A Carob & Orange Brownie Recipe

I woke up this morning and felt like eating some sort of walnut, carob, orange, superfood concoction..... like maybe a brownie.

This was a little unexpected for me at the moment because I haven't made any raw cakes and sweets for Pras and I since I started my 2012 juice feast on Jan 1st (I've only been making those ordered by my lovely customers ♥ )

What's a little strange is that even when I'm eating raw cakes I'm usually not one for orange flavours or walnuts but hey ho, if it's what my body's asking for then why not? Walnuts are actually my least favoured nut. I like almonds, cashews, pine nuts, macadamias, etc etc but walnuts are generally the last nut I'll choose. I think of food cravings as being the body's way of meeting our nutritional needs so I was curious about what I might be missing. I did a little googling to see what the nutritional profile of walnuts tells us. It seems that walnuts contain Vitamin E in the form of gamma-tocopherol. Gamma-tocopherol has been found to be beneficial for heart heath. There is a lot of nutrition close to the walnut skin (as is the case for a lot of fruits and vegetables too).  If you want to read more about these benefits have a look here.  Let's move on.....

So this morning I started messing about in the kitchen and a walnut-carob-orange-superfood brownie happened.  I haven't named them and to be honest, I probably won't make them again until I feel like walnuts next time!  But they are nice, very healthy and have a slightly crumbly texture. 

Please keep in mind I've made this once and that was today!  There is a bit of fiddling and adjusting the ingredients 'to taste' but I'm sure if you haven't made any raw treats before you'll figure it out.

 

1 c     walnuts

1/2 c  almond flour

1/2c   brazil nut flour

1/2c   coconut butter

1/4c   coconut sugar (or substitute a sweetener of your choice)

2T     carob 

2T     mesquite

1T     lacuma

1t      powdered orange peel

4T    Almond milk

2 drops orange essential oil

         reshi powder

         ashwaganda

All you need to do is break down the walnuts in the high speed blender or food processor untill they are smaller pieces.  Keeping some texture is important.  Put  the broken down walnuts in a bowl with the nut flours and other dry ingredients and thoroughy mix.  Add the orange essential oil and the almond milk, mix through.  Then stir in the melted coconut butter.  Press it into a pan and refrigerate until set.

I added reishi and ashwaganda to these today but you could add whatever superfoods you like or just leave them out if you don't have them.  As I'm not eating cacao at the moment I avoided using it as an ingredient but it would be really easy to turn these into a raw chocolate brownie.

The general advice given about eating essential oils is usually 'don't'.  As Pras and I are eating these and we're not bothered about consuming small amounts of essential oils, I included it.  If you don't like the idea, just leave it out and add extra air-dried and ground orange peel. 

These ones are a little thinner that I would suggest making them, if they are a little thicker they will slice better and probably won't crumble as easily.  Keep them in the refrigerator.

Banana & Brazil Superfood Smoothie

I haven't posted a drink recipe in a while so, here is a recipe for a superfood smoothie that we've been enjoying lately. It's a recent variation of our more regular hemp milk green smoothies incorporating some of my favourite superfoods ~ Maca, Reishi and Mesquite. 

You can use whatever type of nut milk you like but I find the flavour of the brazils give this smoothie a fuller flavour.  

Brazil Nuts are the richest natural source of selenium and a good source of vitamin E.  They also contain Palmitoleic acid and oleic acid which can help to lower 'bad cholesterol' levels and increase 'good cholesterol' levels.  

INGREDIENTS

3c Brazil milk

2 Bananas

2t Maca

2t Mesquite

1/2t Reishi Powder

THE HOW TO...

Make your brazil milk ~ 1c brazil nuts : 4c water

 Put all ingredients in blender with (strained) brazil milk and blend

If you have a sweet tooth, you may need to add a little extra sweetner of your choice.  The bananas add enough sweetness for me but are probably not enough for most people.

♥ Raw Faerie News ♥

The first Raw Faerie Newsletter is being sent our to our recent customers and enquirers.  If you would like to receive the Raw Faerie News, we'd be happy to send it to you if you opt in.

Newsletters will be sent out every month or so and we will never pass your details on to others.

Newsletter will include information about new Raw Faerie treats, updates on where you can buy Raw Faerie cakes, details for local raw food events and some simple raw recipes.

