Rawfully Tempting™

Hazelnut Cloud Smoothie

2012-01-25T16:30:00.005-05:00

Making a basic green smoothie, is relatively simple and I've posted some easy recipes in the past, but IF smoothies are something you plan on doing every day, like I do...sometimes you just want something DIFFERENT. By adding flavored extracts and assorted Raw products, you can take your smoothies to the next level. You certainly don't have to use all of the products I suggest in this recipe. You can stick with the basics, however.. I like to work with a FUN and COLORFUL palette, to satisfy my palate.

Hazelnut Cloud Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 young Thai coconut (water and meat)
1/2 to 1 cup of water (depending on desired thickness)
4-5 kale leaves or your favorite greens
2 frozen bananas
2 Tablespoons **hemp seeds
2 Tablespoons **chia seeds
3 Tablespoons **cacao powder
1 -2 medjool dates
2 Tablespoons Living Tree Community Hazelnut Cloud Spread
1 drop *Medicine Flower Hazelnut extract
ice
Directions:
Blend coconut water and meat. Add remaining ingredients. Add more water as necessary to blend and add ice cubes if desired to thicken and chill. ENJOY!

*Note- Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in Shipping Comments and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your order.

**Note - Include the Coupon Code "rawfullytempting" with your order, and ZNatural Foods will deduct 10% off of your order. (This is a one-time use per customer coupon).

Green Cherry Papaya Smoothie Bliss

2012-01-17T07:15:00.000-05:00

D E L I C I O U S! I'm not a big fruity smoothie person. I really dig my cacao...but this was totally scrumptious. Fresh papaya and some frozen cherries...and other goodies...(see below)...

Cherry Papaya Smoothie Bliss for 2
1 young Thai coconut (water and meat)
2 frozen bananas
(water as needed for consistency and volume)
handful of kale, dandelion or greens
1/2 small papaya chunks
1 1/2 cups or more frozen cherries
1 medjool date (optional)
2 Tablespoons hemp seed
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
ice'
1 drop Medicine Flower Morello Cherry Extract (optional..but FANTASTIC)

Blend, pour, enjoy!
*Note - Mention "Rawfully Tempting" and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your order.

Best of Raw 2011

2012-01-15T16:29:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. Laura Fox's Best of Raw Celebration - 2011. How exciting...Rawfully Tempting has been nominated in four categories! One of them, Best Raw Vegan Blog. If you enjoy the content of this site and the recipes I create and post, please consider taking a moment to vote for this site under the MEDIA category. Also, select your favorite raw people, coaches, educators, places, products, etc.

To Place Your Vote:

1 - REGISTER - and also receive a free ten day mini course.

2- VOTE - Place your votes for the categories in EACH SECTION. There are 4 sections to vote in. (PEOPLE, PLACES, PRODUCTS, MEDIA) - I am listed under MEDIA (Best Blog) and PEOPLE - (Raw Coach, Simple Raw Chef, Gourmet Chef)

After you vote in each SECTION - the site brings you back to the Main Page, where you must select the next SECTION you wish to vote for. Do this for EACH SECTION. There are four of them.

3 - **Go to MEDIA - scroll down to BEST OF RAW VEGAN BLOG and Rawfully Tempting is listed here. If you enjoy this blog, please consider voting and showing your support.

4 - There are some wonderful people to choose from. Support the folks that you feel are the best resources for you.

5 - SHARE this with your friends so they can vote too!

6 - Voting will be in 2 states. This is the elimination round. So vote and show your support ASAP.
PS - Internet Explorer is not working well with this site, so please use another browser.

Thank you for all of your love and support!!! Blessings - Barbara

VOTE HERE

Sunflower Seed Pate (Toona Salad)

2012-01-12T13:50:00.007-05:00

I'll be making this for a Meetup Group that I'm attending in Princeton, NJ. The recipe is very reminiscent of either tuna salad or chicken salad. You can add dulse flakes or other sea veggies to give it a touch of the sea and add some awesome nutrients. You can also add raisins and chopped apple for a sweeter variety. Take the basic recipe and create your own Rawfully Tempting treat!

Sunflower Seed Pate
Serving Size : 6

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, (soaked 4-6 hours)
1/2 cup almonds, soaked overnight, (optional)
1/2 cup water, (or more as needed)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup red onion finely chopped
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp dulse flakes (optional)
2 Tbsp coconut water vinegar, your favorite vinegar, or lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt (to taste)

Directions:

Process nuts and seeds. Add water as needed.
Transfer to bowl and add remaining ingredients.
Serve on raw crackers or bread or with raw veggies. Create roll-ups in lettuce leaves. Goes GREAT with Rawfully Tempting "Rye" Bread, topped with cucumber, lettuce, tomato, avocado, red onion, etc.
I've also made this with chopped walnuts and raisins, which reminds me of chicken salad. Mash a little avocado into the mixture for an extra creamy variety. Add dill or cumin, or whatever spices you like.

Cheddar Cheeze recipe is HERE.

Leftovers

2012-01-09T17:22:00.004-05:00

Last night I made a spectacular Mexican Style Cauliflower Rissoto. Rather than waste any leftovers, I took the remaining "Sauce" and Rissoto and threw this meal together in about ten minutes!!!

Mexican Style Cauliflower Rissoto on Zucchini Noodles

It's easy to either spiralize zucchini noodles, or cut them into noodles with a peeler or slicer. I spooned some of the creamy cashew sauce onto the noodles and added a scoop of Mexican Style Cauliflower Rissoto. Garnish with chopped red cabbage, fresh parsley, and cracked pepper. DONE. Take a moment. Be present. Be grateful, and enjoy this beautiful living meal!

This could be warmed in the dehydrator if you like!

Mexican Style Cauliflower "Rissoto"

2012-01-08T19:13:00.023-05:00

Soooo good, I practically licked the plate clean. Yesterday, I posted Chef Russel Jame's Cauliflower Rice in a Creamy Cheese Sauce recipe video, along with my own version of the recipe. Tonight, I was on a roll and inspired to create a totally different flavor. You can do this. See how easy it is? Just changing up some of the herbs and spices, gives a whole new style to this dish. Thank you Russell James!

Two nights in a row, I used the same basic recipe and created two unique dishes. Don't forget to click on the link above to view the amazing videos posted by Chef Russell James and see what you can come up with.

Mexican Cauliflower Rissoto - Stuffed Tomato
Ingredients:
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into chunks
3 broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup cashews
3 Tablespoons of pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cilantro
1/8 teaspoon or more chili powder or more
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon coriander

Directions:
1. In a food processor, pulse the cauliflower and broccoli until it is "rice-like."
2. In a blender, mix cashews, pine nuts and water.
3. Add salt, lime juice, nutritional yeast, and spices. Blend until creamy

4. Transfer rice to a large mixing bowl and pour at least 1/2 of sauce over rice and mix. Add more sauce to achieve desired consistency. Add fresh chopped cilantro (optional),
5. Add cracked pepper. Taste for flavor and season as needed. Serve over salad greens or stuff into a tomato. Garnish with avocado and red onion. Raw corn chips go great with this too!
6. Use leftover sauce as a salad dressing.

My daughter Lindsey sure loved it!

Check Out Russell James Videos Here!

Cauliflower "Rice" and Creamy "Cheese" Sauce

2012-01-07T20:52:00.006-05:00

I've been posting some real "Quick and Easy" recipes the past few days. W is still away, and when I prepare food for myself, I want it to be seriously simple. Chef Russell James is at it again and posted a few awesome videos. One of them contained this cauliflower recipe, and like me, he is encouraging you to PLAY in the kitchen and let yourself be creative. Take a basic recipe and run with it. This is what I did after watching his videos.

Watch the Russell James Video Series Here. (Click on Video #1)
Russell James Video Series - also includes a video on How to Make Raw Garlic Bread

Cauliflower Rice With Creamy Cheese Sauce

Using Russell's video, this is what I created:

Ingredients

1/2 head of cauliflouwer, cut into chunks

1/2 cup cashews

2 - 3 Tablespoons of pine nuts

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Italian herbs

fresh parsley and/or basil

red cabbage

sun-dried olives

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse the cauliflower until it is "rice-like."
In a blender, blend cashews, pine nuts and water.
Add salt, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, Italian herbs and blend until creamy.
Put cauliflower rice into a large mixing bowl and pour sauce over rice. Add fresh chopped parsley and/or basil, sliced olives and a bit of chopped red cabbage for color. (you can use tomatoes as Russell suggests).
Mix well and add garlic powder, cracked pepper. Taste for flavor and add additional salt or seasoning as needed. You could add shredded carrots for color as well.
Serve over a bed of lettuce and garnish with avocado, tomatoes and other vegetables. If you have any dehydrated crackers, they would go great with this as well. Let this sit for about 30 minutes. I think it tastes better!

ENJOY!

Creamy Carrot Soup

2012-01-05T19:58:00.004-05:00

This was yet another quick and easy recipe that I threw together in a flash and was pleasantly surprised at how absolutely full-bodied and flavorful it turned out. I accompanied this lovely soup with some of my Veggie Pulp Crackers that I had dehydrated from the Creamy Veggie Sauce on Zucchini Pasta.

F A B U L O U S!!!! I will definitely make this again. When people claim raw food prep takes too long, they really have no idea. There are so many wonderful quick and easy recipes that can be thrown together in a matter of minutes. The cumin and lime blended so well with the carrot. One of my favorite quick blender soups so far! (Select "Quick" in the CATEGORY drop down menu and see for yourself).

Creamy Carrot Soup

Ingredients:
2 carrots, chopped
3/4 cup water
1 small clove garlic - chopped
1/8 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/2 avocado, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1/8 teaspoon cumin powder
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Directions:
1. In blender, mix carrots, water, garlic and ginger.
2. Add red onion, avocado, lime, cumin and salt, and blend until creamy.
3. Add more water as needed for texture.
4. Serve and garnish with cracked black pepper. Serve with Veggie pulp crackers or raw spicy kale chips.

Creamy Veggie Sauce on Zucchini Pasta

2012-01-03T20:04:00.008-05:00

This delicious recipe is so quick and easy and I was amazed how satisfying it felt. It's very cold here today and there was a concern that this would not feel so good. Boy was I wrong! I enjoyed this meal without even warming it up. Adding a bit of Spicy Kim Chi helped add a bit of warmth to the dish, and using delicious ready-made Kim Chi made this recipe super simple!. This is a keeper.

Creamy Veggie Sauce on Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients:
1 to 2 medium zucchini spiralized or cut into noodles
1 cup veggie pulp (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (soaked 2 to 4 hours)
2 cups water (as needed for consistency)
1 Tablespoon nama shoyu (or tamari) (optional)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons Living Tree Community Living Tahini
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt (to taste)
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon each - garlic and onion powder

Garnish
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds (dark and light mix)

Veggie Pulp

Directions for Sauce:
1. In a high speed blender, mix veggie pulp, sunflower seeds and water.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until creamy.

Suggestion: add soaked arame, kelp noodles, or other sea vegetables to the zucchini noodles for added nutritional benefit!

Directions for Assembly
1. Plate zucchini noodles and spoon sauce on top.
2. Sprinkle with black and gold sesame seeds.
3. Add Spicy Kim Chi and serve.

OPTION: Using leftover Creamy Veggie Pulp Sauce, pour mixture onto a non-stick dehydrator sheet. Spread evenly by shaking and turning the tray. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 2-3 hours until you can peel off of the dehydrator sheet. Flip over and dehydrate another hour or so. Depending if you want this flexible or crispy, remove from dehydrator and roll into a cylinder and store in glass container, or dehydrate until crispy and break into chips.

Store them in an airtight container and rehydrate to make an instant veggie sauce when you are really in a hurry....or toss dry crackers in soups to flavor - like bullion cubes. Lots of possibilities.

Green Chocolate Walnut Smoothie

2012-01-02T13:10:00.001-05:00

This continues to be one of my favorite smoothies, and it's so easy. If you don't have these ingredients, you might want to consider trying them...Sip slowly and savor the amazing, rich walnut flavor!!!

Green Chocolate Walnut Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 young Thai coconut, meat and water
1 frozen banana
water, if needed to consistency desired
2-3 large collard greens leaves (or your favorite greens)
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
1 Tablespoon hemp seeds
2 Tablespoons Living Tree Community Alive Organic Walnut Butter
3 drops Medicine Flower Walnut Extract (optional, but awesome - really pops the flavor)
1 1/2 Tablespoons extra rich cacao powder
2 medjool dates (optional for sweetness)

Directions:
Start blending coconut water and meat and gradually add remaining ingredients. Add ice and blend if you like it more chilled. Garnish with raw cacao bits, if desired. ENJOY!

Note: Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in the Shipping Comments and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your order. Want to try a new flavor? Mention it and they will try to accommodate you.

"Rye" Wraps

2012-01-01T11:27:00.006-05:00

Last week I made an Onion Wrap and it was delicious. This time, I wanted to experiment with the recipe. Getting just the right thickness is a little tricky, but they really are pretty easy to throw together.

These are very similar to the Onion Wrap, however, I added 1 cup of veggie pulp from juicing (carrots, celery, kale, dandelion, apple, cucumber, etc). I also cut down on the onion a bit, and added a couple of teaspoons of caraway seeds to the batter, which gives this recipe a lovely "rye" bread taste that W and I both adore..

When spreading the mixture onto the dehydrator sheets, garnish with sesame seeds, herbes de province, or sdill. You could use any variety of dried herbs and combination any combination of veggies that make your pulp. It will change the flavor, so see use your favorite juices to get the best tasting pulp.

If you don't have Quinoa flour and don't feel like grinding it, try using almond flour or almond pulp. I don't think it would make that big of a difference. I also added a date or two to the mix to add a bit of sweetness. I'd like to experiment with different flours, nuts and seeds. I might add some coconut meat to this recipe as well. See ORIGINAL Recipe HERE. Get creative and create your OWN version of this wrap bread.

Quick Living Cranberry Relish

2011-12-24T06:20:00.002-05:00

Quick, easy, more tart than sweet...delicious, and no one would even stop to think this is "raw." I actually made this several days in advance and stored it in a glass mason jar. Enjoy! Happy Holidays! If you don't like nuts or raisins, feel free to omit them.

Raw Cranberry Relish

Ingredients:
2 lbs Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup agave or B-grade maple syrup to taste
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
4 medium tart apples, peeled and cored
1/2 large orange, juice and rind, grated finely
1/2 cup walnuts, soaked over night and chopped.
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, rinse cranberries in cold water. Drain well.
2. In Food Processor pulse cranberries until well shredded and broken down. Do not over process.

Directions for Apples
1. Peel and core apples and cut in quarters. In food processor, pulse the apples until they are chunky.
2. grate 1/2 the orange rind.(microplane works great for this)
3. Combine maple syrup or agave with orange juice concentrate and rind.
4. Add chopped walnuts and raisins, and adjust sweetness as needed.
5. Store in refrigerator.
Options: add 2 Tbsp of ground chia seeds.

Rawfully Tempting Newsletter and Best of Raw 2011

2011-12-23T15:20:00.004-05:00

REGISTER for our Rawfully Tempting Newsletter, and/or view archive publications.

VIEW December 2011 Newsletter.

Please make sure you check the email confirmation in order to be placed on our Newsletter email list.

REMINDER For Laura Fox - Best of Raw: Click on Read More Below

:
BEST OF RAW - 2011
Nomination Time
Click on "Nominate Now" and fill out the survey, submitting your all time favorites for each category.

In the near future, it will be your turn to VOTE VOTE VOTE....Support the lovely people in this community that offer their amazing talents in so many areas. Thank you for your support!!!

VIDEO CLIP

Sprouted Bread

2011-12-20T09:46:00.026-05:00

No, it's not raw. Yes, it's baked. I am not 100 percent raw even though the majority of my posts are about raw, because that is where my passion rests...and it's raw recipes that pop into my mind taunting me to play in the kitchen and give it a whirl. But this lovely bread caught my attention in a wonderful post by Golubka. The ingredient that I use in EVERY single recipe consistently, is L O V E, and that is what I felt when I looked at these photos on this site. My family is coming for the holiday and I thought a homemade baked bread would be nice. I've never made bread in my life...and I knew I did not want it to contain gluten or yeast....so this recipe and the photos convinced me to give it a try!

Basic Bread (from Golubka - Food That Takes Love)
1 cup mixture of raw oats, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet - preferably sprouted (or just soaked overnight) and dehydrated. You can use any combination of these, or other gluten-free grains. You can also use just one kind, or even store-bought flours.
1/2 cup golden flax seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds - preferably sprouted and dehydrated
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1 cup psyllium husks - you can find them in bulk at any health food store
1 cup purified water
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup Irish moss gel
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey (or maple syrup, if yo are vegan)
1/4 cup olive oil

In a high-speed blender, combine the grains and flax seeds, grind into a flour, and pour into a food processor. Next, grind sunflower seeds into a flour in a high-speed blender, at a lower speed, taking care not to turn them into butter. You can also use a coffee grinder and work in batches. Add the sunflower flour to the food processor, followed by hemp seeds and psyllium husks.
Combine water, lemon juice, Irish moss gel, salt and honey in a high-speed blender until smooth. With the motor still running, add olive oil to incorporate. Turn the food processor on, mixing your dry ingredients together, and start slowly pouring the wet mixture into the dry one through the tube. When the mixture becomes completely incorporated, your dough is ready. Make a loaf, or several loaves of the desired shape, spread with honey and sprinkle with seeds. To make sure that your bread bakes evenly, use a pizza stone if you have one, or just place an oven-proof dish with water on the rack underneath your bread. Bake at 350F for 40-60 minutes, or until it looks brown and ready.
Cool down on the wire rack before slicing.

For the banana-raisin-walnut bread, add two very ripe bananas, and some extra honey to your wet mixture. Optionally, add cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger to taste. When wet and dry mixtures are well combined, transfer your dough into a bowl, add chopped walnuts and raisins to taste. Form into a loaf and bake.

For the onion-garlic bread, add some onion powder and garlic chips into a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients.

For the caramelized onion bread, use this recipe to make caramelized onions, and add them to the basic dough before baking.

My Notes:
Golubka's photos are stunning, but I was happy with my first attempt, appearance-wise. The consistency is quite nice, but I feel it needs a bit of tweaking.
I used equal amounts of sprouted oats, Quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat. I did not have millet, so went ahead without it. I also did not have pysllium husks. I only had pysllilum husks powder. I used 1/2 cup of this and it really absorbs the moisture. I think the bread is probably lighter using the whole husks and I will certainly look for those and give this another try...or two..or three.
Golubka's suggestion for Banana Bread sounds delightful. I added onion powder and garlic powder to my dough. I created a loaf, a bagel and a few bread sticks. I added some course sea salt and either sesame seeds (black and light) or poppy seeds. I also rolled one bread stick in dried dill and salt. Next time, I think I'd put some herbs into the dough. Some caraway seeds would also be very nice, both in the dough and on top. Yummmm! I'm looking forward to really tasting the bread today. I'll come back and comment further, but wanted to share this lovely site with you. If anything, you can drool over her mouth-watering photos!!! Thanks Golubka!

Tell me this is not the most gorgeous, mouth watering bread you have ever seen!!!! I am envious. I want to take a class with Golubka and learn how to create these masterpieces!!!!

Kale, Kale, Kale, Kale - Like You've Never Seen It!

2011-12-19T15:20:00.008-05:00

Kale Chips are one of my favorite dehydrated snacks. The crunch of it is so very satisfying to me. I also love to watch the surprise on someone's face when they approach these treats with such trepidation and skepticism, only to discover they are as decadent as I promised. I'm currently working on a project to come up with innovative flavors that totally titillate the taste buds!

Egg Nog Kale Chips

Cranberry Kale Chips

Rawfully Tempting began with our amazing signature treat, Gourmet Chocolate Covered Kale Chips. These are AMAZING and like no other chocolate kale chips out there!

I'll keep you posted and add photos below as we develop new and exciting flavors. Not to worry. I do plan on creating a recipe book just for these delightful CRUNCHIES....

Cheesy Purple Kale Chips

Cheesy Curly Kale Chips

Gourmet Chocolate Covered Kale Chips

What Makes These Chips So Very Tasty? These Yummy Batters...

Cranberry Batter for Kale Chips

Egg Nog Batter for Kale Chips

Batter for Chocolate Covered Kale Chips

Kale Chips Can Be Ordered Here
Contact Me For Any Flavors Not Yet Posted

White Christmas Living No-Egg Nog

2011-12-17T19:09:00.012-05:00

My kids are coming for Christmas and bringing my precious granddaughter who at age 3.5 yrs is really stoked about Santa coming. Mum Mum has the tree all ready!

I thought it might be nice to come up with a living egg nog that "the kids" would enjoy and would be decadent, delicious and nutritious.. I've also made some chocolate treats, cookies, brownies, and I'm working on a new project : cranberry kale chips. But I fell in love with this egg nog, and hoping my kids do too. Feel free to interchange ingredients if you don't have some. I'm sure it will come out equally decadent! Here's my version:

Living No-Egg Nog
Ingredients for Nut Milk:
1/2 cup almonds (soaked overnight and peeled)
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
2 cups water

My GrandPrincess, Charli

Other Ingredients
3 Medjool Dates (pitted) (optional..increase sweetener if not using)
3 Tbsp *Irish moss paste or 1/2 ripe avocado
2 Tbsp WHITE chia seeds (ground) -dark will darken color, but can be used.
1 tsp vanilla extract (3 drops *Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract)
1/4 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste if not using extract above)
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp maple syrup (grade B or your favorite sweetener)
1 pinch sea salt
1 drop Medicine Flower Rum Extract ( or 1/3 tsp liguid rum extract) optional)
2 drops **Medicine Flower Cinnamon extract (optional)
ice

Directions:
1. Blend almonds and macadamia nuts with water until creamy. Strain in nut milk bag or cheesecloth to remove pulp. (Save pulp for other recipes. )
2. Blend milk with remaining ingredients.
3. Option: make this a Green Eggnog by adding some kale or greens.
4. Add several ice cubes and blend to chill.
5. Pour into a glass, sprinkle with cinnamon and grated nutmeg, and serve.

*Tip: I took the last batch of Irish Moss paste and froze it in ice cube trays and stored in a glass container. This way, whenever I need it, it is readily available. So far, it seems to have worked quite well.

**Mention Rawfully Tempting in the Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with any order. Don't forget these extracts are super concentrated, so a little goes a very long way!

Entered into the Very Good Recipes White Christmas Challenge

Living Apple Pancakes

2011-12-13T12:24:00.001-05:00

I saw these on The Chew as a cooked recipe a few weeks ago and decided to make a raw version. They came out fabulous and could be served as either a breakfast or dessert (topped with raw ice cream). YUMMMMERS!

Granny Smith Apple Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 Granny Smith apple cored and very thinly sliced

Ingredients for Pancake Batter:
1/2 cup cashews - (soaked 2 hours)
3/4 cup water (as needed to blend)
1/4 cup almond flour
2 drops Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract (or less than 1 tsp liquid extract)
2 Tbsp maple syrup (*YFS)
2 Tbsp ground flax seed (golden)

Ingredients for Garnish:
1 tsp cinnamon
maple syrup (*YFS)), to taste

Directions:
Batter
1. Blend cashews and water until creamy. Add remaining ingredients, except for apples and cinnamon.
2. Mixture should be pour-able and thick like pancake batter.
3. Dip sliced apples into batter, covering both sides and spread on a non stick dehydrator tray. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.
4. Dehydrate at 110 degrees F for 3-4 hours, Flip slices over and sprinkle with cinnamon.
5. Dehydrate another 6 to 8 hours until dry on outside, but moist on inside.
6. Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Medicine Flower Extract Holiday Giveaway!!! ($66 Retail Value)

2011-12-07T22:38:00.013-05:00

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

The Holidays are quickly approaching and I'm having a blast in the kitchen, creating new and exciting ways to use the amazing growing variety of Medicine Flower Flavors. (Over 40 flavors!)

Our friends at Medicine Flower have once again agreed to do an amazing giveaway. Win THREE (15 mL) bottles of Medicine Flower Flavor Extracts: Vanilla, Cinnamon and Coffee. Don't miss out on this Rawfully Amazing Offer!

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT MEDICINE FLOWER EXTRACTS HERE

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

MANDATORY ENTRY: REQUIRED

1 - Go to Medicine Flower website, and pick your favorite product on the site.

2 - Return here and tell us in the Comments which product you like most.

3 - DO NOT FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR FIRST NAME and EMAIL address in the comment.

SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO LAST COMMENT POSTED (WAYYY DOWN - just above where it says "Links to this Post" ) AND CLICK ON "Post a Comment" LINK. AND DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE COMMENT....

DONE! You are good to go! GOOD LUCK!

________________________________

WAIT....

***Want more chances to win? Read the rules below and increase your chances.

You must include the required information with each entry!!!

COMPLETE MANDATORY ENTRY listed above before you add BONUS ENTRIES.
Each entry needs it's own comment. (DO NOT put multiple comments together in an entry or it will be disqualified).

I repeat: DO NOT put multiple comments together in one entry or it will be disqualified).

BONUS ENTRIES:

A - Sign Up for the Rawfully Tempting Newsletter. Tell me in comments and include your first name and EMAIL.
Follow Rawfully Tempting's Blog - Tell me in comments, and include your Google ID, NAME and EMAIL.
B - LIKE Rawfully Tempting on Facebook. Tell me, and include FB First Name, Last Initial and EMAIL.
C - Follow Rawfully Tempting (RawfllyTempting) on Twitter. Tell me and include your Twitter ID and EMAIL.
D - Blog about this Giveaway and link back to this post.

D: EXAMPLE:

"I blogged about your giveaway @www.yoursite.com. Barbara (barbarads(at)rawfullytempting(dot)com"

I need to be able to contact the winner easily. so be sure to include EMAIL address and either your FB NAME or Google ID in EVERY comment or the entry will not count.

*Special Bonus Sample: If you make a Medicine Flower purchase, mention "Rawfully Tempting" in Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your order.

________________________________

Details

- Contest begins Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:00 PM, EST. Deadline to enter is Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 12 AM, EST.

- Contest is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents, over the age of 18.

By entering this Giveaway, you acknowledge that you have read and agree with my Full Disclosure and Disclaimer Policy.

I am always happy to help. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me

________________________________

*To make this contest easier and more fun for us all:

Comments are automatically numbered. To select the winner, I'll be drawing a random number which will be matched to a corresponding numbered entry. To qualify, each entry must be submitted in a separate comment.

*Click HERE to learn more about this product, and view our list of previous winners.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - Congratulations Teena Marie!!!!!!!!

Onion Wrap

2011-12-02T06:03:00.008-05:00

One of the very first foods I gave up when I started eating raw living food, was bread. I learned how the gluten acts like "GLUE" in your gut, sticking to it, fermenting, clogging, and wreaking havoc on my body. Don't get me wrong, every now and then, if we are out somewhere, and there is good, fresh, wholesome bread, I'll indulge, but for the most part, I've given up the GOOEY GLUTEN, and my stomach could not be happier.

Acid Reflux....GONE GONE GONE!!!! There were nights I used to sleep sitting up to avoid the killer acid reflux BURN. Surprisingly, I don't miss sandwiches all that much, but it's getting quite nippy here on the East coast, and my body craves foods that are a little heavier and richer, so I created this lovely onion wrap and it was really satisfying and filling.

When I first tasted the wrap alone, it seemed too strong and had quite a bite, but when I stuffed it with a mild sunflower seed pate and creamy avocado slices, the blend of flavors was fabulous. I'd eliminate the onion from the pate recipe, if you are eating it with this bread, unless you really really like onion!

Onion Wrap

Ingredients:

1 1/2 red onions, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 Tbsp ground flax

1 Tbsp sprouted Quinoa flour ( I always have some in freezer - you could replace with almond flour)

1/2 tomato

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp onion powder

dash oregano

1/8 tsp dried dill

2 Tbsp sun dried olives (optional)

Directions:

Blend ingredients, adding as you go along. Add olives last, and pulse blend, leaving very small pieces.
Spread mixture onto a non-stick dehydrator tray, using an offset spatula. (One of my favorite kitchen tools ever!)
Dehydrate at 110 degrees F for several hours. Place another mesh tray on top and flip over. Peel non stick sheet from wrap and dehydrate another 3 hours or so. Wrap should be dry, but flexible.
Stuff with your favorite Hummus, salad, or pate. Add toppings, and enjoy!

