Thanksgiving Date-kissed Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Cashew Cream

This post cracks me up! I originally wrote it almost a full year ago but never published it. The photograph even has my old blog URL on it. But who cares? Now is the perfect time to share this recipe with you.

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Ani Phyo's Fresh Mango Cobbler

If you haven't entered my blogger giveaway to win a a copy of Chef A.j.'s book, Unprocessed, it's not too late. If you haven't read the responses, I highly recommend that too. Very inspiring stuff in there!

The long Cleveland winter is officially over! It's almost May, so I think it's safe to assume it won't snow again. It's almost 70 degrees and the sun is shining. My windows are wide open as I type this and as warm  wind blows through my living room. I'm grateful and happy that Spring is here.

I'm also grateful that my family and I were invited over to a friend's house for brunch yesterday. When I asked what I could bring, the host requested a dessert. "Perfect," I thought, "perfect for a girl without a kitchen! I can bring a raw vegan dessert."

Are you familiar with the craze that is raw vegan desserts? I was first exposed to the concept when I met Toby, a woman who was eating exclusively raw. She served me a raw vegan key lime pie and it was extraordinary, along with everything else she made. I toyed with the idea of going raw for a few weeks, mostly because of the lure of eating a lot of very sweet, very rich desserts. You see, one of the promises of "going raw" is that dessert is practically a daily indulgence.

"Enjoy live-food desserts without guilt or worry! By eating live-food desserts in this section, you might actually lose weight!"
Bull s#!t.

That was a quote from raw food guru and multi cookbook author Ani Phyo. But I won't hold it against her. I have to take responsibility for being an idiot. In the time that I spent being "raw" I think I gained ten pounds. "Lose weight" my a$$!

My recommendation? When you do decide to indulge in a dessert, go raw. No question. Raw desserts are basically composed of three things: fruit, nuts and dates. So at least you are getting some vitamins and minerals with your sugar. But don't be fooled, these treats should be the exception, not the rule, of a healthy diet.

So when it came time to have some fun making a dessert, I went right to Ani. I've got a copy of one of her cookbooks, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. In it she raves about her Fresh Mango Cobbler. And I have to agree, it ranks up there with the best desserts ever. It could go head to head in a competition with Jane Esselstyn's Incredible Unnamed Dessert (which was actually inspired by a Chef A.j. recipe called "Chocolate Fundue"). During the pre-brunch taste test, everyone in my family loved it.

Click here for Ani Phyo's Fresh Mango Cobbler recipe.

Even the incredibly picky Maya!

I thought it would be nice to present the Fresh Mango Cobbler in a trifle bowl. So pretty!

Want to experiment with an Apple Cobbler version of this? Check out Chefjellynow's Raw Apple Crumble.  I'm definitely making that one the next time I'm asked to bring a dessert. His blog, The Real Meal Today, is very new. Let's give this Nutritarian Chef at Whole Foods the Healthy Girl's Kitchen warm welcome (and by that, I mean check out his blog and leave a comment)!

Have you caught wind of the raw vegan dessert craze? Are you/were you sucked in by it's allure like I was?

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Here for the Fight

Banana Walnut Softserve. Even better than the original with the addition of walnuts.

I'm sensing that there is a little bit of misperception about me out there in the blogosphere. It's pretty understandable, given the fact that I have a healthy food blog and all. That misperception is that I eat perfectly all of the time. There is no such thing that I know of.

I wish it were true, but it's absolutely not. I struggle with overeating on a daily basis. Just because I have finally figured a few things out about compulsive eating does not make me a "normal" eater. In fact, it just makes me even more aware of how abnormal my eating and thought patterns are.

But what is really important to note is that I am not throwing in the towel. The old me would have a bad day or a few bad days and just say, "What the heck. I'll never be able to stay on this food plan and achieve a healthy weight. I might as well eat whatever I want."

