If you missed out on quality raw chocolate for this Easter, here's your chance to try out some new recipes I'm working on next week. I'm offering Raw Chocolate Tasters - a little selection of delicious raw chocolate delights to enjoy!
Some delights I'm creating are:-
Raw Chocolate truffles - velvety chocolate truffles rolled in pure cacao with spices, vanilla and essential oil of orange
something that reminds me of a wagon wheel
something that reminds me of a bounty bar
Chocolate biscuits with cream centres
Peppermint squares
anything else I come up with! Or, even you! If you have an imaginative suggestion for me to try, why not ask me for it?!
Price for a chocolate taster parcel is 21 pounds plus 4 pounds p&p
These pancakes are declicious and light, almost like conventional pancakes. Enjoy warm from the dehydrator with a little melted coconut butter, fruit jam and some nut cream for an extra special treat!
1 banana
1 pear
1 tablespoon buckwheaties or soaked/dried buckwheat
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds or hulled hemp
1 dessertspoon flaxseed
2 teaspoons lucuma (opt)
1/3 vanilla pod
pinch sea salt
dash cinnamon
1 tablespoon olive oil
a few brazils
Blend all of the above with just enough water to make a thick but smooth batter. Put around 2 tablespoons at a time onto a teflex sheet and use the back of a spoon to smooth out into pancake sized rounds. Dehydrate @ 145F until the topside is starting to firm up. Flip over all the pancakes by placing an unlined tray on top of the pancakes, flip over and then peel off the teflex sheet. Return to drier, turn down the heat and continue drying until desired texture of a pancake!
Delicious goji/chocolate cream-filled cake, topped with a real raw chocolate icing. These cakes are rich and customers have found they keep them supplied in cake for up to a week! The cakes themselves can stay fresh for up to 2 weeks in the fridge but you'll probably have eaten it by then!
Whole Cakes are £27 plus £6 p&p. (They are about the same size as a Victoria Sandwich) Ingredients:- organic seeds and nuts, gojis, raisins, cacao, lucuma, raw chocolate, spices, vanilla
Tastes like a chocolate digestive and is a great treat to have with a cuppa. Crunchy on the inside, rich, dark chocolate on the outside, the combo is delicious! Yum.
Crunchy on the inside with with dark chocolate on the outside. Made with raw buckwheat cereal, coconut butter, raw cacao-rich chocolate and lightly sweetened with mesquite and raw honey.
Puts the 'is' back into biscuit.
*Special Offer* throughout August, Free complimentary Raw Mint Pyramid with every order!!!
For further food offerings, please see the listings below
Enjoy a selection of Raw 'LOVE' Treats especially made for you!
£15 including delivery. Posting date 10th February. Or, if you desire only chocolate, see the post below for delicious white and dark raw chocolates by Anabrese.
Sit back and enjoy these especially smooth white and dark chocolates joyfully created by Anabrese.
Each bag contains a mixture of white and dark raw chocolate lovehearts and roses for your pleasure and delight. Will it be dark or white? Choose from sweet sensuous creamy white or dark velvety cacao spice.
A lovely gift to yourself or to share with a loved one for Valentine's Day or for anytime you would like to lose yourself in some raw chocolate bliss!
These chocolates are creamy, smooth and velvety rich melt-in-your-mouth yummy!
It's January and very wintry with snow appearing yet again today. It looked so pretty last night, virgin snow on the road outside. This morning, I could see a single fox's pawprints marked out across the road.
Had a lovely dinner last night. My mini croquettes and 'very pink beet dip' (oh, say that fast!) Lovely and warming for this time of year. Here is the recipe but it's more of a method as opposed to a fixed recipe.
You know how raw root veggies can be a bit hard to eat/digest for some and may not even be that appetising to you? They're not to me anyhow. So, using this method is a great way of putting seasonal veggies to good use, and taste!
Start by blending a selection of veggies you have around. I used approx.
1 slice butternut squash
1 tomato
a few florets broccoli
1 courgette
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 parsnip (just because it was sitting there doing nothing!)
Put all these veggies into your vitamix or blender and add enough warm water to cover up to about 1/2 of the level of your veggies in the blender. Now, add a dash of salt and blend until smooth.
Next, strain your veggies through a sieve, mashing it through with a spoon until you have veggie pulp. You could use a nut bag but I prefer a sieve for this and I don't actually want the pulp too dry. Set aside.
Next, grind up 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds and a few brazils in your nut grinder. Place this into a mixing bowl. Now, add your favourite dried or fresh herbs. I used the ones below but you can use whatever you like. Sage can be really nice too.
Now stir in 2 tablespoons to start with of your veggie pulp and work it in until you have what looks like a thick nut pate.
