Vegan

Showing posts with label Vegan. Show all posts. The posts are listed in chronological order. Click the post title to read more.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 in , , , , , , , , , ,

Mango Juicie Recipe - an anti-inflammatory treat


In fall 2012 I received a lovely note from a local esthetician named Lauren.  She wrote of her interest in natural and holistic skincare and how she'd love to help Blissoma out in some way.  In the following months Lauren and I worked local demos together and had time to chat inbetween client consults.  She was in the middle of a lifestyle transition prompted by persistent health issues.  Like many chronic problems it took some months and multiple doctor visits to sort out, resulting in a rebooted dietary approach that was friendly to her particular needs.

Flash forward to 2014 and she is now employed as our staff esthetician.  As a part of her own health journey she has done a lot of juicing with fresh fruits and veggies and wanted to share her own version of a recipe she tweaked from the Low Histamine Chef.


The juice recipe is heavily celery based.  While celery may seem simple as a veggie I can assure you - it's not!  While other veggies often get the accolades celery is there quietly providing 13 phenolic antioxidants, a sweet dose of Vitamin K, and lots of minerals.  Celery's powers include anti-inflammatory benefits for the cardiovascular system.  It can prevent oxidation of body fats and blood vessel walls.  For those with sensitive stomachs celery also has pectin based polysaccharides that have been shown to improve the integrity of the stomach lining and help control stomach secretions.


 Also notable is the fun inclusion of radishes!  They add a unique flavor that blends really well with the celery.  Just a little fresh kick to wake your palate up in the morning.

Mango Juicie (smoothie+juice=juicie)
this makes about 2-3 servings, use half of the veggies if wanting 1 serving

1 mango
1 bunch of Kale (any kind, or if you aren’t a fan of kale a head of romaine works too)
1 bunch of celery (approximately 8 good sized stalks)
1 bunch of radishes (approximately 6 or 7 average round radishes)
1 green apple (optional for a little more sweetness)

 *if you have a centrifugal juicer the leafy greens can be omitted in favor of a cucumber.  Romaine often goes through a centrifugal fine but with kale it isn't as efficient.

Directions:
Juice everything but the mango. Peel the mango and puree it. Add green juice to mango puree and mix!





This is a low sugar, incredibly skin-friendly recipe that tastes great.  Why is low sugar important for your beauty results?  Read how sugar is aging your skin and you'll feel even better about this juice choice.




Thursday, December 19, 2013 in , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to make Elderberry Extract - boost your immunity and skip getting sick with the flu



Vitamin C is great stuff but sometimes it's just not enough.  You need a variety of healthy options you can reach for when you feel a germ coming on.

 Elderberry extract is an effective and tasty herbal remedy that you can use to boost your immunity during cold and flu season.  It's part of my family's herbal arsenal and we use it every year.  I thought you might like to see just how easy it is to make and use.  Kids will even drink it in their juice, and who doesn't want a better way to keep your littles happy and healthy?


Elderberry syrups are common at health food stores and great to use if you can.  They can get a little pricey to use on a regular basis for a whole family, though.  Elderberries work by preventing the influenza virus from being able to attach and replicate within host cells in your body.  That means even if you manage to catch a bug if you start treatment with Elderberry you can shorten the time you are sick.  If the virus can't replicate it can't make you so miserable.  Treatment with elderberry syrups has shortened recovery times to as little as 2 days - it really works! Read up on more information about elderberries, a wellness herbal treatment that has been used for generations.

Elderberries are also rich in antioxidants, so they provide anti-aging benefits to your body as well.  The rich purple color is from anthocyanins.  They're anti-inflammatory.  This little berry has a lot to offer.

I did the math really quickly, so I ended up with my recipe being a little more liquid than wanted to fit in my quart jar due to the fact that alcohol is lighter than water and therefore takes up more volume.  Whoops!  I should have accounted for that to start with.  Use these numbers instead to fit it all in.  It's a 50% alcohol solution.

Supplies you'll need: 
A clean quart glass jar
Measuring cups
Digital scale
Wire mesh strainer for when the extract is finished


 Elderberry Extract Recipe at 5:1 concentration 
28 oz / 812 g total weight:

135.3 g dried, ripe elderberries
676.7 g sustainable or organic vodka
OR
338.3 g filtered water and 338.3 g Everclear or other 95% pure ethanol

Directions: Measure and combine all ingredients in the jar.  Allow to steep for 2 to 6 weeks in a cool, dark place.  After steeping strain out the berries using the mesh strainer.  Use 15 ml (1 Tbsp) of extract in a cup of juice or smoothie each day to provide antioxidants and immunity boost.  It's also tasty in a cup of plain green tea or Matcha green tea too.

