Caramel Slice

It's no secret I'm a sweets kinda gal, so when I got a request for a caramel slice, I jumped at the chance.

With Mother's Day on my mind, I set out to make a sweet little treat my mami would love and one that I would also be happy eating. 

Whilst these are a healthier version than your average caramel slice, they should still be seen as a treat and enjoyed as such.

I find them really rich, so I suggest cutting them up into small squares and keeping them in the freezer, ready to be eaten whenever the urge attacks!

And don't fear, they are gluten free, refined sugar free and raw vegan.  Hooray!

Caramel Slice

Makes 12 3x3cm squares

Ingredients

Base

1/2 cup raw almonds

1/2 cup activated buckinis

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

10 pitted medjool dates

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 TBS of coconut oil

Caramel

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup coconut nectar (or rice bran syrup/maple syrup)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 tsp of vanilla extract

pinch of Himalayan pink salt

1 TBS of raw mesquite powder*

Chocolate

1/3 cup coconut oil

4 TBS raw cacao powder

4 TBS coconut nectar (or rica bran syrup/maple syrup)

1 TBS of coconut cream

Method

Base

Place all ingredients in the food processor and pulse until everything resembles fine crumbs and sticks together.  Add more dates if needed.

Press mixture into the bottom of a square cake tin that you have lined with baking paper.

Press down on mixture, spreading it evenly.  I use the bottom of a glass to smooth it out.

Place in freezer whilst you make the rest of the components.

Caramel

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend it until it's all super smooth and delicious.

Pour this over your prepared base, and smooth it out with a spatula so that you get even cover.  Place in the freezer whilst you make the chocolate.

*Mesquite powder is a high protein meal that contains good quantities of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc, and is rich in the amino acid lysine as well. Its low GI of 25 helps maintain stable blood sugar levels.

It has a lovely flavour that tastes a bit like caramel which is why I used it here.

Chocolate

Mix all of the ingredients together really well, making sure there are no bubbles.  The coconut oil needs to be liquid for this so if it's hard, just place the coconut oil jar in some boiling water to melt before you add it to the rest of the ingredients.

Once it's all mixed, you need to work quickly as it will start to harden, making it difficult to get an even spread.

Pour the chocolate over the caramel and spread evenly with a spatula.

Place in the freezer to set for about 30 mins or better yet, a couple of hours.

When ready, use a hot knife to slice it into pieces for you to enjoy.

Now was that one of the easiest things you ever made or what?!  

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb

Fruity offerings

I figure I should probably do a wrap up of the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program.
I'll be honest, I caved after the 6 week mark.  All those beautifully ripe bananas where calling my name!  So essentially I didn't finish the program but I'm cool with that.
It was ok at the beginning, I felt really confident, and I had so much fun experimenting without fruit but it started to suck big time after week 5 for me.  Here's why:
I was eating a lot of cooked foods, especially for breakfast and it didn't really sit well with me.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's bad to eat cooked foods, but for breakfast?  Yummy, yes, but for me, long term, no.
Second thing:  I was eating a lot of nuts to make up for the calories I was missing from fruit.
Now I love nuts as much as the next person, but eating too many just makes me feel heavy and blocked up.  Not nice and not for me.
Thirdly, I dearly missed fruit.  
So, after thinking about the journey and reflecting back on how I was feeling throughout the challenge, I decided that I had given a pretty good go of it, so didn't feel terrible when I chose to stop after the 6th week.
Here are my thoughts on the program:  If you have no idea about nutrition, it's a good place to start.
If you are a vegan, there are some good options but the menu is heavy on eggs, dairy and fats.
If you are a low fat raw vegan, sorry but the menu doesn't really cater for you, apart from some juices, and smoothies.
Would I do it again, probably not.  Purely on the grounds that I already don't eat refined sugars, only fruit, and I don't see an issue with this.
Like I said, the program is great for non-vegans and I've even spoken to a few people at work who have noticed since giving up sugar, that their rheumatic pain has diminished.  
And, the most important lesson for me is this:  there are a million food philosophies out there, just like there is a million different individuals, therefore, research, try and stick with the one that makes you feel best.
Well, what makes me feel best is eating raw fruits and vegetables and I'm sticking with that!  As much as I can anyways, can't say I've given up cooked foods forever, just that when i do eat them I'll make sure that they are high carb and low fat.

Ok, enough of that.  

Now that I'm back on fruit heaven, I've been making lots of, you guessed it, fruity yummies!
I'm going to share my faves so far, hope you like them too.

