Almond Butter Bliss

We had a long day around the house today, and a super special treat was definitely needed!
My oldest daughter hopped in the kitchen with me and helped me create these amazing delights!
Enjoy!
PS Notice the baby fingers photo bombing, trying to steal my almond butter cups!

Raw, Organic, Almond Butter Bliss

Recipe Type: Dessert

Cuisine: Raw Vegan

Author: Gina Law, CHHC

Ingredients

• For the Filling:
• 1 C Almonds
• 1/4C Melted Coconut Oil
• 2 Tbsp Sweetener of choice (If you are using stevia, about 5 drops should work well, but start at 3 and add a drop or two at a time, tasting as you go so you don't get that "stevia flavor"
• 1/8 tsp Salt

For the Chocolate:

• 1/2C melted Coconut Oil
• 1/2C melted Cacao Paste
• 7 drops clear liquid stevia
• dash salt

Instructions

1. Food process the almonds until they become smooth and creamy.
2. Then add the rest of the filling ingredients and process until combined.
3. Pour into a bowl and let harden a bit in the freezer while you are preparing the chocolate.
4. Mix all of the Chocolate ingredients in a warm pan.
5. Depending on size of your mold (Mine are fairly small), pour a 1/4 tsp of chocolate into each of the molds, and then place the molds into the freezer until chocolate is slightly firm, you can take it out periodically and swirl the chocolate around in the mold to let it harden in the sides in order to cover the entire cup in chocolate.
6. Once firm, place about 1 tsp of the almond butter mixture into each mold. Flatten just below the top of the mold. Then pour chocolate into the mold to fill each one.
7. Place back in freezer until hard.
8. Store in the refrigerator. 

Frosty Orange-Mango-Kefir Soda

After the family spent some serious time on a hot and humid Fourth of July weeding the garden, we needed a serious reward, and I was happy to oblige.

Frosty Electrolyte Mango Soda
2 oranges, juiced
The meat of one mango
1/4-1/2 C coconut water kefir
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp MSM powder (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tray ice

Blend together and Enjoy!

Opening A Young Coconut

There are loads of videos online on how to open a young coconut.  I figured I would put together a simple picture showing the tricks that I use every week while making my coconut kefir*.

If you are interested in a printable version, let me know and I'm happy to email you the pdf version.

ginamlaw@gmail.com

**click on the image to make it bigger.

Matcha Milkshakes

One of my favorite memories of my time in Patagonia, AZ, was when I would sit in the shade with my Cafe Sisters on a hot Arizona day, and sip on a tall glass of Matcha Milkshake.  It was always wonderful, and by midway through our drink we would all have smiles spreading  from ear to ear.  If you can get your hands on some of the scrumptious DoMatcha brand Matcha, I can't recommend it enough. 

For those of you new to the concept of Matcha, Matcha is a powdered green tea originating in China by Zen Buddhists, and brought to Japan in the year 1191 where it continued to be important within the Zen monasteries.  Matcha is prepared in a different manner than traditional green tea.  Weeks before the plant is harvested, the plant is placed under shade, removing it from direct sunlight and forcing the it to take up more nutrients and minerals from the soil, resulting in the formation of amino acids.  The finest buds are hand-picked, laid flat to dry and then ground into a fine powder.  When consuming Matcha, the powder is added directly to the drink, where all of the nutrients are taken into the body, verses steeping the leaves and discarding the leaf.  The resulting product leading to a blissful, peaceful, awakened state.  


Traditionally, Matcha is consumed in a ceremony, however, living in the west, and not being exposed to the sacredness of this tea, I learned to drink Matcha as a blissful, summertime drink.  All of my ladies have their own rendition of the drink, I will provide you with my favorite recipe, but please, the fun is in experimenting and finding the combination that most tickles YOUR taste buds.


And if my Cafe Sisters are reading this, I love you and can't wait for our next Matcha break!!!

Matcha Milkshake

Tools:

Blender

Ingredients:

2C Nutmilk

6 dates, pitted

1/2 tsp vanilla powder

3/4 tsp matcha powder (or substitute in cacao, lucuma, mesquite or other superfood powder of choice)

twist of himalayan pink salt

1 tray ice cubes

Blend nutmilk, dates, vanilla, matcha and salt until smooth.

Add ice and continue blending.

Pour into two pint glasses and share with someone you love.

 

A Wintery Winter

It's been awhile since we've been able to enjoy such a beautifully white winter. So many Rhode Island cold, wet, freezing winters have graced us in recent years. Every flake of snow that falls puts a smile on my face. Another blanket laid upon our existing covers. The kids enjoy every moment. I believe this could almost be more enjoyable to them then the blustery days of summer. The knock at the sliding glass door when they just about had enough. The rosy cheeks and snow drenched hair poking out beneath their hats. Another adventure.

The moments when the house is silent.

Someday I believe we will be blessed with a wood stove, but for now every time I hear the heat click on, my two oldest scramble for the warmest vents in the house (the back room and the bathroom), shut the doors to contain the warmth and pull up a child-sized chair. Their slippers come off and those tiny toes caress the warm metal grates. And there they will remain, quiet and peaceful, for the duration that the warm air blows.

How does a family who focuses on raw food stay warm and happy during a New England winter? Well besides amazing green-fruit smoothies, superb super foods and to live for home-made chocolates. Have you ever tried an irish moss mousse? We've been taking this super nutritious sea vegetable and creating the most out-of-this-world desserts. Any occasion is an occasion for celebration. Recently we had some great friends over for dessert. I decided this was a perfect excuse to treat ourselves to something a little decadent. Strawberry mousse with a coconut meringue, chocolate covered strawberries and a splash of chocolate love hearts. Who needs dinner? Life's short, eat more dessert! All raw, mostly organic and filled with love. A bit of heaven in every bite!
I highly recommend Sweet Gratitude: A New World of Raw Desserts this book brought to us our irish moss Ah HA! moment. This amazing book is refining the simple pleasures that we delight in sharing with our loved ones.

Emelia's Birthday Cake

Lying in bed thursday morning my mind wandered to the upcoming birthday party that we were cohosting with friends. My oldest daughter's sixth birthday is coming up next week and my friend's son was turning five that very day. We decided it would be fun to work together on a party.

Dessert is a big occassion in our family. We are pretty much what you might consider foodies, food snobs, or just plain food obsessed. Whatever you call us, we love our food, especially raw food, but most importantly raw desserts. A party is our excuse to pull out all the stops. We love raw cookbooks, we have loads of them and literally sit around as a family studying recipes. We like to get ideas from them, but we LOVE to create our own. And so do the kids. I cuddled up with my daughter and together we began mentally creating her birthday cake.

The cake was delicious with individual

mini cupcake holders filled with a raw, chocolate, coconut cookie, all pushed together and frosted with a vanilla, coconut, cashew cream and covered a with pink chocolate flower and a chocolate birthday inscription, all raw, mostly organic.

The tastiest part of the whole experience was the fact that the cake was the brainchild of my daughter and I, created by the two of us along with my son and savored by the family right down to the very last lick off of our cupcake wrappers.

People have been asking me a lot how I get my kids to eat raw food. We make it exciting, we put our passion into it, and we make it a family event.

Oh, but the coolest part of the day? I went outside to check on the kids later that afternoon, Emelia says "Look ma!" and procedes to effortlessly ride her two wheeled bike, all on her own. Neither my husband nor I had any idea. Kids are amazing!