You can get bulk organic elderberries by ordering online or from your local herb shop.



If you have any auto-immune conditions or are on immune suppressing drugs you may wish to consult your doctor or naturopath before taking Elderberry.  See a list of precautions and possible interactions online.

 For most adults and children this is a very tasty, safe way to stay well during flu season and, of course, totally natural.  Skip the synthetic colored cough syrups and enjoy elderberry instead.

I also adore Gaia Herbs products.  When I'm on the road and away from my bottle of elderberry or just needing the additional support I take their liquicap extracts.  Their Echinacea/Goldenseal combination is in my cabinet every year.  They also make capsules for Elderberry and plain Echinacea in case the bit of St. John's Wort in the combo capsule just isn't for you.  The liquid extracts they produce are just more effective than most powdered extracts and they put a huge amount of time and effort into both their cultivation, extraction and science.  I can't recommend this brand highly enough. (and no, they do not pay me or sample me even, I just love what they do)  I purchased these capsules myself and their Migraprofen capsules have thwarted many migraine headaches for me.  All things Gaia Herbs are good in my opinion.




Thursday, August 1, 2013 in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

St. Louis Dinner in the Garden with City in a Jar - inspired by One Part Plant "For Reals Meals"


Regular readers and Blissoma fans know that we are creating a community garden in North St. Louis City.  It's big and we're hoping to make a big impact for our community and their involvement with healthy, organic foods and herbs.

 Part of my goal this year was to start bringing more people into the garden either through volunteer time or events.  I delivered fliers around the neighborhood and hosted the first group work day in the garden in late spring.  Neighbors I'd never met before came and learned about what's happening on our plot. 

 More events were on tap, and after seeing the For Reals Meals series by Jessica Murnane on One Part Plant I decided that St. Louis definitely needed to host a copycat event.  They say imitation is sincere flattery and Jessica proved her colors when she offered 100% enthusiasm to the idea of her concept spreading to other cities.  Done! 



The season was perfect to have it outdoors in the lush June garden and feature as many locally procured and garden grown ingredients as possible.  Jessica Leitch of City in a Jar became my cohort since I am notoriously unable to focus on anything but food when planning a dinner.  If it was left up to me folks would have been eating with fingers, though the food would have been delicious.  Thank goodness I had help then with the table settings, bartending, flowers, and hosting.



 We invited some neato people in the St. Louis scene, splitting the invite list between us equally.  I reached out to local filmmaker Ken Calcaterra, city government employee and fellow foodie Vincent Haynes, and Cbabi and Reine Bayoc of the famed vegan eatery SweetArt.  Jessica invited her photographer Christopher Willingham who shot all the photos in this post, her videographer, and several other friends.


At 6 pm on the first day of summer the guests began to descend on the garden.  I had planted, weeded, tended, and put in great efforts to make sure the garden was in spiffy shape for the evening.  The garden gods smiled on me and didn't let the weeds, bugs or heat get too far ahead of me.

Jess bartended while I was holed up in the kitchen completing the meal.  Afterwards Vincent told me he'd never consider having a dinner without a co-host again, as it solves the notoriously difficult problem of how to entertain guests while cooking food.  A buddy makes it possible!






We set things up picnic style on low tables with blankets.  It was casual but a memorable dining experience.

Recipes for Dishes from Dinner in the Garden

 - Lavender themed cocktails made with lavender simple syrup and 360 Vodka (Jess declared her favorite to be the Lavender/Lemon variation on a Lavender Collins) 
- Strawberry and Pickled Beet Salad with Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
- Creamy White Bean and Sugar Snap Pea Medley
- Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Crumb Coating and Homemade Heirloom Ketchup
- Panfried Polenta with Garden Herbs and Raw Mustard Greens Pesto

and a gluten-free baklava with coconut ice-milk for dessert


 




All recipes were original concoctions and featured ingredients harvested from the garden to show off the work we've been doing to grow fantastic food.  I'll gradually be posting all the recipes over the coming weeks so everyone can enjoy these healthy and super tasty creations.  With the exception of the white bean salad and baklava all recipes were vegan, and all of them were gluten-free.

