Apricot Eye 'Shortbread' Cookies - Raw

With my new wonderful raw cookbooks i found a 'cookie' recipe to try and added my own twist! They are super easy and taste a little like traditional shortbread and can be made into cookies or even used as a crust for a raw pie (my next food for thought) :)

Apricot Eye 'Shortbread' Cookies - Raw

Ingredients
2 cups raw walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
3-4 dried apricots chopped

Place all ingredients except the apricots into a food processor and process until combined (around 45 seconds).

Roll into small balls and flatten to make your cookies. Add a piece of chopped apricot on top and enjoy!

These can be stored in the fridge or freezer and can last around a month, i like their texture in the freezer which also makes them perfect for summer :)

Rockin Raw

Xox 

Banana Crepe's with Cashew Cream, Berries and Chocolate Syrup - Raw

The time has finally come, my Christmas was extended when on the 27th of December a rather large parcel arrived for me from the delivery man... my Excalibur Dehydrator had arrived!!! My excitement led me to have rushing thoughts of what to try first, my ultimate meal to make is a raw pizza but i must take baby steps! The other recipe i have wanted to try for a while is a banana crepe which is really simple to make :) So after reading my little instruction booklet and marveling at my dehydrator (yay!), i decided to make my crepes for desert tonight and also try drying some simple apple slices.

Going the distance i also made some cashew butter for the crepes and topped them with a chocolate drizzle and berries! There is only one word to describe this... delish!!

Banana Crepe's with Cashew Cream, Berries and Chocolate Syrup - Raw

Banana Crepes - Serves 4

Ingredients
4 ripe bananas
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon shredded coconut
1 tablespoon sunflower kernels

Method
In a food processor (my first trial with mums new one!!) process the coconut and sunflower kernels until they  resemble bread crumbs.

Add the banana and water and process for around 45 seconds until smooth and a smoothie like consistency.

Line Dehydrator trays with paraflex sheets or i simply used baking paper for now until i can buy some more sheets! The Paraflex sheets can be reused/cleaned as oppose to using up baking paper, hence are better for the environment :) Divide the crepe mixture into 4 in the centre of the trays. From my pizza making experience i then used the back of a large spoon and made circles from the centre outwards to make a round crepe spreading the mixture evenly.

My Excalibur baby!

Temperature and timer :)

Place in the dehydrator and set at 47 degrees (105F) for 3 hours until they are pliable. I started them at 52 degrees (125F) initially to warm the machine up for an hour then turned it down to 47 degrees for the next 2 hours.

Cashew Butter

Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
Water
1 orange
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Soak cashews in enough water to cover the cashews with around 3cm depth above the cashews, soak for 2-4 hours.

Place soaked cashews, orange and vanilla in a food processor and process for 60 seconds.

The cashew butter can be refrigerated and consumed for about a week.

Raw Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients (makes 1/3 cup)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of ground cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a small bowl and stir vigorously to blend until the mixture resembles a traditional chocolate syrup.

Mouth watering...

Drizzle over the cashew butter/banana crepes or store in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate for up to one month.

The original banana crepe recipe is just the banana and water but i added the coconut and kernels to give more texture to the crepes. You could also change the flavouring a little by adding some cacao powder (maybe 2 teaspoons), vanilla extract or cinnamon! Other recipes say if you do not have a dehydrator you can simply put the crepes in the sun on a hot day for two or so hours, flipping after each hour. However these recipes have coconut meal with the banana to make them a stronger pancake consistency to withstand the flipping.

Sooo good!

I added some natural Greek yoghurt with the cashew butter as i would have been too rich for my newly raw family (baby steps!!) and i was glad i did as now i have some cashew butter left over for more treats! and the result.... Success! All plates were quickly cleared... :)

And you know what? If you want to make them the night before you can even take them to go for breakfast!

Rockin Raw

Xox

Buckle-Berry Bliss - Raw

This is our 3rd day of 40 degree heat in a row over here in Western Australia, coming back from a Sunday weights session at the gym i was ready for something refreshing and replenishing!! The thought of making a breakfast with frozen berries seemed too good to pass, so with my overnight soaked buckwheat and Chia seed (no oats today) i got our trusty little Oscar out and made a 'Buckle-Berry Bliss!'

My Buckle-Berry Bliss

Ingredients

1 tablespoon buckwheat

1/2 tablespoon Chia seeds

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon Pepita's

1 tablespoon shredded coconut

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 small ripe banana

1/4 cup pea protein powder 

1/4 cup water extra

1/4 cup frozen raspberries

Topping - frozen blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup 

Soak the chia seeds and buckwheat over night in the 1/3 cup of water.

The next morning add to a blender the soaked seeds, pepitas, coconut and blend until smooth.

