Kid friendly - Banana Boat

We quit bread some time back.  Two of my daughters and I tested postive for gluten intolerance. Our youngest daughter and my husband have not been tested yet but we decided our family would just eliminate it all together.  We tried gluten free bread but haven't found one that everyone agrees on. The texture can be a little off.  This has made eating lunch somewhat difficult. Gone are the days of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It has caused us to be creative which can be a little fun. 

Most days Chaya asks for the same thing, either a banana boat or an apple boat. I got a little sneaky with this and threw in superfoods for good measure!

Banana Boat

1 banana
2 T nut butter or seed butter
1 t chia seeds 
1 T buckwheat groats
sprinkling of Enjoy Life allergy-free chips

Cut banana lengthwise and then into fours. Spread butter on and sprinkle on goodies. Would be great to add dried cranberries, raisins or shredded coconut. 

Pumpkin Curry Soup

My love affair with pumpkin goes something like this : pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin blondies, pumpkin latte, pumpkin smoothie, pumpkin waffles....you get the picture. I am excited to share this pumpkin recipe with you for several reasons, 1: it's delicious, 2: it is so easy, and 3: it is very economical.  It just totally hits the pumpkin spot. 

PUMPKIN CURRY SOUP

1 can pumpkin
1/2 c coconut butter
8 oz almond milk or light coconut milk
1 leek
1 T minced garlic
1 t fennel seeds
2 T coconut oil
1 t cumin
1 t tumeric
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t cayenne pepper
pink salt I never measure, I just add til its right
water as needed to reach desired consistency

Saute leeks, garlic and fennel seeds in coconut oil. Set aside.  In blender mix up pumpkin, coconut, milk and seasonings.  Spoon in leeks, garlic and fennel seeds. Blend until a nice smooth consistency is reached. Add water as needed. Pour into medium pot and heat on stove. Goes really well over steaming quinoa or fantastic alone. Enjoy! Serves 4-6

Pure Raw Almond Milk

What's better than homemade almond milk? Nothing. Seriously, it is so easy and so wonderful you will never buy store bought again. 

PURE RAW ALMOND MILK

1 C raw almonds
2 C Reverse Osmosis Water
4 C Reverse Osmosis Water
cheese cloth
high powered ninja or vitamix

Cover almonds with 2 c water. Let soak for 8 hours.
Drain almonds in colander and rinse.
Place rinsed almonds in large ninja. Add 4 C RO Water.
Blend until you can just see little bits of almonds. Its VERY loud, you may want to walk out of the kitchen. 
Place cheese cloth over large pitcher. Strain almond milk through cheese cloth into pitcher. Do not let almond pulp fall into pitcher. Once liquid is strained through, pick up cheese cloth and squeeze almond pulp into pitcher until all liquid as been removed. Your almond milk is ready to be transported to container with lid and be thoroughly enjoyed. Makes 6-8 cups. Good for 3--4 days. But wait theres more!! Don't throw out your almond meal....dehydrate it for a few hours or place on cookie sheet at low temp for a few hours to remove any liquid and use in cookies, muffins, pancakes whatever. This way you really are saving!!

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

Sometimes you just want to be naughty. I don't miss chocolate because I eat it all the time. So I don't crave chocolate, I can just whip up some raw fudge in 2 seconds if I need chocolate. What I miss is french fries. Just the joy of sharing a big plate of fries with someone. Such an experience. 

Food should be a happy experience. Don't eat what makes you sick, but please find food you love that makes you well. I am a firm believer that food, the right foods, can be your medicine....that does not mean that you will have to live a salad only diet. I love salad but there are so many wonderful foods jam packed with vitamins that are just waiting for you to get your hands on, an example... sweet potato fries!! No their not really fried but roasted to perfection! 

What a fun experience to sit up at your bar with your family sharing a big tray of fries you can feel really good about. So simple yet so enjoyable!!

