Raw Apple Cobbler

From Thanksgiving to New Year's, it's really easy to forget about health.
It's the holidays, it's cold, family get-togethers... all of these things make eating sweets very justifiable. Especially on Thanksgiving when the majority of my calories are coming from mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!

But eat decadently doesn't have to mean eating poorly. This raw apple cobbler was well-liked by family- even the New Orleans-food loving step-cousin of mine.


Ingredients:
4 C apples, diced

Sauce:
1 banana
1 apple
1/3 C maple syrup
1 T cinnamon
1 C almond milk

Crust:
2/3 C almonds
1/2 Tbsp neutral oil (I actually used flax oil for omega-3's, and it came out fine!)
pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp raisins

Chop up the apples and place in a serving dish, I leave the skin on.
Then, add all of the sauce ingredients to a food processor or blender and puree. This will make more than enough, so you'll only need about half of this. Pour what you will use over the apples and toss.
Add the almonds to the food processor and pulse. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well combined. Crumble this over the apples.



It can be eaten right away, but it's better if it's left to marinate a little in the fridge. It's perfect for both dessert and breakfast!

Banana Almond Maca Mush

Fruit is great for breakfast. Especially on those hot Summer mornings when it seems all I want is watermelon. But on a chilly morning before a long day of school? I tend to want something more substantial...

This is a tasty bowl of banana-ness, raw, and a wonderful breakfast to wake up to!

Ingredients:
☺ 2 ripe bananas
☺ 1 Tbsp raw almond butter
☺ 1/4 C almond milk
☺ 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup (or to preference)
☺ 1 tsp maca powder
☺ cinnamon and ginger, to taste

☻ In a bowl, thoroughly mix the almond milk, almond butter, maple syrup, maca, and spices. Mash in the bananas so that it has a lumpy texture, and voila! Easy, delicious raw breakfast.

Raw Buckwheatie Cereal

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

But trite expressions aside, eating a raw breakfast is more important that eating any other meal raw. And I need a breakfast that I can anticipate every night. If I weren't trying to be more raw, soy yogurt with fruit and granola, oatmeal, quinoa pilafs, cereal, nut butter on bread with apple slices, or sometimes even pancakes would suffice. And sometimes I don't mind enjoying some oatmeal or soy yogurt for breakfast, still.
But this recipe satisfies any cravings for a non-raw breakfast. It's sweet, flavorful, with a slight crunch, and it's raw!

♫ Buckwheaties ♪
1 C buckwheat
1/4 C nuts or seeds, chopped up, more or less if you want (optional)
1/4 C raisins or other dried fruit (optional)
Cinnamon

Soak the buckwheat for eight hours, or overnight. Drain it and rinse well. Rinse once or twice a day until you see little tails, this should take only around one or two days.
Dehydrate them until they are crispy.
Toss them with the other ingredients in an airtight jar or container.

☼Cereal☼
Fill a bowl with fruit. I like to use grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas, but whatever works for you.
Take a small handful of the buckwheaties cereal and toss with the fruit. Pour over some almond mylk like you would pour it on cereal, and add a drizzle of maple syrup.

It's mostly fruit, but it's pretty jazzed up for a fruit salad, and it has been my latest breakfast obsession! ☺

Walnut Maple Raisin Granola Bars

A successful granola experimentation... :)

Walnut Maple Raisin Granola Bars
1 C rolled oats
½ C grounded and/or chopped up walnuts
½ C oat flour (ground up oats)
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¼ C grapeseed oil, or any lightly flavored oil
¼ C maple syrup
¼ C raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together all of the ingredients and pour into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Press them down, and stick them in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
Enjoy! :D

Sunflower Granola

I've been in a granola daze lately... Granola, chocolate, fruit, and peanut butter. It seems like my diet has been based around those four things for the past couple of days. Perhaps not the healthiest diet, but it's better than what most eat, right?

I hadn't actually made granola for some time, and after doing some experimentation with granola bars (with a couple successful recipes, which will come soon!), I wanted just simple granola, so... that's what I did! :D

Sunflower Granola
2 C rolled oats
2/3 C sunflower seeds
1/3 C coconut
1/3 C grapeseed oil
¼ t salt
1 t ginger
½ C sunflower seed butter
½ C maple syrup
A few spoonfuls of brown sugar, if a sweeter granola is desired...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix everything together in a bowl, and bake for about an hour or so, or until it's the level of crunchiness you want. Stir every 10 to 15 minutes while it's in the oven, and enjoy! :)

Granola Bars

Granola bars are amazing. There's no doubt, whether it's an elaborate bar, or a simple, raw, nut & date bar.
But the store bought stuff can get a little expensive... So why not make your own?
My mom likes having granola bars (or cereal bars) around to bring to work or have as a snack. The only bad thing was she would buy Kashi. I do have to hand it to Kashi for getting more people into eating organic, relatively healthy things, but Kashi is just a branch off of Kellog's- one of the largest buyers of palm oil there is. Not to mention the long list of ingredients on those bars, which also includes milk from dairy cows raised on CAFOs (if you would call mass producing a living animal raising...).
To get her to stop buying them, I promised I would make my own granola bars for her.

