Coconut Gravy

Quick & easy Vegan/Gluten-Free Gravy! Takes about 5 minutes to make...

3 T Coconut Oil
2 T Coconut Flour
2/3 C water or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Heat coconut oil over medium heat until it begins to slightly boil.
2. Add coconut flour & stir constantly until dark brown - be careful not to burn it.
3. Add water or broth & bring to a boil using a whisk to combine the mixture into a smooth consistency.
4. Add salt and sesame oil and stir until oil is well mixed.

Use your imagination for other seasonings. You may need to add more water to reach desired consistency. Enjoy!

Carob Cookies

Being fed up & tired of reading/examining labels in search of a cookie that my body can handle, I've decided to spend the past week browsing other recipes, getting advice & experimenting in the kitchen in hopes of developing a suitable concoction that will feed my desire. This is what I've come up with. Enjoy!

Makes 15 palm sized cookies
Dry:
1/2 C Millet flour
1/4 C Brown Rice flour
2 Tbl. Tapioca starch/flour
3 Tbl. Carob powder
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. Baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Wet:
1/4 C Agave syrup
1/4 C Coconut oil
1 Vanilla Bean or 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 1/2 T Date paste

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients sifting in flour, carob powder, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. Stir until well combined.
3. In a food processor or blender, add Agave and Vanilla, blend on medium & slowly add pieces of date paste followed by coconut oil till well mixed.
4. Add wet mixture to dry, mix & massage together to the point where you can form a solid ball.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Scoop tablespoon size portions into your palm and slightly flatten onto baking sheet.
7. Bake for 13 minutes, and no longer, or cookies may dry out.
8. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

These are best consumed after they have had time to fully cool down. Feel free to top them with nut butter of choice, jam or chocolate sauce.

Buckwheat Crackers

Amazing RAW crackers from the folks @ Cafe Gratitude. These are excellent eaten alone, with dip, or used as a pizza crust. Enjoy!

Makes about 40 Pieces
Presoak for 8 hours, rinse, and drain:
2 C whole-grain buckwheat
2 2/3 C sunflower seeds

1 Tbl. chopped garlic
2 C veggie pulp (i.e. shredded carrot, kale, cucumber, celery)
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. + 2 tsp. italian herbs or your favorite spices
1/4 C ground flax seeds
1/2 C + 2 Tbl. Olive oil
1 1/2 C carrot juice

1. In a food processor, puree the rinsed & drained buckwheat/sunflower seeds along with the rest of the ingredients until you achieve a creamy texture.
2. Prepare 5 dehydrator trays with both the grid & teflex sheets. If you don't own a dehydrator you can bake these crackers in an oven on a cooking sheet with the temperature set to the lowest possible & the door cracked at least 3 inches. Make sure to check on them regularly as to not burn.
3. Moisten hands with water. Place one-fifth of the mixture on top of the teflex sheet. Moisten hands again and begin to spread the mixture out into a layer about 1/4 inch thick, making sure there are no holes and the mixture is evenly spread.
4. With a butter knife, score (slice) each sheet to the desired size of each cracker.
5. Dehydrate @ 145 degrees for 1 hour and then reduce temp to 115 degrees.
6. When the tops of the crackers are dry to the touch, you can flip them.

Best to store crackers in an airtight jar, either in the fridge or freezer. They will last for one week outside of refrigeration.

How to open a Coconut

Most of the soup, smoothie & dessert recipes posted call for either coconut water or coconut milk. The best kind to use would be that which you get from a Young Thai Coconut. Although you can find boxed, canned, or bottled coconut water/milk, I strongly suggest getting the real deal to experience the true flavor of each recipe. Young Thai Coconuts are generally found in Whole Foods, Natural Oragnic Food Stores or China Town. If you've never opened one of these before have no fear, it's very simple. Click the link below. Enjoy!

Click Here

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

By far the best Vegan Parmesan Cheese recipe that is also Yeast-Free. It tastes just like the real deal, is highly nutritious & incredibly easy to make. It comes from Cafe Gratitude's recipe book 'I Am Grateful.' The best thing about this variation is that there are only 3 ingredients. Enjoy!

Makes 1 1/2 Cups
1 C Brazil Nuts
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1/3 tsp salt

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the "S" blade, process all ingredients until fluffy or grain like (this should only take a few seconds). Make sure to not over due this step or else you will get a butter like consistency.

Tomato Basil Soup

This is quite possibly THE BEST RAW Tomato Basil Soup I've ever had! It comes from the Book 'RAWvolution' by Matt Amsden. I found that if you let this sit in your fridge for an hour or so after you make it the flavors have a chance to mix properly. Enjoy!

Serves 2-3
1 1/2 C Thai Coconut Water
3 C blended tomato (4-5 medium tomatoes)
1 stalk celery
1/4 yellow onion
1 C basil
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C Nama Shoyu (soy sauce - optional)
1 tsp. salt

optional:
replace basil with an equal amount of cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, or tarragon.

1. In a high-speed blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend untill smooth

Coconut Melon Milkshake

My favorite way to start the day is with a BIG glass of this Coconut Melon Milkshake! Melon is easily digested first thing in the morning, Coconut water mimics our own blood plasma & is a natural isotonic beverage. These two together will give you tons of energy. Enjoy!

Makes about 24oz
3 C Ripe Melon (cantaloupe or honeydew)
1 C Coconut water
1 Vanilla Bean (optional)

1. Place 3 cups (loosely packed) melon in a blender
2. Add coconut water to 1 cup line
3. Add Vanilla Bean
4. Blend on hi-speed till consitency is smooth
5. Pour into big drinking glass & place in freezer for 10-15 min. This hardens the foam on top and allows the flavors to mix properly

Measurements

All of my ingredient measurements use the American system.

C = Cup
tsp. = teaspoon
Tbl. = Tablespoon

Here is a handy website for converting cups, teaspoons and everything else into grams.

Pancakes

My favorite thing Sunday morning is a heaping plate of pancakes! I've been playing around with a few different recipes & felt that this has been the best one yet. I've found that the slower you cook these the better they are. Feel free to top them off with ice-cream, fruit, nuts or whatever you like. Enjoy!

Makes 4 Large Pancakes:
1/4 C Brown Rice Flour
1/4 C Millet Flour
1/4 C Buckwheat Flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbl. "RAW" Honey
1/2 C water or milk (any kind will work, but I prefer rice milk)
*1 egg or substitute
1 banana
1/2 apple (peeled & chopped)

optional
cashews or nut of choice

1. Mix the above ingredients (minus the fruit)
2. Place mixture + fruit in a blender & blend till consistency is a little chunky
3. Heat 1 Tablespoon coconut oil in a pan
4. Pour Pancake mix into pan, put the pan on low (simmer) & flip accordingly.

*I prefer using real Egg in this recipe rather than a substitute. I find that it binds the ingredients together, gives the cakes a good fluff & is flavorful.