raw chocolate class!

last night i had the pleasure of attending the ever-endearing and entertaining emma's raw chocolate class at zimt headquarters.
i knew NOTHING about making raw chocolate as i tend to mash banana with coconut and raw cacao powder or mix coconut oil with maple syrup and raw cacao powder to fix my chocolate cravings. will i get a thermometer and start getting some actual chocolate creations happening? we'll see. i would definitely document it on this ol' thing if i did!

emma showed us the slowly melting cacao butter that she mixed with cacao powder at 40 degrees. then it was cooled to 28 degrees and then brought up to 30 degrees to set.
then we made medallions (french accent please) or hearts and such, hehe. then we sprinkled beautiful things on top like coconut, cinnamon, chia seeds, rock salt, cacao nibs, and rose petals and waited for the chocolates to set! glorious!

please know she has just one more class on thursday, march 28th. so sign up if you wanna take part! i don't know when she will be offering classes again! this is one busy lady!
p.s. i got a sneak sample of a cookie dough she has started and is just waiting packaging for. think cookie dough in a raw chocolate bath? oh goodness! swoon! i haven't yet tried her raw caramel and i can't wait to!!! i'm grateful she keeps the cacao innovations flowing continuously!

lazy cookie experiments.

i'm not sure what my deal is, but whenever i make almond milk and have all the almond flour leftover, i either figure i won't use it for awhile and put it in the freezer or i try to make up a recipe for cookies that never works! the other day was no exception.

 what i should do next time is at least try something that has been done before so i get a better idea of what makes a good cookie texture. i'm thinking this cacao walnut cookie recipe might be a good one for next time (substituting the agave, of course!).

for these cookies, i used almond flour, banana, coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon and cacao nibs on top. maybe there was something else too. they smelled AMAZING in the dehydrator.

out of the dehydrator though, i figure these would need raw ice kream on top or something! they are kinda chewy but basically cause me to gasp for air, like eating too much almond butter or something. i think i need to add dates or something sticky and sweet to balance out the dry flour.

next time i will spend the extra 30 seconds and look up some sort of guideline to follow!

mint-chip cheesecake!

so today i made the mint-chip cheesecake out of sweet gratitude, page 100. think mint cacao chip ice cream by cashew creamery as a cheesecake!

 i prepared last night by soaking the cashews and making the almond/cacao/coconut crust so this morning was easy!

ew, the mint and cashews don't look so pretty in the blender.... yet...

there's the crust! YAH!

 ooh and the warm from blending (oops) mint cheesecake! 

 and the chocolate blend for the swirl... my first attempt at a swirl!

 so fun!!!

 probably still could've saved less of the cake mix (and i saved less than the recipe asked to!) for the chocolate swirl but oh well! last time i saved the 2 cups the recipe asked for and it was way too much!

 now here is the best part... after having it in the freezer a few hours, i pat cacao nibs on the sides and top and add some mint leaves and it looks like a real dessert, doesn't it?

just in case you didn't see the first photo... ^_^ 

 oh, you want a view as if you're me, looking down on the cake, ready to cut it?

and here we go! 

 it gets soft so fast! i like it right out of the freezer! ah, and a note for next time with the swirling... i will pour heavier right away so that some of the swirl goes deeper into the cake! 

mmmm... cheesecakes are getting so easy to make! i'm so excited! 

zucchini pasta with creamy something sauce!

if i didn't know what was in this, i'd have NO idea. everything blended together so nicely!

i found this recipe for "raw zucchini pasta with carrot-cashew creme sauce". i used only 3 zucchini so i had sauce left over, i didn't use peas or onions or basil, i used chickpea miso, probably 2 tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes and i used the optional roma. and my juicer is still dead and un-replaced, so i vitamixed a few short carrots with a bit of water and it was great!

 and for dessert... frozen banana blended with a little water and strawberries with cacao nibs on top! YES! could've put in the freezer a bit to firm up but we couldn't wait!

if i could eat this in a restaurant, i'd be most pleased!

so this was lunch yesterday! another ani phyo delight, from p145 of ani's raw food essentials: tomato chili with taco nut meat (bean-free). i only had 1 tomato so i don't imagine i had quite the 3 cups asked for and i didn't use corn but... success! i used less chili powder than asked for since i had stuff from organic lives and wow, i still felt a punch in the head from the chili! it's powerful!

