Chocolate Drizzled Energy Bars, So good!
What’s up my friends!? Hope you’re doing awesome! As you may know, Amanda and I are expecting a lil’ mini-me (mini-us I should say) Ramona, (coming this May!). We’re psyched up and a bit nervous, particularly me. I’ve been watching YouTube videos of births to get prepared… haven’t seen stuff that scary since “Freddy Vs. Jason”. So hopefully if all goes according to plan, I’ll be upright throughout Ramona’s arrival! As we prepare for her appearance, we are also preparing for an upcoming move to a new place here in Portland. A lot goin’ on! So if you’ve been wondering where the fudge I was, I’m around… just busy as heck. I have a treat for you today… Raw energy bars with a chocolate drizzle-dizzle!
Chocolate Drizzled Energy Bars
These tasty travel companions have a peanutty bar base and a chocolate topping, if that wasn’t enough, they are loaded with protein, fiber and omega 3 fatty acids! Great for toting to work, bringing on road trips or sneaking into the movies (don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talkin’ about).
For the bars ~
2 Cups of almonds
2 Cups of flaked or shredded coconut
1+1/2 Cups of hemp seeds
1/2 a cup of almond butter
1/4 cup of raw honey (can substitute with agave, maple syrup or pitted dates whatever rocks your sweet tooth’s socks)
1 Tablespoon of Spirulina Crunchies (totally optional, but tasty and full of green goodness!)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder
1/4 Teaspoon of sea salt
Grind the coconut, almonds, hemp seeds, spirulina crunchies, sea salt and vanilla into a flour in your food processor. Toss in the almond butter and sweetener and give it a good grinding. Take this mixture and spread about 1/4″ thick on a cookie sheet, press firmly and, using your hand as a guide, square off the edges as you press the mix into a square or rectangular shape. Now wrap with plastic wrap and pop in the freezer while you rock out the chocolate drizzle!
The Drizzle ~
1/2 Cup of cacao butter (broken into small chunks)
1/4 cup of coconut sugar or xylitol crystals (this will give you a more solid finished chocolate, you could sub raw honey or agave)
2-3 tablespoons of cacao powder
1/4 teaspoon of non-gmo soy lecithin (this is a natural emulsifier that helps bring the chocolates ingredients together harmoniously)
pinch of sea salt
Melt all the ingredients down in a double boiler on low heat until everything is dissolved and mix thoroughly until well combined, I sometimes pour the melted mix in my VitaMix and give it a quick blend to achieve an even more homogenized drizzle.
Grab your tray from the freezer and cut into the bar size of your choice. Spread the bars apart and drizzle them with a generous coating of your chocolate saaaaaaawce. The chocolate sauce should harden quickly on the cold bars. Once it has, cover them and pop them in the fridge to store. One cool way to store them is to individually wrap them with parchment or wax paper and use a small piece of tape to secure it… Presto, you got yourself a homemade chocolate drizzled energy bar, wrapped and ready to go!
Watch amazing healthy-living documentaries, for free!
Hey peeps! I want to share the low-down on an awesome site I was turned on to by my buddy Glen Colello of Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe. It’s called Top Documentary Films. At Top Documentary Films you can watch amazing documentaries for free!! This amazing resource uses video content that has been shared through other media sharing websites such as Vimeo, YouTube and MegaVideo to bring you an incredible assortment of brilliant documentaries and also provides a place to discuss the documentaries you’re enjoying!! Browsing through their Health category I’ve found ‘Food Matters’, Micheal Moore’s ‘Sicko’, ‘Super Size Me’, ‘McLibel’, and many more! One that caught my eye recently is ‘Simply Raw : Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days’. This film is amazing! Incredibly inspirational and very entertaining to watch! Be sure to check it out and the many other awesome titles this resource has available! So cool to see this great information being spread to an even wider audience!
Much love and happy movie-goin’! ~ Rory :0)
Grape Leaf Smoothie!
Hey My friends! We just recently discovered a massive tangle of grapevines stretching hundreds of feet nearby our new place in Portland! These beautiful vines are loaded with lil’ clusters of tiny green grapes, no-where near ready to pick, but still an awesome find because grape vines have something else to offer… Leaves! Grape leaves aren’t just for rollin’ up dolmas, they also make a mean green smoothie! The leaves of the cultivar near us actually taste of tart concord grapes and made for an amazing drink!
The coolest thing about wild grape leaves, is that they’re free! Wild foods are also more nutrient dense than typical plants, as they have to work hide to find their nutrition and only the ones most adept at this, make it! When harvesting your own, be sure to do your homework. You want to be sure that what you’re harvesting is in fact grape leaves as there is a poisonous plant that resembles them. The best ways to validate your find is through using reference guides, resources online and even better talking to someone who has experience with wild foraging and/or grape growing! You may luck out and find someone who’s growing grapes and could offer you their pruning remnants!
Grape leaves are also loaded with nutrition! One cup (14g) of raw grape leaves contains 77% of your Daily Value of vitamin A, 19% of your vitamin K, 20% of your DV of Manganese and an awesome balance of fatty acids! 120mg’s of omega 3 fatty acids to 20.7mg’s of omega 6!! Check it out at Nutrition Data! Now for that smoothie recipe!
Grape Leaf Smoothie ~
7 large grape leaves, cut into salad mix sized pieces, for your blender’s sake!
2 medium sized red apples, rough chopped
2 cups frozen strawberries
2 bananas
1 cup of water
Blend everything until smooth and enjoy!
Happy foraging!! ~ Rory :0)
Grow Your Own Kombucha SCOBY!
Hey My friends! These past few weeks, I’ve been playing with an experiment in the kitchen… growing my own scoby from a bottle of store-bought kombucha! If you’re wondering what the heck a scoby is and why anyone would wanna grow one, check out my previous post on kombucha. For those who are already lovin’ the ‘bucha, you’re gonna wanna check this out!
If you want to brew your own kombucha at home you’re gonna need a scoby (aka kombucha mother, aka kombucha “mushroom”). This symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, comes together to create a rubbery disc known as a zoogleal mat. This mother is the main ingredient to get brewin’. Traditionally you’d need to either purchase a scoby from one of the many kombucha farms online or get a hold of a spare one from a friend who brews. But, with this simple technique, you can grow your own using a bottle of kombucha from the store!! You can just hear that bottle of Synergy in Whole Foods’ fridge case singin’ … “I’m a scoby in a bottle baby, gotta rub me the right way honey..” or maybe that’s just what I hear? Oh well, Allons-y!
To get scoby growin’ you’ll need ~
A non-reactive pot to brew your kombucha’s tea (I say kombucha’s tea, because this is the tea your kombucha is goin’ to eat) like a stainless steel or glass enamel coated canning pot.
