Browsing the archives for the dessert tag.

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Healthy

Today, I’m linking up with Organizing Junkie and Life as a Lofthouse for Menu Monday and with KD Buggie Boutique, Mom Blog Monday and Tough Cookie Mommy for Mingle Monday.

One of the best intros to a vegan diet, or even just helping people to be less put off by vegan food in general, is with vegan desserts. Strawberries are always amazing, whether you think bacon is a good idea or not. Amirite?!

I made this for dessert one day and my husband wasn’t really interested in it. He’s a trooper though so he tried and it he was sold! He ate one individual pie and asked for a second one. Then he insisted Wee One #1 try one, and as reluctant as he he, he tried it too and also loved it! Hooray for strawberries!!

As with the grapefruit pancakes post, I’ll go on a little about why this recipe is a healthy choice.

In order of appearance, let’s start with coconut oil! Coconut oil is a saturated fat, and we all know that saturated fats are bad for us, so what’s up? MSN Health does a decent job of covering both sides of the debate, while The Huffington Post explains that not all saturated fats are equal and Care 2 Make a Difference lists six healthy uses. The truth is that the jury’s out on this one. That may not have been helpful, except to confuse you further. Sorry (and welcome to the club).

Honey is a an anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal substance. Um, so I take that to mean we should all be rolling in it?! There are also studies that claim honey can promote better blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity! Plus as many of us with hippie parents know, it works pretty well as a natural cough suppressant! Though that last point is moot with honey as an ingredient. Moving on!

Almonds are one of those foods we’ve been reading about as a ‘superfood’ for so long we’ve accepted it but what’s so super about almonds? They’re high in mono-unsaturated fat and that has been linked to lowering LDL cholesterol and a reduction in the risk of heart disease. The heart disease reducing ability comes from the vitamin E in almonds and of course almonds are also a great source of magnesium (amazing for your veins and arteries) and potassium (important for nerve transmission and contraction of all muscles including your heart).

Orange juice, yes, is full of vitamin C. The phytonutrients in oranges are helpful in lowering both blood pressure and cholesterol!

Cashews, another seriously healthy nut, have the same mono-unsaturated fat that lowers cholesterol and heart disease risks as almonds have. They are also linked to a reduction in coronary heart disease and of course, the elimination of those little bastards we call free radicals.

Strawberries are the star of this show, both in taste, presentation and health benefits. Not only are they amazing for all the reasons we already know they are amazing, like their off the charts antioxidant scores, their combination of phytonutrients, cardiovascular support, prevention of cardiovascular diseases, improved regulation of blood sugar, decreased risk of type 2 diabetes and prevention of of certain types of cancers (like breast, cervical, colon and esophagel) – they are a very good source of fiber (duh) and iodine (really?!) which can help protect us from radiation exposure of iodine-131.

So eat up!!

We are moving long distance in just a couple of weeks. I don’t want to jinx it so I’m not going to talk about it until we are on our way, but it means we are eating from our pantry, and while well stocked, it’s going to be funny next week trying to use up what we have!

This week’s menu (March 12 – 18)
I mentioned last week, I make two separate dinners most nights because I’ve made some dietary changes and I’m not pushing it on my family. They tend to join in with a healthy May-style breakfast and lunch and I make their faves for dinner.

Monday – Slow Cooked Chicken with Rice for the fam, Sweet and Sour Tofu and Rice for me

Tuesday – Visiting my folks! So I’m not cooking!! But I’m bringing this Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie for dessert!

Wednesday – Beef Stew for the fam, Falafels and Beans for me

Thursday – Chicken Legs and Rice for the fam, Vegan Quesadilla for me

Friday – Chicken Ceasers for the fam, ‘Creamy’ Tomato Soup for me

Saturday – Chili for the fam, Tofu Nuggets and Salad for me

Sunday – Chicken Alfredo for the fam, Chick Pea Salad and Flatbread for me

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie via Mama in the Kitchen
Cookie Crust
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
1 1/2 tablesppoon raw local honey
1 cup raw almonds, ground into a powder
Orange Cream
2tablespoons raw local honey
1 organic orange, juiced, (about 1/3 cup)
1 cup raw organic cashews, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
1 pint organic strawberries

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Blend all of the crust ingredients together in your food processor until it’s mushy. Grease whatever molds you’re using with coconut oil and then press the crust into the molds. Put these in the freezer for a while. You can leave them in for as little as it takes you to prep the rest of the recipe and hope for the best or do this part earlier in the day and make the rest later. I did mine all at once.

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Drain all the water from your soaking cashews and pulse them till you have cashew butter!

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Mix your cashew butter with the orange juice and the honey till it’s smooth.
Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie
Wash and chop your strawberries.

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie

Now the magic. Assembly time! Pop out the frozen crusts and layer them crust, strawberries, orange cream, strawberries.
Raw Vegan Strawberry Pie
Honestly so good and refreshing!
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Valentine’s Day Blondies

Domestic

I love how no matter the time of year, no matter the holiday – there is a candy corn for it. Of course I was aware of the original orange, yellow and white candy corn of Halloween, though honestly, I never really liked it. Two years ago I needed some for a recipe and my husband, the saint that he is, came home with like three times the amount I asked for so the kids snacked on it for weeks till it was gone. Then a couple of months later he was back at the bulk store buying some rando ingredient like arrowroot flour or chia seeds or something and he texts me that there is red, white and green Christmasy candy corn. I was way too excited about this discovery but had a lot of purposeful Christmas baking to do and none of it included candy corn, so I totally forgot about it. Months later, he found himself searching for candy that I could use as bunny ears for the Easter cake pops I was making (the post on that to come in time for Easter this year) and came across, yes – pastel candy corn in various colors with yellow and white (pink, green, blue and purple). He brought home way too much of it, I used a lot of them as bunny ears and way too many of them as late night snacks. Theeeen, just a couple of weeks ago, I was looking for pink and red M&Ms to make Valentiney cookies and in the bulk bin right beside them was…wait for it…Valentiney candy corn. Red, pink and white.

I bought two scoops with absolutely no plan for them at all, because I’m a total rebel like that.

Eventually I decided that poking them into a tray of blondies during their last few minutes in the oven was an excellent place for them to go. I was totally right, these babies are serious good. They’re good without the candy corn too but I think the colors make the tray look more festive, yes?

valentines day blondies

The original recipe was found over at Simple Recipes.

1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour

It comes together as simply as you’d expect it to!

valentines day blondies
valentines day blondies
First whisk the melted butter and the brown sugar, then whisk in the egg and vanilla.
valentines day blondies
valentines day blondies
Now just whisk in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) and spread it into a greased brownie pan.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 350F! I took mine out at the 20 minute mark to poke the candy corn in and then popped them back in for another 10 minutes.

valentines day blondies
valentines day blondies
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