Asian Arame Salad

2011-11-28T13:48:00.004-05:00

Arame is a species of seaweed or kelp that has a mild, semi-sweet flavor. Arame is common in Japanese cuisine and can be found in salads and marinaded dishes. It comes in a dried form and due to it's mild flavor, can be reconstituted and added to dishes without impacting the flavor. Just one serving of arame provides over 100 percent of the daily value for iodine and 50 percent of the daily requirements for calcium. Adding arame to one's diet on a regular basis has been reported to improve overall immune function, and condition of hair skin and nails. Due to it's high content of lignans, arame has been the focus of several anti-cancer studies.I'll definitely be adding this to my salads and other dishes.

Asian Arame Salad

Ingredients for Salad:
1 zucchini (spiralized or sliced thin, lengthwise)
2 carrots, peeled and grated or julienne
1/4 red onion, chopped or spiralize with ribbon blade and chop
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup arame, measured dry (soak for 5 min and squeeze to drain)
1 apple (sliced thin, and chopped)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds

Ingredients for Dressing:
2 1/2 Tbsp brown rice vinegar (or your favorite vinegar)
1 Tbsp honey or agave
1 Tbsp cold pressed sesame oil
2 Tbsp nama shoyu (or tamari)
1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/8 tsp chili powder (or cayenne - to taste)
1/8 tsp sea salt

Directions:
1. Soak arame for 5 minutes in cool water. Rinse, drain and squeeze out excess moisture.

2. Spiralize zucchini. Shred or julienne carrots, and chop apple and onion.

3. IN a large bowl, mix the vegetables and arame together..

4. In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables. Mix well.

5. Let sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Mix . Sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve.

6. OPTION: add chopped broccoli, snap peas, green beans, pear, etc. This would also be good served with SPROUTED QUINOA

Persimmon Pudding (No-Pumpkin Pie)

2011-11-27T10:40:00.008-05:00

Believe it or not, I have no recollection of ever tasting persimmons prior to this, so when W brought them home, I had no idea what to do with them. Persimmons are now at the peak of their season. There are two kinds of persimmons,.Hachiya and Fuyu. Fuyu's are rounder, firmer, and can be eaten like an apple. Hachiya's are more acorn shaped and should look like an over ripe tomato when ready to use. You cut open and scoop out the pulp. I used Hachiya persimmons for this recipe. Very tasty. In fact, they reminded me a bit of pumpkin, only better, because I don't like pumpkin. I'm going to attempt a "Pumpkin" Pie, using Hachiya persimmons. Meanwhile, here's a quick, delicious and nutritious snack.

NOTE: I learned the hard way: DO NOT USE Hachiya persimmons unless they are literally mushy and ripe or they will NOT be friendly to your tastebuds. I put a sliver of unripe Hachiya on my tongue and had the strangest reaction. My tongue went numb and got all dry, and felt so odd that it scared me. It turns out that the Hachiya persimmons are highly astringent most of their lives, where Fuyus are not, Never eat Hachiya persimmons fresh off the tree. They must be MUSHY before eaten.

Hachiya Persimmon

To hasten ripening, put a heart-shaped persimmon in a paper bag along with a banana. The banana releases ethylene, which ripens the persimmon. The Fuyus (which look like light tomatoes) can be enjoyed either crisp or soft and when cut, the cross-section reveals a lovely 8 pointed star. It looks quite beautiful in fruit platters...and the good news is , they maintain their brilliant color. Both of these offer a lovely color and a flavor that is reminiscent of apricot and mango. Although, when mixed with banana and maple syrup, reminds me more of pumpkin.

Persimmon Pudding
Ingredients:
1 Hachiya persimmon, ripened
1 banana
2 Tbsp Irish moss paste (optional and an amazing ingredient - don't be afraid!)
2 Tbsp white chia seeds (ground) -dark will darken color, but can be used.
1 drop Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract (or pinch of vanilla bean powder)
1 Tbsp grade B maple syrup (or your fav. sweetener)
1/4 cup water (as needed to blend)
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/16 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg

Directions:
1. Hachiya persimmon must be ripe. (is acorn shaped and looks like an over ripe tomato when ready)
2. Cut open and scoop out pulp, removing thin membrane.
3. In blender, mix ingredients. Add water as needed. Should be a thick applesauce consistency.
4. Refrigerate until chilled and serve. Top with dried coconut, chopped nuts, cinnamon, etc.
5. This makes a great "pumpkin" pie filling. Add more Irish moss paste, or chia to thicken as needed. Spoon into pie crust and top with your favorite pumpkin pie toppings.

Note: I accidentally used ground black chia seeds instead of white, so my pudding came out muddier in color. If you want a brighter, lovely shade, I suggest using ground white chia seeds. A spice/nut grinder works great for this.

I was so inspired by the flavor of this recipe, I then created this No Pumpkin-Pie using a pecan/date crust! YUMMMMMMMERS! This was made in a 7" fluted pie tart with removable bottom. ( I doubled the pudding recipe and adjusted the sweetness and spices)

Sweet Potato Latkes (Pancakes)

2011-11-22T15:52:00.005-05:00

I love creating healthy, raw vegan versions of recipes that are connected to "comfort foods" from my childhood. Potato Latkes were a favorite that mom used to cook up. They always make me feel happy, and remind me of a connection to family when we all lived nearby and could celebrate together. With my mom just passing recently, I'm revisiting some of her Traditional Recipes, and challenging myself to make a raw version. SUCCESS! While they look a little dry, they are moist, chewy and full of flavor. Once you put the raw applesauce on top, they soften and rehydrate the outside of the pancake. The onion flavor and texture tingle my taste buds and really remind me of Grammy's Latkes!

For this recipe, I used two different spiralizers, however, you can easily use a peeler, grater and/or paring knife to achieve successful results.

Begin with 1 medium spiralized zucchini using the World Cuisine Spiralizer.

Using the Benriner Spiralizer's finest blade, cut 1 sweet potato into angel hair pasta. Spiralize 1/2 onion using the World Cuisine single ribbon blade. Finally, chop everything into smaller pieces.

Sweet Potato Angel Hair Pasta

Spiralized Onion

Whisk 2 Tbsp of ground flax and 6 Tbsp water and pour over chopped veggies. Add 1/4 tsp onion powder, salt, pepper, or your favorite spices, and 6 Tbsp almond meal.

I also added 1 Tbsp of sprouted Quinoa flour, (because I had it in the freezer, but it's optional).

Form into 9 or 10 patties and dehydrate for several hours at 110 degrees F.

Flip from non-stick dehdyrator tray onto mesh sheets or stainless steel rack, if you have a TSM Dehydrator. This is my newest dehydrator and I am LOVING it!

In a food processor, I quickly mixed up some applesauce using 3 apples, (peeled and cored), 1 Tbsp Irish moss paste (optional), 1 tsp, lemon juice, 2 tsp ground white chia, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and pinch of sea salt. I like my applesauce chunky. The chia helped absorb excess moisture.

Top pancakes with a dollop of applesauce and cinnamon and let sit 10 minutes to soften and serve.

Option: warm pancakes in dehydrator prior to serving. These may be stored in freezer and warmed in dehydrator when needed.

The Green Smoothie - How To...

2011-11-21T19:13:00.009-05:00

Green smoothies were my very first introduction into the world of Raw Living Food. I have posted many smoothie recipes on this blog, and while recipes can be helpful, they are only suggestions. Smoothie ingredients can be exchanged, replaced, and even omitted per availability and/or taste. If you are just starting out, or curious how someone else may create smoothies...here is my formula for the Basic Green Smoothie. Sometimes I get creative and add extracts and ingredients you may not have. I encourage you to not be alarmed or intimidated by these ingredients. You have a choice...either get those ingredients that I've suggested (because I like them), or make the smoothie without them. Either way, you will learn how to create fabulous and delicious Green Smoothies.

Ingredients: Smoothie Base
There are many You Tube videos on opening young Thai coconuts, so I'm not going to cover that here. The base of my smoothies is either a blend of the young Thai coconut water and meat...

or

Nut Milk - (Usually Almond)
How to Make Nut Milk

Ingredients: Greens
It's a good idea to alternate your greens to ensure you get the widest array of nutrients. I like to use either kale or dandelion. Kale comes in several different varieties, and I alternate between them. Depending upon where you live, you may have access to purslane and other local greens. I find spinach and chard rather strong and bitter. If you use them, add very small amounts at first, and mix with a milder green

Holding kale at stem, PINCH thumb and forefinger together on each side of stem. Grab the greens and slide up the stem, separating the leaf from the stem. Some people like to juice the stems.

Blend coconut meat and water (or nut milk) with a bunch of greens. Start off with a few leaves and add more as you acquire a taste for them.

Add 1-2 frozen sliced bananas (or any frozen fruit that you enjoy). It thickens the smoothie and keeps the temperature down during blending. A high speed blender is best and does make a significant difference, however, I worked with a regular blender for 2 years before I acquired my VitaMix. It may take a bit longer, and you may have to stop and start the blender to avoid overheating the ingredients. But you can do it!

This can be the base for any green smoothie. What you do after this, is up to you. Don't be afraid to get creative.

Suggestions:
If the banana or other frozen fruit is not sweet enough, try adding a a couple of pitted, chopped medjool dates to the mix.

Chia seeds or ground chia seeds are a wonderful ingredient to add to smoothies. Not only will they delightfully thicken your mixture, but they add fiber, protein and essential fatty acids. Chia is often referred to as "Runner's Food" because it holds so much water, that it helps athletes stay hydrated longer during high mileage runs

Chia

Hemp seeds are another wonder food. You can grind them, sprout them, or use them as is. Hemp is a high protein seed containing all 9 essential amino acids, like flax seed, (another great food you can add to smoothies). . Hemp also contains high amounts of fatty acids and fiber, as well as Vitamin E and trace minerals. I'ts easily digested by most people, and does not tend to cause gas or bloating.

Hemp

For you chocolate lovers, cacao powder is DIVINE! It contains high levels of sulphur and magnesium and is said to increases focus and keep you "happy." Cacao (raw chocolate) is often associated with LOVE, which is probably why it's given as gifts on Valentine's Day. While many people find themselves addicted to chocolate, I have found I can consume raw cacao without the deleterious effects of processed chocolate. It is bitter, like baker's chocolate and requires a good sweetener. I could not imagine my raw kitchen without cacao powder!!!!

Cacao

As you begin to experiment in the kitchen and develop your own favorite green smoothie recipes, you may want to explore Medicine Flower extracts.There are over 40 flavors available. They are CONCENTRATED, so a few drops goes a LONG way! Take a basic recipe or formula as posted above, and change the flavor extract.

Go from a chocolate smoothie to a mocha smoothie, by adding a few drops of coffee extract (one of my favs). The variety is endless!!! Note: Mention Rawfully Tempting in the "shipping comments" and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your order. Want to try a new flavor - specify it with your order and they will try to accommodate you. Great Company!

Don't forget to sign up for the Rawfully Tempting Newsletter.

Cranberry Nut Muffins

2011-11-19T00:48:00.008-05:00

These scrumptious muffins are awesome this time of year. They can be frozen and popped in the dehydrator to warm as needed. The mixture can also be made into a lovely cranberry nut bread and served with a drizzle of raw honey.

Cranberry Nut Muffins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (soaked 2 to 4 hours)
3 Tbsp ground chia
2 Tbsp ground flax
pinch of sea salt
1 apple, chopped
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (divided
1/4 cup raisins (divided)
1/2 cup, chopped walnuts
1/4 cup maple syrup or agave
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract(3 drops Medicine Flower vanilla extract)
1/2 cup sprouted oat flour (or use almond flour)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup water, if needed to blend.

In a food processor, mix ingredients with half the cranberries and raisins, until you have a well blended batter. Add remaining raisins, and cranberries, and pulse process to leave chunks in batter. Add chopped walnuts and mix together. Taste for sweetness.

Option 1 - On top of a non-stick dehydrator sheet, or parchment paper, spoon about 3 Tbsp of batter into a round cookie cutter mold and press into the shape. Slide cookie cutter up, and use a dull knife to re-shape muffin, forming a little mound on top. Muffins should be about 1 to 1.5 inches high. Sprinkle with cinnamon and date sugar (optional).

Option 2 - See pic to left: press plastic wrap into a mini-muffin tin. Dehydrate for several hours. Release muffin by pulling out plastic wrap. Flip muffin and continue to dehydrate as below.

Option 3 - Spoon into mini muffin cups and freeze several hours. Scoop out muffin, shape, and pop into silicone or paper muffin cups. Follow dehydration directions below.

Option 4 - Create a bread: Spread mixture onto a non-stick dehydrator sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Dehydrate at 145 degrees F for 1.5 hours. Dehydrate at 110 degrees. After a few hours, flip over onto mesh dehydrator sheet and continue to dehydrate until firm on outside and chewy on the inside.

Suggestion: Spread a drop of honey or agave on muffin top and sprinkle with date sugar.

Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1.5 hours. The muffins will never reach that temperature, but it's important to eliminate excess moisture and avoid fermentation.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 1 to 2 hours. Flip muffins over. Dehydrate several hours at 115 degrees. Flip again and dehydrate until done.

Using a toothpick, poke about 5 holes into muffin top and sides. Continue to dehydrate another 8-10 hours at 110 degrees, (depending upon how thick), flipping muffins over every few hours. Poke more holes on bottom if needed. A shortcut would be to cut muffin in half and dehydrate.

Serve as is, or drizzle with honey, cashew cream cheese, or fruit "syrup." To quicken the dehydration process, you can slice muffins in half.

Creamy "Peanut Butter" Mousse Cups

2011-11-06T19:56:00.028-05:00

Lovely little cups of decadent creamy mousse that are sure to please your palate. This recipe could easily be used as a base to create a variety of flavors. Eliminate the nut butter, change the extract flavors, and create magnificent little cups of mousse in mint chocolate, chocolate raspberry, almond fudge, heavenly hazelnut, etc. The varieties are endless. Check out Medicine Flower extracts in over 40 flavors and expand your culinary "palette."

"Peanut Butter" Mousse Cups
Ingredients
For the Crust:
1/2 cup almonds, soaked overnight and dehydrated
6 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/2 Tbs cacao powder
pinch of vanilla bean powder (or 1 drop Vanilla Medicine Flower extract)

Grated Cacao Butter

For the Mousse Filling:

1/4 cup cacao butter, grated with microplane
1 tsp melted coconut oil
1/2 cup cashews, soaked 3-4 hours
1/2 cup water (add more as needed to blend)
2 Tbs of Irish moss paste,(or ground chia)
6 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp *sunflower lecithin (Optional - emulsifies)
3 Tbs almond butter (or your favorite nut butter)
3 Tbs cacao powder
pinch vanilla bean powder (or 1 drop Medicine Flower Vanilla
2 drops Medicine Flower Peanut Extract (optional)

2 drops Medicine Flower Dark Chocolate Extract, (optional)
pinch sea salt
1/2 Tbsp psylliulm husk powder, (optional - if needed to thicken)

Directions

For the Crust:

In a food processor, mix ingredients until it starts to ball up.
Lightly grease bottom of 6-8 individual fluted tart or mini cheesecake pans (removable bottoms preferred) with coconut oil.
Press crust, firmly into bottom of each cup, pressing up 1/4 inch or so along sides and set aside.