Check seasoning, adding sea salt to your taste and more spice if you desire it? Make sure it tastes good to you.
Sprinkle your teflex sheet with ground flaxseed. Then, put dessertspoons of the mixture onto the teflex sheets until you use up the mixture. Dry @145F for 30-45 mins then flip over and dry for a further hour until they are to your desired 'dryness'. It's better waiting until they're dried out a bit before trying to shape them.
These are so easy to make, I hope you enjoy them!
Here is the beet dip I made for them.
1/2 beet
2 handfuls macademia nut or pinenuts
pinch sea salt or to taste
squeeze lemon juice
pinch cayenne or ginger
Blend with a little water until smooth and creamy.
For more of my raw recipes, please see 'Raw Lunchbox', 'Raw Chocolate Treats' and 'Raw Christmas & Thanksgiving Recipes' ebooks.
Made a lovely big box of raw muesli for this season. It's really easy to do and saves you a lot of fiddling around mixing all your ingredients separately. I used oats, buckwheaties, bilberries, sunflowers, pumpkins, hazelnuts, coconut, apricots, raisins, cacao nibs, bee pollen.
Served with hemp milk and a little xylitol or honey to sweeten, yum.
In these damp and cold Autumn days, I really enjoy a cup of creamy hot chocolate with something sweet that is quick to make if I have nothing raw already made up.
To make instant hot chocolate, just blend the following:-
1 cup hot water (you can use your seed milk if you have some)
2 tsp cacao powder
2 tsp mesquite meal
1-2 tsp favourite sweetner ie honey or xylitol or agave
1 pinch sea salt (brings out the flavour)
pinch cinnamon and ginger (opt)
1 handful macademia or pine nuts or brazils
Blend until creamy and adjust sweetening, spices
Raisin/nut clusters
1 cup nuts (macs, brazils, almonds)
1/2 cup raisins
little water or orange juice
cacao powder
Process the nuts, then add the raisins and process again. Add a little water to make a sticky dough. Break off small pieces and roll in cacao powder.
Inspired by Emma's desire for pre-made raw snacks, I offer you the Potluck Postie!
This is a weekly service when I will send out a small selection/sample of whatever I have been creating in the raw kitchen. It will mainly include things like savoury bread, crackers, cookies, chocolate, cereal, cake (although not all at the same time!).
For example, this week's selection included:-
Buckwheat garlic/tomato/onion bread
Coconut/fruity/cacao soft cookies
Crunchy buckwheat/oat biscuits with coconut icing
You can let me know of your favourite foods for future PP's and if any ingredients are a 'no no' for you.
Generally, the idea is that the Potluck Postie (PP) is a surprise package, however, if you would like to know in advance of the general type of food I'm making, just drop me a PM through facebook or email me at info'at'rawlifestyle.co.uk (replace 'at' with @)
All payments need to be received by Tuesday 10am for that week and food will generally be despatched Thursday.
Prices are 15 pounds per parcel including P&P mainland UK. You can also opt to buy the Raw Christmas Hamper here instead of at the xmas site. Price includes delivery. Potluck Postie Feedback:-
Was delighted to receive my Potluck Postie package – didn’t know what it was and when I opened it all these lovely little parcels fell out…. Each one was absolutely delicious and I was in danger of eating all of them at once. I am SO looking forward to the next delivery.Vikki
I love this idea - I don't have to make any decisions and I get a surprise package! Everything this week was great, especially the chocolate cereal bars and the almond cookies - delicious. The food arrived in good condition, so no problems with the packaging. The food really helped me to cope with a busy schedule, and I am going to order as often as finances will allow. Thank you so much for this. Julia
I just wanted to send you a little email to thank you for the delicious potluck postie.. I must admit it made my day when i arrived home from a long days work to find my goodie bag waiting for me :)) and the contents topped it all off.. they were absolutely delicious.. Robert
Last week was my first postie. My two year old daughter loved the white chocolate flax seed crackers! Finally a healthy biscuit/treat that I can feel good about sharing with her. Tracy
Hi...Ive been meaning to email you for days to say I really enjoyed the goodies in the last postie potluck...they were delicious. I tried to make them last as long as possible but didnt quite manage it! Jenni
A tip for producing next day sprouted buckwheat cereal.
Soak buckwheat around midday (a kilo is good if you're going to be dehydrating into crunchy buckwheat cereal.) Leave to soak for 30 minutes. Strain over a sink. Cover the buckwheat with a tea towel which will accelerate the sprouting time. Next morning the buckwheat is sprouted ready for eating or dehdyrating into bucky cereal.
