Homemade Raw Almond Butter

I tend to use quite a lot of almond butter in our house - the kids love it. Peanut butter and honey on toast was a childhood favourite of mine, as was peanut butter and banana, aptly named "Sh*t on a log" by our family - so I have continued that traditional snack into our house using almond butters and raw crackers. I do not have regular access to raw nut butters so have tended to just purchase the expensive organic nut butters from our supermarket, knowing they are not at all raw.
I have attempted to create my own nut butters using the vitamix blender, but found I had to add lots of oil and had a little trouble and was not completely satisfied with the result. Today though, I made a wonderful batch of raw almond butter for the first time and it was simple.


In my magimix food processor, I added 2 cups of raw whole almonds and began the blending process. After about 3 minutes the almonds had churned into a fine grain.

Then after another couple of minutes, the nuts began to break down further and the oils began to appear. I turned off my processor for about 5 minutes between photos to allow to cool otherwise the paste becomes too warm.

The crumble soon began to combine into a ball as the oils released further

By about the 10th minute, I had a yummy mass of organic raw almond butter ready to eat! You could choose to add some salt or honey, but we chose to leave ours natural.

The kids immediately sat down to a platter of carrots topped with my first batch of homemade raw almond butter.

When our bananas ripen though, we will be sure to be all enjoying an old family favourite - 'Sh*t on a log'!

Our bananas finally did ripen!

Announcement for my next Raw Food Workshop!

Yay! I am excited to announce the date for my fourth Raw Food Workshop. Be sure to mark on your calenders Saturday the 23rd July 2011 and keep it free so you can attend!

I will have full details of what the workshop will involve in the next following days, but to give you an idea of what we will be doing, I have decided to dedicate the day to teaching the principles and basic techniques required to prepare raw meals at home.
I will attempt to help everyone have a better understanding of this style of eating and give everyone the confidence to go home afterwards and be able to invent and create their own gourmet delicacies. I will also be discussing some details on raw living, how to incorporate a higher portion of raw into your families life, green smoothies, detoxing and fasting, ingredient substituting, answering your questions, open discussion and plenty of yummy things to create and taste.

I want to emphasise this workshop on simplicity and learning the basic skills and principles needed to boost confidence and add appeal to a raw living lifestyle.

I hope you can attend this fun and informative workshop!

My Kids and getting them to eat Raw

It has been 6 months now since I began this raw journey, supported by my obliging husband, and for the most part, my 2 wonderful little children, who have done extremely well to transition to this style of eating. Though, they both do not eat entirely raw, everyday, they do indulge in a high raw diet, with the addition of some cooked eggs, a rare meal of fish or boiled rice, and recently as the weather has been cooler, a couple of meals of cooked Quinoa and steamed veggies or porridge.

A compromised meals while the kids transition
to raw. Boiled eggs, served with raw crackers
and raw tomato sauce.

I find that if I become too obsessed in trying to make them both eat raw entirely everyday, then some meal times can become a struggle, resulting in resistance. I want food to be enjoyable and easy. I have had to find compromises with the children and their eating habits. While we are amidst the cooler months of winter, I am happy to allow a portion of their intake to be cooked, as long as the majority is raw. I feel the more I pressure the kids into eating what I am the more they resist, and the resistance becomes a habit. This, is what I wish to avoid. Allowing them the space, the time and the choice to explore the raw way of eating is what helps them to transition easier. 
In saying this though, when the kids do resist eating a raw meal that I have just lovingly prepared and I assumed they are just going to devour it, but they don't, I must admit, I do find it very difficult to not get entirely annoyed, but I think that is about my ego being bruised, because I feel like their refusal is a personal attack on my culinary skills and a disrespect to my efforts. I never seem to feel so defensive and irritated if the kids refuse to eat a meal made by my husband, a friend or the grandparents, so I think it is more about my ego then ensuring they are getting their required dose of nutrients from that meal. 
And if the kids do refuse a meal I have prepared, I will try not to make a scene, nor will I make a substitute to their liking, instead I casually give them the simple option to basically 'eat it or starve'. I feel if they choose not to eat a perfectly,  good meal I have prepared, then they are not hungry enough and don't really need it. They generally tend to end up satisfying themselves with a carrot from the fridge or a piece of fruit from the basket or nothing at all.    
It is important that I bear in mind, kids tend to be also a little more 'intune' with their appetites and will not eat because the clock strikes 'dinner time' or eat to feel comforted or bored, so they may genuinely not want to eat, or not want to eat 'that' meal as it is also rather 'unnatural' to prepare one large meal for the entire family and assume they are all 'in the mood' for that same dish, when I know myself, my mood for different food choices vary and we cant expect everyone to be all wanting to indulge in exactly the same dish as each other everyday. Though, it is also unrealistic to prepare an entirely different dish for everyone each day, as of course, we are not running a restaurant!
Kids are also less tolerant to 'unique' flavours, and so what they may refuse the first, second or even tenth time, will surprise us one day and announce it is now their favourite food.

