Hiatus

I am taking a much needed vacation from blogging. Check back with me at the end of August!!

Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta

To me there are few things yummier than a creamy tomato sauce. When I found this recipe on ohsheglows.com I was so excited and I wasn't disappointed. This is a great blog if you haven't checked it out before. I have gotten a lot of good recipes from there.

Easy Tomato Basil Cream Pasta

Lightly adapted from Vegan Yum Yum.
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz box  uncooked whole grain spaghetti
• 2 large ripe tomato or 4 smaller tomatoes
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 - 2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 3-4 tbsp water
• 1-2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup packed fresh basil, finely chopped ( or several shakes of dried basil)

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Chop tomato and add it to the blender (including skin and seeds). Now add the cashews, water, and tomato paste. Blend until smooth.
2. Add your pasta to boiling water and cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Meanwhile, add olive oil to a large skillet and heat to low. Add the minced garlic and sauté for a few minutes being careful not to burn it.
4. Pour the sauce from the blender into the skillet, stir, and bring to a simmer. Add the salt and let it cook for 4-5 minutes, watching closely. Then add water
5. Remove sauce from heat and stir in the chopped basil and pepper. Add the drained pasta back in the pot and now gradually add pasta sauce until your desired amount is achieved. Stir and serve immediately.

* I have doubled her original recipe. Find hers here.
** It may seem like a lot of salt but believe me - without it, it will not taste all that spectacular.

*** This is SOOOOOOO good!!!

Date Sweetened Apple Cobbler - You can thank me later

I combined parts of two different recipes here and here  (you will have to download her raw dessert recipes) and changed them to use dates as a sweetener and I came up with this. IT IS SO AWESOME. Seriously, you will be eternally grateful for this one.

Date Sweetened Apple Cobbler with Cashew Cream

Preheat oven to 400F and grease 9x13 pan with coconut oil.

Apple Filling

5 medium apples

1/2 cup medjool dates

1tsp. cinnamon

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. sea salt

Slice 4 apples in thin slices and stick them in a bowl. Coarsely chop up the 5th apple and put it in the blender. Add the remaining of the ingredients in the blender with the 1 apple and blend them until smooth. You might need to add a little water to get it to blend. You can also use your food processor.

Mix the sliced apples with the blended mix and then spread in a 9x13 pan.

Cobbler Topping

1 cup almonds

1/2 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup medjool dates

1 tbsp coconut oil

pinch of sea slat

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Process the almonds by themselves a little in your food processor and then add the rest of the ingredients. Don't over process, you want the topping to be crumbly.

Put the topping over the apples.

Cover the pan with foil - poke some holes in it and bake for about 40 minutes.

Cashew Cream

1/2 cup soaked cashews (

soak for about 1 hour)

1 tsp. coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2 medjool dates

Almond milk to help blend

You can do this in your blender or food processor. Slowly add almond milk till you get the consistency you want. I like mine thick.

Allow cobbler to cool for about 15 minutes before serving - it will be super hot. Top with the cashew cream

** Don't forget to put the foil on or you will burn a little bit of your topping like I did!!

** Words cannot express how good this was.