1 large gallon(or 2 gal) glass jar to use as a brewing vessel (no porcelain or stainless steel. Kombucha produces digestive acids to consume the sugars in the tea solution and if you use porcelain or any metal as a brewing vessel, these acids will leach harmful elements from them. No good.)
12 cups of filtered or fresh spring water. Avoid distilled or water packaged in plastic containers as they most likely have leached plastic elements that you and your kombucha culture don’t want.
Organic cane or turbinado sugar. You can use plain white sugar from the store and it will work, but organic is best and the cost of using the best sugar is so worth it! The kombucha get’s synthetic chemical free sugar and you get more nutrients in your finished brew. Win, win and win for the environment!
Bagged or loose leaf green or black tea. You can do mix of the two and or you can use white tea or rooibos tea. There are other potential teas that can be used, but you may want to avoid herbal teas that have antibacterial properties such as Pau D Arco, Una De Gato, or peppermint as they may negatively affect the good bacteria in your brew.
A wooden or bamboo spoon to stir the sugar in your brewing tea. Plastic or metal may leach elements into the hot tea that could harm your culture.
A piece of cloth, wash cloth or t-shirt remnant and a rubber band. This will be used to create a breathable cover for your brewing vessel. Covering your culture is essential to preventing airborne mold spores and fruit flies (which adore kombucha) from getting in and contaminating your brew.
Clean hands and a freshly cleaned work surface. Reduces the likeliness of any unwanted critters in your brew.
1 bottle of unpasteurized kombucha from the store. GT’s Synergy and High Country’s ‘bucha works great! Go for the original or unflavored. The High Country is all flavored, so I went for one without fruit and used their ‘Wild Root’ brew. Awesome stuff!
Now to start the culture, boil 12 cups of filtered water in your pot. Turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup of organic sugar until dissolved. Turn on heat and bring the solution back to a boil. Switch off the heat and toss in 1 tablespoon of loose tea leaves (or three tea bags) and allow to steep and cool overnight. This is important because adding your kombucha culture to hot tea will doom it, so be patient grasshopper. Now pour that sugar tea base into the brewing vessel, gently pour in your bottle of kombucha, cover over with cloth and rubber band, and store in a dark place where it won’t be shaken or moved for 3-5 weeks. And you should end up with this adorable thing! :0)
Happy brewin‘ my friends! ~ Rory :0)
Coconut Mocha Shake!
Hello my peeps! I was hittin’ up a local grocery store with a built-in Starbucks and saw they got a new Coconut Mocha frappuccino and thought, “Anything you can do, I can do better.”. Haha! Seriously though, next time you tackle your own healthy-fied version of a tasty (but crappy) food or drink, go for it with that enthusiasm and confidence! I headed home, whipped this up and have done so several times since!
Coconut Mocha Shake ~
1 Cup of ice
1/2 of a frozen banana, in pieces (optional, but makes a great emulsifier, bringing everything together smoothly!)
1/2 Cup of water
2 Tablespoons coconut butter (check out this post for the low down on making your own homemade coconut butter!)
1 Tablespoon of raw honey, date syrup or your sweetener of choice
3/4 Tablespoon of cacao powder
Small pinch of sea salt
Blend everything, but the ice and banana, until thoroughly combined. Toss in the frozen goodies and blend again until smooth. Pour in your fave glass and sprinkle with shredded coconut for bonus points!
Happy Blending and recipe concocting my friends ~ Rory :0)
Get your Protein on!
What’s up my friends? One of the most ubiquitous questions I receive about the raw diet is “Where do you get your protein?”. I know a lot of vegans and vegetarians get tired of that question, but it is a major concern for people who are switching over to a plant based diet. So let’s take a look at the top ranking plant based protein sources and how you can work them into your daily menu!
Greens! You’ve probably heard the analogy of rhinos, horses and bulls being big muscle-bound beasts and getting all their protein from plants, well those plants are the green ones. Having very few calories compared to grams of protein puts greens at the top of the list! Kale, romaine lettuce, collards and spinach to name a few pack a punch of protein with lil’ other calories. How much protein?
According to Nutrition Data, one cup of chopped raw kale contains 2 grams of protein and a mere 33 calories. In “Becoming Raw” by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Malina, one cup of kale juice is listed as having 7 grams of protein! So by picking your food prep technique, you can get the most protein out of your eats! Bangin’ stuff! I love kale juiced with grapefruit, full of cleansing chlorophyll, alkalyzing minerals and protein, it makes an awesome post workout drink!
One cup of raw Spinach contains 7 cals and 1 gram of protein, Romaine lettuce sports 8 calories and 1 gram of protein and Collards contain 11 cals and 1 g of protein. Doesn’t sound like much protein compared to volume. But, when you consider how much of these greens easily work their way into your raw menu in the form of green smoothies, juices, salads and marinated massaged side dishes, you’d be surprised! When Amanda and I bang out an eight cup Vita Mix Carafe of green smoothie we’ll use 7 or more cups of loose packed greens! Salad always finds its way into either lunch or dinner and the occasional green juice is a quick and easy way to supplement this.
Seeds. These lil’ champion sources of proteins, pack a lot of protein and essential fatty acids! Sunflower, hemp, chia, pumpkin and sesame seeds are good sources that are tasty and easy additions to your diet! Let’s check their amounts (per cup again). Sunflower seeds have 816 calories and 33 grams of protein, Hemp has about 59 grams of protein and 928 cals, Chia 784 cals and 25 g’s of protein, Pumpkin Seeds are packin’ 747 cals and 34 grams of protein and Sesame Seeds are rockin’ with 888 cals and 30 grams of protein. NIce! Seeds can be used many ways in your daily raw menu. I like to add them to my nut mylk blends, to add more protein and enhance the amino acid profile, as a creamy base for salad dressings, as snacks, as a creamy parfait base, for dips and as seasoned and dehydrated snacks! Sooo many uses for these protein packed lil’ guys!
Nuts. Most people associate nuts as a high protein source, but they’re actually a richer source of good raw fats than they are of protein. This isn’t a bad thing, but for those that are looking to limit the fats they consume, you may wanna go easy on them and opt for seeds when possible. During my raw transformation I chowed on tons of almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts and cashews in various culinary creations and still lost a bunch of weight, but this doesn’t work for everyone. Some like my wife Amanda, feel bloated after consuming too many. This can be a result of the fats not meshing with your individual metabolism or irritation from their fiber, either way I hear this a lot from my friends in the raw community. So if you have similar issues, try going the seed, coconut and avocado route! Check out the most common nuts’es protein scores, per cup. Almonds tout 850 calories and 29 grams of protein, Brazils boast 965 cals and 21 g’s of protein, English walnuts 785 cals and 18 g’s of protein and Cashews have 736 calories and 24 grams of protein. Nuts are awesome in the form of nut butters to dip fruit in or spread on celery stalks, soaked and dehydrated for trail mixes, raw energy bars, pate’s and as snacks all on their own!
