Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

I am getting back into dreaming of recipe ideas. It used to be my main source of creativity for my blog, but after writing Rawsome Vegan Baking my mind for thinking up raw vegan sweets was basically run dry temporarily. Now I am fortunately returning to the familiar groove that is imagining new recipes as I am falling into dreamland, or just waking from it. I have also been perfecting a super healthy, super easy curry recipe for ya'll. Stay tuned. 

These bars are gooey, sweet, and comfortable. Maybe you think comfortable is a weird adjective for food, but I think it's appropriate. Of course this recipe is reminiscent of PB&J (aka the stuff of childhood), so the flavour combo brings back memories for me of being young and not having a substantial care in the world. Comfort. I will be the first to admit these bars can get messy. So have a napkin handy... or #yolo it and proudly wear bits of jam and chocolate on your face for the remainder of the day, I won't judge. Isn't getting a bit dirty part of life, anyway? 

I've been focusing lately on remembering to live in the moment and 'be here now' as my wrist tattoo dictates. I get so caught up in all of the responsibilities I have to myself and others, and the seemingly endless lists of tasks I need to complete at any given time. It's like I am attempting to be perfect - i.e. clean and not dirty - because I believe that is the only standard I can hold myself to, otherwise I'll let myself down along with everyone else who I think is counting on me. Then I inevitably remember that NO ONE is perfect, and I am only human; a human with many faults. This gives me a lot of comfort, re-realizing I can let myself get dirty. I breathe a deep sigh of relief and then allow my mind and body to take a break, chill out, then eventually get back to work. I do love what I am always so busy doing - studying history at university, maintaining my blog, writing cookbooks, spending time with loved ones, exercising, making and eating delicious healthy food, and communicating - A LOT - with you guys. My life is a blessing! I do not subscribe to any organized religions but I AM constantly thankful for the gift of life I have been given by whatever forces rule our world and universe. It seems pretty miraculous to be alive and be aware of such a reality. I struggle with myself a lot, mentally, spiritually and emotionally, about the nature of being human - especially in this age of modernity - but I can usually calm myself down with the fact that no matter what this crazy cosmos means or doesn't mean, I am fortunate enough to have a healthy body, an intelligent, self-aware mind, a very comfortable lifestyle, and be surrounded by people with whom I share mutual love. I am keenly conscious of the fact that most of the global population doesn't get to enjoy some if any of those luxuries; this just makes me more grateful, and eager for the worldwide standards of living and human rights to balance out. I imagine us to be living in an awakening era, caught between the industrial revolution and the future of environmentalism and more responsible human agency, and sometimes it saddens me to know I won't be here to see our society finally bloom into the more compassionate, ethical, open-minded, earth-conscious community I believe we will become. However, it gives me great comfort merely believing in this future. 

At the end of the day, even though I let myself get stressed out over school, my blog, my books, my relationships, myself, existentialism, and the exhaustive list of world problems... I am always able to remind myself that to face these challenges successfully I need to be happy, not anxious or upset. Knowing this reminds me I don't have to be perfect. It reminds me I am just one person, trying to make sense of this ridiculous, amazing, strange thing we call life. It reminds me it's okay to get dirty, because that is part of life. 

Now let's eat.

I got an email from a reader a couple (?) weeks ago, in which they asked me to recreate a raw treat served at their local cafe. This treat was a "delicious choc mint slice cake" and it looks like this. Oh and apparently some of the ingredients are green powders. That is what I had to go on. Into the kitchen I went! Ended up with these bad boys and BOY, ARE THEY BAD (in a good way).

Back to food. I won't lie; I made these a couple days ago and since I never write down my recipes, the precise amounts of ingredients are now slightly foggy in my confusingly and consistently fluid mind. This means your recipe may not turn out EXACTLY as what you see in these photos, but that's cool, right!? Life is about variety. Try making the recipe and adjusting it to your liking. I mean, you should always do this but you know... just sayin'. If it turns out horribly, please tell me - because maybe I forgot to write an ingredient down. 

Well, since there's nothing left to discuss concerning the recipe, I am going to rant a little about my personal life right now, because I'm feeling kinda low. Maybe it's just the change of seasons (hello, Autumn); maybe I'm getting bored with my day-to-day routine; or maybe, subconsciously, I don't WANT to be happy all the time! In any case, I'm glum as a chum. What's a chum. Irrelevant. 

