Emily von Euw's Blog, page 23

HOT CACAO with CINNAMON, COCONUT + DATES

Fall is upon us and nothing feels more appropriate when I finally get home after these busy, rainy days than a big ole mug of hot chocolate. Make that raw, vegan and super easy to make and you got me head over heels in love with it. I wonder if Freud would have something to say about how frequently I compare my food to romantic lovers. Just a moment ago I was telling my dinner (homemade green curry with baked eggplant, greens and Israeli couscous) that I was seriously considering leaving Jack in order to go steady with the curry. I regularly kiss and hug my fruits and veggies before eating them, and at any hour of the day if you entered my brain you would notice countless love signals being transmitted to the nearest edible plant. I thought I wanted to marry my record player, but when it comes down to it, my ideal spouse might be an avocado. Or mango. Dammit. Is fruit polygamy legal? 
I JUST LOVE MY FOOD SO MUCH. 
Frankly I wish everyone would be as stoked about their diet as I am (although perhaps not so much with the desire to wed everything they're about to put in their mouth.) I see people around me all the time eating bland, boring, processed foods that they clearly find no enjoyment or excitement in. What's the deal!? If I am about to literally BECOME something, I gotta 100% adore that thing! My cells are going to be reconstructed from the matter I put into my body, so that matter better be the highest quality, freshest, sexiest stuff around. Otherwise, no thanks. Of course I am saying this from my privileged seat in a [relatively] developed country wherein I always have access to organic fruits and veggies AND the budget for them; I am aware it's a restricted category of humans that have these advantages. Nevertheless the people who I see eating these drab, refined, personality-less "foods" are  virtually always in the same social cohort I am, and so they can most likely afford to eat the way I do.  Why don't they? At the end of the day it seems to come down to education. Folks simply are not taught - in school or popular culture - that their diet can be a major source of joy, compassion, environmental sustainability, self-improvement and long-term wellness. Whatta bummer! So until every last person discovers the pure, holistic bliss that can come with a plate of food, I will not stop blogging! 
Without further ado, go ahead and enjoy this super easy and quick recipe for hot chocolate. And please, giggle with excitement as you drink it, because life is great. 

HOT CACAO with CINNAMON, COCONUT + DATES

For one or two people. 

2 cups ginger tea (or just hot water)
1 tablespoon cacao powder (or carob powder)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon power
1/4 cup dried shredded coconut 
1/4 cup dates 

Blend everything until smooth, then strain through a nut milk bag and pour into a mug. Roll the left over pulp in coconut sugar and hemp seeds and dehydrate for an hour (or bake lightly) to make coconut balls! Enjoy!

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http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

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MACAROONS with BEET, CHOCOLATE and COCONUT CREAMS

 #ZOMG. What CAN'T the plant kingdom give us!? Some people think a plant-based diet is restrictive and depriving but seriously... as a self-proclaimed herbivore I eat twice as much as everyone around me, my food is always more colourful and - in my humble opinion - loads tastier. Now, if you aren't a plant lover, I ain't judgin'. I love you long time no matter what you choose to put in your mouth. But at the same time, if you wanna discover the most nourishing, eco-friendly, ethical, DELICIOUS diet around? Just eat more fruits and veggies. No need for labels like vegan or vegetarian - it doesn't matter. What DOES matter is your happiness.



What is happiness?

Well, that's about the most complicated question ever to answer so I won't try to provide a definitive response. What I know is that happiness MUST start with a healthy body (and therefore a healthy mind). A healthy body is best built with lots of high-quality plant foods. Try fruit smoothies, giant salads, homemade soups, whole grain breads loaded with pesto and baked tomatoes, veggies and hummus, baked yams with rice, eggplant curry, kamut pasta with marinana sauce, portobello burgers, and whatever else you desire. The list is literally endless, as there are countless more edible plants than conventional meat and dairy products. Just click right here for a snapshot of the infinite possibilities. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, greens, beans, legumes: it's all good for ya. Nourishing yourself with wholesome plant-based recipes will feed your brain what it needs to function optimally. You will find yourself more clear-headed then ever before, with a body capable of what you truly want it to do. What could be a better starting point for a full and long life?

Feed yourself the best foods on the planet, you deserve it.

