ChocaNana Cookies

It has to be said...........you will always find these little beauties made up and ready to eat in my kitchen!!! They have become a staple in my regime.......I was always a ''cuppa tea and biscuit'' girl before going raw and these are my ''new raw'' versions....now with herbal teas.

They are so simple to make, very tasty and always seem to fill the gap ''in between meal times'' for me and even quench my hankering for chocolate too!! AND they are a bundle of goodness to top it off!!! YEY!

LOULOU'S CHOCANANA COOKIES

• 3 small bananas (mashed up in a mixing bowl)
• 1 T carob powder
• 2 T cacao nibs
• 1 Cup Almond Meal
• 1 Cup Walnut Meal (but left slightly chunky for texture)

Mix altogether in a bowl and spoon onto teflex sheets. Flatten down to form cookies and dehydrate until crispy on the outside but still soft in the inside.

Sprouted Quinoa Salad, Nut Cheeze, Sunflower Pate and Corn Tortilla Chips

I dabbled with a few ideas of Shazzies and as ever, changed a few things here and there to suit my tastes.......... Here are my versions..

QUINOA SALAD

• 1 cup sprouted quinoa (simply soak quinoa for at least 4 hours preferbly overnight)
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 10 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
• 5 or 6 sundried tomatoes thinly sliced
• 2 T sultanas
• 2 spring onions chopped
• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 3 T fresh mint finely chopped
• 1/4 cucumber finely chopped

Add all of the above in a bowl and leave for a few hours to marinate together (I found the flavours are more intensely infused if left over night in the fridge).

SUNFLOWER PATE

• 1 Cup sunflower seeds soaked overnight (or at least a few hours)
• 1 T worcestershire sauce (not raw - optional)
• 5 sundried tomatoes
• 1/2 garlic clove
• 1 tspn of dulse

Simply blend all of the above ingredients until a chunky consistancy is acquired. This can stay fresh in the fridge for 3 - 4 days. I always have some sort of nut or seed pate/cheeze/spread ready made in my fridge and use it as a spread for nori sheets or crackers, or as a dip for raw crudities or simply mix it in dishes like the quinoa salad above to create a sauce texture. Stophy did this with the sunflower pate and I mixed in the following Pine nut cheeze. A delicious addition.

PINE NUT CHEEZE

• 1 cup of pine nuts soaked for at least 2 hours
• 1/4 clove of garlic
• 1/4 lemon juiced
• 1/4 of a yellow pepper
• 5 sundried tomatoes

Blend the above ingredients until chosen consistency. Will keep in the fridge for 3 - 4 days.

I love Nori rolls with my favourite ingredients inside. This time I used the sunflower pate and the pine nut cheeze spreads, with avocado, alfalfa sprouts, red pepper, tomato, cucumber and lettuce.

The avocado slices are dipped in a mix of seaweed flakes, poppy seeds and sesame seeds.

I also made some corn tortillas too. Here they are in the Dehydrator finishing off.

Coconut Mylk and Coconut and Apple Cookies....

I recently acquired a few coconuts free and pondered on what to do with them. Unfortunately they are not the young Thai coconuts (which I can't find in this part of France) but a coconut is still a coconut no!!

Once I had drank the lush coconut water and taken the coconut meat away from the hard shell, I rinsed the meat well and then blended it all up in a high speed blender (vitamix) and added enough water to obtain the consistancy of mylk.

I then passed the liquid through a nut bag as shown below..........

The outcome was a delightful, naturally sweet coconut mylk that I placed in the bottle as shown below..........
I was left with the coconut pulp and decided to use it in a very simple cookie mix I like to make often..............

The cookie ingredients are simply - 2 apples (small), 1/2 cup coconut pulp and 1 cup of granola mix (or any soaked nut/s of your choice).

I simply blend these ingredients in the vitamix until a slightly textured 'dough' is formed.....

And then I make small patties out of the dough as shown below and then dehydrate them for about 10 hours................

These are the finished dehydrated apple, coconut and nut cookies........This recipe made 16 cookies to which I have stored in an airtight container.

Coconuts are rich in

• Dietry fibre
• Calcium
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
  

Raw Quinoa Cocao Pops

I recently played about with another idea on how to eat some of my sprouted dehydrated quinoa other than simply sprinkling on salads or soups etc. I wanted to make a sweet dish out of them, so I made some.................

RAW QUINOA COCOA POPS

• 1 cup sprouted dehrydrated quinoa grains
• 1 T cacao powder
• 2 T argave nectar
  

1. I already had some sprouted DH quinoa ready in a jar, but the process is pretty simple, just needs a few days prep work. put some quinoa grains in a tub topped with water and place on the lid and leave in the fridge for 24hours. The next day, rinse really well and leave in the same tub, but cover with kitchen paper (not the lid this time) and leave outside the fridge on the side for a further 24hrs.
2. You should be able to see some tiny shoots from the grains. The next step is to dehydrate for a few hours until crispy and crunchy. Like I mentioned before, I always have a batch of these made up to add to soups and salads etc.
3. With the dehydrated sprouted quinoa, simply add with the cacao powder and the argave nectar.
4. Spread the mixture onto a teflex sheet as above and dehydrate for 4 - 8 hours

Once the mixture is crisp and crunchy, I simply broke it up into small peices and placed in a bowl

I then added some nut mylk and hey presto, delicious healthy raw version of cocao pops.

It even turns the mylk brown :0)

My Home Grown Radishes

Here are a few of my ''Home Grown Radishes'' ...... They are so succulent and juicy and quite peppery - more so than the usual shop bought radishes we found.

I never realised how good radishes are for you! They act as a mild anti-inflammatory, are low in cholesterol and high in fibre. They also provide -

• Vit C
• Potassium (as much as a banana)
• Sodium
• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Copper
• Manganese
• Phosphorus
• Folate

Who'd have thought so much nutrition in such a little peppery bundle :0)

Lunch today consisted of Essene bread (with quinoa) for me as a bap for my burger which laid between layers of spring onion, mixed sprouts and avocado with a few raw sauces too.

Stophy's lunch was this salad which consisted of 'Home Grown Lettuce' with 'Home Grown Radishes', grated carrots bound in parsley & garlic dressing, courgette spirals and soaked sunflower seeds with mixed sprouts hidden under the carrots.

There is something so very special about eating the foods you have grown yourself, be it herbs from your herb garden or vegetables and fruits. I cannot believe it has taken me 36 years to finally get round to producing my own garden , but I am DARN glad I did in the end :0)

Essene Bread Vegatable Sarny

Today I made one of Stophy's cooked favourites for him - 'Chicken Fajitas' on his request (It has been a while since I have cooked him chicken tbh). I fancied the idea for myself too (but RAW friendly), but I was not sure what to use for the wraps.....lettuce just wasn't going to cut it today.......so I trotted off to our local organic/health shop in Nice first thing this morning in the vain hope to be inspired by something there.

Much to my delight, I found they now stock Essene Bread!!!! This is a bread made from grain sprouts and dehydrated long enough to become crispy on the outside and moist but sturdy on the inside. It actually looked like a loaf of bread - a lot heavier mind, but looked pretty appetising.

I bought some and decided to make my fajita into a sandwich type thing.

So, before I tackled Stophy's cooked version, I chopped up some veggies - broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage, white cabbage, red onion, spring onion, red pepper, green pepper, green beans, celery, cucumber, grated carrot and baby fennel and left to marinate in a yummy sweet mustard sauce I made the other day. I then made some guacamole for us both and made Stophy's version.

I placed one slice of Essene bread on my plate, lathered it with guacamole, topped with alfalfa sprouts and sunflower seed sprouts then the marinated veg mix and topped with another slice of bread and devoured the lot. I took ages to eat it because I simply wanted to savour the taste of it. Amazingly delicious and I couldn't stop smiling whilst eating it. LOL

I have FINALLY found a decent satisfying replacement for bread it seems YEY!! :0)

To change the subject COMPLETELY, I just can't seem to get enough of reading and learning at the moment. I constantly have a book on me, in my hand, or in my handbag. Stophy keeps laughing at me and calling me the walking library. Any possible free moment of the day I seem to be drawn to reading. I have to say, as a child I was a reader and then I appeared to have lost the habit or desire the older I got, but since going raw, my thirst for knowledge and reading has increased tenfold. I am not complaining!!! Just mentioning and loving it!! :0)