I'm having a lot of mixed emotions involving past and current lovers, what they mean to me, and how they make me feel and think (compared to how I would on my own). You have to understand that I'm an independent person. I have always valued time by myself and often cancel or avoid plans with friends so I can have MORE time alone. It's not that I don't like my friends, I simply am most comfortable when left by myself, in my own head space. I have trouble - more so lately - expressing myself to others successfully and this usually makes me just want to give up communicating. Fortunately there's a few people in my life who understand this, and we can spend time together not saying a word. As recently acknowledged with a newly intimate partner, you don't have to talk to have beautiful conversations with another person. 

Having said that, I still feel that no one really gets me, but me. Thus I prefer to be left alone because that is where I am most comfortable. And yet I find myself missing certain people from my past. Are they thinking about me? Do they still love me? Do they still hate me? Do they think I am a terrible or beautiful person? Regardless, I can't be with them anymore... we had too much passion for two people. They knew me as much as any person possibly could but ultimately they didn't like what they saw, and neither did I. 

Talk about "fate"; this person literally just called me as I was typing that last sentence. Apparently they do love me, but we will "never be speaking again". Now I am almost in tears. Too much emotion for one person. 

With all that going on (and now being done with, apparently...), I have also struck up a new flame. Whether it's a rebound or not, I do not know. But either way it's nothing serious, and mostly for pure and simple fun. It's very pleasant having a partner you can be candid and affectionate with. I think we can all benefit from being completely naked with someone (literally and/or figuratively). It's therapeutic and can be healing if you allow it. But now I am polarized: I am starting to care about this person in a serious way so I want to spend more time with them while at the same time, I am wanting to cut things off because of the same reason. 

Here is where we return to my need for independence. I believe I shouldn't have to depend on any external substance to be happy, and that includes people. When I begin getting very close with a romantic partner, I find that I quickly become "addicted" to them; I want to spend all my time with them, give them everything I can, and simultaneously throw all my other responsibilities out the window. Obviously this is not healthy, so I don't want it to be this way. Perhaps this is a reason I love being alone: it stamps out any chance of me becoming dependent on another person. Ah, who knows. Not I. So I am left unsure of what to do about this new individual, my heart and brain being pulled in opposing directions; while I am still recovering from a very trying, emotionally-charged and painful relationship with another that is now "officially" over. 

I suppose that wasn't a conclusive story at all... but that's fitting, since my thoughts and decisions on these situations and relationships aren't conclusive either. I'm in the dark midst of figuring out what to do and think and how to feel about all this. 

No matter, here's a healthy recipe for you guys. Thank you for always being here for me and giving me your love and support. It's very helpful for me to write out my thoughts and I hope they are in someway useful to you; whether you can relate, contrast, or simply sympathize. You're my rock! 

I am very happy to be sharing this recipe with you today not just because it's ridiculously good-tasting (that was a bad Zoolander reference) but also because I haven't been sharing many recipes with you at ALL lately. As I'm sure you know, it's because I am busy busy busy working on my book. I promise it will be finished soon and I'll be back here giving you raw vegan recipes out the whazoo.

What. Is. A whazoo. 

A reader recommended I try making raw lemon bars, so here you are! They are nut free, and can be gluten free if you use buckwheat groats instead of oats. I paired them with coconut because the two go so well together and also, I was able to use finely ground dried coconut to sprinkle on the bars, instead of powdered white sugar like in the conventional recipe! Hurray for natural sweeteners. 

I think they turned out pretty well, but I will be making these again soon so I can improve. One thing I would change is using the whole lemon - it made it too bitter. So I suggest you just use just the juice from 3 lemons. I have already corrected this in the recipe so don't worry your pretty little head. Or your pretty normal-sized head. I dunno. Whatever kind of head you have - don't worry it. Just enjoy. 

These are chock full of super foods to provide your body and mind with long-lasting energy to get through your busy (or leisurely) day. What have they got? Chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, cacao nibs, raisins, dates and coconut. You can't beat this recipe as far as nutrition goes. Try to find organic varieties of each ingredient - and of course raw! 

I was snacking on the mix as I made the recipe and immediately felt a difference, they gave me enough strength to get through a workout and then they made an excellent post-exercise snack, paired with my green protein smoothie. I had a bit of extra mix that I shaped into tiny cupcakes and I thought... hey, I could top these off with dark chocolate to make it a sweet super food treat. Done.