Creamy Vegan Caramel Sauce

 

Autumn brings an abundance of harvest and one of the harvests we enjoy are apples.  Our favorite way to eat apples?  In slices with this yummy vegan caramel sauce.  Mmm

 

 

Creamy Vegan Caramel Sauce

 

5 Tbsp. almond butter

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp. cold pressed coconut oil

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of salt

2-3 soft pitted dates

 

Soften dates by soaking in distilled water for 20 minutes.  Reserve water to add to sauce if you'd like a thinner sauce.

 

In a powerful blender or food processor blend all ingredients until creamy.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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Sweet Potato Salad

Christopher and I made up this Sweet Potato Salad this afternoon.  It is my favorite holiday salad to bring and is a crowd pleaser with everyone; that is unless you tell them before they eat it that it has sweet potatoes.  :o)  

 

Below you see the main ingredients (sweet potato, pineapple, apple and raisins).

 

And mixed with the dressing and a few pecans crumbled on top.

 

 

Sweet Potato Salad

3 cups peeled and shredded sweet potato 

1 cup pineapple tidbits (fresh is best)

1 medium sweet apple, diced

1/4 cup raisins

Pecans (to top the completed salad)

** I don't really measure when making this salad but throw everything in and make it look even.  :o)  Three cups of sweet potatoes is not quite 2 normal sized sweet potatoes so I shred and use all of the sweet potatoe.  I added a bit more pineapple and raisns this time too.

 

Dressing:

1-2 Tbsp. raw unfiltered honey

1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice (I use only 1)

1/2 cup Veganaise

lemon zest

Top salad with chopped pecans.

 

** I had to let my honey soften up before mixing the dressing as it starts to solidify more this time of the year.  Mix the dressing in a separate bowl and when it is throughly mixed pour over salad and stir.  

This salad is great fresh but works well made the night before (I add the raisins and pecans before serving).  

 

I did enjoy a bowl right away.  Mmmm.  :o)

 

Broccoli Slaw Citrus Salad

I made this salad today for lunch. Delicious! You can find the recipe {Here}.

Not Tuna Paté Appetizer

I made these appetizers to bring to a Eating 4 Health meeting this last week.  It is Not Tuna Paté on Ak-mak crackers and topped with a cherry tomato.  They were so yummy and a big hit!  The recipe is from Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People.  You can watch a video of this recipe being made HERE.

You can find the recipe and a pictorial in another post I did HERE.

Salad Box

One of the best things I do for myself each week is to prepare my salad box. Having this salad box makes healthy eating so much easier and quicker. I can throw together a huge, healthy salad in less than 3 minutes. I can use chopped veggies for a pizza topping or in a pita pocket or tortilla.

The ingredients aren't always the same either so there can be lots of variety. This week I have shredded carrots, red cabbage, zuchinni, red and orange peppers, mushrooms, onions and celery. Other great additions are grape tomatoes, beans (chick peas or black beans), corn, cucumber, black olives, broccoli and cauliflower.

Ideally I prep the veggies for the box as soon as I get home from the grocery store but since I do not have a set time for shopping each week this doesn't always work out; especially if I've shopped at night.

Once prepped I put the covers on all my small containers. I have heard of others who leave the covers off but I prefer to have them on. I also store my dairy free cheese in the salad box along with my sprouted tortillas.

Then on goes the cover and the box is then stored on the bottom shelf of my fridge.

I purchased my green salad box at either Walmart or Target... I can't remember which one anymore. Make sure to measure the fridge space before you purcahse a container or you might come home with a container that doesn't fit.

The salad box is a great tool for quick lunches and snacks too. Just open the lid and let the kids assemble their own salad or veggies to snack on. My Andrew goes for the peppers everytime!

Enjoy God's amazing healthy fast food in under 3 minutes from your salad box.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Not Tuna Pate'

Warning... this post is photo heavy. :o)

One of my favorite raw lunches is called Not Tuna Pate'. The recipe comes from a book called Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 people. I've made a few adaptions though.

You need 1/2 cup soaked raw sunflower seeds and 1/4 cup soaked raw almonds. I soaked mine overnight in some distilled water in these cute 8 oz jars with plastic lids.



After soaking rinse well and place them in your food processor with the S blade along with 2 Tablespoons of water.



I just got this little Ninja last week when my blender quit working. I am able to use the small canister pictured below for lots of little processing jobs.



You may need to stop ocassionally to scrap the sides down and then continue processing.



Once you have it processed, transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. In the picture below it kind of looks like Tuna!



Next finely dice up 2 Tablespoons each of celery, onion and fresh parsley and add them to the bowl. The original recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon of parsley but I prefer 2 in mine.



If you have trouble with wilting parsley, try this neat little trick. When you get home from shopping cut a little off the stems of the parsley and place the parsley in a container of water and place in the window sill. My parsley stays fresh for over a week this way. I keep the rubber band around the bunch and then snip off and wash what I need when I'm ready for it. :0)



Next add in 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice (fresh is best).



Next up is the muscle work. Andrew was helping me in the kitchen on the morning we assembled this.



Ta-da! Not Tuna Pate'.



Now while it might look like tuna, believe me it does not taste like tuna. When I was first transitioning to a more raw/vegan diet I was so excited to try this out... then I had my first bite and I thought, yuck. However... after time I've really grown to enjoy this and I love to eat it either in pita pockets with lots of lettuce, tomoatoes, pickles, a little vegenaise and salt and pepper. I also enjoy it in wraps with peppers in place of the tomatoes.

Here it is in my lunch later that day.



Store in a small container in the fridge. This will keep for about 5 days.



If you'd like to see a video of this recipe being prepared you can view Jennifer Cornbleet giving a demo <HERE>.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday.