We eat a lot of bliss balls in our house. Like these ones and these ones.
But when time is short and the lunchbox calls. I ‘press’ instead of roll.
1 C dried coconut
1 C oats
2 cups dates, chopped (soak if hard)
½ C goji berries, chopped
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 Tbl maple syrup
1Tbl water
Process all ingredients until sticky. Press into a container and freeze for a few hours. Cut into bars and store in the fridge.
There have been a couple of stand out new dishes that have delighted us this summer and this is one of them. 
Easy. Tasty. And full of fresh readily available nutrients.
The good thing about raw foods is they’re loaded with water, which fills you up. It never ceases to amaze me how satisfying they can be.
First up. Cover the sun dried tomatoes in water and soak for a couple of hours. Avoid the ones packaged in oil. (You can always rinse the oil off for a cleaner meal.)
You will need:
1.5 cups sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in just enough water to cover
4 cups fresh tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp apple or maple syrup
Green olives ~ half cup
Black olives (I like loads of both)
1 cup fresh basil
1 Tbl tamari
Blend:
1.5 cups sun-dried tomatoes & soak water
2 cups fresh tomatoes
Garlic
Apple syrup
Pour into a large bowl and add:
Rest of fresh tomatoes, chopped
Green olives, sliced
Black olives whole
Basil, sliced
Tamari.
Gently stir in zucchini noodles.
Adapted from Brenden Brazier’s Thrive Foods cookbook.
You may also like Zucchini Noodles with Alfredo Sauce.
The simplicity of this dish suits the relaxed nature of picking your summer vegetables from the garden and throwing together something easy for lunch or dinner.
Just be sure to soak your cashews in the morning.
Adjust the combo of vegetables to suit your taste. You can pretty much go anywhere with this dish.
I like to add strips of steamed kale. Thin sliced red capsicum or steamed/raw broccoli make nice additions also. 
2 large zucchinis
Bunch cavelo nero or other kale
Cherry tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves
1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
1 Tbl lemon juice
2 tsp tamari
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl nutritional yeast
½ tsp apple cider vinegar
1-1½ cups filtered water
Pinch cayenne
Salt & pepper
And for all those extra zucchinis in the garden, you may also like this gluten free zucchini fritter recipe.
Truffles are an excellent way of getting all manner of great ingredients into children. And importantly because they look pretty kids are usually keen to try them. Again. And again.
Made with whole ingredients these balls are good filler uppers.
Thanks to Petite Kitchen for the inspiration.
2 cups desiccated coconut
1 cup ground almonds
¼ cup cranberries
¼ cup maple syrup
1 lemon, zested, juiced
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
1. Process all the ingredients. The mixture should be moist and stick together.
2. Roll into balls.
3. Coat in extra coconut if you like and pop them in the
fridge before serving.
PS They’re not just for kids!
You may also like:
Make ’em small and call them crackers.
Make ’em bigger and call them a pizza base.
Either way your gluten free & raw friends will love you for making them and Mark Reinfeld’s Idiots Guide to Eating Raw for the recipe.
You can even crumble them into a salad for an extra source of protein and crunchiness.
You will need:
1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked for at least several hours to overnight
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked as above
3 TB flax seeds, ground
Handful of fresh herbs
1 Tb lemon juice
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 TB tamari
Drain buckwheat and rinse several times. do the same for the sunflower seeds.
Process all ingredients until a thick, slightly chunky batter is formed.
Scoop in dessertspoonful shapes onto a teflex-lined dehydrator tray. Flatten with your hands. Make them bigger as you need.
Dehydrate at 115 F for about 15 hours, flipping halfway through.
Serve with your favourite sauces, dips and toppings.
You may also like this post about dehydrating.
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Collard greens are the lost vegetable of my twenties.
How does one lose a vegetable?
Way before the fame of it’s trendy cousin kale, this leafy cruciferous was a staple green of the northern hemisphere. Where I was living.
Now before you ask I can’t for the life of me remember what I did with them in those days. It was the vegetarian-work-hard-play-hard-not-so-good-at-cooking era. I’m guessing they were thrown into endless stir-frys and beany stews.
Now thanks to a local grower we are reunited.
I’m excited for several reasons.
First they’re generous. Big broad leaves are perfect for wraps.
With a nice dip or spread in the fridge, grated carrot, steamed sweet potato and fresh herbs I’m good to for lunch.
