Raw Gingerbread Nuggets + Juice Pulp Pate

Happy Monday everyone! I made a veggie juice this morning and decided to make something crazy with the remnants. Am I the only one who gets more excited over the juice pulp than the juice itself? I made a super simple juice pulp pate that can be served with crackers, other veggies or on top of a salad. For the base I used soaked pumpkin seeds, you can use sunflower or even almonds. Pumpkin seeds give it a moderate creaminess that I like.

Exhibit A: Kale, Carrot and Celery Juice

Exhibit B: Juice Pulp Pate

Here are the ingredients:

1 cup of packed juice pulp
1 cup of soaked pumpkin seeds
3-4 tbsp tamari (taste test to see what you like)
1 tbsp of hemp seed oil
1/4 (or more) cup water (depending how dry or wet your pulp already is)

Blend up the pumpkin seeds first with the tamari, oil and about half the water. Blend until smooth (ish) Add in pulp and the rest of the water and blend until smooth. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve!

And what is for dessert? Why these low glycemic, high raw gingerbread nuggets! They're so yummy especially if you freeze them before you eat them. Best ever. These are great because they are sweet but use molasses to stick together instead of agave which can be waaaay to sugary for some. Molasses is high in minerals like iron, copper and manganese and has a pleasant licorice kind of flavour, and paired with stevia it tastes just like gingerbread cookies!

It was hard for every nugget

But one day, the world came to see...

For the nuggets you'll need:

1/2 cup ground raw almonds
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup raw buckwheat groats
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
20-25 drops of vanilla stevia
Pinch each of nutmeg and cloves
3 tbsp of black strap molasses

Mix together dry ingredients first and then add in molasses and stevia. Mix with your hand until doughy and you are able to form into balls. If it's too sticky, add in more almonds or coconut. Wet your hands with a bit of water and press into little nuggets. Freeze until firm and enjoy!

Oh and here's a random smoothie: Blueberries, pear, brown rice protein powder, chia seeds, roasted maca, green powder.

Raw Apple-Cinnamon Overnight Buckwheat + JOVAN'S

Good morning! It's a bit of a dreary day today but that's expected after yesterday's beautiful fall weather. I can't believe it hasn't snowed yet in Canada this is just insanity!

I made a fall-inspired breakfast this morning, actually I made it last night and just dumped it in a bowl and sprinkled on some apple pieces, super simple.

2 tbsp of hemp seeds blended w/ 1 cup of water (or 1 cup of nut/seed milk)
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp raw buckwheat groats

Combine all ingredients in an air tight container and store in the fridge over night

Awaken to a yummy low-glycemic cereal! Sprinkle with apples.

 We got to try these yummy whole food veggie crackers from JOVAN'S. The ingredients are so pure and natural which we are of course big fans of.

The Zesty Tomato was our favourite

Zesty Tomato and Taste of Tuscany Crackers. Crunchy

That's all for today! :)

Raw Banana-Kiwi Ice Cream

I have a confession....I am addicted to banana soft serve. Am I alone on this?! What makes it even better is when you mix in another frozen fruit. I used kiwi, but you can use anything! Strawberry, pineapple, papaya, mango, peach or our personal favourite...blueberries!

What you need:

3 bananas, sliced and frozen

3 kiwis, sliced and frozen

A splash of water

Pulse in a food processor to get it going (or in blender). Blend until smooth and fluffy. Transfer to a flat container and freeze. Stir every 15 minutes until desired consistency. 

Cool, creamy and collected...

This is what I'm living on this summer! It's so healthy and so yums!!

Raw Green Soup (Vegan, GF)

Jenn and I were whizzing through our posts the other day and realize that we post alot of purees! haha We laughed about that fact for a good 4 minutes, it's true pretty much every second thing we do is a puree of some sort. Lol. Oh well might as well continue the trend. I'm (Jac) kinda on an anti-sugar kick, and you know what, I feel much better not having sugar cravings. Seriously if you can make it past one day without sugar you will GREATLY reduce your cravings. So while I love my fruity green smoothies I must sub all my meals now with something savoury. Cue the green soup! These types of soups are easily digestible, highly alkaline and delicious! This soup is for those who love greens, if you don't, you probably will not enjoy this as much.

