Food For Life

It's time once again for sweet treats! Healthier than the average dessert, and always fun to make, here are three sweet snacking ideas to take you through the week!

Apricot and Grapefruit Toffee

* You can swap the almonds for any other nut, and grapefruit juice with any other citrus juice

What you will need:

1 1/2 cups of dried apricots

1 cup of grapefruit juice

1/2 cup of roasted almonds

2 tbsp of dried shredded coconut (unsweetened) 

• Soak the apricots in 1 cup of grapefruit juice for 3 hours. 
• Roast the almonds at 300 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oven, and leave heat on. 
• Add nuts to a blender or food processor and pulse for 20 seconds or until the almonds have turned into coarse flour. Pour into a cup and set aside.
• Add the grapefruit soaked apricots to the blender, together with half of the remaining juice. Pulse until everything has turned into a sticky mess. If the apricots won't blend, add a little more of the juice. 
• Add the almonds and shredded coconut to the blender and pulse until everything is combined 
• line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mixture out on it. Use a spatula to form the mixture into a rectangle, around 1/2 inch high
• Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, cut into preferred size and put back into the oven for 7-8 minutes more. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. 
• When warm, they will still be a bit loose. When they cool, they will become more firm. 
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge, wrapped in paper, and enjoy within one week.

 "Healthier" Carrot Cake 

What you will need for the cake:

3 eggs

1-2 bananas

10-15 fresh dates (without seeds)

6 tbsp of sunflower oil

1 cup of whole wheat flour 

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

3 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 tsp of cardamom

3-4 carrots (medium sized, grated)

1/2 cup of coconut flakes

1/2 cup of roughly chopped walnuts

1/2 cup of raisins 

What you will need for the glaze:

7 oz. of cream cheese

3 tbsp of honey

Juice of half of a lime

1/2 cup of hazelnuts

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl. 
• Use a hand blender or regular blender to mix bananas, dates, and oil into a thick cream in another bowl
• Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon and stir together with the eggs and the banana cream. Add in grated carrots, coconut flakes, walnuts and raisins and stir until everything comes together.
• Pour into a greased cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if the cake is done. When nothing sticks to the toothpick, remove and let cool. 
• Whip together cream cheese and honey (bananas and dates would also work as sweeteners for the frosting.
• Add frosting once the cake has completely cooled. Serve with roughly chopped hazelnuts or walnuts on top. 

Raw Hemp Protein Bars

What you will need:

Dry-

1 cup of pumpkin seeds

1 cup of coconut flakes

1/2 cup of hemp hearts

1/2 cup of hemp protein powder

4 tbsp of chia seeds

2 tbsp of bee pollen (optional)

Wet-

20 fresh medjool dates, pitted

6 tbsp of coconut oil, melted

4 tbsp of raw cocoa powder

1 tsp of ground vanilla or vanilla extract

6 tbsp of rolled oats 

2 tbsp of poppy seeds

• In a food processor or blender, pulse the dry ingredients quickly. Do not over process, you want it to be crunchy.
• Place the mixture in a bowl and set aside. 
• Add in all wet ingredients to the food processor, or high speed blender and blend to combine. This may take some time, and if your blender isn't strong enough, you may have to help out by stirring a few times with a fork, or add a bit of water. 
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, add in oats and poppy seeds and stir until well combined. 
• Spread the batter evenly into an 11x7 greased baking dish, making sure it is compact. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes and cut into bars. 
• Wrap in paper and store in an airtight container. they will keep for about a week in the fridge. 

*All recipes and pictures courtesy of GreenKitchenStories.com

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Food For Life

Baking. We know it's not always the easiest thing to master, but we've found a couple of recipes on Vital Juice that are fairly simple, and they are vegan as well! We apologize to your diets in advance, but these just sound too delicious not to share!

French Toast Apple Cobbler:

Topping

What you will need:

1/2 cup of whole unroasted cashews, soaked in water for two to eight hours, or until very soft.

2 cups of plain soy milk

1/4 cup of brown sugar 

2 tbsp of earth balance vegan margarine

4 tsp of cornstarch

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp of maple extract

1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

6 slices of slightly dry, soft sandwich bread, cut into 1/2'' cubes

Filling

What you will need:

2 1/2 lbs of Granny Smith or other tart baking apples

2 tbsp of lemon juice

2/3 cup of sugar

2 tbsp of all purpose flour

2 tbsp of brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

Garnish

1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon

2 tbsp turbinado sugar

vegan whipped topping

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Drain cashews and combine them in a blender with soy milk, brown sugar, margarine, cornstarch, vanilla extract, maple extract, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Blend until smooth. 