What I find that the easiest and most accepting meals for the kids is a meal made up of a selection of small portions of different dishes, such as a selection of chopped vegetables with a couple of left over raw dips I have stored in the fridge, or a bowl of zuchini noodles with a selection of left over sauces to serve with, or a raw pizza base with the toppings on the tables so the kids can create their own, or a variety of simple salads, or even a table of salad ingredients to once again create your own.

Slowly the kids will like to explore their taste sensations a little more and include new things to their intake, as long as they are not pressured. Getting them to design their own pizzas or salads also helps them to feel a sense of achievement and they will tend to enjoy the reward by eating their creation.      

I am also very fortunate that my kids have not indulged in 'fast food' or highly artificially flavoured junk food, so as they have not had exposure to this form of addictive food, to compare with, I have never had to struggle to resist them from it, which makes my life so much easier.
Overall I think my kids have become very accepting of our lifestyle change and it is opening their world as much as ours and the longer we continue this journey together, the easier it becomes for us all.
       

Food - Love it or Loathe it!

I found myself tonight beginning to loathe food. I realised I have this up and down relationship with food. I can be completely obsessed with food. My daily thoughts are consumed by it. Everyday I am thinking about what to make, what I could make, what ingredients I need to buy, what would this taste like, what is raw, what is not, what is good, what is not, what is that, what is this, how do I do that...Most of the time I am excited about the ideas, creations, possibilities, new discoveries, new tastes, new found knowledge...and then, like tonight, I begin to loathe the every thought of food. It usually hits when the kids start to refuse to eat their dinner and say they don't like it, the husband tells me he would be happy if I just made tomato and avocado on almond crackers every night and wonders why I go to so much trouble, and I get swamped down with  piles after piles of dishes to wash and food to pick up off the floor. Providing food soon feels like a chore and something that has to be supplied 3 times a day just because it should.  

Just re-reading my title: Food - Love it or Loathe it! and re-evaluating my thoughts, no its not food that I love and sometimes loathe, its our lifestyle.  Pure food in its natural form is perfect. Its the ideals we associate food with. We assume we need to eat 3 times a day, one of which needs to be a gourmet meal if we are providing for a husband who works ridiculous long hours to repay a mortgage and needs lots of nourishing, we need to keep the meals varied so no-one complains they had the same dish 3 days in a row, we need to invent raw masterpieces that substitute our cravings for the pre-raw days of animal fat laiden, processed junk food, we are expected to serve meals on plates and sit at a table daily to provide an hours worth of washing up daily, and we expect everyone to like what they are served and eat it all. No wonder I begin to loathe the whole process of food preparations even if it is raw and organic.

My ideal way of eating and something that we will be working towards as we establish our self sufficient lifestyle back east is a way of living where food is easy and of no effort. Fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries of all sorts  will be growing prolifically on our property in our edible food forest where we can wonder as we please as many times a day to forage though the living food halls to pick at our leisure our daily intake, straight from the branches of the plants, eating in the open air, choosing only what we feel like at that time. And on days to call for a celebration such as the full moon, or the start of a season or a child's birthday or just because we feel like it, we will all help to prepare a special feast of gourmet raw foods, blended and dehydrated, squeezed and milked, sliced and marinated, for all to enjoy. This will be done not because we feel we have to, but because we want to. 

