Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

I'll be straight up: the colour is from beets. BUT. Do not fear - if you don't like beets, the flavour is subtle and you can cover it up with other yummy, pretty things like berries, coconut, Rawxies (which are soooo good, lemon poppyseed is my fave) and brownies. If you like beets, then this is probably your wet, ice creamy dream come true. If you aren't sure about beets WITH ice cream... just see what you think. Iiiii think you will love it. Pretty sure I got the idea to do this from Steph over at @happyandhealthy96 so shout out to DAT BABE. 

I have got a ton of other #$%@ to do today so I gotta keep this post short. I love you so much and I will talk to ya soon. Now go make some shocking pink ice cream (recipe below)! 

x

Cinnamon is ridiculously great for every cell in your body, and dates are finally being recognized as pretty awesome too. 

These are divine, and they are reppin' the world of desserts that don't include chocolate. The non-cocoa players need love too! I'm just mentioning this because a lot of my recipes lately have included that brown powder we all secretly kiss when no one is looking. This time, Imma be kissin' my Meyer lemons instead. Honestly when I eat chocolate I usually think something along the lines of "I NEED YOU IN MY LIFE ALWAYS AND FOREVER." But in reality, I go days without it and hardly notice (cacao, please don't be hurt, you're still in my heart). My point is: ya don't need cocoa or cacao powder to make a kick-ass dessert; raw, vegan, or otherwise. This recipe proves it. 

What we've got is a gluten-free crust made with buckwheat groats and almonds. That's filled up with a creamy, decadent cream of coconut, cashews, sweet lemon juice and garnished with mint leaves, lemon zest and dried lavender flowers. AH, that sounds SO PRETTY when I type it out. 

I'm really happy with how this came together; namely, with my new Blendtec. I know, I know. You Vitamix die-hards are probably gonna hate me now but I have to admit: when it comes to making nut butters and coconut butter, the Blendtec rules. I still prefer making smoothies and soups in the Vitamix, but my whole world changed today when I made the crust and filling for this recipe in the Blendtec mini twister jar (they have a normal size one too). It instantly turned into powder, and then quickly started turning into paste! I only added a handful of frozen almonds to some buckwheat groats but in seconds the mixture was on its way to almond butter. I've tried making nut butters and coconut butter in the Vitamix before but it took ages and the best I'd get was a powdery paste even with added oil. The Blendtec twister jar is specially designed for blending thick stuff into creamy butters in seconds, and it works damn near perfectly. I am SO EXCITED to actually, finally, *successfully* make my own nut butters and coconut butter. For the filling, I threw some cashews and coconut shreds into the mini twister jar and in just a few seconds I had something like cashew coconut whipped cream! I still cannot get over it. The reason I have a Blendtec now is because an engineer who works at Blendtec apparently loves my blog and she got them to send me a special blender with accessory jars she knew I'd love for making my raw vegan recipes. Thank you SO MUCH, Kristin! You da bomb. 

I feel like I am in a second honeymoon with raw food. I mean of course I always eat predominantly raw, but I do let myself get into routines, which become kinda boring after a while. To elaborate: for the past year or so my diet has been mainly fruit smoothies and green smoothies all day, then a huge bowl of baked vegetables and rice for dinner. It got a little uninspiring and too predictable. I love routine, but I also need to be passionate about that routine, and my passion had seriously decreased. I needed something new. Or rather, something old. I am back in love with the kind of raw food diet that I found so attractive a few years ago. Of course this time around, I don't have a militant mindset. But I am having fun with juices again, superfood shakes, and gourmet raw dinners. I am returning to my love of the simplest ingredients. I used to like to throw everything into the pan or blender at once, but since going vegan (5 years ago), my appreciation for individual plants has grown. Now I adore having a three-ingredient smoothie, salt- and oil-free baked veggie dinners, and simply eating an avocado all by itself. Another thing I am getting back into: colourful food! It's not that I have been eating a bland diet, but my smoothies tended to be mustard or dirt coloured because of all the stuff I'd put in them, and my dinners would usually be beige-ish because it'd be baked potatoes, pasta and/or rice with some tahini; my smoothies would sometimes be beige too because I'd just blend bananas with water. Now I am remembering how sexy it is when my smoothie is bright green, pink or purple my juice is glowing orange, and my dinner looks like a rainbow. The way you get your food to be so colourful is when you leave it raw and only use a few ingredients, so I am really into that right now (again). I might get bored of this too and then reunite with my giant baked potato dinners, but at the moment I'd rather go for a moderately-sized bowl of a little quinoa topped off with raw shredded veggies, baked yam, a half avocado and tons of green herbs (that's what I had tonight). Oh, and one of these tarts for dessert? 

Yes, please. 

When life gives you cashews, dates and cacao powder... make this recipe. It is SO simple and takes only a few minutes to whip up. Then magically the final product is a glorious, moist, chocolately treasure you can share with your lover and/or yourself. It doesn't get better than this. This recipe was mainly copied from the basic brownie recipe in Lisa Viger's new cookbook: Easy, Affordable Raw. You might know Lisa from Raw on $10 a Day, a fabulous website that provides endless ideas for inexpensive, quick raw vegan recipes. Hers was one of my favourite inspirational blogs when I first went vegan and got into raw food. I love the cookbook too. It's basically her website on paper. If you are just starting to get interested in raw food, healthier vegan food, cleansing, sprouting, fermenting, or simply exciting new recipes - I suggest you check the book out. There's tons of useful info inside, plus loads of colourful photos. It's a very practical tool to have in your kitchen. 

Now, about this brownie. Ah. It's perfect. I remember when I jumped into the raw food scene I wasn't sure what desserts were gonna be like. Then I made a carob cake and my world flipped on its head. Raw desserts are YUMMIER then baked! And they are all nutritional powerhouses! It's too good to be true! This is why it's kinda become my mission to never stop sharing the miracle of raw vegan dessert. Hence, this blog and stuff. When I meet new people - no matter the situation - we usually end up talking about veganism. I tell them about banana ice cream and no one ever knows what it is so I explain, get all excited, give them a quick recipe for it and tell them to try it out, they won't be disappointed. I am not really sure how many of these folks actually DO try it when they get home, but at least the information was shared. The point is: I tend to assume everyone already knows everything I currently know... that's just stupid of me though. Banana ice cream is like 35% of my world, but I need to remember that most people have never even heard of it. So that is why I keep bloggin'. Until everyone knows that raw vegan brownies exist, my job is not done. Let's eat! 

Oh yeah, I went there. Again. I made this cake for my mum's party, so fingers crossed that her friends like it. I'm also saving a piece as my secret santa gift for a party tomorrow night. Double fingers crossed. Or... fingers crossed on both hands; that's more comfortable. I am still on my Mariah Carey binge so please make this cake then eat it while listening to this (just wait for the chorus). 

I want to talk about a new habit I've been trying to form lately. I will start by letting you know I am a very cynical, sarcastic person. I get this largely from my family, the von Euws have a dry sense of humour. In itself this isn't necessarily a bad thing; but I let it turn into judging others very quickly. Not in a serious way, but just in off-handed thoughts in my head or casual comments in conversation. I never mean anything important by them, but they are thought or said nonetheless. An example: Jack and I were in his car when he was bringing me to the airport several weeks ago and the car in front of us had a mini disco ball hanging from the rear view mirror. Jack said, "Look at that." And I responded with a scoff and, "That's obnoxious..." Another example: I was on the bus a few days ago and the driver pulled up about a metre past where he should have, to pick a few people up at a stop. I sarcastically thought, "Good job, buddy." Maybe these instances don't sound like a big deal, and in most ways, my responses were harmless. All my life I've taken this sort of judging, sarcastic attitude for granted, never analyzing it or questioning if it was good or bad. But as I spend more time with Jack - who is very calm and non-judgemental - and researching meditation techniques, I realize that it is kind of a bad habit to allow myself to have these automatic cynical judgements, no matter how casual they are. 

