Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate mousse has always been one of my favorite desserts but it’s one that I rarely treat myself to.  I love how thick and creamy the texture is and how rich the flavors are.  

So how was I going to recreate one of my favorite dessert without dairy?  Simple, coconut milk!  But this recipe doesn’t have a hint of coconut flavor, it’s all sweet chocolate, and it’s absolutely divine!

What You’ll Need:

1 can full-fat coconut milk

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup + a little extra, sugar or to taste

What You'll Do:

Open the coconut milk, pour into bowl. (Don’t shake the can before opening.)  Place it in the fridge uncovered overnight to thicken.  Once thick, whip in your cocoa, vanilla, and sugar with an electric mixer Stored uncovered in the fridge, the mixture gets even thicker.

Cheesecake

Don’t be fooled there is nothing healthy about cheesecake. But it sure is delicious and there is nothing wrong with having something sinfully delicious every once in a while, is there?

I’ve been making this cheesecake recipe for years and it is without a doubt one of my personal favorites, as far as cheesecake goes. I’ve included a sour cream topping which goes very nicely with it but have also made it with several different types of topping, blackberries, cherries, drizzled chocolate, so have fun with it!


What You’ll Need:

2 lbs cream cheese, set a room temperature until softened
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
Box of graham crackers or vanilla wafers
½ cup whipping cream
A few drops of lemon juice
1 ¾ cup sugar
1 stick of butter, melted


What You’ll Do:

Using your food processor, gring half the box of graham crackers (I will often use more because I like a thicker crust). Combine melted butter and graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of a 12 inch springform pan.

Beat eggs, vanilla and whipping cream into the softened cream cheese. Then add lemon juice and sugar. Beat until smooth. Pour into springform pan and bake in a water bath at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Then turn oven off and let sit for 1 hour. Remove the cheesecake from oven and add sour cream topping (recipe to follow).


Sour Cream Topping

What You’ll Need:

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon sugar

What You’ll Do:

Mix ingredients together and spread over the top of the cheesecake while still in the oven. Let sit in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Remove cheesecake and let cool in the pan on a rack. Use a knife to go around the edge before removing the outside of the springform.

Enjoy!!

Cinnamon Coconut Milk Yogurt Fruit Dip

I use to make this recipe with cow’s milk yogurt, but haven’t made it in a long time.  Until, that is, our most recent summer visit to Connecticut.  My sister needed something to bring for ‘snack day’ at work.  I gave her a few options, and wouldn’t you know… she loved the sound of everything.  So I chose my old favorite and it was settled.  I was in the kitchen for the rest of the evening preparing snack for tomorrow’s ‘snack day’. Oh don’t feel bad - we all know the kitchen is my favorite room to be in!

The Results? When she came home from work the next evening, she was so excited to tell me how much people loved the snacks.  Especially the fruit dip she brought! I was beaming as she told me how they ate every last bit.  They even resorted to dunking the brownies in the dip when the fruit was all gone! Not a bad idea actually.   

Anyhow, I was so thrilled about my sister’s reviews, that I decided to make it again for an upcoming family BBQ.  Only this time, I ‘veganized’ it by using the coconut yogurt.   The results? Well, when I went to pick up my plates at the end of the day – there was nothing left.  That’s a great sign! 

 

Now I really don’t believe we need to add sweeteners to fruit - it’s already so sweet and delicious by itself!  But sometimes, I like to change things up a bit and make them even more special.  Well, this is the dip that does it!  Enjoy. 

What you need:

1 cup of coconut milk yogurt

2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Lots of fresh fruit

Mix ingredients well and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve with lots of fresh fruit.
 
*If you can’t find coconut milk yogurt you can substitute with soy yogurt.

**If you are interested in making a simple homemade raw vegan coconut yogurt, here is a link from a newly discovered favourite blog that’ll tell you how.

 
http://www.choosingraw.com/greek-yogurt-raw-vegan-style/

Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

I wanted to make something special for my daughter’s 2^nd birthday.  People just expect cake or cupcakes at a party but I wanted to create something people would not expect.  I’d been craving Strawberry Shortcake for a while and since strawberries are in season this time of year it seemed like the perfect choice.  But how was I going to make this traditional dessert, vegan.  That was my mission and I successfully completed it.  It doesn’t just look amazing it, tastes amazing.