They make a great alternative to bread.
Second, collards are known for their antiinflammatory, cholesterol-lowering properties. They are high in fibre and are an excellent source of vit C, A, K, calcium and iron. And have good levels of protein, magnesium and omega-3 fats.
Next time you see them a the farmer’s market – grab them.
For easy rolling trim the lower portion of the spine off. Fill with your favourite fixings. And roll like a burrito.
Simple and elegant, this chocolate pud delivers dreamy delight with accents of surprise.
Play with the amounts of cacao powder (rich in nutrients but you can use cocoa), sweetener and spices to suit children and double-chocolate lovers.
Avoid overripe avocados as they will dominate the flavour.
Throw it all in and adjust. You can’t go wrong.
1-2 large, ripe bananas
1 avocado
¼ cup raw cacao powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbl maple syrup
1 Tbl water
Pinch of cardamom (optional)
Pinch of chilli (optional)
Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Serve in a pretty glass and top with berries.
With my desire for a simple Christmas, this recipe will undoubtedly grace our table.
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Are processed bars and snacks sneaking into your kitchen cupboards? Would you love to provide a healthier homemade version?
When my son and his friends gobble up these not-too-sweet-chocolatey treats I know they are getting sustained energy, omegas, iron and all manner of vitamins and minerals. 
Attention athletes, yogis and busy mums: these will keep you going too!
Take a stroll around school at lunch time and there’s a mountain of highly processed products being unwrapped.
The issues are obvious: sugar, fat, salt, chemicals and rubbish!
This type of fuel gets our children buzzing around the playground with the ensuing energy crash reserved for the classroom.
Short-term energy from fast release sugars = stimulation, not nourishment. And adults are not immune – think coffee, sugar, energy slump, coffee …
I’ve fallen into this trap myself. It’s called convenience.
Luckily it’s as easy as getting out your food processor. Combine these three types of wholefoods into a complementary energy & nutrient kapow!
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped dried unsulphured fruits (dates & raisins; figs & apricots; or cranberries & prunes)
1/2 cup nuts and seeds (walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, Brazil nuts, chia seeds)
1 cup whole oats
1/2 cup coconut
1 Tbl cocoa/cacao or carob powder
1/2 Tbl vanilla essence
1/3 cup apple juice or water
Mix n’ match your ingredients. My favourite iron- omega-rich combo is cranberry & prunes with walnuts, chia and pumpkin seeds.
Related Posts:
green smoothies for kids; iron sources for children; non-dairy treats
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It is a simple joy to empty the dehydrator of trays and trays of food. Crackers, bread sticks, vege burgers, corn chips, pizza bases and taco shells; cookies, granola and dried fruit have all emerged from my Excaliber at some time or other.
Obviously the coming out is easier than the going in but with practice filling the machine becomes less of a logistical challenge.
I generally soak nuts, seeds or buckwheat over a morning (usually because I’ve forgotten the night before!) and start preparing the dishes after lunch.
I aim to get the foods into the dehydrator by about 2ish so I can flip any before I go to bed … and the rest happens while I sleep.
Because of the long slow low heat of the dehydrator water is removed creating crispy goods that seem baked. This is great for retention of nutrients and flavour, and best of all no preservatives!
Anyone serious about a raw food diet will have heaps of fun creating tasty foods with this process. And somehow there is smug satisfaction in using up all the surplus seasonal fruit. Now back to those persimmons …
For great recipes using a dehydrator check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw
Raw food is more than a salad and a carrot stick. But armed with the knowledge of how good it is for you and the desire for that glowing skin, increased energy and fabulous feeling it can be hard to know where to start!
On my intensive training course with co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw, Mark Reinfeld, I got a glimpse into just how great eating only raw food can be. And the strange thing was with so much direct nutrition I ate much less.
As a comprehensive guide to the nutritional and practical aspects of eating raw The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw does its job well. I dive into this book whenever I’m stuck for a outstanding dessert, a rich and glorious pate, a new twist on a usually cooked main and for the best breakfast recipes yet.
Many of the recipes can be assembled without the high speed blender and dehydrator but to be honest if you’re heading down the raw food path or just wanting to incorporate more into your diet then you’ll be wanting the hardware.
Psst and don’t tell anyone who’s seriously raw but occasionally I blast some of these recipes over a flame for a brief moment 🙂
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw
