Raw banana passionfruit and fig cake with coconut sugar lemon frosting

Gee whizz, I haven't been here for a long time. I have some new recipes I am going to add over the next couple of weeks. Still love my raw food, it just makes you feel so good!!! 

I know this doesn't look gorgeous but it taste it!!! I just used a pyrex dish. If you use a spring form pan you can get it to look much better. I was in a hurry to get something nice done for morning tea..this is quick and easy.

 Raw banana passionfruit & fig cake with 

coconut sugar lemon frosting

Makes 1 med cake – serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 cups ground sprouted and dehydrated nuts and seeds - grind in either a food precossor or a blender.

¾ cup dehydrated coconut sugar

¾ cup low temp dried coconut or fresh grated coconut

½ tsp mixed spice

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 lge tsp ground vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla powder

3 extra ripe lady finger bananas

2 passionfruit

5 dried figs – chopped

Preparation

1. Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl
2. Blend bananas then add to the mix with the passionfruit and figs.
3. Mix until thoroughly combined then press into a cling film lined pan, dish or bowl – the shape and size is up to you and your imagination
4. Refrigerate or freeze while you make the frosting

Frosting

• 1 cup cashew
• ½ cup dehydrated coconut sugar
• Zest of one lemon

Preparation:

1. Soak cashew in filtered water for a couple of hours
2. Rinse cashews then add just enough water to nearly reach the top of them in the small cup of a magic bullet or Tribest personal blender
3. Add coconut sugar and zest and blend with the flat blade until smooth and creamy
4. Pour over cake and gently spread

Option: add a little zest and coconut to decorate

Enjoy!

Banana on toast - only much better for you!

Snacks are something that a lot of people wanting to be healthy struggle with. Everyone needs a little enjoyment between meals that will keep you sustained and energised as well as mentally satisfied. Here is a quick easy treat that you can have anywhere in no time at all.

This recipe is what inspired me to make the 4 seeds crackers. There are so many savoury raw crackers but none are neutral! Like bread, do what you want with it!! Whatever you can do with bread you can do with our 4-seed crackers – except roll them up!!  I wanted something that would satisfy those quick sweet snacks like honey and jam on bread. This is also great because it is gluten free, grain free, dairy free with no additives or flavours at all, not even salt! 

Here are some other things you can do with a 4-seed cracker

• ·         Sandwich
• ·         Toast
• ·         Crackers for dips, spread or pate
• ·         Pizza base – little ones!!

Ground up and used as

• ·         Crumbs
• ·         Fillings for nutmeat and stuffing
• ·         Flour in cakes and muffins
• ·         Used in raw bliss balls
• ·         Raw cheesecake base (just process with dried fruit)
• ·         Sprinkle on a salad
• ·         Sprinkles on fruit salad
• ·         Thicken recipes

And that’s just of the top of my head while I type this up.

Then there is the nutrition they contain

Pepitas – for zinc, iron, magnesium, protein and tryptophan.. to help you stay happy! Good for combating prostate cancer and they are anti-inflammatory which is good for everything including arthritis? 

Sunflower seeds – Vitamin E, selenium and folate.. all great for female health including hormones and gorgeous skin. Also heart health, hot flushes and they are anti-inflammatory.

Flaxseeds – Omega 3!! Need I say anymore. Plus lignans for digestive and heart health and fiber.

Chia seeds – another omega-3 hit, antioxidants, fiber, calcium and protein.

Source: http://www.whfoods.com/

Simple, just add sliced banana, raw honey and a sprinkle of fresh or organic dried coconut to a Kitz 4-seed cracker. Enjoy!

Pears and Strawberries.. what shall I do?

Make a Pear and Strawberry Flan!! that's what I did.

I had to make something nice today, the morning tea I  had served them the last couple of days was dismal!! It was one of those things I had to resurrect by making a nice chocolate sauce and cashew cream to pour over it. It looked divine but the cake was  bit dry. O'well, you win some you lose some!!

This was a spur of the moment cake. I had strawberries that needed to be used and I couldn't bring myself to put them in the morning smoothie. I also had some nice big pears that lend themselves to that delicious sweetness needed in a good flan!! So of the the pantry I went looking for more inspiration and this is what I came up with. I wasn't going to write down what I put in it but when I finished it I just though id better. Nothing worse that when I throw something together that they love and then I can't remember what was in it.

Yep it was a hit and yep I going to blog it!! so here is the recipes.

Pear & Strawberry Flan

Base

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Kitz Active almonds

1/2 cup Kitz Active walnuts

3/4 cup dates

1/2 cup coconut (dried)

1 tsp freshly ground vanilla bean

Preparation:

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until sticky but still chunky. Press into the base of a paper lined cheesecake pan.

Filling

ingredients:

1/2 cup cashews

1/3 cup goji berries

cover with water and soak for about 1/2 hr.

add

1 large peeled and cored pear

1 punnet of strawberries

2 tbs chia seeds

1 tbs coconut oil

Agave to taste

Guar gum, - optional and if needed!

Preparation:

Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. If it is too runny add 1/2 tsp guar gum while the motor is running until incorporated and thickened - I had to do this as I had left too much water with the nuts and goji's!!

enjoy!



Current fav - Orange Goji Berry smoothies..

Not only do oranges taste amazing but they are also cheap at the moment. With the amount of I have to peel each morning i'm also loving that they don't have seeds. Navels are my freind. Because everyone should know.. Orange seeds are the natural enemy of a food smoothy!!

I have I told you about Goji berries!! whoa, they are a powerhouse of nutrition!! They have 500 times more vitamin c than oranges and they are a rich source of caratanoids. They contain 19 types of amino acids which include all 8 essential amino acids plus 21 trace minerals. 11mg of iron per 100g plus an array of phytochemicals. Some say they are one of the most nutritonally dense foods around. Plus they taste awesome!!

All you need is about 7 oranges - peeled
Small hanful of goji berries
Ice or water - about 1/2 cup

Blend until smooth and creamy!! devour.

This serves about 2-4 depending on size of oranges and glasses!!

Miso yummy fat free Kale chips and stixs

Kale chips

Kale Stix



All of the Kale chip recipes i've seen are made with either nuts, seeds or oil. Now sometimes that's great but sometimes I just want a light snack. I also make these and crush them up like the celery sprinkles to use in salads. Kale is such a nutrutious green as it is extremely high in vitamins, A, C and K as well as a being a good source of usuable calcium and magnesium. It even has ALA omega 3 in it. Research has shown that Kale consumption is linked to so many improvements in your health and energy that you could write a book on it.
Kale chips are a really easy way to get lots of in!! The truth is I have to stop myself from eating it all before I get it out of the dehydrator.
Most people throw the stalks out but I just can't do that so I had a go at these stix and they are amazing. Yeh, nothing is waisted.
Just like everything I make, nothing is measured so these are just estimates.

Kale chips & stix

Ingredients:
2 bunches of fresh organic kale
3/4 cup freshly sprouted mung beans
1 tsp unpasturised barley miso
1/2 glove of fresh garlic
1 cm peice of fresh ginger
1 tsp fresh tumeric
Splash of low sodium tamari
good healthy splash of homemade saurkraut juice

Preparation:

Wash kale then strip the leaves off the stalks. Chop the leaves into medium sized chunks and place into a large bowl. Chop the stalks into sticks about 5cm long and place into a separate bowl.

Blend all the remaining ingredients in a personal blender, pour onto the chopped kale and gently massage it in.

For the Stixs I added a little bit of stevia to give it a more teriyaki type flavour, you could also use a few sultanas, raisins, agave or a date. the combination of sweet, savoury is always nice, especially with ginger and garlic. I did a separate batch of the wet ingredients for the stix and the chips, so you will need to do the about recipe twice.

Before going into the dehydrator

Bush lemons are abundant at the moment and they are divine. Precious Katie has been bringing them in for me regularly as well as a few limes .. now they are really special!! She gets them from a tree growing wild in the hinterland. Perfect, no sprays, no polution!

I also had some freeze dried blueberry powder I needed to use up. The result of that is this cheezecake type swirl.

The ingredients make this a perfect after training snack.. gotta be happy with that!

Bush lemon blueberry swirl

Ingredients

Approximate only!

Base

1 cup of active mix or equal amount of any other nut or seed. (Preferably sprouted and dehydrated)

½ cup sultanas (raisins)

½ t each of cinnamon and vanilla bean

Squirt of agave or enough to bring it together or to taste!

Preparation:

· Process active mix or nuts in a food processor with the S blade until fine. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until it sticks together when pressed into a ball.

· Press into a baking paper lined cheesecake tin. Place in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups cashews – soaked in filtered water for a least 2hrs

Juice and zest of 2 bush lemons. (Normal lemons would be fine)

½ - 2/4 cup dark raw agave

2 large scoops of Sunworrier vanilla protein powder

1 tbs freeze dried blueberry powder (or fresh/frozen, about ½ cup)

½ tsp guar gum

Preparation:

· Rinse and drain cashews then add enough filtered water to just cover them in a high speed blender. I use the Sunbeam Café series 1100 watt and it is fine. If you have a vitamix!! Lucky you. J

· Add the lemon juice, zest and agave and blend until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more water or agave depending on your taste.

· Add the protein powder and blend it in. then with the motor still running slowly rain the guar gum into the blender through the little hole at the top until it is nice and thick with no lumps. It is important to keep the motor running as it can clump.

· Dollop about 5 big spoons full or a little over half of the mix onto the base. Leave it until you add the blueberry mix

· Add the blueberries to the rest of the mix and blend until it is back to the smooth creamy consistency again. Dollop the rest into the base around the lemon cream.