I know we shouldn't play with our food but i can't help it when raw food makes me feel this good!!...

Next add the banana, pea protein (if desired), cinnamon, extra water and the frozen raspberries and blend again until combined.

Transfer to a serving bowl and top with frozen blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey... bliss!!

Once again you can easily make this without the pea protein and extra water, it still tastes sooo good :)

Ingredients	Amount	Calories	Protein	Carbs	Fats
Banana	1 medium (120g)	105	1g	27g	0g
Blueberries	1/3 cup frozen (35g)	15	0.15g	3g	0.15g
Pepitas (green)	1 Tbsp 12g	67.1	4.55g (37.9%)	0.22g (1.8%)	5.28g (44%)
Pea Protein	20g (1/4 cup)	69.9	17.6g	0.08g	0.2g
Chia seeds	1 Tbsp 12g	62	2.5g (21%)	4.44g (37%)	3.5g (29%)
Buckwheat	1 Tbsp 16g	16.8	0.69g (4.3%)	3.02 (19%)	0.14g (0.9%)
Coconut (shred)	1 Tbsp 7g	42.7	0.55g (7.8%)	1.33g (19%)	3.74g (53%)
Raspberries	1/3 cup frozen (35g)	18.5	0.35g (1%)	3.5g (10%)	0g
Total	257g	397 calories	27.5g (27.4% calories)	42.6g (43% calories)	13g (29.5% calories)

Rockin Raw

Xox

Sproutlings!! My Little Greenhouse :)

Another little milestone is happening in my Raw food transition... i am growing my own Alfalfa sprouts!!

My little Biosnacky Greenhouse from Christmas allows me to have my first trial of sprouting, and i love it :) The greenhouse has 3 sprouting layers with connecting water drains and a water collector on the bottom to collect excess for you to discard in order to allow an appropriately moist environment for sprouting. The process seems simple enough but i was a little nervous about the 3-8 day procedure!

Following my little books instructions i rinsed the green house but only used one try to start with. Without drying the tray i aligned it over the water bowl and sprinkled 1 1/2 tablespoons of alfalfa seeds from the health food shop over the tray. Then i added enough water to submerge the little red water drainer.

The green house worked its magic and the excess water drained into the bottom tray leaving around 1-2 tablespoons of water scattered over the top of the seeds. It is important to discard the excess water from the water bowl to allow the correct environment as mentioned before, THEN i waited...

The seeds...

For the alfalfa seeds i had to rinse with water twice a day again discarding the excess drained water. In 12 hours the seeds had swollen and almost doubled in size, then i woke up to the 'birth' of my little sproutlings!!!

24 hours later...

36 hours later...

 And after 48 hours here is the result so far...

48 hours mark!

The 1 1/2 tablespoons i used should make 6-8 servings when they are fully grown, i have my fingers crossed i am doing it right i don't want them to grow any fungus or anything, but they are growing themselves so i know i have something right at least... so much love for sprouts! Stay tuned for the end result :)

Rockin Raw

Xox

Popeye Porridge!! - Raw

It's the 27th of December, you know what that means? i have had 2 days of glorious foods with my family! It only comes once a year and when people put so much effort into the wonderful meals how can you say no? After all we work hard on our bodies but we also need to remember to treat ourselves when it counts :) Needless to say i was ready to get back into my raw foods and gym again. While there was a small 3 people at the 6am Pump class this morning (all girls too i might add - girl power!) it felt amazing to have a good workout followed by some cardio on the bike. So when i got home for breakfast i was so looking forward to my raw breakfasts again i didn't know whether to have my choc-pump oats, chia porridge or a green smoothie?!? Guess what i did... combined bits i was craving from all of them into a Popeye Porridge! The best thing is i think this is my favourite breakfast creation yet - you must try it!

Popeye Porridge 

Popeye Porridge

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Chia seeds

1/2 cup water
1 medium ripe banana
1/4 cup pea protein powder
1/4 water (extra)
1 tablespoon pepitas
1 tablespoon LSA
1 tablespoon shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small handful of spinach leaves
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
Small drizzle of honey


Soak the Chia seeds in the 1/2 cup of water for 10-15 minutes.

In a food processor, add the soaked chia, banana, pea protein powder, 1/4 water, pepitas, LSA and coconut and process until smooth.

Add the spinach leaves until combined, you will see lovely green speckles throughout the porridge :)

Transfer to a serving bowl and top with blueberries and honey... enjoy your Popeye porridge! I was ready for anything my 10 hour work day could bring... starting with the 10 hours!

Yum!