My struggles are new. No longer am I fighting with junk food. Anything that had a mother or a face turns my stomach to the point where it's not at all hard to say no. Refined sugar tastes way to sweet.

But healthy food, that's another story. I'm still struggling with eating too much of it. But the old me who would give up--she's long gone. This me is here for the fight. Just thought you might want to know that.  

Raw Banana Walnut Softserve 

serves 1

1 1/2 frozen bananas broken into chunks

6 walnuts

splash of almond milk

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and blend, stopping to scrape down sides of container as necessary, until misture is the consistency of softserve. If using high powered blender, tamp down continuously throughout the blending process.

The good news about these "cookies" is that a sugar addict can eat them without losing control! They are only slightly sweet and would make a great breakfast for someone on the go.

Lightly Sweet Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Cakies

inspired by a recipe from Clean Food by Terry Walters

makes 2 dozen cakies

Printable Recipe

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup rolled oats (or 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup unprocessed wheat bran)

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dried coconut

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place peeled bananas in a medium bowl and mash. Add applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract and stir.

In a seperate medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients except chocolate chips.  Add the banana mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine (do not overstir). Fold in chocolate chips.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a teaspoon, scoop heaping spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and smush down a little. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until edges start to get brown and crisp. Remove from oven and place cakies on wire rack to cool.

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The Engine 2 Diet Superbowl Parties: Ideas Part 1-Rip's Dessert Ideas

Before I get started on this week's really exciting topic (if you missed that post, read here first), I want to let anyone know who doesn't already that today (February 1st) on The Oprah Winfrey Show Oprah will be talking about veganism. What is she going to say? I have no idea, but I sure as heck am going to TiVo it! Apparently Oprah and her almost 400 staffers all went plant strong for a week and have entered the 21st eentury are going to tell us about it. Yes!

Now on to the really important stuff. Rip shared his ideas for what he is going to be serving up at his Super Bowl Sunday get together. And first thing's first, let's talk about dessert! If this subject makes you a little nervous, you are not alone! My advice? Know your limits and have a plan in advance for what to do with the leftovers!

Rip’s first recommendation comes by way of his lovely sister, Jane, who made this chocolate deliciousness for us at our local Whole Foods during the Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge. It’s awesome and easy and could and should be made days in advance, which is really nice when it comes to entertaining. There is no amount of me explaining how good this is. It's that good.


As Jane said, "This freaked me out. This dessert was so amazing when I first had it. It made me, an almond M-n-M addict, realize that I could kick that final frontier of processed food."

You know it's gonna be at my Plant Strong Super Bowl Party!


THE UNNAMED DESSERT (aka ‘You Know You Want It’ and "The Incredible Edible")
by Jane Esselstyn, inspired by Chef A.j.'s Chocolate Fundue recipe

16 ounces pitted dates (or you can pit them yourself)
2 cups of almond milk – plain unsweetened
10 oz. almond butter or peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup dry cocoa powder (optional) 
2 cups raw almonds (or walnuts) – toasted at home and crushed

*The night before, place the dates in a container and pour on the almond milk so that it covers all of the dates. Place in the refrigerator and let soak overnight.


The next day, pour the dates and almond milk mix into a food processor. Add 10oz. of almond butter (or peanut butter) and 1 tsp vanilla into the food processor. Blend until smooth and uniform in appearance, thick but spreadable. (If you desire more of a fondue style, drizzle-able texture add more almond milk.)

STOP! Taste what you have made. If you love it at this stage do not add the cocoa and just skip down to Final Stage directions below. If you want to make it chocolate, blend the 2/3 dry cocoa powder to the ingredients.


Final Stage: Into a handsome baking dish or small souffle dish sprinkle a thin layer of toasted, crushed almonds or toasted, crushed walnuts. Then pour the date mixture on top of the crushed almond layer. Add another thin layer of toasted, crushed almonds on top. Freeze overnight or until frozen solid before serving.


Serve frozen, cut in squares.

I am making a double recipe of The Incredible Edible for our Super Bowl Party.

