Raw Chocolate Mousse

Raw, Creamy, Chocolate Mousse made without sugar, butter or milk.

Can you guess what this is?  Even while eating it, if I didn’t know, I could never guess.  I promise you can fool even the kids with this healthy dessert.

Raw Chocolate Mousse topped with Cashew Nut Cream sweetened with Date Paste

2 Ripe Avocados  (Slice, Peel, take the pit out and put in a blender)

add

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 T. coconut oil if desired

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup raw honey or agave or other trusted sweetener

dash of salt

Blend around in the blender till nice and smooth, if you have trouble with it being too thick, just add a bit more coconut milk. It will be like pudding and when you put in fridge it will set up nice and firm.

Bill and I talked about how you could also ice a cake with this or put in the middle of a two layer cake.

We like to do a few wonderful things to our pudding, because if you know me at all, you know that I absolutely cannot go by the recipe without making alterations and additions! 🙂

But, the pudding is just as wonderful on its own.

I like to slice up bananas on top then put a large dollop of Cashew Nut Cream on top of that and then sprinkle some pecans and drizzle some raw honey as a carmel sauce on top of all that.  And you have an amazing dessert.

Cashew Nut Cream

Soak 1 cup cashews in water, just to cover, at least 3 hours or overnight in the fridge.  They will swell up and absorb most of the water.

drain the water off and save it just in case you nee do add to your cream, I usually end up putting in a little to blend.

blend in blender till turns into a paste.  add some of the water and whirl around till it looks like cream.

Now you could use this as is, to make some salad dressings or other things which call for cream.

but I like to sweeten mine and use for whipped cream topping.  Yummy.

I sweeten mine with one or two T. of date paste.

Date Paste

Soak Dates overnight in water and the next day remove the pits and blend together to make a smooth paste.  Store in fridge and use to sweeten any dessert, smoothie, pudding or cook with it.  It is very concentrated and sweet so you don’t have to use much.  I love this flavor even better than honey.  It is a nice reminder of brown sugar and vanilla.

Ratatouille – The French Stew

French Ratatouille

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants (If you don’t have eggplant, no worries, you can substitute more squash. I like to use yellow squash)

6-8 medium zucchini  (or more if you are not using eggplant)

2 purple  onions sliced or chopped
3  red sweet peppers sliced or chopped

4 large tomatoes  (select the roma or beefsteak variety if possible. If you let ripen on your window seal till it is dark red, your stew will be even more amazing.)

1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic or more if you like it spicy!
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh basil

1 T. Herbes de Provence 

dash of cayenne pepper flakes or ground

Spices to taste:

Salt and pepper, Cajun spices, Soy sauce, red wine or stock and a bit of sugar or honey.

Prepare the eggplant.  cut in cubes and soak in salt water to remove bitterness.  I also like to soak my zucchini as well.

saute oil and garlic in wok

stir fry onions till clear. add eggplant and squash and peppers.

Stir Fry with lid on to force the eggplant and squash to soften.  Stir frequently.

add herbs, spices and tomatoes add a little water or canned tomatoes if you like

Place in dutch oven and simmer for at least 30 min. or up to one hour on low heat or put in crock pot for several hours on low.

Crock pot meals are great because you can fix up a bunch in the morning and come back in the evening and you have your meal all hot and ready for you.

This can also be made ahead of time and reheated.

Serve with brown rice.

Time to Detox

After the holidays and after I have eaten more than I had planned, I thought it was a good idea to go on a detox soup.

I found one at glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com – here and I set to make this delicious soup.  As usual, I did not have all the ingredients so I made up my own version and added a few extra spices.

So here’s my version.  We loved it and I ate it 4 times in a row. Felt great after, but not sure how much detoxing I did.

Happy detoxing!

 

Harvest Veggie Detox Soup

1 T. olive oil

4 cloves garlic pressed

1/4 to 1/2 t. ginger powder

2 t. curry powder

1 t. tumeric

1/2 t. cayenne pepper powder

1 onion chopped

3 carrots peeled and chopped

1 cup fresh zucchini cut up in small chunks

1 apple peeled and diced

1 cup pumpkin – fresh (you could use sweet potato or butternut squash if you don’t have pumpkin)

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 qt. water

1 cup tomato paste

1 1/2 cups chick peas soaked already

salt, cajun spice, 2 vegetable bouillon cubes, italian seasonings, Jo Jo Potato seasoning– all to taste

cook in crock pot until everything is tender. pay special attention to the chick peas.

