to remind my class the importance of reading a recipe thoroughly, and then of course, adjusting according to preference. We doubled the other ingredients again....

Lets just say this turned out craaazy spicy (esp for me since I can't handle much heat). It really was great in small amounts in the wraps though.

Cilantro Pesto (Juliano's RAW), found here.

1 cups fresh cilantro

1/3 cup walnuts

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice

Pinch Celtic sea salt

1/4 cup spinach (optional)

2 tsp garlic

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp jalapeño or pinch cayenne

1/4 cup olive oil.

Combine well in a blender!

Here is the spread we ended up with, doesn't it look yummy?! Lets review...we've got chard and romaine as the wraps, fajita veggies, sour cream, guacamole, cilantro pesto, walnut taco meat, cheddar sauce, refried beans, and salsa. I also served the last of the tortilla chips I had (from this post).

Alas! A chance to sample the goods! It was so much fun feasting on all the food we had just created. One woman said "It feels like I'm in Mexico!" We just needed the beach and sombreros! Another fun day in the kitchen and a few more brains full of information on raw food. A step in the right direction, I say! :D

*The recipes shown here are printed the same way they were for my class.

Mmmm, sweeeeet!

I've never been a big nut brittle person - come to think of it, the last time I ate brittle, I was a child. However, when I saw the photo and recipe for a raw version in the holiday recipe section on RFC, by Cherie Soria , I couldn't help but want to try it. Not to mention the fact that I had a bazillion ripe bananas sitting around!

I decided it would be the perfect addition to my recent "Sweet-A-Thon" dehydrator day, where I was making cookies and bars up the ying yang. Oh boy oh boy. The smell comin outta the D was heavenly!

Banana Nut Brittle

2 1/2 cups pitted dates
8 bananas - peeled
3 cups almonds or other nuts - roughly chopped

3 cups dried, shaved coconut, optional

1/4 cup flax meal

1. Blend bananas, dates, and flax meal until smooth.

2. Stir in nuts and coconut.

3. Evenly spread 4 cups of mixture on a dehydrator tray lined with a non-stick sheet. Score into the size and shape you want. (I like 4x6 to create 24 rectangles)

4. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 12 hours, then flip them over and continue dehydrating for another 12 hours or until crispy.

5. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 4 months.

Heathy's Notes:
-I did not add the coconut...for me personally, that flavour didn't fit into the recipe.

-I'm not sure how she possible managed to score the mixture before dehydrating it, as it is very wet, then again Im sure it's a lot more dry with the coconut added. That said, after 12 hours of dehydrating the sheet, I flipped it over and dried it a bit longer, then cut it, and then continued drying it.

- After what seemed like forever of the brittle being in the D, it was starting to become crispy, but definately not like brittle. I took it out anyway and stored it in the fridge. This made a huge difference and the brittle crisped up quite nicely. It's even better out of the freezer as long as it's eaten quickly. I've found that once it sits a little while, it softens up a bit.

-The batter for this was extremely delicious and would make a great pudding or smoothie!


Overall Rating: I give this recipe a 6/10.
The flavour is alright, the texture could be better. I probably wouldn't make this again but the idea is good. I'm going to see if I can find another use for all this brittle. I'll report back if I come up with anything great!


Next up! Mac Macs, from Carol Alt's, The Raw 50, created by her sister, Christine.

After a friend of mine made and shared a few of these with me, I just had to try them myself. Coconut isn't my favourite flavour and I never like coconut macaroons, so when I first saw this recipe is the book, I bypassed it pretty quickly.

Without giving the recipe straight out of her book, here are the ingredients:

dried coconut

macadamia nuts

almond flour

agave

vanilla extract

coconut oil

sea salt

Overall Rating: 9/10.
Absolutely delicious and I recommend making them even if you have a chocolate tooth more than a coconut one. These are sweet, dense, and crunchy - my kinda cookie!


So, give one or both of these a try for the next time you've got a sweet craving! They are both recipes that need to be dehydrated, but both batters could easily be enjoyed without dehydration.

Until next time in Sweetie Land...

Easy Entertaining

The rush of the holidays is finally over. Back to the normal schedule now which is good, however, I'll miss making little goodies for get togethers. The great thing about raw is its super easy to throw simple appetizers. For example, on three occasions during the holidays I whipped up nut balls in 10 minutes. What's easier than throwing a bunch of things into the blender or food processor?

Last night I invited over the last few friends who have come home for Christmas. Perfect chance to make food, yay! Along with a few cooked items, I made cheddar dip with veggies, and a platter of balls in a few flavours. Couldn't have been easier.

-Coconut Balls: Almonds, shredded coconut, dates, agave
-Date Balls: Walnuts, cashews, dates, rasisins -Chocolate Balls: Walnuts, cashews, dates, carob powder, with chunks of cacao

Process all ingredients together in FP until the mixture sticks together.
A nice touch if you have the time is to roll the balls in shredded coconut, cacao/carob powder, or lucuma.

Cherries were fed..and a coconut was found...:D


...See what raw food and yummy fruity drinks will do?! We got crazy and played dress up in funny hats.

Another appetizer I made in the past month is the very common tortillas and guacamole. Only mine were outta this world! Why? Becauase I use the corn tortilla recipe from Gchef, Sarma Mengailis, and then dehydrated much longer to create chips. Really outstanding. I've made raw tortilla chips before and liked them but never cared to make them again. This will now be the recipe I'll use repeatedly. I think its the bell pepper that gives that great crunch.

To go with that, simple guacamole, using half a red pepper as the edible bowl. My simple guac consists of mashed avocado, chopped tomato, cilanto, lemon juice, and sundried tomatoes (soaked for about 30 mins).

So yay for entertaining with raw food in a cooked food world! I brought chocolate nut balls to a party last month and my friend and host requested that I make them again for the New Years party. Great way to get the news out. People always end up asking questions and wanting to know more.