Requested Raw Banoffee Pie

The other day, Stophy and I were watching a film together and the mention of ''banoffee pie' came up. He asked me what this was (it is not a dessert you find in France TBH) and once I described it to him his response was....'' Do you think you could make a raw version of this for me to try?'' - Music to my ears :0)

So, I got to work......now, this isn't exactly like a banoffee pie, but me oh my......it is darn delicious and now a favourite in our house for sure. I like to keep my desserts as simple as possible with minimum ingredients...... mainly because the easier the better, I know I am more likely to make the recipe again and again, also, I have never been one to mask flavours with too many tastes that become overpowering....even with cooked desserts I was the same.

I used my ''old faithful'' pie crust recipe (2 ingredients only) and only 3 ingredients + H2O for the filling.

LOULOU'S RAW BANOFFEE PIE

PIE CRUST

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 1/2 cups dates

1. Blitz the almonds up to desired crunch size
2. Add the dates and blend thoroughly together
3. Place the crust onto an oiled pie dish and flatten out with damp hands

FILLING

• 1 cup cashew nuts (soaked)
• 3 bananas
• 1/4 cup filtered water
• 2 T coconut oil

1. In a high speed blender, (Vitamix) add the water and then the cashews and blend up until moderately smooth
2. Add the bananas as you go and until a very smooth thick consistency is reached
3. Then add the coconut oil
4. Pour the mix onto the pie base - I also topped with a few crushed pecan nuts
5. Place the pie in the freezer for a couple of hours then let thaw in the fridge.

The photo I took below shows the pie when it was not quite set enough but we were both way too impatient to wait for then so we tucked in anyway. However, once the pie had frozen and was defrosted, the consistency of the filling was thick and sturdy and perfect.

The dates used in the base in fact give the 'toffee' taste to the pie and the flavours worked well together. Stophy couldn't believe it was raw in fact....... :0)

Chocolate Pie and Yummy Balls

When I was in England last week I did a mini workshop and demonstrated numerous things, including juice, green smoothie, tasted raw energy bars, onion bread, flax and chia crackers, berry pie and a chocolate pie as seen above. I promised I would put the chocolate pie on here for those that wanted the recipe. Sorry it has taken me a while to get round to it..... here you go -

LOULOU'S RAW CHOCOLATE PIE

1. PIE CRUST -

• 2 cups of almonds
• 2 cups of pitted dates

1. Blend these up together and place in a greased pie dish (or in individual rings as I did above to create small portion pies)

1. CHOCOLATE FILLING

• 2 cups of soaked cashews
• 12 pitted dates
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 2 T cacao powder
• 2 T coconut oil
• 1/8 tspn 5 spices

1. Blend all of the above together in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy in texture then place on top of the crust
2. Freeze to set and take out of freezer 1 hour before serving. I added raw cacao nibs on top for decoration

YUMMY BALLS

I found myself with some left over pie crust mix so I simply made this into some balls and rolled them in shredded coconut. These will keep for a fair few days in the fridge (if they last that long that is......) as a sweet snack, bonbon type thing...luscious!

My energy levels are rocket high at the moment.......feels good. Exercising most days, be it a hike up the mountain to the village or a run along the coastal road at sunrise. (I prefer sunrise due to less pollution at that point of the day).

This morning, I decided to slow my running pace slightly and simply enjoy the podcast I was listening to and run until I felt I needed to turn back. I just kept going with no energy slumps nor boredom. I was listening to Revvell's interview with Dhrumil which intrigued me throughout my run. I ended up running 12kms in the end and really not feeling exhausted at the end of it neither. Exhilarated and chuffed yes!!! but not pooped!!

I am feeling so alive and energetic on this raw lifestyle and really would not change it for anything now I have seen and experienced it's benefits personally. Why go back to feeling tired all the time, un-motivated to improve things in my life and generally slumping through life with constant mood swings to boot. All of that has disappeared in my life and I KNOW it is down to what I eat.

YOU REALLY ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!!!!!