Another one of my raw pumpkin cheesecakes- well actually two! I had two orders for Thanksgiving. One of them my friend Rebekah ordered, this time heavily drizzled with raw chocolate. We had one too, if truth be told.
This was a birthday cake! Raw chocolate brownie base with caramel and fudgy chocolate ganache!
Then it was my hubbies birthday. I made him a raw chocolate orange cheesecake.
We also had noni and kombucha mock- tails 😉
Amethyst liked, too!
Oh, I forgot about these! They are sweet, thus count as dessert in my book! I made a new seasonal flavor for my line of Love Balls.
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This is from a recent downtown expedition! We went to see an exhibit at a gallery (Artspace) and decided to explore a bit. Yay SBC street art!
And this reminder! It is so easy to lose sight of what is important! I’ve been stretching my body daily again and oh! Such a small, seemingly insignificant habit makes ALL the difference. I am loving feeling good! Just that small daily intention- a few downward dogs, cat/cow pose, legs up the wall, neck rolls- it doesn’t matter. Just making the time to do it is critical. I am so worth it! You are too!
What connects you to your higher self?
What’s up? Things have been going here, it’s all kinda crazy and some days I don’t really know which way is up or down or have time to even catch my breath, much less scrub the bathtub and vacuum the floors. Any other mamas out there feel me? But I wouldn’t change a thing, and the days of having an impeccable house can wait until the babe is older and/or I can afford some help 🙂
This smoothie here is perfect for one of those days when everyone seems to need a piece of you and it’s three o clock in the afternoon and you still haven’t had time to have lunch, much less make it to the gym!! Take care of yourself, get enough nutrition in, and most importantly ENJOY it!!!
-4 frozen bananas -3 cups almond milk (or whatever type of milk you do) -2 tbsp vegan protein powder ( I use my own Sacred Strawberry Pure Plant Protein blend, but anything mild will work) -2 tsp green powder ( I use my Sacred Strawberry Pura Vida blend, but again, anything green will work.) -2 tbsp raw chocolate hazelnut spread (I used my own, but there are some great ones on the market OR just add one tbsp nut butter and one tbsp cacao powder) -1 tsp vanilla powder
-10 drops Medicine Flower banana flavored extract (optional)
Blend in a high speed blender till smooth and creamy. Makes 2 biiig servings.
…superfoods, that is!
I wouldn’t say that I am one of those people obsessed with superfoods, making elixirs that end up costing something outrageous like 20 dollars per blenderful. But on the other hand, I do think that they have their place in a conscious diet.
Ideally, it would be amazing to get all of our nutrients and trace minerals from the produce that we eat, but we have to be realistic about the fact that our soil is seriously depleted of these necessary trace elements (yes, even in organic food!)
Another objection that people generally have to superfoods, and one that I understand and struggle with myself is the whole local foods being ideal vs. superfoods being sourced from across the globe. Again, I think it is always best to balance idealism with a balance of pragmatism. Absolutely, each geographic area on this planet has it’s own indigenous superfoods and it is not explicitly necessary to eat suma from Brazil, ashwaganda from India, goji berries from China, mesquite from Arizona and chaga from Russia if a person lives in Western Europe, for example. Living in Spain, there is an ABUNDANCE of wild edibles and herbals, which to me should be considered superfoods. My husband and I routinely collect nettles, purslane, chicory, rosemary, lavender, pine pollen and more, depending on the season of course!
On the flip side of that, we DO live in a global society, however much we may dislike that fact. That does have it’s advantages. I absolutely adore the flavors of Thai food, and some of those ingredients are simply not local to me. Does that mean that I shouldn’t enjoy it? Of course not! I think the same is true for superfoods, when they are sourced as ethically and sustainably as possible. I truly believe that the world IS facing some massive structural changes, and that we will in our lifetimes undergo radical changes to our lifestyle, necessarily resulting in a return to more local economies. But for the moment, I think that we have been given a special gift in that we are able to pick and choose the most nutrient-dense and delicious foods from all over the globe.
Anyway, my point in all of this (after much rambling!) is simply that recently, I have had an intense craving for the very first superfoods that I was introduced to years ago, but which have fallen into disuse in my kitchen- goji berries and maca. Maybe it has something to do with my body craving specific nutrients, or maybe not, but all I know is that I HAD to have them!
So, I whipped a few things up! These are what I am calling
Local vs. Global Superfood Truffle Balls
These balls are not especially sweet, so if you have a massive sweet tooth or are accustomed to sugary foods, then I would suggest adding in 2 tbsp. local honey or agave syrup.