Now, about those best foods? Look no further than this recipe. In the ingredient list we've got nuts, fruits, and veggies all rolled into outta-this-world yumminess bites. As long as you like the taste of fresh coconut and beets, you're gonna go nuts - pun intended - for these. Otherwise just use cashews instead of coconut, and berries instead of beets! As usual I give you plenty of options for adapting the recipe to your own preferences. Another idea: instead of adding cacao to the chocolate filling, use mint leaves! I was gonna do that but didn't have any on hand so I improvised. I could eat the coconut cream straight outta the bowl all day long, personally. *Must move to Thailand, devour all coconuts. In other news, I have been obsessed with Mariah Carey for the past two days. YouTube makes it too easy. Please improve your day by approximately 12,000% and bump this playlist while shaking your sexy booty and making this recipe. All frustrating gender norms in the videos aside, you can't deny the melodies are on-point and her voice is R&B-angelic. My afternoon has quickly turned into a raw vegan macaroon-filled, late 1990's pop music party. There is absolutely nothing wrong about this. Join me? Yeah, you know you wanna.


RAW VEGAN MACAROONS with BEET, CHOCOLATE and COCONUT CREAMS
Cookies:1 cup macadamias (or any other nut or seed)1 cup dates1 heaping tablespoon cacao powder (optional) 
Cream base:1 cup young coconut meat (or soaked cashews)Up to 1/2 cup coconut water (or water)1 tablespoon raw coconut sugar (or 1/4 cup dates)1 teaspoon vanilla powder 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil 
Add ons:1 tablespoon beet juice (or berries)1 tablespoon cacao powder
To make the cookies: in a food processor, process the nuts until they are small crumbs. Add the dates and cacao (if using) and process until it all begins to stick together. Using a small cookie mold, shape into around 10 cookies and put in the fridge. 
To make the fillings: blend all the ingredients for the cream base together until smooth, adding water as needed; it should be the consistency of very thick yogurt. Taste and add more sweetener if you want. Divide this heavenly mixture equally into 3 bowls. In one bowl, stir in the beet juice. LOOK AT THAT COLOUR. In another bowl, stir in the cacao powder. In the last bowl... do nothing. Store these creams in the fridge overnight so they have time to thicken and develop more flavour. If they aren't thick enough to hold their own shape by the next day, stir in some melted coconut oil and put back in the fridge until they firm up. 
Assembly: sandwich your cookies with the various fillings and enjoy! Optional: put them in the freezer for ice cream sammies!
Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!

http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

[image error]

MACAROONS with BEET, CHOCOLATE and COCONUT CREAMS

 #ZOMG. What CAN'T the plant kingdom give us!? Some people think a plant-based diet is restrictive and depriving but seriously... as a self-proclaimed herbivore I eat twice as much as everyone around me, my food is always more colourful and - in my humble opinion - loads tastier. Now, if you aren't a plant lover, I ain't judgin'. I love you long time no matter what you choose to put in your mouth. But at the same time, if you wanna discover the most nourishing, eco-friendly, ethical, DELICIOUS diet around? Just eat more fruits and veggies. No need for labels like vegan or vegetarian - it doesn't matter. What DOES matter is your happiness.

What is happiness?

Well, that's about the most complicated question ever to answer so I won't try to provide a definitive response. What I know is that happiness MUST start with a healthy body (and therefore a healthy mind). A healthy body is best built with lots of high-quality plant foods. Try fruit smoothies, giant salads, homemade soups, whole grain breads loaded with pesto and baked tomatoes, veggies and hummus, baked yams with rice, eggplant curry, kamut pasta with marinana sauce, portobello burgers, and whatever else you desire. The list is literally endless, as there are countless more edible plants than conventional meat and dairy products. Just click right here for a snapshot of the infinite possibilities. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, greens, beans, legumes: it's all good for ya. Nourishing yourself with wholesome plant-based recipes will feed your brain what it needs to function optimally. You will find yourself more clear-headed then ever before, with a body capable of what you truly want it to do. What could be a better starting point for a full and long life?

Feed yourself the best foods on the planet, you deserve it.