What You’ll Need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbs. cold vegan margarine (we like Earth Balance), cut into small pieces

2 Tbs. sugar

3/4 cup cold soy milk or almond milk

1 pint strawberries

Cashew Crème (recipe follows) or other vegan whipping cream

What You’ll Do:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Put flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl and mix.

Cut the vegan margarine in small pieces into the flour mixture.

Using your hands work in the butter into the flour mixture.

When the mixture has become the texture of sand it is ready to add the soy or almond milk.  Mix large spoon.

Place the dough on a lightly floured workspace and gently kneed to a soft consistency. You may need a little more flour if it is too wet.

Now roll your dough to a 3/4-1 inch thickness and cut out your biscuits, should make 10-12 medium sized biscuits Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Meanwhile, clean the strawberries, set a few aside for garnish. Chop the remaining strawberries.  No need to add sugar to the chopped strawberries, they are naturally sweet.

When the biscuits are ready, remove from the oven and allow them to cool. 

Assemble your shortcakes by slicing each biscuit in half and placing in on an individual plate. Place a generous amount of strawberries on the bottom piece of shortcake. Add the part and top with Cashew Crème or other vegan whipping cream or vegan ice “cream”.

Garnish with sliced berries.

Cashew Crème

What You’ll Need:

4 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked for about an hour and rinsed
1 lemon juiced
Pinch sea salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup agave
1 1/3 cup water (+/-)

What You’ll Do:

Blend Cashew Creme ingredients in Vitamix until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust as needed. Remember that salt and lemon juice bring out sweetness. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but if you need it a bit sweeter, try adding a tiny bit more sea salt or lemon juice.

Apricot Chutney

After a recent weekly trip to a new favourite restaurant in Sofia, a couple of friends decided that I needed to figure out how to make the Apricot Chutney to accompany my Chapatis when preparing Indian meals at home. So, here it is…

What You'll Need:

Dried Apricots - 450 grams (about 16 oz), finely diced
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Honey - 1 1/4 cups
Apple Cider Vinegar - 2 cups
Fresh Root Ginger - 1 tsp, grated
Salt - 1 tsp
Golden Raisins - 1/2 cup
Water - 2 cups

What You’ll Do:

Put the dried apricots and Garam Masala into a medium pot and add the honey, vinegar, ginger, salt, raisins and water. Mix thoroughly with a spoon.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the chutney has thickened to a fairly stiff consistency, spoon it into 2-3 clean jars and leave it to cool.

Store it in the refrigerator.

Sweet Rice and Mangos

Recently we had some new friends over and I wanted to make something special for our Asian themed evening. My son wanted Sweet Rice with Bananas (yes, we’ll get that recipe up soon) but I wanted something a bit more refreshing. So I decided to replace the bananas with mangos. I switched the Banana Sweet Sticky Rice recipe up a bit and came up with this light and sweet delectable treat. It so simple and delicious, I just know you are going to love it as much as we did.

What You’ll Need:

1 cups uncooked sweet rice 2 cups water
1 can (13.5 oz) of coconut milk (cream and all)
¼ cup sugar
2 mangos, peeled and sliced

What You’ll Do:

Combine the rice and coconut milk in a rice cooker and cook. Should only take about 10-15 to cook.

Mix the sugar into the hot rice. Portion the rice into 4 bowls. Top with mango slices. Enjoy this sweet refreshing treat. Your guests will rave over it, mine did.

Instant Pudding

Did I say instant? Heck yeah I did. You can make this pudding quicker than you can stir all the lumps out of that box crap. And as you might have guessed, it’s much healthier. No dairy, no eggs, no junk. Yup that’s right it’s all natural. Ok, I know what you’re thinking. You’re asking yourself, how can it taste good then? We said healthy, not disgusting. Don’t be fooled - nature provides us with all sorts of amazing foods that taste fabulous. Really now, would we post a recipe that sucked? Don’t answer that…you know it’s gonna be good. So…. what’s in it? Sorry, that’s our little secret. Okay okay, we’ll share it with you. Drum roll please…. avocados. Yup you read it right, A V O C A D O S. Man this pudding’s so good.

Here’s the deal, after you make this for your friends, and they love it, then you can share the secret with them too…we promise, they’ll want it (unless they’re freaks). In the meantime enjoy this healthy treat, your body will thank you.