Peel and core the apples and slice into 1/4'' slices. In a 9x13'' ungreased baking dish combine apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes or until apples are soft and juicy. Remove from oven, discard foil and reduce heat to 350 degrees. 

Add bread pieces into a large mixing bowl. Pulse topping mixture one more time, and pour over cubes. Let stand for 15 minutes, occasionally stirring the cubes to absorb more liquid. SPread over baked apples and pour remaining soy milk mixture evenly over cobbler. 

Stir together remaining 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon and the sugar and sprinkle over the top of the cobbler. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until the top os golden and apple juices are bubbling. Remove the cobbler from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes before serving warm. Top with whipped topping. 

Chocolate Galaxy Banana Cheesecake:

Graham Cracker Crust

What you will need:

1 3/4  cups of finely ground graham cracker crumbs

3 tbs of sugar

2 tbsp of melted earth balance margarine, coconut oil or canola oil

1 tbsp of plain soy or almond milk

Heat over to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9'' springform pan with cooking spray. Ina mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Drizzle in melted margarine or oil. Use a spoon to blend the mixture throughly. Add in milk and stir again to creat a crumby dough. 

Pour crumbs into plate, press firmly into pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until firm. Move to a cooling rack. 

Filling

What you will need:

1/2 cup whole unsalted cashews, soaked in water for two to eight hours, or until very soft

1/2 cup of mashed banana (about 2 medium sized bananas)

1 (12-14oz.) package of silken tofu, drained

2/3 of a cup of sugar

2 tbsp coconut oil at room temp

4 tsp of cornstarch

1 tbsp of lemon juice

2 tsp of pure vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp of almond extract

1/4 tsp of sea salt

2/3 of a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

Drain cashews and blend with the banana, tofu, sugar, canola oil, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extracts and sea salt. Blend until completely smooth. 

Set aside 1/3 cup of batter and pour the rest into the crust. Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler or in a glass bowl in the microwave. Stir melted chips with a spatula until smooth. Add reserved batter and stir until smooth. 

Randomly spoon dollops of chocolate batter into cheesecake. Poke the end of a chopstick into chocolate batter dollops and swirl. 

Bake cheesecake for 50 to 55 minutes until top is slightly puffed and the edges are golden. 

Remove cake from oven and cool for 20 minutes. Move to the fridge to cool for 3 hours or overnight. 

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Food For Life

With Halloween is just a few days away, this week's Food For Life is taking on a slightly different tone. We know that this time of year it is especially difficult to stay on track, and away from the candy so we have been diligently searching for options other than a snickers bar to curb those cravings. What we found are sweet treats that are vegan, and much healthier than their wrapped counterparts. Break out the bakeware, it's time to make some Halloween treat goodness!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies:

What you will need
- 1 1/4 Cups of sugar
- 3/4 Cup of brown sugar
- 1/4 Cup of shortening
- 1/4 Cup (plus one tablespoon) of unsweetened applesauce
- 15oz. can of pumpkin puree
- 1 1/4 Tsp of vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 Cups of flour
- 1/ 1/4 tsp of baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 pound of vegan chocolate chips (whole foods brand is what we recommend)

Preheat oven to 375
Mix the sugars, shortening, applesauce, pumpkin and vanilla until light and well combined. Mix in the flour, baking soda and cinnamon until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Transfer by spoon to a greased baking sheet and bake for 12-14 min, or until set.


Sugar and Spice Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

What you will need
- 1 Cup of pumpkin seeds (or however many come from your pumpkin!)
- 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp of sugar
- 1/2 Tsp of cinnamon
- 1/4 Tsp of nutmeg
- A pinch of cayenne pepper

Heat oven to 300. Rinse seeds well and blot dry with paper towels. Toss seeds in a large bowl of all ingredients mixed together then spread on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, turing every so often until seeds are nicely browned.

Peanut Brittle:

What you will need
- 1 Cup of sugar
- 1 Cup of light corn syrup
- 1 Cup of boiling water
- 1 Lb of raw peanuts
- 1 1/2 Tbsp of vegan margarine
- 2 Tsp of vanilla extract
- 2 Tsp of baking soda

Have a large sheet of aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray, and all ingredients measured and ready next to the stove. In a medium saucepan bring sugar, corn syrup and water to a 300 degree boil (use a candy thermometer) , while constantly stirring. Once the 300 degrees is reached, stir in the peanuts. This may be a bit difficult at first, but it will become easier. Keep stirring until the mixture reaches 325 degrees. Once it is at 325, remove from heat and stir in the margarine, vanilla and baking soda. Spread evenly onto foil, allow it to cool, and harden. Break into pieces and enjoy!




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