Recipe: Rawsome Fruity Christmas Mince Pies!

There's nothing like wrapping your ho ho ho gear around a crunchy, tasty pie is there? And being Raw doesn't mean you miss out! I soooo would not be raw if I couldn't have me pie!

For the pastry:

1 cup cashew flour

1 tablespoon maca powder

½ tablespoon coconut nectar

1 tablespoon cinnamon powder

¼ teaspoon salt

A splash of water

(credit to the wonderful Omid  Jaffari at botanical cuisine for creating the original version of these tart shells!)

Method:

To create cashew flour, blend in vitamix or good food processor in short bursts so as not to heat too much.

Transfer to food processor and add other ingredients, processing to a dough-like consistency

Press the dough into mini tart moulds with removable bottoms and dehydrate for about 8 hours, remove from moulds and dehydrate on a mesh tray for a further 6 hours. Place shells carefully into a sealed container until ready to use.

Fruit mince

3 organic apples (sweet variety) with skin on, roughly chopped

1½  cups raisins

1 cup cranberries or sour cherries

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon allspice

Zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon coconut nectar

2 cups water or fresh apple juice

1 teaspoon vanilla powder or one vanilla bean scraped

Tablespoon of light rum or Cointreau

Method:

Place everything in the food processor and mix till combined and roughly uniform in chunk size. Transfer to a rectangular pyrex dish and place in dehydrator for about 16 hours, allowing it to reduce and become relatively firm.

Assembly:

Take a tart shell and fill with mince, top with lemon zest and serve with coconut yoghurt (recipe below) . These taste really good if you pop the shell and mince into the dehydrator for about 30 minutes prior to serving. 

Yoghurt

1 cup cashews (soaked min 2 hours ideally longer)

Meat from two young coconuts

¾ cup coconut water

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1 probiotic capsule

Using a high-speed blender, mix till smooth and creamy- the longer you soak the cashews, the creamier it will be. Make sure there are no lumps and be careful that the blender doesn’t overheat.

Leave in a warm spot for 5-6 hours then refrigerate; use within 7 days.

Taking the Weight Off

Golly- it's not a new thing! 

I’ve always tried to keep the weight discussion away from raw food because I really don’t like anyone to think of this lifestyle as a ‘diet’. However, I’ve had a number of people come through classes in the last couple of years talking about weight issues and hoping that THIS would be the magic bullet.

Wow. Imagine if there was a magic bullet?

For starters, there would be no billion dollar diet industry, (yes people, there is a BILLION dollar industry created to feed your dissatisfaction with your body- WTF! Time to give them the bird!) There would be millions of people, mainly women, around the world able to go about their daily lives actually living and not deciding how the day would be based on what the scales told them. People the world over being happy with their bodies and worrying about far more important things (like, I don’t know, people in the world who have no actual food?!) How amazing would that be?

Clearly it’s pie in the sky stuff right?

Not really.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: When your body is getting what it actually needs, it doesn’t crave: it thrives!

As a society, we eat for many reasons, some involve actual hunger, but many are reactive, because food is available, it’s social, the kind of food we’re eating doesn’t fill us up (and ironically leaves us malnourished which feeds our cravings…) or we succumb to advertising and an inaccurate message is sent to our brain. Sometimes it’s emotional- because food sates a deep need within us.

At some point, we become disconnected with our bodies. We start to see them as an entity that we need to control, and one that is always letting us down. We stand in front of the mirror imagining how much better life will be when we fix this or that, we curse our genes or our lack of progress with the new PT.  We feel on top of the world when we stick to our latest diet for 2 days straight.

Really. Is that what you want your life to be about? Will you, starving yourself and then ‘letting yourself down’ time and time again help anyone in the long run? What will you be remembered for – your commitment to trying all the latest diets? Go you!       

What about, just for a change, we took the time to celebrate all that our body has done for us! The myriad of functions it undertakes daily that we have no idea about, the 75 trillion cells constantly renewing, the heart that beats on and on without reminding. Perhaps your body has experienced the miracle of birth, or you’ve achieved a physical goal you should be proud of. What an incredible machine!

Once you acknowledge that, then you must surely think this unstoppable machine deserves the best fuel you can give it? Why on earth would you ever give it anything but the best, if you expect it to keep on doing all these important jobs?

