A Sundae Treat

I'm in the middle of preparing for my first Juice and Smoothie workshop which I'm enjoying - sorting handouts, details, recipes and information to share.  And experimenting, playing and creating.  I think I might be overrunning into a separate workshop but that'll be OK in the end... Raw desserts evening here I come (info to follow should that happen)!

Well however it all works out it's been great discovering along the way and I think that's often where so much joy really is. Reaching the destination is all very well but it's the fun (and learning, mistakes and more) you have along the way that's really what it's all about.

So without more waffle I thought I'd share today's creation:

Banana and Mango Sundae with Toffee Sauce

To make: (serves 2-3)

Toffee sauce:

12 medjool dates, pitted
Add to blender with a little water and blend on low until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides of the blender a few times. You can vary how runny you want the toffee sauce to be depending on how much water you use. Add small quantities (of water) at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Banana ice cream:

6 bananas, chopped then frozen for at least 5-6 hours
Add to blender and blend until smooth.

Mango ice cream:

2 mangoes, chopped then frozen for 5-6 hours
Add to blender and blend until smooth.

Sundae:

Put a dessert-tablespoon measure of toffee sauce at the bottom of the serving glass/bowl and top with banana ice cream.  Add the mango ice cream next and top this with a layer of toffee sauce.  Lastly another layer of banana ice cream and to garnish use a swirl of your toffee sauce and fruit of choice for decoration.

Vegan meal a week challenge: 'Cheesy' Broccoli Baked Potatoes

Back again! It's been a little crazy lately (one diploma down - I've just this afternoon found out I've got a grade A in my nutrition diploma - hooray!) working away at my kinesiology homework and my homeopathy postgrad course... The end is getting clearer into sight now.... and I've discovered two more areas I really want to look at which I feel will enhance my life and my practice. It seems my studying journey is not about to end for a while yet!

My raw food journey continues along it's own route. I'm loving it and see no end in sight there either. Not saying never to cooked foods but the energy increase, vitality raise and all round feelings of wellness are amazing.  My gorgeous new blender has made smoothies, salad dressings and so on an absolute joy. Looking for excuses to use it really! So here's a recipe that I'd need it for...

From the fabulous Forks over Knives - The Cookbook:

'Cheesy' Broccoli Baked Potatoes

Serves 4 although adapt as need to suit

4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
1 batch no cheese sauce (see below)
2 cups broccoli florets

Preheat oven to 180C
Pierce the potatoes with a fork a few times
Place potato on a baking sheet and bake between an hour and an hour 15mins/until tender
Combine No cheese sauce and broccoli in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, or until broccoli is tender
Slice the potato with a cross shape on top and spoon the warm broccoli cheese into the potato.

'No cheese sauce'

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons cashews, toasted (optional)
1 tablespoon tahini (optional)
1 cup nutritional yeast
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender in the order given and puree until smooth and creamy, adding up to 1/2 cup of water if neccessary to achieve a smooth consistency.

Enjoy!

Vegan meal a week challenge: Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Red Quinoa Soup

Wow these weeks seem to fly by!  With planning to share/ discover a vegan meal a week (and now one that my dad will be up for trying too...) it soon seems to be back to Monday again.

Life is anything but dull at the moment.  The snow has given me a lovely respite from thinking I should be running/cycling (and even swimming seems to have suffered at the minute) however I've discovered rebounding which am just loving - great for chi according to lots of people (and I did have a similar reaction after being on the trampoline as I did after using a friends chi machine - a great feeling!) Studying wise my homeopathy postgraduate course is going well and I plan to graduate from that in April.  I'm coming to the end of a nutrition diploma and about to start on case studies for my kinesiology qualification.. Aside from that my homeopathy work is getting busier all the time, life with my wonderful 6 year old is lots of fun and learning to be done (for me) and am just setting out on my raw food 21 day transition (well on day 3 so far)...

So for my vegan meal this week I've been very lazy (hopefully the above goes some way towards justification for this!) and looked to find inspiration online instead of trawling through my growing collection of great veggie/vegan/raw cookbooks...

Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Red Quinoa Soup

Inspired by: Sprouted Kitchen & Coconut & Quinoa
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked red quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (or other oil)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cup diced sweet onion (about 1/2 large)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded if preferred and diced
• 1 large sweet potato (350 g), peeled and chopped to 1/2-1 inch dice (2.5-3 cups)*
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1.5 cups cooked black beans (one (15-oz) can rinsed and drained)
• fine grain sea salt and black pepper, to taste (I used 1/2 tsp salt or a bit more)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes)
• 2 handfuls Spinach or kale leaves, optional
• toppings: avocado, corn chips, cilantro, cashew cream, lime juice, tomatoes or salsa, green onion

1. In a medium-sized pot, add quinoa along with 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cover with tight fitting lid. Simmer covered for about 17 minutes or until the water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy. Remove from heat, fluff with fork, and keep it covered until ready to use.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large wok or pot. Add garlic and onion and sauté for a few minutes over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Now add in the jalapeno and sweet potato and sauté for 5-7 minutes more.
3. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, coriander, and broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 18-20 minutes uncovered, or until the potatoes are tender.
4. Just before serving, stir in the cooked quinoa, drained and rinsed black beans, cayenne, and optional spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste, adding more spice if desired.
5. Garnish soup with cherry tomatoes, cilantro, green onion, corn chips, avocado, and/or cashew cream.

6. Feast on tasty, vibrant comfort food!

http://ohsheglows.com/2012/11/30/black-bean-sweet-potato-and-red-quinoa-soup/

Just off to have a quick look at OhSheGlows - people have kept telling me about it so do check out the site as well....

My little heart is singing.... Launching my 'One Vegan Dish A Week' challenge...

It seems that my excitement about food is not just affecting me - recently I've had a couple of requests for recipes... and the latest one - to send a friend one vegan recipe a week to try. 

I'm so aware I'm merely at the very beginning of my journey into vegan eating so I could be barking up entirely the wrong tree. However, it makes my heart sing and so far all my best decisions in life have made me bubble with joy and excitement (including some of the harder, less popular ones).  I know the feeling by now (and I love it!).  I've lots to learn and am looking forward to learning it.

Since I've had a few requests I'll aim to pop a vegan recipe on here each week - feel free to leave feedback and thoughts... and happy, cruelty free, life enhancing cooking!

Looking forward to a brilliant future of tasty treats (I've just discovered raw kale chips. Oh my word. I intended taking them to a party last night and they didn't make it out of the door!), feeling great and knowing that no animals have been harmed in the making of my every meal.

Homemade Energy Bars

Loving cashew nuts at the moment so I thought I'd create something yummy instead of simply devouring them (in their equally yummy state) straight from the bag...

Here's what I made...

100g cashews
25g almonds
25g pecan nuts
25g pumpkin seeds
25g sesame seeds
100g medjool dates
50g cranberries
50g apricots

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and whizz.  The longer it's blending the smoother the mix will be and if you leave it long enough it should (mine did anyway) come together in a big blob of loveliness.  Scrape out of the food processor and press firmly into a lined tray (approx 20cmX15cm or so).  Mark out the squares with a knife and put into the fridge to set.

When wanted wrap or put into snack box if taking out for a ride/run or simply enjoy on return.