for the taco nut meat (p146), i used brazil nuts instead of walnuts and it was DELICIOUS.

i served the chili on top of some romaine and put half an avocado on each of our plates to calm the chili a bit.

 and yah, this couldn't be better if someone else made it! the PERFECT meal!!!

 and well, a couple hours later, i couldn't resist trying to make a cashew cream with lemon and vanilla to spoon over strawberries with cacao nibs!

catching up...

i've been terrible at updating lately but of course still taking photos of foods i think are fun.
one night in the last few weeks (gah!), i made some sort of ice cream. i'm guessing it was a chocolate mint type thing. but maybe it was just mint leaves on the side of something with cacao nibs. i'm guessing frozen bananas were involved, a splash of almond milk (which i FINALLY started making my own of! hurrah for vitamix!) and who knows. was that it? was there some lucuma maybe? why is it so white? oh man, i'm thinking now that this might just be some of that coconut milk ice cream which is not raw in the least. it might be the chocolate chip mint one and i added nibs to it to make it more legit. ha. the martini glasses help too, right?

ok so ANYWAYS, feb. 13th me and paul hosted some friends for raw dinner. YAY!!! first up (after a veggie juice!) was the caeasar salad i believe i've posted before. i like to practice first so it's not so nervewracking having people over. though i love doing a recipe/idea for the first time for potlucks. maybe it's because there are other dishes/people involved so it's not all relying on me!

then... the raw lasagna! YAH! that day i was like CRAP i don't have anything white or cheese like for a ricotta type layer!!! so i went to gorilla food for some of their alfredo sauce to put as a layer along with marinated mushroom, pine nut pesto, sundried tomato sauce with slices of roma and then ani phyo's marinara sauce for top and bottom layers!

i LOVE all the layers! i felt i put a bit too much thyme (time? ha, not really) into the marinara sauce but at least it wasn't bland?

 for dessert... the brazil nut/almond 'shortbread' from organic lives. these are soooo awesome. i have been begging for them to keep this cookie going. i think hearts are TOTALLY relevant past valentines' day but i don't care the shape of them! if that's why they're done, they should just make 'em in another shape! i just want them again! they are the best! i don't know how you would pick a baked sugar cookie when you could have these!!!

 ooh and then another day recently, i finally made use of the burgers (from nature provides) i bought at karmavore. warmed em up in the dehydrator and packed some romaine leaves (the bun!) with beets and peppers and onions. hurrah! i went to buddha-full the other day and noticed their amazing kale chips are from nature provides. i didn't previously make the connection that the fabulous pizza (i had bought the crust from karmavore also) and raw burger was nature provides also! and so then i'm told that they are building a spot for nature provides in the restaurant to make everything there in house! eek! i love buddha-full. they are going to start having theme nights, i think the last friday of the months so there is a raw meal of a certain style of food like italian or what not. organic lives did an indian one in january which i sadly missed. they debuted a raw samosa which will hopefully be appearing on the menu any day now. i think they are doing a mexican night next! anyways... excited to see what will be served up in buddha-full in the coming months!

 and then there is rooted cafe in eternal abundance on the drive. i was there on friday for dinner and started with the raw chocolate heart! YES! not too sweet... just right!

 and gah, the raw kale caeasar... i could eat a million of these forever. i can't imagine getting sick of this!

 raw tomato red pepper soup with flax cracker. excellent! and inspiring me to get on trying the soups in the vitamix again...

 and well, i had to have a second dessert! after dinner! hehe. the cheesecake! YES!!!

i want to get out to the drive more often. i love what the rooted cafe is doing!!! the food and the people there are so amazing!!!

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 19

breakfast... raw bagel and coconut oil, oranges, salad with *roasted* seaweed and chia cereal with bananas and cacao nibs.

 lunch... the last of my cacao nibs on top of a banana from darren. spicy lettuce stuff with rawmesan on top, salad with sundried tomatoes.

 dinner... the end of camp special buffet. the salad had more of a veggie selection and there were 3 fruits at once! other than that... not many options for me! i took some spaghetti noodles and french fries to pretend this was a great dinner for me too but yuck. i added jovan's raw element garden pesto crackers for some excitement.

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 16

before breakfast, i couldn't help myself but eat ALL of the treats mipa gave me yesterday. ok, darren had ONE but still. these were like a less sweet, softer chewy lara bar: persimmon taste instead of date and almonds and 2 other kinds of nuts. how did i forget already? i'm so grateful for these. i have to detox from sugar right now. yesterday was insane. and i want to feel normal again! thank you so much, mipa for these little orbs of delight!

the last of my almond milk today :( but what a way to go! i soaked the chia cereal in it, sliced up 2 bananas and sprinkled cacao nibs on top. this is HEAVEN. totally doing this when i get home too. well, if i can get away from my blender in the morning. i can't WAIT to make smoothies again!

there were cherry tomatoes this morning so i added them with some sundried tomatoes to the *roasted* seaweed atop of the iceberg lettuce salad.

 lunch... not raw but wow... options! baked squash? just had some at loving hut last night. i LOVE it so much!!! and then a spicy leaf and onion thing that was vegan. yippee! and perhaps the end of my brown rice?

 dinner was sad... even for the meat-eaters. i put some dulse and sun-dried toms and apple cider vinegar on top of the salad. and then ate a (non-raw!) clif bar. and then tried some freeze dried rambutan (very strange and doesn't taste natural at all except the smell is the same) and some chickpea miso soup.

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 13

breakfast! the raw hemp granola and almond milk and salad and persimmons on the side! yay!

some green stuff on the side was exciting at lunch. also the banana because, oh yah, mashed it up again with cacao nibs. LOVE THIS. added hemp seed to my salad. had to eat a vega vibrance bar after this though. and some teriyaki sprouted almonds!

 dinner... my head chef friend made some of the organic brown rice i brought! hurrah! it was nice to have something warm, i have to admit. it tasted like oatmeal. but i was hungry and it worked MUCH better than the white rice they serve. i have been confusing the chef by not taking white rice (which is served at every meal)... it is vegan but to me, it is so pointless (and maybe even painful!) to eat it!
ooh anyways, i had salad too (duh) and splashed some apple cider vinegar on it with crumbs of raw bagels. drinking some chickpea miso as i write this... 3 days until seoul and 9 days until i leave for home!

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 11

breakfast... i had saved a banana from yesterday and couldn't resist mashing it up with cacao nibs like last night's lovely treat! there were oranges and well, salad! and today i thought i should open up the organic almond milk i brought and the goji hemp buckwheaties that i had bought back home at buddha-full. i found it a little bland until i got to the exciting golden berries but really, it was a nice comfort food in the morning. i was hungry by noon though which was a bummer and had to grab a larabar. i wish larabars were raw and organic but i love how simple the ingredients of them are! so really i should be making them myself!

 lunch - an orange i saved, some steamed greens of some sort with garlic salt and then i poured some dulse crumbs and spanish almond croutons from back home at organic lives. i am already regretting i only brought one bag of them with me this trip. i just have a few crumbs left for a iceberg lettuce salad in the very near future.

 dinner... it was a sad night tonight for me as everyone was buzzing about this squash dish that had cheese mixed all through it. i was happy there was cold (yet previously steamed) broccoli and i almost finished off my croutons (alongside dulse again) on the salad. i am so graetful for my bag of spirulina superchips which i managed to eat all of while typing on this here computer. i was so excited to see them at drive organics before i left as i have always ordered the bars from vegan essentials for these korea trips when i have time to wait for them to cross the border. well, a bag costs $10 in vancouver but online, it's $5.49 u.s. bleh. oh well, it was worth it! of course i didn't know i'd end up in seattle the day before i left for korea where i could get 2 bars for $4 at whole foods! ANYWAYS.. this is not a price comparison blog, i swear.

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 10

breakfast... chia cereal (which i added apple slices too - i guess i forgot to include them in this photo!) and the usual salad and *roasted* seaweed...

 lunch salad... sundried tomatoes atop of the rest of a bag of rhythm superfoods zesty nacho kale chips and some olive oil to hold it all together. YES!

 dinner... not so exciting salad as there's just sundried tomato on top. BUT! there were bananas! and i had brought cacao nibs with me! i mashed up some bananas and oh goodness, was that the best. happy sigh!