1 small avocado
2 handfuls of greens of your choice (I used half arugula, half spinach)
Squeeze of lemon or lime
1 scallion, chopped
1 small clove of garlic
Water, to thin
1 tsp dill, or other herb of choice (cumin would be good as well)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 tsp psyllium husk (optional, will make extra thick)

Add all ingredients into a blender, blend until combined and smooth. Adjust or add flavourings/seasonings as needed. Makes 1 large serving.

Raw Avocado Primavera (Vegan, GF)

It seems that there aren't enough zuchini pasta recipes out there that don't require a goopy sauce. I made a dressing of simple olive oil, lemon and garlic leaving room for the salad booster! I was excited to try the Vegan Cheesy Salad Booster I received from Living Intentions. If you're on your last salad nerve and are tired of a mundane salad routine, these boosters will definitely bring some new life and excitement to your lunch. Living Intentions is one of the cleanest and environmentally conscious vegan food companies I've ever come across. I really like the Vegan Cheesy one because it's like parmesan cheese with a nice wholesome greens taste. Please check them out if you've never heard of them. This was like eating a fine italian meal, sans starch or gluten!

Living Intention's Salad Boosters

1 zuchini's worth of pasta
1 avocado
4-5 large sundried tomatoes
Handful of soaked almonds

Dressing:
1 large clove of garlic
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp lemon juice
Water
Salt and Pepper to taste (if not using a salad booster)

Top with: Vegan Cheesy Salad Booster, or Nutritional Yeast Flakes

Raw Tea Sandwiches: Salmon-Herb + Pesto-Avocado

Jenn made this awesome pesto last night with walnuts, parsley and sun-dried tomatoes, she ate it on pasta, I was just eating it with a spoon, so good. We made some raw onion bread and wanted to do something interesting with it so we made little tea sandwiches. These are so yummy, they don't even taste raw...or vegan for that matter. Raw vegan tea parties are possible!

Raw Onion Bread:
3/4 of a large sweet onion
1 cup ground flaxseeds
1 cup ground almonds (or sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup coconut aminos or Bragg's
A few pinches of salt (if using coconut aminos)
2 tbsp water


Walnut-Parsley Pesto:
1 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper


Smoked Salmon Spread:
1 cup carrot juice pulp
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup hemp seeds/or nut of choice/ or 2 tbsp raw nut butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp dulse flakes
3-4 dashes liquid smoke (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion


Parsley leaves
Avocado slices


To make bread, blend onion, coconut aminos, olive oil, water and salt until combined.  In separate bowl, combine ground flaxseeds, ground almonds. Add the wet mixture into the dry, stir until combined. Spread onto a dehydrator sheet, score into small square pieces, dehydrate on 115 overnight or until bread-y.
To make pesto combine all ingredients into a food processor, process until combined. 
To make salmon spread, combine all ingredients except hemp seeds, olive oil and lemon juice. Grind up hemp seeds then add in olive oil and lemon juice. Add hemp seed mixture into carrot mixture. 
Top each cracker with either salmon spread or pesto, add a parsley leaf to the salmon sandwiches, and a slice of avocado to the pesto sandwiches.

Raw Ice Cream Sandwiches: 2 Ways (Vegan, GF)

These were the result of me having nothing to do on a sunday day. I was making almond milk this morning and was like, hey if I make it really thick I wonder if I could make raw ice cream out of it? Well you can! But, if you like your ice cream really creamy I would definately recommend the coconut or soaked cashew route. Otherwise almond milk and hemp seeds work pretty well, it just makes a less dense, lighter ice cream. The "Oreo" cookies actually taste like oreos it blew my mind! I'm definitely making those cookies just for everyday munching. Anyway I'm pretty sure this post speaks for itself, raw. ice cream. sandwiches. Enjoy!