SPICY SWEET POTATO FRIES (  from Julie Morris-" Superfood Kitchen"...excluding mesquite powder)

3 sweet potatoes cut into 1/2 in pieces
2 T coconut oil melted
1 1/4 t paprika
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/2 t maca powder
1/8 t cayenne pepper
3/4 t sea salt
1 t coconut sugar

*Do not peel the sweet potatoes, you will lose tons of nutrients.
Preheat oven to 450. Cut fries into long strips about 1/2 in thick. Toss with melted coconut oil and spread out flat onto 2 baking sheets. Roast for 15-25 min. While fries are cooking mix together the spices and dry ingredients in small bowl. 
Remove fries, place in serving tray and sprinkle spice mixture on top. Gently move around fries for even coating. Enjoy!

Simply Sweet Oatmeal Cookies

So simple, your kids can do it without supervision. A great way to teach your kids about making good healthy choices that will satistfy their sweet tooth with 5 ingredients!!

SIMPLY SWEET OATMEAL COOKIES

2 very ripe bananas
1 cup GF oats
1 /4 t cinnamon
handful of shredded coconut
1/2 c Enjoy Life allergy free chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. 
Mash bananas. Add next 3 other ingredients, stir in chocolate chips.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 20 min. 

Mixed Berry Fruit Leather

My kids used to eat a lot of fruit roll ups. I thought I was giving them a healthy-ish treat made with "real fruit." Upon further investigation I realized I was just feeding them a bunch of junk. Who knew it would be so easy to make them on my own??

After getting our dehydrator a lot of the old favorites are coming back into the line up. I just can't make these fruit leathers fast enough! Everyone loves them, even my husband can't get enough. I am looking forward to exploring with different fruits. 

Mixed Berry Fruit Leather

40 oz mixed berries frozen or fresh (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries)
2 T maple syrup

Mix berries and maple syrup in ninja until nice and smooth. Pour mix onto 3 dehydrator trays covered with parchment paper. Spread to about 1/4 in thick with spatula. Dehydrate at 105 for 13 hours. Remove from dehydrator peel leather off and roll. Slice into indiviudal serving sizes. Cover with plastic wrap. My batch made 18. Store in glass continainer with lid for 3 weeks or freezer for much longer than it will matter. Enjoy! I understand this will work in the oven at your lowest temperature for 4-6 hours. Just keep an eye on them!!

Absolutely Delish Vegan Peanut Buster Parfait

Sound too good to be true?? If you were a Dairy Queen junkie in the past like we were, you would try anything too. 
We spend a good deal of time at the beach. A McManus family tradition as far back as I can remember, was hitting the DQ on our way home. The family favorite? Peanut Buster Parfait. Unfortunately they were followed by stomach aches. Go figure. It sure was good going down though. 
I have mentioned This Rawsome Vegan Life before because she is probably my favorite raw chef and she is only 19. The same age as my daughter, whom is also very health conscious, adventurous, a great photographer and an awesome writer. This Rawsome Vegan Life posted a gorgeous photo on my FB feed yesterday that made my mouth water-" banana ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce". Inspired by her and her photography (which will never happen until I get a camera other than the one on my phone) I decided to go for it. Here is my version of her recipe. 

Absolutely Delish Vegan Peanut Buster Parfait

ice cream:
3 frozen bananas

chocolate sauce:
1 T melted coconut oil
1 T cacao powder
1 t maple syrup ( important that it is room temperature and not cold, otherwise coconut will harden)

garnish:
organic peanuts ( slightly warmed) 

Place frozen bananas in processor. Process until they become ultra creamy. Takes a few minutes. 
Stir chocolate sause ingredients in small glass dish. Pour over ice cream.
Toast peanuts slightly in oven. Sprinkle on top.
Dig in. Count your blessings. Amen. 

Jamaican Spicy Beans

I am so excited to share with you a recipe I came across tonight while searcing for ideas for dinner. I order a few products regularly from Nutiva. My favorite products are Hemp Oil, Red Palm Oil, Coconut Manna and Coconut Oil. I am also "friends" with Nutiva on my FB so I receive meal ideas or products deals from them regularly.  Tonight they had posted a yummy looking creamy bean dish. We don't eat meat so I am often looking for filling entrees other than just quinoa though we do love us some quinoa. 

After reading the ingredient list, I remembered I used the last of my Red Palm Oil today making hummus. That's ok because I love to get creative and often change many of the meals I come across- do to food intolerances or preferences. 

So with out further ado I give you my version of Jamaican Spicy Beans. 

Jamaican Spicy Beans

1 can kidney beans ( non BPA can - I use Eden's Organics)
1 can black beans
2 T coconut oil
1 diced leek ( we don't do onions but feel free, it's in the original recipe, calls for 1 diced onion)
1 heaping T minced garlic
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/2 c coconut butter
1/8 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 t sea salt
2 T nutritonal yeast
1/2 c cilantro

Saute leeks, garlic and pepper flakes in coconut oil until leeks are smelling good. Add beans to skillet, coconut butter, cinnamon and nutmeg and salt to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from burner, stir in nutritional yeast. Transfer to serving dish, garnish with cilantro. Totally yummy, the coconut butter and nutrional yeast make it so creamy and almost cheesy. 

Simply Satisfying Hot Chocolate

I have never been good at "savoring" food. It probably stems from my brother and myself having food competitons. Actually we had everything competitions! Who could eat the most and who could finish the meal first...this came attached with endearing dinner games like: What's grosser than gross? I'll save you the details of the last one. My poor mother!!

We were both very active, competitive kids. What I mean by that is, we were involved in a lot of sports. Rarely just for the pure joy of it, we were there to win. If we weren't in sports we were pretty good at being near comotose. Who could be the quiestest was our off season game. He liked to read Tom Clancy, watch tv and epic movies. I liked to write poetry, draw and listen to music. When I was really young, ok not really that young, I would sit out in the woods and talk to woodland creatures, I still have a thing with dragonflies. 

Late this morning, I was really craving hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is definitely one of those things you slow down and enjoy. Since my refined sugar ban, I don't buy premade hot chocolate mixes or use the typical home made recipe which is still full of sugar.  This morning I just winged it because I really really wanted it. 

It was amazingly delightful and hit the craving perfectly! I highly recommend you use the superfood raw cacao powder for its high nutrients properties rather than processed cocoa.  Many of the antioxidants are removed in the processing.

 As far as slowing down and savoring....I am afraid I gulped it down in record time.  

Simply Satisfying Hot Chocolate

8 oz almond milk warmed ( not boiling)

2 T raw cacao powder

1/4 t cinnamon

1-2 T maple syrup ( depending on your sweetness preference)

Warm almond milk gently on stove. Do not let boil!!! Pour into Ninja, add other ingredients. It gets a nice froth on top this way. Enjoy!

Nearly Raw Rainbow Noodles

Today while I was scanning Pinterest. I came across this really cool mind blowing pin. There is a rainbow on the screen with a black dot at the top under the last color. If you stare at the dot for 20 seconds and then look up at the sky all you see is hundreds of little rainbows. So fun! So I did that all afternoon and have lots of rainbows on the brain.

The new dish I concocted tonight is one big vitamin packed rainbow. While grocery shopping last week in the asian dish section I came across Black Bean Noodles. They are  thin more like angel hair than spaghetti in my opinion. I thought I might introduce them into my raw veggie pasta dish. That ended up being a seriously good idea! My non-loving noodle husband gave the black bean noodles two thumbs up. 

I hope you enjoy this very colorful, healthy dinner!

NEARLY RAW RAINBOW NOODLES

rainbow noodles:

1 zuchinni spiralized or shredded

1 carrot spiralized or shredded

8 chopped sweet peppers

1 head brocolli

1 diced leek

2 C shredded red cabbage

1 package black bean noodle

1 T coconut oil

2 T organic peanuts 

cilantro

avacado hemp dressing:

1 avacado

1 t minced garlic

1 T lime juice

3 T raw amino acids or tamari

a bit of water

dash of salt

2 T hemp seeds

Boil water on stove. Once water comes to a boil drop black bean noodles in. Reduce heat, simmer noodles for 6 minutes. Meanwhile use your spiralizer or shredder to make vegetable noodles with your zuchinni and carrot. Chop peppers thinly. Place noddles and peppers in pasta bowl. Heat coconut oil over medium heat and gently saute leeks and brocolli for a few minutes, don't let brocolli get over cooked, they should still be crunchy. Let cool. Add to pasta bowl. Remove noodles from heat. Rinse througly under cold water. Once cool to the touch add to pasta bowl. Peel avacado and place in food processor. Add in other dressing ingredients except hemp seeds. Blend until nice and smooth. Add in hemp seeds. Pour dressing over rainbow pasta. Gently mix all ingredients. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts. No guilt! Only happy thoughts!

