Raw Coconut Yogurt

Thick, creamy, and oh so good, raw coconut yogurt is frickin awesome! I love it! Its that magical meal you can eat all day without gaining a pound and will actually cure you of health problems! Magical bowl of deliciousness. GET IN MY BELLEH!!

Whats for breakfast?

Raw coconut yogurt!

I feel drained of energy. What can I have to fuel me up?

Raw coconut yogurt!

My stomach is kind of upset. What can help my digestion?

QUICK ZELDA! SAVE THE PRINCESS FROM THE CASTLE!!!

Raw coconut yogu......wait a sec.

The recipe is really easy too and not too hard to come by if you have some way of getting your hands on coconut. Even here in Georgia, the local Whole Foods Market carries them. And without that, almost every grocery store around here carries the rest of the ingredients. So sweet! So creamy! I need me some YOGURT!!

Raw Coconut Yogurt

(makes about 3 cups)

Ingredients:

6 Thai Coconuts

1/3 c. Virgin Coconut Oil

1/4 c. Lemon Juice

1 tsp. Vanilla

Probiotics (optional)

-Open up the coconuts and pour the water of one of them into your blender. Pour the water from the rest into a container and refrigerate (you can add some probiotics and make coconut kefir!)

-Scrape out the "meat" and add that to your blender with the remaining ingredients.

-Blend until everything is smooth and creamy.

-Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

-Enjoy!

This stuff is so GOOD! I even added in some raw almond butter and berries, but this stuff is good as it is! I thought when I went raw, yogurt was completely off my to-eat list. But apparently, this stuff tastes even better than the dairy stuff. And its made of one of nature's most perfect foods, coconut!

Coconut is amazing for your skin (especially coconut oil) due to the oleic acid in it. It also cleanses you, restores your body, and helps you to loose weight by building up your thyroid gland. It increases bone density, heart health, and energy! It heightens your taste, suppresses cravings, helps with blood pressure, bad breathe, and just about any other health problem I can think of. I could go all day, but i'd rather not bore you.

The probiotics make it that much better! They add enzymes to your stomach to help your digestive system and the rest of your body to work that much better!

Bottom line, coconut is awesome. Don't have some? Get some.

What is your favorite coconut recipe?

Pumpkin Brownies

Pumpkin, chocolate, pumpkin, chocolate, pumpkin chocolate! I can't decide which to choose! So wait...if I can't decide, then why not choose them both?

Last year during Vegan Mofo, I remember seeing a few posts on Pumpkin Swirl Brownies. I even made some when I used my other site and was pretty proud of how they turned out. Now that i'm a raw foodies though, I was very curious of if I could recreate the dish of pure epicness. I do have some newly made raw pumpkin puree in the fridge, so whats stopping me? Its brownie time.

Raw Pumpkin Brownie

(Serves 12)

Brownie Ingredients:

2 c. Pecans

1 c. Pumpkin Seeds

3/4 c. Cacao Powder

4 Dates (pitted)

1/8 tbsp Coconut Oil

1/3c. Honey/Agave

2 tsp. Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

-Grind your pecans and pumpkin seeds into a coffee grinder until they become almost the texture of flour.

-Put your nut/seed flour, the cacao powder, and salt into your food processor. Pulse it a few times until they are well mixed.

-Add in your remaining ingredients and mix them until it forms a crumbly dough. Add a bit more coconut oil or honey if you thing its needed.

-Mold half of your dough into a container and freeze. Set the other half aside.

Pumpkin Filling Ingredients:

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Pumpkin Puree

3 Medjool Dates

2 tbsp. Honey/Agave

-Blend everything together in your food processor or blender.

-Pour the filling over the first brownie layer. Then add the remaining chocolate as a second layer.

-Enjoy!

This turned out excellently, even with the ingredients being as simple as they are. It was a little time consuming making the pumpkin puree, but I guarantee you it was well worth it. Pumpkin-chocolate combinations are kind of different, but I'll be looking forward to finding out other things I can do with the two. Especially with orange and black being perfect halloween colors! MWAHAHAHA!!!!

What are your favorite orange and black things?

-Andrew D. Morrison-

Raw Pumpkin Puree

PUMPKIN!!!!! PUMPKIN PUMPKIN PUMPKIN PUMPKIN PUMPKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How can you ever have fall without pumpkin? Carving, Pies, and pumpkin...well..everything!

So it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that the minute I got the opportunity, I bought myself a pumpkin and carved the heck out of it. Kudos to anyone who can guess what I carved. If you can, leave a comment below telling me what or who you think I carved!

Here's a hint:

Making raw food from pumpkin, however, is a bit harder if you don't do it right. Most pumpkin purees involve boiling the pumpkin to soften it enough to use. With this in mind, I set out to create a delicious pumpkin puree without having to cook it. So this is what i've come up with.

Pumpkin Puree

Ingredients:

1 Pie Pumpkin

1 Apple

-Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out all of the seeds and insides. An ice cream scoop works excellently for this. Then core the apple.

-Cut up the pumpkin and apple into small pieces or cubes and put those pieces into a juicer.

-Put both the pulp and the juice into a food processor or blender and blend until the texture is smooth. Add water if needed until everything is smooth.

-Enjoy!

I also saved some of the juice just for the sake of Harry Potter references

Finally, a pumpkin puree that a raw foodist can partake of. Some people just settle for carrot puree and say you can't tell the difference, but if I want some pumpkin then i'm gonna have some pumpkin!

Pumpkin is also one of the nutritious fruits available (yes, its a fruit). Not only the mineral rich flesh, but the seeds are also incredibly good for your body and in many cases considered one of the healthiest foods on earth. But I didn't really use the seeds in this recipe in this post, so lets save that for another day.

I'm not big on counting my calories since I really dont need to worry about it with a raw diet but for those of you who are, there are only about 40 calories in every half cup of this puree! It contains a load of beta-carotene, which is basically just Vitamin A when its in the body. Vitamin A is awesome for your vision and helping to reverse skin damage. Also this vitamin is not too bad at boosting your immune system so when its combined with the vitamin C that's in here, its a perfect food for those winter colds.

It also has about 5 grams of fiber for ever 1/2 cup so your digestive system and cholesterol levels will both thank you for that. The Vitamin E in here will help your skin and the vitamin B5 will help to balance out your hormones.

So not only is this stuff going to taste incredibly good in a pie (a recipe for that is coming), but its also amazingly healthy for your body too! I added the apple in here to give it some sweetness for desserts, but you don't really need it if you plan on using this recipe for a soup. Expect me to be eating this stuff all month long!

Whats your favorite pumpkin recipe? And did anyone get what I carved?

-Andrew D. Morrison-

Raw Chocolate Macadamia Nut Mounds

Almond joy and Mounds were almost the definition of my perfect candy as a kid. Chocolate, coconut, and nuts all combined together into a harmonious symphony of sweet bliss upon my tongue. As many know, those three are some of my absolute favorite foods and with the fact that they combine together, things just get better from there.

Well when I lived in Hawaii, almost every store had chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and of course some of them were coated or filled with coconut. I don't need either one of those! Who would even want a commercial peice of crap when you can create something that tastes a hundred times better?!

Raw Chocolate - Macadamia Mounds

Macadamia Dough Ingredients:

1 c. Macadamia Nuts

1/4 c. Almond Butter

1 c. Shredded Coconut

1/4 c. Honey/Agave

1 tbsp. Sea Salt (Himilayan Pink preferably)

-Combine all of your ingredients into a bowl and use a fork or your hands to combine everything.

-Put in the fridge while you prepare the chocolate.

Chocolate Ingredients:

1 c. Cacao Powder

1 c. Cacao/Coconut Oil(softened)

1/2 c. Honey/Agave

3/4 c. Shredded Coconut

-Mix the cacao powder, oil, and honey or agave together in a small bowl.

-Take your macadamia dough and dip them each into the chocolate, coating them.

-Put them back into the freezer for a few minutes, or just until the chocolate hardens.