Strawberry & Cilantro Smoothie

Calling this a smoothie might be a little generous as it's somewhere in-between a juice and smoothie.  We enjoyed this atthe Raw Food Pot Luck at the Raw Faerie house this past weekend and there were a few requests for the recipe.

It a gorgeous drink to have with ice in the summer.  I like it made with cornish strawberries because  they are the sweetest and they are local too of course.  I really love the sweetness of the strawberries with the cilantro. 

This recipe will make just over a litre but you could easily halve the quantities.  It's best to make it just before you are going to drink it as if you allow it to sit too long before drinking, the cilantro can seperate out from the juice.  If it does seperate it is easy to stir the cilantro back through.

It's this easy;

Juice some organic apples to make one litre of juice (approximately 10 medium sized apples)
Pour the juice into the blender and add 12 medium size strawberries, 1/4c tighly packed cilantro.
Briefly blend or pulse.

I like this drink to have a little texture from the strawberries and cilantro but if you prefer a smoother drink you can blend the cilantro with the strawberries first and then add the aples juice and lime.

Blending fresh juice will cause it to oxidise faster so it's best to avoid blending the apple juice longer than is needed.

If your strawberries aren't very sweet then you may need to add something extra to sweeten, maybe a little agave, coconut palm sugar....

Apple & Fennel Juice with just a little zing

I made this juice this morning, just threw in what I happened to have in the refrigerator and came up with this lovely mix.  I often juice all of these fruit and veg but not usually in quite this combination. I absolutely LOVE it!  So I decided to share.

The ingredients you will need are: 

5 apples
1 fennel
2 celery sticks
just a little bit of carrot (1/4 or less!)
1/4 lime
chunk of ginger - to taste

Just put it all through your juicer.

I haven't suggest how much fresh ginger to add.  This is because I like a LOT of ginger and it's sometimes too much for others.  So start with a small chunk, taste and then add more if you want it.  x

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A quick and easy sweet greeeeen smoothie

Today I am drinking green smoothies!  Specifically, a green smoothie made with bananas, raspberries, apple and baby spinach.  All organic of course :)

I thought that given the glorious warmer weather we are being blessed with at the moment, that some of you might like to try this cold smoothie too.




Often when people first hear of green smoothies they think wow that sounds really strange, who would put greens in their smoothies?  I always tell them that....   Greens are the BEST ever!

I ♥  greens because they make me healthy.  

Green smoothies are actually totally amazing for your health.  A green smoothie everyday can make a huge difference to how you feel.  There is so much goodness in fresh raw organic greens and this is a really pleasant way to consume them.  Not everyone likes to eat salad everyday!

So here is the recipe for the geen smoothie I am drinking right now....

4 ripe bananas

1/2 punnet raspberries 

1 apple

three generous handfuls of baby spinach leaves

1-2 cups of water

Throw it all in the blender and once smooth, check the consistency. If it's a little too think for you just add a little more water.  It might be green but because spinach has such a neutral flavour you really can't taste it.

Sometimes I freeze some fresh raspberries for use in smoothies, as having the smoothies with that coldness adds something 'extra'.  Especially in summer.  You could try adding a few ice cubes before blending though.

Enjoy!





Wishing you all an amzing time in this beautiful weather we're having over the Easter break :)  xx

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Pear, Carrot & Ginger Smoothies

Here is a quick recipe for a smoothie I made today.  The ingredient quantities are approximate, especially the carrot juice :)

The ingredients you will need are: 

5 pears

2 apples

2 cups fresh carrot juice or a little less

chunk of fresh chopped ginger

2 handfuls baby spinach

squeeze of lemon juice

It's very easy, all you need to do is:


1. Juice your carrots.  I always reserve the pulp to use in recipes later

2. Put it all into the blender and blend till smooth.  I haven't given quantities for the ginger as it's better to add to taste. If you like a thicker smoothie you might want to be conservative and add your carrot juice just a little at a time  

xxx

A salad that almost everyone LOVES

This is a favourite salad of mine and I certainly did not create this recipe, but everytime I make this at least one person asks for the recipe and even more say how much they like it :)

I made this for a gathering of an amazing group of Doulas (birth support partners) yesterday and I am now receiving the follow up messages asking me about the recipe.  So I'm posting this link up for those who asked for the recipe but I'm sure there are other readers who mighy like to try it too.