A double recipe fits nicely into a 9x13" baking pan.

Rip's second selection is an Avocado and Raspberry "Pie." I personally can attest to the fact that chocolate and avocado together is delicious. Renee Mahon from Michigan, the recipe's creator, said, "OK!! I have to share! We have a little immersion support group going in Michigan. We meet once a month at a house and everyone brings a dish to share. I made a dessert and it was amazing…" It appears this too will be at Rip's Plant Strong Super Bowl Party.

AVOCADO & RASPBERRY PIE

by Renee Mahon

2 ripe avocados
2 Tbsp orange juice
14 oz. of grain-sweetened chocolate chips
1 tbsp vanilla

1/3 cup “milk”-soy or almond
2 small packs fresh raspberries

Place chocolate chips and vanilla in a double boiler and melt the chocolate.
Meanwhile, mash the 2 avocados in a bowl and pour the orange juice over the top.
 
Place the avocado mixture, melted chocolate and "milk" into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Once combined pour over fresh raspberries in a pie pan. Put more fresh raspberries on top & refrigerate until it hardens.


It comes out super firm. Cut into small wedges because it is so dense, so firm and yummy!

E2 Dark Chocolate Brownies
from The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn, created by Lydia Heckendorf
Makes about 20 brownies

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp soy milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups (dairy-free) 60% chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the sugars and applesauce with an electric or handheld mixer. Beat in the Ener-G mixture, soy milk, vanilla and vinegar. Combine the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in a separate bowl. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, then stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into a sprayed 9X13" baking dish. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

And there you have it folks! Installment #1 in our Plant Strong Super Bowl Parties series! Check out Rip's blog, The Daily Beet, to see what he's saying about this call to action!  Don't be shy, contribute your own food ideas! If you'd like to contact me directly, my e-mail address is wendysolganik.@yahoo.com

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Cultivating a New Level of Awareness: Trigger Foods

Salty or sweet? You know the answer. (If you're not a compulsive overeater, go read some other blog and come back here tomorrow! We love you too, but this just ain't for you.)

For me, it's sweet. Take some good old refined sugar, pair it with fat, and I've got me a big old problem. Take birthday cake for example. If it's in my house, it's all I can think about, but only after I've tasted it. Put a big bag of potato chips in front of me and they will sit there untouched. Salt has no power over me. God help you if you say both!

Is that a vegan birthday cake I see?

Why yes, it is! Not only that, it's tasty. But I only knew that after I had a small slice (er . . . two) last night. Before that it was just sitting in my basement refrigerator and I might have even forgotten it was there. Now that it's half eaten, all I wanna do this morning is have some more. What does that mean? It means I need to THROW IT AWAY.

So here's what I want to talk to you about right now: Your level of awareness when it comes to your problem, a.k.a. trigger, foods.

That vegan birthday cake, it was good, but no where near as satisfying as Mama Pea's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (hint-the only ingredients are dates, nuts, vanilla and chocolate chips). I ate one of those yesterday and it was enough. They are sitting in my refrigerator right now and I don't want one desperately. What does that mean? It means that for me, these are a safe food. Surely not something that I want to eat all of the time (they are very high in calories and fat), but something that is perfectly appropriate to make and serve once a week at our Friday night dinner.

Want the recipe for Mama Pea's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls? Get it here.

You're probably wondering why I even brought the birthday cake into my house. I wonder that too. Here's what I was thinking: It's my son's third birthday. This compulsive overeating thing is my problem. It may end up being my children's problem too as they get older, but me being super crazy strict and not having any sugar in the house ever is not going to . . . to . . . what?

Am I scared that not having junk in my house is going to contribute to having kids that can't control themselves around junk when they are older? Being a compulsive over eater, I know that if my mom had been filling our house with sugar when I was young (which she wasn't) I would not have been able to control myself any better back then or today. My taste buds and psychology were determined before she had any shot at shaping them. No amount of intervention by her could have saved me from this disorder. I believe you either have it or you don't and there is a certain amount of genetics involved. I definitely see patterns in families.

