Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

super food sundae

10:12 PM

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could indulge in your favourite guilty pleasures (like a giant ice cream sundae) but feel GOOD about yourself for doing so?

Guess what, folks. You can!

This ice cream is made of mainly coconut and cashews; the chocolate sauce is agave, cocoa, and coconut oil; and I topped it off with figs and cashews. If you Google any of those ingredients, you'll find that everyone says you should eat more of them.

(Sorry the pictures aren't that great)

I ate this up and enjoyed every bite, knowing it was bringing me better health. You should too! And mix it up anyway your healthy heart desires. You could use nut butters, berries, bananas, different kinds of ice cream, whipped coconut cream, whatever!

Below I give recipes for my raw ice cream and chocolate sauce, but it's a sundae so there's no rules.

Raw Vegan Ice Cream: makes about 3-6 servings

2 cups soaked raw cashews

Coconut meat from 2 young Thai coconuts (about 2 cups)

1 cup of water/coconut water from the coconuts - don't use more

1 cup agave/maple syrup

Seeds from 1/2 - 1 vanilla bean (I love vanilla so I use a whole one)

2 T vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 1 T or so of coconut oil, melted

Blend all ingredients except coconut oil in your blender (Vita-Mix works best!) until lusciously smooth and creamy. Melt coconut oil in a bowl that's sitting in a larger bowl filled with hot water. Add in and blend until mixed. Try it now... Yeah. I know.

Now try to resist eating it all before it's frozen: if you have an ice cream maker use that.

But if you're like me and don't have one, put the batter in several small jars or freezable containers (single servings!) and stick them in the freezer. Check back every 30-60 minutes and stir until they are eventually frozen, creamy delights.

Chocolate Sauce: Makes a small bowl

3 T cocoa/cacao

3 T melted coconut oil

2 T agave/maple syrup

1 t vanilla extract

Pinch of cinnamon and salt, if you want

Coconut flakes, if you want

Mix it all together and enjoy! Feel free to add anything you want to it, the possibilities are endless.

apples

OH MY RAW caramel apples

3:33 PM

You have not lived.

Not until you make these. I didn't think they'd be so darn delicious. But yet again... I was wrong.
All the different textures and flavours make for an incredible experience.

The best part? These are GOOD FOR YOU. Your body wants them.

Why? Because they're full of nutrients and vitamins that will help you live long.

Being "caramel apples", they clearly consist of an apple being covered in caramel. All I did was change my definition of caramel! In the raw food world, my caramel is just dates, water and spices.

I covered a couple organic apples in that, and chopped up some fresh pecans and threw them on one (I put peanuts on the other). For the final touch, I drizzled on a simple chocolate sauce: cocoa, agave, almond butter.

Who says raw vegans can't have any fun? These are way better than your regular caramel apples not ONLY in taste, but also because you feel good after eating them. NOT GUILTY.

Food is love, love is happiness, and happiness depends on health.

So eat healthful foods! It's simple. Sometimes I crave some kind of processed cooked food for a second, like pizza, cookies, chips or other vegan goodies. Then I remember: I can make a BETTER version of it that my body will actually thank me for in the long run. I mean c'mon, you've got no excuse to eat crap when you can eat stuff like this:

I wanted to get a few photos with a bite out of an apple, so I had an excuse to try them =) I took a big, messy, caramel-apple bite... literally stopped chewing and said "oh my god no freaking way" out loud in the kitchen by myself.

I talk to myself a lot.

But with good reason! These taste ridonkulous. And I don't say ridonkulous, so you know they're gotta be nuts (no pun intended). Really though - try these out and share them with your loved ones. Everybody will appreciate it. They're a great Valentines Day present, heeey?

I was noble today and gave mine to Dad after taking a few bites. It took a bit of will power but I HAD to share it with someone, it was so delicious. I only made two, so I'm saving the other one for my brother Greg.

He's trying to eat healthier and get in shape since he's struggled with his weight for awhile. He actually started his own blog about it! Check it.

He's doing a vegan-week so last night he went to The Naam with his girlfriend and brought me back their raw pie! As a thank you, I made him a caramel apple =)

It makes me really happy and excited he wants to get healthy. I can tell he's serious about it this time. So I wanna support that as much as I can, and show him how ridiculously delicious and easy eating well can be.

CRAZY Raw Caramel Apples: makes 2, but you can effortlessly make more

2 Apples on skewers (try to get organic!)

1/4 cup dates

2 Tb melted coconut oil

Cinnamon, salt & mesquite if you have it

Water, as needed

1/4 cup finely chopped nuts

2-3 Tb cacao

2-3 Tb agave/honey/maple syrup

2-3 Tb nut butter

3 Tb melted coconut oil

Blend dates with coconut oil, cinnamon, salt, mesquite and water to get a smooth, thick consistency. You can add more sweetener if you want. Cover the apples completely with the "caramel" and then dip them in the chopped nuts so they stick.

Then mix the cacao, sweetener of choice, nut butter and coconut oil until smooth. Drizzle it all over the apples and VOILA! Om nom nom.

avocado

EAT THIS NOW.

7:20 PM

cashews

lavender ice cream with dark chocolate

5:03 PM

Luscious, light, and lovely. That's what this ice cream is.

Oh my goodness. It's better than any ice cream I've ever made; and guess what. It's full of raw whole foods that will bring you closer to excellent health. There's not much else to say about it. I suggest you make it ASAP, and enjoy the wonders our planet full of plants has to offer.

No stealing the milk of another species here! Nor is there any disease-causing refined sugar, or freaky-deaky preservatives and stabilizers. Just some coconut, cashews, chocolate and lavender!

Before I made my lavender cheesecake, and now this ice cream, I didn't think I'd dig the taste of lavender in my food.

I was wrong.

It's divine! I've grown up with the smell of lavender emanating through the garden and home. My aunt is also a lavender NUT, so whenever we visit each other you can bet there will be lavender gifts involved.

I also use lavender oil to calm my nerves, keep my skin clear, scent my baths, and put me to sleep! It's a wonderful flower with endless uses. One of which being flavour! I want YOU to experiment with lavender in your food. Seriously. You won't regret it.

It brings out this dimension in desserts I didn't know existed. Light, summery, delicate notes that remind you of the sun, wicker chairs, and busy bees traveling from flower to flower in the afternoon light.

Okay so I said there wasn't much else to say and then wrote a paragraph... my bad.

Bottom line: make this ice cream!

(By the way I'm just using my basic raw ice cream recipe and adding a few things.)

lavender ice cream with dark chocolate: makes 3-6 servings

2 cups soaked raw cashews

Coconut meat from 2 young Thai coconuts (1-2 cups)

1 cup of water

1 cup agave/honey/maple syrup

Seeds from vanilla bean

2 Tb vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 1 T or so of coconut oil, melted

3 teaspoons dried lavender

1 bar dark chocolate, roughly chopped (optional)

Blend all ingredients except coconut oil and chocolate in your blender (Vita-Mix works best!) until smooth and creamy. Add in the coconut oil and blend until the chocolate chunks are the size you want, and the oil is mixed in.

Try it now... Yeah. I know.

Feel free to add some lemon to this - I bet it would taste heavenly.

Now try to resist eating it all before it's frozen: if you have an ice cream maker use that.

If not, stick it in the freezer and stir it every 30 or 60 minutes until it's solid.