-Take them out and dip them into the chocolate. Then, dip them into the coconut. Continue this step until all of your coconut and chocolate are used up.

-Freeze for about 5 minutes or until the chocolate hardens.

-Enjoy

I am actually really proud of myself for these. I even took them to school, and the people I see usually eating vending machine crap claimed it as the best candy they've ever had! They tasted rich, chocolatey, and absolutley delicious! I like using macadamia nuts over most others due to the fact that they taste really really good!

They are also one of the most beautifying nuts on the planet. They contain a large quantity of oleic acid in their fats cells which is the absolute best fat for skin. Cacao and coconut also contain these acids in their fat, making this sweet and delicious food incredibly rich in beautifying oils. Just look at any cosmetic products, and you will most likely see cacao or coco (coconut) oil in them for that exact reason.

If you havnt heard through my Twitter account yet, i will be working on a HUGE project for Halloween as a big finally for Vegan Mofo. This is the biggest project i've ever done, and may just be the biggest raw dessert i've ever seen!

Whats your favorite old school candy? Do you have a vegan or raw version of it?

-Andrew D. Morrison-

Radishes, avocados, and other salady things...

Yeah. I'm a raw-foodist so I WILL have an occassional salad post on here. The enemy of the standard american diet (ironically enough abbreviated to SAD), eating a simple salad every day may just be what you need in order to acheive a better overall health.

Don't let is bore you. Dont force yourself to choke down a plate of green stuff for a weak until you get sick and decide just to give up on it. Put some flavor into it. Put some taste on it. Do it right and make it taste good. I dont have that obsession with salads that some raw=foodies do and i've been doing this for almost a bit over a year. When done right though, it can taste good.

Radish-Avocado Salad

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

-2c. Mixed Baby Greens

-4 small Red Radishes (sliced)

-1 avocado (pitted, skinned, and cubed)

-2 tbsp. Olive-oil (cold-pressed)

-1 tbsp. lemon or lime juice (freshly squeezed)

-2 tbsp. ground flax seed

-2 tbsp. pumpkin seeds (raw, shelled)

Method:

-Mix together the baby greens, radishes, and avocado together.

-Mix in the olive oil and lemon or lime juice.

-Sprinkle the flax seed and pumpkin seeds.

-Enjoy.

So many different flavors mixed together to form one magnificent salad. This is one of my favorite recipes due to my love for avocado, radishes, and pumpkin seeds but don't let this stop you from making up your own combination.

Radishes tend to have high silicon and sulfur contents which helps to dissolve excess mucus in the digestive track which can be caused by eating heavy loads of carbs (pastas, breads, etc). They help to cleanse out your system and also are one of the highest vegetable sources of vitamin c.

With all of this said, they do have an incredibly strong flavor to them, so I almost always add a bit of avocado with my radishes to cut down some of it without sacrificing the benefits. An added bonus is when a healthy fat is added to a potent food, they tend to help one another digest.

I've always heard my family say after eating something unhealthy, "i'll just have a salad, and that will fix it". Every cell in your body is built based off of what you feed and nourish yourself with so eating junk food may have a toll on this but though a salad won't prevent all of the damage done, it can and will help to ease it a bit by both making your body a bit more alkaline and by putting some nutrients in your system to give you a little something better for your cells to feast off of.

Just remember for your salad that the more leafy and green, the better. Greens are both rich minerals and help to balance your bodies pH by increasing alkalinity.

A truer statement has never been made than "You are what you eat"

What foods are in your ultimate salad?

-Andrew D. Morrison-

Raw Macadamia-Hemp Cake (with chocolate-fig icing)

Making a raw cake actually taste somewhat good was a bit of a challenge, as most of the ones i've found and tried all pretty much tasted the same. They tasted like walnuts, dates, and chocolate. I mean, theres nothing wrong with that, but its too simple for me. No matter what the recipe was, it tasted like that and it just gets old after a while.

That needs to change around here.