Veggies, root vegetables, herbs and fruits also contain a good amount of protein and can easily be worked into your daily diet. I chose the top three categories above, based on their amount of protein per calorie. If you wanna know even more about the amount of proteins are in the foods you eat, then hit up NutrtionData. There you can check out the nutritional values of all your favorite eats! Also stay tuned to rawdawgrory.com, because I’m going to be delving more into the topic of protein! In upcoming posts you’ll learn about complete sources of protein, the best raw vegan protein products and how to make a bangin’ protein shake that goes beyond just protein!
Rock on my friends ~ Rory :0)
Keepin’ Clean Naturally!
Hey peeps! We’re all about cleaning up our diet and cleansing ourselves, but what about our abodes? Many of the cleaning products you can pick up at the store, are full of the things that you’re probably working to get out of your system! Now there are a LOT of awesome natural cleaning products and they are becoming ever more available in many retail outlets, which is awesome, because I remember (as a teen, yeah I been into this stuff for a while!) having to seek out health food stores or ordering online to pick up eco and health friendly cleaners. But, not having easy access to store-bought natural cleaners, lead me to creating my own and this was not only fun and allowed for some creativity, but also saved me a butt-ton of money!
The two main cleaning dynamos I work with are baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda tackles the dirty work with its mildly abrasive action and fat dissolving ability and then vinegar comes in and does the job of a solvent and boasts some anti-mold, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties! Use baking soda to tackle any household jobs you’d need a powdered scrubber for. From Grungy pots and pans, grimy sink basins, water stained showers and toilets and ovens… baking soda will get medieval on ‘em! For jobs that require a streak free solvent, like cleaning down counter tops, glass shower doors, stove tops, cabinet fronts, appliance doors etc., vinegar has you covered. Check out my post on detoxifying your home for even more in-depth info! But, for now check out this video from the Geeked-Fu challenge below for a demo of homemade natural cleaner’s power!
Happy Cleansing! ~ Rory :0)
How I Ditched Soda
Hey there beloved reader of my raw goodness! When I first got into raw foods the most appealing potential benefit wasn’t weight loss, it wasn’t just the abstract idea of health, nah the biggest motivator for me was having more energy! We all wish we could add a few more hours to each day, but barring access to a TARDIS, we’re gonna have to find another way to get the most out of the 24 we got. For me that used to be running on lil’ sleep and a butt ton of caffeine. Then I discovered raw foods and how I felt after I ate them, feeling satisfied, but not groggy. This alone was worth the price of admission!
Before gettin’ raw, I had been drinking soda, the occasional coffee, black tea and rarely, the dreaded energy drinks. It’s a problem many out there face. We eat a lame diet and feel beat. We can’t go to work beat, so we power up with caffeinated beverages and now more than ever, energy drinks and pills. Than we come home from work and feel a crash comin’, so we grab another caffeinated drink when we get home. But like blasting N2O through a car engine, we’re doing ourselves some long-term damage(and I don’t mean the stuff that hit’s you only in those last years) and then we usually crash BIG time.
When I began to consume more raw eats, I immediately noticed a difference! It wasn’t quite enough in the very beginning to make me drop caffeine cold turkey, but I didn’t crave it nearly as much! I still had a bit of a struggle in the morning, so rather than struggling with grogginess while transitioning, I decided to cut myself some slack. How? I used chilled coffee as the base of my morning cacao shake. I ended up with a drink that blew the franchise coffee blends right out the window and it allowed to easily turn down soda when I was at work. Gradually I noticed myself adding less and less of the chilled coffee to my morning shake blend and within a month or so I didn’t need to add any! So all those caffeinated, high fructose corn syrup concoctions were easily replaced by my blended chocolaty goodness! Pretty sweet deal, so I thought I’d share that lil’ chocolaty coffee beast that helped me do it!
Breakfast Blast ~
This makes about a quart. I like to tote my smoothies in quart mason jars to store in my chilled lunch bag when I head out, so it works perfectly!
~ 1 cup of brewed and chilled coffee (we didn’t own a coffee maker(and still don’t) so I used one of those lil’ plastic funnel deals that ya pop a filter in and it sits on your mug, only I mounted it atop a quart mason jar and brewed through until it was filled. Note, I highly recommend using un-bleached coffee filters, no need for white coffee filters (or the chemicals involved in producing them) when we’re going to turn them brown again immediately! Haha! I’d allow this to chill on the counter for over an hour, before sealing and popping in the fridge. That step is important! Ya don’t wanna have to clean the remnants of an imploded jar and a quart of coffee out of your fridge in the morning. This jar would last me four days, at a cup per day.)
~ 1 cup of almond (or your fave nut) mylk
~ 2 frozen bananas * I loved the combo of frozen bananas with coffee and still love it with Dandy Blend, but Amanda likes to replace the bananas with ice when she makes it. Give both a shot and lemme know who has better taste! haha :0) *
~ 1+1/2 tablespoons of cacao powder
~ 1 tablespoon of raw honey
~ 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla bean powder (or 1/2 teaspoon of extract)
~ pinch of sea salt
Occasionally I’d toss in some hemp seeds for protein and omega 3′s and/or a teaspoon of maca or other powdered super goodies, but those are totally optional. You can add to this breakfast blend any raw protein you’re working with as well, creating a multi-purpose shake! Blows those Instant Breakfast packets, powders and shakes away!
Blend until smooth and frosty and prepare for blast off! Great to tote to work and you can cruise on by those franchise coffee joints. Added bonus, by dodging those joints, you’ll avoid the temptations in their glass cases at the counter!
Enjoy!
Food Matters!
Hey Peeps! Another awesome documentary is available at NetFlix Instant Play, Food Matters! If you haven’t got a chance to check this film out yet, you gotta get on it!
Food Matter’s is one of my absolutely essential favorite documentaries. Words of wisdom throughout from Charlotte Gerson, David Wolfe, Dr. Andrew Saul and many others! My fave bits are with Dr. Andrew Saul sharing stories of patients experiencing miraculous benefits from simply correcting nutrient deficiencies! David Wolfe pimps the benefits of raw and super foods and Charlotte Gerson shares how organic food, proper nutrition and working the bodies own healing power can bring astounding results! This brilliant group share their perspectives on the deleterious effects of a poor diet, but moreover the astonishing power of nutrition. Often food is underrated as cause and effect of good or bad health, but in this film, food is given its due credit! Awesome accounts of healing stories and a look into the many multiple benefits of healthy eats, Food Matter’s will leave you both inspired and empowered! I highly recommend this film to anyone, no matter where you’re at in your health journey you’ll find something awesome here! Like the title says, Food Matters!