Add 14 oz coconut milk and 1 t. raw honey

and blend in blender a little at a time.

You can garnish with lime slice and cilantro.

I creamed only as I ate the soup. I just added the coconut milk in the soup just before blending and then I could save the soup in the fridge for later, at which time I heated and then creamed the soup.

Perfect for several meals.

If you are doing on stove top, just cook covered on low until all the vegetables are tender. (about 30 min.) In this case I would use canned or cooked chick peas.

 

The Anatomy of a Smoothie

 

 

 

 

Smoothies are great for breakfast, snacks, detoxing, and meal substitutes.

There are several components which must be united in order to make a smoothie, but once you have each component, you can practically put in anything…practically.  I have had the experience of being asked by a college student doing a “liquid” fast as to whether or not I thought they could put steak in the blender.

So…

Not anything.  But you could definitely use your creativity for this one.

1.  Liquid 

There has to be some sort of liquid otherwise your other ingredients would just stick to the bottom of the blender and not really blend up all the way.

Now if you have a vitamix blender, well then you can just put in fruit and whip away and it will work. But for most of us who own the ordinary blenders, you must use at least some liquid.  1/2 to 1 cup.

This could include:

any kind of juice, let’s expand the horizons here.  How about carrot juice or a mixture of another veggie juice.  Don’t just think merely fruit juices.  But for the fruit juices, I like cranberry, orange, or pineapple, if I don’t have fresh- I will get to that.

or water, coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk, yogurt

2. Protein

It is good to have some sort of protein, especially if you are going to use as a substitute for a meal.

Protein ideas include Pasteurized eggs, green powder, raw protein powder, Spirulina, Wheat or Barley grass,

seeds – like sesame, basil, chia, or flax – or nuts – almond and cashew are some of my favorites, tofu or peanut butter etc…

(Note about nuts and seeds.  If you grind them first, the smoothie will be smooth. Otherwise you may have to call it a “Chunky”)

3. Fruit or Veggies  frozen or fresh

I almost always put in a frozen banana or two.  This eliminates the need for a sweetener.

pineapple frozen is great with coconut milk! frozen blueberries, strawberries

fresh pineapple, mango, apple, orange are just for starters.  You will want to take out the seeds and peel the fruit first!

For veggies, I  like fresh or frozen spinach, kale, pumpkin, butternut squash

4. Sweetener

frozen bananas, honey, or any other sweetener you like

5. Vanilla or other flavorings and spices

If I am doing a vanilla or egg nog sort of shake I will sometimes put in nutmeg

If doing pumpkin or butternut squash, I put in pumpkin pie spice

carob, cocoa

6. Ice

If you have at least one thing that is frozen, you won’t need ice, however, if you want it to be icy you can add 2-4 cubes of ice to the mixture.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Enjoy your smoothies with a friend or loved one.  There is always enough to share.

Cajun Chicken Soup

In the cold weather, you can’t beat Chicken Soup. I made this video for my newly married daughter last year when we were staying in America for a few months and I just found it today. I thought I would post as it is probably cold in the USA since it is December already. What a good soup to make for a decorating the tree night. I like to eat with garlic toast or brown rice.

 

 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake

Ok, hold on to your seats, I never thought I would say this, but this is a bigger hit than pumpkin pie.

It was requested a second time for our celebration.

If you make three batches, it could serve 35-40 people

Warning:  cut slices small, it is very rich!

1 yellow cake mix

1 egg

8 T melted butter

mix together with electric mixer and pat in a greased dish, I used a cake pan 9X11

make filling:

1- 8 oz. cream cheese -softened to room temp.

1 15 oz can pumpkin or 1 1/2 cups of cooked mashed pumpkin (which is of course what I use)

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

8 T butter melted

1 16 oz box powdered sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

1/2 t ginger if desired

mix well with electric mixer till smooth.

pour over crust

oven 350 degrees

bake 40 to 50 min. check after 35. if it is getting too brown lower heat a tiny bit or put some foil loosely on top.

