Banana Date Chia Pudding

I had read Sarma’s post on banana milk and thought it was pure genius!! I figured I could sweeten my almond milk the same way. I normally use sweeteners like agave and honey, but I loved how simple it was to sweeten this pudding with just dates and bananas. So fabulous! I have to tell you this was one of my Favorite Chia Puddings ever! SOOO GOOD! Breakfast is such a good meal!! Now that I am fully hooked I wonder how I ever lived without it 🙂

Love this Breakfast!!

Love this Breakfast!!

Banana Date Chia Pudding
serves 3-4

1/2 cup chia seeds
2 cups almond milk
2 bananas
5 dates, pitted
a few dashes cinnamon
a pinch of salt

Place the chia seeds in a bowl.  In a Vita-mix blend together the almond milk, bananas, dates, cinnamon, and salt.  Pour this mixture over the chia seeds and whisk together with a fork.  Let it sit for 10 minutes in the fridge and then whisk again to get rid of any clumps. Cover and set in the fridge overnight. In the morning whisk one more time and then enjoy!! Yum Breakfast!!!!

I looked up the nutrition stats again 🙂 I hope this helps out!

279 Calories, 7g fat, No Saturated fat or Cholesterol, 122mg Sodium, 52g Carbs, 13g Fiber, 32g Sugar and 7g Protein

Quinoa “Oatmeal”

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As I told you last week my new addition to my diet is Breakfast and I am LOVING it!!! I plan to switch it up every week and try something new. This is a cooked breakfast and it was so good! I love quinoa but I don’t think it is ever thought about as a breakfast food. I thought that this super-grain would be great sweet and hot in the morning and I was right 🙂 So good and super nutritious. Love it!

Quinoa “Oatmeal”
serves 3

1 cup quinoa
1 cup almond milk
1 cup water
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons agave

Rinse the quinoa and add to saucepan with water and almond milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the dried cranberries and cinnamon and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the agave. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes until all liquid is absorbed.

I can’t promise to do this for ever recipe but I looked up the nutrition stats for this breakfast. 🙂

Per Serving: Calories 324, Fat 4g, No Saturated Fat or Cholesterol, 71mg sodium, 67g carbs, 4g Fiber, 25g sugar, 7g protein

Cinnamon Raisin Flax Crackers

I use flax seeds all the time to make dehydrated snacks and breads. When the people over at FlaxMatters offered to send me some of their fabulous Organic Whole Golden Flax Seeds I jumped at the chance to try them out. They were gorgeous in color and ended up tasting great! Thank you so much FlaxMatters!!

I knew when I saw the flax seeds that I wanted to make something special. These Cinnamon Raisin Flax Crackers were delicious, chewy and really amazing! I have always loved raisin bread and these were the raw version of that. The bananas in the mixture made them chewy and the raisins made them so sweet, so good! When I soaked the flax seeds they became gelatinous, very similar to chia seeds. I love the gels that these seeds make!

wholegoldenflaxORG500.37946pictures aug 09 002

Look at that golden gorgeous color!

Look at that golden gorgeous color!

pictures aug 09 009

Cinnamon Raisin Flax Crackers

Recipe adapted from Brigitte Mars
Makes about 2 -3 dozen crackers

Ingredients:
2 C flax seeds
4 C water
1 1/2 C raisins + 1 1/2 C raisins
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 bananas, peeled
1 tsp. sea salt

Preparation:
Soak the seeds in the water for about 2 hours, and do not strain. Set aside 1/4 of the flax seeds and then combine the rest of the flax seeds and all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, stirring in the additional 1 1/2 C raisins and the set aside flax seeds by hand. Spread the mixture onto three solid dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate for 4 hours at 110 degrees. Remove the dehydrator sheets and flip the crackers onto mesh sheets.  Score the crackers and continue dehydrating until that side is dry around 6-10 more hours.  When dry, the crackers will keep for several weeks in an air-tight container.

pictures aug 09 010

Raw Food Dinner Party part 1

I have always loved cooking food and giving to others. It is definitely one of my favorite things to do. But I have not had the chance to have a full blown Raw Dinner Party till now. I am so happy that we were able to this. There is not much better than good company and good food!

Here is our appetizer, which could easily be a meal on its own. It was amazing! While I was making the “sour cream” I had to make sure to put it in the fridge so that I didn’t eat it all before our friends came over! If you love truffles or bruschetta at all, you will go mad for this dish!

If you want a sneak peek for the upcoming recipes check out my menu in the picture below 🙂

Cornbread Bruschetta with White Truffle “Sour Cream” and Spiced Tomatoes

bruschetta 3

Cornbread Bruschetta with White Truffle “Sour Cream” and Spiced Tomatoes
Recipe from Entertaining in the Raw by Matthew Kenney
Serves 4-6
Bruschetta
1 cup flax meal
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 cups fresh corn kernels
1 1/3 cups walnuts, soaked 8-10 hours
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 tablespoon raw agave nectar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder

“Sour Cream”
1 cup cashews, soaked 1-2hours
1/2 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white truffle oil

Tomato
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon nama shoyu
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle peppers, soaked 1 hour
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons julienned basil

Assembly
1/4 cup basil leaves
fresh black pepper

Bruschetta
Place flax meal in a medium-sized bowl; set aside. Process remaining ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add the bowl with flax meal and stir until well combined. Spread on Teflex sheets in desired shape to 1/2inch thickness. Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 24-36 hours until almost completely dry but still a bit pliable

“Sour Cream”
Blend all the ingredients in a Vita-Mix until completely smooth. Refrigerate until firm.

Tomato
Toss all ingredients together and season to taste

Assembly
Spread a think layer of “sour cream” on each piece of bruschetta and top with a generous amount of tomatoes. Garnish with basil and black pepper.

my notes:

For the “Sour Cream” I used black truffle oil instead of white, but if you saw my note above, you would know that I am sure it does not matter. It was absurdly deelish!

For the Tomatoes, I did not use cilantro and I am not a fan and I did not use the peppers. Instead of the cilantro I used more basil. Instead of the peppers, I substituted jalapeno peppers and some chili powder.


bruschetta 4

Sweet Double Coconut Chia Pudding

I love all things Chia these days. I just cannot get enough of it. It is so delicious and nutritious, I feel amazing eating it. Plus the fact that is sublimely deelish doesn’t hurt either 😉 Here is a great recipe for another Chia Pudding, this one with the beloved young coconut. It is not the prettiest of puddings but it is really tasty. To see my original Chia Pudding click here. To see why Chia is so fabulous for you click here.

chia pudding

Sweet Double Coconut Chia Pudding
Makes 1-2 servings
Recipe from Casey’s Lifestyle Raw blog

1 young coconut, flesh and water
1/2 cup coconut flakes
2/3 cup chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch cloves
8 drops vanilla stevia (you could also use plain stevia and add some vanilla extract or vanilla bean powder)

Blend together the young coconut flesh and water, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and stevia until well mixed. Place the chia seeds and coconut flakes in a owl and pour the coconut mixture from the blender over the top of the dry seeds and coconut flakes. Mix well and put in the fridge to set for ten minutes-overnight. Enjoy!

Flatbread Pizza with hummus, green olives, cherry tomatoes and za’atar

This was soooo good! I made the complete recipe for the crust and halved the rest as I knew there was never anyway we would eat all of this deliciousness. But I figured we could use the crusts for other recipes as they are very versatile. I love everything Pure Food and Wine and can’t wait to check out Sarma’s new cookbook, Living Raw Food! But this is recipe is from Raw Food Real World. All their recipes are pretty complicated but I am guessing that 99% of them are amazing! Due to the complexity level and the gourmet heaviness of some of the foods they are not everyday recipes for us. But when we make them we sure love them! I could see this dish being served at a fancy Middle Eastern restaurant or you can make them bit sized and serve them as hor o’dourves!!!! How fun!! So deeelish! I loved the use of Za’atar (a Middle Eastern spice blend of sumac, sesame seeds and the wild Syrian hyssop plant) in this recipe. I had bought some the last time I was in Israel and this was the first time I got to break it out and use it. Ahhhh… 🙂 The crusts were delicious and the hummus was the best raw hummus I have ever had! Such a great recipe! You could always break this recipe down and use just one component when you need it.

Flatbread Pizza with hummus, green olives, cherry tomatoes and za’atar

 pizza close-up

pizza crust on dehydrator sheet

The crust still on the dehyrdrator sheet

For the crusts:
5 cups walnuts, soaked 1 hour or more (I soaked them overnight – when soaking nuts, make sure to rinse well after)
5 cups cubed yellow squash or zucchini
3/4 cup golden flaxseed, finely ground (1 cup ground)
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1/4 to 1/2 cup filtered water
1 tablespoon sea salt

1. Pulse the walnuts in a food processor to chop into tiny pieces (like couscous), but not completely smooth. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl. Add the squash to the same food processor bowl and grind into tiny pieces, but again not completely smooth. Transfer the squash to the bowl with the walnuts. Add the flaxseed, hemp seeds, salt and about 1/4 cup of water, stirring to combine. Add more water until a sticky dough forms – like wet muffin batter. You may need more or less water.

2. Divide the batter between four 14-inch Teflex lined dehydrator trays. Using an offset spatula spread the dough to the edges of the trays. The dough can be a bit gummy and sticky, so it helps to dip the spatula in water as you spread the dough (the excess water will all evaporate in the dehydrator)

3. Dehydrate the flatbread at 115 degrees for 6-8 hours, pr overnight. When the tops are dry, flip over and peel away the Teflex liners. Dehydrate on screens for another 2-4 hours.

4. Once both sides are dry, slide the flatbread onto a large cutting board. With a large chef’s knife, cut into 3×5 rectangles (or whatever size and shape you want). Place them back in the dehydrator trays and dehydrate for another hour or more, as necessary for firm crusts.

hummus

For the hummus:
4 cups cashews, soaked for 2 hours or more (when I woke up I starting soaking them, so around 8 hours)
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 small cloves garlic
1/4 cup sesame tahini
1 teaspoon sea salt
Up to one cup filtered water

In a food processor, add the nuts, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and salt and process, adding water 1/4 cup at a time until you get the smooth, fluffy consistency of hummus. You may need to add more water, or you may want to add olive oil for a richer hummus – just make sure it has enough stiffness so it will hold the topping on the pizza without running off the sides of the crust

olive tapenade

For Green Olive Tapenade: (You only need a half cup for recipe, so reduce if you want, or make the entire batch to have on hand.)
makes 3 1/2 cups

3 cups putted green olives
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small handful of parsley (optional) (I used the parsley. I think it added a nice texture and color)
freshly ground pepper

1. Process the olives in a food processor. With the motor running, add the olive oil and lemon juice and process until smooth. Add the parsley (if using) and process to combine. Season with pepper to taste

2. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate. Will keep up to 1-2 weeks.

For serving:
1 pint cherry, teardrop or grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 of a large bulb of fennel or 1/2 of a small bulb, shaved very thin on a mandolin
1/2 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1/2 cup Green olive Tapenade
1/2 cup Green olives, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons za’atar seasoning
fennel fronds for garnish

Spread each crust with hummus and top with tomatoes, fennel, cucumber, olive tapenade and olives. Sprinkle with za’atar and top with fennel fronds

pizzas

za'atar from Israel
My Za’atar from Israel

Superfood Smoothie

We normally make smoothies in lieu of our usual Green Juices once or twice a week. They are so yummy and such a great treat! We make so many different variations but here is our most recent one. I never measure the ingredients when I put them in the Vita-mix, so below are approximates.

superfood smoothie

Superfood Smoothie
3/4 cup Blueberries
4 ounces Acai puree
1/2 cup Cherries
3/4 cup Mango
3 stalks of rainbow chard, with the stems removed
2 heaping tablespoons Synergy Green Powder
1 teaspoon Maca
3/4 teaspoon Crystal Manna Blue green algae
1 tablespoon Lucuma powder
1 tablespoon Mesquite powder
1/4 cup Chia pudding
1 cup Coconut milk
1/2 cup water

Chia Seed Pudding

Ahhh Chia Seed Pudding!! So good!! Chia seeds have so many wonderful properties that I want to incorporate them into our daily lives. See my post on Chia Seeds: Superfoods.