Have an amazing day! ~ Rory :0)
Coconut buttah!
Hello my friends in search of awesome edibles! I’ve got a quick lil’ post here for you on one of my fave raw edibles, coconut butter. Pronounce it how ya like, this stuff is awesome! Coconuts in general are loaded with antimicrobial and antifungal properties in their saturated fatty acids, they have a good amount of lauric acids that help to raise our HDL (good cholesterol levels) and when combined with other raw goodies they can increase the absorbability and usefulness of their fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids! The medium chain fatty acids in coconut are also believed to be beneficial to the thyroid and encourage proper metabolism. On top of all this healthy goodness, coconut tastes awesome! My coconutty weapon of choice is coconut buttah! Er. Coconut Butter. Coconut butter is the ground flesh of the coconut with the oil intact. This creamy goodness is an incredible add in for smoothies, as a thickener in raw frosting, and makes a tasty dip for fruit when warmed to dip’able consistency.
Coconut butter is such awesome stuff that I thought I’d give making it at home a shot! Now this is one recipe I’m sharing that you absolutely need a high powder blender for. There are also juicers out there that may be able to create this as well with their homogenizing function. All you need is some good quality dehydrated shredded coconut or coconut flakes (preferably organic and unsweetened for optimum healthy goodness). I simply ground about 6 cups of coconut flakes in my Vita Mix, using the tamper to keep everything in contact with the blades and ground it for about 2 minutes. Voila! Coconut butter!
Now different sources of shredded coconut may have less oil content, so if your blend looks like it needs a lil’ moisture, you can solve that by adding a lil’ coconut oil. If you don’t have a high power blender, there are many good sources of coconut butter out there. My current fave is Artisana’s, great stuff! Well worth the cost as a lil’ goes a long way in smoothies! A 16oz jar usually lasts a month in our house with multiple daily uses!
Happy experimenting! ~ Rory :0)
Givin’ some more!
Hey my friends! I’ve been having such an awesome time giving out copies of my raw dessert recipe e-book, Sweet Support, this week! The feedback has been incredible!! I’ve received so many emails from people who’ve picked up a copy! Emails telling me how the e-book give away coincided with them just recently deciding to give raw living a go, having been re-inspired to get back into it, and people happy to have it as they are looking for healthier dessert options and gluten free treats. It’s been very awesome for me to hear from you all!! Happy to have shared the e-book with you and so happy to have heard your stories!
This has been such a fun and touching experience for me, that I want to do even more. My e-book, Gettin’ Raw, has been gettin’ awesome reviews and kudos from many peeps in the raw community and with each copy that goes out I often get emails back telling me how the book has made gettin’ into raw living so much more do-able, affordable and accessible. I’ve been told many times that $14 is an amazing price for a book that is 180 pages long, loaded with full color photos and tons of information and tips on comfortably transitioning to a raw diet. But, after this awesome experience of sharing Sweet Support, I wanna make Gettin’ Raw even more accessible. So for the next three days it’s going to be on sale for $10.00!! This sale ends on Monday at 12 am.
After the three days are up, I’ll be putting it back to its original price because its sales and the donations I receive allow me to keep spreading the raw goodness via this site, my recipe videos and the time I spend sharing tips, strategies, recipes and information through various routes online! Thank you all so much for your support , wonderful words of praise and for sharing your stories! Much love my friends and tasty raw eats ~ Rory :0)
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
Hey Peeps! I got a quick review of an incredible documentary! Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is the story of two average guys, who have very similar issues. Obesity and a chronic immune system condition, that causes excessive histamine reactions that lead to terrible rashes. Joe Cross realizes that his current food choices are leading him to where he doesn’t want to be and decides to take on a sixty day juice feast. What better place for our Australian buddy Joe to do it, but on a road trip across the fast food, comfort food and junk food loaded states, cities and towns of the US! Joe likes to face his demons head on! Haha! On the course of his adventure he shares his situation and decision with the numerous people he meets. In a very down to earth and non-judgemental way he talks to the average American about health, weight issues and food choices. Then Joe runs into a fellow with issues strikingly resembling his own and offers to help him! Phil Staples is a hard working truck driver and dealing with major health issues, with Joe’s gentle encouragement and support, Phil decides to hop on the juice-wagon as well! I’ll shut up now, as I don’t wanna give away the whole flick. Suffice to say, it is absolutely incredible and inspirational, no matter where you’re at in your health journey, you will love it!
We we’re actually able to watch the documentary on NetFlix Instant Play and loved it so much that we plan on purchasing a copy!
Enjoy my friends! Many well wishes in your healthy living missions ~ Rory :0)
Free E-Book Give-Away!
Hey Peeps! Thought I’d do a lil’ something fun for this week, I am giving away free copies of my dessert e-book Sweet Support! This 25 page e-book is loaded with color step-by-step photos, showing you how to create four awesome raw dessert recipes! These recipes focus on using whole foods as sweeteners, so it’s perfect for those looking for alternatives to agave nectar or other refined sweeteners! The book not only contains these 4 dessert recipes, but also tips on using fruits as sweeteners in a variety of other raw dishes! A great way to simplify your raw food prep and get more nutrients in each of your culinary creations! And I want to give you this lil’ book to get you goin’ with some awesome healthy treats! To get your free copy of Sweet Support simply send me an email at rawdawgrory@yahoo.com with the title Free E-Book Give-Away and I will send it out to the email address you provide!
There are no strings attached, I don’t have a mailing list that I’m gonna put you on, and I won’t sell your email to anyone! In the email we send you, Sweet Support will be attached as a pdf file. You can download it to your computer, check out the beautiful pics and print the recipes out if you like! Like I said, no strings attached, this is just a fun way for me to share the work I do and let you get a taste of my creations! Hurry, this offer ends Saturday, July 9th at midnight!
That email address is again is rawdawgrory@yahoo.com! Peace, love and tasty raw treats ~ Rory :0)
Epic Raw Meal Time!
What up players and haters? Rawdawg Rory back up in this piece again. I’m a hardcore food geek, so even though I rock the raw thing, I still like to check out all the awesome food shows out there. I don’t discriminate, I love ‘em all. Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”, Andrew Zimmern’s “Bizzare Eats”, Adam Richman’s “Man Vs Food” and Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares”… I’m in! Then in my online rambling I stumbled on Epic Meal Time. For those who haven’t seen Epic Meal Time, you’re in for something. These dudes have basically done for cooking shows, what the Jackass crew has done for sports television. The show itself can be a bit offensive (especially for the vegan community), but none the less funny! Creating gigantore meals of foods questionable enough to make Paula Dean herself cringe with terror, the Epic Meal Time crew push the boundaries of just how much greasy, fatty, junkish food one can eat and live to talk about. The narration’s are ridiculous and watching the dude’s chow down on the finished masterpieces will either leave you nauseous or hungry, depending on your sensibilities. After enjoying a marathon of their videos, I thought I’d rock out my own version with a raw twist.
