Neat new stuff!

Since school is over for this semester, I've had a lot of free time to browse around health food stores to see what's new, and also to play around with new recipes :)  Since I have a dehydrator now, this is just the beginning of a very exciting holiday season because I can finally make all the raw treats that I love!

So recently......

I discovered a new product--

 I found this raw bar at Healthy Planet up in Markham. It contains cacao powder, all kinds of organic veggies and sprouts, and coated with dark chocolate (the only part that's not raw). I never expected it to taste good at first because of the ingredients, but I was very wrong! It tasted like a chocolate brownie cookie! A must try!

Next, I went to Fresh again because I love their food so much--

 This time I ordered their Mushroom Onion burger (served on greens instead of buns). Their signature grain burger is topped with sauteed mushrooms and onion, plus their super duper delicious house mayo. The burger is really meaty (it also has pinkish and chewy bits inside due to red beets and TVP so it really resembles meat) and the sauce is rich and creamy, so if they don't tell you they're vegan, it would fool a lot of people! 5 stars!

Then, I created some new recipes--

 Black Sesame Walnut milk with Rose

• 1 cup soaked walnuts and black sesame seeds
•  4 cups water (or coconut water to make it extra special)
• 3 or more/less dates or other natural sweeteners), depending on how sweet you like it
• 3 tablespoons rosewater
• 1 tablespoon real vanilla extract

Blend everything in a high powered blender until smooth. If your blender is not very powerful, you may have to strain the milk to make it smooth...Enjoy!

 A cup for my mom (topped with cardamom powder and black sesame seeds)

 I used it for my raw Asian granola that I made last week. The recipe is here. Make the raw version of it by grinding buckwheat into powder instead of using flour (if you have a dehydrator). If not, you can bake it. This milk and the granola compliment each other so well! This is truly one of the most delicious breakfast I've ever had!! I also added sliced bananas, goji berries, cacao nibs, and cinnamon. Mmmm....

Now for the savoury stuff--

 Cilantro Pesto soup topped with sprouts, avocado, green peppers and mushrooms, sprinkled with parsley flakes, dried chili flakes and nutritional yeast

First, make the pesto-

• 2 cups chopped lettuce
• 2 cups chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup raw nuts/seeds of choice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp curry paste or miso depending on your taste bud
• 2 dates or 1 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp black peppercorn
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend everything together in a high powered blender or food processor. Stop when your desired "chunkiness" or texture of the pesto is achieved. To make the soup, simply add water to the pesto and blend until very smooth (this has to be done with a blender). Because this recipe makes a lot of pesto, save some for later use and add about 1/4 cup of pesto for each bowl/serving of soup. The amount of water to add depends on how creamy you like your soup to be. Remember, recipes are just guidelines! Once you're done making the soup, pour into pretty bowls and top with anything you like!  :)

More food!! :D

This morning I had the Asian Almond green tea granola and Dark choco chip mocha muffin that I made yesterday for breakfast (recipe in previous post). They are oh-so-delicious!

Bananas and soy yogurt topped with Asian Almond granola

Better view. The powdery stuff on top is chai and cinnamon powder

Dark Chocolate Mocha muffin

served with banana slices

You won't believe there's bean flour and NO wheat flour in here

Broccoli pancakes that I made after breakfast. Unfortunately I have no exact recipe for this because I needed to use up leftovers from my freezer so I randomly combined defrosted leftover homemade broccoli pesto and almond "cheese", added Thai basil sauce, ketchup, vegenaise, and gluten free flour and pan fried them. 

Smelled so good! They taste super good too! Good in sandwiches, burgers, salads......A unique twist on pancakes/patties :). When my parents came back from a relative's place, they asked immediately if lunch was ready. LOL!

ThanksLIVING 2011!

Its Sunday! My last long run before next week's Scotiabank 5k :) I love love love running in the mornings when the sun is just rising and no cars are on the roads! I can finally breathe deeply! Ran for an hour plus 45min of yoga. Feels super awesome and ready for my bake-a-thon today! I planned to make lots of food because I'm meeting up with my friends to have Thanksgiving dinner at Fresh today (they have 30% discount) so I'm gonna give them the stuff that I made. All recipes are original!

After my run, very sweaty. I got those Nike running gloves at Winners for only $5! They have a pocket for keys!