Body, Mind and Spirit are all so very very interconnected, yet we waste so much time focusing on how we look and whether we measure up! How does this impact us subconsciously? How can we ever achieve spiritual contentment when we are always beating up on ourselves!

In my personal experience, I can tell you, when that switch flicks and you suddenly know the path you need to follow, the weight literally lifts. All of a sudden, the body you’ve been beating up on becomes your most precious possession.

When you follow a plant based, mainly raw diet, food becomes intrinsically connected to the body, mind and spirit. Food is such an integral part of life, it’s critical that we have a good relationship with it! Fuelling the body with live, beautiful, clean, healthy food nourishes the mind and spirit as well. Feeding your self the best food you can find shows your self that you deserve this love, that you respect your beautiful body and that you are, simply, enough.

So I’m inviting you to take the weight off your shoulders. Stop the negative self-talk. Stop the if only's and the unrealistic goals. Try eating in a way where every single mouthful is full of the nutrients your body needs.  Your energy, self esteem and spirit will soar higher than you ever imagined and you’ll never look back.

And you’ll never look at the scales again.

(*You won’t even have scales. They’ll be out in the next inorganic rubbish collection)

Recipe: Rawsome Sunshine Pate

This is a crowd pleaser and will be a hit on your Christmas Crudites platter! It's chock full of protein and so DAMN tasty! 

Sunshine Pâté

1½ Cups of sprouted* Sunflower Seeds (about 1 cup dry)

½ Cup of soaked Pumpkin Seeds (overnight)

½ Cup Lemon Juice

2 Tablespoons Tahini

2 Tablespoons Nut Butter

2 Spring Onions

2 Tablespoons Tamari or Shoyu

½ Cup Coriander

2 Cloves Garlic

¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

½ teaspoon Cumin

about a Tablespoon Fresh Ginger

Blend everything in a food processor; you can make this smooth or a little chunky depending on your preference.

Spread this on Raw Bread, Crackers or your toast of choice, great with a little avocado and lettuce in a sandwich, or try it in a home made sushi roll!

*Sprouting

There are lots of great reasons to sprout! When soaked, seeds begin the sprouting process which increases their nutrient profile considerably. Sprouting also increases enzyme activity, allowing greater absorption of nutrients by the body and increased digestibility.

Sprouting is dead live easy! Grab a large jar, put your seeds in and soak them overnight. In the morning, pour off the water and give them a good rinse. If you don’t have a sprouting jar with a mesh lid, just cut a piece of chux cloth or a juice bag and grab a rubber band to secure it over the mouth of the jar.

A couple of times a day, rinse and drain. After about 2-3 days, little tails will appear on the Sunflower Seeds, they are now ready to use.

Recipe: Rawsome Spicy Carrot Cakes!

Who doesn’t love a delicious moist carrot cake! Well here’s a raw version that maximises the goodness!

Cake Ingredients:

2 medium sized carrots

2 cups walnuts

½ cup raisins

½ cup dates

½ cup shredded coconut

2 teaspoons psyllium husk

2 teaspoons chia seed powder

2 tablespoons coconut nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon ginger powder

Zest of ½ and orange

Pinch of salt

a splash of water as you mix.

Method: mix everything in a food processor keeping in mind that you want it a little chunky.

Place mixture into mini muffin moulds (silicone is best) and place in dehydrator for about 5 hours. Remove from moulds and dehydrate a further 2 hours.

These are delicious eaten straight from the dehydrator, slightly warm, you can also freeze them and warm them up as needed.

Icing Ingredients:

1 cup cashews

2 tablespoons lemon or orange juice

2 tablespoons coconut nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

A splash of water as you mix

Method: place everything in a blender and blend till smooth.

Place in the fridge for about an hour.

Assembly:

Remove your warmed cakes from the dehydrator.

Put the cream into a piping bag and put a small dollop on each cake. Top with a candied walnut * and a little orange or lemon zest.

Candied Walnuts

Ingredients

1 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons coconut nectar

4 medjool dates

pinch of salt

Method:

Soak Walnuts overnight

Soak dates for 30 minutes to soften.

Place everything but the walnuts in a food processor and blend so you have a smooth-ish paste. Add the walnuts and pulse briefly to break them just a little.

Spread out on dehydrator trays and dehydrate for about 48 hours. These will keep beautifully in a jar and are great for adding a little something to any desert and also a nice addition to salads!