Now, about those best foods? Look no further than this recipe. In the ingredient list we've got nuts, fruits, and veggies all rolled into outta-this-world yumminess bites. As long as you like the taste of fresh coconut and beets, you're gonna go nuts - pun intended - for these. Otherwise just use cashews instead of coconut, and berries instead of beets! As usual I give you plenty of options for adapting the recipe to your own preferences. Another idea: instead of adding cacao to the chocolate filling, use mint leaves! I was gonna do that but didn't have any on hand so I improvised. I could eat the coconut cream straight outta the bowl all day long, personally. *Must move to Thailand, devour all coconuts. In other news, I have been obsessed with Mariah Carey for the past two days. YouTube makes it too easy. Please improve your day by approximately 12,000% and bump this playlist while shaking your sexy booty and making this recipe. All frustrating gender norms in the videos aside, you can't deny the melodies are on-point and her voice is R&B-angelic. My afternoon has quickly turned into a raw vegan macaroon-filled, late 1990's pop music party. There is absolutely nothing wrong about this. Join me? Yeah, you know you wanna.


RAW VEGAN MACAROONS with BEET, CHOCOLATE and COCONUT CREAMS
Cookies:1 cup macadamias (or any other nut or seed)1 cup dates1 heaping tablespoon cacao powder (optional) 
Cream base:1 cup young coconut meat (or soaked cashews)Up to 1/2 cup coconut water (or water)1 tablespoon raw coconut sugar (or 1/4 cup dates)1 teaspoon vanilla powder 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil 
Add ons:1 tablespoon beet juice (or berries)1 tablespoon cacao powder
To make the cookies: in a food processor, process the nuts until they are small crumbs. Add the dates and cacao (if using) and process until it all begins to stick together. Using a small cookie mold, shape into around 10 cookies and put in the fridge. 
To make the fillings: blend all the ingredients for the cream base together until smooth, adding water as needed; it should be the consistency of very thick yogurt. Taste and add more sweetener if you want. Divide this heavenly mixture equally into 3 bowls. In one bowl, stir in the beet juice. LOOK AT THAT COLOUR. In another bowl, stir in the cacao powder. In the last bowl... do nothing. Store these creams in the fridge overnight so they have time to thicken and develop more flavour. If they aren't thick enough to hold their own shape by the next day, stir in some melted coconut oil and put back in the fridge until they firm up. 
Assembly: sandwich your cookies with the various fillings and enjoy! Optional: put them in the freezer for ice cream sammies!
Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!

http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

THE MOST EXCITING NEWS!!! + A RECIPE

PREORDER:- Amazon (US)*- Amazon (Canada)*- Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)- Barnes & Noble*- Chapters Indigo*hard copy and Kindle version available 
Ahhhhh I am so excited! I got my hard copy of my brand-new cookbook, 100 Best Juices, Smoothies and Healthy Snacks, in the mail a few months ago and squealed for two days straight. Now I want to share my book with you! I've already shared the news of my new book a few times but I want to write another post about the thing because I want YOU to know all about it! If you have any interest in making more smoothies and/or juices, or even just raw, gluten-free, vegan snacks - you gotta pre-order da book. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. It is FULL of giant colour photos (all taken by me) and 100 recipes for smoothies, juices and healthy snacks (big surprise). There are savoury smoothies (aka raw soups), sweet smoothies, savoury juices, sweet juices, mylkshakes, nut mylks, and everything in between! The best part is it's super affordable. Only $15 or so! Although if you're not in North America (and I know many of you are not) it'll be around $20. Still a fair price, I gotta say, since this book is my heart and soul on paper. Honestly, I feel like my past two cookbooks are like my babies... until I think about that critically for a second and realize all the fundamental differences. Moving on.



Check out insider pics (oooooh, exclusive) of the book above and below (+ get a special recipe from the book!), and pre-order now before it sells out. More winks. More nudges. Whether you buy the book or not - I love you to the moon and back for always supporting me and giving me your endless words of encouragement and kindness. MWAH!

PREORDER:- Amazon (US)*- Amazon (Canada)*- Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)- Barnes & Noble*- Chapters Indigo*hard copy and Kindle version available 
http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

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THE MOST EXCITING NEWS!!! + A RECIPE

PREORDER:- Amazon (US)*- Amazon (Canada)*- Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)- Barnes & Noble*- Chapters Indigo*hard copy and Kindle version available 
Ahhhhh I am so excited! I got my hard copy of my brand-new cookbook, 100 Best Juices, Smoothies and Healthy Snacks, in the mail a few months ago and squealed for two days straight. Now I want to share my book with you! I've already shared the news of my new book a few times but I want to write another post about the thing because I want YOU to know all about it! If you have any interest in making more smoothies and/or juices, or even just raw, gluten-free, vegan snacks - you gotta pre-order da book. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. It is FULL of giant colour photos (all taken by me) and 100 recipes for smoothies, juices and healthy snacks (big surprise). There are savoury smoothies (aka raw soups), sweet smoothies, savoury juices, sweet juices, mylkshakes, nut mylks, and everything in between! The best part is it's super affordable. Only $15 or so! Although if you're not in North America (and I know many of you are not) it'll be around $20. Still a fair price, I gotta say, since this book is my heart and soul on paper. Honestly, I feel like my past two cookbooks are like my babies... until I think about that critically for a second and realize all the fundamental differences. Moving on.

