No Junk Muesli Bars

When it comes to muesli bars, the ones in the shops are usually so full of junk! But sadly even many homemade recipes use oils or sweeteners in excessive amounts too. Here's a great recipe that has no junk and is still quick & easy to make! You'll wonder why you ever bothered to buy them when they're so easy to make yourself!
 

NO JUNK MUESLI BARS(Makes 8 bars)

                   You'll need:
                   1/2 cup dried dates
                   3 overripe bananas
                   3 cups rolled oats
                   1/4 cup ground flax seeds
                   1 teaspoons vanilla essence
                   1 teaspoon cinnamon
                      
                   Optional: 2 Tablespoons extra dried fruit, any other flavour you like:         
                   raisins, craisins, inca berries.

Place the dates in a food processor and pulse a few times until broken into small pieces.
Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until the mixture comes together and the oats are slightly broken down but not completely turned into mooch! ;-)
Press the mixture evenly into a 20cm square baking tin, either lined or silicone base.
Bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 25 mins until golden brown. 
Once cooled, remove from the baking tin & slice into 8 pieces.

Kids Lunchbox Club: Chocolatey Spread

Apparently lots of kids still take nutella sandwiches to school even when their school is nut free! 
But it's not the nuts in nutella that bothers me (and hey let's face it, the nut content is truly quite pitiful)..... It's the milk and sugar and fat.
So here's a much more healthful version, and one that can be taken to nut-free schools guilt free!

CHOCOLATEY SPREAD

       You'll need:
             1 cup dried pitted dates
             1 1/2 cups cooked black beans
             2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
             1 teaspoon vanilla essense


Soak the dried dates in boiling water for about 10-15 mins until softened. Drain the dates and combine them in a food processor with the other ingredients. Blend until smooth, or until desired consistency. 
Transfer to a air-tight container and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Spread & enjoy :-)
 

Chocolate Caramel Date Tart

Now I'm not going to pretend that this is everyday kind of food...... But if you're looking for a special occasion treat then I highly recommend giving this tart a try. It's deliciously sweet without added sugar. It's filling is so smooth and it will give you a great chocolate hit. We served this in place of birthday cake and it was a huge hit!  

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL DATE TART

(Serves 10-12)

                You'll need:
                BASE
                1/2 cup raw hazelnuts
                2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds
                1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
                4 pitted medjool dates
                2 Tablespoon motherless milk of choice

                FILLING
                1 1/2 cups pitted medjool dates 
                1/4 cup motherless milk of choice
                1 teaspoon vanilla essence

                TOPPING
                100g bar of dairy-free dark chocolate (I use Lindt 70-85%)
                100ml motherless milk of choice
                1 teaspoon vanilla essence 


Soak the dates for the filling in a bowl of boiling water for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the base.
Put all the ingredients for the base into a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together. It will be a bit sticky - that's ok! Press the mixture into a glass 20cm pie dish. You can use another pie dish if you'd like, but I find that the mixture doesn't stick to the glass ones and therefore I don't need to use oil or line it. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
Strain the dates and place all the filling ingredients in a food processor and blend til completely smooth and creamy.
Pour the filling mixture onto the base & return to the freezer.
In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients for the topping. Stir continually on low heat until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
Pour the topping over the filling mixture.
Place the pie in the fridge and allow the topping to cool.
Once cooled, you can slice and serve (as many pieces as you like hahahahaaaa!)! ;-)

Question of the day:
Do you make yourself treats like this 'just because', or do you save them for special occasions?

Neapolitan Ice-cream

Who remembers those big tubs of ice-cream that had a mixture of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavours in them? I assume they are still available. We always had them in our house when I was growing up. My favourite flavour was chocolate, and my brothers was strawberry. Although, occasionally we would have a scoop of all 3 flavours and mix it together to make a big swirl of flavoured ice-cream in our bowl!

Here's a way to combine chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavours into a healthy ice-cream swirl:

 NEAPOLITAN ICE-CREAM 

You'll need (per serving):

1 cup frozen strawberries, chopped into pieces prior to freezing

1 medjool date, pitted

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essense

1-2 Tablespoons motherless milk of choice 

Combine all ingredients in a mini food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
The amount of milk will vary depending on your blender, and how smooth you want it.

Deliciousness! 

This one was made with more milk and more cocoa.

Question of the day?
Did you have Neapolitan Ice-cream as a child? If so, what was your favourite flavour?

Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

These are a delicious, sugar fee, oil-free, yet moist muffin. They are easy to make and we often prepare them the day before if we will be staying somewhere overnight and want a quick and easy breakfast. My husband always said he didn't like blueberry muffins..... now he LOVES them!

BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST MUFFINS

To make 4 jumbo muffins you'll need:

1 cup oats

1 cup wholemeal spelt flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1 cup dates (soaked in boiling water)

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup motherless milk of choice

Optional extras:

2 Tablespoons chocolate chips

small handful of walnuts

In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, baking powder, flax seeds and cinnamon. 

Place the drained dates, milk, and vanilla in a blender and blend til smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir til combined. Add the blueberries and fold through the batter gently.

Pour into a lined or lightly sprayed jumbo muffin tin.

Top with crumbled walnuts if desired.

Place in a preheated 180C oven for 25-30 muffins until cooked through.

 

ENJOY! :-)

Question of the day:
What's your favourite muffin flavour?

Chocolate Berry "Cheesecake"

Does a recipe like this really need an introduction?!?
I think not, just try it - you'll want it every night.
It's quick, easy, healthy & delicious.

 

CHOCOLATE BERRY CHEESECAKE

Crust:
1 cup oats
1 cup dates
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

Filling:
300g frozen berries of choice
200g medium firm tofu
1/4 cup soymilk (or other motherless milk of choice)
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

Soak the dates in boiling water til softened. 
Drain and combine the dates, oats and cocoa powder in a blender or food processor.
Blend until well combined but not completely crumbed.
Press into a 20cm pie dish.

Blend the ingredients of the pie filling.
Pour into the pie dish on top of the crust. 

Place in the freezer for 3-4 hours.

Defrost 15-20 minutes prior to serving.

Serve for dessert,    no wait,    actually I think this is healthy enough to be BREAKFAST!  

Or turn it into "Birthday Cake".

 

Submitted for Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Add your recipe at:
Rock My Vegan Socks 
Vegan Dollhouse

Fruit & Oat Cookies - Sugar Free

My daughter doesn't like dried apricots...

My husband doesn't like ground flax seeds...

But I can get them BOTH to eat these cookies!!!

Fruit & Oat Cookies

(Makes 20)

You'll need:

2 over-ripe bananas

1/2 cup applesauce

1/3 cup each: raisins, dates, dried figs, dried apricots

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups oats

In a large bowl combine the bananas and applesauce. Mash until smooth.

Finely chop all the dried fruit.

Stir the fruit, flax, cinnamon & vanilla into the banana/apple mixture.

Gently stir through the oats until well combined.

Using wet hands, roll 2 Tablespoons of mixture into a ball shape and press firmly til the ball holds together. Place onto a lined baking tray and press down gently to form a cookie shape.

Bake in a preheated 170C oven for 25 minutes until lightly golden brown.

(You may notice the fruit in my cookies looks brown and not coloured - that is because I use non-sulphur dried fruit. I highly recommend you use it too - its available in health food stores.)


Question of the day:
What food do you dislike but enjoy when it's cooked into something else?

Meatless Monday - Dark Chocolate

Welcome to another edition of Meatless Monday A-Z.

 Today's food is Dark Chocolate.

 

Instead of using dark chocolate as an ingredient, I decided I would cook something that mimicked the taste of dark chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Date Cookies

1 & 1/2 cup dried dates

1 & 1/2 cups strong coffee

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 cup oat bran

1 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

1 Tablespoons ground flax seeds 

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup almond milk (or other plant milk of choice)

Chop the dates into small pieces and place in a bowl with a lid. Pour the coffee over the dates and allow to soak for at least 1/2 hour.

Mix the flax seeds with 2 Tablespoons water & allow to sit for 5 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, oat bran, cocoa powder and bicarb soda. Mix well. 

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the agave, almond milk and flax mixture.

Fold the dry ingredients in until all is moist.

The mixture will be sticky and will just come together. 

Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and flatten onto the baking sheet.

Bake at 180C for 12-15 minutes until cookies are cooked through.

Makes 20 cookies

These cookies are very true to dark chocolate flavour, because often dark chocolate is strong but not very sweet.

These cookies have no added sugar so they aren't overly sweet. I think they taste better the next after being baked.

This mixture also works as a  fudge-type slice. You can press it into a 20cm square baking tray & bake for 20 minutes before slicing.

Product Review: Macro Raw Food Bars

These are a fairly new product to come into Woolworths stores under the Macro Wholefoods Market brand.

