Holiday Chia Pudding

I am always experimenting on myself by changing up my eating. Starting this week I have incorporated breakfast instead of just my juice. I am still drinking my juice, but having a solid breakfast first. I have already started to notice changes so I think this was a great decision for me. For this first week I decided to make Kristen’s Chia Pudding- I have wanted to make this for a while. As you know I love all things chia so I thought this would be the perfect go-to breakfast of choice. The best part is you can make a big bunch and it stays fresh in the fridge for 5 days or so. I doubled the recipe so that it would last me the whole week and it did ๐Ÿ™‚ I over did it on the spices, so just have a lighter hand than me when you get to that part. Other than that this was deelish and a welcome change to my morning routine.

perfect little breakfast portions

perfect little breakfast portions

Holiday Chia Pudding
By Kristen Suzanne
Yield 1 1/4 cups

1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup dried coconut, shredded & unsweetened
1 cup water
1/4 cup raw cashews (soaked 1 hour, drained and rinsed)
4 soft medjool dates, pitted
2 cloves
1 teaspoon lucuma powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Place the chia seeds and coconut in a small bowl, briefly stir to mix, and set aside. Blend the remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour the blended cashew mixture into the bowl with the chia seeds and coconut and stir. Wait a few minutes and stir again. Wait a few minutes, again, and stir. Do the โ€œwait and stirโ€ once more, and then place the Holiday Chia Pudding in the refrigerator for about 15 – 20 minutes (or longer, if desired). I normally leave them in overnight. Then, enjoy.

Banana Coconut Cookies

These were super good! I love banana and coconut and this was such a great combo! If you want them gooier take them out of the dehydrator earlier. Enjoy ๐Ÿ™‚

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Banana Coconut Cookies

1 cup of cashews
4 cups dried coconut
3 ripe bananas

  1. In a food processor combine the cashews and coconut until chopped fine
  2. Add the the bananas and process until smooth
  3. Roll the dough into your hands into cookies and flatten them.
  4. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 8-10 (overnight) ten hours
  5. Enjoy ๐Ÿ™‚

Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken with Toasted Corn Salsa (veggie version too)

This night was extra special fun as my girlfriend came over to help cook. As you know I love to cook and want to spread the love around. Some of my girlfriends want to learn to cook but didn’t know where to begin, so that is where I come in. This was good times and a cooking class all while preparing a meal for my husband and her guy ๐Ÿ™‚ Fun!! Both men really enjoyed this dish! The cute part is she cooked with me but then brought the meal over his house. (hence the Tupperware)

My husband being so used to all the fabulous raw corn salads I prepare, suggested that this would also have been amazing with just using raw corn and I am sure he is right. Raw fresh corn is sooooo good! But still the salsa was deelish. And really with corn and mango together, of course it is!

My girlfriend does not eat chicken so this was still a great recipe for her. We took Praeger’s Veggie Burgers and followed all the same steps as we would have with the chicken to prepare for her. We made sure to prepare and cook hers first so that there was no chickenness on her veggie food ๐Ÿ™‚

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Cormeal-Crusted Veggie Burgers and Corn Salsa

Cormeal-Crusted Veggie Burgers and Corn Salsa (minus the mango)

Huge Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Breasts to go

Huge Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Breasts to go

Love that Corn Salsa!

Love that Corn Salsa!

Cooking up the chicken

Cooking up the chicken

Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken with Toasted Corn Salsa
Recipe adapted from Gourmet

yield: Serves 4-6

For salsa:

  • 7 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 3 lime)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with a pinch of salt
  • 6 cups fresh corn (cut from about 10-12 ears)
  • 2 1/2-3 cups diced peeled mango
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions

For chicken:

  • 6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
  • 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 3/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 3/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Make salsa:
In a bowl whisk together 6 tablespoons oil, lime juice, garlic paste, and salt and pepper to taste. In a non-stick skillet heat remaining tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sautรฉ corn, stirring, until deep golden, about 5 minutes. Add corn and remaining salsa ingredients to bowl and toss to combine well.

Make chicken:
Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. On a plate stir together cornmeal, paprika, and cayenne and press chicken into mixture, coating both sides. In skillet heat olive oil over moderately high heat and sautรฉ chicken until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side.

Serve chicken with salsa. Enjoy!

Raw Spicy Corn Chips

These were really great with my Cheddar Cheeze Dip. They are also yummy with salsa or just by themselves. They really have a kick, so they make for a great snack! These make a lot of chips, so if you want fewer, just halve the recipe.

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Raw Spicy Corn Chips

5 cups golden flax seeds
2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 ripe avocado
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked beforehand
4 tsp. white sesame seeds
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne powder (depending how spicy you want them)
2 tsp. Celtic sea salt
1 pinch of white pepper
water

  1. Blend everything together till smooth.
  2. Add a little water if mixture is dry.
  3. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
  4. Spread onto teflex sheets and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 4 hours.
  5. Flip onto a mesh dehydrator sheet and score into chips. Dehydrate for 6-8 more hours.
  6. Enjoy ๐Ÿ™‚

Fig Fennel Pasta

I love love love figs! They are so sweet and quite possibly the best fruit ever! This dish has so many elements and so many flavors yet works so perfectly with the figs. This was very filling as there was so many ingredients involved. I loved the whole dish as it was so delightful! I always appreciate zucchini pasta but this was one of the best preparations I have seen so far. The summer brings us so many gorgeous vegetables and this dish really takes advantage of them. Enjoy the figs while they are still in season!