It seems that our lives are so revolved around the processes and ideals of food, that sometimes we loose the truth of what real food really is or should be. To expand that thought further, its our lifestyles we need to re-evaluate and discover what is truly ideal.   
I think I feel a fast coming on.......... a time to disconnect and then reconnect.
          

Home preserved Olives...

We love olives, and since the majority of olives sold are usually pasteurised and preserved in a toxic chemical called sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda, and this chemical is poisonous to humans, we decided to make our own.

Two months ago, I was directed to a very old tree way out in Menzies town that was loaded with beautiful large green olives. We spent the day picking several buckets, each filled to the brim.I then spent a few late nights de-seeding the majority of them and then a further month rinsing them daily in fresh water. My bathroom was filled with buckets of olives and each night my bathtub was filled as I rinsed them and exchanged their water to rid their bitterness.

It was quite a task and I often wondered if it would be all worth it.

I was keen to keep the ingredients of the process entirely local, so was told of a spot nearby where we could obtain some pure salt for the preserving stage. We made a day trip with the kids to the salt lake and filled a tub full of salt. The hardest part was lugging the heavy tub back to the car which seemed like a mile as we walked out quite a bit to seek the whitest and purest form.

The salt was then rinsed and the salt solution was made. This was another huge process as I had to boil water with the salt to dissolve the solids and then make a consistency that would be concentrated enough to float a raw egg. I had to make up 8 buckets full and then transfer the olives to the this salty solution.

They have been soaking and preserving in this salty solution for a month or so and we have began to relish in our rewards. I can say the huge process has been truly worth it. The olives are beautiful and I have a supply that should see  us through until next years crop.

I have marinated a few bottles to share with my friends who provided the olives, in slices of home grown limes and garlic,  topped with local backyard pressed olive oil. The experience has not only made me appreciate and enjoy each olive much more but it also has been a great lesson in our future life of self-sufficiency.

A raw feast for dinner

I was given a great idea for a raw dish last week from a friend, while we shared a bowl of dehydrated parsnip chips. Here is the result of that conversation.

Crunchy parsnip noodles with Asian style cabbage 'stir-fry',
served with a side dish of mushroom and pea fried rice,
and Broccoli in marinated sesame Hoisin sauce.

I am really loving the in-season parsnips at the moment and making the most of their versatility.

Here is what started tonight's meal - raw parsnip crunchy noodles

To make raw crunchy parsnip noodles, I spiralled about 4 large parsnips into strands and rubbed a dash of olive oil and salt onto the 'noodles'. These were then dehydrated for about 12 hours. The results were fantastic and the kids thought they were fun to nibble on straight from the dehydrator. I was inspired to create an Asian influenced cabbage 'stir un-fry' to serve over the top, similar to my favourite childhood chinese dish - Chow Mein.

Here is the result of my tasty cabbage stir fry.

I started by thinly shredding half a cabbage and placing into a bowl with a handful of snow pea sprouts and shredded carrots, bunch of fresh coriander and some thin slices of leek.

I then added 1/2 cup sesame oil, 2 teaspoons of cumin and coriander powder, 2 tablespoons of namo shoyu, juice of half a lime, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 chili deseeded and minced, 1 tablespoon of agave syrup, 2 tablespoons of tamarind pulp and a pinch of salt. I massaged the ingredients until the cabbage become soft and then warmed in the dehydrator just before serving over a bed of crunchy noodles.

Raw parsnip 'Fried rice' with marinated mushrooms and peas

I made this tasty side dish by processing some parsnip tips and left over centres from making the noodles with a handful of macadamia nuts until the result resembled a texture like rice or cous cous. I then sprinkled in some nama shoyu, garlic granules, and seasoned salt. I added a cup of defrosted organic peas (which I was happy to find now stocked at the local supermarket), a few thin slices of leek and a small punnet of brown swiss mushrooms that had been left to marinate in olive oil and salt until soft.