Fresh Fig Tart with Banana Carob Cream
Makes 1x 12 cm tart

Ingredients

Base
4 medjool dates
4 sundried figs

Filling
1 large fresh fig
2 frozen bananas
2 TBS carob powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Line the tart case with some baking paper and set aside.

Base
Pulse all ingredients in the food processor until it's the consistency of a chunky paste.
Place onto lined tart case and flatten out with fingers, including around the sides.  You may need to wet your hands, it can be quite sticky.

Filling
Place all ingredients, except the fig in the food processor and process until it resembles soft serve ice cream.
Use this mixture to fill your prepared tart, level with the back of a spoon.
Cut your fig and place on top.
Serve immediately or place in the freezer without the fig and have it another day.

Did you know that the easiest thing in the world to make is ice cream.  You just need some frozen bananas, which you chop up and put in your food processor or blender.  Depending on quantity I use the food processor for 2 or less bananas and the vitamix for more, but you can use whatever works for you.

All you have to do is process/blend until it becomes thick and creamy, and gives the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

Next step is to eat it with glee OR add your desired flavourings.

If I'm not having a green smoothie, I'm having ice cream for breakfast.  That's just how I roll.

Vanilla and Mulberry Ice Cream with Fresh Fruit

Serves 1

Ingredients

4 frozen bananas

1 tsp of vanilla exact

1 handful of mulberries

1 kiwi fruit, chopped

1 cup of papaya, chopped

Method

Place the frozen bananas in machine of choice and process/blend until the bananas reach soft serve consistency.  Add the vanilla extract and process some more.

Take out half, that's your vanilla layer.

Add the mulberries to the left overs and process until they break up a bit but not completely.

Layer your fruit with the ice creams and your done. 

Didn't I tell you!

Dark Cherry, Carob and Coconut Ice Cream
Serves 1

Ingredients

2 frozen bananas
2 TBS carob powder
2 TBS coconut flakes
small handful of pitted dark cherries (I used frozen) + 5 for decorating.

Method

Place all ingredients in the food processor (except decorating cherries) and whizz away until magic happens and it turns to ice cream
Serve on top of some of the decorating cherries and with a cherry on top and some coconut and carob.

And here are some of the other stuff I've been stuffing my face with:

Spicy Cauliflower rice with pineapple, corn, tomatoes, capsicum, olives and guacamole.

Made with sprouts, mango, capsicum, red cabbage, baby spinach and served with a side of papaya

Baby spinach with peaches, figs, strawberries and spanish onion

Cos lettuce with mango, blueberries, kiwi fruit and lemon juice and an orange & raspberry crush

Spiced pear & apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce

Berry banana smoothie with fresh fruit, homemade raspberry & lime chia jam and mint

Banana matcha smoothie

Raspberry & Pear chia jam folded through coconut chia pudding

This is typical of my work meals.  If I work in the a.m I take a breakfast smoothie and salad for lunch

Zucchini fettucine two ways:  sundried tomato sauce on the bottom, avocado & basil on the top

All the recipes are raw vegan, all of them are low fat.  Notice I'm not avoiding fats, just eating them in smaller amounts and good fats from avocado, never oil, and I've also added some chia to supply essential omega 3 fatty acids.  

Hey, we all need fats, just not in the amounts that you normally find in foods.

I should also tell you, I haven't been adding salt to my food still.  Funny, for such a salt lover, you do get used to it.  It's all a matter of changing your taste buds by feeding your body the good stuff.  Eventually, that's all it will crave.

If you want any recipes for the above dishes, let me know, but if you do a search, you'll find I've done similar recipes before.

Sending lots of good vibes your way!

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb

Coconut Cheesecake with Chai Poached Figs

There's something about figs and cinnamon that just go so well together.  When I lived in Peru, my aunts would often whip up a massive big jar of poached figs, and they would flavour it with cinnamon sticks and cloves.  I remember we would sit in my grandmother's open kitchen, drinking tea and having the deliciously sweet poached figs on pieces of crusty bread.  It's such a wonderful memory and I wanted to recreate that feeling with this dish.
Whilst I no longer consume refined sugar, I did still manage to get the flavours right in this decadent dessert.  Now all I need is to be back in that little open kitchen, listening to my grandmother tell stories of my dad as a kid growing up.  Sigh.


