Applesauce Date Pancakes

I have been toying with this recipe for a while. I finally got it right. Everyone loved these. I make these in my blender. Super easy. The best thing is they don't need syrup!

Applesauce Date Pancakes

1 1/4 cup almond milk
3 medjool dates, pitted
1 egg
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder

** Blend the dates with the milk first to get the dates really pureed. Then add all other the other ingredients in order and blend them up all together.

This recipe makes about 18-24 mediumish pancakes.

Date Sweetened Apple Muffins

These are vegan, sugar free, and no fat.

1 1/4 Cups Whole Wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 -2 tsp cinnamon ( we like on the lower end)
few dashes of ground nutmeg
few dashes of ground ginger (optional)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup pitted medjool dates
1 cup chopped apples

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 350F. Grease muffin tin or use liners.
2. In a large bowl whisk flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until well combined.
3. Process dates and applesauce in food processor until smooth.
4. Add applesauce mixture to dry ingredients until almost combined.
5. Stir in apple pieces until just combined.
6. Spoon into muffin cups about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 18-25 minutes.

**This is my husband's favorite muffin recipe. I adapted this from a recipe in the book "The Happy Herbivore."

I heart Dates - Date Brownies

Wow! That was a really long break! So I meant to only take a month off but then that month turned into 6 months. Isn't that funny how that happens?

Healthwise for me these last 6 months have been in pretty much lousy. In September I had another miscarriage and it just was really hard for me to bounce back from that, emotionally. When I am sad like that I turn to really unhealthy behaviors, like secretly eating large bags of m&ms by myself, eating lots of processed foods, staying up too late, and not exercising. I was pretty much a wreck. I felt like a fraud writing this blog. But it's a new year. I am feeling better and I am back on track. I have been trying some new recipes and I can't wait to share them.

One of my goals this year is to not eat any sweets, unless they are sweetened with dates, or other fruits. Dates are awesome! I buy the 2lb box of medjool dates from Costco. They are soft and delicious.  I have basically learned that you can do a lot with dates. So I am going to be posting a lot of date recipes this year.

The first tip I have in working with dates is to get a food processor, if you don't already have one. In these recipes you want to get the dates really well processed. Sometimes you can do that in a blender but in a lot of these recipes there isn't enough liquid to make it work. So without further ado here is a yummy brownie recipe.

Date Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter or coconut oil 
• 6 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups medjool dates pitted
• 4 eggs
• Little less than 1 Cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2.   In your food processor blend the dates , add the eggs if you need more liquid

      to get the dates to blend.

3.   In 3-quart saucepan over very low heat (or with a double boiler), melt butter or coconut oil and chocolate,  stirring the mixture constantly. Remove from heat. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Stir the date mixture into the chocolate.

 

4.  If you didn't use all the eggs with the dates, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then stir in the vanilla.

5.  Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl; stir into the chocolate mixture.

     Fold in the walnuts. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

6.  Bake in oven 30 to 35 minutes. Brownies are done when toothpick inserted    into center come out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

** Warning these brownies are not at all low fat. But they are sugar free and they are delicious!

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.

A Tale of 2 Tabouleh salads

So I think in America people call this salad Tabouli but Arabs call it Tabouleh, so that's what we call it around here. I love the tabouleh salad my husband's mom used to make. My first attempt making it was a nightmare but I eventually figured it out. Then I found a tabouleh recipe in one of my raw food recipe books  that used quinoa (but I cook the quinoa) instead of wheat bulgar. Lately I have made that version more but I will give you both versions.

Traditional Tabouleh
1 cup of wheat bulgur ( I used fine- soak bulgur in hot water until soft about 20-30 minutes, then drain excess water - I used a clean smaller bowl to push the water out, the bulgur would fall through a strainer)
1 bunch parsley - chopped
1 bunch green onions - chopped - green parts too
4 roma tomatoes - chopped
2 1/2 cucumbers - chopped
(some people add 1/2 green pepper - chopped)
Salt to taste (don't over do it)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil


Mix everything in a big bowl. 

*My husband likes his with a little more lemon juice. Taste it and add more if you like.

Quinoa Tabouleh (adapted from Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow )

1 cup uncooked quinoa (cook according to package)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 cup diced cucumber
1 cup chopped roma tomato
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Toss all ingredients together

* I never measure the amount of veggies. I just put in as much as I like. I like a lot of parsley so I put in more.