Berry Banana Ice Cream

For vegans, banana ice cream is an answer to prayer! I totally could eat this everyday with different things! This is basically the same recipe as my previous post except you add frozen berries. You could also add coconut whipped cream (read previous post for the recipe).

Ingredients:

4 frozen bananas

1 cup frozen mixed berries 

Slice bananas

Place bananas and berries in the blender and slowly blend. 

Sprinkle vegan chocolate chips, raw black sesame seeds and shredded coconut.

Enjoy!

Many Blessings!

Coconut Lime Pie

So, I was inspired to create this recipe after seeing a coconut pie in Whole Foods the other day while shopping.  It looked mouthwatering that my mind  started racing and thinking up of ideas & ways to make a raw version of it! I got home and ended up with this! I think this turned out to be my favorite dessert so far!


                                                       

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup raw pecans soaked overnight

1 cup raw walnuts soaked overnight

2 tbsp. coconut oil

1 tbsp. coconut syrup

Place the nuts in a food processor or Vitamix and pulse until coarse,   spoon out the nuts and place it in a mixing bowl. Add the oil, syrup and spread on a pie dish. Set in the freezer for 15mins.

Filling:

2 cups raw cashews soaked overnight

3 tbsp. raw coconut butter

2 tbsp. coconut syrup

Flesh of one coconut 

Juice of one lime

Place all the ingredients in a Vitamix, blend until thick cream and spoon out the filling into the pie crust. Set in the freezer for 15mins. 

Coconut Whipped Cream:

2 cans coconut cream (best when left in the fridge overnight then use)

2 tbsp. raw coconut syrup/raw honey

1 tbsp. raw coconut butter

1 tsp. coconut vanilla

Open the cans and place the coconut water in a cup, save the water for another use. Spoon out the cream into a mixing bowl, add the 

honey or syrup, vanilla and mix for 2 mins. Scoop out the whipped cream and place on top of the pie smoothing it out, add coconut flakes and slices of lime. Set in freezer 15mins. or overnight in the fridge before serving.

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Banana Ice Cream

 I've never met anyone who's never liked ice cream.; I think it's safe to say that it's everybody's favorite dessert. And those ripe bananas are great to just throw in the freezer for the times you're in the mood to make this again.

Hey, every time I was pregnant I had to have Cold Stone almost every night because I was craving it! Yes, you heard me right! I said Cold Stone! This has to be the most fattening ice cream around. Well pregnancy does that to people; I had no craving for my healthy stuff.

So, this ice cream is good to eat every day without the junk in the trunk! Ha, ha! Sometimes, I crack myself up!

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas (I usually peel ripe bananas first, wrap them in plastic  & place them in the freezer)
1/4 cashew whipped cream (1 cup soaked raw cashews, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tbsp. cashew milk, 2 tbsp. coconut nectar)
1/4 raw cacao powder
14 unrefined coconut oil
2 tbsp. coconut nectar
1 tbsp. raw unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tbsp. raw raspberry "granola" mixture
1 tbsp. raw cacao chips (or Enjoy Life dairy-free & soy-free chips)
1 tbsp. raw almond butter
1 tbsp. raw black sesame seeds

Slice bananas, put in the Vitamix, blend and place in a bowl.

Add all remaining ingredients.

For  cashew whipped cream:

Blend cashews, cashew milk, add vanilla, and coconut nectar.

For the raw cacao sauce:

Melt coconut oil in a small bowl and place over a large bowl filled with very hot water. Add cacao and coconut nectar. Drizzle chocolate sauce on top and place in freezer for 5-7 mins. until the chocolate sauce becomes hard then it's ready.

Enjoy every spoonful!

Many Blessings!

Taco Salad

I've made this taco salad several times before and I've never got tired of making it. So, I've made it again in honor of Cinco de Mayo and it's even better with a glass of moscato. 

I think the last time I had a regular taco salad was in college at Taco Bell. Yes, I've been there before; that was during my fast food years! When my husband & I were dating we would have Taco Bell for lunch and dinner. I'm so glad I found a better way to have taco night!


                                                             

 

Ingredients:

Taco mixture:

2 cups raw almonds (soaked over night or 8hrs)

1/4  cup cilantro

2 tbsp. chopped green onions

2 tbsp. finely chopped red onions

1 tbsp. hemp oil 

1 tsp. cardamon

1 tsp. cayenne pepper 

1 tsp. turmeric (fresh or powder)

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. Himalayan pink salt

2-3 garlic (crushed and chopped)

1-2 tbsp. chopped cherry tomatoes 

1 fresh lime juice

Sour Cream:

1 cup soaked raw cashews (overnight or 8hrs)

1-2 tbsp. cashew milk

1 tbsp. Braggs raw apple cider

1 fresh lemon juice

Guacamole:

3 avocados 

1 tbsp. chopped red onions

2 cloves chopped crushed garlic 

1/2 tsp. finely chopped jalapeño pepper

Soak the almonds.

Grind the almonds in a Vitamix or food processor and place in a medium mixing bowl.

Add all the remaining taco mixture ingredients except the lime.

For the sour cream: 

Soak the cashews.

Blend cashews in the Vitamix until thick and creamy, place a a small mixing bowl and add the remaining sour cream ingredients. 

For the guacamole:

Cut up all 3 avocados and place in a bowl and mix well with the remaining ingredients. 

Place mixed greens on a plate, add some chopped tomatoes, taco mixture and guacamole.

Enjoy!

Many Blessing! 