Coconut Chessecake with Chai Poached Figs
Serves 2 (Makes 1x 12 cm tart)

Ingredients

Base
1/2 cup of raw macadamia nuts
1/4 cup of raw pistachio kernels
2 dates
pinch of sea salt

Filling
1 cup of raw cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed
1/2 cup of coconut yoghurt
1 TBS coconut oil
2 TBS rice bran syrup
1 sachet of stevia (1g)

Poached Figs

3 plump sun dried figs
1 tea bag of Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea
1 cup of boiling water

Topping
1 tsp shredded coconut

Method


Poached Figs

In a small bowl, add the figs, 1 cup of boiling water and the tea bag, leave to soak in that until you are ready to decorate the cheesecake.  The longer you leave it to soak the better.  Because the tea and the figs are naturally sweet, you won't need to add any sugar or other sweetener.  If you don't have access to Celestial Seasonings tea where you live, just use your favourite chai tea and add a stick of cinnamon and some whole cloves.  You can also make double the amount and just leave what you don't use in your fridge.  It will keep for ages and you can add it to your oats or on top of your favourite ice cream (raw vegan of course).  You could also use them on a fruit and vegan cheese plate.  Oh, the possibilities!

Base

Place some baking paper on the bottom of your mini tart pan.  I used the one with a removable bottom.  Set aside.
Place ingredients in the food processor and blend until it binds together when pressed.  Pour into your prepared tart case and press down with the back of a spoon or your fingers until even.
Place it in the freezer whilst you prepare the filling.

Filling

Place all the ingredients into a powerful blender and process until super smooth.  Scrape the sides down as you go so you don't miss any of the ingredients.
Take base out of freezer, pour in filling and return to freezer to set.
When firm, take out and decorate with quartered figs and some of the shredded coconut.
Drizzle over some of the tea.

This dessert can be stored in the freezer, without the topping.  Good to make ahead and keep there until you are ready to serve.  Take it out 30 minutes before you are ready to eat to allow for it to soften.

Decorate just before eating.

I made this dessert for the lovely people at the new 'cook' app for iOS 7.
It's a great app, so check it out, it's also free which is a bonus.
This dessert does have fructose in it so just beware, though I did try to make it as low fructose as possible with not as many dates or figs.

Hope you like it!

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb

14 days fully rooooaaaarrrr!

Hello lovelies!

So the 14 days fully raw challenge is complete.  Have to be honest, I had cooked food a couple of times.  Once at a friend's lunch and on the last day of the challenge.  No excuses, I just got tempted by some delicious salads that had some cooked grains in them, tsk tsk!

Anywho,the reason I decided to do the 14 days was due to the numerous questions I was getting from people via the FB page about making a transition to a raw vegan lifestyle, or even just trying it for a period of time.

I did intend to post what I ate every day but it just got so crazy, you know, with life and all, that I actually missed a lot of days, sorry! 
Also, I didn't think posting photos of raw fruit, or salad would be very interesting, you can all do that right?
I did eat a ton of fruit and vegetables, and some raw nuts too.  Whilst I love raw, I really do, doing this really cemented in my head that I couldn't and wouldn't do it 100%.  I just felt that I was eating lots, and all the time, and to be honest, who has the time to be prepping and eating all of the time?  Summer is coming, I want to be outside doing stuff with the kids, my hubby, my friends, and not cleaning in the kitchen!
So, whilst I will always promote that raw fresh fruit and veggies should make up the bulk of all our meals, I do feel that for me, there is a place for cooked meals in my life!
But, at the end of the day, you have to do what's right for you and well, that's just what feels right for me.


I hope you enjoy the recipes!

Zucchini Spaghetti with Olives, Mushroom and Tomato
Serves 1

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini, spiralized into spaghetti
3 small mushrooms
1/2 tomato, diced
1/8 cup red onion diced
5 kalamata olives, diced
2 TBS nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
1/2 lemon, juiced
Himalayan pink salt to taste

Method

Just mix all ingredients together until combined and serve.

Zucchini Fettucini with Spinach and Chilli Pesto
Makes 1 cup of pesto, but serving is for 1.

Ingredients

Pasta

2 medium zucchini, spiralized (save the peel and the core)
4 cherry tomatoes
1 TBS spring onion finely chopped
1 TBS parsley finely chopped
1 TBS of basil finely chopped
Some red cabbage for the plate

Method

Toss all ingredients together

Sauce

1 handful of fresh basil
1 handful of fresh parsley
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1/2 medium zucchini + the peel and left over core of the spiralized zucchini
1/4 cup of spring onion
1/3 cup of water
1/2 tsp of Himalayan pink salt or to taste
1/4 tsp of chilli flakes
2 TBS of hemp seeds

Method

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Adjust seasoning to taste.
Pour desired amount of sauce over pasta ingredients and toss.  Arrange the red cabbage on a plate, and place the fettucine on top.  You can eat the cabbage of course, but I also think it looks lovely.