This is because they are not positive and usually not fair. Instead of making fun of the people with the disco ball, why can't I simply say, "Hmm. Interesting! I wouldn't hang a disco ball from my rear view mirror but good for them." Or instead of negatively judging the bus driver's skills, think, "Oh, he pulled up a bit past the stop. I suppose he didn't see the people waiting." Jack has really helped me to realize how immediately judging I can seem, with the nonchalant comments I make; and this in turn helps me register when I simply have an automatically judgemental thought about something or someone. I also watched this TED Talk recently and it was inspiring for me, in terms of how we should allow thoughts to enter and leave our minds without getting caught up in them. Finally, I am also reading The Secret which essentially promotes trying to feel and think happy thoughts no matter what your situation is (there's more to it, but that's the message I am choosing to take away from it). The book talks about how positive, happy thoughts bring more positivity and happiness into your life, and negative thoughts foster negativity. So with all these things considered, in the past week or so I have been focusing a lot of mental energy into not allowing myself to manifest those negative thoughts or say those judgemental comments. When I have a negative or judgemental thought, I recognize it as such and then rethink it into something non-judging and positive. I saw an older, rather dirty man with a very... bright, unique outfit a couple days and ago and my automatic reaction was to think, "Oh God, what are you doing with your life?" Now since I am working on getting rid of this negative habit and replacing it with a positive one, I realized how judgy this was to think and so corrected my thought to, "Woah! Cool outfit, you must be a very original, independent person." 

I'm trying to use this technique with familiar people and situations as well, not merely strangers in passing. When a friend or family member frustrates me (or vice versa) I try to remember to take a deep breathe and put myself in their shoes. I tell myself there's no reason I need to feel irritated, and the person(s) has an understandable reason for acting the way they are. None of us are right, wrong, good or bad. We are all simply organisms, thrown into this life by surprise, trying to find a comfortable mental, emotional and physical space in this world. There is no need to judge others cruelly or harbour negative thoughts or feelings within you. 

I wanted to share all this with you because I imagine a lot of us probably do this; that is, have automatic judgements to people and things we see around us (or it could be that I am just a total jerk and the only one who does/did this). I think it is useful for us all to recognize, analyze and then correct our cognitive patterns when they are negative. For the good of your mental health, life outlook and - if you believe in thoughts having effective, external energy - those around us. All it takes is a little practice. Just a week in, I am already thinking fewer and fewer negative thoughts and thinking before I judge. Everyday I strive to improve myself, not because I don't currently love myself. I do, very deeply. But because I want to be even better, do even more, than the day before. Whether this be by being more helpful to others, developing my awareness of my own spirituality and personality, or simply finding deeper avenues of joy while experiencing this crazy thing called life. Get happy! Eat raw vegan cake! 

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PREORDER:

- Amazon (US)*

- Amazon (Canada)*

- Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)

- Barnes & Noble*

- Chapters Indigo

*hard copy and Kindle version available 

Woah. The deliciousness of this recipe was an accident, but that makes it even better. I made pecan milk yesterday morning and decided to add a little to my smoothie because nut milk in smoothies takes them to the next level. Every time. What I didn't realize was that the tap water I used to make the milk was hot, so I ended up with warm pecan milk. To this I added frozen bananas. What happened? The warm liquid made the bananas taste baked - like banana bread! By chance I had also thrown in some nutmeg so the spicing was perfect. I couldn't believe it! Seriously it tastes like banana bread batter (the main reason I woke up every morning as a child: to eat banana bread batter when my mom so happened to be making BB loaves). I decorated it with some carob syrup and pecans to make it look pretty. Then I inhaled it. 

You might be asking: what is carob syrup? Well lemme tell ya. I have just been to Israel - yes, I know, huge news and trust me I will be sharing ALL my adventures there with you soon - where delicious healthy food is eaten by all as part of tradition. The middle east has a long history of holistic medicine and a diet based around locally grown plants. So without giving too much of my Israeli stories away in this post, I will say that something they grow easily there is the carob fruit! In fact they have so much of it that often you will see carob pods lying around in the dirt, unused. But carob is super good for you! It's cleansing, healing and full of important nutrients. Besides, it tastes great and is often used as a chocolate alternative. So a popular treat in this part of the world is carob "honey". It actually has nothing to do with bees, so I'm calling it syrup. That way my fellow vegans won't get confused and flip out. I say that with love. 

How does one MAKE carob syrup? Take a giant pot filled with carob pods, add water, ferment for a few days, remove the pods. Then reduce the liquid with a bit of heat until all you are left with is a sweet, creamy syrup infused with carob goodness! It's like magic to me. I can't get over it. I personally LOVE carob so I was thrilled when I was given a little jar of this bronze-golden liquid to take home.  I will be using it very sparingly (in other words I will be putting it on everything because it's so damn delicious I can't help myself). 

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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.