So what should you do if you want to be healthy, lose weight and not let this compulsive overeating thing take you down? You could develop a set of tools for yourself that if used, would make the situation a lot better. The following are a list of ideas that have worked for me:

(1) Remember the motto "Plant Strong, Not Plant Perfect." Let go of the expectation that you are never going to compulsively overeat again. Just forget about it. It ain't gonna happen. The key is to be aware of it when you do, and then to make the necessary adjustments so that you don't keep repeating the same behaviors over and over again. What's the definition of insanity? Not making mistakes, but making the same mistake over and over again.

(2) Know that just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's healthy or a safe food for YOU. Again, you have to know yourself and really observe how you react around that particular food or food group. You could compulsively eat brown rice. You certainly could compulsively overeat "healthy" vegan desserts, baked or raw. If you try it and have a compulsive experience with it, make it either an "off limits altogether food" or develop rules about eating it like "I will only have that food when I am with other people" and "I will not have that food in my own kitchen/pantry/freezer/refrigerator but I can have it in a restaurant or at someone else's home because in that situation I don't overeat it." Again, you have to really be aware of your own behaviors and develop a sense of what is safe for you.

(3) Eat a whole foods, plant based diet, high in volume and low in calories. "What does that have to do with it?" you ask. I'll share with you my experience. When I was eating whatever I wanted to, attempting to control portions and choose foods that I thought were healthy, I was overweight and unhappy. Eating was a colossal battle for me. I wanted to eat enough to feel full, but I knew that if I ate enough of those foods to actually get full I was eating too much to lose weight. It was a mess!

Fast forward to now. I've been eating a whole foods, plant based diet, high in volume and low in calories for over a year. My taste buds have COMPLETELY changed. I am not making this up. A green smoothie tastes better to me now than a hamburger and french fries. An apple is so sweet it's criminal. Nuts and beans are the new foods that I have to be careful not to overeat. I'm laughing at myself as I write this. It's amazing!

The foods I used to eat taste like garbage to me now. It's not even a struggle to eat this way or to say no to processed food. It tastes like s#*!, why would I eat that?

(4) When your trigger foods make their way into your house, which they will, no matter how hard you try, get rid of them. As soon as you become aware of the situation, throw them out. You have no power over them. That's why they are YOUR trigger foods at this particular time. And they will change over time, that's why you can never rest. When foods that once would not have been a big deal to you suddenly become a big deal when you have eliminated all of your other trigger foods. Just tell yourself that it is normal for this to happen and get rid of the new trigger food.

It's either trash in your body or trash in a landfill. Where do you think it belongs?

Don't feel sorry for yourself. Get excited that you have a new level of awareness that will make you life much more manageable and happier. Never dwell on your past mistakes. Don't let a slip up become a give up. That's your old heavy person's mind doing the thinking for you. Let your new thin person's mind take over. Thin people slip up, they never give up. That's how they remain thin.

(5) The big one. The doosey. Here it is: When you are eating, do nothing else.

Oh boy, I know this is true, but I struggle with it. Have you ever tried just sitting at a table by yourself with food on a plate and a fork and knife and just eating? I thought so. If this were your regular practice, you wouldn't have read this far into this post! It's not something that I am proud of, but I love to eat and read, eat and watch TV, eat and talk, eat and do anything!!!!!

When it comes right down to it, it is almost impossible to compulsively eat if you are sitting down and doing nothing else but eating. Why? Because eating this way is BORING. It's the opposite of numbing yourself. It brings you into the moment. Whenever I do this I can barely eat what I have served myself. It really is that simple. Most of the food that I have eaten in my lifetime I never would have eaten if I wasn't distracting myself at the same time. That's the drug effect of food--the distraction from feeling and emoting.

Are you aware of your trigger foods?

