Chai Spiced Pecans and Almonds (Raw, Vegan, Gluten-free)

I usually do not care for pecans, but if they are sweet, I love them. I completely understand pecan pie now - pecans on their own do nothing for me, but coat them in sugar and they are quite tasty. I made these for a playdate recently where the adults and the children ate them and really enjoyed them. These are sweet, spicy and salty and may make it into regular rotation for snacks in our home.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pitted dates plus 1/4 cup water for soaking (reserved)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp chai tea

1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your taste for heat)

2 1/2 cups of nuts (I used about 2 cups of pecans and 1/2 cup almonds)

Directions:

1. Soak 1/4 cup of dates in 1/4 cup of water for about 20 minutes.
2. Place dates, reserved soaking liquid, salt, chai tea, and pepper in a highspeed blender and blend for 15 seconds until the mix is completely liquid and looks like a syrup.
3. Place nuts in a medium mixing bowl, pour syrup over them and mix to coat each nut.
4. Let sit for a few minutes and retoss - pecans seem to loose their syrup after the first mix.
5. Either eat and enjoy immediately, or you dehydrate until dry and sticky - about 8 hours at 105 degrees.
6. Keep dehydrated nuts for about 5 days in the refrigerator.

Raw Chocolate Kale Chips

The picture does not give these justice. I have tried 2 different chocolate sauces, and ultimately the one I like the best is a simple mix of dates, cacao and coconut oil. These were super saucy and the sauce that ran off the kale and onto the teflex sheets tasted like a raw Tootsie Roll (or what my memory of tootsie rolls taste like).

Ingredients:

1 large bunch kale, any type will do but I prefer the curly leaf stuff for chips - I just like the texture

1 cup dates, pitted

1/4 cup raw unrefined coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup cacao powder (or reg cocoa but then it wouldn't be a raw recipe)

3/4 to 1 cup of warm purified water - 3/4 is still sort of thick, 1 C makes a runnier ganache

1. Wash and destem the kale. Tear into bite size pieces and let dry (or spin in a salad spinner)
2. Set kale aside in a large bowl
3. Blend remaining ingredients in a highspeed blender until well incorporated. You may want to taste at this point - if you prefer sweet sauces, you can add a few more dates, or a little agave.
4. Pour about 1 1/2 cups of sauce over kale - you will likely have some leftover sauce that is wonderful as a topping on any dessert (raw or otherwise).
5. Massage the sauce into the kale. The kale should be coated but not overly wet with dressing.
6. Place a teflex sheet on your dehydrator tray and lay kale on one layer. Depending on how much kale you have in your bunch, this should fill 2 teflex sheets.
7. Dehydrate at 105 F for about 8 hours. They will likely still be soft. Take off the teflex sheets and place directly on the mesh liner. Dehydrate another 4 - 8 hours until crispy.

Raw Spaghetti with Marinara

It is summer time and a great time of year for raw food in our home. We all love spaghetti but I really have not found a pasta that I find to be healthful. Behold a spiralizer and zucchini!

In the past when I have made raw marinara, the sauce comes out very muddy looking from all the fresh herbs. This sauce came out very orange and was very tasty!

Ingredients:

Noodles:

2 large, long and straight zucchini

pinch of salt

1. Wash and dry your zucchini. If they are conventional, I would also peel them, but if they are organic, eat the peel! Leave on the ends
2. Center your zucchini on the spiralizer. I get best results if I put the blossom end into the cutting end, and the opposite end into the prongs. The straighter your zucchini, the easier it is to spiralize the entire zucchini without having to readjust.
3. Take your pile of angel hair zucchini and place in a colander. Toss with a pinch of salt and let sit in the colander. This will help release some of the water so your final product will not be watery.

Sauce:

2 ripe tomatoes

6 sun dried tomatoes, soaked for an hour

1 small onion

2 small sweet peppers (I chose red to help with the color)

1 date (optional)

2 TBLS cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Place all of your marinara ingredients and blend until smooth. If you prefer a chunky sauce, then blend in pulses until you get the texture you like.
2. Transfer the zucchini to a large pasta bowl, pour the sauce over the top and toss.

This was definitely a kid friendly recipe in our home and my youngest ate an entire bowl, plus ate the 1/4 cup or so of left over sauce as soup.

Raw Black Sesame Sunflower Bread

This is a staple in our home that all of us enjoy as either crackers or sometimes less dehydrated and left as a pliable bread. Why black sesame seeds - well, the contrast is pretty, and black sesame is a nutritious food that is already known to contain lecithin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and iron. Chinese wisdom mentions sesame to strengthen energy, and muscle growth, as well as maintaining soft skin. Chinese medicine also uses black sesame (hei zhi ma) to maintain kidney and liver function.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c ground flaxseed

1/3 c flax seed whole

½ t sea salt

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T onion, minced

1-1/3 c water

2/3 c sunflower seeds

¼ c black sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

In large bowl mix ground flax, whole flax seeds, salt, garlic, onion & water. Mix well.