For the Mousse Filling:

Melt cacao butter and coconut oil. Place ingredient in a medium metal bowl over a small metal bowl filled with hot water. Set aside.
In blender, mix nuts, water, Irish moss paste and maple syrup until creamy.
Add nut butter, cacao powder, flavored extracts, salt, and continue to blend. (Add sunflower lecithin, if using)
Spoon melted ingredients into blender and mix. The mixture should be quite thick and creamy, but blendable. Add psyllium husk powder if needed to thicken, and blend until creamy. Will get firmer when chilled.
Taste for sweetness and adjust as needed.
Spoon mixture into individual cups. Top with leftover crust mixture and grated cacao paste. You can add shredded coconut, chopped nuts, cacao nibs, etc.
Refrigerate for several hours.
Remove from cups.

Drizzle with your favorite chocolate syrup or serve as is.

Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in the Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will send a Special Bonus Sample with your purchase. Want to try a new flavor or product? Let them know, and they will try to accommodate you. Remember, these extracts are extremely concentrated and a 2-3 drops is equal to a teaspoon of other liquid flavor extracts.

"Raw sunflower seed lecithin contains a high level of choline, which breaks up cholesterol in the body and it is vital for the proper functioning of the brain. Unlike soy lecithin, sunflower lecithin is 100% raw! Sunflower lecithin is useful in maintaining normal cholesterol levels as part of a low cholesterol diet and is also a rich source of phosphatidylcholine for the prevention of gallstones. The high levels of choline are necessary for healthy liver and brain function. Sunflower lecithin is great when added to smoothies, soups and sauces. It also is very useful as a thickening agent."

Raw Cranberry Apple Tart

2011-11-03T15:44:00.001-04:00

The Apple Tart I prepared last week, was the best tasting raw apple pie I've had to date, however, I wanted to tweak the recipe and make it really special for Thanksgiving. This Cranberry Apple Tart is absolutely delicious! Even your non-raw family and friends will love it.

The color of this dessert is vibrant and alive thanks to the beautiful fresh cranberries! Due to the cranberry tartness, it does require quite a bit more sweetener, so keep that in mind - but it is, after all, a HOLIDAY treat! Check out this Rawfully Tempting dessert..

All About Irish Moss Paste - it's so simple to make. Once you do it, you'll realized how awesome it is to have on hand from time to time.

Cranberry - Apple Tart

Crust Ingredients
3/4 cup almonds (soaked overnight)
3 Tbsp shredded coconut
11 medjool dates (soaked if dry)
pinch sea salt

Filling Ingredients
5 1/2 cups apples (total) - (see Filling Preparation)
2 cups apple (processed like applesauce)
1 1/2 cups apple (processed fine slivers)
1 1/2 cups apple (sliced thin, and chopped)
3/4 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
6 Tbp Irish moss paste
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract (3 drops *Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract)
2 Tbs lime or lemon juice
5 Tbs honey (or agave)
1 dash of nutmeg, to taste
2 Tbs date sugar (or your favorite powder sweetener)
1/4 cup raisins, optional
1/4 to 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 pinch sea salt

Garnish
2 Tbs walnuts, halved or chopped for garnish
1/2 apple, very thinly sliced (dipped in lemon juice) (optional)
1 dash cinnamon
1 Tbs date sugar (or your favorite powder sweetener)

Crust Preparation
In food processor, process nuts. Add dates and salt, and process. Add shredded coconut and continue to process. Use spatula to scrape from sides and process until mixture starts to ball up and sticks together.

Coat a 9 inch removable bottom (fluted tart pan, or pie plate) with a bit of coconut oil and press crust mixture into pan and up along sides.

Filling Preparation

In food processor,. mix 2 cups apples and 1/2 cup cranberries along with Irish moss paste until applesauce consistency. Add 1 1/2 cups apples and 1/4 cup cranberries. Pulse to very fine chunks.

Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients. (1 1/2 cups thinly sliced and chopped apples, cinnamon, vanilla, lime, honey, nutmeg, date sugar, raisins, walnuts, sea salt). Spoon mixture into crust.

Garnish with very thin slices of apples dipped in lemon juice. Sprinkle with cinnamon and date sugar or top with walnuts and whole cranberries (for color). Refrigerate several hours to set.

Serve as is.

Just Like Grammy Leas' - Raw Noodle Kugel (Pudding)

2011-10-31T02:32:00.014-04:00

As the Thanksgiving holiday draws near and I celebrate the 1 year anniversary of my mom's passing, I'm remembering my most favorite traditional dishes that she used to make for our family. In addition to her Cranberry Jello Mold and Sweet Potato Casserole, Mom's Noodle Kugel was my absolute favorite! Loaded with eggs, egg noodles, butter, sugar and topped with corn flakes, I opted to create a raw version of this family dish, using healthy ingredients. Now you can enjoy this dish guilt free.

There are hundreds o of Noodle Pudding recipes. Some families make a dairy version with cottage cheese. My mom did not use cheese in her kugel, so this is what I'm used to. You could probably add a light cashew cream to the mixture to duplicate a creamier consistency, if that is what you are used to.

I didn't measure the ingredients for this, but here's a list of ingredients I used.

Soak soak and soak your kelp noodles in lemon water for several hours. The longer you soak, the softer the noodles become. Using kitchen sheers, cut your noodles into smaller pieces about 3 inches long.

Whisk together ground flax seed and orange juice and massage into noodles. This acts as a binder like egg would.

Add chopped apples, chopped pineapple, chopped walnuts, goji berries, zest of orange, cinnamon, sweetener, sea salt, and almond flour. Massage it all together and let sit for 30 minutes.

Place in strainer over a bowl and drain excess liquid from mixture.Save this liquid to flavor crackers, breads, etc.

Form the mixture into a loaf or individual patties, and place on a non-stick dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for a couple of hours.

Carefully flip loaf over onto another non-stick sheet and continue to dehydrate for several hours. (Place another tray with non-stick sheet over loaf. Flip over and remove prior shelf and peel off non-stick sheet.

Cut into 2 inch squares - (you may need kitchen sheers to clip noodles apart). Separate to leave space between the squares, and dehydrate another 2 hours or until the consistency you like. I like it crunchy on the outside edges and moist inside. This may only keep a couple of days. You can wrap and store in freezer.

This looks very dry in the photo, but it's still very soft and moist on the inside.

White Chocolate - Cranberry Mousse Parfait

2011-10-28T16:22:00.010-04:00

A hint of white chocolate, delicately placed between layers of a light cranberry mousse. If you don't have Irish moss paste, you can try increasing the amount of ground chia, but the consistency may not be as silky. Another option would be to use young Thai coconut water and meat in place of the filtered water. MMM..

Note: the white chocolate mixture hardens and forms a lovely thin shell..

White Chocolate - Cranberry Mousse Parfait
1/4 cup cashews (soaked 2 hours)
1 cup cranberries ( frozen or fresh)
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup Irish moss paste
2 Tbs ground chia, white
3 Tbs agave (or honey)
1/2 tsp sunflower lecithin
1 1/2 Tbs lime juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 2 drops Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract)
pinch sea salt
2 Tbs melted cacao butter
1 tsp melted coconut oil
1 tsp agave or maple syrup
2 drops *Medicine Flower White Chocolate Extract

Preparation
Blend cashews, cranberries and water until creamy. Add Irish moss paste and blend.

Add and blend ground chia, agave, lecithin, lime juice, vanilla extract, and salt. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place metal bowl over another smaller metal bowl filled with hot water and melt coconut oil and cacao butter. Stir in agave and white chocolate flavored extract. (If it hardens, place over warm water again to melt)

Fill 4 parfait glasses 1/3 of the way with cranberry mixture. Gently spoon about 2 tsp of white chocolate mixture over mousse and use a toothpick to swirl the top of the chocolate into the cranberry mousse. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or so.

Spoon in another 1/3 of cranberry mousse and top with white chocolate. Refrigerate 15 min. Top with white chocolate and gently swirl. Refrigerate for several hours and serve.

*Mention Rawfully Tempting in the Shipping Comments and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your order. Want to try a new flavor or product? Let them know and they will try to accommodate you.

Grammy's CRAWnberry Jello Mold

2011-10-27T11:49:00.011-04:00

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, and sadly, last year, I spent the entire day traveling home from Florida, after losing my mom on November 20th. In memory of momsie, aka "Grammy," I created this raw version of her FAMOUS Cranberry Jello Mold. It really was an outrageously delicious dish, however, loaded with lots of serious junk, including artificial coloring and flavoring, not to mention SUGAR and MAYONNAISE!!!. I haven't yet mastered the molded part of the recipe yet. I think I'd have to use a lot more Irish moss paste, and I'm not sure how that would impact the flavor. However, this turned out delicious and contains some of the key elements that made Grammy's dish so scrumptious!
FYI: I'm still using the Irish Moss Paste that I made last week for the Cranberry Apple Tart. It holds up for close to 3 weeks in the refrigerator and it really gives you the ability to add richer tastes and textures into your raw culinary palate.

Click HERE for more info on Irish Moss Paste

Grammy's CRAWnberry Jello Mold
Cashew Cream (optional) - 1/4 cup cashews (soaked 2 hours) and 6 Tbsp water (add more water if needed)
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
2 cups apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 Tbs lemon juice
3/4 cup Irish moss paste
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs agave (your fav sweetener)
4 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tsp melted coconut oil

Preparation

Optional: Blend cashews and water in a high speed blender to create a cashew cream. Pour through nut milk bag or cheese cloth. Set aside cream. (Save pulp for crackers or breads). You can make this recipe without the cream as well.

Blend 1 cup cranberries, 1 cup apples, and 2 Tbsp lemon juice, until creamy.

Add 1/4 cup cashew cream and blend well. (Use any leftover cream in a smoothie or mix with fruit for a lovely beverage).

Add and blend remaining ingredients, except for 1/4 cup cranberries, 1 cup chopped apples, and walnuts.

Add 1/4 cup cranberries and pulse blend, leaving cranberry slivers. Photo above was taken prior to this step. Will add more color and texture.

Transfer mixture to a glass bowl. Stir in walnuts and 1 cup (or more) chopped apples.

Taste for sweetness and adjust per taste. Refrigerate several hours or overnight and serve.

Option: depending upon how solid your Irish moss paste it, you might be able to shape this into a jello mold? Otherwise serve as is.

GRAMMY - RIP!!!! Love you Mom. Miss you!

Raw AppleTart/Pie

2011-10-23T16:06:00.034-04:00

Here on the East coast, the leaves are falling, and the air is crisp. Before we know it, the holiday season will be upon us. For many of us, these are challenging times. Gathering with family and loved ones, triggers old eating habits and SAD(Standard American Diet) temptations are everywhere. For me, the best way to handle these times, is to be armed with raw dishes that are reminiscent of the traditional cuisine we are all used to. Raw Cranberry Relish and Apple Pie, are two of my favorites. This tart is made with Irish Moss Paste, which lends to its beautiful texture, and holds it together even at room temperature. You can also warm it in the dehydrator.

Create this tart without Irish Moss Paste, however, the filling will be much looser. Try adding a couple of tablespoons of ground chia seeds to the mix as a thickener, and give it more body OR - take a leap and try something new - Irish Moss Paste! It's really simple to make and adds body to mousse, pudding, "cheese" cakes, and salad dressings, etc.

Raw Apple Tart/Pie

Crust Ingredients
3/4 cup almonds (soaked overnight)
1/4 cup shredded coconut
11 medjool dates (soaked if dry)
pinch sea salt

Filling Ingredients
2 cups apple, peeled,cored and chopped
1 cup apple, or pear, pulse chop - fine
1 1/2 cup apples coarsely chopped - chunky
1/4 cup Irish moss paste
1 cup apples, very thinly sliced
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract (2 drops *Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract)
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs sweetener (honey, agave, etc)
dash of nutmeg, to taste
1/8 tsp lucuma powder (opt- nice maple-like flavor)
1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins, optional
2 Tbsp walnuts, chopped, optional
pinch sea salt

Garnish
1/4 cup walnuts, halved or chopped for garnish
1/2 cup apples, skinned, cored, very thinly sliced (and dipped in lemon juice)
1 dash cinnamon

Crust Preparation
In food processor, process nuts. Add dates and salt, and process. Add shredded coconut and continue to process. Use spatula to scrape from sides and process until mixture starts to ball up and sticks
together.

Coat a 9 inch removable bottom (fluted tart pan, or pie plate) with a bit of coconut oil and press crust mixture into pan and up along sides.

Filling Preparation
In food processor,. mix 2 cups apples until like applesauce consistency. (no chunks)

Add 1 cup of (pears) or apples, and pulse until fine slivers or chunks are present.

Add 1 1/2 cups apples and pulse until chunky.

Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour mixture into crust. Garnish with sliced apple and/or pear slices dipped in lemon juice. Top with cinnamon and walnut or pecan halves. Refrigerate several hours to set. Serve as is, or warm in dehydrator for 30-60 minutes.

*Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in Shipping Comments and Medicine Flower will send you a Special Bonus Sample. Want to try a new flavor extract or check out a new product? Let them know and they will do their best to accommodate you.

Pistachio Crisps/Crackers

2011-10-17T15:58:00.004-04:00

Still on a pistachio kick! The other day we made that delicious Pistachio Green Dream Smoothie, right? Well, I had some gorgeous pistachio pulp left over and decided to use this and create a new cracker recipe. I ended up with these fantastic crisps. Eat as is, or smear with some luxurious Pistachio Butter. If you are missing crunchy munchies...you will love these!

Pistachio Crisps/Crackers
1/2 cup pistachio pulp or ground meat
2 Tbs ground flax seed
5 Tbs water
1 Tbs maple syrup
pinch sea salt

Preparation
Mix ground flax seed and water. Whisk. Add remaining ingredients and stir by hand.

Spread as thin as possible on non-stick dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 2 hours.

Score squares, creating individual crackers and continue to dehydrate for 2-3 hours.

Flip onto another dehydrator screen and peel off non-stick sheet. Dehydrate over night or until crispy.