For those of you like me wanting to know the macro nutrient breakdown here it is, BUT don't forget the wonderful micro-nutrients, enzymes and raw beauty this breakfast gives you too, don't get too bogged up in the larger counts as that is how people lose the beauty of our life giving fuel called food.

Ingredients	Amount	Calories	Protein	Carbs	Fats
Banana	1 medium (120g)	105	1g	27g	0g
Blueberries	1/3 cup frozen (35g)	15	0.15g	3g	0.15g
Pepitas (green)	1 Tbsp 12g	67.1	4.55g (37.9%)	0.22g (1.8%)	5.28g (44%)
Pea Protein	20g (1/4 cup)	69.9	17.6g	0.08g	0.2g
Chia seeds	1 Tbsp 12g	62	2.5g (21%)	4.44g (37%)	3.5g (29%)
LSA (3:2:1)	1 Tbsp 6g	33.6	1.18g (12%)	1.08g (18%)	2.77 (94%)
Coconut (shred)	1 Tbsp 7g	42.7	0.55g (7.8%)	1.33g (19%)	3.74g (53%)
Spinach leaves	Handful 30g	7	1g (3.3%)	1g (3.3%)	0g
Total	242g	402 calories	28.5g (28.4% calories)	38g (37.8% calories)	15.6g (35% calories)

Rockin Raw

Xox

My Rawsome Christmas :)

While Christmas is a time to be with loved ones, family and friends, celebrate life and the birth of Jesus, it can also be a time of reflection, hope, signify a new beginning or give you the determination and will to make changes in your life that whether great or small, to help you become all you can be and live life to the fullest.

With my new love of raw foods and my passion forever of health, i was spoilt to a truly 'rawsome' Christmas in more ways than one! I started off the morning with one (make that 2!) of my frozen 'Pea Protein' Green smoothie icy poles (recipe under smoothies which was a perfect start to the warm summer Christmas day and left room for our large Christmas lunch to come! Hitting the raw food transition by storm my family knows me too well and our exchange of gifts left me with wonderful goodies to turn into marvelous healthy foods!

Have you ever seen so many goodies at once!? I can't wait to read them all and make!!

Love the Lorna Jane shirt with my health foods :)

 And this is my new baby! A blender, juicer, food processor, chopper.... 40 functions in the one wonderful machine! I am taking it to my new house this year and have no doubt we will become great friends, i may find it hard to leave alone :P

My new Baby 

I am on the right track and so excited to use my new blender/juicer/processor, books, cookbooks, green house and nut milk bag. But wait... my dehydrator is still coming!! I know you don't need all these things to make good raw food but the correct tools can expand the horizon of so many wonderful recipes, flavours and types of meals which you can work with :)

Thank you my amazing family and friends for a wonderful Christmas with you all! You mean the world to me and i hope i can thank you more by preparing wonderful healthy food for you all to help you get the most out of your life too :) xoxo

I am a determined woman!

Rockin Raw

Xox

My First Raw Cheesecake! Raspberry, Coconut and Chocolate :)

I have been waiting for the right time to make my first raw cheesecake, and what better occasion than Christmas!? Not only can i make my first one but i can introduce more raw foods into my families life by showing them how simple and tasty raw foods can still be. I was so excited to bring a raw desert to the Christmas table with relatives joining us for Christmas lunch! The cheesecake itself looked like Christmas with the red raspberries and white coconut, i felt so festive just making to :) Many raw cheesecakes use quite a lot of cashews which can be expensive, the recipe we found was in one of mums 'BudOrganic' magazines by a Swedish raw desert chef who specialises in nut free deserts and considers her deserts to be medicine for both the body and soul! It sure is :)

Open Your Heart CheesecakeThis one based on dates, pumpkin seeds and coconut and was called an 'Open Your Heart' Cheesecake...

Recipe from Budorganics

Open Your Heart Cheesecake

Cookie Dough Base
1/2 cup dates, pitted and soaked 10 minutes
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon maca powder
1 tablespoon coconut flour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (cold pressed if possible)

Place the pumpkin seeds in a food processor (or coffee grinder) and process until the seeds resemble a flour.

Add the rest of the ingredients and process until the mixture sticks together as a dough. Press the dough into a spring-form pan using the back of a spoon or your hands.

Your cookie dough base :)

Raspberry Filling 
500g frozen raspberries (1.5 cups thawed and save some for decoration)
1 1/2 cups of shredded coconut
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup or sweetener of your choice (e.g. agave nectar)
1/2 cup of water

Thaw frozen raspberries to room temperature to enable incorporation with the coconut oil.

Mmm Raspberries...