Broccoli marinated in sesame hoisin sauce

 

The final dish served up to tonights feast was this delicious marinated broccoli. I started by chopping up 2 head of broccoli into small bite size pieces and marinating in a mixture of olive oil and lime juice to soften. I sped up the process by placing the dish in the dehydrator.
I made the sauce by blending together equal parts of sesame seeds and sesame oil, juice of half a lime, 1 teaspoon of agave, 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of nama shoyu, 2 garlic cloves, thin strip of fresh ginger and a de-seeded red chili from the garden. The final mixture was not smooth, but remained partially crunchy with some of the sesame seeds staying whole. This gave the dish a nice texture.   

Essene bread

It was a couple of weeks ago now, but I said I would share my first attempt at making essene bread.
From my small amount of research on the internet on this subject I found some interesting facts on this ancient bread. There are many variations of Essene bread by adding extra nuts or fruit to the mix, but I chose to keep my batch true to its origins and just use grain, water and air as described in this passage, an extract from the 'Essene Gospel of peace'.    

'How should we cook our daily bread without fire, Master?' asked some with great astonishment. 'Let the angels of God prepare your bread. Moisten your wheat, that the angel of water may enter it. then set it in the air, that the angel of air also may embrace it. And leave it from morning to evening beneath the sun, that the angel of sunshine may descend upon it. And the blessing of the three angels will soon make the germ of life to sprout in your wheat. Then crush your grain, and make thin wafers, as did your forefathers when they departed out of Egypt, the house of bondage. Put them back again beneath the sun from its appearing, and when it is risen to its highest in the heavens, turn them over on the other side that they be embraced there also by the angel of sunshine, and leave them there until the sun be set. For the angels of water, of air, and of sunshine fed and ripened the wheat in the field, and they, likewise, must prepare also your bread. And the same sun which, with the fire of life, made the wheat to grow and ripen, must cook your bread with the same fire. For the fire of the sun gives life to the wheat, to the bread, and to the body. But the fire of death kills the wheat, the bread, and the body.

Essene bread:

The process to making Essene bread takes a few days. I started by soaking 2 cups of organic Kamut grain in filtered water for 12 hours. I then rinsed the grain and let sit in a seive on the sink, rinsing and draining regularly as I awaited the first tiny shoots to emerge.

By the 2nd day, they appeared.

By the 3rd day, the shoots were as long as the seed itself, so it was then I began the next process.











After giving the seeds a final rinse, I pushed the sprouted grain into my juicer with the solid plate to form a dough. The kids really enjoyed this part.

With some of the dough, we rolled into little buns and plaited rolls.

With the remainder of of the dough, we made bread sticks which was simple as this was how the dough formed when it protruded from the juicer. I simply grabbed the long strands as they emerged and lay them flat on the dehyrdator trays. Having wet fingertips made this easier.

I dehydrated our creations for about 24 hours

The final product was interesting. The breadsticks were great as they dried entirely and were a great addition to dipping in raw soups.

Whereas the bread rolls did not get a great response. They may be something that will take awhile to get use to. The inside of each small roll remained doughy and raw, while the outside was dried to a hard crust. The inside was slightly sour as the grain warmed and femented. I served my roll covered in avocado and salt to hide the unusual flavour and the kids just spat theirs out. Something to work on, but the breadsticks were worth it and stored well for a long time.

Raw Cacao or Raw carob?

After reading a number of conflicting articles on raw Cacao, I decided I would like to reduce my intake of this 'superfood' and try to substitute a sweeter and more easily obtained ingredient - carob. My reasons for this is quite simple. Its not about comparing each on its high nutritional value, but instead my decision is of a practical one. Cacao beans are grown in a remote part of the world in a tropical rainforest where I have never been and the possibility of ever growing my own cacao tree in my backyard is very unlikely, whereas, the carob tree actually grows prolifically in Kalgoorlie lining the streets, each tree flourishing with carob pods covering the limbs of each tree and piles of pods scattered all over the ground. 