· Note: if you used fresh or frozen blueberries and it made the mix too runny you can add more guar gum and agave or just freeze it that will help it stabilize.

· Carefully with the handle of a spoon swirl the two mixes until you get a lovely combination of colours, don’t overdo it or it will turn to mud!! Tap it gently on the bench the settle the mix and smooth the top as much as you can then place it back into the fridge or freeze until it is set.

Enjoy!

Still loving raw even though i've been absent from my blog

 Smashed Lemon Casheeze Cake

 Citrus Coconut cakes with Fig Jam and Cashew Cream

 Coconut cake, banana passionfruit salad with Super charged sprinkles and warm macadamia cream

 Pear flan with apricot jam - Nut and seed free

Raw Almond Shortbread House

With Christmas only 5 days away I had to get together our traditional "Gingerbread House". I haven't done one for a couple of years as the kids don't really like gingerbread but they did always love the lollies on it and it looks so nice at Christmas time. To be honest it never really worried me that they didn't eat it as it's not the kind of food I want them to enjoy! But this year I decided to have a go at a raw version and chose the recipe for the Kitz Almond Shortbread cookies for the walls and roof. All healthy with no ginger! The cement is a Cashew Cacao butter cream with agave. The rest is just good ole raw superfoods.. almonds, goji berries, pepitas, apricots, spirulina and coconut with some orange and lemon zest for sparkle. I would have liked the cream to be a bit smoother but didn't feel like having another go at it.
Here it is in all it's glory!! A bit wonky but ok for a rushed rainy Sunday.. :)

Simplicity

I am really enjoying the warm weather, Summer is a great time to enjoy the simple things in life. Fresh air, sunshine, clean beaches, clear water, great running and walking, relaxing, family, friends, pets, gardening.. all of these things are free and bring so much joy. There not complicated, agressive or negative if we handle them properly. Enthusiasm, encouragement and positiveness with friends, family and pets and the sheer joy of our natural environment with the remainder. We are so lucky.

And one of my favourite for summer.. (actually all year!) is the FRUIT.. wonderful, glorious fruit! I am devouring rockmelons, watermelon, mango's, papaya, pineapple, apricots, peaches, kiwi's and more..... it's all just so sweet and hydrating. I am thoroughly enjoying the simpliciy of Fruit! It tastes great, it digests well, it satisfies my sweet tooth and it's easy to get and prepackaged.

Chocolate Velvet Torte for my babies 21st

I can't believe it.. my first born has turned 21! What happened, it all just went so fast. The great thing is she just love raw food especially the desserts so I can always have fun making her a raw cake for her birthday. Forgetting that I had an appointment yesterday afternoon I left myself half and hour to make this cake for her, no time to get a recipe so with an idea in my head off I went. And. YEAH! she loved it so much she said it was the best cake she has ever had. She wants me to make another for her dinner party on Friday night.. but I have bigger plans for that. Will post how it goes. :)

This cake has a crust with raw cacao nibs in it giving that rich choc taste with a tiny crunch and a smooth velvety chocolate filling made with avocado then covered with blueberries.

21 today!

Some new stuff and specials for the festive season

Great ideas for Kitz Living Foods products

With all the fun of Christmas about to happen I want to make sure everyone can have a great time and join in the festive fun which includes eating delicious food.. just don't tell your friends and family it's good for them.. funny thing that isn't it how some people feel that the only way you can get enjoyment out of food is if it is, well.. I would call it processed rubbish!!

But not all of us, I know that you guys are all like me and love feeling great! The only way to stay like at is to eat a fresh healthy diet, gets lots of fresh air and movement, live in the moment and to enjoy our friends and family.

I have always wished for health and happiness.. because to me with that I have everything! It means that the rest of life is great. Remembering to thoroughly enjoy the simple things in life is such a blessing. Things like a super sweet rockmelon that reminds me of caramel, and good run where I have an abundance of energy and just want to go for it, peace and quiet to recharge my batteries, waking up early to prepare green smoothies and fresh healthy fruit salad granola's for my family then us all sitting down to enjoy it together, dinners together with great conversation, treks out into the country to do a nature walk or a 10km canoe trip to a lovely location for lunch.. these are that things that fulfill me.. :)

So to help keep everyone on track with delicious snacks for this special time I am going to be offering some great special on the Kitz Living Foods website plus some one offs special runs of some new products I want to make for everyone to enjoy..

Chunk Special

This week it is the Chunk special with choc chip goji, pineapple pepita and almond, fig and macadamia and the banana, date and walnuts all for the price of just 3, buy for and get one free. There are also the new Almond choc chunk cookies with the chocolate cream filling which have nearly run out.

Chocolate cashew cream filled almond choc chunk cookies