They say nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee, but I know something else nobody doesn’t like more, a big a$$ banana ice cream cake, loaded with raw chocolate goodies! Get ready for Epic Raw Meal Time…
Peace out my friends! Hope you’ve enjoyed! :0)
My “chunky style” days
Hello Peeps! Amanda and I recently received a package of photos from her Mom and Amanda was shocked to see some of my photos from back in my early twenties. Why? Because back then I wasn’t just 262 lbs as I was when I began my raw journey… I was about 298 lbs! What a trip it’s been! It made me wonder what I would’ve done if I stumbled upon all the stuff I know now, back then? Would I have dove in head first, 100% raw? Probably not. I would’ve taken the same transition time I did this time around. But, I still would’ve gotten there years ago! I was well overweight throughout my teens, suffering with sinus issues from food allergies and having a bunch of issues with my teeth from soda consumption. I’ve contemplated this before and it’s inspiring me to want to share what I’ve learned with a younger audience. If I had seen examples of people dealing with what I did and turning it around, it would’ve been a big motivator for me. I got a computer back when I was 17 and used it for checking out articles on organic gardening, farming and sustainable living, in between games of Duke Nukem.
Now the internet is booming with raw info, inspirational stories, tons of simple recipe videos and interviews with peeps who’ve radically changed their lives, by making simple changes in their personal menu! Adding in good stuff lil’ by lil’ as the bad stuff eases its way out, is a great way for young peeps(and people of all ages!) to get started. I wanna encourage you to share this info with a young audience. Websites and transformation stories that inspire you and simple healthy recipes. Kid’s rock, and if given positive choices presented in a positive way, they’ll likely give it a shot and at least be aware that change is possible and the journey to where they want to be doesn’t have to suck! It can be as easy as goofing off in the kitchen and enjoying some tasty healthy eats!
Rock on my friends! Keep sharing the love and spreading the raw goodness! :0)
Finishing up a bangin’ smoothie feast!
Hey Peeps! This past week I’ve been rocking out a smoothie feast with Amanda. I am a smoothie fiend so a “fast” like this is right up my alley! Why a smoothie feast? Well besides being delicious, full of amazing nutrients (from the amazing ingredients you choose to use!) and filling, smoothies are super easy to digest! So while you’re enjoying a tasty blended meal, your body get’s to take a break from breaking down food! This allows it more energy to do all sorts of stuff, like fine tuning itself and leaves you with more energy to do the stuff you’re into! I’ve been exercising more this week, rockin’ out some writing work and feeling even more geeked up than usual (scary thought, I know!). Rocking smoothies for a fast can be very cleansing as well! All the lovely fiber in your blends keeps you feeling satisfied, buffers the absorption of the sugars(fruit sugars, raw honey etc) in your blends and it does an awesome job of house cleaning! Each of the fibers in your blended concoctions(from the fruits, greens, nuts and seeds) act as lil’ magnetically charged brooms. They travel through you snatching up toxins as they go and dragging them out the backdoor, for lack of a gentler way of putting it. This is perfect as your body will be using some of it’s energy surplus to cleanse and, by rocking fiber’iffic smoothies, you’ll have given it a surplus of cleaning supplies to finish the job with!
We’ve been indulging in breakfast blends of berries, bananas, almond mylk, coconut butter and hemp seeds. These are awesome for those looking for a creamy morning shake and the good fats in the almond mylk and coconut oil increase the availability of the phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals in the fruits! Also the coconut oils works synergistically with the omega 3 fatty acids in the hemp seeds to make them more usable for our body as well! For lunch we either crank out another fruit blend or a savory raw soup deal! One of our faves was a creamy red pepper tomato soup with an almond mylk base! So good! Dinner’s have been over a quart of green smoothie each, consisting of mixed greens and various fresh and frozen fruits with an h2o base. Dessert (Oh yes. Dessert!) has either been a cacao smoothie with an almond mylk base, frozen bananas, hemp seeds, coconut butter and raw honey or a chocolate frozen banana ice cream! This is amazing and super simple using the same ingredients to flavor straight up frozen banana chunks, creates a soft serve experience that’s tasty and healthy! Check out my Banana Ice Cream video (below) for the basics!
If you’re thinking of rockin’ a fast/feast for the first time I’d highly recommend looking into going the smoothie route first. My strategy to approaching raw living was to take the steady and comfortable route and it worked very well for me. I went the route I did to allow myself learning time, time to develop new habits, create recipes I loved, ease into the detoxification process and most of all to keep it fun! It’s easy to enjoy taking on the raw lifestyle when you do it at your pace! For some, going “all-or-nothing” works best, but for myself I knew how I like to roll and I wanted to avoid rapid detoxification issues (and high-speed sprints to the restroom!). So if my approach to raw sounds like your kind of route, then smoothie feasting may be your first choice when considering a feast! Easy, satisfying, nutritious, fiber’iffic and gentle in the detoxing department, smoothies are a pretty sweet way to go!
Happy Blendin’ my friends ~ Rory :0)
Kefir Ginsinger Beer!
Hey Party People in the place to be! I’ve been gettin’ my brew on lately and thanks to some inspiration via the holy grail of internet enlightenment (aka youtube!). Inspiration that guided me to create Kefir Ginsinger Beer (sweet name provided by my homey Nellie!). This tasty concoction combines the probiotic goodness of kefir with the circulation enhancing and detoxification assisting properties of ginger and finally the blood oxygenating (and therefore energy boosting) quality of ginseng!
Ginseng is an adaptogenic herb, which means it helps our bodies to restore their natural balance and deal with stress, it’s also known to increase mental functioning and reduce fatigue! So we’re pretty much talking super soda here. I used to be a full-on soda addict so sharing this recipe (and the low down on water kefir brewing in my last post) is very cool for me to provide other peeps lookin’ to replace that stuff with a really amazing alternative! Let’s hook it up!
To brew your own Kefir Ginsinger Beer you’re going to need ~
~ Some water kefir that has been brewing for approx 48 hours.
~ Glass bottles with a seal-able lids. I love GT’s kombucha bottles for this purpose!
~ Organic turbinado (aka raw sugar, organic un-bleached sugar)
~ A big ‘ol hunk of ginger.