The center will be a little gooey but that is ok.

let pan cool completely before cutting.  I make day before and put in fridge. Then before serving, I slather a couple cups of fresh whipped cream over the top and cut.  or you could sprinkle with powdered sugar if you wanted.

Whipped cream

prepare bowl and beaters by placing in the freezer to be very cold

2 c. fresh whipping cream

3 T. icing sugar

1 t. vanilla flavoring

whip till peaks form.  place in container and put in fridge right away.

spread on cake just before serving

🙂

 

 

 

Rice Stuffing

Some people would rather have rice than bread stuffings.  I did this a few times and really liked it.

1 1/2 cups wild rice blend or brown rice

1 onion sliced thin

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

1 large clove garlic pressed

3 T. olive oil

4 cups chicken or veggie stock

1 c. green onions

1 c. fresh cranberries, you could use dried if you wanted as well.

1/2 c. toasted almonds

Heat oil and add garlic and onions, add spices,  cook till clear add rice and stock.  and cranberries.  Cook till water is evaporated and rice is just done, be careful not to over cook.  Add green onions and almonds.  toss.

Serve with roasted turkey, duck, quail, or chicken

 

 

Spicy, Cheesy, Cornbread

 

 

In the southern United States, people love to eat cornbread with beans and rice, bean soup, chili, and other things.

When my mom was a kid, she crumbled up her cornbread in her buttermilk and ate it like cereal.

Thank you to the American Indians who first introduced this wonderful bread to us.

2 Cups Cornmeal- in Thailand, cornmeal is hard to find so I use polenta mix or have made my own from fresh pop corn, ground in the blender with the grinder attachment.  (she must really like her cornbread!)

1/4 cup whole wheat flour or gluten free mix

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1 1/3 cup milk

one small can cream corn

1/4 cup cheddar or jack cheese or any combo of cheese, (shredded)  I use my blender to shred cheese.

1/4 cup chilies in a can or roast your own and scrape from the peeling once it is cool.

1 T. raw sugar or honey

dash salt

sprinkle of black pepper

heat oil in skillet in a 425F degree oven and pour in batter once it is hot.  It will sizzle so be careful.

bake at 425 for 25 min. or until it starts to pull away from the sides and the center is firm.  You can test with a toothpick if desired.

 

 

 

 

 

Image via~http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Zankopedia

Black Bean Soup

For a really quick soup:

1 can black beans or two cups of cooked  black beans I usually use dried beans, soak overnight, rinse in the morning and cover with new water. place in crockpot on low or high till beans are tender.  usually all day.

1cup salsa

heat and serve

Garnishes and additions:

handsome dollop of greek yogurt or sour cream

grated Pepper Jack Cheese

Blue corn chips or brown rice

eat with avocado salad

Black Bean Burgers

This is the recipe I fall back on again and again.  I make up a batch and freeze for later. When my family is having beef burgers, but I feel like eating vegan, I can pull one out and have a burger with everyone else.

2 cups black beans cooked drained and mashed be sure your beans are fairly dry or you will need more bread crumbs
Carrot processed into pulp
add 1/2 onion and 1/2 red pepper (sweet)  chop in processor
add 4 pieces of whole wheat toast  I toast my bread first.

process in food processor.

add 1/4 corriander leaves
1/2 cup cherry or tart tomatoes or use half cup drained salsa

process in food processor, put into bowl.

add spices:
1 tsp. cumin ground
1 tsp. cajun spice
powered chili pepper to taste
salt and pepper added to taste

Oil your cookie sheet with olive oil.
Make bean mixture into burger size patties

bake for 30 min. in a 350 oven.

After baking you can let cool and wrap individually and freeze.

When you want a bean burger let one thaw a few minutes on an oiled cookie sheet and then bake about 20 till dry and browned.  Or you can throw it on the grill or fry in a little oil in a thick frying pan on top of the stove. (very low heat)

Whole wheat hamburger buns

Optional dressings:

Mayo, mustard, ketchup,

Salsa

avocado slices

sprouts

lettuce, tomato, onion