Add sunflower & sesame seeds. Mix well.

Spread on 1 telfex tray smooth out into an even square., Dry at 105 degrees for 4 hours

Flip & score bread into 9 slices

Dehydrate another hour for softer bread (to use for a sandwich roll) Stores for up to 3 days in the refrigerator

or dehydrate another 3 - 6 hours for crispy crackers. Stores 1-2 months refrigerated.

Raw Chocolate Fudge (Gluten-Free, Anti-Candida)

We have started an anti-candida diet in our home and I am craving chocolate and sweets. I know that means my body just wants to feed the yeast, but I needed something to help me through this healing time from candida overgrowth. Messing around in the kitchen tonight, I think I found something that helps cover just enough sweetness and a lot of chocolate cravings for me. My 4 year old loved this and while we still have 3/4 of the pan left, he is already asking if we can finish it and just make more.

The ingredients here are listed by parts so that you can adjust the ratio as you need based on how much coconut meat you yield.

Ingredients:

2 parts raw cacao butter

2 parts fresh coconut meat (young or mature coconut works)

2 parts coconut oil

2 parts cashew butter

1 part raw honey (used for anti-fungal properties and to sweeten - use more or less to your taste)

1/2 part raw cacao powder (or carob)

1/8 part cinnamon

1/8 part vanilla extract or portion of vanilla bean

pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. Measure approximately 2.5 - 3 parts raw cacao butter in a small bowl. Place over another bowl filled with hot water to make a double "boiler." Stir as the butter starts to melt. Start this before anything else because it takes some time to melt cacao butter.
2. Open and remove all the meat from the coconut. Reserve the water for your morning smoothie!
3. Add all ingredients to food processor fitted with an "S" blade and blend until creamy. Add more cacao for richer taste, but the more cacao, sometimes the more bitter the taste.
4. Pour into a glass baking dish and refrigerate for 4 - 6 hours or overnight.
5. Cut into squares and serve chilled.

Raw Blueberry Cheesecake (vegan, gluten-free)

Raw Blueberry Cheesecake

Crust:

2 cups pecans

1 cup dates

a pinch of salt

Cheesecake filling:

3 cups macadamia nuts, soaked overnight

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup agave nectar

3/4 cup coconut oil

1 vanilla bean, insides scraped (or 1 teaspoon vanilla)

2 tsp probiotic powder (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

14 oz blueberries

1. If your coconut oil is solid, place a little over 3/4 cup of coconut oil into a glass measuring cup or, bowl. Melt the coconut oil in a large bowl or sink filled with a few inches of, very warm water, making sure the water does not reach over the top of the cup or, bowl holding the coconut oil. Stir every couple of minutes while you make the, crust, and it will melt faster. If your oil is already liquid, then just measure the 3/4 cup
2. Place all "Crust" ingredients into a food processor fitted with the "S" blade and process until fine.
3. Press crust mixture firmly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. (I used a pie pan because I cannot find my springform and had leftover of the filling)
4. Check your coconut oil measurement once it's all melted. It should be 3/4 cup, when melted.
5. Put all Cheesecake filling ingredients into a high-speed blender or process in a food processor in batches until smooth.
6. Adjust lemon juice and agave nectar to taste.
7. Pour mixture onto crust. Tap the pan on your bench/countertop a few times to remove any air bubbles.
8. Put the cheesecake in the freezer until firm for at least 3 hours but, preferably overnight.
9. Transfer the cheesecake to the fridge about 2 hours before serving.

Make Your Own Toothpaste

Most toothpastes, even the ones found in natural food stores, are filled with ingredients that really do not need to be there, including toxic chemical, parabens, and petroleum by-products. When Tom's of Maine was purchased by Colgate-Palmolive several years ago, I started making my own tooth powder. Now I add glycerin to it and it is toothpaste.

This recipe takes minutes to make and I make a little cup of it for each of us. Because there are no preservatives in it, I only make about a month's batch at a time. I use arrowroot because it is less abrasive than baking soda or salt on our gums. I also like mint in my toothpaste but any flavored extract could be used here or none at all.

Ingredients:

3 Tbls Baking Soda

1 Tbls Arrowroot

1 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 tsp Peppermint Oil (food grade)

3 Tbls Vegetable Glycerin (may take a little more)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until lump free. You can put the final product in a squeeze tube or a small cup. Too keep it sanitary, I typically use either one container per person in the family, or the squeeze tube.

This makes almost 1/2 cup and depending on how much and how often you use it, should last at least 1 - 3 months.

To make whitening toothpaste, add 1/2 Tbls ground sage.