~ Some ginseng tea. You can use ginseng root pieces, ginseng tea bags, or ginseng tea powder. I had the powdered instant ginseng tea version on hand so that’s what I used. When playing around with ginseng be sure to read up on it, especially if you have high blood pressure.
~ Some of your water kefir grains. They reproduce so snagging some of the extras for this brew is okay!
~ A strainer or nut mylk bag.
The following recipe is for a 12 cup batch of water kefir. I get eight finished bottles of Kefir Ginsinger Beer from this amount. If using more or less kefir, then adjust the amounts accordingly. You needn’t be exact and if you have extra, you can always drink it!
Put aside about a cup of the kefir and bottle up the rest, leaving about 3 inches of emptiness in each bottle. Brew your ginseng tea with about 1+1/2 cups of water to make a nice concentrated concoction and allow it to cool. Peel your nugget of ginger, I find the edge of a spoon works great. Now cut it into blendable chunks!
Pop the cup of kefir, 1+1/2 cups of ginseng tea (or 1+1/2 cups of water with 3 packets of ginseng tea, thats what I’m doing now), the ginger knob, about 2 teaspoons of kefir grains, and 2 tablespoons of turbinado into your blender. Blend!!
Now strain this glorious stuff to remove all the fibrous bits and use it to fill the bottles to within an inch of the top, to leave room for the co2 to build up.
Place the bottles aside to brew for about 3-7 days to carbonate! You can easily test the levels by occasionally removing a bottle and un-capping it, if it’s not fizzy enough just re-seal and set back for continued fizzification. When it’s finished pop the bottles in the fridge to halt the fermentation and chill. Serve cold and enjoy some gingery soda with a ginseng boost!
Rock on my friends ~ Rory :0)
The Fizzy Bubbly Goodness!
Hey people! Recently my buddy Lucy hooked me up with some water kefir grains. What are those? Well, water kefir is essentially, the culinary equivalent of Sea Monkeys(oh yes!)…
Kefir grains awaiting a fresh sugar water bath.
Water kefir (aka Tibicos) is a symbiotic culture of various yeasts and bacteria. The community of beneficial creatures produce a polysaccharide matrix to live in. This matrix is referred to as a kefir grain. You can score kefir grains from friends that brew it or various online sources. Why may ya wanna score some kefir? Well these beneficial organisms produce an amazing probiotic rich beverage that boasts a butt-ton of health benefits! Let’s knock through a few of them ~
Improved digestion. Water kefir is loaded with friendly bacteria and yeast. These lil’ guys add to our digestive systems army of good microorganisms. The more the merrier as they do much of our digestive work (in fact we couldn’t properly digest our food without them). This added crew can help us get more nutrition out of our food and may help maintain a proper metabolism. Win, win, and win some more!
Reduce harmful organisms in our body. When we add more and more good organisms to our system, there is less and less room for the not so good ones! Kefir’s cultures may outcompete harmful bacteria and yeast when it comes to colonizing our digestive system. This could be a serious bonus for those dealing with candida issues.
Mood improvement. Tibicos also produce an assortment of b vitamins and amino acids, reportedly including Tryptophan. Tryptophan is essential amino acid that our body uses to create serotonin, our bodies’ primary nuerotransmitter. The more serotonin, the better our overall mood and ability to deal with stress. The b vitamins are also crucial in proper brain functioning and stavign off depression! Very good stuff!
The list of health benefits goes on and on! Do some web crawling and you’ll find LOT’S of varying info on the healing, health giving and curative powers of water kefir (aka Tibicos ) So go check it out and delve deeper! Now I’m gonna let ya know how I’ve been rockin’ the kefir…
I’m no newbie to home brewing probiotic beverages(been brewing kombucha for years now), but I was unprepared for how… freakin’ easy water kefir is! There are many recipes and methods out there, but I’ll give you the recipe and timing that’s been working for me. And it’s been working very well!
First you’re going to need ~
*A large mason jar or other large glass canister. I’ve been using a gallon size jar that I picked up at Target.
*A square of breathable fabric large enough to cover the jars opening. It could be a handkerchief or cloth napkin, I’m using a cotton wash cloth.
*A large rubber band to secure this fabric to your jar. This cover will prevent wayward bacteria and dust from settling in your kefir brewing jar as well as keep at bay any insects and fruit flies that may find your brew enticing!
*Organic turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar is the dehydrated juice of the sugar cane plant. In essence it is minimally processed and unbleached sugar, which means it retains many of its naturally occurring nutrients and minerals. This is good for the kefir and you! If you can’t find turbinado, you should easily be able to locate organic sugar in most grocery stores.
*A mesh strainer for sifting your kefir grains in between batches.
*Several well washed bottles with air-tight lids, for the second fermentation. I like to re-use my empty GT’s Kombucha bottles for this. :0)
*water kefir grains. You can pick these up from various sources online, from friends that brew it, or by looking up peeps online that may be willing to share or barter them!
Now like I said, brewing kefir is easy here’s the recipe I’ve been using ~
6 cups of spring or filtered water. If all you have is tap water, you should boil it to reduce the chlorine, then allow it to cool to room temp before using.
6 Tablespoons of turbinado
3-4 tablespoons of keffir grains
Simply dissolve the sugar into the water. I use my vita mix to stir it up (since I use it strain my keifer into and as a giant measuring cup for the water. Multi-tasking like a mama-jama!) Now pour the sugar-water into your jar with the kefir grains and cover with the cloth. Set the jar in a dark cabinet in a warm location if possible. If not it’s cool, kefir has proven to be pretty forgiving of cool conditions. Didn’t I tell you this stuff’s easy? Ridiculously so!
Now sit back and allow the Tibicos to work their magic for 24-48 hours. You’ll begin to notice bubbles rising up from the mass of grains. You will also notice the smell of the sugar water changing to a semi sourish, kinda yeasty smell. It’s aliiiiiive! The 24 hour gap is there because the fermentation will be faster in warm temps and slower in cooler temps.
Lemme hit you up with one of the biggest tips I can give someone who’s just starting to brew either kefir or kombucha. Your first two batches may suck. It may taste/smell a little off from what you’re expecting. This happened to me with both my kombucha and kefir, but the third batch was the charm! I believe, and have read, that this is more a matter of your culture adapting to its new growing situation (water, sugar type, temps etc.) than your skills as a brewer. So don’t sweat it! Just hang in there and be prepared to possibly ditch your first two batches while your culture gets comfy in it’s new home.
Now where was I? Oh yeah, when you notice these changes your kefir is ready to undergo the second fermentation. The second fermentation is where the fun comes in! I mean what’s better than an amazingly healthy probiotic beverage? An effervescent, ridiculously tasty healthy probiotic rich soda! Oh yes! Let’s get fizzy with it.