- 1 cup walnuts and 1 c hazelnuts ( or 2 cups whatever nuts are local to you- these are local to me)
- 1 cup dried figs (or another dried fruit that is local to you)
- 1/2 cup goji berries
- 2 tbsp. carob powder (carob happens to be grown in Spain- if mesquite is more local to you, use that!)
- 2 tbsp. cacao powder
- 2 tbsp. maca powder
- 1 tsp. crystal manna powder
- pinch salt
- 1/3 cup cacao butter, melted
- 1/4 cup xylitol, for rolling balls in
Process nuts and dried fruit, then add everything else minus the cacao butter to the food processor and process again until fully incorporated. It will still be quite crumbly. Add cacao butter and process once more. Roll into balls with your hands, and then roll in xylitol to finish.
Ingredients assembled:
Look at those gorgeous figs from the Alpujarran mountains:
Finished product:
Another recipe I made with the maca is my
Super Curry Macamole
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. bee pollen
- 1/4 tsp. crystal manna
- 1/2-1 tbsp. maca powder
- 1/2-1 tbsp. curry powder
Mush everything together in a bowl and enjoy!
I loved this on some red pepper flax crackers I made:
That is it for now! I have to go pack for this weekend, as I am going on a retreat for the end of my Kundalini Yoga teacher training. We are going to be learning about Ayurvedic cooking among other things, so hopefully I will be able to come back with some new inspiration on Monday! I made the truffles to take along, so hopefully they will be well received 🙂
Thanks for reading!
xx
Hi there! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. Mine has been super busy, but also extremely rewarding! As I mentioned in my last post, I gave my first raw foods workshop. It was really nice to do, but also so, so tiring. I think that more than anything that has to do with the fact that I am 8 1/2 months pregnant, LOL! I think sometimes that I truly must be crazy to take on projects like this right now, but it all turned out well in the end and I am looking forward to doing more- hopefully each time, it will get a little more polished and professional and each time I will get more interest and more people involved.
Today, I have been resting, taking it easy and sipping on iced green tea/nettle blend with lime juice. So delicious, refreshing and gives me a little energy without burning out my adrenals like coffee does.
Anyway, here is some of the things I have been eating recently:
This has been my go-to breakfast most days- super simple Banana Soft-Serve. With the heat here, I just can’t get enough cold things, it seemed. This particular day, my ice cream brekkie had 3 frozen bananas, 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder, 2 T. raw cacao powder, 1 T. Greener Grasses powder and 1 t. crystal manna powder. Seriously, who needs that dairy crap when you can have this??
Next, in order to take advantage of the summer fruit bounty, I have been making fruit sorbets *a lot* Sometimes, even twice a day! This one had frozen strawberries blended with fresh nectarines and a tiny bit of vanilla stevia. I am LOVING the organic fruit we are getting now!!
Lastly, this is a nectarine cheesecake that I made last week and have been slowly munching my way through. Hard work, I tell you! I basically adapted the recipe from Heather Pace’s mango cheesecake recipe.
Nectarine Cheesecake
For the base:
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup dates, stoned and soaked for one hour
- pinch of cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Add all ingredients to a food processor, and process until mixture is crumbly but sticks together. Press into 7 inch springform pan.
For the filling:
- 1 cup cashews
- 3 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 drops vanilla stevia (you can substitute with a combination of vanilla extract and plain stevia, or just vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon more agave or honey)
- 2 cups chopped nectarine
- 1 tablespoon lecithin
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
In a blender, add all ingredients except for coconut oil and blend until smooth and creamy. Add coconut oil, and blend again. Pour over base and place in freezer for half an hour or the fridge for 2 hours in order to set.
I topped this off with a quick chocolate sauce to make it extra lush!
Magic Chocolate Sauce
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
Mix all ingredients together and pour into squeezy bottle. Now you can squeeze magic chocolate sauce to your hearts content.
Yield 1/2 cup
Enjoy! Serves about 7 people.
Lest you think all I eat is sweet foods, today I have had a BIG salad with watercress, romaine lettuce, grated carrot, cucumber, radish and apple, with a tahini lime sauce and sprinkled with a few cashews and hemp seeds.
I also had a few bits of spelt bread with mashed avocado, apple cider vinegar and ground black pepper.
Tonight, I am making a quick raw pizza with some bases left over from the last time I made it, and a sundried tomato and basil pesto that I will share tomorrow.
I’m going to leave you with a picture of myself, taken today at 34 weeks. I think that I have gained a little more weight this pregnancy than what I would have ideally liked to do, but the important thing is that I feel healthy and happy and that the tummy creature is doing well.
Here is looking forward to an awesome week!