CHOCOLATE FOR ALL YE CHOCOHOLICS

The great thing about raw desserts is that you can never finish it all in one sitting, well, for me though. I had  about  2  tablespoons of this and my sweet-tooth was totally soothed. It is so very rich and filling. LOVE THAT! Saved the rest in the fridge for another day. 

I hope you have all been having a great week. Mine has been a little stressful but hey, I survived :) Anyway, I know sometimes some of us run towards food when we feel a little low. Sometimes I crave food, sweet foods when I feel blue (who doesn't?) and raw desserts are guilt-free for me. I don't need a lot to satisfy me so I make a batch and just save it in the fridge for whenever I need it.


DARK CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY MOUSSE

Ingredients:
1 vanilla bean seeds or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup cacao powder
1/3 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
2 small Haas avocados
1 cup maple syrup (I use grade B maple syrup)

Blend all together in a food processor until creamy. Enjoy as is or with slices of strawberries.

Seeds from vanilla bean

MINI FLOURLESS BROWNIES

I kept these cute little trays from some candy box I found and decided to use them for my mini brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup maple syrup

1 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup cacao powder

1/3 cup mixture of dried cranberries and chopped almonds

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Put all ingredients except the dried fruit and nuts in a food processor and blend. Pour into ice tray or candy tray. Place in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes until it's firm. YUMMY.

Some good music for your listening pleasure: LUCKY

 XOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOOOOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXO

Remember to EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

Rich Choconana Shake

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! yes, I am awake for sure:-) Today I had a rich choconana shake for breakfast. I was going to make some fresh almond mylk (stole this spelling from Alexa) and have it with my yummy G-raw-nola but then I decided to make this shake when I spied my fresh looking bananas. Thing is, I still have about 1 cup of almond mylk left...

This is so very delicious and rich, so rich that one of those glasses was enough. Nina came up with the idea of making these yummy Choconana squares with the remainder of the shake. We sprinkles it with some raw cacao nibs for visual and some crunchiness. If we choose we can always blend it again and make a shake, eat it as is, or simply let it thaw a bit to have it as ice cream, however we have it, it's going to be yummy-delicious.

So here's the recipe for my Cinnamon Almond Mylk:

2 cups of almonds, soaked overnight and rinsed

4 cups of water

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean

6 mejool dates, pitted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Blend till liquefied and put mixture through a nut milk bag or cheese cloth to separate mylk from almond pulp. Makes a creamy rich mylk.

...and for the Rich Choconana Shake:

2 cups almond mylk

4 ripe bananas, frozen or fresh if you don't have frozen
1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 heaping Tbsp of raw cacao powder or carob powder

1 tsp coconut butter

Blend, pour into glasses and sprinkle with some raw unsweetened coconut shreds.

~B~

Day 8 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: Chocolate banana pie

Today I found another reason to love my husband more. Let me tell you a story. six years ago on my 24Th birthday, when I was 5 months pregnant with our daughter, Nina, Rick took me out to one of Atlanta's best, Kava restaurant, to celebrate. After the exquisite fine dinning and great service from the staff we were off to the house where I couldn't wait to open up my birthday gift. Well, I am embarrassed to tell you I was a tad disappointed--even though I didn't show it-- with my gift because it was an expensive Cuisinart food processor. I was hoping for something you know, more romantic and definitely less expensive. But then he told me "Well, this is for when the baby comes and you can make it all these great homemade food." I did use it for Nina's food. She ate only homemade pureed baby food and I was glad then that I had it.

Little did I know that six years later I would find the other dual compartment of that food processor hidden beneath the kitchen shelf and yes, it had the 'S' blade my raw desert asked for. It had been hidden away all that time! It was a great birthday present after all and it took me six years to really appreciate it fully because today, Nina and I made our very first raw desert and boy is it TO-DIE-FOR Delicious, rich and very filling or as Nina said "Mama, this is delicious and nutritious". I love you, Rick and thank you for the best birthday gift ever. It was a great investment after all.

Today is day 8 and as you can tell, I am on top of the world. I wish I had tried this raw food lifestyle many years ago. What a way to live, what great abundance there is in living foods and how blessed I am to have the opportunity to eat all these wonders of nature.

Today's smoothie was my awesome Kale-Panana smoothie. Scroll down to Day 3 to get the recipe.

Here's our Chocolate banana pie recipe:

Ingredients for crust:

1 cup walnuts, soaked for 2 hours, rinsed and dried

1 cup almond, soaked overnight, then rinsed and dried

1/2 raisins or pitted dates (I used raisins, I LOVE raisins)

1/2 cup agave nectar or raw honey

sprinkle of salt

Chop nuts in a food processor with an 'S' blade. Then add remaining ingredients and process to thick and sticky dough. Press dough into 9-10" pie pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

Ingredients for Filling:

4 ripe bananas

3 ripe Haas avocados (seeded)

3 Tbsp carob powder

5 Tbsp 100% pure cacao powder

sprinkle of salt

1/2 cup agave nectar or raw honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cut banana into thin, round slices and layer on top of crust (cover crust completely with banana slices.)

Add the rest of the ingredients into a food processor with 'S' blade and process till smooth. Then pour filling over banana layer and partially freeze or refrigerate. You now have yourself a guilt-free, delicious and nutritious desert!

~B