Raw Vegan Carrot Cake with a Hint of Apple

 You are going to love this!!

 Bethany and I served this raw vegan carrot cake at our dinner party yesterday.  Oh my gosh is it yummy!   I had some for breakfast this morning too haha :)  We made this carrot cake with a dinosaur blender that barely works, so if you have a food processor or high speed blender it will be much easier for you.  Regardless, it was still simple and fun to make!  This makes about 15 -20 servings. 

INGREDIENTS-Base
2 Cups of shredded carrots (we used a mandolin slicer)  Set the carrots aside for later!
1 medium sized apple peeled and shredded (we used the mandolin for this too)
2-2.5 Cups of Almond meal (you want the dough to be dense, moist, but not sticky)
1.5 cups of raw pitted dates soaked and drained
1 cup raw shredded coconut
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoon of nutmeg 
1 teaspoon of sea salt

Put all ingredients except carrots in a food processor or high speed blender.  Plan B:  you can also mash it up quite nicely and easily by hand if you don't have any fancy equipment :) We attempted to put the ingredients in our blender, at first, but it just growled at us.  haha.

Next, add in shredded carrot.

Next we used a 8inch by 10 inch plastic storage container...we wanted a pan but didn't have the right size.  But actually the plastic storage container had a lid on it so it ended up being the perfect choice since the base is going to go into the freezer anyways :)  We lined the plastic container with foil so it would be easy to lift out.  We spread the base inside, about one inch thick.  Put in freezer to set.





 While your base is in the freezer it is time to whip up some frosting :)  there is our fancy blender, using a fancy plate as our lid.












 



INGREDIENTS
 1.5 cups of raw almond meal
1/2 cup of water 
2/3 cup of raw coconut oil
 4 Tablespoons of liquid sweetener (agave syrup, maple syrup or honey*)
 2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract
Juice of a half lemon
1 teaspoon of sea salt

Blend all ingredients well!  We really wanted a creamy texture, so it was important to blend it for a long time!!  We let it blend for about 4 minutes.  We didn't want it to get hot though, so you might want to give it a minute or two break in the middle of the blending.  Keep checking it though, because all blenders are different.

Grab your base out of the freezer, smooth the cream on top of it, and marvel for a few minutes at the delicious dessert you have just created :))  Freeze for at least 1 hour, preferably 2.  Allow 30 minutes for it to thaw before eating.  ~ENJOY!~

*some people agree that honey is vegan while others say it is not

The wonders of coconut oil and lavender in hair!

I decided to try something new yesterday.  I was a bit skeptical (when I say skeptical I really mean concerned about oil in hair in general, my hair gets oily if I don't wash it at least every two days.  I thought it wouldn't be good for me to be ADDING oil in any capacity.. lol)  but Kasey insisted, she was really keen to see how it turned out for me.  She has been a fan of putting coconut oil in her hair for a while now, and she even made a youtube video about it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlh52ujMO6w

In our previous post, we talked about foraging and we were lucky to find some beautiful, aromatic lavender and we had no real idea what we were going to do with it.  We had about 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil left in the jar so it clicked, why not try adding the lavender?!  We heated the coconut oil until it was in liquid form and added about 2 teaspoons of lavender flowers.  It smelled amazing and I wasn't so skeptical about putting it in my hair then :)   I just focused on the ends and ran a brush through.  Then I put my hair in a loose bun and went about my day.  Simple as that!

I loved it, absolutely loved it.  Every step I took I could smell the soothing lavender and the yummy coconut, it was divine.

I ended up leaving it in for about 8 hours.  I imagine if you wanted, you could leave it for 1-2 hours just to try it.  I'm thinking since we mixed in the calming lavender, you could put this on your hair before bedtime for sweet dreams :)

We plan on trying to mix the oil with essential oils.  We have some peppermint oil and neroli oil.  Both of which I'm excited about trying!