This recipe was so amazing!! I know I am always making new recipes but this needs to become a staple in my house! We normally just have a juice, smoothies or fruit for breakfast, but on the weekends we like to enjoy a little more. Last weekend we  feasted on the Blueberry Flax Pancakes which were amazing. This was a little less decadent but still so divine!! This can be a dessert, breakast, lunch or dinner. It is pretty much a perfect food!

chia seed pudding

Chia Pudding
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours – overnight
3 pitted, jumbo Medjool dates soaked for 1 hour in 2 cups of filtered water (Keep soak water for the recipe)
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2-1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
Several drops of liquid stevia to taste

Soak the cashews for at least 4 hours and rinse. In a Vita-mix or blender combine cashews, dates, their 2 cups of soak water, vanilla, and cinnamon and blend until smooth. In a medium bowl combine this mixture with the chia seeds. Whisk for 1-2 minutes. Let stand in the fridge for 10 minutes and whisk again to prevent clumps. Add the stevia to taste. You can either begin to eat it then or put back in the fridge, covered for 6-8 hours (overnight) and even more of the nutrients will be accessible then.

Superfood: Chia Seeds

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What are Chia Seeds?
Chia seed is an ancient superfood that was used for centuries prior to the Chia Pet. They were once a staple of the Incan, Mayan and Aztec cultures, as well as the Native Americans of the southwest.  Chia Seeds were used as an energy food and they were called “Indian Running Food” as the messengers would carry a pouch of them and only need a tablespoon to sustain them for 24 hours. 

Nutritional Profile:

  • 2 x more protein than any other seed or grain
  • 5 x the calcium of milk and also contains the mineral boron, which acts as catalyst for the absorption and utilization of the calcium by the body. 
  • 2 x the potassium as bananas
  • 3 x more iron than spinach 
  • A wonderful ration of omega 3 and omega 6 essential fatty acids
  • Complete source of Protein and provide all the essential amino acids
  • They become gelatinous when mixed with liquid due to the soluble fiber in the Chia. They can hold 9-12 times their weight in water and they absorb it very rapidly – in under 10 minutes.
  • High antioxidant content 
  • The ‘Dieter’s Dream Food’ – it can be used as a Food Extender/Calorie Displacer. You can easily bulk up your normal recipes with Chia and only eat half the calories while getting so much more nutritious benefits.

Other benefits: 

  • Extra energy, strength, endurance “Indian Running Food”  
  • Balances blood sugar
  • Weight loss
  • Intestinal regularity
  • Slows the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar which helps the energy from food be released steadily into the body, diminishing the highs and lows and resulting in more endurance.
  • Water retention and hydration – this regulates the body’s absorption of nutrients more efficiently which keeps the level of electrolytes balanced. 
  • Muscle and tissue builder
  • Easy to Digest
  • Inexpensive
  • Fast and Versatile

How to use Chia:
To make the basic gel add 1/3 cup of seeds to 2 cups of water. Whisk the mixture well, to avoid clumping, and then leave it in your fridge, in a sealed container. After 10 minutes you can begin to eat the gel but more of the nutrients will be easily accessible after a few hours. It will stay good for about three weeks. Having the gel in the fridge makes it easy to add to your recipes; smoothies, salad dressings, puddings, etc. Chia seeds will absorb any kind of liquid so you can use nut milks or fruit juices to vary the taste. You can also use whole seeds by putting them on top of your salads or in granola or by grinding them to add to almost anything.

chia

My Wonderful Husband requested this picture 🙂

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