Check out insider pics (oooooh, exclusive) of the book above and below (+ get a special recipe from the book!), and pre-order now before it sells out. More winks. More nudges. Whether you buy the book or not - I love you to the moon and back for always supporting me and giving me your endless words of encouragement and kindness. MWAH!

PREORDER:- Amazon (US)*- Amazon (Canada)*- Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)- Barnes & Noble*- Chapters Indigo*hard copy and Kindle version available 
http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

CASHEW CREAM CAKE with FRESH JUICY SWIRLS

I wasn't sure what title to give this recipe, because it's really awesome and delicious, but how do I get across the gist of it in one name? I can't call it: raw vegan cheesecake with swirls dyed by beet and carrot juice. No one would click that. Well, almost no one. I would click it. That sounds cool to me. But we are getting off track. I will explain the recipe now.

I had a vision of this... probably in a dream or something. I can't remember exactly but I certainly had a clear image of it in my head and felt the desire to make it into a reality. Originally I was imagining much darker pink and orange colours, along with green swirls (from green juice!) but I give up easily when it comes to food and let this cake happen instead. I might go back to that initial idea in a few months, but for now we will all have to deal with this recipe. Call me optimistic but I think we will manage, somehow.


This cake is freaking TASTY. The base is your regular ole cashew cream, except I sweetened it with fresh orange juice, then divied it up into different mixtures, adding beet juice to one and carrot juice to another. Thus you wind up with a pink or reddish mix, an orange one, and a cashew coloured one. You swirl 'em all together and you get this gorgeous, healthy cylinder of yum. Plants are awesome. Unfortunately these photos are not. Fall as arrived and that means lots of clouds. Usually cloudy weather makes for great lighting buuut today it was just dark all day. Nuttin' I could do.

New topic: have any of you read The Secret? It's about the law of attraction. Look it up if you don't know what I am talking about. Honestly, I am normally highly critical of stuff like this and prefer to base my logic in good science. However, I cannot deny that it seems to really work for me, the law of attraction that is. Over and over I find myself saying something out loud that I want to happen, sharing more personal desires with loved ones, casually in conversation, or as I am writing in my journal. In any case, soon after I mention an aspiration or start thinking about one more frequently, it seems to materialize in my life! Let me give you some examples.

(a) My first book deal. A couple years ago when I was 19, I had been thinking of eventually writing a cookbook because everyone was telling me I should, and of course it was a super exciting idea for me as well. Lo and behold, my amazing publisher found ME and the rest is history. You can buy my first cookbook here, and pre-order my second one here.

(b) My mattress. About a year ago I started thinking more seriously about getting a new mattress. I had been researching and discovering all sorts of bad news about conventional mattresses. I was looking online at organic mattresses but they were like $5,000... nope. Out of nowhere, a mattress company - IntelliBED - specializing in non-toxic mattresses and healthy sleep gets a hold of me and wants me to have one of their beds to review (and keep). Please learn more about my mattress here, because IntelliBEDs are seriously amazing and deep sleep is just as important as diet when it comes to health.

(c) Animal rights activism. I have been saying to a few people lately that I feel like I am not doing enough. I am busy with university, maintaining my blog, writing books, and trying to manage a social life so I don't have much time to focus on activism for animal welfare and environmental campaigns, but I genuinely do feel like I should do more. I plan to get much more heavily involved in that kind of work when I graduate, but for now I just sign as many petitions as I can. Even still, seemingly out of the blue I am getting WAY more animal rights organizations contacting me than I was before.

Maybe these are lame examples and you think I've gone cooky. I totally agree with you. But at the same time... it feels really uncanny when this stuff just keeps happening over and over. Lemme know your thoughts. Let's eat that cake now.