Everyone enjoyed their evening.  I was glad I completed dinner by only 30 minutes after the estimated serving time (phew!) and that everything turned out well.  I'm working on some tweaks to the desserts as both weren't as fine as I'd like for sharing with the whole world, but they tasted good that night.

By next year I hope to have a full size farm table made from donated, reclaimed wood to serve on for many future events.  Thanks to both the Jessicas for their contributions!  I highly suggest following One Part Plant on culinary adventures through Chicagoland as you're sure to find something delightful.  We were honored to replicate her concept and instigate a little happy mixing of people and plants in North St. Louis.  We've got a lot growing up here.





Wednesday, May 22, 2013 in , , , , , , , , ,

Does this cupcake make me look old? How sugar is aging your skin.

How sugar is aging your skin

Consult the Herbal Chemist - Sugar and your skin
If you're a person "d'un certain âge" or even someone slightly younger it's time to face up to the truth about sugar.  Put down the cookie and your caramel flavored coffee and lend me your ears, cause it's time for a smackdown.

Most of us are well familiar with the fact that refined sugars especially are empty calories. Unless you've had your head inserted in a box of Captain Crunch ostrich-style for the last decade or so it's no secret - sugar offers only a quick caloric spike, a dive into abysmal blood sugar depths after the high, and no trace nutrients whatsoever.  It's a dietary distraction at best.  Sugar is like that bad boy from high school with the motorcycle, the sexy smile and dangerously good looks that gives you one hell of a ride physically and emotionally and then drops you cold, craving more, and definitely worse for the wear.  The alarm bells go off but we don't listen - we're suckers for the rush and we just want more.  How could something so much fun be so bad??  But oh, it is.

 Sugar is like legal crack to your body.  It's fuel but it's addictive.  It changes your brain chemistry so memory functions are impaired and you're more prone to depression and dementia.   Sugar is also linked to the release of opioid, euphoric chemicals in the brain which causes you to go back for more like the little red rubber ball attached to a paddle.  You're after that next hit, after which you just bounce back for more.  High consumption of sugar in all its forms (glucose, fructose, sucrose, processed grains, etc) prompts you to retain weight, can spur the onset of diabetes, and prevent you from consuming quality foods that actually have benefits for your body.

 But that's not all.  Sugar is also a culprit in aggravating acne, and recently has been implicated in the onset of wrinkles and age related damage.  Your skin can quite literally be a billboard for every Cinnabon and eclair you've ever eaten. 

Your age shows by virtue of AGEs - Advanced Glycation End Products.  These are chemical compounds created by the presence of excess sugar in your body that react with, harden, and thereby degrade your collagen and vascular structures.  Glucose in your bloodstream attaches itself to a lipid or protein in your tissues to form them.  Skin's youthful appearance is supported by collagen, a prime target of AGEs.  Nutrient delivery to the dermis comes via tiny capillaries which can become hardened and restricted through glycation.  The AGE buildup process becomes exacerbated after age 35 and continues to worsen with advancing years.  Unless you don't give a hoot (and chances are you give at least a little one) then as you reach your third decade of life you should be fighting to preserve your skin structure like an ecologist preventing a piece of native prairie from being bulldozed.

skin wrinkles from eating too much sugar

AGEs are formed in large part by consumption of simple, processed carbohydrates, though they may also accumulate by a few other routes such as oxidative stress, sun exposure, and even consumption of foods that are fried, grilled, roasted or baked. (per the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition January 2013)

 The good news is that this means those fine lines, the sagging, and loss of firmness are to a degree within your control.  While our bodies need some sugars as part of our diet for at least a portion of our fuel avoiding excess and refined sugars can make a marked impact on your efforts to retain your youthful visage and healthy resiliency inside as well.

 Restorative Recommendation: Cut your consumption of foods containing excess sugar and high levels of refined carbohydrates.

This can be a really tough proposition for a lot of folks, especially in the USA where sugar is added to practically everything and whole foods are uncommon.  It sneaks its way into you by way of sauces, dressings, processed juices, sodas, most mass market yogurts which are little better than sugared dairy with fake fruity colors, your daily latte (even if you take it without a sweetener, because dairy has a lot of lactose, which is a sugar), and even low fat foods which are pumped up with sugar to replace fat content.

Here's the basics. Sugar is digested and released into your blood stream shortly after it is consumed. The simpler the carbohydrate molecules the faster the release. If you eat a whole bunch at once then what you get is a big blood sugar spike. If you're active at that moment and the sugar is needed as cellular energy it gets burned off. If not then the pancreas has to emit insulin to control the spike and bring levels back to normal, as well as convert the unused glucose to glycogen for storage in the liver and muscles for future energy usage. If you are constantly overworking this cycle insulin is constantly deluging your bloodstream, and excess insulin can cause inflammation.

 So you're inflamed, and there's free glucose running about in your blood.  That glucose then reacts with your lipid and protein structures, resulting in glycation.  Those little lines on your forehead you love to fret over are actually all those cookies coming back to haunt you...

 No skincare product can eradicate the results of these internal processes.  Your food is powerful and literally changes the structure of your body.  If you think you can get away with a super dose of anti-aging serum and eat your cake too, unfortunately the truth is damage is still piling up.  And, double whammy, a recent study has even shown that sugar consumption increases free radicals in your blood stream and lowers your levels of alpha-tocopherol, the active form of Vitamin E and an excellent antioxidant.  This leaves all your organs more vulnerable, and your skin more prone to sun damage.

 Healthy eating is one of the most affordable ways to have fantastic skin. Anti-aging specialty skincare may cost $50 to $200 per product.  With expenses like that buying and eating your organic produce starts to look quite cost-effective and prudent.  

The best results of course would come from both clean eating and excellent, nutritive skincare. If you're binging on processed foods and heavy sugar you are effectively throwing your skincare dollars down the drain.  Not many of us have money to be tossing, and besides the other side effects of too much sugar are dire - increased diabetes risk and all its complications, hardening of the arteries, strokes, arthritis, and other ailments.

 It is impossible for you to avoid ALL sugar.  Fruits and vegetables digest as sugar in the body and the beneficial micronutrients that come from plants are valuable, and your body has to run on something.  The goal should be to eat foods that digest and release sugars more slowly into the body.  Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains also come with a lot of fiber that slows digestion and therefore slows the release of sugar into your bloodstream.

How to avoid buildup of Advanced Glycation End Products in your body from food

1. Eat as many raw foods as possible. 
The raw food camp really has something going for it in avoiding buildup of AGEs.  The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition notes, "Browning of food during cooking is used to enhance the quality, flavour, color and aroma of the diet. This process (known as the Maillard reaction) generates large quantities of AGEs."  
Fresh raw foods have none of these complications, and contain higher quantities of beneficial nutrients as well.  Veggies and unroasted nuts are fiber filled and supply antioxidants, omega fatty acids, and lots more good stuff.  Fruits are good too, but be mindful of how much sugar they are adding.  They're the best kind of sugar to have - at least it is bringing lots of vitamins with it - but to avoid AGEs you still need to balance them with consumption of less sugary foods.  Raw or sprouted "breads" and cracker recipes are available on many raw blogs to help you use just whole, raw grains more often. 
One of the awesome things about raw foods is that just by virtue of the fact that they are pure, whole, and unchanged you can be sure easy-peasy that they don't contain added sugar.  That's one load off your mind and makes your eating simpler.  Processed or packaged foods must be examined closely.  Dried fruits often contain added sugar, making what otherwise seems like a natural, healthy choice into something you should limit.
Meat might seem like a fine way to avoid sugar - a la Atkins - but the problem becomes that most meat is cooked, and as I'll cover below the way a food is cooked determines its content of AGEs as well.

 2. Cook foods only by boiling, steaming, poaching, boiling or slow cooking.  Avoid dry heat cooking methods like baking, grilling, roasting, barbecuing, and frying which exposes fats to oxidation and rancidity in addition to AGEs.
Wet heat cooking methods were found to have the lowest AGE formation.  Grilling and barbecuing have already been found to create carcinogenic substances in meats especially - that blackened crispiness is packed with Heterocyclic Amines or HCAs, which are cell mutagens. 
Other roasted foods are also suspect, even ones you might not immediately think of.  Coffee, for example, is roasted to give the beans their lovely dark flavor which means coffee could increase AGEs in your body.  Roasting is very common for nuts to give them flavor.  Even roasted veggies (which taste delicious due to the caramelization) are suspect.  During the roasting of red peppers the skin blackens in the oven, part of how you know it is done.  That blackening and caramelization has AGE written all over it.  It's enough to make a girl cry over her pan of peppers...
Since baking is a problem any baked bread is a potential AGE source also.  Not only are refined flours spiking your blood sugar, the baking process itself is adding AGEs.  Limit your bread and baked goods consumption.