This is a lovely pate to use in nori rolls or as a spread on flax bread. Enjoy!
2 whole tomatoes 4 sundried tomatoes, soaked 3/4 cup walnuts, soaked 1 carrot 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1/8 tsp turmeric, ground 1/2 tsp oregano, dried sea salt to taste
Quarter the whole tomatoes and chop the carrot. Put the spices/herbs into the food processor. Add the tomatoes, carrot and walnuts and process into a pate. Check seasoning, add more salt to taste if required.
I have to say this is a delicious drink throughout the long cold winter we have here in Scotland. It has kept me warm this winter and I think I am going to miss it in the summer!
1 large cup almond milk (made from blending 1 part nut to 3 parts water and then straining the pulp) 1/3 vanilla pod 2-3 teaspoons raw cacao 2-3 teapsoons mesquite meal 1 teaspoon maca (opt) 1 teaspoon purple corn extract dash cinnamon and ginger dash agave syrup (opt) pinch sea salt cacao liquor for grating on the frothy top
Blend up the almond milk with all of the above ingredients until smooth. Sweeten to taste with a little agave syrup and blend until creamy. Warm up in a saucepan and then give it another whizz in the blender before pouring into a tall glass. Grate the liquor over the top. Enjoy!!!
Sorry, the 'Chocolate Boxes' are no longer available but if you want to make your own delicious chocolates like these see 'Raw Chocolate Treats' for the recipes!
The recipes are simple enough to give every chocolate lover a unique creative experience.
Making your own raw chocolate at home is rewarding, good fun and even cheaper than buying commercially available chocolate bars. You can become your very own raw chocolatier in your own home making raw chocolates for yourself, your family and as gifts for friends. The book also includes delicious chocolate-tasting desserts.
Have a chocolicious day!
Monday, 10 November 2008
Well, it's that time of year again where all the advertising of food, food, glorious food hits you in the face everywhere. It can be very tempting for new raw foodies to eat some of the familiar comfort food they grew up with. But, you don't have to succumb to all that stodgy, depleting heavy food that's on offer at your aunties. I have made it easy for you by producing a book chock full of the most tantalising, delicious, feel-good food you can imagine on a raw diet. If you prepare a little in advance of your social gatherings over Christmas, you will enjoy the lifeforce of raw food at its best and most delicious. On that note, have a wonderful merry time and enjoy all the other wonderful things about this time of year, as well as the food!
Hi, we're on the tip of the Autumn here in Scotland and I notice how food choices are moving out of the summer salad and fruit fare to thoughts of warming and filling treats and pies. A super choice right now is soup with it's warm, comforting and smooth effect on mind, body and spirit. A little flat bread could be a good accompaniment or mixed vegetables warmed up and a cream dressing added. Whatever you decide to have, enjoy the new season and I'll speak to you soon.
We're moving into the Autumn here in Scotland now and I have been making bread over the last few days experimenting with different recipes. Here is one for you to try.
1 cup sprouted and dehydrated spelt 1/2 cup flax seed 1/2 cup sesame seed 1 tsp asofetida or other spice 1 tsp carraway seeds dash sea salt 1 tablespoon olive or sesame oil coconut oil as butter on warm bread
Grind up the spelt and seeds in a grinder until a course flour. Transfer to a bowl and add salt and spices. Use your fingertips to rub in the oil. Add a little water at a time until you have dough.
Transfer to your worktop and use ground buckwheat flour or flax to prevent the board getting sticky. Divide the bread mixture into about 8 even pieces. Take one piece and roll into a long 'snake'. Cut into 3 and make a plait. Or, you can simply slice your bread bun into thin slices. Dry in the dehydrator @145 for 1-2 hours.
1 cup buckwheat/flax flour (1/2 cup each of buckwheaties and flax seeds ground) 1/2 cup cacao 2 tablespoons mesquite meal 4 soaked figs 4 soaked apricots 1 apple 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp spirulina 1 tsp mixed spice 2 tsp coconut oil or olive oil pinch sea salt
Put all the dry ingredients into the food processor, then add the soaked fruit and process until you have a dough. Place fudge-like dough on a teflex sheet and place another one on top. Use a rolling pin to roll out to about 1cm thick. Cut off the edges to make a neat square. Mark into squares. You can leave as it is or place in the dehydrator to dry out the oil slightly @ 145 for 45 minutes, turn over halfway to do the underside. Or, just place in the fridge until you're ready to put the icing on if you're using it. You could just make a chocolate sauce and pour it over the brownies before serving!
Melt the coconut oil and stir in the mesquite until it is like a thick soup. Pour over fudge and set in the freezer or fridge. Cut brownies into squares and store in the fridge up to a week or the freezer.