What types of adjustments have you made or are you trying to make regarding these foods?

What happens to you when you sit down to eat without doing anything else?

Could you commit to just eating for one meal? One day? One week?

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Raspberry Banana Date Soft Serve

So it seems my 11 year old cannot get enough banana soft serve these days. "Dessert Mommy?" she says. "Sure!" I say.

Wow, what planet am I on?

Planet happy!

And speaking of planet happy, today for lunch I had my first ever blogger meet up! It turns out that one of the coolest plant-based diet bloggers in the universe lives within 30 minutes of me and we met for lunch at my favorite restaurant, Organic Energy. For her own personal reasons, I can't publicize who she is, but I can tell you that I am so excited to make these kinds of connections. Who knows, I'm already dreaming up a plant strong pot luck at my house where my new blogger friend and I, along with some other local plant strongers, get together for some socializing and rockin' food. 

Anyway, back to the frozen banana soft serve . . . last night's raspberry variety got my daughter so pumped up that she asked me if I could make this one EVERY night. Okay, twist my arm!

  

Raspberry Banana Date Soft Serve

serves 2

1 1/2 large frozen bananas, broken into chunks

1 cup frozen raspberries

4 large pitted dates

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Place all ingredients into high speed blender or food processor and blend until it becomes the consistency of soft serve ice cream, scraping down the sides and tamping down (if using the blender) as necessary.

Have you ever made frozen banana soft serve? If yes, is it a regular thing in your diet?

What are your favorite additional ingredients or do you love it best with just bananas?

Do the other members of your household eat it too?

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Raspberry Mango Banana Soft Serve

If you've never tried ice "cream" like this . . .

This is Max. He's almost 3.

He's a pretty picky eater.

More please!

Nuf said.

Raw Vegan Raspberry Mango Banana Freeze

serves 2-3

2 large ripe frozen bananas, broken into chunks

1 cup frozen mango

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

2 large pitted dates

1 Tbsp ground flax seed

1/4 cup unsweetened nut milk of your choice

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend, tamping down, until all ingredients are blended to a smooth consistency. Serve immediately.

Do you make raw vegan ice creams? If so, how often? Who in your household eats them?

What are your favorite ingredient combinations?

If not, what are you waiting for?

Again, thank you everyone for all of the wonderful comments! This is so fun!

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C is for Cookie, and These Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are for Me!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for all of the comments on my last post. This is all very exciting, and exhausting too (my fellow bloggers know what I am talking about--getting comments is all about commenting on other blogs, and it's practically a full time job. I will do my best!). And while comments and commenting are really fun, I have to keep focus on the main reason this blog exists--sharing my passion for nutritionally excellent food.

Remember I told you I've been ogling over other healthy bloggers Best Recipes of 2010 lists? Well, I wasn't kidding around. So last night, when my trusty kitchen assistant Maya asked if we could bake cookies, I responded with a surprising "Yes" and about knocked her socks right off of her feet!

All of the ingredients for Fat Free Vegan/Susan's Banana Maple Oatmeal Cookies are staples in my kitchen (I LOVE when that happens!). I made two simple changes: substituting dark chocolate mini chunks for the raisins (I personally loathe cooked raisins in baked goods and I knew that to make these a real treat, they had to involve some form of chocolate). I also substituted orange juice concentrate for the lemon juice (I was just plum out).

Everyone in my house loved these cookies, and I love a sure thing! My husband, who won't eat anything with banana in it, didn't even notice the banana (I think) and scarfed down a bunch (he can safely do that). I however, managed to contain myself to just 2. Sweet food is my downfall, but sometimes you just gotta let loose a little. Thanks Sue for your best of list! Here's the recipe.

What kinds of treats do you make in your kitchen?

How often do you indulge in "healthy" baked goods?

Do you find it difficult to limit how much you eat when you are treating yourself? Or are you at a place where it's just no big deal?

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Is It Just Me or is Everyone Becoming a No Added Fat Vegan?