They come in 2 flavours - Chocolate, and Chocolate & Mint.
Ingredients: Dates, Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Cocoa Liquor, Cocoa Powder (and Peppermint oil in the Mint flavour).

I LOVE these bars.
What I love about them:

• They taste absolutely DIVINE! (both flavours!)
• They are inexpensive.
• They are a great size for a snack/treat.
• Easy to transport in kids lunchbox or for keeping in the work snack drawer ;-) 
• Contains minimal ingredients & no added nasties (no sugar, preservatives, artificial colours or flavours).
• A money back guarantee is offered too - not that you'll need it!

There is only one downfall that I need to state - occasionally I get a bar that has a really hard bit in it. It must be part of the date pits, because its so hard that I can't even bite through it, it feels like I have bitten a piece of rock. It is only a tiny piece though so I just remove it. 

I make sure that I always have at least one in the cupboard for when a chocolate craving hits. I always beat my chocolate cravings with date products & this is great way of doing just that!
Seriously - it looks like a chocolate bar:

Available at Woolworths, Safeway, Food for Less and Thomas Dux Grocer stores - I definitely recommend adding these to your shopping list!

Gingered Date Banana Loaf

Making this cake somehow reminded me of being pregnant!!!!
Don't laugh - its true :-p
Ginger seemed to settle my churning tummy & I craved bananas soooooo much! I wish I had of thought of making this at the time!

This is so light & fluffy & deliciously tasty. I don't think the rest will last long ;-)

I would like to apologise in advance for the amount of bowls you will need to make this - hopefully you have a dishwasher! But if you don't- trust me when I say its well worth it!!!!

You'll need:
1 cup dried dates
1 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 overripe banana
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the dates into a bowl that has a lid. Pour the boiling water over the dates & allow to stand covered for at least 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine the wholemeal flour, brown sugar, ground ginger, baking powder & soda together. Stir until well combined.

Peel and mash the banana into a small mixing bowl. Add the apple sauce & the vanilla.
Drain the date water into the mash banana mixture. Mix well.
Mash the dates with a fork - they will be very soft after soaking.

Pour the banana/date water mixture into a well made in the centre of the flour/sugar mixture. 
Spoon in the mashed dates.
Stir until everything is well combined & dates are evenly distributed.
Pour batter into lined loaf tin. Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 40 minutes.

Allow to cool before slicing.

Optional:

Sweet & Sour Spread/Icing
1/2 cup tofutti cream cheese
juice of half small lemon
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar


Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
(This will be easier if the cream cheese has been left out of the fridge for about an hour first.)

Spoon over the cake as icing, or serve on the side to be a spread. For decorative purpose be sure to sprinkle the top with grated lemon rind.

If you're not a fan of banana bread - you can always convert this tasty cake into a gingered date loaf by replacing the mashed banana with 1/2 cup silken tofu instead.

A confession, a thought & WIAW

Confession:

So I'm still technically on my unprocessed challenge but over the weekend and the last few days I have struggled a little bit with snacking :-(
I had a few rice crackers for afternoon tea & some chocolate & some packet popcorn & a dollop of mayonniase with some tofu! 
I was feeling realllllllllllllly guilty about it!
I tried every way to comfort myself - it doesn't really matter, it was only a little bit, except for the mayonniase the other bits had less than 5 ingredients and that's one of Michael Pollan's food rules! Yet in my heart I know all of that is silly!

Yes, I had a few things that I shouldn't of had!
No, its not the end of the world!

Here's what my brain initially thought:
"You stupid girl, how could you do that? What about your challenge? You have no motivation whatsoever. You have stuffed it all up now & what's the point in going on? How is it that you can leave that chocolate bar in the pantry since Easter and now you have it? You have no self control - You're a failure!"

Here's what my logical brain thought:
"Sandy, don't let something so pitiful worry you! It's only a personal challenge that has been put on you by yourself and no one else! No-one is perfect & you have done soooo well to go 5 complete weeks without anything processed! Brush off the last few days & keep going! You are building healthy habits for life and that is what matters most!"

TODAY I CHOOSE TO GO WITH LOGICAL BRAIN THINKING!!!! ;-)

Thought:

Life would be so much easier if people didn't need to eat!

When I get hyper-think-on-ism this is a topic that often comes to mind. 

Why do we need food?