Urban Herbin’ near Sydney :)

We were out and about and decided to do some urban foraging!  I (Kasey) go running a few times a day, and I always see wild edibles    Today we found mulberries, aloe, rosemary, lavender, oranges, lemons, limes, dandelion greens, and aloe.  The mulberries are going into a dessert.  The fresh rosemary is going to flavor some raw vegan crackers perhaps.  We already ate the orange lol.  The lime will be used in our tabouli.  We use lemon in our water and as flavoring in our dishes.  The aloe and dandelion greens can be transformed into a medicinal green smoothie!!  The lavender can be made into a tea or used in a bubble bath.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/safe-foraging-11-tips-precautions.html#comment-4966456

Three Dips and Italian Seasoned Chips (raw vegan)

We love having something healthy and convenient around when we feel like snacking    These chips and dips are perfect!  Hummus, Salsa, and Walnut Cilantro dip matched with our Italian Seasoned Chips are a yummy combo.  All of our dips are raw vegan.  Our chips can be made in the oven or dehydrator.  We are flexible.  Our dishes and methods change depending on what equipment and ingredients we have on hand.

Salsa (Probably more like a Pico de Gallo:)

Ingredients:

4-5 Roma Tomatoes (I prefer these but any tomato will do), chopped small

Handful or so of Coriander (Cilantro), chopped

1/4 Red Onion, chopped small

1/3 Jalepeno (This can be omitted, but we LOVE the spicy bite!)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Lime/Lemon juice, optional

This is so easy.  Just mix all of the chopped ingredients in a bowl.  I prefer this over any salsa I’ve ever eaten, in fact I could eat this every day and be a happy girl.  Enjoy in salads or with the buckwheat crackers below.

Walnut Cilantro Dip

The Walnut Cilantro dip works great as a salad dressing too!  This will make 4 cups

Ingredients:

1.5 cups walnuts

1 cup packed cilantro

1 orange

1/2 small zucchini

sea salt to taste

Blend until smooth and creamy... YUM!

Chickpea Hummus

I had some left over chickpeas so I decided to sprout them and make some delicious hummus!

Ingredients:

1.5 cups sprouted chickpeas/garbanzo beans

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 cup spring water or filtered water

4 cloves of garlic

2 Tablespoons of sunflower seeds

2 Tablespoons of tahini

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon of paprika, cumin and sea salt

Italian Seasoned Chips/Crackers/Croutons

(This recipe makes three full oven trays) Ingredients:

3 cups dry raw buckwheat (soak overnight).  You can choose to sprout for longer if you like.  We have two different sprouting jars.  We soak two cups in the larger one and one cup in the smaller jar.  Currently we have some pumpkin seeds soaking in the smaller jar 

Buckwheat can be hard to clear off all residue when you rinse, so I rinse it off three or four times.  When the water runs clear we know it’s good to go!

1 cup of flax seed.  It doesn’t matter to me too much if we use whole seeds or ground seeds, but we have read many times that ground flax is best to use because our bodies can digest the nutrients easier.

The rest of the ingredients are going to go straight into the blender:

10 grapes

1/2 lemon

2 Roma Tomatoes

1 cup of packed fresh basil

1/2 cup fresh rosemary

1 cup packed fresh oregano

1 TBS dried Marjoram, Sage, Parsley, Thyme

4 cloves of garlic (We LOVE garlic, so we sometimes use up to 8 cloves lol)

1/4 cup onion

1 celery stick

Sea salt to taste

Blend everything except for the sprouted buckwheat and flax.  Once you get a nice mixture going, add in the buckwheat.  We usually pour in half and then blend, and then pour in the last of the buckwheat and blend.  Your mixture should be very thick at this point.  Taste it and add any seasoning if you like.  Once everything is blended in, pour in a big mixing bowl and stir in flax.  I find it is easier doing it this way than putting the flax in the blender.  We are using a very old blender though.  Lol it doesn’t even have a lid.  So it might be easier for you to blend in the flax together with the rest in the blender, but it is easier for us to stir it in by hand in a mixing bowl.  After it is all mixed together spread it onto dehydrator trays and set the temp at 115 degrees Fahrenheit and be prepared for it to take 12 to 20 hours, depending on how thick it is.

We have been using our oven since we don’t have a dehydrator at the moment.  We set the temp at the lowest setting, (100 degrees Celsius–metric system since we are in Australia:) and after about one hour we flip them over.  I cut them in half and place the middle part of the chips on the outside so the chips heat evenly.  I then set the timer for another hour and check frequently.  When the chips are light in color and crispy I remove them and place them in an air tight container.  I also like to freeze half of them.  These chips are great as croutons too!  Enjoy!