Eating within ones natural, local environment is one of the most important ideals of good health in my belief and carob is certainly a good example of that.

The other reason is taste. To eat a raw cacao bean straight from the tree is rather unappealing. It is quite bitter and not at all nice. The only way it is enjoyed is when it is mixed with a high amount of sweetners such as dates, honey or agave to create a resemblance to chocolate we all know. In fact the beans are not at all inticing to the animal kingdom as not one known species of animal will eat it. Whereas the carob pod on the other hand is a really nice snack, delicious bush tucker freshly picked from the tree.

Rhody enjoying fresh bush tucker

Often when we are out bike riding and we pass under a carob tree loaded with pods, we will stop to pick a few and the kids will chew on them like a lolly stick. The flavour is close to a chocolate caramel and is really tasty. Im not sure if animals eat them, but my kids and I do and we like them. So those are my two main reasons for choosing carob over cacao.

Fallen pods ready to eat

To put the carob to the test, I made up a simple chocolate pie for dessert and I was really impressed with the outcome.

  Michael enjoyed a huge slice and Starzi exclaimed while she was eating her piece ' This is my favourite'. I found it to be really delicious and not over powering as I didnt get that sweetness overdose that I often experience when I indulge in a lovely piece of raw cacao treat.
I will be sure to experiment further with carob powder as I satisfy my chocolate cravings.

As I am not one to ever measure my ingredients while I am creating meals, nor keep record of what ingredients I used, I will try my best to give a general idea of what was used to recreate this delicious dessert.

Raw Carob pie
Base:
Using equal parts macadamia nuts,  presoaked almonds and dates, I processed until a sticky crumble.
Pressing this into the bottom of a lined pie tart, I placed it in the freezer to set as I prepared the carob centre.

Carob centre:
In the high speed blender, I added about 1/2 cup of carob powder, the flesh of 3 young coconuts, about 1/2 cup of coconut oil, about 10 dates, 1 tablespoon of honey, pinch of vanilla powder and a handful of macadamias. This was blended until really smooth and fudgy. I poured this yummy goo over the pie base and let set in the freezer for an hour.
I served our slices with raw cream (cashews, macadamia nuts and a date blended with water until creamy) and topped with frozen berries and fresh fruit.

'Left over' Pancakes for dessert

My kids have a habit of eating a portion of a piece of fruit and leaving the rest to literally rot in the fruit bowl. At the end of a day, I will have accumulated a small array of half eaten fruit. With this in mind and the fact that bananas are quite expensive, I thought I would make a batch of raw 'mixed fruit' carob pancakes.
With a selection of half consumed apples, a few half peeled bananas and some pears that had a couple of bites taken out, I went about creating 'leftovers' pancakes.

Recipe:
Pancakes
Peel and core a selection of 'pulpy' fruit. I have only used fruit that have a smooth, pulpy texture such as bananas, pears, mango, apple etc to make my pancakes, but may experiment with more watery fruits to test the outcome.
Blend these fruits with some Lucuma and Mesquite powders if you have them on hand. I added a couple of tablespoons of carob powder and some vanilla powder. You could also add some dates if you request a sweeter pancake. I would also assume, but havent tried, adding soaked buckwheat kernels to the mix to add bulk.
I then added about half a cup of chia seed to the pulp and let set. To make a smooth pancake texture, I blended the mixture in the vitamix to create a smooth thick cream. Finally a spread the pancake mix onto 2 teflex trays about 1cm thick and let dehydrate overnight.
While still warm and slightly soft, I served with raspberries , shaved coconut, crumbled activated almonds and a smooth cream made by blending equal portions of cashews and macadamias with a date, vanilla powder and a little water.
Starzi calls these pancakes her 'favourites' and was not at all deterred by the fact that they were filled with a mix of odd fruit rather than the usual 'banana only' mix. 

Re-creating The Raw Kitchen Nachos

I was so impressed with the Nachos from the weekends visit to the Raw Kitchen in Fremantle that I just had to try and re-create the dish at home to serve up to Michael. Even though my attempt didn't look quite the same, it was still really yummy and got a huge thumbs up from Michael.

