Papaya, Banana, Strawberies, Blueberries

This is a great way to start your day!  Some people have been told or taught that whole grains are needed to make a complete, balanced, or filling meal.  As someone who is mostly grain-free, I feel incredible without whole (or refined) grains and on a raw, fresh/unprocessed diet.  I have said it before, but I’ll say it again – my skin has never looked better.  I have 10-year-old scars that are disappearing, previously keloid, red, raised, that on a healthy, mostly green vegan cooked diet did not disappear.    

Becoming a raw foodist isn’t a new fad; all other animals except humans (and the companions they feed with their processed foods) eat raw, and humans originally ate all raw as well.

Strawberry & Mango Banana Ice Cream

You can imagine that I don’t eat pies every day, or even every week.  A more typical sweet treat for me is simply fruit or a banana whip.  This is a banana whip with more fruit added.  The strawberry portion has 1/2 of a vanilla bean scraped, 2 c. of strawberries, 2/3 of a fresh banana, and 1.5 frozen bananas.  The mango part has 1.5 mangos chopped, 2/3 of a fresh banana, and 1.5 frozen bananas.  You have to freeze it a little bit more; and stir it every 15 min. for about an hour until it’s ready.

Shown here with fresh mango, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes.

(for those that don’t know what a banana whip is, it’s bananas, chopped up, and frozen; then they are placed in a food processor, Vita-Mix, Champion juicer with blank attachment, or even a Magic Bullet, and blended (optional: add water or juice, a tablespoon at a time to facilitate blending or thaw the bananas for 10 min.).  Bananas have a creamy consistency after being frozen.  There’s really no reason for me to ever have even a raw-food ice cream made of nuts and coconut when I can just throw in some bananas and cinnamon or other fruit.

Strawberry Brilliance Pie

Sweet Gratitude

(Edited later to add this photo and comment:  You ever notice how the first piece of pie is usually the messiest?  Well, I knew I was going to cut this pie further down into 16 pieces, so I figured I might as well get a picture tonight.  It looks great!  I hope it travels well.)

Without topping.

and with:

You can’t really tell its goodness yet; I’ll try to get an inside shot!

Pic of the Raw Lemon Strawberry Pie

Sweet Gratitude

As it turns out, the strawberries are perfectly sweet to balance the tartness of the lemon, and look how colorful it is!  The crust comes out of the glass pie pan fine, but the lemon part separates a little from the crust.

Also, the strawberry parfait keeps for only 2-3 days.  I’m glad I’m sharing this!  I guess Irish Moss doesn’t take to the freezer well.  Desserts….well, all food is better fresh, anyway.  :)

Raw Lemon Meringue Pie….oh, well. :)

Sweet Gratitude

This is the beginning of the raw lemon meringue pie.  It has a macadamia-cashew-coconut-date crust.  This was my first time working with Irish Moss as a thickening agent.  It was a bit of work but turned out great; I imagine this makes it so you can use less coconut oil or coconut butter, thus adding less fat and more varied nutrients.  

So I got my two coconuts ready to make the meringue, cut one open and realized the water smelled. Then I tasted it.  Immediately spat it out.  This coconut was bad; let’s try the next one.  Same thing!  And I didn’t want to run to the store just to get the same thing over again, so I figured I’d improvise.

I had already bought 2 lbs. of strawberries today, had vanilla beans and cashews soaking for the meringue, so I chose the strawberry parfait to top the pie.  I also had some left over that I just put in dessert dishes/ramekins.  The strawberry mixture smells great!  I didn’t test the final result because I’m doing no added fat for 3 days a week and this day is one of them.  Without the coconut butter (which is made using whole coconut, as opposed to just the fat), it was divine!  No seaweed taste.  :)

Let’s hope the strawberry parfait and lemon pie go well together.  If not, there’s always cooked chocolate cupcakes for the cooked food eaters!

Electrolyte Superfood Smoothie

Some people refer to certain supplements and powders as superfoods.  I prefer to get my super-charged nutrition from fresh fruits and vegetables, mostly.  Tonight I had a smoothie with the following:

water from 1 young coconut (fresh)

2 kiwi

1 banana

1 c. strawberries

1/2 c. raspberries

1 pomegranated, seeded

ice as desired

 

I liked it but there was still some coconut water flavor remaining.  For whatever reason, I don’t like the taste.    Either way, what a nutrition boost!

Raw Chocolate Brazil Nut Cups

http://rawgoddessheathy.blogspot.com/2008/12/raw-goddess-heathys-just-desserts-ebook.html

I made the “Peanut Butter Cup” recipe from this book except using Brazil nuts instead of almonds (ground into butter).  I am not going to attempt to take a picture because dark brown and light brown and my camera will look like a big circle of mud.  They are so delicious and one is very filling!    I probably won’t be buying raw chocolate bars anymore, now that I know how to make these.

Cinnamon Rolls and Maple Cupcakes

Not frosted — yet! — cinnamon rolls.

And maple cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  The nut chunks on top are so coated with maple syrup, it has a nice crystalization effect going on and I’m sure a bite of crunchy yet melt-in-your-mouth sugar will be welcomed!  You could always break them more apart.

What a great party this will be, with something raw or cooked for everyone, omni or vegan. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake (raw)

Sweet Gratitude

This is my second dessert from the Sweet Gratitude cookbook.  The batter, mostly comprised of coconut oil, ground nuts, and dates, didn’t seem as smooth and light as the book described, but I think it will still taste great and the frosting is absolutely delicious!  I’ll try to get an inside shot.

Verdict:  Very sweet, delicious.  Minor problem of the nuts not being ground enough but otherwise, the batter/cake part seems great!

Raw Marble Cheesecake

Just Desserts (from Raw Goddess Heathy)

Pretty frustrated when the springform pan of the prettier and more accurate “marble” did not release, I took a photo of this one instead.  It’s a really good cheesecake, made from readily-accessible ingredients, and the chocolate flavor is just right.  I can’t wait to try more from this book!  Thanks, Heathy (www.rawgoddessheathy.blogspot.com).