Pumpkin Love Cake

It's hard to welcome in Fall in Florida when it's 90 degrees out but we do the best we can.  Here's hoping to bring a little bit of fall love to your kitchen. It smells and tastes divine! Not to mention MAJORILY MOIST!! If your into that :)

Pumpkin Love Cake

1 C almond flour
1 C quinoa flour
1 T baking soda
1 T baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 flax egg
2/3 C pumpkin puree ( not pumpkin pie puree)
1/2 C maple syrup
1/2 C coconut palm sugar
1/2 C coconut oil
1 t vanilla
1 banana

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. In small bowl combine flax egg ( 1 T ground flax + 2 T water ), pumpkin, maple syrup, coconut sugar, coconut oil, vanilla and smushed banana with hand mixer. Add wet to dry mix, combine with hand mixer. Spoon into glass brownie dish greased with 1 T coconut oil. Bake for 30 minutes. 

Quinoa Puff Balls

I love Pinterest. Recently I took an unaware hiatus from Pinterest. When I realized what happened, I spent the next few days catching up.

 One recipe I repinned about a month ago got me on the look out for quinoa puffs. I hadn't seen them in any store and looked briefly online. Life got busy - which is really saying life was normal - I forgot about them, and the recipe was lost on my extensive food board. 

Before our trip to Nova Scotia, I spent hours at Whole Foods gathering food for my girls to take to Nana and Papa's and snacks for Mike and I. While searching the oatmeal and cereal aisle, hiding down on the bottom shelf, peeking up at me, were the elusive quinoa puffs. I sent the bag on with my kids and it came back unopened because quite frankly no one knew what to do with them. 

That's about to change!! Inspired by recipe on blog "Mama Eats Clean". 

Quinoa Puff Balls

1 C quinoa puffs
1/4 c buckwheat groats
2 T mixed raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds
2 T unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 C plus 2 T sunflower seed butter
3 T maple syrup
1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
2 T Enjoy Life allergy free chocolate chips ( unless of course your my daughter and intolerant to chocolate so every recipe is split)

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl.  Combine sunflower seed butter, maple syrup and vanilla in small pot stir on low heat just until combined nicely and melted. Pour nut butter mixture to dry bowl. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. 
Roll into 2 T balls. Chill in fridge until kids can't wait any  longer. 

Starbucks aint got nothin' on this!!

Good morning!! Though I am sure this won't get posted until the afternoon :) I have a special treat for you today!

My husband and I don't get out much. When we do we usually keep the time short ( thus the recent much needed week long vacation with just the two of us in Nova Scotia ahhh... but that's for another post). Our go-to date night has been Starbucks for years. A quick cup of coffee, green tea for me and a little catching up. Recently I learned some pretty disturbing things about our favorite little get away. Once I learn information, I can't go back. Sometimes it would be nice to turn a deaf ear to these things but I don't work that way.

The recipe I am going to share with you was in it's purest form originated from my dear friend, Lisa. I quit coffee some time ago but dreaming of days gone by at our local Starbucks I thought I would try to mix her recipe with a frappuccino favorite and out came something so divine I even shared this caffienated treat with my girls.

Peppermint Cafe Mocha Freezer

night before:
1/3 C organic coffee beans ( regular not decaf - decaf is BAD for you)
1 1/2 C water boiled
Grind beans in coffee grinder. Place in FRENCH PRESS. Add Water. Set timer for 4 minutes. After buzzer goes off, press down. Let cool down for an hour or two. Place in fridge overnight.

morning of consumption, recipe as follows for one serving:
1 C organic almond milk
1/2 c crushed ice
1 T raw almond butter
1 T raw cacao powder
1 T maple syrup
1/8 t peppermint extract
Pour 1/2 c coffee into individual size Ninja smoothie cup. Add almond milk, and all other ingredients. Blend until frothy. Pour into cup of choice. ENJOY!!