   

Summer Rolls

When I'm  at a Vietnamese restaurant one of my favorite appetizer to order is the summer roll. The only problem with these is that they don't have a lot of vegetables in them; bean sprouts, shrimp, lettuce, rice noodles and a few mint leaves. Depending on the type of Vietnamese restaurant you go to; some may add mangos or avocados to the summer rolls.

I prefer summer rolls with all vegetables including the "noodles", they're actually made of sea kelp so no cooking is required. Sea kelp "noodles" are not really noodles; they're a type of brown seaweed that contains high amounts of iodine; like everything else eat it in moderation. Another type of vegetable that I need to explain are diakons; they are a root vegetable, looks like carrots but white. Diakons are used in Korean, Japanese and Chinese cuisines.

                                            


Ingredients:

1 package Vietnamese brown rice spring roll wrapper
1 package raw sea kelp noodles
1/2 avocado (thinly sliced)
1/3 cup mint leaves
1/3 cup pea shoots
1/4 cup diakon (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup cucumbers (thinly sliced)
1/4 cherry tomatoes (thinly sliced)
1/4 raw almond butter
3 tsp. raw liquid amino (by Coconut Secrets)
1-2 tsp. hot sauce (I used sriracha)


                   This is what some of the ingredients look like:

Start by rinsing the sea kelp noodles with water, place them in a bowl and then cut the noodles into pieces. Place warm water in a medium size bowl and soak one sheet of the wrapper until soft. After the wrapper is soft, take it out of the water and lay the wrapper flat on a cutting board to work on. Put a small handful of noodles in the middle of the wrapper, a few mint leaves, pieces of diakons, cucumbers, avocadoes, tomatoes and pea shoots. Next, fold the sides in tightly and roll from the front till the end making sure the vegetables don't fall out.

For the sauce, add the almond butter, liquid amino and hot sauce in a small bowl and mix. Depending on your preference, you can add extra hot sauce.

Enjoy!

Many Blessings,
Mum

Valentine Cranberry Mousse

Ok, so I had a few people requesting this recipe after I posted it on Facebook. Wow! I can't believe that my last post was in November! A lot has happened since then; like snow and more snow!

I made this a day after Valentine's Day because I didn't have enough time to make it on the day of; better late then never!

 I know I mentioned that I would discuss sweeteners after the last post but I decided to please those who requested this recipe first. It was a little time consuming to sit down and remember the measurements of each ingredients. So here it is.

Ingredients:

4 cups raw cashews (soaked for 8-12 hrs)
2 cups raw pecans
2 cups cranberries (frozen or fresh)
1/4 raw coconut oil (melt by placing hot water in a large bowl & place on top the oil in a smaller bowl)
3 tbsp. raw coconut nectar or honey
2-3 tbsp. coconut milk



For the crust:

Place pecans in a food processor or a high powered blender like a Vitamix; grind pecans on low speed until powder like form. In a bowl, mix pecans and 1 tbsp. of honey together and place inside a large tart pan or small individual tart pans. Allow to set in the freezer for 10 mins.

For the mousse:

Grind cashews in a blender till powder form then add the coconut milk, coconut oil and the rest of the honey until creamy and soft. More coconut milk can be added to make the fluffy consistency.

 

Should look like this. 

Set half of the creamy cashew mixture in a bowl for the whipped cream and set aside the remaining
cashews.

Next, grind the cranberries in the blender till powder form. Then, add the cranberry mixture into one of the cashew mixture and blend with a handheld mixture.

   

Remove the crust from the freezer and place mousse mixture in the tart pan.

 

                               

Enjoy!
Many Blessings,
Mum

Almond Butter Cup

Many of you don't know that I got started in learning about healthy foods from my first grade teacher back when I was in college. Yes, I keep in touch with my first grade teacher! I babysat for her kids and lived with her for a short period. I am SO thankful for her! She taught me all about tamari, Bragg's amino acid, spelt, kamut flour, quinoa and tofu; which I did a major marketing report on for one of my business classes. She taught me how to bake and cook a lot of different things. We've been trying to get together recently but we both got busy and haven't touched base. She will always be my inspiration!

So, I was making "regular" brownies for a bake sale to raise funds for the Philippines and it made me crave for some chocolate sweets. Actually, they were gluten-free brownies. I'm not normally a chocolate type of a person but my husband absolutely loves it; for him the darker the better! I really enjoy sweets but chocolate wouldn't be my first choice; which is kind of odd for a woman. I think most women crave chocolate constantly. These almond butter cups I like to enjoy with tea (organic kombucha green tea).

The almond butter cups are made of raw cacao which contains high antioxidants, phenylethylamine
(mood enhancers); some might say it helps with depression. Cacao also contains theobromine (mild
stimulant), and many essential minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper
and potassium. So, ladies if you are suffering from low serotonin; eat some cacao to raise the level.


Have I convinced you enough yet to start eating more cacao?

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil (melt it by placing it in a small bowl over a large bowl filled with very hot water.)
1/3 cup cacao
3 tbsp brown rice syrup or any other sweetener that you prefer. (Try to use the brand Lundberg which I've read it contains no arsenic)
Raw almond butter or peanut butter
Muffin cups (about 4-5)


Use a hand held mixer to mix all the ingredients. Spoon the mixture into the paper muffin cups (about 2" high), place them in the freezer for about 10mins. Then, take the cups out and spread some almond butter on top of the frozen chocolate. Put the chocolate cups back into the freezer for another
5-8 mins. for it to set. Then, place a top layer of chocolate and place it back into the freezer for another 10 mins.

   

You can enjoy almond butter cup by itself, with tea or coconut ice cream. This one I put raspberry jam in between and sprinkled some raw black sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Coming soon, I will be discussing sweeteners.



Many Blessings,
Mum