Heidi's raw mango cheesecake

I helped out at the last class in Heidi's Conscious Nutrition series - raw vegan deserts. My job was to plate up a million slices of raw vegan mango cheesecake with fresh strawberries, raw chocolate avocado mousse and fresh mango lime sauce. I had 18 plates balancing on makeshift kitchen benches. It was fun, I enjoyed it, the desert was delicious. And the best thing, well one super amazing thing was Heidi gave me the demo cheesecake she made in the class while I was out the back preparing. I think a tea party is in order! An early birthday celebration and whatever else we would like to celebrate...come eat cake!

"any one whose tongue is bored and heart plays loud music that no one else can hear"

Fine and Raw Chocolatier company based in New York

Does raw chocolate get converted into energy faster that regular chocolate?
Foods in their natural raw state contain enzymes. Enzymes control the metabolic process of digesting food into energy. But enzymes are very sensitive to heat and can be lost in food if they are heated at high temperatures. Foods rich in enzymes will metabolize quicker and convert fats to energy faster. As raw chocolate is enzyme rich, the fats are quickly converted into energy to help you dance all night.

A cheezecake outing

Walking past the Green Gourmet in Newtown I remembered Tessa telling me they had raw cheesecake. I popped my head in and was amazed by the choices, so many! I went for a chocolate mint swirl number. It was pretty incredible, an amazing texture definately resembling a real cream cheesy cheesecake. A little on the rich side (for me) and I didn't quite get the mint flavouring but very delicious and inspiring, and I really enjoyed it. All the ingredients were listed too which I love.
--
Base: Pecans, dates, coconut, cacao nibs, cacao butter

Filling: Cashews, almond mylk, agave, lemon juice, mint oil, coconut oil, lecithin, cacao powder, Celtic salt. 

Cacao Magic

--
We played with making chocolate, the quantities and ratios were a bit out and the chocolate was very strong, none the less delicious.
2 tbs raw cacao butter, melted at low heat
2 tbs raw chocolate cacao powder
1 tsp carob powder
1 tbs of coconut oil
little salt and agave
--
we chocolate dipped strawberries to put on top of the cheesecake and then drizzled on more of the melted chocolate, which dried hard by the time the cake was ready to eat.

Tam's delicious Coconut Cacao Cheesecake

inspiration for my raw cheesecake adventure
from Tamara Lunchbox

Ginger Jaffa smoothie

This is a very delicious and emotionally balancing smoothie
--
2 bananas and 2 oranges (whole but with skin cut off)
handful of almonds soaked overnight
2 spoons of raw cacao powder (to taste)
little salt and dark agave syrup
sprouted quinoa
a knob of Ginger
two or so cups of water

Green Smoothie love

The green smoothie phenomena is quickly becoming a central part of my life. Everyday I pick greens and blend them with water and whatever fruit I can find. Everyday I invent a new recipe and find out you really can eat everything that grows (almost haha).














Here are a couple of recent smoothies I really enjoyed
--
24.08.10
parsley and a few leaves of cos lettuce (from garden)
a grapefruit and 2 bananas
1 cup of water
-
23.08.10
fresh parsley
1 and 1/2 bananas
tablespoon each of carob powder and dessicated coconut
1 cup of water
--
22.08.10
(made with Chita)
milk thistle and nettles
1 orange, stick of celery and 2 bananas
3 cups of water
--
17.08.10
lots of spinach stalk and all
a small apple and half a banana,
spoon of tahini and a spoon of hemp protein
1 and 1/2 cups of water
--
11.08.10
lots of chickweed!
Spoon each of hemp, cacao and carob powders
4 squishy Turkish dates
1 banana and 1/4 of an avocado
1 and 1/2 cups of water
--
another version of chickweed chocolate!
04.08.10
chickweed!!
Half an avocado
1 banana and 3 strawberries
raw cacao and maca powder to taste
a tiny bit of agave of you need to balance sweetness
1 and 1/2 cups of water
(by all the exclamations you can probably see I am fond of chickweed-chocolate smoothies...)
--
01.08.10
buk choy leaves
2 bananas and 3 strawberries (these were high flavoured organic strawberries so don't need many, also I don't generally use much expensive fruits in my smoothies, since the high proliferation of bananas, I buy ripe ones from the markets and keep in freezer, I do the same with avocadoes sometimes-removing skin, quartering and freezing-rationing)
spoon of maca
1 and 1/2 cups of water