Raw Cinnamon Rolls

I have been so hungry since we returned from our trip to Nova Scotia. I don't know if it's a depression hunger from having to leave the most beautiful place on earth, or a happy to be home with my kids hunger. Either way I have been a bottomless pit. Going to have to double up the workouts!! :)

One food I have been craving with a vengeance since our dietary/life changes is Cinnamon Rolls!! It goes without saying they have lately been on my mind.  Yesterday afternoon I went to one of my favorite GF/ Veg/ Raw blogs to come up with something new to make for dinner and as my eyes were scanning her recipes they hit Cinnamon Rolls. YES!!!

This was one of those rare occasions where I had everything I needed to make them already. So naturally I got to work on those instead of dinner.

RAW CINNAMON ROLLS
(only slightly altered from This Rawsome Vegan Life - I highly recommend trying her out, everything she posts is amazing and she is hilarious!!)

DOUGH:

1/2 C GF oats
1/2 C buckwheat groats
10 pitted dates
pinch of salt
1/2 t vanilla
1 T water
dash of cinnamon

COCONUT FROSTING:

3/4 C coconut manna
2 T melted coconut oil
2 T maple syrup
1/2 t vanilla
1-2 T lemon juice
add water as needed to reach preferred consistency ( my girls like thick frosting)

CARAMEL FILLING: ( this stuff should be illegal except its good for you!!)

6-8 pitted dates
1/4 C coconut water
cinnamon to taste

Pulse oats and groats to make a rough flour. Add other dough ingredients until it begins to stick together. Roll it out into a 1/4 cm thick square on parchment paper. Place in fridge for 1-2 hours until able to cut in strips and roll, without crumbling apart.

To make frosting blend all the ingredients together until it reaches your preferred consistency. The more you blend it becomes nice and runny but we like it thick. Set aside.

Blend all filling ingredients together until a nice thick paste forms. Set aside.

Remove dough from fridge and lay on flat surface. Use pizza cutter ( if your like me and that's all you have) and cut into strips. Spread the caramel filling on each piece evenly, roll them up gently. Only one of mine tried to break in half, just don't be in a rush, which is hard because you just want to eat it. Depending on your frosting preference, drizzle on on spread on frosting. DEVOUR WITH GRATITUDE!! Now you can have your cinnamon roll and eat it too!!

My girls LOVED these!! They were so suprised at how wonderfully sweet and chewy they were. This recipe only made 5 of them. I could have eaten five. Please do yourself a favor and double the recipe. My girls are begging me to make these for our special Chrsitmas morning treat. How's that for confirmation???

Raw Chocolate Vegan Pudding with Berries

While Mike and I were traveling to Miami to renew my passport, we found this incredible little  hole in a wall vegan restaurant in Fort Lauderale, Darbster's.  I am not sure about the history of the name but it gives nothing away to what lies behind the door.  On a whim I looked up a Vegetarian Restaurant finder , The Happy Cow. We followed the directions and drove right by it assuming our GPS had made a mistake. It is completely hidden on a corner, and only locals would know how to find it. We drove by again and I saw the sign. We pulled in, figured we had nothing to lose, worse case is we would get a small salad with a glass of water and look for the nearest grocery store for traveling snacks. We were completely shocked by what we found hiding around the corner of the parking lot. This hip little open indoor/outdoor restaruant surrounded by tropical foliage and the illusion of being in some resort. 

I ordered a crazy good mushroom vegan burger which I quickly ate before I considered taking a pic of it :/ But I remembered for the delightful raw chocolate pudding. This stuff took my breath away!

I am telling you this stuff was amazing. I asked what it was made with, didn't write down the ingredients but was determined to figure it out as this was to become a major staple in my life. After a few attempts I came up with what I believe to be very close to this version. Absolutely Delish!!

RAW CHOCOLATE VEGAN PUDDING

1 AVACADO

1 BANANA

4 T CACAO POWDER

2 T MAPLE SYRUP

1 t VANILLA

1/4 C WATER

*Garnish with fresh berries and raw chocolate syrup ( 3 T cacao, 2 T melted coconut oil, 2 T maple syrup - mix all well )

Mix all ingredients in Ninja, scraping down sides as needed. Add more water if needed to reach desired consistency. 