This is a Raw Chef recipe and I just love it because the dressing is sweet and spicy and salty all in one go.  This recipe is raw with the exception of the Chipotle Chilli's (smoked chillis).  There is a variation provided in the recipe for if you would prefer to avoid the chillis, but I wouldn't dream of making it without them.

You can find the recipe here.

When I haven't been able to get any heads of organic kale I have substituted with bags of organic kale from the supermarket, you just need to pick out the hard stem pieces first. I often find that people raise an eyebrow at the thought of eating kale raw but as long as it's been prepared properly it is easy to digest.

One of my raw gourmet favourites

Mostly I thrive on fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, smoothies and juices.   But from time to time I like to make something that is raw and gourmet.  It might be a little more time consuming and take some extra planning, but I find that it's worth the effort if you're wanting to have something extra special!

I would find it dificult to eat raw gourmet everyday but I suspect it's the only way my husband could ever change over to high raw. He really loves raw foods that come out of the dehyrator and I'm guessing that's because they are warming.  Warm raw food served straight from the dehydrator and on to warm plates is an excellent way to get some raw but warming foods in the colder months.

Making gourmet raw food recipes is really rewarding.  I like making a more complicated and attractive looking meal that is completely raw.  But only from time to time.  That said, this recipe is almost as easy as raw gourmet gets.

I made this meal last week and it is from a recipe that is available free online from the raw chef (Russell James).  It is full of fresh herbs and almonds and has an Italian flavour. I like to serve it on sliced spinach and fresh raw vegetable pasta.  You can find the Raw Chef recipe here.

Strawberry Nutshakes

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This morning we had a raw-style milkshake for breakfast, there was just no 'milk' in it.  I thought I'd take some photos along the way and post them up along with telling you how to make this for yourself. 

The first reactions a lot of people have when they hear about raw food diets is that it must be very complicated or boring (do you live on salad?), socially isolating (where do you go to eat out?) and they feel that there would be a lot of sacrifices to be made.  There are several blog posts wating to be written based on that last sentence alone but that is not what I am here to write about now.  What I want to say now is that increasing raw foods in your diet can be as easy as adding a raw-style milkshake, it doesn't need to be complicated. Raw foods don't have to be all or nothing.  There is a lot of benefit in adding just a little extra raw food here and there where you can fit it in.  It all helps.

♥  A freshly blended Strawberry Nutshake ♥

This is one of my favourite drink recipes because I love strawberries.  It's really easy too.  Growing up I always loved milkshakes (especially strawberry) but never really liked the after taste of the milk so much.  The milk made me feel sluggish and looking back I now suspect I had a problem with lactose.  When I became vegan I would have a lot of soy milk, but it's now known that too much processed soy isn't good for you and soy milk is a highly processed food.  In the year leading up to my transition to a raw food lifestyle I discovered raw nut milks.  I was in heaven making raw shakes and smoothies with fresh, raw homemade almond milk.

♥♥♥ 

How to make Almond Milk
To make the almond milk you need to soak 1 cup of almonds overnight.  Just put it all into a container or a covered bowl in the refrigerator.  You need to allow lots of extra space in the container/bowl because as the almonds soak they will expand.

Soaking the almonds not only makes them easier to break down and blend but it also activates the enzymes in the nuts.

Yum!

In the morning strain the almonds, discarding all of the soak water and then rinse the almonds thoroughly under fresh running water.

Put the almonds into the blender along with three cups of water and blend till the almonds have broken down.  Now, using a nut-milk bag (or a piece of muslin cloth), strain the milk into a bowl, squeezing all of the fluid out of the nut pulp.   I reserve the nut pulp for making other recipes.  It can be frozen or dehydrated for use later.

The shelf life of almond milk is 1-2 days in the refrigerator so take care to only make what you need. Almond milk is also excellent on cereal if you're wanting to find a healthy milk substitute. 

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The Nut-Shake
To make the strawberry nutshake photographed here, return the nut milk to your blender (I suggest you rinse your blender first) and add 2-300g of fresh strawberries, 2 bananas and 1 Tablespoon of raw honey (optional) and blend till smooth.

A nut-shake has no syrups, dairy products or additives. No preservatives or E-numbers.  Just whole raw foods bursting with nutrients and vitamins.


As well as being a great breakfast drink, it's also really great to have it in the refrigerator for when the kids come home from school or to have as a mid-morning or afternoon snack.   

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