The first couple of tries did not work. But then I discovered the glory that is parchment paper!

Basic Granola Bar Recipe:
2 C rolled oats
1/3 C oat flour
½ tsp salt
1/3 C nut/seed butter (I like using a mix of different ones)
1/3 C vegan brown sugar
2 T rice syrup
¼ C safflower/sunflower or grape seed oil
¼ C agave syrup


~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees
~Mix all the ingredients together, and press into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

These are delightful with some melted chocolate on them, or with chocolate chips. And it's so easy to add any type of whole nut, seed, dried fruit, or whatever floats your boat.

Rice Pudding (A Breakfast or Dessert Item- you decide!)

I love breakfast. It is no doubt my favorite meal of the day...
Maybe because the mornings are my alone time while the rest of my family sleeps (I'm an early bird...the only teenager I know who happily gets up before 7 am on a weekend), or maybe because it starts the day off right. And there isn't anything like a good, hearty breakfast to put you in a good mood before a weary 7 hours of school...

That, or the fact that you can get away with eating dessert-like items for breakfast!

I have a sweet tooth. Most taureans do.
I love having a bowl of quinoa or oatmeal [very] liberally drizzled with maple syrup, or a plate of sweet, juicy, fresh fruit. Or maybe cakes, muffins, scones, or cinnabuns.

And I don't see anything wrong with that...
To be honest, I thought this was normal though. I mean, what with all those nasty, processed cereals being sold today. (Though, you can't really compare a home-made, not-Quaker bowl of oats to Lucky Charms) But I guess my parents didn't agree. They thought it was odd that I offered to make rice pudding for breakfast before we went skiing...

But it's all the same. Whether you eat it in the morning or at night, rice pudding is still a yummy bowl of...rice. And hey, at least it's brown rice! Plus, if we didn't eat High-on-the-Glycemin-Index breakfasts to make our blood sugars crash, how else would we get rid of all that energy a vegan diet gives? (hee hee)



Brown Basmati Rice Pudding
2 C brown basmati rice
4 1/2 C water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cinnamon stick
1/3 C raisins
2 C unsweetened, plain plant milk (more or less to preferance, I like a litle bit more)
1/2 C maple syrup
1/4 C agave nectar
2 Tbsp vegan butter
1/4 C slivered almonds
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1) Whirl the rice in a blender/food processor/coffee grinder to chop it up a little bit. It's okay if some turns to rice flour, but make sure most of it is about half the size it was.
2) Toss it in a pot with the water, cinnamon stick, and salt and bring it to a boil. Once it's rolling, reduce heat, add the raisins, and let it simmer until all the water is absorbed. (It took mine roughly 25 minutes, but my grains always seem to cook faster than the recommended time- whether they've been chopped up or not)
3) When the water has been absorbed, and the rice is soft and cooked fully,remove the cinnamon stick and add the milk, maple syrup, agave, butter, almonds, vanilla, and spices. Mix it thoroughly and let it cook on low just a couple minutes longer...
4) Done! I prefer mine cold, but it's tasty either way :)



And enjoy it for both breakfast and dessert ;D

Haitian-style Sweet Potato Cakes

We were learning about Haiti in French class when my teacher announced a project we had to do, not surprisinlgy, about Haiti. There were several options to choose from, but, again,not surprisingly, I decided to bake something...
I missed the day the food projects were due for familial reasons, and with snow days and midterms to follow, I didn't hand this project in until 2 weeks later... oops...

I first looked for Haiti recipes online, and although I did try out two of them (one of which was really tasty!), I wanted to make something that was mine. Using some of the staple ingredients in Haiti desserts (sweet potatoes, bananas, coconut), I decided to make little cakes!

Haitian Sweet Potato Cakes
2 C peeled and grated sweet potatoes

1 large banana
1/2 C vegan brown sugar
1/2 C vegan dark brown sugar
1/2 C coconut milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 1/2 C plain, unsweetened plant milk (I used soy)
2 C whole wheat flour
1 C white whole wheat flour
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

More cinnamon for top.

1.)Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2.) Pour the sweet potato into a bowl, and mash in the banana. Add the brown sugar, dark brown sugar, vanilla, milk, vinegar, and coconut milk.
3.) In a larger, seperate bowl, whisk together the flours, white sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and the spices.
4.) Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until well combined. Pour into a greased 9x12 inch pan. Sprinkle on top some more cinnamon.
5.) Bake for 35-45 minutes in the oven. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted, but the cake itself will be very moist- in a good way!


I made a sugar glaze to top over them once they were done by mixing confectioner sugar with some water and pouring over the top, and that definitely turned out well!

My french class seemed to like them, so hopefully you will too, Happy Baking!