Raw Burger Patty with Salad and Tomato Ketchup

Ingredients

Patties

1 cup of raw sweet potato

1 large field mushroom

5 TBS flaxmeal

3 pitted medjool dates

1 clove of garlic

1/3 cup spring onion

1/4 cup of capsicum

1/4 tsp of paprika

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp of dried oregano

small handful each of fresh basil and parsley

4 TBS of nutritional yeast

3 pitted kalamata olives

1 tsp Himalayan pink salt or to taste.

Method

Process until all combined. You still want to see some of the vegetables so don't process too much.

The mixture is wet and sloppy.

I just shaped them in my hand and coated them in more flaxmeal.

I kept two raw and I baked the other two and froze them for when I'm finished with the 14 days.

I think they would go really well with a side of sweet potato fries!

Tomato Ketchup

Ingredients

2 tomatoes

1/2 cup of sun dried tomato (no oil)

1/4 cup of lemon juice

3 pitted medjool dates

Himalayan pink salt to taste.

Method

Blend until smooth and some more juice or water if it's too thick. That is all!

I served it on some oak lettuce leaves with tomato, avocado, alfalfa sprouts and some of the ketchup on top.  I also added some more salad on the side, just some kale, more lettuce, cherrie tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber sticks.  Was delicious!

The following recipe requires that you sprout some chickpeas.  It's a fairly simple and inexpensive process and you can find out how to do it here.

I used 1 cup of dried chickpeas and used the whole thing after it had sprouted, to make the recipe.

Sprouted Chickpea Falafel

Makes 16 falafels

Ingredients

Sprouted chickpeas

1/4 cup of sunflower seeds, soaked overnight and rinsed 

1 clove of garlic

1/4 medium red onion

1 cup each of fresh parsley, mint and coriander

1 tsp of Himalayan pink salt or to taste

2 TBS of unhulled tahini

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander

Pepper to taste

Method

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.    Adjust seasoning.  You then shape them into balls.  I used a heaped tablespoon for each ball.  I made half raw, and then baked the rest at 180 degrees celsius for about 10 minutes.  No more or else they will be dry.  You can freeze them too and just take them out when you need them.  Pretty good I think!

Now for some sweet stuff! Blood oranges have been delicious lately so I put them to good use and made some dessert.

Blood Orange Cheesecakes

Makes 12 individual cheesecakes

Prepare a 12 capacity muffin tin by lining them with patty cases.  Set aside

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

3-4 thinly sliced blood orange cut into small segments for decorating.

Base

1/2 cup raw almonds

8 medjool dates, pitted

1/4 cup dried coconut

Method

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until mixture holds together.

Place a large TBS into each prepared patty case and press down with fingers until even and smooth. Place in freezer.

Filling

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed

1/4 cup of liquid sweetener of choice (I used maple syrup but rice malt syrup is good if you are avoiding fructose)

1/2 cup blood orange juice (freshly squeezed)

1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

1 TBS of orange zest

1/2 cup of coconut oil (liquid)

Method

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth.  Adjust sweetness if desired.  I would recommend using powdered stevia, maybe try a sachet/tsp at a time.  Adding more liquid sweetener may mean that your tarts won't set, be too liquid when they defrost.

Pour filling into each prepared case, decorate with raspberries & orange segments and place in freezer to set.  A couple of hours will do.  You can keep them in the freezer and just take out 30 minutes prior to serving to soften.

The next recipe is the cake I made for my birthday, I had planned on making a delicious cake made out purely of fresh, raw fruit but I wanted the rest of the family to enjoy it too, and being the last day prior to my next challenge, I saw only fitting to make the following:

Chocolate Mousse Tart with Smashed Raspberries
Makes 1 cake (i used a small heart shaped tin)

For the base, line your tin (feel free to use whatever tin you have) with some cling wrap, then make the base using the above recipe. You could add some raw cacao powder to make it extra chocolaty but I didn't.  Place in freezer whilst you make filling.

Ingredients

Filling

1 cup of raw cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 sachets of stevia powder
1/4 cup of coconut oil (liquid)
2 TBS raw cacao powder
1/4 cup of raspberries

Method

Place all ingredients (except raspberries) in a food processor and blend until smooth.  If it's too thick, you may need to add some water, 1 TBS at a time until it's still thick but able to be blended.  Make sure you scrape down the sides first before adding more water to incorporate all ingredients and if you still can't blend it to smooth, then add a bit of water.  If you're not too concerned about it being fully raw, you could use some almond milk or other nut milk of choice.
When ready, take out the prepared base from the freezer, pour over the raspberries, then pour in your filling and place in the freezer for a couple of hours to set prior to serving.
Once ready, get it out of the tin, place on plate and pour the raspberries over the top.

Smashed Raspberries

Ingredients

1 cup of raspberries
4 TBS of maple syrup

Method

Mash everything together until it becomes a liquid.

Here are some of the other meals that I had whilst on the challenge:

Salsa stuffed avocado with cauliflower and red cabbage rice

Acái, raspberry, coconut and banana smoothie 

Work lunch with left over cauliflower and red cabbage rice

Strawberry and banana smoothie topped with everything

Veggie plate with pumpkin seed hummus

with chocolate protein ice cream & cookie crumbs

Green smoothie and salad with left over sprouted chickpea falafel

Crunchy Asian salad with seasoned seaweed

beetroot, carrot, cucumber, lemon, blood orange, celery mint, kale, ginger  juice

apple pear rawnola with fruit, coconut, activated buckinis and strawberry coconut ice cream

Nori rolls and fruit platter

Neapolitan chia overnight oats with homemade chocolate almond butter

If you want any of the above recipes, please send me a message and I will post it for you. Some I have posted on the FB page and some on Instagram so check that out first.  Name is Onehungrymami for both.

So off to the next challenge I go, yep, sugar free for 8 weeks, yes my friends, that also includes sugar. Y I K E S ! !
Will post all about it so don't worry, I'll let you know how it goes.

Wish me luck!

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb

disruptions and goings on

Oh my, it's been way too long since my last post, my sincere apologies!
We have now moved, and we, as in me, are slowly settling in.  The family has somehow slid into a nice little routine, and my girls have just bounced into the swing of life at the new digs like it aint no thing.  
Oh to be young again, and so bloody adaptable.  
I should really be glad, and I am, don't get me wrong.   Just a little bit envious of their innocence and non-attachment to their old life.
As you can tell, I'm having a harder time adjusting to the new space, so my head space has not been the best of late.  Really unmotivated, and just generally feeling out of sorts.  I don't know if I've ever told you this, if you know me, you've probably guessed, but I'm a stickler for routine.  
Like a true Virgo, I love order and everything in it's place.  In my head that is, my house is another issue!  But, let's end the rant there, I don't want to bore you with my current emotional sensibilities, this is a food blog after all.
So, for the sake of my sanity, I will do just a few recipes, mainly the ones that people have been screaming at me for on IG. Thank you if you are following my journey on IG, you keep me motivated and definitely push me to pull my finger out and get to it.
So, without further delay, here are the recipes.

Spinach and Chickpea Pancakes
Makes 2


Ingredients 

2/3 cup garbanzo and fava bean flour*
2/3 cup water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt or to taste
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup of spinach leaves

Method

Heat a medium-large non-stick frying pan on medium heat.
Place all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.
Pour enough mixture to cover base of frying pan once it's hot, turning pan to fully cover.
Flip pancake over when bubbles start to break the surface and the sides are cooked and can be handled without breaking.
Repeat with second pancake.
If you find the mixture too thick, just add a little bit more water.
These pancakes are a little dense so I found them to be quiet filling.
*I use Bob Red Mills

I served them with a tomato medley salad with coriander and lemon juice, and also some pan seared mushrooms with lemon thyme. 

I used the left overs the next night, toasted them and served them with a simple red lentil curry.  Here's the recipe for the curry.

Red Lentil and Kale Curry

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tsp of grated ginger

1 clove of garlic crushed

1/4 cup brown onion chopped

1/2 TBS of curry powder (or to taste)

1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)

1/2 cup red lentils

5 very ripe tomatoes, blended (or 1 can of organic crushed tomatoes)

2 cups of pumpkin cubes

2 cups of chopped kale

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup chopped coriander

Himalayan pink salt to taste

Method

Add the ginger, garlic, onion, chilli flakes, pumpkin cubes and curry powder to a large non-stick frying pan that has a lid.

Pour about 1/2 cup of water and cook until onions are soft and translucent.  

Add the lentil and tomatoes, stir, and cover with lid.

Keep cooking and stirring, adding more water to prevent it from drying, until lentils and pumpkin are cooked.  Once they are ready, add the kale, stir until it wilts.