Gluten Free Autumn Cake Squares

I was first introduced to "Spice Cake" by a friend of ours while living in Vietnam. Up to that point, in my book, if it wasn't chocolate cake it wasn't cake. She made a spice cake believer out of me. I have made some adjustments to meet our dietary requirements and we were very pleased with the results! Enjoy this incredibly moist one layer cake as we welcome in Fall. 

GF AUTUMN CAKE SQUARES

1 C ALMOND FLOUR
1/2 C GARBONZO BEAN/ FAVA BEAN FLOUR
1/2 C QUINOA FLOUR
1 t BAKING POWDER
1 t BAKING SODA
1/2 C COCONUT PALM SUGAR (HIGH NUTRIENT-LOW GLYCEMIC)
2 t CINNAMON
1 t NUTMEG
1 FLAX EGG
1 C MAPLE SYRUP
1 C ALMOND MILK
1/2 C COCONUT OIL
1 t  VANILLA


PREHEAT OVEN TO 350.  MAKE FLAX EGG SET SIDE FOR 5 MIN. MIX DRY INGREDIENTS IN LARGE BOWL. MIX WET INGREDIENTS IN SMALL BOWL, STIR WELL.  ADD WET TO DRY, INCLUDING FLAX EGG, STIR WELL USING WOODEN SPOON. SPOON INTO 8X8 GLASS DISH PREPARED WITH A BIT OF COCONUT OIL TO KEEP FROM STICKING. BAKE FOR 30 MIN. 

* WOULD BE GREAT WITH COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM ON TOP. TRY SITES: OH SHE GLOWS OR DETOXINISTA FOR EASY STEP BY STEP TUTORIALS. 

Waterfall of Grace

Waterfall of Grace

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12: 9

The flesh can be a formidable foe to all the things you know in your heart to be true about yourself. It can cause doubt and anxiety. It opens doors to lies from the enemy. Like it or not our flesh is here to stay until the day we depart from this earth. We can hate the weaknesses of the flesh or we can acknowledge them as agents of a waterfall of grace. 

When we “fail” in one area or another- maybe there is a pattern of the flesh you see often in your life- it is very easy to give into anxiety and self pity. “Oh, I’ll never change, I pray but nothing changes.” I don’t know about you, but I have said these very words many times through out my walk with Christ. Exasperated with Him, or myself, so utterly frustrated with my ability to seemingly fail. Once I go down that road mentally, it seems as though I began dropping all the balls in my life.

We all have issues. Things we feel comfortable to openly share and things we hide. I heard someone say once that our flesh hasn’t caught up with whats true about us. 

What is true about a child of God? Is it true that our relationship with God is so unstable that my mishaps can cause a temporary seperation? Is it true that I must ask for forgiveness to be “right” with God again? Does my flesh patterns mean I am not a good Christian? 

Or does it simply mean I am a child in need of grace everyday just as a child needs a mother’s kiss? What am I if I do not need my Savior? Strong? A spiritual giant? In His goodness our weakness only causes more of His power in our lives, to overflowing. 

What is true about a child of God? You child, are an heir to the throne. Just as Christ is, so are you are. You are a new creation, with a new nature. No longer can we call weakness of the flesh our sin nature. It just doesn’t make sense. Our sin nature was nailed to the cross. When Christ rose and sat at the right hand of the Father, we rose as new creatures and sat with Him. We are one with the Father. How could we still be sinners and be one with the Father? Because we are a work in progress? In our mind only. In reality He has made us righteous and holy - sanctified. That is not a step program, there is no fleshly pursuit. He made us that, it was His good pleasure to.  Yes, our flesh is weak, we still sin. We act out what is not true about us because we forget, or we believe lies. That does not change our new nature, that does not undo the finished work of the cross, that just means we are still in this fleshy tent. That means there is more opportunity for God’s power to overwhelm us.

The moment I think my worth has anything to do with my behavior, all of my faults become shockingly clear. I have a terrible time with social situations. My anxiety level goes sky high when I am in a room full of people, even if it’s people I know. I feel awkward and inadequete. My mind becomes very negative in these situations. I used to spend days reliving events. What did I say? Did I smile at so and so. Do you think they noticed I was nervous? Did they think I was rude? 

