Cheesecake

This is gleaned from several online raw recipes and the crust is a simple basic graham cracker crust. Make certain you check the ingredients of your graham crackers. We tend to buy organic brands of graham crackers merely because the ingredient list is much shorter and contains stuff you'd make crackers with, instead of 40% plus of chemical additives (who even knows what they are anymore? But high fructose corn syrup isn't going to make you feel any better, I will tell you that.)

New Morning Honey Grahams are what we use. Love the short ingredient list. Unless you're throwing it together yourself with a million wonderful real ingredients, the shorter a processed food ingredients list is, the better off you are. This is a general principle we follow and it has made a big difference over time. It makes it easier to eliminate mercury if you're body is given real nutrients with which to fuel itself, and not a bunch of non-food items. :)

Cheesecake

Crust:

1-2/3 graham cracker crumbs (put 1 packet in a ziplock and use a rolling pin to make crumbs, save extra for mini-jam-pies, coming later)
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (organic sugar)
1/3 cup melted butter

Mix together crumbs and sugar then add butter and stir very well. Pour it into a 9 inch pie pan or cheescake pan, smash it down with your hands so it evenly covers the bottom (and sides, if you're using a regular pie pan) and set in fridge until needed.

Filling:

3 cups cashews soaked (at least one hour)
3/4 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cup of raw honey, agave, or maple syrup
3/4 cup of coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional, but yummy)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped

Tablespoon or 2 of water if mixture needs a bit more liquid. May not be necessary depending on how saturated your cashews are, wait until the end to add this.

Put everything in your food processor and process for several minutes until the mixture is completely smooth and homogenous. Make sure to scrape the edge down at some point in the middle of the processing.

Pour into the prepared pie crust pan and smooth it out. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours, or until set. Pie can be kept in the fridge after, although it will last longer if it is stored in the freezer.

Serve with blueberries or raspberries rolled in sugar over the top if you like.

Cheezers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Quick 5 Minute Banana Ice Cream

I've found recipes like this all over the web, but the original was done in a 5 page segment, making you click links at the bottom of each page for a recipe that literally takes less time than it takes to load in all those pages! Very silly for 5 minute ice cream.

• Peel and freeze some bananas (I use two bananas per person eating).
• Once they are completely frozen take them and throw them into your food processor with a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice (this helps it stay yellow instead of turning brown and gives it a lovely freshness).
• Start your food processor at its highest setting and let it go and go and go at least 3 minutes
• Part way through the process you might feel certain that it's not working, and you won't get ice cream. Flip the off switch and scrape down the edges.
• Then keep going, for a total of about 5 or 6 minutes and you will get ice cream! Lovely light fast healthy banana ice cream.

Some suggestions: Top it with walnuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, a dash of nutmeg, or berries and enjoy. You can also add other fruit into the processor with bananas, as long as there is enough banana, it will always turn into ice cream. If you want a banana bread flavoring, try adding a touch of honey with just a trace of your favorite spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.

It doesn't keep really well, so be ready to eat what you make. Or put it on top of a cupcake or cookie. Fast, versatile and pretty much idiot proof. A winner here! :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

Vanilla Coconut Cream Candy (Link)

Okay, my first trial of the Coconut Cream Concentrate I posted about a few days back. They are good, but in my opinion, a little bland:

Vanilla Coconut Cream Candy

It's definitely sulfur-free, and healthy and raw, but I would change it up a bit next time. I'd definitely add fresh vanilla in addition to the extract. I'd probably also spice it up a bit with a good teaspoon to teaspoon and a half of freshly ground cardamom. And I'd add more sweetener, either 1/2 cup powdered sugar along with the honey, or a quarter cup of coconut sugar.

The cream all by itself is tasty, but it needs a kick in this combination. If you like very basic bland stuff, tho, this might just fill your cup.

Cheers!
~Miriam

Raspberry Glazed Chicken a la Lisa

Ah, a recipe I don't need to test out, because my friend, Lisa Prague, invented it and I know what a great cook she is already. :)

I maybe post some of her other recipes, but you might want to wander through her GF blog all on your own, and make replacements to her great recipes to add some lovely delish to your repertoire.

Raspberry Glazed Chicken (by Lisa Prague)

I must try this now, soon as my raspberries come into season. Yum!

Cheers!
~Miriam

A Cream Replacement (Product Post)

Waha, thanks to a good friend of mine who found this and pointed it out to me, I think we low sulfurites now have a pretty effective and healthy full cream replacement. I'm dying to check out some of the recipes and modify and post them here. I can also think of a whole bunch of ways to use this kind of cream to make something truly delicious.

Coconut Cream Concentrate


Already got my first two bottles and am excited about cracking them open. Recipes to follow.

Cheers!
~~Miriam

Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies (Link/Replacements)

Taken from Food.com's Egg-Free Peanut Butter cookie recipe, the only replacement is sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter. This recipe is easy, fast and delicious. My 9 year old helped me bake and test this batch and it's been met with great approval. Note, this would be a great dough for a coconut milk homemade cookie dough ice cream recipe. Will try this when time allows and post it.

For ease, I'll copy it with the replacement here, too, and any small adjustments I made during our trial:

Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 15 mins

1. Mix together sunflower seed butter, sugars, vanilla and butter until well blended.
2. Add all the rest of the ingredients, and beat well until totally combined.
3. Form dough into balls about 1/4-1/2 inch in size, and place on ungreased cookie sheet, mark top of balls with fork.
4. Bake in 375 degree oven for 7-9 min.
5. Remove from oven and let stand on sheet for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack, cool completely.
6. Store in air tight container.

Mange!
~Miriam