Simple & Healthy Raw Vegan Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

This is all about technique and texture.  It is very simple to create a healthy chocolatey ice cream dessert!  We like to use the highest quality organic ingredients possible, for our health and the planet’s   

First, freeze two freckled (very ripe) bananas over night in a freezer bag or container.  When you are ready to eat some yummy dessert, let the bananas thaw for 30 minutes.  We usually just keep the bananas in the freezer bag and place somewhere safe on the kitchen counter. 

Ingredients:

2 mushy post-frozen bananas

1/2 cup raw cacao or cocoa

Optional ingredients:  pinch of sea salt, cinnamon, coconut flakes, vanilla extract, almond butter, cacao nibs (if you want a chocolate chip crunch), nutmeg…you could try any of these!

Mash all ingredients together in a medium bowl until creamy!  Enjoy  

Raw Vegan Chocolate Caramels

These are simple, quick, delicious and so pretty! Wow they are so yum. My sister and I made them before a dinner party and everyone was asking for more!

1. Whip up a batch of raw vegan chocolate with cinnamon and sea salt–recipe here:http://yummyvegancreations.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/quick-and-easy-raw-vegan-chocolate-with-sea-salt-and-cinnamon/

Allow the chocolate to set in molds in the freezer. My sister and I used cupcake molds. We poured the chocolate in about 1/2 inch tall. You could also cut the chocolate into squares or other method.

Now it is time to make the caramel while the chocolate is chilling in the freezer 

This batch of caramel will make about 12 desserts.

Ingredients (we use raw and organic when possible):
3 Tablespoons of liquid sweetener (maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey*)
2 Tablespoons of raw almond butter or peanut butter (I think peanut butter tastes better)
1/3 teaspoon of sea salt
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin coconut oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 cup of pitted dates

Chop up dates and place aside. Place all ingredients except for the dates in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Take your chocolate out of the freezer and pour caramel topping on each chocolate. After pouring on caramel topping we placed three or so pieces of the chopped up dates on top of each chocolate caramels. Put them in the fridge until you are ready to serve! Enjoy!

 *some people agree that honey is vegan while others say it is not

Vegan Chickpea and Vegetable Curry

It’s getting colder in Sydney and when that happens we all love something warm and filling to eat. This curry fits the bill and is YUMMY. Plus, it’s vegan! (We try to stick to raw ingredients but for this we made an exception.) We used macadamia nut oil because after doing research we decided this is the safest and healthiest oil to cook with, along with coconut oil.

Vegan Chickpea Curry

2 Tablespoons macadamia nut oil or coconut oil
1 Onion, minced
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
2 Teaspoons ground ginger
6 Whole cloves
2 Teaspoons of cinnamon
2 Teaspoons ground coriander
1 Teaspoon EACH of cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper
2 cups of dry garbanzo beans, soaked overnight
Handful of fresh coriander
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the onion on medium heat in the oil until tender, stir constantly. We mixed all of the spices together beforehand in a separate dish, then threw all of the them in with the cooking onion until it was aromatic. Turn down the heat and stir in the chickpeas along with a cup of water. It’s really important to taste and taste, you can always add more flavor as you go. Let the curry simmer for about 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh coriander to serve.

Vegan Mixed Vegetable

1 tablespoon macadamia nut oil
1 large brown onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons curry powder
3 teaspoons ground cumin
5 Roma tomatoes
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 potatoes (or sweet potato), peeled, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled, chopped
1 bag frozen cauliflower and broccoli
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the onion on medium heat in the oil until tender, stir constantly. Add all of the spices and garlic while the onion is cooking until aromatic. Blend the tomatoes in a blender and add to the onion and spices. Then, put in the lemon juice, potatoes and carrot and let it simmer on a low heat for about 45 minutes. When the carrots and potatoes are tender, put in the cauliflower and broccoli and let simmer for about 15 minutes more. Keep tasting as it cooks and add salt and pepper as you’d like 

Yummy winter curry to warm up with