I started going down this road tonight. We spent the day at a friends house celebrating Labor Day and a double surprise birthday party. There were a lot of friends there I had known for a long time and some acquaitances. The truth is I started getting anxious about this party days before the event. Not because I didn’t want to celebrate my friends birthday but because this is a definite area of weakness for me. I knew I would feel this way and maybe offend someone unintentionally. Honestly, I had a lot of awkward moments today. 

As I sat in bed tonight I began to relive the evening like so many times before. Something tonight made me stop short. I found myself asking God what He thought about me. At this point I had two choices. I could give into the self pity party that would be very easy to wallow in, or be utterly overwhelmed by the waterfall of grace.

 God spoke directly to my heart. He reminded me of who I am. I am loved, I am His. His, exactly the way I am. His grace is sufficient for me. This past weak I learned what sufficient means. So His timing was, as always, perfect. We think of “sufficient” as being just enough. In the Greek, sufficient used in this present tense is indicating God’s constant availability of grace. He holds back nothing. “ My grace is constantly available to you”. That’s whats so amazing about this newness in Christ. He holds back no good thing from His children. He isn’t giving because He can see Christ in us, as our protective covering. He is giving because He can see us. New clean children united with His Son. One day we will see ourselves as He sees us- shiny, clean, new, spotless.  Until then, His grace is sufficient for me, and I gladly boast in it. 

Labor Day Dessert - GF Berry Cobbler

GF Berry Cobbler

4 c frozen berries (blackberries and raspberries)
1 c almond flour
1/2 t pink himilayan salt
1/4 t baking soda
1 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1 c walnuts
1/2 c coconut oil
1/4 c pure maple syrup
guesstimate cinnamon :)

This would be great for a Labor Day get-together. Preheat oven to 350. Place berries in a 2 qt glass dish. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Mix 1 c almond flour, 1/2 t sea salt, 1/4 t baking soda in large bowl, mix well. Stir in 1 c unsweetened shredded coconut, and 1 c walnuts. Melt 1/2 c coconut oil in small pot over low heat add 1/4 c pure maple syrup remove immediately. Stir wet to dry. Mix well. Crumble the almond mixture over berries. Bake for 30 minures or until golden brown. 

Raw Chocolate Bars

I love when I read health blogs about the benefits of chocolate. Chocolate is my friend. Though if you buy conventional chocolate much of the benefits are processed out. Organic is an awesome choice but organic raw is ideal. I use Nativas Natural brand Raw Cacao powder and Raw Cacao nibs.

Benefits of chocolate:
-high in antioxidant flavanoids
-high in sulfur and magnesium
-contains other essential minerals including calcium, zinc, iron, copper, potassium and manganese
-vitamins B1, B2, B5, B9, E
-essential heart healthy fat
-protein
-fiber

I didn’t need a reason to love chocolate but it is helpful to have a reason to make it a beneficial guilt-free part of your diet.

Raw Chocolate Bars

1/2 c pure maple syrup
3/4 c raw cacao powder
1/3 c pure unrefined cold-pressed organic coconut oil
sprinkle of unsweetened coconut shreds
sprinkle of goji berries
sprinkle of raw pumpkin seeds
sprinkle of raw sunflower seeds

Mix all the ingredients until smooth and creamy.  Spread it out on a piece of wax paper, sprinkle on coconut shreds, goji berries and raw seeds.  Place in fridge for about 2 hrs. Cut into bars. 

Red Hummus

RED HUMMUS- I ONCE HATED YOU, NOW I CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT YOU

A sweet friend of mine made hummus for me one year as a Christmas present. I had never had hummus before. I brought it home in this super cute mason jar tied with a string, took a spoon and scooped out a big serving. Wow. It was definitely not my thing. I felt so bad, she asked me if I liked the hummus and not being a good liar I said well, I think my tastebuds just aren’t ready for it. At the time they really weren’t. Since cleansing, many foods I had previously not enjoyed have since become some of my absolute favorites. I just wish that had kicked in many Christmases ago. I would LOVE another jar from her this Christmas!

1 13oz can or carton garbonzo bean (chickpeas)

1/4 c tahini
1 T red palm oil
1 T liquid amino acids
2 T raw apple cider vinegar
3-5 T lemon juice
2 t cumin
2 t minced garlic
1/2 t pink himalyan salt
1 T olive oil
sprinkle paprika over top

Process the garbanzo beans in blender/food processor. Add all other ingredients, mix until smooth. Sprinkle a bit of paprika on top. Yummers.

*You could make bean free by substituting the garbonzo beans for 2 c zuchinni. 

Chewy Delighs otherwise known as "Nature's Fudge"

Chewy Delights otherwise known as "Nature's Fudge"

You are going to see a lot of desserts on here. I promise we eat a large variety of fruits and vegetables as well, but we girls have a serious need for all things sweet. This is the simplest most wonderful sweet snack ever. I follow a blog called, “This Rawsome Vegan Life”, written by an adorable girl in Canada who has a flair for photography and a gift for creative food creations. I stumbled upon this recipe " Nature's Fudge" looking for something chocolately, but she talked her Nature's Fudge up so much I thought I would give it a try. It definitely hits the spot. My girls asked how many can we eat??

Medjool Dates
Raw Almond Butter
Raw Cacao Nibs or chocolate chips of choice ( if you were in the  mood for chocolate like me)

Take the seed out of the date. Replace seed hole with raw almond butter and sprinkle your chocolate chips on top. Divine!

Creamy Vegan Ice Cream

CREAMY VEGAN ICE CREAM 

I just died and went to ice cream heaven. Seriously, before I knew I was lactose intolerant we had a bowl of ice cream almost every night (that might also have had something to do with that annoying 5lbs that get kept hanging around). I pretend that I don't miss it to try and trick my brain but when I came across this recipe @ My Whole Food Life it inspired me to play around with it. Her's looked delicious but a little "wetter" than I like my ice cream, so I added more bananas and used almond milk instead to thicken it more. Oh my word. It came out like frozen cool whip. It is totally guilt free, I could have had another bowl if I wanted but 1 cup totally hit the spot...my husband on the other hand... :)


3 1/2 Frozen Bananas
2 1/2 T Raw Almond Butter
1/4 c Almond Milk
2 T Enjoy Life allergy-free chocolate chips

Fudgy Peanut Butter Cookies - GF, Vegan

So, I can't give you my Granny's cookies, though they ingnite the sweetest memories for me. You won't find white flour, vegetable shortening, sugar or eggs in these. She may in fact think I had lost my mind to change the recipe but I had to get as close as I could to enjoying them without killing myself in the process! When ever I wasn't feeling well my Granny would ask me, "What's the matter with you? You allergic to something you et?" ( that's not a typo, she was a North Florida Native and if you have spent time in North Florida you don't need an explanation) Little did I know, she was right. I was intolerant to almost everything I ate. Granny, I hope you will forgive the changes and know that I made them with love and happy thoughts of you in my heart! In honor of Granny....

FUDGY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES - GF, VEGAN

1 box garbonzo beans ( 13 0z)
1/2 C + 2 T organic peanut butter
1/4 c pure maple syrup
2 t pure vanilla
1 t GF baking powder
pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Blend all ingredients in food processor. Scrape down sides as needed, mix until well blended. Scoop out and roll into balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes. I criss-crossed mine about half way through baking. If you want that traditional feel sprinkle coconut palm sugar over top for last few minutes of baking. (They are also scrumptious with chocolate chips, choose allergy free - Enjoy Life chips)

Avocado Green Goddess Dressing

Aboslutely scrumptious! Goes great over salad, used as a dip, as raw noodle sauce or on your veggie burgers! ( awesome recipe for veggie burgers coming soon)

Avocado Green Goddess Dressing

1 avocado
1/2 c tahini
1/2 c minced leeks
1/2 c water ( add more to reach desired consistency)
2 T chopped parsely
1/2 t sea salt
1 T minced garlic
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T raw apple cider vinegar ( Bragg’s)

Blend it all up in your food processor until you reach a creamy, absolutely divine consistency!

 It is probably my favorite thing, hahahah, the kids love it too!