CASHEW CREAM CAKE with FRESH JUICES

Crust:
1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup dried coconut shreds
2/3 cup medjool dates
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves (optional)

Base:
1 cup cashews (preferably soaked for 2-4 hours)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon chunk ginger root 
3-4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon lucuma powder (optional) 

Extras:
1/4 cup fresh beet juice, as needed
1/4 cup fresh carrot juice, as needed

To make the crust: pulse the pecans, coconut and rosemary (if using) in a food processor until they become small crumbs. Add the dates and process until it all sticks together. If it's too crumbly, add more dates. Press into the bottom of a lined springform pan; the one I used is about 7 inches. Put in the fridge. 

To make the cake: blend the base ingredients together until smooth. It should be like thick yogurt at this point; if it's not, add more cashews or coconut oil. Separate the mixture equally into 3 bowls.

Scoop one of the portions back into your blender and add 3 tablespoons of beet juice, then blend until smooth. Keep adding beet juice if you want, but if it starts getting very thin add more cashews or coconut oil. Scoop this pink/red mixture back into a bowl. Do this same process with the carrot juice. You should now have one beet juice mixture, one carrot juice mixture, and one plain mixture.

Assembly: take the springform pan out of the fridge, and have your three mixtures ready with a spoon for each. To get the swirl effect, just fill up the pan with spoonfuls of each mixture until you run out. Then run a chopstick through it all in whatever pattern you like. Or simply pour them in one after the other to get a layered look. Either way it's gonna taste great. Let it set for at least 24 hours in the fridge so it can develop flavour, then decorate and enjoy!

Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email! http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

BANANA BREAD SMOOTHIE with PECANS, NUTMEG + CAROB SYRUP

Woah. The deliciousness of this recipe was an accident, but that makes it even better. I made pecan milk yesterday morning and decided to add a little to my smoothie because nut milk in smoothies takes them to the next level. Every time. What I didn't realize was that the tap water I used to make the milk was hot, so I ended up with warm pecan milk. To this I added frozen bananas. What happened? The warm liquid made the bananas taste baked - like banana bread! By chance I had also thrown in some nutmeg so the spicing was perfect. I couldn't believe it! Seriously it tastes like banana bread batter (the main reason I woke up every morning as a child: to eat banana bread batter when my mom so happened to be making BB loaves). I decorated it with some carob syrup and pecans to make it look pretty. Then I inhaled it. 

You might be asking: what is carob syrup? Well lemme tell ya. I have just been to Israel - yes, I know, huge news and trust me I will be sharing ALL my adventures there with you soon - where delicious healthy food is eaten by all as part of tradition. The middle east has a long history of holistic medicine and a diet based around locally grown plants. So without giving too much of my Israeli stories away in this post, I will say that something they grow easily there is the carob fruit! In fact they have so much of it that often you will see carob pods lying around in the dirt, unused. But carob is super good for you! It's cleansing, healing and full of important nutrients. Besides, it tastes great and is often used as a chocolate alternative. So a popular treat in this part of the world is carob "honey". It actually has nothing to do with bees, so I'm calling it syrup. That way my fellow vegans won't get confused and flip out. I say that with love. 
How does one MAKE carob syrup? Take a giant pot filled with carob pods, add water, ferment for a few days, remove the pods. Then reduce the liquid with a bit of heat until all you are left with is a sweet, creamy syrup infused with carob goodness! It's like magic to me. I can't get over it. I personally LOVE carob so I was thrilled when I was given a little jar of this bronze-golden liquid to take home.  I will be using it very sparingly (in other words I will be putting it on everything because it's so damn delicious I can't help myself). 

BANANA BREAD SMOOTHIE with PECANS, NUTMEG + CAROB SYRUP
Pecan milk:Handful of pecans (preferably soaked for 6 hours)2 cups warm water 
Smoothie:3 frozen bananas1 persimmon 1 teaspoon nutmeg powder1 teaspoon carob syrup A few pecans 
To make the pecan milk: blend the pecans with the warm water until smooth, strain through cheese cloth or a nut milk bag if you want. I did. 
To make the smoothie: blend the pecan milk with the bananas, persimmon and nutmeg until smooth. Decorate with carob syrup and pecans. YUM. 
Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

[image error]