Remove from heat, pour in lemon juice and mix through.  Season with Himalayan pink salt to taste.

Serve with some of the toasted pancake on the side and top with fresh coriander.

Now here's an idea for when you get stuck for meal ideas, and you want something quick, filling and low-fat.

Make some delicious nori rolls!  Given, you do have to have nori sheets in your pantry but that should be on your staples list my friends.

The kids love it and you can get them to roll a few.  Yes it's messy, but they love it.

You don't have to make them raw of course, you can use lots of fillings, like left over brown rice, or quinoa.  You could also get super creative with other grains like millet or barley if you are not gluten sensitive.

I just love stuffing them with different veggies, it's like a salad wrapped up in some sea vegetable goodness.

I've got links to how to make these on the right hand side but here are some that I made using grated beetroot and grated carrot, and just adding whatever I had in the fridge, which happened to be some avocado, capsicum, zucchini and pickled ginger.

But seriously, the sky's the limit so let your taste buds guide you.

And here are some delicious treats I made last week.

The recipe is on the Facebook page but for my friends without Facebook (yes, they do exist), here it is.

Strawberry Cream Tarts

Serves 8

Ingredients

Filling

2 large strawberries, sliced thinly

1 cup raw cashews, soaked & rinsed (for at least 30 min or overnight)

1/4 cup liquid sweetener of choice

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or water or any other non-dairy milk)

Base

8 pitted medjool dates

1 cup raw almonds 

1/4 cup shredded coconut

2 Tbs raw cacao powder

1/4 cup liquid sweetener of choice

(I used coconut nectar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch Himalayan pink salt

Method

Base

Line an 8 capacity muffin tray with patty cases and set aside.

Process all base ingredients in a food processor until it holds together, like when you make bliss balls.

Press about 2 large tbs into bottom of patty cases. Set aside.

You will have some left over, use this to decorate the top of the tarts & to munch on 

Filling

Blend all ingredients except strawberries, in a powerful blender, until smooth & silky.

Set aside.

Slice your strawberries into thin slices and place 1 slice into the prepared patty cases. You will have some left over to decorate the top.

Fill each case with cashew cream mixture and top with some more sliced strawberry & crumbs from base.

Place in the freezer to set. When ready, about 2 hours, take out & let thaw a bit before slicing. 

These will melt so you need to eat them whilst they are still a bit chilled. They don't usually last that long when they are out.

The beauty is, you can make a large batch & keep them in the freezer, ready to have whenever.

Here are some snack ideas for everyone in the family!  They take next to no time to prepare and you'll be surprised, you probably have all these things in your pantry and fridge already.

raw cacao nibs + peanut butter + frozen bananas = the best ice cream ever!

thinly slice some apples, add some homemade vanilla almond butter and top with a salsa made with kiwifruit and strawberries.

1 banana, homemade vanilla almond butter and your favourite yummies as toppings

Homemade hummus with your favourite veggies and pickles

And one last one that got a lot of likes on IG so I thought I'd better post a recipe for it although you can find recipes for chocolate mousse and vanilla chia pudding if you use the search option.  Anywho, here it is.

Chocolate Mousse and Vanilla Chia Pudding Parfait
Serves 1

Ingredients

Chocolate Mousse

1 ripe avocado
2 TBS raw cacao powder
1 frozen banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup maple syrup or to taste
1 pitted medjool date

Vanilla Chia Pudding

1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup unsweetened almond milk or non-dairy milk of choice
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 TBS maple syrup

Layers

4 TBS shredded coconut
4 TBS activated buckinis
4 TBS puffed millet
1 cup raspberries (I used frozen and thawed them first at room temp)

Method

Vanilla Chia Pudding

Place all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake the beejebus out of it repeatedly until all ingredients have mixed through.  Pop it in the fridge whilst you make the mousse.

Chocolate Mousse

Place all ingredients, except raw cacao powder, in a powerful blender and process until super smooth.   Add cacao powder and continue to blend.  Taste and adjust sweetness if needed.  You will probably need to scrape the sides as you go.
It should be fluffy and delicious.  It may also taste avlot like avocado.  If you don't like that, you may need to add more banana.
Place in the fridge.

When the chia is set, start layering.
Here's how I layered mine but feel free to do whatever your heart desires.

So there we have it, a rather late post but hope I've covered some recipes that people will enjoy. Will endeavour to be more contemporaneous with my future posts.
Thank you for your patience and on going support of the blog, IG and the FB page.  Deadset legends, the lotta ya!

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb