The Best Rawfood Vegan Apple Pie Crackers Day

               

Oh my gaaaah! These are amaze bombs, like addictively good!

I cannot get enough of these and my family keeps sneaking or asking for more. Crackers that are slightly sweet, with a delectable crunch, chock full of yum scrum ingredients, and taste apple pie-esque. You had me at raw vegan baby, heheh.  

I highly recommend making a triple or even quadruple batch because they are the first to go at our house & it may well be the same in yours. Feel free to switch up the apples for strawberries, carrots or zukes.

THE BEST RAWFOOD VEGAN APPLE PIE CRACKERS

(I prefer organic ingredients for rawfood dehydrated items but do the best you can, no judgement.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Grated Large apple with no peel (I used Spartan apples, try to get organic, keep the peel if you like that sort of thing)

1 Cup Almond pulp from making raw almond milk (recipe link follows)

1/4 Cup Hemp seeds

3 Tbsp Ground golden flax

3 Tbsp Ground tiger nuts

1 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon

Pinch pink sea salt

1/2 tsp vanilla pods or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 Cup Maple syrup grade B

1 Cup Almond milk (recipe link follows)

1/4 tsp Walnut oil (DO NOT use more)

Method:

-Add all dry ingredients to wet and mix until well combined.

-On a teflex or parchment lined Excalibur dehydrator tray, spread dough out to about 1 inch thickness, square off edges.

Place in dehydrator on rawfood 105 degree setting, for 2 1/2 hours, remove and score with a knife into square crackers. (See the pics down below) Put back in the dehydrator for 6 hours.

-Check to see if the crackers are getting to a medium dry consistency, you need to make sure they are not too wet because they must be flipped onto a new Excalibur tray lined with the regular white tray sheet it comes with; you need the air to circulate over and around the crackers so they dry properly. 

-Place an Excalibur sheet lined tray (Do not use a teflex sheet, just the regular plastic white sheet the trays always come with) over the top of the crackers and quickly flip the tray over. You will be able to gently and slowly remove the teflex sheet or parchment paper. (Don't force it if they are not ready, place them back in if it is too hard to remove)

-The score marks will be evident, the crackers go back in the dehydrator for another 8-12 hours depending how crisp you like them. I left my crackers in for a total of 24 hours.

-Once dry, remove from the tray and gently break the crackers where the score marks are. Store in an airtight glass jar. These will keep for several weeks, if they don't all get eaten first! 

As always, pics follow below to help guide you along. Leave any questions or comments down below, I love to hear about your kitchen adventures.

http://thekinkycoconut.blogspot.ca/2015/07/vanilla-bean-almond-milk-rawfood.html  

                     

 Crackers all done, I stored them in glass mason jars and have been watching them fade away as they get munched away.

                            

                           

                           Mix it up!

                          

                          Dehydrator time!

                         

                         Score those bad boys!

                        

                        Break them up

                        

                        Light & crispy

                        

                       Nice because not too thick.

                       

       Enjoy darlings, and come back for more! Have a lovely & blessed day.

              

God in the Little Moments

Good blessed day,

As I was preparing for bed the last night I was in my thoughts, trying to recall a very common and simple verse, to no avail.
I became frustrated with myself, feeling foolish and embarrassed by my inability to do what should have been made doubly simple by the fact that I wear the verse constantly, in the form of a mobius bracelet on my wrist.
I have worn it for years, it was a most unexpected gift which I received when I was very low and needed something to help me hold on. It is worn and slightly worse for wear but is a good reminder to hold fast to hope and faith, especially in adversity.
As angst began to surface over perceived ineptitude last night, I made my way to my room and picked up my bible; I had planned to continue my previous reading and would find the verse in the morning when I was rested and clear.
So, what's up with this drawn out intro?
Well, I had completely forgotten where I had been doing my reading last, as it had been quite a few different segments I had referred to as part of a sermon my Poppa bear and I had listened to together. 
I read a chapter and had this overwhelming urge to continue reading two more. I had been so tired moments before, that I was rather surprised by the sudden burst of calm alertness and drive to continue.
What was I being led to and why?
I read on and could not help but smile, lo and behold was the exact chapter and verse I had been struggling with. It was such a gift, there was a feeling of awareness of my silliness and how hard my thoughts and feelings can be towards myself.
I took a moment to give thanks and nod my head in knowing and agreement.
It was humbling and reassuring to know that God will always provide what is needed, even in the small moments when I am filled with doubt and unsure. His presence and timing, His desire for my good, His mercy and gentleness, His ability to know where to find me and how to reach me in the most perfect way, His righteousness and strength of character are constant for all time.
Oh! What warmth fills my heart at this knowledge.
I spoke nothing aloud yet, Abba you were there listening and blessing me by filling me with the Holy Spirit which embued in my heart a desire to be in your word, reminding me that we are fiercely loved and wonderfully made, and that Jesus guides us home to you without fail.
You see, as I was silently berating myself for what I perceived as my constant stupidity, He was watching, listening, and not liking the way I was directing hurt & impatience  towards myself.
He stepped in and removed doubt; I was filled with calm, lightness of being, gentleness, and most importantly love.
Often there is such a harshness in the world when it comes to expectations, performance, response, knowledge, and aptitude. We take this harshness in and make it our own, self-monitoring and turning it into a mental form of brutalizing ourselves.
We lose sight of the measure of our true worth, which by grace and mercy has naught to do with this broken world.
I was gently reminded by God that there is a reason recalling verse can be a struggle for me, at times.
I have a medical condition which effects my memory.
It was discovered several years ago at University that I have a learning disability which went undetected for most of my life. This means that learning, retention and recall have always been a struggle for me, and that some days it is easier and some days it is not.
I do not get to pick and choose.
On a given day I can be brilliant and recall what others have forgotten or completely missed. Then there are days when I can re-read the same thing over and over, absolutely sure it is locked in memory for when I need it most; only to be crushed with disappointment by my perceived ineptitude, from myself and others.
It is a struggle which God recognizes.
I resent and fight against it, (all too often) and need to be made aware of, over and over that it is an opportunity to grow; that I am loved just as I am and as I am not.
No matter what this world says or does, I am loved by Jesus, I am a daughter of the Most High, and am always worthful.
This was the chapter and verse which brought joy to my heart, reminded me of the friend we have in Jesus, and the true mercy and love we have in God's heart:

Love is the Greatest

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gang or a clanging of a cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even prophecy reveals only part of the picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
New Living Translation

Take care, be well, love freely.

Raw Vegan Pumpkin Spice Crackers

Bonjour!

Je suis la avec des citrouilles aka I am here with ze pumpkins.

It's Tasty Tuesday and that usually means a scrumptious recipe. 

Today we explore the humble pumpkin and that lovely pumpkin pie spice that most of us have a love affair with at this time of the year. I am including this now though because it is a mostly raw recipe and I had some homemade pumpkin mash left and was going to lose it. I also had seeds and decided to make a yummy raw dehydrated cracker; what goes great with pumpkin? That's right, pumpkin spices! 

You so clevah ;P

So here you are a delightful recipe for a mildly sweet snack that I like crunching on with a tall glass of cold almond milk. 

I used Tumeric & Boabab in this recipe, both considered to be super foods; so before I go further I am going to drop some knowledge on yah. The recipe follows.

       

                

Apparently Organic Burst is one of the best on the market, I have an organic raw one I got on special at the health food store, you can see it in the pic as part of the cracker breakdown how-to. This is Organic burst's:

                                  

                             

                               

                              

           

RAW VEGAN PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 Cup pumpkin purée 

1 1/2 Cups Raw sunflower seeds soaked 6 hours, drained and well rinsed. Blend them with 3/4 Cup almond milk or coconut water.

1/2 Cup Raw sunflower seeds for sprinkling

1 Tbsp Boabab powder

1/2 Cup Date paste (Recipe link follows)

1/4 tsp Tumeric ground

1 1/2 Tbsp Spice mix of choice (I make mine but pie spice mix is great)

3 Tbsp Maple syrup grade B

1 Tbsp Tiger nuts ground

1 tsp Extra virgin olive oil cold pressed

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon ground

Method:

-Add all dry ingredients to wet and mix until well combined.

-On a teflex or parchment lined Excalibur dehydrator tray, spread dough out to about 1 inch thickness, square off edges.

Place in dehydrator on rawfood 105 degree setting, for 2 1/2 hours, remove and score with a knife into square crackers. (See the pics down below) Put back in the dehydrator for 6 hours.

-Check to see if the crackers are getting to a medium dry consistency, you need to make sure they are not too wet because they must be flipped onto a new Excalibur tray lined with the regular white tray sheet it comes with; you need the air to circulate over and around the crackers so they dry properly. 

-Place an Excalibur sheet lined tray (Do not use a teflex sheet, just the regular plastic white sheet the trays always come with) over the top of the crackers and quickly flip the tray over. You will be able to gently and slowly remove the teflex sheet or parchment paper. (Don't force it if they are not ready, place them back in if it is too hard to remove)

-The score marks will be evident, the crackers go back in the dehydrator for another 8-12 hours depending how crisp you like them. I left my crackers in for a total of 24 hours.

-Once dry, remove from the tray and gently break the crackers where the score marks are. Store in an airtight glass jar. These will keep for several weeks, if they don't all get eaten first! 

As always, pics follow below to help guide you along. Leave any questions or comments down below, I love to hear about your kitchen adventures.

              

              Spread the mix evenly.

              

              Sprinkle across the top with seeds. 

              

              Score those pumpkin yummie's!

               

              Once dry you can gently break them up.

                 

              See how nice and crisped thin they are.

              

I hope you enjoy these, they taste seriously good with cold almond milk-unsweetened of course!

              

Leave your comments or questions down below, don't forget to subscribe & have a blessed day!

                                        

October is Awareness Month

Helloodles lovelies! 
Today I am sharing more of how awesome fall is and particularly October. 
This month there's a lot going on in the realm of awareness, I am going to list a few here and know that you wonderful people that are stopping by to read, will pass along some of what you see so we can spread the knowledge. 
One of my first October favs for awareness, and it was difficult to choose the first because they are all very important to me, is the Autism awareness campaign/book launch that Newfoundland has begun. Check this out, I think it's brilliant! 

I have worked with autistic children and adults in the past and have found it to be some of my favourite moments in life. There are challenges, tough times, and it's not all smooth sailing, however, there's joy, laughter, wonderful surprises and many kind heart's. 
This brings us to the second awareness campaign which most of us are familiar with. October is breast cancer awareness month in Canada and this one is important because I am a woman, I have bubbies, and I had an auntie who passed away after an 8 year struggle with breast cancer, it will be 2 years in February. She was given less than a year to live, upon diagnosis but through her personal strength, faith, commitment to natural alternatives, and tenacity, she lived for 8 years longer than the medical establishment thought was possible. 
Self checking is so important ladies, talk to your doctor and friends about breast health. 






There is also Eczema awareness month this October and I struggle with eczema so I am putting this on here. 

The national eczema association has loads of information and support networks for those of us suffering with this problem. I will be posting in the future about the do's and don'ts for eczema but not today. 
I'll link it though, when I do. 


This is a newer project and I love it! Having worked in the health food industry for 8 years, I get the issue and damage that gmo franken foods have caused and continue to cause. I cannot stress enough the importance of looking for that butterfly on the label, making sure it's a gmo free product you are purchasing as often as possible, and demanding that our legal system incorporate and keep laws that force companies to declare and clearly label gmo foods. 

Have a wonderful and blessed day everybody! 

                                              

Strawberry Apple Fruit Slather

This recipe is a fond farewell to the last strawberries and an ode to fall, I am presenting a simple, delicious and pretty, fruit slather. It uses up the last batch of Quebec's summer/fall strawberries, with the addition of apple and maple syrup; which is still in the fall vein. 
Think of this as a sweet summer goodbye and a bright fall helloodles! 
I am big on buying and using locally grown and sustainable foods/goods. Especially from small local businesses. It's better for the planet, freshness, quality, interesting varieties that are waiting for discovery, and most importantly it helps out our neighbors. This means that we in turn are growing our economy and showing that we care about what goes on our plates and what the impact of our purchases are. I hear many people frustrated with what's happening in the world but unsure how they can affect change. The easiest way is to make a difference through your buying power, I know organic is not always feasible but try to switch to organic for things like carrots and celery or kale. Make an effort to check labels and look for the local name, avoid gmo's and push for mandatory labeling of these Frankenstein foods. Most importantly, don't buy food with ingredients you can't pronounce, don't recognize as food, nothing artificial, and stay away from too much sugar, bad fats, and salt. In the meantime, here's a pretty recipe, feel free to use frozen strawberries if you need, just reduce the juice by half. This recipe is different than a compote as it is thicker, it holds up well as a topping and pre-cooked pie shell filling or maybe even a turnover filling.

STRAWBERRY APPLE FRUIT SLATHER

Ingredients:
Strawberries
1 Apple for cooking
1/2 Cup Real apple juice
1/4 Cup Maple syrup 
2 Tbsp Organic coconut sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract 
Pinch pink sea salt 
1 Tbsp Potato starch mixed with water to form a thick paste, about 2 Tbsp. 