It's probably just me, but does this vegan thing seem to be catching on? Joel Stein over at Business Week Magazine seems to think so, at least among rich, powerful men. Read all about it here. Folks like Alec Baldwin, Russell Simmons, Mike Tyson (really?) and many, many more are proclaiming themselves to be vegan.

Pretty cool, huh?

And if you are a vegan, or moving in that direction, I want to highly recommend the following cookbook, Clean Food by Terry Walters. The more I cook from it, the more I think that it will be my new bible. The recipes are not simple, but also are not overly time consuming or complicated either. The result is restaurant quality, interesting vegan food at home. I'm impressed.

This week I prepared a stuffed squash recipe that I would feel comfortable serving guests for a dinner party or even Thanksgiving. So it was a real treat for us just to have it on a Monday night! Both husband and 10 year old gave it the thumbs up.

Winter Squash Stuffed with Brown Rice and Chickpea Pilaf

serves 8

based on a recipe from Clean Food

4 softball sized winter squash (acorn, kabocha, etc), washed, sliced in half, seeds removed

2 cups brown rice

4 cups water

2 thumb sized pieces Kombu (what's Kombu?)

2/3 cup currants

2 tsp ground allspice

vegetable broth for sauteing

1 large onion, chopped

2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

juice of 2 lemons

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place rice, water, kombu, currants and allspice in a rice cooker and cook. Alternatively, place same ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat.

Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Lightly spray the squash halves with cooking spray. Place squash, cut side down, onto cookie sheets. Roast 25 minutes or until soft (time will vary according to size of squash).

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, pour in enough vegetable broth to barely cover the bottom of the skillet. When broth is bubbling, add onion and saute until translucent.

When rice is done cooking, remove kombu and discard. Add rice mixture and chickpeas to onion and saute for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in with parsley, pine nuts and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon rice mixture into cooked squash halves and serve.

Clean Food is also packed with healthy, seasonal, vegan dessert recipes. Pictured above is a Vegan Pumpkin Pie that was incredibly easy to make and even better tasting. I used a prepared graham cracker pie crust that I got at Whole Foods, but you could make your own pie crust with Ms. Walter's recipe or use any pie crust recipe that you love.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

serves 8

based on a recipe from Clean Food

1 prepared pie crust
12 ounces silken tofu, firm or extra firm
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wrap tofu in paper towels and press to remove excess water.

Place all ingredients (except pie crust) in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of container as necessary. Pour into pie crust and bake for 50 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, cool and serve.

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Chocolate Banana Chia Seed Pudding, It's What's for Breakfast

Chia seeds. A year ago I didn't even know what these little buggers were. Now I can't live without em.
For everything you ever wanted to know about this superfood click here. Chia seeds make an amazing pudding, creamy and crunchy at the same time. 

For this breakfast pudding, mix 2 Tbsp chia seed with 1/2 cup nut milk (I use unsweetened almond milk). Let sit for a few minutes and then stir (a must!). Then, mix in 1 scoop of Amazing Grass Green Superfood Chocolate Drink Powder. Cover and refrigerate until ready for next step.

Make banana softserve. In a high speed blender or food processor, place 1 1/2 frozen bananas, cut into chunks. Drizzle in a little unsweetened almond milk and blend, tamping down and scraping down sides until banana becomes smooth and creamy. Scoop out of blender and put it on top of the chocolate chia pudding. OMG

You could top the chocolate chia pudding with fresh berries or just about anything you like if you don't have the time to make the banana softserve.

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Blog Subscriptions and a Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

When you are trying to lose weight, or even trying to maintain, there's just something really nice about subscribing to a variety of healthy weight loss/eating blogs. This has probably occurred to you, but in case it hasn't, I'll suggest it here. Subscribing puts each new blog entry into your e-mail inbox from all of the blogs that you have happened upon that really speak to you. And it's really easy to unsubscribe if you just don't love that blog that you thought was so cool at first glance.