What you’ll need

2 ripe avocados

1 Tbs vanilla, make sure it’s the real stuff

About a cup of maple syrup, yeah spend the money on this too, the bottle with the lady on it is not real maple syrup and you can definitely taste the difference.

Cocoa Powder

Salt

Blend the avocados in your food processor until smooth. Add vanilla, maple syrup, coca powder and just a dash of salt. Top with fresh raspberries or strawberries, or make your own puree to top.

Raspberry Puree

Put raspberries in your food processor and blend until it’s your desired consistency.

Mother's Day Scones

We'd like to dedicate this mother's day recipe to Jo-Ann and Deborah. Thank you for all your love and support throughout the years. Even though we are miles apart this mother's day, we will be celebrating you and the impact you have had on our lives. We are so grateful and we love you.

Okay, enough of the gushy stuff. I have a story to tell.

The first time I had Cherry Chocolate Chip scones was when Jaime made them for my baby shower. I couldn’t believe they were vegan. To be honest, even my guests had no clue, until they asked for the recipe. I mean these were good…really, really good.

Several months later, Jaime mentioned another scone.... A tangy and sweet, delicate lemon poppy seed scone drizzled with lemon glaze and sprinkled with lemon zest. Well, they sounded good, "but I'd probably prefer the cherry chocolate chip", I thought.

Well, I was wrong. One bite, and my taste buds went crazy. These were just as good as she and her family said they were. So thanks Jaime, for broadening my taste bud horizons. We are even now. ;)

So, with Mother's day just around the corner, we knew these would be the perfect addition to our blog. So forget about spending money on mom this mother’s day, she’ll love the idea of having a special tea party with her little angels. These scones are heavenly. Oh, and did I mention they're vegan?

What? You don’t drink tea? Oh. Well that’s okay these are really a perfect treat with any beverage of your choice. Don't worry, we won't be offended.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Scones

What you’ll need:

2 cups flour
5 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

6 Tbsp vegan butter, cut into the flour
1 ½ cups of vegan chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup of dried cherries, chopped

1/3 cup of soy milk

Egg replacer for 2 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Preperation:

Place medium sized bowl into freezer. Measure butter and place in freezer until needed. In small bowl/container, combine soymilk and egg replacer and place in freezer until needed. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine; flour, 3 tbsp of sugar, baking powder, & salt. Put flour mixture into chilled bowl, and cut in the vegan butter. Using a fork, incorporate butter into flour gently, making the mixture look a bit like sand. You can also use your hands to do this, but make sure to not handle it to much, as you want your dough to stay as cold as possible. Work quickly. Add chilled soymilk and egg replacer and stir to form dough. Once mixture is dry enough, add chocolate chips and cherries. Fold until well incorporated.

Place dough on floured surface and press evenly into 2 inch thick circle. Transfer to non heated baking stone. Sprinkle with sugar, bake and let cool. Cut like a pizza into 8 triangles.

For mini scones shape dough into 2 inch thick square and transfer to cool baking stone. Cut into 2x2 squares, then cut diagonally to create triangles. Space triangles out a tiny bit, so they are really close, but not touching. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake for about 10 minutes (check around 8 minute mark just in case). When slightly brown, they are ready.

Tips:

Make sure to chill bowl, butter and soymilk/egg replacer at least 15 minutes prior to use.

Work as quickly as possible. The dough should stay somewhat cold.

Use a very sharp knife for cutting the mini scone dough into squares and triangles.

To bake mini scones, place close together, but not touching on baking sheet, as it will force the scones to rise up,instead of expand out.

Cut into shapes directly on cool baking stone. The less you handle the dough, the better the scones will look.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Then slice like a pie into eight triangles and then in half again.

Variations

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

What you’ll need:

Same recipe as above, just replace soy milk with juice from one large lemon. Instead of cherries and chocolate chips, add zest from one lemon and 2 tablespoons poppy seeds. Fold and incorporate ingredients. Follow the rest of the directions from above.

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup lemon, juiced and zested

1 Tbsp vegan butter, melted
Zest from one lemon

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

While baking prepare glaze.

Melt butter over low /medium heat and whisk in lemon juice. Whisk until translucent. Add powdered sugar slowly while whisking to keep translucent. Repeat until sugar is all incorporated. Stir in lemon zest. Make sure to have a bit extra for presentation.