Serve with your favorite nut-butter, or crumble over salad.

Green Dream - Pistachio Smoothie

2011-10-15T10:59:00.037-04:00

Per usual, I can be found in the kitchen playing around with ingredients. For breakfast, I whipped this absolutely green, creamy delight together...Fabulous! W and I both loved this one.

Green Dream - Pistachio Smoothie
1/2 cup pistachios
or 1/4 cup pistachios and 1/4 cup almonds, soaked overnight
3 cups filtered water
pinch of sea salt

Blend these, until creamy, and gently squeeze through a nut milk bag, cheese cloth or strainer. (save pulp for crackers or other goodies). Put pistachio milk back in blender and add:

2 frozen bananas
2 Tbsp chia seeds
6 kale leaves, (stems removed)
1 Tbsp Living Tree Community Pistachio Butter (optional)
1 Tbsp - your favorite sweetener (maple syrup, stevia, lucuma powder, yacon root, etc).

Blend until creamy. ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY!!!

Nutritious and Delicious
The pistachio nut is a source of over 30 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Pistachio nuts contain these wonderful nutrients:
--Copper: strengthens connective tissue, aids cardiovascular system and nerves.
--Manganese: helps metabolism, builds bones
--Magnesium: regulates body temperature and important for bone health
--Vitamin A (beta carotene), lutein and zeaxanthin: promotes healthy vision
--B6 and other B vitamins (folate, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and pantothetic acid): crucial for many body building systems including the blood, nervous and immune systems.

Green - Chocolate Walnut Smoothie

2011-10-14T12:26:00.002-04:00

I get bored easily, and I like to challenge myself by trying new ingredients. I love to see how many different ways I can utilize them in different recipes. I'll include some of these ingredients when I publish my recipes. I think it helps you to expand your culinary palette and give you more options. There is always the option to eliminate an ingredient, or replace it with something else. People can become frustrated or intimidated when a recipe lists an ingredient they may not be familiar with. I highly encourage you to overcome the urge to bypass a recipe just because you don't recognize an ingredient. Try something NEW and little by little, you will have an amazing new tool box of goodies that will enhance your raw living lifestyle, and bring you joy and satisfaction.
Transitioning to a new lifestyle does not happen overnight. Make changes slowly that don't seem overwhelming, but allow the changes to be fun. When I list a new ingredient, I generally add a hyperlink directing you to a supplier or information about that product. You can always post a question on my FaceBook Wall, or JOIN Rawfully Tempting Goodness and submit your question or thoughts there. Don't be afraid of change. Embrace it...and discover new and exciting flavors and textures that please the palate. I had two new products to work with and I incorporated them in the recipe below.

Green - Chocolate Walnut Smoothie

1 young Thai Coconut (meat and water)

1/2 to 1 cup filtered water (if needed for more volume)

2 frozen bananas

handful of kale or dandelion

2 Tbsp Living Tree Community Walnut Butter

4 drops Walnut Medicine Flower Extract

3 Tbsp chia seeds

2 Tbsp cacao powder

Blend until creamy. Add ice and blend. Enjoy.

Note: Mention Rawfully Tempting in Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will send a Special Bonus Sample with your order. Want to try another flavor? Specify the sample you want and they will try to accommodate you whenever possible.

Spicy Veg Beet Soup

2011-10-12T21:12:00.001-04:00

It was a cold, damp day, and my body was yearning for something warm and soothing. Now that I have my new VitaBaby, I can prepare soup in my blender, and I was very excited to give it a try. I had NO recipe, but started pulling things out of the refrigerator and this is what I came up with.
Beets are a very potent detox food, so I went very easy, and only used 1/2 of a beet...holy cow, the flavor was so strong, it overpowered most of the other veggies. If you don't mind a strong beet flavor, feel free to add more, but if you are not wowed by beets, use less than a whole one.

Raw Spicy Veg Beet Soup
1/2 red beet, chopped
1 cup filtered water
1 yellow squash or zucchini
1 red pepper
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup packed parsley
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
3-4 basil leaves
2 Tbsp hot poblano pepper, chopped, (optional, if you don't like spicy)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried cilantro (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil
dash black pepper
1 Tbsp agave (your favorite sweetener)
1/4 cup cashews, soaked 2o hours (optional) - I did not use these because the soup is pretty creamy, but if you like a real cream soup, add cashews for an extra rich and creamy consistency.

The only mistake I made, was to include a small amount of daikon radish which I eliminated it from the recipe. It left a strong after taste that I did not care for. The only way to learn is to try. Now I know - do not put daikon in soup..unless its' daikon soup!

Blend ingredients until smooth, or leave some chunks of veggies, if you like that consistency. I used the blender on high, until the soup was a warm to touch...and very tasty!

I served the soup with my Zippy Veggie Crisps and the combo was AMAZINGLY PERFECT!

Pistachio Fudge Pudding Parfait

2011-10-09T19:58:00.003-04:00

Mother Earth gave us a very special blessing today. The weather was FABULOUS and we took advantage of it. We were outside all day at an art show where my daughter was showing her beautiful painted furniture. I'm really wiped, and wanted a quick energizing snack. I cheated and used some convenient raw goodies I had around the house to help.

You can obviously make any changes you like. This is what I had around, and this is what I used.

Pistachio Fudge Pudding Parfait
1/2 cup cashews
2 Tbsp Living Tree Alive Pistachio Butter
1 1/2 cups filtered water
2 drops Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract (or 1/2 tsp of your favorite extract)
2 Tbsp honey (agave, or maple syrup)
4 Tbsp chia seeds (I used white so as not to darken the pudding)
1/2 tsp lucuma powder
1/4 tsp super green power (optional)
1 medium kale leaf or more per taste (not enough to alter flavor)
2 Tbsp Love Street Chocolate Spread

Blend all ingredients, except Chocolate Spread, until creamy.
Taste for sweetness and adjust.
Fill 3 parfait glasses 1/3 of the way with pudding. Spoon a small amount of Chocolate Spread over pudding. Pour rest of pudding into glass. Using a toothpick, move the Chocolate Spread, making a pretty design. You can do more than one layer, just use less pudding in each layer. In this photo, I did two very thin layers of the spread.

Sprinkle with chopped pistachio nuts. Refrigerate for several hours and serve.

Raw Tortilla Soup (Sans tortillas)

2011-10-08T00:28:00.006-04:00

It's Yom Kippur Eve and while I'm in a very contemplative mode, and it's just the two of us, I wanted something quick, light and easy for dinner tonight, since we will be fasting all day. I came across this recipe, had all of the ingredients, except tortillas, and decided to make my first soup since I got the VitaBaby! Instead of corn chips, we used corn kernels. Certainly not traditional dinner for Yom Kippur, but it worked for us. We added a yummy salad and threw in some of the leftover corn and cilantro, and dinner was divine!

Raw Tortilla Soup (by Choosing Raw)

2 tomatoes, chopped
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, packed
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, packed
2 large stalks celery, chopped
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp lime juice
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic (optional!! raw garlic is powerful, folks)
Dash cayenne pepper (optional)

Optional toppings: tomato, avocado, onion, corn chips.

Blend all ingredients except olive oil. When the ingredients are well blended, drizzle olive oil while the motor is running until the soup is creamy and emulsified. Pour into bowls and top with the chopped veggies and corn chips! Serve alongside more chips, some pita strips, an Ezekiel sprouted wrap that you’ve warmed in the oven, or simply some chopped veggies for a delicious meal!

I sprained my wrist and can't use my right hand, so had to call in my sous chef and food stylist - W. He did a fabulous job!

APPLE CIDER DONUTS

2011-10-07T13:57:00.005-04:00

The air is cool and crisp, back into long sleeves, and snuggling under the blanket at night while watching TV, or listening to music. Apples are so scrumptious right now, I have them for lunch every day. After working on my previous Apple Walnut Muffins, I was reminded of the days we used to take our kids to the farm, pick apples and feast on Apple Cider Donuts.
I am determined to make an impossibly decadent raw version of these. This batch is currently in the dehydrator, but I grabbed them for a quick photo shoot, just to tease you all! They are bite-sized "donuts" despite the way they appear in the photo.

I am totally thrilled with the previous muffins I made and the Blueberry Muffins that are finishing up today. I think these donuts need another bit of tweaking, although W loved what he's tasted so far. I tried to make them more chewy like a donut, so added a small amount of sprouted kamut flour, but they have a slightly bitter bite to them. All I'd have to do is add a bit of maple icing or chocolate frosting, and they'd probably be perfect, but I'm not sure I'm satisfied with them as is. They need a few more hours, so I'll let you know what I decide. But here's what I did. Please feel free to tweak. I think I'd leave out the Kamut next time.

Apple Cider Donuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 4 hours
1/4 cup cashew flour (finely ground cashews)
2 T ground flax seed
3 T ground chia seeds
1 T hemp seeds
1 banana, sliced
pinch sea salt
2 1/2 sweet red apples , cored and chopped
2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup oat flour (I sprout oats, dehydrate and grind into flour)
1/2 cup apple cider (not raw, replace with apple juice if you prefer)
1 T lemon juice
2 T Kamut flour (optional) - (i soak, sprout, and then dehydrate and grind flour)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup raisins, soaked
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 3 drops Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract)
pinch ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Process 1st 7 ingredients in food processor until well ground. Add and process remaining ingredients.

Place batter in freezer to stiffen. Form small donut shapes and place on non stick dehydrator tray.

I used this mini donut mold, using an offset spatula to press batter into mold, scrape off excess, and freeze for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the formed donut from mold and place on nonstick dehydrator sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon and lucuma powder combination.

Dehydrate at 135 degrees for 1 hour. Dehydrate at 110 degrees F for 12 to 18 hours (depending on size and weather). After about 3 hours, flip donuts over and sprinkle with cinnamon. Flip 2-3 more times during dehydration.

Serve as is, or top with your favorite honey, maple syrup, icing, chocolate sauce, etc. Great Halloween snack for the kids.

Apple Walnut Muffins

2011-10-02T13:45:00.007-04:00

Served warm from the dehydrator, these muffins are very reminiscent of the SAD (Standard American Diet - aka BAKED) version. I didn't make them very sweet, and sunflower seeds tend to have a more bitter flavor, but it adds to the "Autumn Spiciness" that I adore. Drizzle with some raw honey, cashew cream, or your favorite fruit "syrup"...oh, and some raw ice cream - HEAVEN!
I did not measure the ingredients, but I can tell you approximately how these are made. These are seriously light and fluffy...and I'm finding it hard not to just keep eating them! LOL

Apple Walnut Muffins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (soaked 2 to 4 hours)
3 Tbsp ground chia
2 Tbsp ground flax
pinch of sea salt
1-2 granny smith apples, chopped
1/4 cup raisins and walnuts
maple syrup or your favorite sweetener
lemon juice
vanilla extract
oat flour or almond flour

Mix these in food processor until you have a well blended batter. Add additional chopped walnuts and raisins and pulse process to leave chunks in batter.

On top of a non-stick dehydrator sheet, or parchment paper, spoon about 3 Tbsp of batter into a cookie cutter and press into the shape, slide cookie cutter up, and use a dull knife to re-shape muffin, forming a little mound on top. Muffins should be about 1 to 1.5 inches high.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1.5 hours. The muffins will never reach that temperature, but it's important to eliminate excess moisture and avoid fermentation.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 1 hour. Using a spatula carefully flip muffins over. Dehydrate several hours at 115 degrees. Flip again.

Using a toothpick, poke about 5 holes into muffin on top and sides. Continue to dehydrate another 8-12 hours at 110 degrees, (depending upon how thick), flipping muffins over every couple of hours. Poke more holes on bottom if needed.

Serve as is, or spread with a light layer of honey or cashew sauce, or fruit "syrup" and sprinkle with cinnamon. Do quicken the dehydration process, you can slice muffins in half.

Chocolate Fruit and Almond Bark - Still in Love...

2011-10-01T06:51:00.002-04:00

For you chocoholics....this is a WINNER!

Chocolate Fruit and Almond Bark

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup shaved cacao butter, melted
1/4 cup shaved cacao paste, melted (optional - will firm up chocolate bar)

1/2 cup cacao powder (or mix with small amount of carob powder)

1/4 cup maple syrup or your favorite sweetener
1/2 tsp hazelnut extract (2 drops Medicine Flower Hazelnut)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 drop Medicine Flower Vanilla)
1 tsp sunflower lecithin

1/4 cup raisins

1/8 cup dried cherries (optional)

2 Tbsp coconut, shredded (optional)
1/4 cup combined almonds and walnuts, smashed

Melt chocolate: Place shaved cacao butter and cacao paste in a metal bowl, placed on top of a smaller bowl filled with hot water. Add coconut oil and stir together as it melts.

While waiting, place nuts in zip lock bag on hard surface and smash with a mallet, creating uneven chunks of nuts.

Add maple syrup, agave nectar, and extracts to melted ingredients, add lecithin, and stir. Take off of warm water. Let sit for a few minutes and then place back on top of fresh hot water and let melt again.

Add smashed nuts, raisins, cherries and coconut. Stir until well coated.

Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment and spread about 1/4" thick.

Place in freezer to set. Remove from freezer and break into chunks. Store in freezer.

Warning: This is NOT like M&Ms and it does melt in your hands if you don't get it into your mouth fast enough. Yummm...Oh yeah! "RAW"nchy chocolate! I eat it right out of the freezer (and then LICK. LICK, LICK!).

For darker chocolate, use more cacao paste. For milk chocolate, use less cacao paste.

***Adding more cacao butter and/or paste, using less coconut oil will make this more solid. Feel free to experiment with extracts and combinations of these ingredients. Have fun and share your results.

Note: Mention Rawfully Tempting in Shipping Comments and Medicine Flower will include a special bonus sample with any purchase. In fact, you can ask for a sample of a specific flavor or product you are interested in trying. When available, they will accommodate.

Dark Chocolate Batch:

Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie

2011-09-26T07:22:00.004-04:00

Num Num Num! You all know how much I love chocolate and I'm really not a fruity person, (well, that may be debatable), but I really enjoyed the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie I made previously, and wanted to try something similar...but different.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie
(serves 2)
2 1/2 cups water or coconut water
1/2 cup Young Thai coconut meat (opt)
5 kale leaves (approx)
2 frozen bananas
2 dates, pitted and chopped
1 Tbsp ea., hemp, ground flax, ground chia
1 - 2 Tbsp cacao powder
3 drops Medicine Flower black cherry extract (or other brand -if you can find such a thing.)
1 drop Medicine Flower dark chocolate extract (opt)
Option: Use frozen cherries, however, the flavor will not be as concentrated, but still delicious)
Blend until creamy and ENJOY! The tiny amount of Medicine Flower flavors add so much flavor, I don't know what I'd do without them. It's easy to add TOO much...1-2 drops and some flavors really need less than 1 drop....so start with the smallest amount and add to taste. Add ice and blend until creamy!