Here's what subscribing to blogs does for me: it keeps me motivated and it keeps me inspired. How? Well, I'm going to my e-mail multiple times a day and I'm guessing you are too. New blog postings from bloggers with the same goals as mine are a great and positive reminder to stay the course. And I need that reminder continually. There are positive thoughts and things to aspire to. Most people with food issues can connect with each other on a deep level, even if they don't know each other. These blogs are a way to tap in to that energy.

In addition, healthy recipe blogs are a zaftig foodies best friend. There's just no excuse to fall back into bad eating habits when the world of healthy eating and recipes is so available to everyone right now. Just this morning I was reading a new posting from a blog called Loves Veggies and Yoga (http://www.lovesveggiesandyoga.com/) and a recipe for Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse caught my eye. I happened to be going over to a friend's house for dinner tonight and I thought it would be fun to try it out on the crowd. I tweaked the original recipe a little by adding 25% less agave syrup than the recipe called for and it was plenty sweet for me.

This dessert is incredibly rich and decadent tasting, and highly caloric, but is made with nutritious ingredients. A little goes a long way, so you don't need to eat a lot to satisfy a sweet tooth, chocolate tooth, or cream tooth!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

4 ripe avocados

2/3 cup organic cocoa

1 cup real maple syrup

1.5 tsp vanilla extract
 
Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.  Put mousse in refrigerator until time to serve. Any extras can keep in the freezer for a frozen chocolate treat.

I plan on serving the mousse with strawberries. Here's to hoping it's a success!

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Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Sounds too good to be true right? Well, it just might be, unless you are a hardcore vegan. But I'm posting it here, because for any hardcore vegan, this might just be heaven. And according to the folks who tried this at the vegan pot luck (who are not, by the way, hardcore anything!) it was real yummy!

Chocolate Mousse

from Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.

serves 3-4

1 12.3 ounce container light silken tofu, firm or extra firm

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Refridgerate or freeze 2 hours before serving.

P.S. You can taste the tofu taste, so if you really don't like tofu, I do not recommend this!

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Banana Soft Serve Vegan Overnight Oats

No food photos, so I thought I would share this with you.  That's my 5 year old out on Lake Erie!

Again, I really want to apologize for leaving all of my readers high-and-dry for the past few weeks.  My sudden quieting down has a lot of factors, including my lack-of-a-camera-situation but truthfully, a bit of lack-of-motivation recently. Which, in the world of someone who has to work hard to remain at a healthy weight is not such a good thing!

So this weekend I pulled out a recipe that I had in my to-do pile. I can't even remember where I got it from, but after about an hour of searching for it on one of my favorite blogs, http://www.choosingraw.com/, so that I could provide you with the link, I broke down and did a google search for it.  It's a breakfast dish that combines chia seeds and oatmeal soaked in the fridge overnight into a parfait with banana soft serve (remember that heavenly creation?). Well, I guess this stuff is pretty popular, because there are a world of links about it on the www. And after eating it for breakfast this morning, I can attest to its strange addictiveness. If I could, I would eat it again for lunch right now!

So here's a cool YouTube video that explains the process.  The woman in the video has a fantastic blog called Oh She Glows! http://ohsheglows.com/ I highly recommend giving this recipe a try and letting me know if you do!

FYI-The recipe that I used did not layer in cacao nibs or anything else but rather just used the overnight oats plus the banana soft serve. Just saying! Although I'm sure these are great additions. Plus, I used 2 frozen bananas instead of one, 'cause I can't get enough banana soft serve!

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Carrot Pineapple Cake with Cashew Date Frosting

A friend of mine and I got into a brief discussion yesterday about whether or not I post the recipe and pictures for everything I cook in my kitchen, regardless of whether or not the recipe is a "success." She had assumed that because she made one of the recipes that I posted  (Aduki Bean Stew with Millet Mash) and didn't like it, that I didn't like it either but was in the business of blogging about everything that I make.

Ironically, she then mentioned that she made said Aduki Bean Stew a second time, but added both olive oil and salt, and substituted Quinoa for the Millet Mash, and loved it!

I'm here today to clear up some myths and shed some light on this very, very interesting subject: Just who will love the recipes posted here at Healthy Girl's Kitchen? I do have to admit, for most people that are accustomed to eating SAD (the Standard American Diet) jumping into Healthy Girl's Kitchen recipes could be quite a shock to the taste buds and the system.

First, I do not post everything that I make. I consider my kitchen a test kitchen of ultra healthy recipes (remember, I am less into creating my own original recipes and more into testing and tweaking other people's recipes). I have had high hopes for many of the things that I have chosen to test, only to dump them down my garbage disposal, and you never hear about any of those experiences. 

Case in point: the following cake recipe from Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. I made the cake and the icing that was suggested in the book and ended up dumping the icing. It was tofu based and the flavor of the tofu was too strong in the end. I thought it would ruin any chance that people would like the cake, so I threw it away. It is subjective! Maybe some people would like the tofu icing, but I didn't, so I whipped up an icing that I had made in the past from Eat for Health by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and the cake was a smashing success! Well, at least I thought it was . . . remember it is subjective. But my three kids loved this cake, and that is a pretty great sign!

Carrot Pineapple Cookie Cake

makes 12-16 servings

3 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup grape nuts cereal

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar

egg replacer for 4 eggs (4 tbsp flax seed meal mixed with 12 tbsp pineapple juice or 2 tbsp Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 8 tbsp water)

2 cups shredded carrots

1 16 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix first 4 ingredients well in a large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix.

Scrape batter into two 9-inch round cake pans and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Carefully slice each cake in half horizontally with a long serrated bread knife. Frost cake.

Cashew Date Frosting

2 cups raw, unsalted cashews

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 1/3 cups pitted dates

2/3 cup brazil nuts or hazelnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.  Spread on cooled cake.

To make a chocolate frosting, simply add 4 tbsp cocoa powder before blending.

But does that mean that you will love, or even like, any and all of the recipes that you decide to try from Healthy Girl's Kitchen?

From real life experience I can tell you that not everyone likes what I like. It's as simple, and as complicated, as that. The following are the factors that I believe account for a person's taste preferences when it comes to healthy eating:

1. Are you trying to lose weight? How serious are you about that goal? It might be that the more serious a person is about weight loss, the more open they are to enjoying a dish that they know is going to get them to their goal. At first, you just can't afford to be so picky if you want to lose weight. In time, those healthy foods that were once "not your favorite" taste better and better. This happened for me with lentils. I used to hate anything with lentils. Lately, I have been eating a soup at a restaurant that is so delicious to me, just amazing, and it is made with red lentils.  And all of a sudden, I just can't get enough lentils. My battle with lentils is over!

2. How recently have you been eating SAD? It takes some time for a person's taste buds to adjust from enjoying a McDonald's hamburger to loving Aduki Bean Stew.  This reality is talked about a lot in places like http://www.diseaseproof.com/ where many people are dramatically changing their food habits. Inevitably, a person eating ultra healthy begins to taste real, whole plant food in a way that they may never have tasted it in their life. Something as simple as a raw spinach leaf can be an incredible taste sensation that a person savors. Sound crazy? You should watch me eat!

3. Different strokes for different folks.  Everyone is unique. I pick and choose recipes to try and ultimately post based on my own unique taste preferences (I love ethnic food, not too spicy). I'm pretty sure that readers can easily discriminate amongst the recipes that I post based on their own taste preferences.

4. Salt. Salt can make almost anything taste good. It's also something that we Americans over consume to a scary degree.  Over time, if you are seeking great health, you definitely want to watch and restrict your salt intake. But limiting salt in a recipe will have a dramatic effect on the way any savory food tastes. It is just another thing that your taste buds will adjust to if you give them a chance.

Did I answer my own question? I don't know, but I think you get the point!

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