Remove from oven and pour glaze over scones while still warm. If dough is shaped in large circle, let glaze cool and harden. Then slice like a pie into eight triangles. Dust powdered sugar on top and remaining lemon zest. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden.

Snack Time. J & J Date Bars

So, you want a snack that’s sweet, but healthy....good luck with that. No, we're kidding. We’ve got something to satisfy your sweet tooth, and it’s healthy too.
J and J Date Bars are a great snack for anyone. I knew if my kids would eat them, they would definitely pass the kid test, but what about someone who is not raw, vegan, nor vegetarian? Would they like them? To find out,I did what any rational adult would do; I experimented on my friend, whose diet does not fit into the aforementioned categories. The results? She absolutely raved about these bars. After she tried the first one and loved it, I was inspired to bring her more. So Krystal, thank you for being my fearless taste tester, and without further ado, here are the recipes as promised. Oh, and don’t worry Krystal, next time I make a batch- I’ll bring some in for you.

Cashew Crunch

What you’ll need:

2 handfuls of raw cashews
Pinch of sea salt
8 – 10 dates

Grind cashews and salt in your food processor till desired consistency, I prefer mine ground into small pieces rather than chunks. Add dates and grind until the mixture forms into one large ball.

Remove and form into small bars or rounds. Eat immediately or put in fridge to harden and enjoy later.

Cherry and Almond Tart

What you’ll need:

1 – 2 handful(s) of raw almonds
1 – 2 handful(s) of dried cherries
Pinch of sea salt
8 – 10 dates

Grind almonds, cherries and salt in your food processor till desired consistency, I prefer mine ground into small pieces rather than chunks. Add dates and grind until the mixture forms into one large ball.

Remove and form into small bars or rounds. Eat immediately or put in fridge to harden and enjoy later.

Peanut Buster

What you’ll need:

1 – 2 handful(s) raw peanuts
Pinch of sea salt
8 – 10 dates

Grind peanuts and salt in your food processor till desired consistency, I prefer mine ground into small pieces rather than chunks. Add dates and grind until the mixture forms into one large ball.

Remove and form into small bars or rounds. Eat immediately or put in fridge to harden and enjoy later.



Pecan Pie

What you’ll need:

1 – 2 handful(s) raw pecans
1 – 2 handful(s) raw almonds
Pinch of sea salt
8 – 10 dates

Grind pecans, almonds and salt in your food processor till desired consistency, I prefer mine ground into small pieces rather than chunks. Add dates and grind until the mixture forms into one large ball.

Remove and form into small bars or rounds. Eat immediately or put in fridge to harden and enjoy later.

Coconut Pie

What you’ll need:

1 – 2 handful(s) raw almonds
1 – 2 handful(s) raw cashews
1 handful of raw coconut flakes
Pinch of sea salt
8 – 10 dates

Grind almonds, cashews, coconut and salt in your food processor till desired consistency, I prefer mine ground into small pieces rather than chunks. Add dates and grind until the mixture forms into one large ball.

Remove and form into small bars or rounds. Eat immediately or put in fridge to harden and enjoy later.

Variations:
Substitute dry fruit in recipes for any of your favorites; apricot, blueberry, cranberries, strawberries, you name it. These bars are versatile, so go crazy making your own creations,

Chocolate lover? Just add cocoa to create a simply divine treat...Chocolate Covered Cherry, yummy!!

And, for those of you foodies who are interested in raw recipes, these bars make an amazing pie crust.

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StRAWberry Oatmeal!

I know, I know, for those of you who are new to raw foods recipes, this seems a bit ... strange. I totally understand. But, I've been asked time and time again to provide friends with sample menu's of my daily meals, so I couldn't not post it. It's an easy and deliciously satisfying breakfast. Plus, it's also incredibly nutrient dense!

Somewhere, sometime I promise to post info on the benefits of a living foods diet, but for now...I only want to focus on taste!



Ingredients:

Raw Oat Groats - (1- 2 cups) You can purchase these from a whole foods market in their bulk section. These are what the rolled oats look like before being flattened, steamed and toasted.

Sea Salt - pinch

Your choice of sweetener - couple of tablespoons should do. Use honey, dates, or Yacon Syrup if you want to keep it truly raw. If you don't care so much, you can use Maple Syrup.

Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean - Tablespoon or two, or a half vanilla bean pod (only use if you have POWERFUL blender or food processor)

Fresh Strawberries - however many you choose. I used about three large strawberries.

Preparation:

Put raw Oat groats in a glass or stainless steel bowl, cover with water and soak overnight.
In the morning, rinse well and do a taste test for consistency of groats. They should be chewy by now. If you want them softer, soak some more and test occasionally. If you have a really powerful blender or food processor (like a Vitamix or Kitchen Aid) then go ahead and drain the oats and place in blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend till smooth and creamy. Or, don't - you can just place the oats in a bowl and add your sweetener, vanilla and tiny pinch sea salt. Mix well. Cut up fresh strawberries and garnish. Enjoy!

Bananas in a Blanket

My son helped create this tasty snack, which can be enjoyed anytime of the day. Who doesn't love peanut butter and bananas? This is the classic scrumpious combination with a twist.

Ingredients:

1 tortilla
1 banana
1-2 Tbs creamy peanut butter
1 -2 Tbs whole grain nugget cereal
1-2 Tbs maple syrup, honey, or agave

Spread the peanut butter on the tortilla. Sprinkle with nugget cereal. Then place the peeled banana on tortilla. Roll banana in the tortilla. Drizzle with maple syrup, honey or agave. You can even garnish with extra nuggets. YUMMY!!

Vegan Cupcakes and Icing

Being vegan doesn't mean you can't have delicious treats. My kids couldn't tell the difference and neither could their friends.

Cupcakes:

1 cup of soymilk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cup flour

2 Tbs corn starch

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup Earth Balance or other vegan butter substitute

Pre-heat oven 350 degrees. Mix soymilk and apple cider vingar till it curdles (see picture on the right). Cream Earth Balance and sugar. Add vanilla. In a seperate bowl combine dry ingredients. Combine cream mixture and dry mixture with soymilk mixture. Mix well. Line cupcake tray and pour batter into cupcake tray.

Icing:

1/2 cup Spectrum or other vegan shortening
1/2 cup Earth Balance or other vegan butter substitute

1 lbs. powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbs soymilk

Combine ingredients in mixer and mix till smooth. Frost cupcakes.

Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Soup

A recent creation- this soup is creamy, sweet, savory and incredibly easy!







Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Pumpkin Spice Milk (recipe to follow)
2 Medium Sweet Potatoes
1/4 Tsp Sea Salt

Blend all till creamy and smooth in Vitamix.

Pumpkin Spice Milk ingredients:

1 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds (also known as Pepitas)
4 1/2 Cups Water
Pinch Sea Salt
1/4 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
4 Tbsp Raw Honey (+/-)

First blend seeds with water, then strain through nut milk bag and reserve pulp.
Next, pour milk back into Vitamix and add remaining ingredients. Blend for a few seconds and taste. If you want, start off with less honey, and continue adding more until satisfied.


To learn more about the benefits of raw pumpkin seeds and raw sweet potatoes check out the links below.

http://health.learninginfo.org/herbs/pumpkin-seeds.htm

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64

* For those of you who would rather the soup be cooked, just leave the Vitamix on longer.

Sweet Rolls

5 -6 cups flour
2 pkg yeast

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Earth Balance

1 1/2 cup hot water

3 Tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 4 tsp water

Combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Add Earth Balance and water all at once. Mix for 2 minutes. Add Ener-G Egg Replacer mix and 1 cup flour, beat 1 minute, stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough.

Knead for 5-10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and clean towel. Let rest for 20 minutes. Divide into rolls about 2 1/2 dozen. Place in greased pan, cover with plastic wrap. Refridgerate 2-24 hours. Let stand about 20 minutes at room temparture before baking. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

Simple Nutmilk

1/2 cup Raw Nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, walnuts, or any preferred nuts)
8 Dates (to taste)

5 cups Water

Pinch Sea Salt

2 -3 Tbls. Maple Syrup (to taste)

2 Tbls. Pure Vanilla Extract

*2 -3 Tbls. Raw Cocoa Powder ( optional)

Blend all ingredients in Vitamix until smooth (note: it is not recommended for a normal household blender). Pour mixture into nutmilk bag (0r jam strainer bag) and squeeze out milk. Reserve nut pulp for other recipes. Enjoy immediately, store milk in airtight container for up to 2 - 3 days, or freeze in ice cube trays for frozen treat.