Ready for bottling!
To get your fizz on, strain your kefir (to save the grains for the next batch) and pour into your seal-able bottles, leaving about an inch or of the bottle empty, to allow for air expansion. And pop the sealed bottles back in the same area you brew in and allow them to work their magic for 24-72 hours. This gap again is all about temp. I usually pop one open after 24 hours to see if it has the amount of fizz I’m looking for. I just pour a lil’ off into a cup and taste, if it’s not quite there I’ll reseal it and set it back. When you hit the carbonation level you want it’s time to move the bottles into your fridge, where the fermentation is halted and your kefir maintains its awesome taste.
Whoa, rewind a bit. You can just bottle it up, get your fizz in there and fridge it, or you can “dooo what I dooo” (in Joel Hodgson’s voice ala MST 3K.) and flavor it first! The possibilities are many, to say the least. Fresh or frozen fruit, spices, concentrated tea and or fruit juice can be added to the bottled kefir and allow it to infuse as it fizzes! I’ve done fresh ginger juice to create a potent kefir ginger-ale. Awesomeness. Frozen fruit comes in pretty handy as well. I pop some frozen fruit into the vita-mix, pour in some of the pre-fermented kefir and blend until smooth. When flavoring the kefir, I like to start out with bottles filled to under 2 inches of the top, that way I have plenty of room to add my flavors and still leave room for the carbonation.
I’ve seen peeps on youtube creating a super-duper ginger ale using a blend of ginseng tea, a hefty dose of ginger and peppermint leaves, to this they add kefir and bottle it up to ferment. Sounds bangin’! Haven’t tried that myself yet, but when I do I’ll let ya know how it goes! You can also try doing a vanilla soda, by adding either vanilla bean pod skins, seeds, powder or pure extract! You can cream it when done by pouring it into a glass with a lil’ nut, seed or coconut mylk! Like I said there MANY ways to go with this stuff and lot’s of fun ways to make your own pimped out fizzy bubbly goodness!
How does kefir stack up to kombucha? Well if you like instant gratification, kefir is ready in only 2-5 days, whereas kombucha takes 14-19 days (from start to bottled bubbly). Kefir doesn’t require boiled and cooled tea, but it does have a higher turn out rate, so it can add up to more total work then ‘bucha. Personally I love ‘em equally, so I’m brewing them both!
Kefir Ginger Ale. So good!
Happy brewing adventures my friends and big thanks again to Lucy for sharing the kefir madness! Much love ~ Rory :0)
Chocolate Chia Shake!
Hello my friends! Taking a breather from home improvement projects to whip up a tasty shake! This shake is a tasty chocolate monstrosity that features the omega 3 laden, intestine cleansing and protein rich goodness that is chia. When these wonderful seeds aren’t adorning terracotta craniums they are bringing an amazing texture to many a raw dessert and a really awesome thickness to this chocolatey shake!
Chocolate Chia Shake
~2 cups almond mylk
~2 frozen bananas (broken into blend-able chunks)
~1/8th cup of chia seeds (optionally you can soak the chia seeds in the almond mylk for about a 1/2 hour to make them easy on standard blenders)
~1+1/2 Tablesepoons of cacao powder
~Raw Honey, soaked dates or proffered sweetener to taste
~1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
~pinch of sea salt
Blend everything to smooth, smoothie consistency and prepare yourself for chocolatey goodness!
Been doing all sorts of home improvement projects this past week! Our bathrooms’ got a new sub-floor and linoleum covering, I customized our tv stand a bit, did some insulating and put a new fence and gate in our backyard, much to the chagrin of Shadow as it limits her bunny interactions. Also put together some furni from Ikea, Including a wardrobe cabinet in the kitchen that’s going to house our kombucha and water kefir brewery! Lovin’ the water kefir and lookin’ forward to gettin’ the ‘bucha going again! Our dehydrators are going to be neatly nestled in it as well, as soon as we get them mailed here!
Kefir Madness!
Hope you are all having a sweet weekend! Much love ~ Rory :0)
Livin’ it up in Portland!
Hey Peeps! I’m baaaaaaaack.. with my wonderful family and back to share what the heck I’ve been up to with you! Amanda, Isabel, Shadow and I have been reunited and are chillin’ at our new place in Portland, Oregon!
Amanda landed a cool position, managing a lot for RV and boat storage. Along with the job, we got a nice lil’ house! Our place has a nice sized yard for Big Shady (Shadows’ alias..), Isabel, and plenty room for gardening projects, which Amanda and I are really excited about! It’ll be the first time, in our lives together, that we had a place where we could get growin’ outdoors. We’re taking advantage of it right away with several lil’ tomato plants in ten gallon paint buckets!
We’re keeping our plants in pots and devising some creative planter ideas because our new place comes with an interesting infestation… rabbits. I’m not talking about those lil’ grey guys you see hopping frantically through the wild at the slightest human approach, I’m talking about pet store bunnies!! These things are massive, colorful and downright evilly cute. Recently, I convinced a couple of them that I’m not such a scary guy, with the assitance of a bag of carrots.
Our new joint is in an industrial part of town, but it’s got a country’ish feel and a massive woodstove. Always wanted a place with wood heat (if ya know me, ya know I been into sustainable living since way back in the day). Lovin’ that I can re-purpose cardboard and newspapers into heat! We upgraded the eco-friendliness of our new crib even more by opting to pay a few more cent’s per kilowatt hour to ensure that all our electrical needs are provided by renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar!). If this sounds sweet to you, contact your local energy provider and see if they provide such options.
As far as my Raw adventures go, I’m gettin’ back into working out and formulating raw protein shakes from Heck! A lot of my friends from back on the East Coast are into weight lifting and the protein shakes, so I’ve been sharing recipes for creating body-building beverages that go beyond muscle fuel in their benefits, while leaving out all the junk that goes into traditional muscley drinks (ok probably not a real adjective, but I like the sound of it).
I’ve had an amazing time in Connecticut helping my Mom get back into healthier eating! We didn’t go for a 100% (or even uber high) raw approach this time around, but rather a dive into more vegan and gluten free options that she can easily make and incorporate into her regular menu! I was psyched to see her creating her own recipes such as a vegan and gluten free versions of her fave Italian comfort foods. Her Eggplant Lasagna with tofu in place of the rigotta cheese was quite impressive! Mom’s also been gettin’ into smoothies big time, thanks to a generous contribution from Vitamix! I’m really grateful that I had the chance to help Mom get her health steering in the right direction and hope she carries on with it. Very proud of ya Mom!
Hope you’re all having an awesome time doing your raw or raw’ish thang! Much love and more to come ~ Rory :0)
Mango Lassi with Mom!