Using the subtly sweet and crunchy macadamia nut and the soft texture of hemp seeds, I created a raw cake that is a bit different from the rest. Ladies and gentleman I give you:

Raw Macadamia-Hemp Cake

(w/ Chocolate-Fig Icing)

Serves 2

Cake Ingredients:

1 c. Macadamia Nuts(raw)

1/4 c. Hemp Seeds (raw, shelled)

2 dried Figs

1/8 c. Raw Honey

2 tbsp. Coconut Oil (raw)

1/4 tsp. Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

Method:

-Set your figs in a jar or glass of water for about 5 minutes, or until soft.

-Blend your macadamia nuts and hemp seeds in a food processor until coarse.

-Add the remaining cake ingredients and continue to process until you get a dough-like consistancy.

-Mold your dough into the shape of a cake, and set aside as you make the icing.

Icing ingredients:

3 dried Figs

3 tbsp. Coconut oil (raw)'

1/8 c. raw Honey

1/4 c. raw Cacao Powder

Method:

-set your figs in a jar or glass of water to soak for about 5 minutes, or until soft.

-Put all of your ingredients into a food processor and blend until you get a thick, paste like consistency.

-Add your icing to the cake any way you'd like and enjoy!

This actually turned out exactly as I had hoped. Rich, sweet, crunchy, and delicious. The fig frosting didnt look as beautiful as I wanted due to the figs, but they added a bit of fudginess that made it taste so much better. Definatley better than a walnut cake.

Whats in it?

Hemp seeds are one of the most mineral-rich foods on the planet. In light of not boring you with millions of words, iron, sulfur, and calcium are just a few well-known ones. They also contain the highest protein source on the planet per weight (33.6% of the seed), with the exception of algae. Not only that, but the protein form itself is globular which doesnt cause protein digestion problems. Hemp seeds also are the only seed known to contain the perfect ratio of essential fatty acids (one part omega-3 to three pares Omega-6).

Macadamia nuts have been well established as an unusually rich source of healthy, beautifying oils. They are the highest source of monounsaturated fats (80%), even more so than olive oil. They also the richest source of the beautifying oleic acid(omega-9).

Figs are one of the only dried fruits I ever buy. They are one of the most mineral and alkaline of all fruits and act as both for congestion and digestion.

Both nutrient-dense and better tasting? I would take this over a walnut-based cake anyday.

Whats your favorite nut?

-Andrew David Morrison-

Coconut Chia Superfood Cereal

As far as recipes go, pictures make them look really hard to make. Fancy food pics kind of throw me off all the time, even if the recipe was as easy as throwing some stuff together i probably have in my cabinet or fridge, and making it look pretty. I dont even bother to read. I just say "eh...too hard" and move on. But don't be like me and miss out on what just might be an amazing recipe. You could be missing out on some really tastey food and maybe even learn something new! And if not, then eh. You tried..

Even though i've been doing this for a while, this IS the first recipe on the blog so I figured i'd make it easy, yet delicious. This is just as simple as soaking some stuff in water, mixing it together, and eating it. Not only that, but I made it a breakfast recipe to go in line with first recipe/first meal of the day.

Coconut Chia Superfood Cereal

Difficulty: 1

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:

4 tbs. chia seeds

1/4 c. dried fruit (i used gogi berries and cranberries)

2 tbsp. coconut oil

2-4 tbsp. raw local honey

2 tbsp. raw cacao

1 tsp. bee pollen(optional)

4 fresh figs

Method:

-Put your dried fruit into a bowl with 1/2 c. water. Let them sit until soft (about an hour).

-Mix your chia seeds with 4tbsp. warm water and let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.

-Drain the water from your berries and mix them into the chia.

-Stir in your remaining ingredients.

-Enjoy!

It is a bit unusual if you are not used to eating healthier, but I really like it. Its sweet, yet not at all overly so and has a very subtle coconutey taste and smell to it. Just to be sure it was good enough for you guys, i had my mom try it. Her words were....well.... "slimy, yet satisfying". She said it does taste healthy, but its almost sweet enough to be a dessert. And I agree. So grab yourself a bowl or two, and nom this stuff up!

What do you eat for breakfast?

-Andrew Morrison-