BANANA BREAD SMOOTHIE with PECANS, NUTMEG + CAROB SYRUP

Woah. The deliciousness of this recipe was an accident, but that makes it even better. I made pecan milk yesterday morning and decided to add a little to my smoothie because nut milk in smoothies takes them to the next level. Every time. What I didn't realize was that the tap water I used to make the milk was hot, so I ended up with warm pecan milk. To this I added frozen bananas. What happened? The warm liquid made the bananas taste baked - like banana bread! By chance I had also thrown in some nutmeg so the spicing was perfect. I couldn't believe it! Seriously it tastes like banana bread batter (the main reason I woke up every morning as a child: to eat banana bread batter when my mom so happened to be making BB loaves). I decorated it with some carob syrup and pecans to make it look pretty. Then I inhaled it. 
You might be asking: what is carob syrup? Well lemme tell ya. I have just been to Israel - yes, I know, huge news and trust me I will be sharing ALL my adventures there with you soon - where delicious healthy food is eaten by all as part of tradition. The middle east has a long history of holistic medicine and a diet based around locally grown plants. So without giving too much of my Israeli stories away in this post, I will say that something they grow easily there is the carob fruit! In fact they have so much of it that often you will see carob pods lying around in the dirt, unused. But carob is super good for you! It's cleansing, healing and full of important nutrients. Besides, it tastes great and is often used as a chocolate alternative. So a popular treat in this part of the world is carob "honey". It actually has nothing to do with bees, so I'm calling it syrup. That way my fellow vegans won't get confused and flip out. I say that with love. 
How does one MAKE carob syrup? Take a giant pot filled with carob pods, add water, ferment for a few days, remove the pods. Then reduce the liquid with a bit of heat until all you are left with is a sweet, creamy syrup infused with carob goodness! It's like magic to me. I can't get over it. I personally LOVE carob so I was thrilled when I was given a little jar of this bronze-golden liquid to take home.  I will be using it very sparingly (in other words I will be putting it on everything because it's so damn delicious I can't help myself). 

BANANA BREAD SMOOTHIE with PECANS, NUTMEG + CAROB SYRUP
Pecan milk:Handful of pecans (preferably soaked for 6 hours)2 cups warm water 
Smoothie:3 frozen bananas1 persimmon 1 teaspoon nutmeg powder1 teaspoon carob syrup A few pecans 
To make the pecan milk: blend the pecans with the warm water until smooth, strain through cheese cloth or a nut milk bag if you want. I did. 
To make the smoothie: blend the pecan milk with the bananas, persimmon and nutmeg until smooth. Decorate with carob syrup and pecans. YUM. 
Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

RAW VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Not that these cookies really require an explanation... but I'll give you one anyway. I adapted this recipe from a fabulous vegan cookbook called DIY Nut Milks, Nut Butters & More by the wonderful Melissa King of My Whole Food Life. The book is chock-full of easy, healthy recipes (I think they're pretty much ALL raw too). If you are interested in dipping your toes into the world of nut milks and/or nut butters then this book needs to be in your shelf. If you think you're a champ at this stuff already, I say: you can always learn more. The recipes are largely for nut milks and butters - big surprise, I know - but obviously judging by the recipe I am sharing today, there are chapters on more decadent eats later in the book too. There's a ton of practical information as well. Melissa recommends equipment, techniques, soaking methods and more. Noobs and pros alike will discover useful tips and tricks.
I don't like to talk too long about books, because I think YOU will be the best judge for yourself (such wise words, just call me Plato). The point is: I love this book. Let's eat cookies and dance. 

NO-BAKE COOKIE DOUGH BALLS (which I adapted into cookies)

Makes 15 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls, or 10 large cookies

1 cup (100 g) gluten-free oats
10 Medjool dates, pits removed
1 cup (240 g) macadamia nut butter
1 teaspoon ground vanilla beans
2 tablespoons water
½ cup (80 g) raw chocolate chunks

Blend the oats in a food processor until they are coarsely ground. This takes about 2 minutes. 
Add the dates, macadamia nut butter, vanilla, and water. Pulse until a dough starts to form, 2 to 3 minutes. 
Fold the chocolate chunks into the dough, or use them in the next step to coat the outside of the balls. 
Roll the dough into bite-size balls. If you’re covering them with choco­late chips, roll the balls around on a plate of chocolate chips and then gently press the chips in. 
At this point I just pressed them down with the palm of my hand so they became cookies. Simple.
Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Stick the baking sheet into the fridge so that the balls can firm up, about 30 minutes. 
Store the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

Note: If you want to bump up the protein in this recipe, add 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, hemp seeds, or leftover nut milk pulp. 