Ice Cream:
2 cups almond milk (1 cup almonds to 1 1/2 cups water)
1/2 cup hemp seeds
6 soaked medjool dates
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Oreo (Chocolate) Cookies:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (ground finer)
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup raw honey/agave/other syrup sweetener
2 tsp mesquite powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp coconut oil (see recipe instructions!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (ground finer)
1/4 cup raw honey/agave other syrup sweetener
1 tbsp mesquite powder
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp cacao nibs

Make almond milk, according to 1:1.5 ratio. Combine almond milk, hemp seeds and dates in a blender. Blend until uniformly smooth. Drain mixture through a sieve to strain out any date/hemp clumps. Return mixture to blender add coconut oil, vanilla and salt. Blend until combined. Make ice cream according to ice cream maker instructions.

Assemble ingredients for chocolate/oreo cookies in a medium bowl. Roll with a rolling pin until 1/4 inch thick. Cut four 4 inch circles out of it, put on dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115F for 6 hours or until firm-ish. With the leftover dough, add 1 tbsp of coconut oil, knead together (combine) form into flat shapes and put in freezer until firm (a few minutes). Spoon half of the ice cream into a bowl, chop the freezer dough into pieces and crumble into ice cream. Stir until combined.

Assemble ingredients for chocolate chip cookies in a medium bowl. Roll with a rolling pin until 1/4 inch thick. Cut six 4 inch circles out of it, put on dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115F for 6 hours or until firm-ish. You may have leftover dough, so if that is the case you could possibly get away with making a few extra (7-8). Spoon the other half of the ice cream into a bowl, add cacao nibs. Stir until combined.

Once cookies are dehydrated spoon appropriate ice cream mixture onto cookie (the ice cream should be really smooth and malleable, perfect just out of the ice cream maker) top with another cookies, smooth sides with a knife. Freeze until firm.

Check out our Raw Mini Ice Cream Cakes: 2 Ways

Raw Carrot-Ginger Soup w/ Cilantro Drizzle (Vegan, GF)

I don't know about any of you guys, but my body has been screaming for a detox. Probably because each year in the past, around this time, my mom and sisters along with myself would do a detox together for a week or so. Once I lasted a whole month! And lived to tell the tale, obviously :) I don't really enjoy detoxing but coming up with fun edible items such as this soup makes me more excited to actually follow through with it. This soup is super easy to digest and contains ginger which is also good for digestive health, or so I hear...The drizzle just adds a certain"je ne sais quoi" to a seemingly "boring" soup base. I must add: this was made with a magic bullet, so don't worry if you don't have a vitamix/blendtec.

4 medium carrots
1 1/2 spring onions
good chunk of ginger, however much you can handle
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup water
2 tsp miso paste
1/2 an avocado (optional)
Pinch of sea salt, to taste


Drizzle:
4 tbsp olive oil
cilantro
Pinch of salt


Assemble all soup ingredients into blender. Blend for a few minutes until desired consistency reached. Add additional salt, ginger, lemon to taste. Assemble drizzle ingredients in blender, blend. Drizzle into soup. Makes 2 servings.


Along with soup, you gotta have salad!
This is a salad I made, dressed with Foods Alive Dressings:

Sweet and Sassy, Mike's Special

What I had in the fridge: spinach, apple, green onion, red onion, almonds

Raw Chocolate-Mint Pie (Vegan, GF)

Whoa guys you have GOT to give this a go. Mint chocolate is my absolute favourite chocolate combination (second is chocolate orange). This was most definitely love at first bite. I didn't have any fresh mint leaves so I used dried tea leaves and extract. If you have fresh mint use that!

Contemporary tart shot ;)

Brownie crust

Crust:
3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
PInch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed dates
2 tbsp coconut oil

Filling:
2 large avocados
1 tsp lemon
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 tbsp dried mint leaves
2 tsp mint extract
1/4 cup agave

Ganache:
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup agave
pinch salt
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp coconut oil

Drizzle:
1/4 cup soaked cashews
1/4 tsp vanilla
water (to thin)
1 tbsp coconut oil

Assemble crust ingredients in food processor, process until well combined. Press into an 8 inch pie plate or tart pan. Chill until firm. Combine filling ingredients until well combined and creamy (in a food processor). Adjust mintiness as you like. Pour filling into crust, chill until set. Combine ingredients for ganache. Pour ganache over filling in a thin layer. Chill until set. Assemble ingredients for drizzle in a food processor. Drizzle over top. Freeze for a more ice creamy pie or chill for a softer pie. Makes one 8 inch pie.

