Quick & easy RAW munchies!

     When I first went raw, one of the hardest things for me was trying to find something satisfying to munch when those random munchy feelings would come up. Raw gourmet items as snacks were out of the question because the munchies don’t wanna wait for 2 hours of soaking, 3 hours of dehydrating, and 30 mins of prep time! Sounds like a lot of work right? Well actually the majority of that time you’re not doing anything and the soaking times and dehydrating times can be pretty flexible, (a dehydrator is a LOT more forgiving than an oven!). So doing that kind of prep work for a dinner is no biggy but, for snacks you need something a lil’ more rapido!

     Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite raw snacks.  We’ll start with the simplest and move onto some stuff that requires a lil’ advanced thought~

     *Cherry tomatoes are awesome fresh washed and rolled in some sea salt and basil flakes.  Do it while they’re still moist from being washed….MMMmmmm.

These lil' mamajamas have been coated in chili powder and nutritional yeast. Awwww yeah! Like chili-cheese chips!

     *Carrot chips! Wash some carrots and cut them lengthwise at a 45 degree angle, this will give you a long thin chipish thing. Now place them in a bowl, drizzle with a lil’ oil and sprinkle on some salt and your favorite seasonings, maybe a lil nutritional yeast, and toss to evenly coat them! These are great on their own or dunked in your fave raw salad dressing or dip!

     *Pineapple banana sammiches. Here’s a neat lil’ 80-10-10′ish snack that requires lil’ prep time! Peel a fresh pineapple and slice into about 1/4″ thick slices (you can use either a kitchen knife or a mandolin) they don’t need to be perfect, you’re just shootin’ for a thin disc of pineapple. Now for the filling, slice some banana at an angle similar to the carrot chips and mash a small amount of your bananas with a fork. This is the spread that’s gonna hold these bad-boys together! Now simply assemble your sandwiches to your liking, extra-points for double and tripledeckers!

Cherry vanilla banana shake

     *Super fast fruit shake! Don’t have any nut milk on hand but, you want a creamy shake? Got bananas? You’re in business!~

2 C water
2-3 ripe bananas
vanilla (extract or pod)
1 C of fresh or frozen, berries, peaches, pineapple or whatever you have lyin’ about
handful of ice
a couple of dates (or honey, or agave) optional

Blend thoroughly and enjoy!

For added nutrition you can blend in some of your fave greens, hemp protein powder, or dried walnuts.

     Now for some stuff that requires a wee bit of advanced preparation.

     Every week after picking up our groceries, I like to soak and dehydrate a couple cups of pumpkin seeds, some oat groats, and sunflower seeds. Occasionally I like to mix up my variety with some walnuts, pecans or brazil nuts instead. I store my pre-soaked and dehydrated beauties in glass mason jars and now I’m all stocked up for snacks, cereals, milks, desert toppings, pates etc.! I do about a weeks worth at a time, if you’d like to get ambitious and do more than that then it’d be best to keep your prepared nuts and seeds in sealed containers in the fridge for optimum quality.

Party nuts mix~
     *Take a variety of your pre-soaked and dehydrated nuts and seeds and toss them in a bowl. Next add just a drizzle of oil (hemp, flax, or olive) and mix ‘em up. Now for the flavor! Amanda came up with a cool technique for saltin’ up these mixes. She noticed that our course mineral salt crystals weren’t evenly coating the nuts so she used a our mortar and pestle to grind the salt into a powder! Voila! No overly or underly salted bits. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle you can use your coffee grinder. Your mix is ready to go as is, or for additional yumminess you can sprinkle on some chili, curry, chipotle, Italian seasonings, cumin, cayenne, nutritional yeast or whatever blend that sounds tasty to you!

This lightly salted mix of pumpkin seeds and walnuts tossed with hemp oil is LOADED with omega fatty acids. Perfect for counter-acting the brain-rotting affects of TV as you enjoy them with your favorite shows!

Speaking of brain-rotting TV…….

     Great site for all sorts of free movies and shows! I’ve watched an entire season of Dr Steve-O and recently me and Amanda had a ball watching sci-fi’s “Mad Mad House”, a fascinating reality tv show where the guests/contestants got to live with and face challenges from a witch, a voodoo priestess, a modern primitive, a vampire, and a naturalist, which just happened to be “Avocado” (a.k.a. David Wolfe) *lol* Great stuff!

     *Need some nut milk in a hurry? Toss a cup of soaked & dried walnuts in the blender with 3-4 cups water and blend thoroughly!

     Additionally you can simply toss a handfull into your smoothies for a creamy taste and a shot of omegas!

     Having these on hand also makes for a quick and easy breakfast. Simply toss some chopped fresh and/or dried fruits in a bowl, sprinkle on your fave nuts and seeds, pour on some nut-milk and maybe a drizzle of your fave sweetener and you got a hearty breakfast or snack when you’re feeling a case of the mad munchies!

     Another key to keeping cravings at bay would be to have a wide selection of fresh sweet and non-sweet fruits (such as tomatoes and cucumbers) on hand for quick and healthy munchies whenever you need ‘em. This is just a sampler of some of the many quick and easy raw snacks that you can throw together, have fun concocting your own. Peace! :0)