Recipe from DIY Nut Milks, Nut Butters & More: From Almonds to Walnuts, copyright © Melissa King, 2014. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available December 2014 wherever books are sold.

http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/

ALMOND BUTTER + CHIA JAM BARS with CHOCOLATE

I am getting back into dreaming of recipe ideas. It used to be my main source of creativity for my blog, but after writing Rawsome Vegan Baking my mind for thinking up raw vegan sweets was basically run dry temporarily. Now I am fortunately returning to the familiar groove that is imagining new recipes as I am falling into dreamland, or just waking from it. I have also been perfecting a super healthy, super easy curry recipe for ya'll. Stay tuned. 

These bars are gooey, sweet, and comfortable. Maybe you think comfortable is a weird adjective for food, but I think it's appropriate. Of course this recipe is reminiscent of PB&J (aka the stuff of childhood), so the flavour combo brings back memories for me of being young and not having a substantial care in the world. Comfort. I will be the first to admit these bars can get messy. So have a napkin handy... or #yolo it and proudly wear bits of jam and chocolate on your face for the remainder of the day, I won't judge. Isn't getting a bit dirty part of life, anyway? 
I've been focusing lately on remembering to live in the moment and 'be here now' as my wrist tattoo dictates. I get so caught up in all of the responsibilities I have to myself and others, and the seemingly endless lists of tasks I need to complete at any given time. It's like I am attempting to be perfect - i.e. clean and not dirty - because I believe that is the only standard I can hold myself to, otherwise I'll let myself down along with everyone else who I think is counting on me. Then I inevitably remember that NO ONE is perfect, and I am only human; a human with many faults. This gives me a lot of comfort, re-realizing I can let myself get dirty. I breathe a deep sigh of relief and then allow my mind and body to take a break, chill out, then eventually get back to work. I do love what I am always so busy doing - studying history at university, maintaining my blog, writing cookbooks, spending time with loved ones, exercising, making and eating delicious healthy food, and communicating - A LOT - with you guys. My life is a blessing! I do not subscribe to any organized religions but I AM constantly thankful for the gift of life I have been given by whatever forces rule our world and universe. It seems pretty miraculous to be alive and be aware of such a reality. I struggle with myself a lot, mentally, spiritually and emotionally, about the nature of being human - especially in this age of modernity - but I can usually calm myself down with the fact that no matter what this crazy cosmos means or doesn't mean, I am fortunate enough to have a healthy body, an intelligent, self-aware mind, a very comfortable lifestyle, and be surrounded by people with whom I share mutual love. I am keenly conscious of the fact that most of the global population doesn't get to enjoy some if any of those luxuries; this just makes me more grateful, and eager for the worldwide standards of living and human rights to balance out. I imagine us to be living in an awakening era, caught between the industrial revolution and the future of environmentalism and more responsible human agency, and sometimes it saddens me to know I won't be here to see our society finally bloom into the more compassionate, ethical, open-minded, earth-conscious community I believe we will become. However, it gives me great comfort merely believing in this future. 
At the end of the day, even though I let myself get stressed out over school, my blog, my books, my relationships, myself, existentialism, and the exhaustive list of world problems... I am always able to remind myself that to face these challenges successfully I need to be happy, not anxious or upset. Knowing this reminds me I don't have to be perfect. It reminds me I am just one person, trying to make sense of this ridiculous, amazing, strange thing we call life. It reminds me it's okay to get dirty, because that is part of life. 
Now let's eat.

ALMOND BUTTER + CHIA JAM BARS with CHOCOLATE 

Almond butter base:
1 cups rolled oats 
1/2 cup almond butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup 
1/4 cup flax seeds

Jam: 
1 cup berries
4 tablespoons chia seeds

Chocolate:
Click here for the recipe.

To make the base: grind the rolled oats into flour in a blender, then mix together with the other ingredients in a bowl. Press into the bottom of a lined bread pan (I used two small ones). Put in the fridge. 

To make the jam: mash or blend the berries until smooth, then thoroughly stir in the chia seeds and let it sit for 10-15 minutes so the chia seeds can gel with the mashed berries and thicken into jam. Spread this onto your base, then drizzle on the chocolate evenly. I swirled in some more almond butter at this point because... why not. Stick it back in the fridge and let sit for an hour, then slice and munch! Note: slice them carefully, the jam is gooey... 

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