Raw Green-Chocolate Pudding w/ Stevia (Vegan, GF)

Another pudding, this time with a super healthy spin. SPIN-ACH. Spinach blends nicely in puddings, the leaves are very soft and full of moisture so there's no obvious green taste or texture. Great for breakfast or post workout protein pudding. Yes it looks like swamp sludge, but it's nutritious, delicious swamp sludge. AND I finally found stevia that doesn't taste weird! I contacted the vice president of NuNaturals and asked if there's any corn or soy in the glycerine, it's made from only coconut...cool.

1 avocado
handful of spinach
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp maca powder
1/3 cup chia gel
1 scoop hemp protein powder
8 drops NuNaturals vanilla stevia
Pinch of sea salt

Combine ingredients in food processor or blender. If you like your pudding sweet add in some dates or agave/raw honey.

-Jac

Raw Granola + Almond Milk (Vegan, GF)

We got a dehydrator! Whoo! But don't worry we will still make the majority of our raw recipes dehydrator-free for people who live the cheap and cheerful student life. We'll mostly use it for dehydrating soaked nuts and drying fruit.

Here's a recipe for raw granola that I sort of made up as I went along. It's a great base that you can add to. I added jungle peanuts, goldenberries and cacao nibs. Jac was not a fan of the jungle peanuts for some reason...I guess even though we're twins we don't agree on everything...And the goldenberries were a bit too sour. Next time I'll add a sweeter fruit like blueberries or grapes.

1 1/2 cup finely chopped soaked almonds

1 cup raw pecans, soaked (from More than Alive)

2 tbsp ground flax seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 apple, peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup agave syrup/raw honey/maple syrup (or any other sweet syrup)

1 chia egg (1 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water)

Start off by chopping the soaked almonds (You could also pulse them in a food processor). You want to make sure they are finely chopped but not into a puree. Put almonds into a large bowl. Finely chop 1/2 cup of the pecans and throw in the bowl with the almonds. Add in ground flax, cinnamon and salt, set aside. 

In a blender or food processor, puree the apple, agave syrup, chia egg and 1/2 cup of soaked pecans. Add to the almond mixture. Add in any nuts or fruit you desire. Spread onto a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate overnight. (We did ours for 17 hours, but you can just see how dry it is the next morning and decide how much more you want to dry it for). Flip over and break into pieces half way through dehydration. Eat!

How to make Almond Milk:

1 cup of soaked almond

2-3 cups of water (2 cups will make it more creamy and 3 cups will be more like skim milk)

1 tbsp of raw honey/agave syrup or a couple dates (optional)

Blend together all ingredients and squeeze through a nut milk bag or sieve. We used reusable produce bags that Jac found for really cheap at the grocery store. You could also use cheesecloth.

This is our first time making almond milk from scratch and I can't believe we didn't do it sooner. It just tastes so much more fresh and pure, unlike the boxed almond milk that tastes stale and processed. And you can use the pulp for making gluten-free almond flour which is always so expensive. It's 2 for 1!

Almost-Raw Banana Cream Pie Pudding (Vegan, GF)

What is with me and pie themed puddings lately? I don't know. What I do know is that I love love love banana cream pie. But I didn't want to try and figure out how to make a vegan version that is also gluten free, so I just made a pudding. It is so easy to make and is a quick and simple raw dessert. This isn't totally raw because of the coconut milk, let's just call it "almost-raw".

Pie over-head!

1/2 cup soaked cashews
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tbsp raw honey or agave syrup
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp ground chia seeds
1 tsp lemon juice
1 fresh banana

Sliced banana to layer on the bottom

Grind cashews with shredded coconut in a food processor until smooth. Blend in chia seed meal, agave, vanilla, lemon juice and coconut milk. Add in 1 fresh banana and blend until smooth. Layer fresh banana slices on the bottom of your bowl and top with cream layer. Sprinkle with nuts, coconut or cacao nibs.