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Fig Fennel Pasta
Recipe adapted from Living Light
Serves 4-6

4 medium zucchini
1 tablespoon sea salt

Dressing:
1 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 fresh figs, destemmed
2 cloves garlic
ยฝ teaspoon ground fennel seed

Salad Ingredients:
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup yellow or red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
8 fresh black or green figs, sliced
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into long thin strands
1 tablespoon scallions, very finely sliced
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, minced
2 teaspoon parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  1. Use a spiralizer to slice the zucchini into long noodles. Add one tablespoon salt to the zucchini noodles and toss thoroughly. Allow it to stand at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes while preparing the dressing and vegetables.
  2. Put ingredients for dressing together in a blender and puree.
  3. Put the dressing and the remaining ingredients, except salted zucchini, in a large bowl and toss thoroughly.
  4. Gently squeeze the excess liquid from the zucchini, rinse and drain well. Pat zucchini noodles dry, and add them to the vegetables. Toss everything together gently and salt to taste. Serve chilled.

Blueberry Sorbet

I am so obsessed with fresh summer fruit and I have always loved frozen treats! For me in the summer there is no better dessert. Cool, sweet, fruity and refreshing! Deelish!

This mixture would work great in an ice cream maker, but if you do not have one you can simply freeze this in ice cream trays. After it is frozen add the cubes back to the blender for the perfect smooth treat!

You can also substitute raspberries, strawberries or any other fruit you want for the blueberries. I am sure it would come out delicious every time! Enjoy!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Blueberry Sorbet
makes 4 servings

2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups almond milk
3/4 cup agave
1 tbs. lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla

Blend until smooth. Chill and then process through an ice cream maker or freeze in 2 ice cube trays and blend.

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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!

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Look at that golden gorgeous color!

Look at that golden gorgeous color!

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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.ย  Score the crackers and continue dehydrating until that side is dry around 6-10 more hours.ย  When dry, the crackers will keep for several weeks in an air-tight container.

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Raw Cheddar Cheeze Dip

As gross as it sounds I have always loved nacho cheese! This dip is similar and of course made with much healthier and non-processed ingredients. I ate this with raw corn tortilla chips and carrot sticks. I am sure this would also be delightful over broccoli, mmmm! Enjoy!

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Raw Cheddar Cheeze Dip
Recipe adapted from Vibrant Living by James Levin & Natalie Cederquist

1 cup red bell pepper
3/4 cup cashews, soaked
1/2 cup water
3 tbs rolled oats
2 tbs nutritional yeast
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs tahini
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Add more water or oats until desired consistency is reached.

Luscious Peach Cobbler

I was loving all the gorgeous peaches that we picked yesterday so much that I decided to make a Raw Peach Cobbler. I know one of Michael’s favorite desserts is cobbler and I was so happy to make a raw version for us. We thought it tasted amazingly close to the original version! Either way it was so good!! This dish was also beyond fast to make and then to serve. The original recipe called for Pineapple in the glaze over the peaches, but instead I just used more peachy goodness.

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Luscious Peach Cobbler
Recipe adapted from Purely Delicious Magazine
Serves 6-8

Filling:
4 fresh organic peaches, with seeds removed

1/2 C fresh dates, pitted
2 fresh organic peaches, with seeds removed
2 T honey or agave nectar
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp. alcohol-free vanilla
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Topping:
1 C cashews
1/2 C pecans
1 T coconut butter
1/4 C dates, pitted
1/2 tsp. alcohol-free vanilla
pinch of sea salt

Preparation:
Slice peaches very thin and place them in a medium-sized bowl and set to one side. Process remaining filling ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour over peaches and gently toss to coat well. Place mixture in cobbler dish. To make the topping, place all topping ingredients in a food processor and blend until well-combined, with the nuts finely chopped. Sprinkle over peaches and enjoy!

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Raw Food Dinner Party part 3

Ahhh Dessert!! Even when I am so full I can always manage a bite or two! These were super yummy and plus this recipe gave us leftovers, which we love! The chocolate sauce could have been thicker to coat better, but I don’t think anyone would complain, it was deelish!

candy bar 3

Raw Chocolate Candy Bars

Recipe By Ashley Skabar, About.com Guide to Dairy Free Cooking Makes about 8-12 bars
Base
4 1/2 cups raw cashews, finely ground
6 T. agave nectar or maple syrup
1 T. cold water
1/4 t. sea salt

Caramel
3/4 cup raw tahini
3/4 cup maple syrup or agave nectar
1/8 t. sea salt

Chocolate Topping
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil or cold-pressed oil
1/4 cup cold water
1/8 t. salt

1. Line an 8″ x 8″ pan with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the finely ground cashews, agave or maple syrup, cold water and salt, stirring until the mixture is very thick and just holds together. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and place the pan in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

2. Make the “caramel.” In a small bowl, combine the tahini, syrup and salt, mixing until smooth. Spread the “caramel” over the cashew mixture and return the pan to the freezer for 1 hour more.

3. Make the chocolate topping. In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, syrup, oil, water and salt until smooth.

4. Line a plate or casserole dish with parchment paper. Remove the pan from the freezer, and, using a sharp knife, cut the mixture into bars. Dip each of the bars into the chocolate mixture, then place on the prepared plate or casserole dish. Pour any excess chocolate sauce over the bars, then return the plate or dish to the freezer for 1-2 hours more or until set. Serve from the freezer, and enjoy!

My note: I did not feel that the chocolate was thick enough, so next time I may leave out the water. I ended up basting the bars in order to keep coating them with the chocolate.

So that wraps up my Raw Food Dinner Party fun. It was such a blast! I cannot wait to do it again!!

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