Hey Peeps! Today Mom’s rockin’ the vita mix and cranking out one of our all time favorite blended beverages, Mango Lassi! This Indian cuisine inspired beverage is creamy, tangy and goes great with curry.
To create this drink you’ll need ~
2 cups of almond mylk
1+1/2 cups of mango (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of ice
2 tablespoons of honey (or agave, or a couple of pitted dates!)
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Blend everything until smooth and creamy and enjoy thoroughly!
I wanna thank Mom for coming up with the idea to do a plug for my Best of Raw 2010 nominations! Here’s the link to check out their site and vote for me and your other fave raw personalities! http://www.bestofraw.net/
Become an Ace of Raw Cakes!
Hello My friends! Been a while.. truth is I’ve been doing a lot introspective spelunking and wading through some mental muck that needed flushing. After taking some time to meditate and get some insights, I’m back! And I’m bringing you a recipe for the Carrot Cake I created for my recent workshop at Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe! Pardon the lame pun, but raw cake prep is literally a piece of cake. It’s just a matter of formula. Let’s get to the kitchen/lab/culinary creation station and concoct some tasty healthy goodness!
When you craft a raw cake there are essentially 2 parts, just like baking. When you make a traditional cake you seperate the ingredients into “dry” and “wet” categories. You beat your eggs, milk and oils seperately before mixing into your flour, baking powder, salt and spices. With raw cake prepping you have two components as well. Your “flours” and your “binders”. The flour consists of water dry ingredients your using (ground nuts and seeds, sprouted and dehydrated grains, salt and powdered spices and seasonings) and your binder (dried fruits, honey, agave or other syrups) is the moist and sticky ingredients your going to use to flavor, sweeten and hold the whole thing together! Now the trick is just finding the amount of binder that you need to hold the flour into something cake’ish. Easier than it sounds! Simply look for changes in the consistency as you’re processing the binder with the flour. When the mixture starts to ride up the edges of the mixer, stop the machine and take out a piece of the mix. Gently squeeze it between your fingers and attempt to gently form it into a lil’ square. The keyword being Gently, you wanna make sure that you don’t have to smash it into a solid lump for it to hold it’s form. By keeping it as light as possible while still holding shape, you end up with something that has more of that fluffy baked cake quality!
My fave cake pans are spring form pans. They make retrieving your finished beauty easy and allows for playing around with layers! I picked up a set of 3 recently for a mere $14 and some change, a very worthy investment in your raw dessert endavours. To get your cake out of the pan in one piece even easier here’s 3 steps that are sure to leave you with a pimped out finished product.
Always grease your pan. I prefer to use coconut oil, but if you have allergies, you can sub hemp or flax seed oil.. olive oil is a lil’ too pungent for desserts, unless you’re a major olive oil fan. You can also reserve some of your “flour” and sprinkle this in the pan as added anti-stick insurance.
Run circle around the inside of the pan.. with a paring knife. Simply slide a small thin knife blade between the outer edge of the cake and the inside of the pan. This’ll guarantee you don’t lose any of your tasty goodness when you release the sides of the pan.
Finally chill it out before you plop it out. Giving your cake about a half hour in the fridge will allow the heat created by the friction of the food processors blades to fade. The ingredients can then firm back up and hold their form better.
Now that we got the basics down, let’s make some carrot cake!
Carrot Cake ~
This batch is for either 1 layer or a small cake! For an approx 2″ high by 8″ round cake, go ahead and repeat this recipe!
1+1/2 cups of almonds
1 cup of rough chopped carrot
1 cup of dates
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
pinch of sea salt
Pop the almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in your food processor and grind until you’ve turned them into “flour”. Remove to a bowl. Pop your carrots into the processor and grind down finely. Now here’s a tweak option, you can use the carrots as is to make an extremely moist cake or you can pop them in cheese cloth or a jice bag and wring them out a bit.. I usually opt to leave ‘em juicy.
Mix the carrots and flour together in a mixing bowl and divide in half . Pop half the carrot/flour mix into the processor and grind with half of the dates, repeat with the leftover ingredients, this step may seem tedious, but it’s to make sure the dates are finley ground down and the finished cake well combined. Now gently press the mix into a greased 8″ spring form pan and allow to set in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the frosting..
Orange Vanilla Creamy Frosting ~
This creamy delicious frosting will leave you wanting to split apart your blender to get it all.. barring that route you can add some almond milk and frozen fruit to the frostified blender and smoothie it up baby!
1+ 1/2 cups of cashews, soaked for an hour to soften (you can sub macadamia nuts if you like)
1/2 cup of dates, pitted
juice of 2 oranges
3/4 tsp of the fresh orange peel
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla bean seeds)
pinch of sea salt
Blend everything until smooth and creamy in your blender. I like to start out with everything but the dates and add them after the other ingredients are smooth. If using a standard blender, you can also soak the dates in the o.j. before blending to soften ‘em up.
Now that your frosting is done, pop that chilled cake outta it’s mold onto your serving plate and frost it up! Enjoy with tea or a cold glass of almond milk.
Happy cake crafting my friends and much love ~ Rory :0)
Mom’s progress!
Hey my friends! As you may know my Mom has had some pretty serious health issues lately. She’s suffered from severe water retention, been diagnosed with two cases of Congestive Heart Failure and is now on oxygen 24/7. Now I’m back in Connecticut and assisting her by preparing a combination of raw foods, green smoothies and healthy cooked dishes to get her health back on track!
The cooked meals are vegan, gluten free, salt free and using coconut oil (instead of less stable fats) to avoid trans fat issues. I want her to go at improving her health at her own pace, so by giving her great examples of healthy cooked eats, I hope she’ll be able to utilize them along with raw foods to make her own strategy that will work best for her!
Thanks to our friend Mark’s generous donation of a blender and Magic Bullet, we’re rocking out the green smoothies as they are so beneficial for alkalyzing, remineralizing and oxygenating… getting that chlorophyll goodness flowing! And if that wasn’t cool enough, Penni Shelton of Raw Food Rehab has given us info on requesting a Vita Mix Blender to be donated for her health journey and her Doctor was very happy to fill out his portion of the paperwork! Tommorow we’re sending it off so keep your fingers crossed for her!
I’ve only been back in CT for a week rocking out edible goodness for Mom acting as her personal raw chef and she’s experiencing the benefits already! Im so happy to share that she is 11 pounds down, her leg/foot/ankle swelling drastically reduced, her mobility has increased and her Doctor is having her reduce her medications!! Wooohoooo! Behold the power of healthy eats!
Thank you to everyone for keeping up with her and all the love, prayers and support! More to come of course! Much love ~ Rory :0)