Yes, yes I know the simple answer is nourishment..... but in these times the fact that food is 'nourishment' is often forgotten! 
When was the last time you thought of food purely as 'nourishment' and not as anything else? I know for me, that fact rarely crosses my mind! Not for its taste, not as a treat or not as a social event! 
Food can often just become routine - "its lunch time now" and people can eat when they aren't really hungry, therefore not really needing nourishment. And then what about those times when we "just feel like something to eat"... are they really about nourishment?!?
Food is often the centre of social events - which I think automatically then connects our relationships to food too! Meaning that food becomes involved with our feelings!
And yet I think its not emotionally healthy to have a relationship with food itself but the fact is that we often do!
Think about the amount of people who use food as a crutch for them, and food becomes a comfort for them, either too much food or not enough.
The 'need' for food consumes so much of our time & energy. Not only for cooking and eating but grocery shopping and meal planning too.
Think about the emotions that are caused when people mention their meal preferences! ~vegan speaking~ I know just to mention that I choose not to eat meat because of the health benefits can cause people to instantly become defensive & its obviously setting off a certain feeling in them! And not even as far as that, when someone says "oh I don't like (fill in the blank)"  even that can be something that sparks emotions in people. Eg: "Oh that is sooooo tasty", "its my favourite", "how could you not like it?", "it doesn't even have a real flavour". I could go on but I'm sure you get my point!

I really do think life would be easier without the need to eat!

WIAW:

And yet despite my complaint over food - I LOVE cooking & blogging & sharing recipes! I join sooooooooo many other people in that fact I'm sure ;-)
What-I-Ate-Wednesday shows just want I mean! Look at all these bloggers taking pictures of the food they ate!!!! I love it! It truly makes me laugh that we can do it each week - and yet funnily enough, it really is a lot of fun!

Breakfast

After being super organisied last night I woke up to some soaked oats!
I love soaked oats! 
When they have been left overnight they are so moist & end up so much more delicious than just soaking in hot water in the morning!
I had soaked these in soymilk and with raisins.
In the morning I transferred them out of my rather wonderful leak-proof Tupperware container and into a bowl where I added a chopped banana! 

What a great way to start the day!

Lunch

I had some leftover bulgar & chickpea pilaf with a green salad busy day at work meant I forgot to take a picture :-( But here's a picture of the pilaf from the other night!

In the afternoon I snacked on strawberries & these very convenient walnut stuffed dates that I picked up at our little grocer down the road from work!

Dinner

I made some Peanutty Noodles.
Quick, easy & delicious!

























And... whilst watching a movie tonight with my hubby nibbled on some dried fruit & popcorn :-)

Question of the day:

Do you ever beat yourself up about food? If so, do you forgive yourself easily or do you feel guilty about it for ages?

AIM OF THE WEEK:

STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP ABOUT FOOD!

(That goes for me too!)

Purple Mousse

Surely by now you know that I'm a fan of the colour purple!
But purple dessert!!! Mmmmm now that's got to be my favourite type of 'purple'! 

 
To make the mousse simply combine the following few ingredients in a mini food processor or blender:

100g soft tofu
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
one pitted medjool date
2 Tablespoons plant-milk (or more if your blender needs)

Blend until smooth and creamy.

Serve!

So easy & so delicious!

Try some of my other purple recipes:
Purple breakfast
Purple pasta

What's your favourite colour? Do you enjoy eating food that is your favourite colour?

Coconut Apricot Bars

Here's a great idea for a healthy treat for kids lunchbox...... or for adults who enjoy snacks too! (I include myself in that list!)
Bonus: Its so easy to make.

In a food processor combine:
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup almonds

Process until mixture resembles crumbs and then add:
2 Tablespoons brown rice syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla soymilk

Continue to process for a bit longer until mixture holds together. It will be slightly sticky but not too sticky too handle.

Press into a muesli bar maker or roll into balls.
NB: This may work if you press it into a baking tin & then cut it but I haven't personally tried it that way.

This mixture makes enough to perfectly fill the Tupperware T-bar set which is an ultra easy way to make healthy bars at home!

Mixed fruit dessert

As you probably know by now - I am addicted to freezing bananas and using them to make dessert :-)

Have you tried any of these tasty desserts yet?

• banana soft serve
• choc-cherry dessert
• pumpkin pie mousse

Here is another variation you can whizz up in no time & enjoy as a guilt free evening treat.

In a mini food processor combine

1 frozen banana

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

3 medjool dates (pitted)

1 Tablespoon cocoa or cacao powder

100ml almond milk (or other milk of choice)

Blend until smooth

Enjoy :-)