 3. If you eat grains choose only whole grains. 
Processed grains are a major source of refined sugars.  This includes pastas, white rice, any white breads, and flours.  Your body desperately needs the fiber included with whole grains to slow the digestion of carbohydrates.  Most mass produced baked goods are major offenders.  Purchase artisan, whole grain fresh breads if you desire bread, or consider skipping bread altogether.  
Oats make a lovely raw muesli with a little almond milk, nuts, and dried fruit in the mornings.  Boiled whole grain blends can be seasoned sweet or savory and don't contain the AGEs created by baking. 

4. Make your own sauces and dressings whenever possible.
Sauces and dressings are huge sources of hidden sugar.  Look at any barbecue sauce, ketchup, and even many salad dressings from a conventional store and you'll see high fructose corn syrup marching right at the front of the ingredients panel.  
Even organic and "natural" sauces are often sweetened just with less offensive, less processed sweeteners.  You can add flavor to your foods by using vinegars of all types, citrus juices, unique culinary oils like hemp seed, walnut, and quality olive oils, chiles (one of my favorite flavors), garlic, onion, and herbs.  If you want a little sweetness you an add it yourself and control just how much goes in.

 5. Eliminate all sugared beverages.
Beverages are one of the biggest sources of excess sugar, especially for Americans hooked on sodas and processed juices.  A single soda or juice beverage can have between 150 sugared calories - about 40 grams.  The American Heart Association recommends a sugar limit that "for most American women is no more than 100 calories per day and for most American men is no more than 150 calories per day from added sugars."  That is 25 grams of sugar for women and 37.5 grams for men.  Just one soda puts you over your healthy limit.  
Then add in all the hidden sources of sugar in your day and you can easily see we blow our limit by a lot.  Save what little sugar you do eat for your food consumption and it will be much easier to control. 
Instead drink water, carbonated water, fruit infused waters, unsweetened herbal, green, red, and black teas, and vegetable juices.  Stevia can be a way to add a touch of sweetness without calories.  
Just don't think you're doing yourself a favor by reaching for anything with aspartame or other artificial sweeteners.  You're better off learning to appreciate the flavor of unsweetened beverages, since these franken-sweets can damage your liver, alter your brain chemistry, and may actually encourage you to crave sugar in the long run.  Kimberly Snyder, nutritionist and author, lists more dangers of diet soda.

6. If you must sweeten study your options and choose less processed sweeteners.
This lovely article on Inspiration Green details dozens of different names of sugar and sweetener additives. The author edits the list of options down to a number of cleaner options to use in moderation including:

Unrefined Coconut Palm
Muscovado
Jaggery
Demerara
Stevia
Organic corn (or glucose) syrup (not high fructose!)
Raw honey
Maple Syrup
Brown Rice Syrup
Barley Malt Syrup
Black Strap Molasses

 Drastically decreasing sugar in your diet is not always easy work to do.  For many people these changes require a holistic lifestyle overhaul.  Once you start trying to avoid it you realize just how much of it you may have been eating.

 The bonus is that the benefits of these changes extend far, far beyond your skin.  The entire quality of your life and health will be improved, acne generally decreases, weight and body fat come into balance, and energy levels stabilize.  The return to a whole food lifestyle can be inspiring in many ways as you explore flavor combinations and foods you may not have previously tried.  In fact many people experience a renaissance in their excitement for food when switching to clean, plant-based, minimally processed foods.  There are many raw, plant food, and vegan blogs that can offer you creative cooking ideas.

For further articles detailing information on glycation and sugar-induced aging check out some of the following links.

 Prevention: Too much sugar can cause wrinkles

 Glycation enhanced in post 35 and photo-aged skin.

 Care2 Sugar and Inflammation

 Study shows Glucose Consumption Increases Production of Destructive Free Radicals, Lowers Levels of Key Antioxidant 

 Elle.com Sugar and Aging: How to Fight Glycation 

 Nutrition and aging skin: sugar and glycation

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Dietary advanced glycation end product restrictions

 Dietary Advanced Glycation End Products and Aging



Tuesday, April 23, 2013 in , , , , , , , ,

Adventures in Raw, Vegan, and Grain-free Food - Raw "Doughnut" Dessert Balls and "Cheezy" Kale Crackers

raw vegan doughnut hole dessert balls - healthy sweet treats

I often take my mad scientist leanings into the culinary arena.  It's where I started a journey towards mixology in my childhood with experiments in scratch-made Saturday breakfasts and a predisposition for anything messy.

Several years ago when my family was on a squeaky tight budget cooking came even more to the forefront of my daily life.  Boxed and frozen food "starters" can be surprisingly expensive to purchase and need dictated that I resort to buying the basics in bulk.  This was the genesis of my giant jars of rice, beans, a cabinet full of spices and many hours in the kitchen.  Freshly laden with a mortgage and with a recession on strong there was no money for nights out on the town - no movies, no drinks, and no restaurants.  I might have felt trapped but instead to keep myself occupied and spirits up I spent my Saturdays and Sundays cooking enough food to keep the family steady for the busy week to come.  

 Cooking during this time felt empowering.  It was something I connected to not only creatively but also gave me a small corner of the world where I had a reasonable chance of success.  The wide world might be chaotic and bills might be suffocating me but the assurance of a tasty batch of baked beans had me glued to my oven, watching as they simmered for hours.
Julie and Julia movie making chocolate pie
photo courtesy Julie and Julia
I think of the movie Julie and Julia where it is said, "I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say 'nothing' I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick.  It's such a comfort."


 This comes back to me often as I'm hovering over my stove watching a recipe come together.  Food for me is always an interesting mix of daring and repetitive.  Once you have some basics down you can generally venture forth and start throwing things together with some reasonable assurance it will come out all right.  It has the alluring quality of living on the edge with all the safety of knowing that the worst that may happen is something will get dumped down the drain, a minor consequence in a world filled with far scarier ends.  Bravery can be practiced as you fiddle with flavor and confidence gained.

 The most exciting thing about alternative dietary practices like raw, vegan, and grain-free diets is the fact that they completely blow the hinges off the structure that is conventional American cooking.  Think you really knew something?  Get ready to be a beginner again.  The ingredients and combinations are completely different.  This isn't just adding lemon flavor to a cake and feeling novel, it's reinventing the very flour from which the cake is made, the entire structure, and whether you bake it at all.  While to some this might seem daunting to me it is the very thing that makes it fun.  I love "first times" and the improvisational feel.  The thrill of not knowing what will happen is the very reason to show up.  I do this dance with the known and the unknown in cooking all the time, choosing each day whether I want a foray into foreign territory or another rendezvous with an old friend.

 While I don't have a stringent need to eat dairy or grain free it is enjoyable to practice these guidelines on occasion to experiment with flavor and test boundaries.  Rather than feeling like restrictions it instead resonates as just a separate palette.  We've actually been missing a lot by sticking to our grain and dairy staples and I enjoy forcing myself to see what works in this new realm.

 For a sales event lately I made some raw, vegan, and grain free snacks as hospitality.  People raved about them.  When I served them again at my daughter's birthday party a week later the response was the same.  They are different, but they are tasty!  With the right recipes and flavors there is no sacrifice to eating nutrient rich foods.

 "Doughnut" balls have been popping up on raw blogs for months and I had been meaning to try them.  The 2 types I made give an option with nuts and one without.  Grain free and raw recipes tend to be heavy on nuts but I didn't want to exclude those who had nut problems.

 And if we can say anything about me it is that I am a cracker fanatic.  I figured if I could find a cracker that would satisfy my urge for savory crunch I'd be doing myself a favor.  Enter the "cheezy" kale grain-free crackers...

 Two of the base recipes were found courtesy of Rawmazing, who lured me in with her beautiful photography, because a delightful picture of food is almost as good as eating - almost.  I tweaked both recipes, though, and so the versions I am posting here are revised.  You can visit her site to get the original versions and of course offer her some kudos on her amazing work.  I prefer my updated versions and my guests were also hooked, so I wanted to post the changes I made.

I ended up adding water to both of the "Doughnut" ball recipes I found.  Both were too dry and flaky without it.  The addition of water means you may wish to store them in the refrigerator, but made them so much more soft, tasty, and easy to eat and store.  Anyone who ate raw cookie dough as a child (or as an adult) will adore these dough balls.  They have all the allure of unbaked cookies and far less guilt.
 
raw vegan dessert, healthy doughnut holes or sweet energy balls

Raw Vegan Vanilla "Doughnut" Balls

Ingredients:
30 Medjool Dates
2 Cups of real Dried Coconut Flakes (unsweetened, natural coconut)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 pinch fine Sea Salt
2 Tbsp Grade B Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp water + more as needed

Instructions: 
Put all ingredients but water into a food processor and let the machine run until the mixture is crumbly.  Add water and run until it looks like cookie dough.  This may take a while for the coconut to break down into small enough pieces, so run and scrape the sides as needed and then run some more.  Add a bit more water if the "dough" is not sticking together well enough.
Spoon up approximately a Tablespoon of "dough" at a time and roll into a ball.  Serve and eat them room temperature or chilled as you like.  Store in the refrigerator.


raw vegan brazil nut doughnut holes with cinnamon and sucanat, healthy dessert or snack

Raw Nutty "Doughnut" Holes 

(modified from the Raw Doughnut Holes recipe on Rawmazing)

Ingredients:
2 Cups Brazil Nuts
1 1/2 Cups Oat Flour or Raw Flaked Oats
1/3 Cup Coconut Oil
1/3 Cup Grade B Maple Syrup
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 cup water, added slowly

Topping: 
1/3 cup Sucanat
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Instructions:
Place Brazil nuts and oats in the food processor.  Run the food processor until the Brazil nuts are finely chopped and the oats are finely powdered.  Add the oil, syrup, cinnamon, and water and blend thoroughly until the mixture resembles cookie dough. 
Spoon up approximately a Tablespoon of "dough" at a time and roll into a ball. 
Combine the topping ingredients and roll each ball in the sucanat/cinnamon blend.
Serve and eat them room temperature or chilled as you like.  Store in the refrigerator.

vegan cheezy kale crackers for healthy snacks, grain and gluten free

"Cheezy" Kale Almond Crackers 

(modified from the Cheezy Kale Almond Crackers recipe on Rawmazing)

I adjusted the amount of water, spices, added garlic and created my own baking strategy.  These can be dehydrated in order to be completely raw but I had only an oven and a more limited amount of time (and a LOT of crackers to produce).

Ingredients:
1 cup ground Flax
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups Almonds, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
1 bunch Kale (I used Lacinato/Dinosaur Kale and really only put in about 3/4 of a bunch)
1 cup Coconut Flour
3/4 cup Nutritional Yeast
2 tsp Chipotle
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste

 Instructions:
Mix together ground flax and water.  Set aside.
Place soaked almonds in food processor and run until finely chopped.  Remove to a large bowl.
Wash and de-stem kale and place leaves in the food processor.  Pulse until finely chopped.
Add nutritional yeast, coconut flour, paprika, chipotle, and garlic powder to the chopped almonds.  Mix well.  Stir in kale.
Add flax and water mixture.  Mix with a sturdy spoon or with your hands until thoroughly combined.  Add salt and taste test to determine the level you desire.
Preheat the oven to 225 F.
Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil the same size as a baking pan.  Scoop out a ball of dough and press to shape into a thick rectangle.  Dust with coconut flour.  Roll the dough out to approximately 1/4 inch thick and rectangular on the foil, pressing the dough together to make it stick to itself.
Use a pizza wheel to cut crackers in the size you desire, slicing off the loose, crumbly edges if you like.  Slice lightly through the dough as to not cut the foil beneath.
Pick up the entire foil and transfer to a baking sheet without disturbing the crackers.  
Bake at 225 F for 2+ hours until fully crispy and no softness remains.  Check periodically to gauge progress.
Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet.  Once cool peel the crackers off the foil and put in a tin to store.

vegan cheezy kale crackers for healthy snacks, grain and gluten free

vegan cheezy kale crackers for healthy snacks, grain and gluten free, healthy crackers, grain free cracker
What a fantastic way to get your flax and kale in!  These crackers are great with hummus and other dips or stand alone perfectly well.  My sincere compliments to Rawmazing's Susan Powers for a lovely recipe concept.  I'm going to be continuing to follow her blog for more food adventures and gorgeous photos.

These three recipes are friendly to your skin as well, providing a boost of nutrients, minerals, healthy fats and only a moderate amount of sugar in the "doughnut" holes.  Snacks and desserts can be good for you and your looks if you step outside the plethora of processed options at the store.

Here's to your health!  Hopefully you'll have some fun in the kitchen and give these recipes a try.



Copyright 2011 Blissoma and Julie Longyear. Powered by Blogger.