BONUS- Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in the Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will send you a Special Bonus Sample. Want to try a new flavor? Let them know, and you may be able to get a sample with your purchase!

Oodles of Noodles, Lotsa Pasta, and Other Spirally Thangs!

2011-09-20T08:59:00.020-04:00

I'm getting ready for my Pastapalooza Class scheduled for tomorrow at Organic Avenue. I was playing around with two different spiralizers and came up with a few fun treats. Spiralizers are two of my favorite kitchen tools, and I could not imagine my life without them!

The photo above is spiralized Garnet Yams, which are not really yams at all, but beautiful red (on the outside) sweet potatoes. I am fortunate to have 2 different spirazers which in total, contain 6 different cutting options.

Paderno World Cuisine Spiralizer

Using the smallest "angel hair" blade, combined with the medium blade, I came up with 2 lovely variations of noodles, which I seasoned with sea salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Spread on a non-stick dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 110 degrees F for several hours. They dehydrate quickly! Enjoy!

For the most part, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Paderno World Cuising Spiralizer. I prefer this machine for any vegetable that has seeds in it, like zucchini, summer squash or cucumbers. This spiralizer has a center tube that removes a good majority of the seeded core as you cut your "pasta." This results in crisp, beautiful pasta-like strands that don't get limp and watery on your plate. The smaller spiralizers do not remove the core and so the veggies with seeds, get super watery and I find this annoying. With the World Cuisine spiralizer, I can actually cut my "pasta" the day before, store it in the refrigerator, and have it be fresh and crisp the next day!

However, for firm fruits, vegetables and roots, like sweet potatoes or kohlrabi, I really enjoy using the Benriner Spiralizer. This machine does not remove the center or core, and seems to cut really nice angel hair pasta noodles or a flat linguini noodle, depending on which blade you use. The only drawback with this machine is that it is vertical and only opens up so far, so you have to cut your food into a small enough piece to fit between the two ends of the spiralizer. This allows for a little more waste, and makes it a little less convenient. (Save those ends for juicing, soups, breads and crackers). I love having both of these spiralizers n my kitchen. The investment is very minimal, and gives you the ability to create a wide variety of textures, from a paper thin ribbon cut, to a fat spaghetti-like strand.

On September 21, 2011, I'm hosting a Pastapalooza Class at Organic Avenue and will be demonstrating these two machines, and teaching you how to make some scrumptious "pasta" dishes. If you have not registered, do so now!

Some Amazing Dishes Created Using Spiralizers

Come on Out and Meet Us All! Pastapalooza!

2011-09-18T07:34:00.000-04:00

Click HERE for details for this RAWsome event!

Raw Chef Dosa and Raw Chef Jane Karuschkat will be there too, as well as my "official RT Taster" - W! Looking forward to meeting you all! (see pics below)

Barbara Shevkun (aka - Rawfully Tempting


Raw Chef Jane K.

Raw Chef Dosa

W - Official RT Taster and Sous Chef

This is a Hoot, But I Need Your Help!

2011-09-15T08:42:00.006-04:00

You Can Put Rawfully Tempting in Lights! And it only takes a second!

Wouldn't it be fun to see Rawfully Tempting on a Times Square Billboard? It literally takes a second to vote, and you can vote once a day, since the contest does not end until 9/20/11. Thanks to your love and support, RT is currently in the TOP 5% - so please keep the votes coming. VOTE HERE! And Read Below About Pastapalooza!

Don't Forget that next Wednesday, September 21, 2011, I'm hosting Pastapalooza at Organic Avenue in NYC. You can REGISTER HERE for the event. Please tell your friends about it. We are going to have so much fun, and you get to taste some Rawfully Tempting goodies!

RAWsh Kebobs

2011-09-11T07:11:00.003-04:00

My sweetheart, W, was craving veggie kebobs the other night. I had seen a photo that someone posted recently with raw kebobs, so I figured I'd give it a shot. They came out very tasty. You can experiment with different spices and sauces. I'd let the veggies marinate overnight next time, but a very nice light dish. The pineapple really enhanced the flavors.

RAWsh Kebobs
1 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
2 cups mushrooms (any kind)
1 medium tomato or 1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 cups pineapple, cut into chunks
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices and then cut in half.
1 cup cauliflower and/or broccoli florets, (not pictured)

RAWbeque Sauce/Marinade
2 tomatoes
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/2 avocado
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp Nama Shoyu or tamari sauce
1 Tbsp brown rice vinegar (or your favorite kind)
1 Tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil, melted)
2 tsp hemp seeds (optional)
oregano, salt, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, to taste
squeeze juice from pineapple rind and stir into marinade.

Blend marinade until smooth. Add water only if needed to thin. Pour mixture over cut veggies. Stir with hands to massage into veggies and refrigerate overnight. Slide veggies on wooden skewers and place on a a dehydrator tray, covered with a non-stick sheet. Pour any remaining sauce over skewered veggies and dehydrate at 110 degrees for about 2 hours.

Or save some of the sauce and serve over spiralized zucchini noodles.

Cinnamon Walnut Crunch

2011-09-09T21:59:00.003-04:00

Made this on a whim and can see so many different possibilities. Today I had to leave the house early...and this was breakfast. We polished the whole thing off!

Cinnamon Walnut Crunch
Inspired by Blythe Raw

2cups walnuts, soaked overnight
3 bananas
3 Tbsp maple syrup
3 dates, pitted and chopped
pinch of sea salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp chia seeds, ground
2 to 3 Tbsp shredded dried coconut (optional)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)

Rinse and drain walnuts. Blend remaining ingredients. Pour goop over walnuts and mix well.

Spread on non stick sheet dehydrator tray, sprinkle with additional cinnamon, if desired. Add nutmeg, if you like a little spice.

Dehydrate several hours at 110 degrees. Flip over..and continue to dehydrate about 8 hours or longer.

As it gets close to being totally dry and crunchy, I rip it into bit sized pieces and dehydrate another hour or so. Store in an airtight container. ENJOY!

Simply Mahvelous Mocha Ice Cream

2011-09-03T07:45:00.004-04:00

I couldn't wait for this to freeze, and ate it as soft-serve. I am not even a coffee drinker, but am constantly using my Medicine Flower C O F F E E extract. W brought me home a bottle of coffee extract from Whole Foods to compare, since it's a fraction of the price. I can't even bring myself to use the other bottle. One whiff from the bottle tells all. There is NO comparison between the two. I LOVE this stuff! They are super concentrated, so you only need a few drops.

Simply Mahvelous Mocha Ice Cream
1 cup cashews (soaked 5-6 hours)
3/4 cup water (as needed for mixing)
2 Tbsp cacao powder
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
2 Tbsp agave (or maple syrup, honey, etc)
1 tsp coffee extract (or 3 drops Medicine Flower Coffee Extract)

OPTIONAL - but worthwhile
1 tsp mesquite powder
1 tsp sunflower lecithin (emulsifier)
1 drop Medicine Flower Hazelnut Extract
pinch, sea salt
2 Tbsp Irish moss paste (very optional)
smashed almonds as topping

Mix cashews and water in high speed blender. Add remaining ingredients, except almonds. Mix until creamy.

Run through ice cream maker, or freeze (stirring frequently until frozen).

Serve with smashed almonds, chocolate sauce, goji berries, or any of your favorite toppings.

*Special Bonus: Mention Rawfully Tempting and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your order.

Spicy Red Tahini Sauce on Zucchini Noodles

2011-08-31T17:27:00.001-04:00

Simple and delicious. This is a quick and easy meal to fix and so very tasty!!! I added some yummy "meat" balls, and it was the perfect combo.

Spicy Red Tahini Sauce on Zucchini Noodles
2 to 3 tomatoes
1/4 avocado
3 Tbsp *tahini (see below)
1/4 tsp salt
1 glove garlic
1/2 red bell pepper
dash of cayenne
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp fresh basil
1 T hemp seeds
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cherry pepper (optional)
2 zucchini, **for noodle (or combo of zucchini and yellow summer squash)
Blend ingredients until creamy and season to taste. Mix into zucchini noodles and let sit for an hour or more. Garnish with black sesame seeds. Warm in dehydrator is you like. Serve and enjoy!! (add other veggies to this sauce for more variety).

*Note: Max Sesame Tahini Spread is the only tahini I've ever seen made with raw, sprouted sesame seeds It's fabulous!

** Don't have a spiralizer? Do not despair! Take a veggie peeler and slice yourself some thin, linguini like noodles. I HIGHLY suggest investing in a SPIRALIZER if you don't have one, but it's not imperative.

Magnificent Medicine Flower Moment - Green Smoothie

2011-08-31T12:22:00.017-04:00

Anyone who has followed my blog for any length of time, will know that I'm a Medicine Flower groupie. We did several giveaways with this fabulous company awhile back, and I even flew out to Oregon for a week to spend time with the owner of this fabulous company in person.

Today, I had a Medicine Flower Moment...and created this heavenly delight using several magnificent Medicine Flower Extracts...so indulge me...

Magnificent Medicine Flower Moment Green Smoothie
1 young Thai coconut - water and meat
1/2 - 1 cup filtered water (if needed )
5 large kale leaves (or a handful of dandelion greens)
2 frozen bananas
3 Tbsp hemp seed
3 Tbsp ground chia
3 Tbsp cacao powder
2 Tbsp almond butter
few drops of stevia (or your favorite sweetener, to taste)

(Now is where the fun comes in...)

2 drops Medicine Flower Almond extract
1 drop Medicine Flower Rum extract
2 drops Medicine Flower Dark Chocolate extract
2 drops Medicine Flower Coconut extract
6 drops Medicine Flower Coffee extract

BLEND...add some ice cubes and blend some more.

Now...Please, find your most comfortable seat, close your eyes, take a deep cleansing breath, say a little prayer or blessing, be present...and
S L O W L Y enjoy this Magnificent Medicine Flower Moment!!!

For those of you that are not familiar with this product, check this out:

"Medicine Flower organic food-grade flavors are used for culinary, scent and cosmetic applications. Our flavors are cold-processed using extraction without the use of any colorants, fillers, diluting agents or preservatives. Water and oil soluble, all our flavors are highly concentrated, contain no sugar or calories and are wheat- and gluten-free. A few drops are needed to flavor anything from shaved ice, tea, coffee drinks to ice cream, desserts and smoothies. Try a drop or two in your drinking water with ice for a refreshing gourmet treat!

Medicine Flower Flavor Extracts are also suitable for scenting massage oils, balms, bath oils, soaps and candles.

Concentrated Flavor:

The flavor potency of Medicine Flower is about 30-70 times higher than traditional liquid extracts (1-3 drops of Medicine Flower flavors equal up to a teaspoon of other flavors).

Technical Information:

"Organic or wild-crafted in accordance with European standards, our flavors are obtained through a proprietary technology conducted at temperatures below 118 degrees F. This process comprises a multi-stage extraction encompassing initial desiccation, lyophilization, CO₂ and HFC extraction".

Lemon, orange, rum, and apricot flavors require additional alcohol extraction and may contain up to 5% residual grain alcohol."

SPECIAL OFFER: Because I'm such a die-hard Medicine Flower Fanatic, our friends at MF have kindly extended an offer to RT readers. Mention Rawfully Tempting in the Shipping Comments of your order, and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with your purchase. (Feel free to specify a flavor extract that you want to try, and MF will try to accommodate you when possible).

While these are my personal favorite extracts on the planet, please feel free to substitute with whatever products you like best. My recipes are designed to give you a place to start, and I always encourage CREATIVITY! ENJOY!

The Simplicity of Raw - Interview

2011-08-30T14:07:00.011-04:00

Our interview was scheduled in the midst of Mercury gone retrograde - so this is what we got. No video of me, but a two part interview..and you get to stare at my face the whole time. Blessings. Thanks Maria and Kristen from What Matters Most! Don't Miss Part 2 Below:

Quick MozzaRAWla Cheese

2011-08-28T12:16:00.003-04:00

Here is a quick and easy "cheese" that can be used for pizza, zucchini pasta, rawvioli, etc. Feel free to embellish with your favorite herbs and spices. I prefer to keep the cheese simple and add spices to my sauces.

Quick MozzaRAWla Cheese
1 cup macadamia nuts (soaked 2 hours - or cashews)
2 tsp pine nuts
2 tsp light miso (optional)
3/4 cup water or enough to blend
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast ((optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Quick MozzaRAWla Cheese Preparation
Blend nuts and water until very creamy. Add remaining ingredients and season per taste.

Option:
Spread on a non-sitck dehydrator sheet and dehydrate to make MozzaRAWla Cheese "slices"

Green Marinara Sauce

2011-08-20T19:52:00.003-04:00

Okay, we have green smoothies, so why not Green Marinara Sauce? This lovely sauce is simple to prepare, and quite nutritious. Add as many greens as you like the taste of. I used Kale, parsley and basil, but feel free to experiment with dandelion, spinach, chard, etc.

Green Marinara Sauce:
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and chopped
1/2 avocado(optional)
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 kale leaves, chopped
1/4 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medjool date, soaked and chopped
2 Tbsp red onion, chopped
1/4 yellow bell pepper, chopped
pinch of sea salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix in blender or food processor until creamy. Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Quick Marinara Sauce

2011-08-20T11:33:00.014-04:00

This Marinara Sauce can be used on zucchini noodles, kelp noodles, pizza, veggies, meatloaf, etc. It's really quick and simple to prepare. Feel free to doctor it up with whatever spices you prefer!!! Make it zippy or mild.

Marinara Sauce:
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and chopped
1/2 avocado(optional)
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medjool date, soaked and chopped
2 Tbsp red onion, chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
pinch of sea salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp oregano (and whatever other spices you like)

Mix in blender or food processor until creamy. Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Simple Green Coconut Mango Smoothie

2011-08-11T12:17:00.001-04:00

Yummy morning elixir!