Ingredients for the first item- my proud creation of The Asian Granola

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup each buckwheat and quinoa flour
• 2 cups sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1-2 tbsp green/black/white tea leaves or a tbsp of matcha green tea powder
• 1 tsp each almond and vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

Mix the dry ingredients first, then stir in the wet until everything is combined. Don't worry about stirring it too much, there's no gluten in here so it won't become tough even if you stir it a gazillion times, although your hands might.

Press onto a cookie tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 325 degrees for about 20 min or until golden brown. 

Remove from oven and break into small pieces. Don't wait til its cool before breaking them because they become crunchier after cooling so its harder to break. Make sure its cooled completely before storing ! If they lose their crunch, just spread them in a mini oven and heat for a minute or so at 300 degrees and let cool. Make sure to check when reheating because they burn quickly!

If you are into raw food and are lucky enough to have a dehydrator, you can also make a raw version of my Asian Almond Green tea granola. All you have to do is make your own raw buckwheat flour by grinding them in a Vitamix or coffee grinder (if you use quinoa, make sure to wash them first because they are coated with a bitter substance), mix as usual, then instead of baking, dehydrate them until crunchy.

Ingredients for my second treat- Oh so awesome Dark Chocolate chip Mocha-ish muffin. You won't believe its high in fibre, protein, vegan and practically sugar free! (the only sugar is in the soymilk). You can use any good combination of flour as long as they add up to 3 cups. If you use unsweetened milks, add a bit more stevia powder.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups spelt flour (substitute sorghum flour for 100% gluten free)
• 1 cup garfava flour (chickpea-fava bean flour)
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/4 cup soy flour
• 2/3 cup strawberry applesauce (or sub regular applesauce)
• 1 cup strawberry soymilk (or sub chocolate soy/rice/almond milk)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate 
• 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp stevia powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp salt

Mix all dry ingredients together. In another bowl, whisk all wet ingredients together. Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients, pour in wet stuff, and mix very gently until combined. Make sure you get the flour at the bottom of the bowl too! Scoop 1/2 cup of batter into each muffin cup (regular size) and top with chopped dark chocolate and instant coffee powder. Bake at 325 degree for 22-25 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Makes about 8 very big muffins. 

Remove from oven, make sure to cool for about 15 min before removing from pan and transfer to a cooling rack, otherwise they will crumble into pieces! If you don't have a cooling rack, go buy one! They cost peanuts, and you won't get sad, soggy muffins.

Yum! Letting them cool down.

Meanwhile, I made raw Melt in your mouth Coconut and Maple coated Truffles :) So simple and easy to make!

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups raw almond butter
• 1/2 cup raisins/dates
• 6 tbsp cacao powder
• 1/2-1 tsp extract of choice
• Coconut/Maple flakes for coating

Put everything in a food processor and mix until smooth and well combined. Roll into balls, coat with coconut and maple flakes, then refrigerate before serving (tastes so much better!). They are quite soft at first due to the heat from processing, and will harden nicely after 1-2 hours in the fridge.

mmmmmm...so good for your taste buds, even better for your health!

Everything that I made today- in only 3 hours (3 1/2 hours including clean up time. My mom was yelling at me while helping me clean up the super messy chocolate and almond covered kitchen). See how easy and fast the recipes are? Not to mention scrumptious! I even made the almond butter from scratch with Vitamix, if you use store bought, you save even more time. So its no excuse to not make your own food even if you're a super busy I-have-no-time-to-sleep post secondary student (Jessica =D)! Even better is that you can save sooo much money by making your own meals! Also, most of the ingredients are not hard to find and you can always substitute things! (but make sure to use common sense when substituting)

I sliced and chopped the chocolate myself so I had lots of extras. What to do with them? Mix them together and use as a cereal/oatmeal/cake/muffin topper! The possibilities are endless!

So after that, its dinner at Fresh time! 

We ordered so much food but still very cheap! I love you, Fresh!

We ordered the Special of the day- Banquet burger for $10 plus a Prix fixe combo, which was $24 and includes a smoothie, an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert to share

Ooompa Loompa smoothie :)

Indian Dosas

Super Protein salad with 2 types of dressings- poppy seed and wild ginger 

Banquet burger! Delish! The "special sauce" listed in the description is sooo good

yummmmmmm

Flourless Cashew cookieeee

The clean plate club

=D Satisfied once again!

Happy wallet too! Only $7.50 per person!!

Jess and I

All of us! Jess, me, Jade, Meagan

Bored in the Go train on my way back home xD

Such a fun filled day!!!!