Place the coconut into a processor and make into a flour. Add all ingredients EXCEPT the coconut oil and process until smooth. Add the coconut oil and process a further 30 seconds more then spread evenly over cookie dough base :)

Raspberry Filling

Chocolate Cream Filling
1/2 cup of dates, pitted and soaked for 10 minutes
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch of salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup of water


Place the coconut into a processor and make into a flour. Melt the coconut oil in a double saucepan or sit the jar of coconut oil in a bowl of warm water for 10-15 minutes until the coconut becomes clear.
Add the coconut, cacao, coconut flour, vanilla, salt, dates and water to the processor and process until combined.

 Add the melted coconut oil and process until incorporated.

Chocolate filling :)

Put mixture into a pastry/icing bag with an open star tip. You can place the chocolate in the fridge to harden but i piped it around the cake right away and it held its shape nicely.

Piping on the Chocolate

So happy with the result! 

The recipe also had Raw Chocolate Ornament for decoration which i didn't put on, but i have added the ornament recipe too :)

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons agave nectar

Melt coconut oil in a double saucepan as above. Add cacao and agave stirring by hand. Pour melted chocolate in a sqeeze bottle and put in the fridge to harden a little (it is not suppose to be runny). Test the chocolate and make ornament shapes on a plate or tray lined with grease proof paper. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes and carefully remove the ornaments from the paper. The tighter they are the easier they are to remove. When you have decorated the cake with the chocolate filling carefully press some ornaments into the filling :)

And the result... it was a success! It didn't quite match my cousins white chocolate berry cheesecake with cream cheese but i had many comments that it was very yummy and tasted like Cherry Ripe! only it is raw and healthy :)

So with a bowl of new raw cheesecake, my cousins cheesecake, fruit salad and a touch of pavlova... i think we were all quite satisfied for a hearty Christmas desert ;) 

Merry Christmas!! xox

Rockin Raw

Xox

Why Cry Over Spilt Polish?

Optimism is one of the ingredients to a healthy and happy life, but so too is giving. Sometimes you can go out of your way to give ranging from an actual gift to a simple act of kindness, the latter we seem to forget about these days or overlook in our everyday busy life. And with Christmas just around the corner, it is unfortunate to see so many people lose the simple acts of kindness and giving in ways other than the gifts. Instead they grumble, push and may even abuse their way through seemingly endless Christmas shopping to try make this once a year celebration a ‘happy’ day. We simply need to stop, press the pause button for even a minute and be thankful for what we have and the simple things in life. Instead of silently cursing the slower walker in front of you or that other car who beat you by 1 second to the parking spot, take the opportunity to have a breath and be thankful that you can walk (or have the ability to walk faster!) to begin with or say to yourself ‘OK you won that spot today I’ll find my one’... anything to distract your mind from pessimism or abuse!

The other night I was tired from a few long shifts at work and was on the late night extended Christmas trading shift. About an hour before I was due to knock off, I turned a corner to see a lady getting my attention to show me a lovely shattered bright orange nail polish over a 3x1m area of the shops white porcelain tiles... panic!

The lady was embarrassed enough as it was and horrified of the polish on the shiny white tiles so being hidden in the back corner of the shop I left her to watch for customers while I hurried to find the mop and cleaner. No sooner had I started mopping had I realised this was actual nail polish and nothing beats getting nail polish off tiles other than acetone! So the next 30 minutes or so the lady and I spent some quality time together scrubbing the polish off the tiles bit by bit.

For a start being horrified she said it was unstable and fell and I knew there was a strong wind coming in the pharmacy so left it at that, but as we talked she felt more comfortable to say her fingers may have knocked it. It was a given but I thanked her for her honesty, many people simply run away and leave a mess with no explanation for us or deny it altogether to avoid paying. I was also thankful that this lady stayed to help me clean it up even though she had children waiting for her, another sign it was more than the wind but that fact she stayed meant a lot to me especially when we are our own store cleaners. The polish was scented at least so I said we would have a few nice smelling and extra clean tiles in the store and she thanked me for my positivity.

And she started talking about her day how the shops were so busy and she was trying to do the right thing such as giving her shopping trolley to an older lady yet so many bad things were happening to her and the nail polish was hopefully her last! But these things happen, we all have bad days and these only make the good days seem better. Maybe she had to drop the nail polish because someone was already getting her it for Christmas? Maybe she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time? Too many people are pessimistic these days which is a burden to ourselves and those around us and hinder our health. But it is so nice to hear there are still people doing simple acts of kindness throughout the busy and stressful festive season, after all isn’t this what Christmas is really all about? Simple giving, kindness and love?

So to the lady out there who had a bad day but still went out of her way to help those around her and then actually stayed to clean up her spillage - thank you, your kindness does not go unnoticed, and if I was to help with your positivity through a bad day I am so glad I could. After all it was the day the world was suppose to end, and if it was to end why should we cry over spilt polish??