Green Coconut Mango Smoothie
meat from a young Thai coconut , or (3/4 cups organic dried coconut)
1 - 2 frozen bananas
2 cups water (or coconut water)
kale or dandelion leaves (or milder like romaine and Boston leaf)

2 mangoes
3-4 medjool dates

Optional:
2 Tbsp of hemp seeds
2 Tbsp chia seeds

Blend coconut and water. Add remaining ingredients and blend well.Sip and enjoy!

Cucumber and Avocado Soup

2011-08-10T16:11:00.002-04:00

I whipped this together tonight in about 10 minutes. This is a super quick and easy recipe that makes a great summer soup. Refreshing, satisfying and deeelicious.

Got S O U P?

Inspired by Penni Shelton.
Serves: 2

Cucumber and Avocado Soup
zest of 1/2 lime
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cucumber, roughly chopped
1 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped
1 granny smith apple, chopped
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 tsp dried cilantro, to taste
pinch of fresh mint leaves (optional. I used dried)
1 Tbsp mango salsa , chopped tomatoes or a dollop of chipotle

Blend zest, lime juice, salt, cucumber and avocado and apple until creamy. Add mint, blend.

Serve in bowl and sprinkle with cayenne pepper, dried cilantro and a dollop of mango salsa, or substitution, and a sprig of mint leaves.

Don't forget to stop by RT's ONLINE CAFE and see what's available.

EVENT: Rawfully Tempting's Pastapalooza!!!!!!

2011-08-09T11:48:00.001-04:00

I am so very excited to be hosting this event at Organic Avenue on September 21, 2011. Please register in advance for this event. You will not only learn how to make some very quick and easy, scrumptious dishes, but you will get to taste them too! Mark your calendars, come on over, and join in the fun. This is going to be a blast!

Location: The Space of LOVE* 116 Suffolk Street New York, NY 10002
For more information please email love@organicavenue.com or call 212-358-0500.

In this demo, you will taste and learn how to create a delicious variety of healthy, raw vegan, dough-free pasta dishes - easy and fun, tempting to the senses , nourishing to the body, and satisfying to the spirit.

The menu includes:
- Ratatouille and Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade with "Pasta"
- "Spaghetti" with Champagne Mango Cream Sauce
- Vegetable Pad Thai
- "Spaghetti" Marinara with "Rawsage" and Peppers

Strawberry Custard Cream Pie

2011-08-06T00:37:00.002-04:00

I made this awhile ago, and never posted it. Someone asked for it, so here ya go. This is a nice light summer treat, and the only nuts are in the crust, so you could make the "custard" without it, if you wanted to avoid nuts altogether. I didn't measure everything, so the recipe below is approximate. Good thing about raw food, is you can taste it as you go along. So...taste it and adjust measurements as you see fit!

"Strawberry Custard Cream Pie
Crust
1 1/2 cups walnuts (soaked 4 hours)
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
3/4 cup dates, pitted - Medjool
1 Tbsp cacao powder
2 drops *Medicine Flower Chocolate Extract (optional)

Filling
4 cups strawberries, stemmed and cut in half
3 cups of young Thai coconut water (filtered water -add as needed)
1 cup young coconut meat (you can try 1/2 cup dessicated coconut)
4 drops *Medicine Flower Strawberry Extract (optional - flavors are concentrated so they really pack a punch)
3 drops *Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract (or 1/2 tsp other liquid extract - this is my favorite vanilla extract!)
1/2 cup *Irish moss paste
1/2 cup ground white chia seeds
1/4 cup agave (or your favorite sweetener, to taste)
1/4 cup cacao butter, shaved and melted
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp sunflower lecithin (optional)
2 Tbsp pysllium husk powder
pinch of sea salt

Preparation
Blend strawberries and water and pour mixture through a sieve. Transfer strained strawberry liquid back to blender. Add Irish moss paste, chia, extracts, agave, and salt and blend until creamy.

Shave cacao butter and melt with coconut oil in dehydrator or place over a bowl of hot water.

Add melted ingredients, blend well. Add psyllium and lecithin to custard mixture and blend well. It should start to get pretty thick, but stay creamy. You will have to adjust this here to your liking. If too thick, add more water, if not thick enough, add more psyllium in small amounts and test. Mixture will thicken some in refrigerator too.

Press crust into bottom of an 8" fluted tart pan with removable bottom, pressing up sides about 1/2 inch or so. Pour custard mixture into pan. Top with sliced strawberries. I made a cashew cream mixture, added Medicine Flower White Chocolate Extract, and drizzled over top of pie.

How to Make Irish Moss Paste
Grab a handful of moss and rinse well. Soak in a jar of water in refrigerator 6 - 12 hours, rinse and replace water at least twice.

Rinse. Chop 1 cup of moss in small pieces. (Put remaining moss back into fresh water and refrigerate)

Blend about 1 cup soaked and chopped Irish moss with 2 cups water. Blend well, and frequently scrape sides of blender. Make sure there are no small pieces or grit... be patient as this can take awhile. Refrigerate remaining paste for up to 3 weeks. (Works great on skin as a mask too!)

*Note: Mention Rawfully Tempting in Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will send you a Special Bonus Sample with any purchase. These extracts are super concentrated. You only need a couple of drops at most.

$25 GIFT CARD BONUS - With Purchase- See Details Below

2011-08-03T13:41:00.004-04:00

OPEN: As many of you know I recently participated in an exciting Cook-Off, and won. You can read about the event in previous posts and even check out a lovely video of the event. For winning, I received a Whole Foods Gift Card, which is amazing, but even better, I also received several Gift Cards to give out to some of my favorite readers who have shown their support in so many ways! Right now, I'm offering a $25 Whole Foods Gift Card customers that place an order at the RT Online CAFE . (details posted on Cafe page).

So if you've been eying some cafe items, but have hesitated, now's your chance. Spend a minimum of $50.00 at the Cafe...and get a $25 Whole Foods Gift Card. As long as there are Gift Cards remaining, I'll leave this post up. Come on over and check out the Cafe, and if there is something you don't see, feel free to message me and see if I can whip it up for you! xoxoxo!!

$25 Whole Foods Gift Card GIVEAWAY! - NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

2011-07-31T00:43:00.010-04:00

CLOSED - Winners posted below

Win a $25.00 Whole Foods Gift Card - Veria TV awarded me several WF Gift Cards as a thank you to the folks that cheered me on and supported me through the "Unlock The Taste of Summer" Cook-Off. Please read below for directions on how to enter. THREE winners will be selected.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

MANDATORY ENTRY

Go to the Rawfully Tempting Online Cafe. View the list of products, pick your favorite, and come back here and tell us what you like best in the Comments below.. (Be sure to look at the drop down menus for more product options).

Please Follow These 2 Rules:

- Leave 1 comment only for EACH entry

- Include your FB or GOOGLE ID and email address with the comments in EVERY entry.

- PLEASE DO NOT PUT MULTIPLE COMMENTS TOGETHER...WINNER will be randomly selected, so each entry is numbered. If you enter more than one, it must be in a separate comment.

That's it, you're done! Simple!

For Additional Entries

1 - Follow or subscribe to Rawfully Tempting's Blog - Note: If you already Follow RT, cool, that counts, just tell us in 1 comment below.

2 - Become a Rawfully Tempting Friend on Facebook - AND/OR JOIN our Rawfully Tempting Goodness FB GROUP, and let us know in a separate comment below.

3 - Sign up for our Rawfully Tempting Newsletter, and tell us in a separate comment below. Note: If you are already receiving the Newsletter, just let us know in comments below.

NOTE: Leave 1 comment for EACH entry in order for it to count. Be sure to include your ID and email address in each comment, so I can contact you if you win.

***Currently, if you make a minimum $50.00 purchase at the RT Online Cafe, we will send you a $25.00 Whole Foods Gift Card with your order. There are 4 of these available, so place your orders while supply lasts!

*Every comment MUST have an email address or way to contact you if you win!

Details:

- Contest begins Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 12:30 AM - EST. Deadline to enter is August 3, 2011 at 11 PM, EST. Winner will be randomly selected and notified via email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or another winner will be selected. Be sure to leave a valid email address in each comment so I can contact you or your entry will be disqualified.

- Must be over the age of 18 to enter and have a valid US or Canadian shipping address.

CONGRATULATIONS TO :

Kelly, Dee and Nancy!!! Your Gift Card is on it's way!

*Rawfully Tempting's Full Disclosure Policy

Newsletter - Sign Up and Archives

2011-07-22T02:16:00.005-04:00

To receive our latest Rawfully Tempting™ Newsletter and get handy tips, along with monthly recipes, please Sign-Up HERE. Be sure to respond to the Confirmation Email to receive future Newsletters. Blessings!

If you are signed up as a FOLLOWER with Google Friend Connect you will not receive these Newsletters. You must Sign Up to receive these. Please feel free to post feedback here on things you would like to see included in future Newsletters. Thank you!!!

ARCHIVES LISTED HERE

Burritos

2011-07-21T19:27:00.002-04:00

It's HOT here in NJ and the last thing I feel like doing is spending too much time on dinner. I want quick, easy and COOLING! This din din hit the spot and was PERFECT. It was one of those times where I'm eating something raw...and I can just feel that my body is smiling on the inside. Hard to explain, but you just know it's good! Have you experienced that? What would you call it?

Burrito or Taco Shells
Romaine leaves

Toppings
tomatoes, chopped
red onion, chopped
dulse flakes
olives
sprouts (optional)

Refried Beans
1 cup almonds (soaked overnight)
1 portobello mushroom cap, feathers removed, and chopped (optional)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hour
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced (depending on taste)
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp coriander
pinch sea salt, to taste
water, as needed to process

Combine nuts and olive oil in food processor or high speed blender.

Add water as needed. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth, or leave a bit chunky.

Season to taste. Set aside.

Burrito Meat

1 C walnuts (soaked several hours)

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (soaked 30 min)

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes soak water

1/4 cup diced onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp parsley

1Tbsp olive oil (or your fav oil)

1/4 tsp chili powder (to taste)

pinch of sea salt to taste

Dash of cayenne pepper.

Process walnuts and sun dried tomatoes and add to a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and season to taste.

Salsa
2 medium tomatoes

1/4 avocado

3 green onions

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp cilantro, dried (2-3 Tbsp fresh)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
dash cayenne, to taste
sea salt, to taste

Mix all ingredients except bell peppers in food processor. Add peppers and pulse, leaving them chunky. Season to taste. Refrigerate and serve.

Assemble

Fill romaine leaves with "meat," "refried beans," salsa and toppings. I find it much easier to fold in half, lengthwise...pick up and eat. It's messy, but soooo yummy. No bloated belly after this meal, but a very happy one!

Blueberry and "Tapioca" Parfait

2011-07-14T00:13:00.001-04:00

This was so easy, light and refreshing, and only took me about 20 minutes to prepare. I didn't really measure the ingredients, but I'll try and estimate for you. White chia seeds absorb the liquid and give the pudding a very tapioca like texture. Add a good vanilla extract, and you have an absolutely divine dessert!

Blueberry and Tapioca Parfait
1 cup blueberries

Tapioca Pudding
1/4 to 1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup water
pinch sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract - I used 3 drops *Medicine Flower Extract (it's my absolute favorite vanila)
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp white chia (you can use regular, but it will darken color of tapioca pudding)
1/8 tsp cinnamon, to taste

Blend cashews and water until creamy. add remaining ingredients and taste for sweetness. Add more chia seeds to thicken as desired.

In a wine glass, layer blueberries and Tapioca pudding. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy immediately!!!

*Note: Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will include a Special Bonus Sample with any order.

Another Tapioca Pudding Recipe that is a little more time intensive can be found HERE.

RAW Recipe Selected as Cook-Off Winner Over SAD Recipes - VIDEO

2011-07-12T21:56:00.005-04:00

Here is the video footage from the cook-off I participated in. Read more about the event here.

RECIPE IS HERE

Watermelon Lemonade Popsicles

2011-07-07T15:44:00.001-04:00

Okay - gonna make this one really easy! This is the same recipe that I posted yesterday for Watermelon Lemonade. A few of you wrote and told me that you made it and loved it. I had some extra and poured it into my ice pop mold s...and here we have delicious, refreshing, wonderfully scrumptious Watermelon Lemonade Ice Pops!!! Enjoy!

Watermelon Lemonade Popsicles
watermelon, with seeds removed
3 lemons, juiced
ice

Preparation
Fill blender 3/4 full with chunks of watermelon. Remove the seeds. PULSE a few times in the blender and pour through a strainer to remove any seeds that got in there. Put juice and pulp back in blender and add lemon juice. Blend well. Add ice and blend again, until smooth. You can add some strawberries, blueberries, bananas, whatever you like. Pour into ice pop molds.

Enjoy this delicious summer snack! You could also blend in some greens for a lovely and fruity green smoothie, which you could also freeze into pops..

Watermelon Lemonade

2011-07-06T13:50:00.002-04:00

Cool, refreshing....DELICIOUS!!!! I didn't measure anything for this, just threw it all in the blender. Try different combos. It's all good.

Watermelon Lemonade
about 4-5 cups, chopped watermelon, with seeds removed
3 - 4 lemons, juiced
ice

Preparation
slice a bunch of watermelon, remove the seeds, chop and toss in blender. PULSE a few times and then pour through a strainer to remove any seeds that got in there. Put juice and pulp back in blender and add lemon juice. Blend well. Add ice and blend again, until smooth. You can add some strawberries, blueberries, bananas, whatever you like. Enjoy this delicious summer beverage! You could also blend in some greens for a lovely green smoothie.

Super Quick Asian Garden "Noodles" - Salad

2011-07-05T19:12:00.008-04:00

OHhhhhhh My Gosh! SO quick and So easy. The only problem with this, is that I did not make enough of it and want MORE! This is so light and refreshing. It's a great side salad for your SAD friends, or a main course. Cucumbers and summer squash make this a very cooling dish.
For this dish I ended up using the spirializer that I had packed away and thought I hated. It worked great. Unlike my World Cuisine spiralizer, which is awesome for "pasta" like dishes, my Benriner Cook Help spiralizer, using the medium blade, does not remove the seeds/core and you get a very watery, juicy, stringy strand, which works perfectly for a cole slaw. This was so tasty that I drank the left over juice from the bowl.

You could also use a vegetable peeler or mandoline for a similar effect. *Made this again...and I used the World Cuisine Spiralizer this time, with the smallest blade and it turned out GREAT!

spiralized the cucumbers with ribbon blade

Asian Garden Salad - Serves 2
1 large zucchini (spiralized THIN)
1 yellow summer squash (spiralized thin)
1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, sliced thin
1/2 red bell pepper, julienne
1/4 red onion, sliced very thin
1 carrot, shredded
2 Tbsp brown rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp olive oil (optional)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 Tbsp nama shoyu (or tamari)
2 tsp honey or agave nectar
black sesame seeds (garnish)

Procedure
Spiralize zucchini and squash finely, or finely julienne cut, or use a mandoline.

Place cut veggies in a large mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix and let sit for 30 minutes or so...or eat right away. It's perfect!

Raw Chocolate Fudgesicles

2011-07-01T15:59:00.012-04:00

Rich, fudgey, tasty, sweet, cooling, satisfying............under 150 calories per pop. A great Summer treat!

C H O C O L A T E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Creamy Fudgesicle
(makes 6 ice pops)

2 bananas (preferably frozen)
1/2 cup cashews (soaked)
1/2 cup water (as needed to thin)
2 Tbsp nut butter
1/2 avocado
2 Tbsp cacao powder
2 tsp mesquite powder (optional)
2 tsp lucuma powder (optional)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp sunflower lecithin (optional)
3 Tbsp honey (agave or maple syrup)
2 drops Dark Chocolate Medicine Flower Extract (optional)
1 drop Vanilla Medicine Flower Extract (optional)
dash cinnamon
dash cayenne (optional)

Procedure
Blend cashews and water. Add banana and blend until creamy

Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Pour into ice pop molds and freeze. Mesquite, lucuma and Medicine Flower Extracts are all optional ingredients. They add flavor and texture to this recipe, but you can absolutely prepare an scrumptious dessert without them. I like to have them in my kitchen because they do add so much, but if you are just starting out, don't be afraid to try a recipe because you don't have all of the ingredients. Raw food preparation is VERY forgiving...give it a go!

Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will send you a Special Bonus Sample with your purchase.

RT's Champagne Mango Cream Sauce on "Pasta"

2011-06-29T19:52:00.019-04:00

Delicious, light, refreshing, satisfying, seasonal. This dish was the winner of the Glastonbury Cook-Off, hosted by celebrity chef Andrea Beaman in her Unlock the Taste of Summer Tour.
As always, my recipes are a foundation for you and I urge you to make substitutions or changes that you feel work for you. For instance, I use young Thai coconut water and meat. If you don't have access to these from an Asian market or Whole Foods, than try using bottled coconut milk, or dried coconut and water. Experiment.

I also used Champagne mangoes, because I love the taste of them, but you can certainly use regular mangoes. Seriously, I can't imagine any of these combinations in different forms tasting badly. If you do try this, let us know and let us know changes you made and how they worked for you. Good luck and enjoy!

PS - You can use a SPIRALIZER (see link at bottom of page), or a veggie peeler to cut long spaghetti like noodles. I LOVE my spiralizer and use it frequently. It's worth the $30 for sure!!!

"Raw" Champagne Mango Cream Sauce With Zucchini and Summer Squash Pasta
1/4 cup RAW cashews - (preferably soaked for 2 hours & rinsed)
1/2 cup coconut water (or filtered water)
1/2 cup young coconut meat (or 1/2 cup desiccated coconut)
2 Champagne mangoes (or 2 regular mangoes )
1/2 Tbsp honey or liquid sweetener
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 drops Medicine Flower Mango Extract (optional)
1 tsp nama shoyu (or tamari)
1 tsp ginger, grated
1/2 Tbsp lime juice
pinch cayenne (optional if you want to make it zippy)

Coconut Batter Mushrooms (not in recipe)

Pasta
2 medium zucchini spiralized or cut into noodles
1 Yellow squash, spiralized (or use 2 zucchini)

Garnish
1 champagne mango, thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 cup broccoli sprouts or your favorite sprouts
shredded desiccated coconut
1 Tbsp black sesame seeds

Procedure

Champagne Mango Cream Sauce

Blend cashews, coconut meat and coconut water until creamy. (add more water as needed)

Add honey, sea salt, mango extract, nama shoyu, ginger, lime juice, cayenne and blend until creamy. Taste for sweetness or zippiness and adjust. Set aside.

Serve

Place a mound of zucchini and summer squash noodles on plate.

Drizzle Champagne Mango Cream Sauce over center of food

Add garnish and serve.

Note: In photo, I garnished with additional marinated and dehydrated mushrooms. artichoke hearts, coconut batter portobello mushrooms (pictured above), etc.

For Medicine Flower mango extract: Mention "Rawfully Tempting" in Shipping Comments, and Medicine Flower will include a FREE Bonus Sample with any purchase.

SPIRALIZER

I made the dish for my friend Ingrid, using sprouted legumes instead of broccoli, equally delicious. I think she liked it!

Unlock The Taste of Summer CookOff - Drum Roll, Please.....

2011-06-27T16:39:00.046-04:00

And the winner is...
RAWFULLY TEMPTING!!! How thrilled I was when I was contacted by Veria TV to participate in this exciting event. Veria TV's celebrity chef Andrea Beaman, host of 'Fed Up' made guest appearances in several cities celebrating the freshness of summer seasonal foods. Yours truly was invited to compete in a cook-off with 2 other chefs, which took place on June 26th, 2011at the Glastonburry, Ct Whole Foods.

I was the only raw chef asked to participate in this event, so I was really excited to demonstrate something exceptionally yummy.

My assignment - was to come up with a QUICK and easy dish using summer squash. We had only 15 minutes to prepare on camera and about 30 minutes prep time prior to that. The program was video taped, although it was supposed to be aired on live stream. Keep your eyes open for updates as I'll let you know when the competition video is being aired. The recipe I selected was Champagne Mango Cream Sauce on Squash "Pasta."

This was an awesome challenge for me and a marvelous learning experience. It was also incredibly rewarding! W and I had to leave at 5am and drive 4 hours to Glastonbury Connecticut. I prepped a lot of my food and lugged a couple of coolers and boxes and a borrowed VitaMix for the occasion. My broccoli sprouts had not greened yet, so I propped a jar of them on the dashboard, in the hopes the sun would green them by the time we arrived. Within 2 hours, my little sprouties were adorably GREEN.

When all of the chefs arrived, we were ushered to the Whole Foods Prep Kitchen. What a hoot.

Wearing Whole Foods baseball caps and chef jackets, we were given a space amongst 10 or so WF chefs in the kitchen and left on our own to complete the final preparation needed before the event.

Andrea's segment of the program was broadcast live, so we sat nervously waiting. We did not have our stations set up and that was a bit unnerving. W found me a large rectangular pizza tray and I lined my ingredients up on that, which eased some of the tension that I was feeling. This way, when it was our time to head to our work stations, I'd have everything done. NOT!!! To my surprise, the video team approached each of us, and wanted to tape us reaching for each and every ingredient that we'd be using to create our recipes. As I picked up each ingredient, it was removed and set aside. When this was all done, everything was all over the counter and I had to set the ingredients up all over again. It's comical looking back on it now, but I was pretty nervous then. I wanted to avoid looking at the recipe and with preparing food, being interviewed, and talking to the audience, I needed the process of selecting ingredients to be as mindless as possible, with all my ducks (or ingredients) in a row!

The area was very nice and there were about 50 members in our audience. The only drawback was that we had to bend over the stainless steel work area (you can't see it in the photo), and reach up onto the top counter so the audience could see what we were doing. They gave us a platform to stand on, that raised us up a few inches, but the VitaMix is so tall, it was a little challenging to get my food into it. A few times, I just removed the container from the motor and worked on the lower counter surface that was directly in front of me.

Andrea introduced me as "Barbara Ann," which by the way, is not my name, but I didn't say anything until the end, when she repeated it again at the close of the program. Too funny! And we were off and running- except for the fact that Andrea was talking to the other girls and I needed to BLEND! I was afraid to turn on the blender and drown out the sound. The sound guy signaled for me to wait, but this was after all, a contest...and time was ticking away! Eventually, I just started to blend, and Andrea is quite vibrant and animated and had no problem speaking over the hum of my VM. Yay Andrea!

We were told we had 5 minutes left and I was getting ready to plate....so I slowed down. Andrea started talking to me, asking me questions and the next thing I knew she was urging us to "wrap things up" and that we had 30 seconds!!!! WHAT??? I started throwing my plate together. I felt like a kid in a relay race, giving it all I had to get to the finish line and in this case, get all of the ingredients in place- except for my black sesame seeds. I forgot those. When I attempted to quickly toss them on, too many came out of the bottle too fast. But it was all good. It still looked pretty. I also ended up having to pour my Champagne Mango Cream Sauce right out of the blender, onto the food, because there was no time to put it into a bowl or pitcher and delicately spoon it out. More fun!

The two other chefs did a beautiful job on their cooked dishes. Lisa made a stuffed eggplant dish, and Najwa made a Quinoa Salad with Pan Roasted Asparagus.. Both looked delightful, although none of us ever got to taste each others dishes. We were too busy feeding the hungry crowd.

Andrea was the official judge and began to taste each of our dishes and comment. I stood anxiously awaiting her reaction. I realized this was going to be a challenge because I was preparing a raw dish for a group of people that were not raw. The theme was about summer and seasonal ingredients. What could be more summery than a light mango cream sauce, served over spiralized zucchini and yellow squash?

I was so pleasantly surprised and immensely elated when Chef Andrea Beaman selected my dish as The Winner!!!! This was the first time I'd ever challenged myself to something like this and it felt so good to have my dish selected. I also won a nice Whole Foods gift certificate, but the experience was worth so much more than that to me. My favorite part was when the audience came up to taste the dish. Everyone wanted to know about the spiralizer, what it was called and where to get it. None were familiar with Champagne Mangoes and asked about those. It was so exciting to be able to answer questions about raw food, and to see the expressions on their faces as they tasted my dish. I ran out of food, and quickly tossed more spiralized squash onto the plate with some of the cream sauce and garnish, just to be able to let people taste more of the combination. When we were cleaning up, one of the audience members begged me to let her take the leftover Champagne Mango Cream Sauce home because she loved it so much. W found a container for her, and we sent her home with the goods!

So, keep your eyes open, and I will be posting my Award Winning - Champagne Mango Cream Sauce on Pasta soon!!!! I thank all of you that cheered me on, supported me, and sent me such loving energy. I love you all! This was a beautiful experience.

Thanks so much for your love and support, and all of your fabulous comments and feedback to my previous posts here and on Facebook. You guys ROCK! Blessings- Barbara

PS- I'm not sure where the video will be posted..but here is the VERIA TV link:

MORE PICS HERE!!!
AND HERE!!!

My Cook-Off Photo Album

Andrea's Video BEFORE the Cook-Off

Raw Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake

2011-06-27T13:03:00.008-04:00

What a light and pleasant surprise. This cheesecake is so light and refreshing, and a great summer snack. Blueberries are loaded with rich antioxidants and because this dessert is raw, you reap the benefits in a big way! According to new studies, there is evidence that blueberries may also improve memory and cognitive functions. So enjoy this delicious dessert without guilt!

Blueberry Cheesecake

Crust
3/4 cup almond flour or pulp
3 Tbsp. almonds, soaked for 6-8 hours
pinch of sea salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp cacao powder (optional)
3/4 cup Medjool dates, chopped

Filling
1 1/2 cup cashews, (soaked 2 hours)
3/4 cup water
2 cups blueberries
1 frozen banana
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
6 Tbsp. grated cacao butter, melted
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp. raw honey (or agave), to taste
1 tsp. vanilla extract (alcohol free) (or 3 drops Medicine Flower Vanilla Extract)
2 Tbsp. Irish moss paste (optional)
1/2 tsp sunflower lecithin (emulsifier)
1 1/2 Tbsp. psyllium husk powder (to thicken ,if needed)
1 pinch sea salt

Topping
1 cup blueberries
1 Tbsp. clear agave (or honey)
pinch sea salt
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp shredded coconut for garnish

Preparing Crust
Add nuts to food processor until finely ground. Add dates and salt, and process until it balls up and add pulp.

Sprinkle bottom of 8" spring form pan with a bit of almond meal.

Press dough into pan, creating a very thin crust.

Preparing Filling
Put grated or shaved cacao butter along with coconut oil in a metal bowl. Either melt in dehydrator or place over a smaller metal bowl, filled with hot water and allow to melt.

Combine all ingredients except the lecithin and psyllium in a high speed blender until creamy. Add lecithin and psyllium and mix well. It should be very thick and creamy.

Spoon into crust and refrigerate 2-4 hours to allow cake to firm and set.

Prepare Topping
Place blueberries in a bowl. Gently stir in ingredients, except for coconut. Pour onto top of cake while still in pan. Sprinkle with coconut and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

To Serve:
Gently remove cake from pan.

Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days or freeze for several weeks.

Dijon Mustard Mushroom Sauce on "Raw" Pasta

2011-06-23T19:29:00.006-04:00

Tonight's dinner. When people say they don't have time to make raw food, these are the kinds of meals I like to show them. I had no idea what I was making for dinner tonight and literally threw this together last minute. I did allow about 30 minutes for dehydrating, but that was while I was preparing other things. This was delicious.

Someone gave me a bottle of Organic Dijon Mustard the other day...and I had a bunch of mushrooms that needed to get used...thus Dijon Mustard Mushroom Sauce was conceived. I didn't have any sprouts ready, but next time would add some. Be creative...this is just a base to start with. This could have been a really good raw soup too, if I thinned it out a bit with either water or nut milk.

If you soak the sunflower seeds overnight, of course this is better, but not imperative for this recipe if you have a good blender.

Dijon Mustard Mushroom Sauce with Zucchini and Yellow Squash Pasta
1 large zucchini, spiralized
1 yellow squash, spiralized (or use 2 zucchini)
1 1/2 cups mixed mushrooms, sliced (I used button and oyster, but anything works)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup cashews
1/2 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup filtered water
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. nama shoyu (or tamari)
1 Tbsp. hemp seeds
1 tsp. raw honey (or agave), to taste
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp each- onion powder, mustard powder
dash cayenne
1/4 tsp grated horseradish (optional)

Procedure
Spiralize or cut zucchini and yellow squash noodles. Keep a bit of sliced mushrooms and bell pepper for garnish. While making the sauce, spread zucchini and yellow squash on a couple of mesh trays and dehydrate at 110 degrees until you are ready for them. If you want it warmer, turn the temp up a little bit. Blend remaining ingredients in high speed blender.

Place a ring of yellow squash around the center bowl, filled with extra sauce. Add a ring of zucchini pasta on the outside. Drizzle some sauce over the "pasta" and garnish with sliced mushrooms, red pepper, fresh parsley, sprouts, crushed cashews, etc.