Method:
-In a medium non-reactive, heavy based saucepan, add all *ingredients EXCEPT maple syrup and potato starch. Keep the last two aside for now.
-Bring what is in pot to a boil, reduce heat to medium and stir.
-Add maple syrup and stir. Allow to cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Add potato starch/water mixture into pot, stir right away until thoroughly incorporated. Allow to cook for 2-3 more minutes until thickened. If you run your finger through the back of a spoon coated with the mixture, it should leave a line. Turn off heat and remove to hot plate, allow to cool.
-Once cool, you can fill in jars. This recipe is not a canning recipe, it is really meant to be kept refrigerated and eaten within 2 weeks maximum.
-You can use the filling in an already cooked pie shell, as a dessert topping for cake/coffee cake, on ice cream, to layer a parfait, serve with pudding or whipped cream. The possibilities are limited to your imagination. I love it on toast and to eat just by itself with yogurt.



                                           Local labels, check for em'.

                                       These strawberries made my heart happy.

    Use only real brown, fresh squeezed apple juice. Not that yellow pee-pee yuck.



Chef's try to pretend they don't make mistakes, pthhhhh.
Look at this mess I made when I started washing the dishes and turned my back to the pot. I made a messy booboo and that's fine, just clean up after yourself like I did, once it was cool to the touch. 
I reuse a lot of glass jars, I like the look of them with finished food products I make, plus they are much more easy to sanitize. I like the different shapes and specialty bottles with cool glass add on's. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe, leave your comments down below and don't forget to subscribe.

Happy October everyone!

The Best Leek and Potato Potage (Soup-vegan too!)

Bonjour!
Yes, it really is the best leek and potato potage because I played with this recipe until I got something with a wonderful punch of extra flavour to kick up it's comforting familiarity.
I have made a vegan option of this soul soothing wonder as well. I am including the regular choices to make this for the purists out there. (You can be so dull sometimes, live a little try something new, it will keep your soul young.)
We scarfed this bad boy down and made sure to stop by Louise Sans Gluten before hand to have a slammin' crusty bread to go with. I needed that crusty bread slathered with butter, honest. It was so good, I regret nothing. Pass another butter slathered slice, please.
I know there are not many pics to go with this, that's because most of them were deleted for some weird reason and, for realsies, this thick potage is not hard at all.
Julia Childs has this in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking, from what I hear.
I have not looked for it as this is one of the first soups you are taught in the soup module at culinary school.
I am serious when I say that it is easy.
Mine has a different flavour profile,(Sounds so ridiculously snobby when you say it that way but it's true.) because I add scallion aka green spring onions, aka green shallots. This brings this known, soup stand-by to whole other level. Don't be intimidated I know you can do it, I believe in your kitchen courageousness!

THE BEST LEEK AND POTATO POTAGE
Ingredients:

5-6 Medium large yellow fleshed potatoes, cut in medium dice.
1 Whole leek, cut and rinsed well to remove any grit. This recipe uses the green and white part of the leek, once cleaned.
1 Bunch of scallion, bruised with the heel of your knife by banging it lightly, then chopped. Only the greens. (Omit if you want the old school method, but you'll be sorry ;P)
1 Clove garlic
2 Herb stock cubes and 4-5 Cups of water or 4-5 Cups fresh chicken stock if you prefer the old school method. (I use 4 Cups of liquid because I am crazy for a super thick, stick to my rib cage potage.)
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Vegan margarine or butter if you want old school.
1 tsp White pepper
1 tsp Sea salt
1/2 tsp Fresh thyme
1 Bay leaf
1/2-1 Cup Coconut milk or 35 % whole cream if you want the genuine French recette.

Method:

-In a medium size pot, heat oil and butter on medium high heat.
-Add onions and cook until translucent, add scallion and cook 1 minute.
-Add leeks and stir, then add garlic clove, cook 1 minute.
-Add potatoes, stir and cook 2 minutes. 
-Add stock then herbs and seasonings.
-Bring to a boil and then reduce to a medium low heat. Stir every now and then, place a lid halfway over pot, allow some steam out. Cook for 30-45 minutes, until potatoes easily mush when squished with a fork.
-Remove from heat and allow to cool.
-Pass the soup through a blender until all is well incorporated but should not be gummy. Then place back into pot. 
-Add cream of choice and reheat gently on medium low heat.
-Serve with crusty bread, French musing in the air, and Julie and Julia playing on the TV.
Serves 4-6 people easily and freezes well, up to 1 month. Will keep refrigerated for 1 week.
I hope you try this potato and leek, French friend of mine,and don't forget to share.
Oh, and as Julia would say, Bonne Appetit!