Makes 3 mini servings or 1 big one.

Blueberry Breakfast!

Quick raw breakfasts featuring blueberries. We love fruit for breakfast but winter is not the most fruitful season of the year...wild frozen blueberries = our saviour!

Blueberry Chia Pudding: frozen blueberries, vanilla hemp protein powder, maca, dates, chia seeds

Blueberry Soft Serve: frozen blueberries, frozen banana, vanilla, cinnamon, topped with cacao nibs and almonds

Raw Apple Pie Pudding (Vegan, GF)

I saw Lori and Michelle's Apple Pie Parfait post and was inspired to make an Apple pie pudding for breakfast this morning! I literally just improvised the ingredients and it worked out really well and tasted just like an apple pie. You could also serve these puddings in a smaller portion for dessert, especially as a part of a raw holiday dinner.

Pudding topped with chopped walnuts and golden flax seeds

Apple "Filling":
1/2 cup apple, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp ground chia seeds
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp maple syrup/agave
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp water, to thin
3 medjool dates, soaked


1/2 cup apple, peeled and chopped (to mix in whole)


Puree all ingredients in a food processor or hand blender. If you are making only one serving a hand blender might work better. Stir in whole apple pieces. Set aside.


"Crust":
1/2 cup soaked raw cashews
3 medjool dates, soaked
2 tbsp unsweetened coconut, shredded
2 tsp maple syrup/agave
2 tbsp water/almond milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt


Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spread on top of apple filling. Sprinkle with walnuts and seeds. Let sit in the fridge overnight or for several hours. Makes one large serving or two smaller servings. (Jac and I shared one big bowl this morning)

Raw Maple-Cinnamon Coconut Cookies (Vegan, GF)

Raw treats are one of our favourite things to make because they are basically fool proof, ie. no baking. We love just making treats up as we go along such as these cookies. They were originally based off of our Raw Macaroon recipe, but since we added coconut flour, it made them more dense and cookie like. Basically, they were really really yummy, especially if you put maple-cinnamon caramel drizzle on top :) These would be really good as Christmas cookies too.

2 cups shredded coconut (I re-hydrated mine by soaking for a few hours because it was really hard, if you have softer coconut you probably don't need to soak)
6 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup (for truly raw, you could sub agave or raw honey)
1 tsp vanilla extract (for truly raw, sub dried vanilla bean powder)
4 tbsp melted coconut oil

Maple-Cinnamon Icing:
1/4 cup packed dates
2 tbsp maple syrup (truly raw, sub agave or raw honey)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp coconut oil
Water to thin

Combine all ingredients for cookies. Roll into balls, place on a wax-paper lined flat surface and press into a round cookie shape. Combine ingredients for glaze in a food processor. Pipe onto cookies. Top with nuts. Freeze until hardened. Makes 20 cookies.

Raw Pistachio Pudding (Vegan, GF)

I don't know why but I have been obsessed with pudding. The last time I made chocolate pudding, I noticed how pretty the green colour was before I added cocoa in. And thought, how can I make green pudding visually and appetizingly appealing?...Pistachios! The pistachios in this pudding should be peeled, unless you'd like extra fibre. Once they're soaked they are quite easy to peel, you just have to squeeze em every which way until it pops out of its skin. I put this in the freezer and it was really close to pistachio ice cream :) and it's raw!

1/2 cup soaked pistachios, peeled
1 avocado
Water, to thin
3 tbsp agave syrup (or to desired sweetness)
1/2 - 3/4 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract
1 1/2 tbsp ground chia seeds
Squirt of lemon juice

Process the pistachios until very smooth (takes a good few minutes) in food processor, add all other ingredients. Process until smooth. Let set in refrigerator for a few hours. Makes one serving.

I found this food timeline website and it shows when foods were introduced, I never knew pistachios were this ancient, see for yourself.