Recipe
Corn chips:
I purchased 2x 600g bags of frozen corn. These unfortunately were not organic and I do not have access to organic fresh corn at the moment, so these were the available substitute.
After defrosting the corn kernels, I blended them in the food processor with an array of spices...cumin, turmeric, chili, salt and coriander and a teaspoon of agave. I also blended 2 medium carrots in the mix to add bulk to the mixture.
I then soaked about 1 cup of whole flax seeds in a small amount of water for about 15 mins to form a flax gel. This was also added to the mix and processed again until smooth.
I spread this mixture evenly over the teflex trays and dehydrated for about 24 hours to ensure maximum crispness, similar to a corn chip.
I broke up the chips into regular chip size pieces. 

Refried beans:
I made the mock bean mixture by soaking sunflower seeds for 2 hours and then draining and rinsing. I then processed the sunflower seeds in the processor with 1 small fresh tomato and a cup of semi dried tomatoes I had made the night before in the dehydrator. I added a dash of namo shoyu and some cumin and chili. The end result was something that looked similar to 'cat food or vomit' but tasted really yummy! I will have to work on the 'look' of the final product to appease the eye. 

Sour cream:
I made a lovely smooth sour cream for topping by blending an equal quantity of cashews and macadamias with enough water to cover in the vita mix blender jug. I added a dash of apple cider vinegar, the juice of 1 small lime and some salt. This was blended until completely smooth and of a runny texture to pour. 

Assemble:
Place a layer of corn chips on a plate, top with the refried beans, a diced tomato, a diced avocado and then a dribble of sour cream. Delicious!


     

Inspirations from The Dalai Lama

When our actions are of a compassionate nature and we make decisions based on a holistic and ethical attitude for the long term future then we will find inner peace as we live as one with the universe.

This was my interpretation of the message His Holiness the Dalai Lama had for his audience when I was fortunate enough to see him live in Perth over the weekend. His graceful presence and his important message of peace were truly inspirational and slightly humorous to the 14000 attendees. Just before his on stage speech, I had a very special privilege with his Holiness. Just as my friend and I were browsing the small array of stalls as we awaited the show to begin, shuffling through the crowds, we spied the Dalai Lama himself, sitting amongst the stalls. Building up the courage, my friend and I stood beside him and he graciously blessed our chosen items of jewelry, holding each item in his hands as he murmured his blessing. I had only the day before purchased a lovely pendant made from rainforest jasper, which I had blessed by the spiritual master himself. This lovely piece of stone now has greater meaning to me and I wear it with gratitude. 

My weekend to Perth also led me to another wonderful experience...The Raw Kitchen Cafe in Fremantle! The nachos were awesome, and truly are the 'best in town'! It was so nice to be able to 'eat out' and not feel like I had compromised on my eating habits. Actually, it was just so nice to eat a raw meal prepared by someone else. Our experience at the Raw Kitchen in Freo was amazing...the huge bowl of delicious side salad, the cheesecake, the minty choc drink, the mint chocolate slice....all of it was utterly delicious. I know where I will be hanging out when I'm next in town.      

Starzi's Raw Salad

I am so pleased to share with you photos of a salad Starzi made entirely independently. She will often help out in the kitchen making meals under my guidance, but just after 2 days of helping me make our regular fresh sprout salad, Starzi made todays dish entirely on her own and wasnt she proud!

Starzi's Sprout Salad:

In a large bowl put in as many freshly cut home grown sprouts as possible - (sunflowers, buckwheat and snow peas sprouts)
next add 1 avocado diced, 1 cut tomato and about 10 home preserved green tables olives.
To make the dressing, squeeze into a bowl the juice of half a home grown lime, a dash of olive oil, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and a pinch of salt. Whisk the dressing until combined and gradually pour over sprouts. Toss, serve and enjoy.

As an accompliment to Starzi's wonderful salad, I made a tasty, simple dish for everyone to enjoy for lunch.

Raw Parsley Pesto Pasta:

Make noodles with 2 peeled parsnips using a spiraliser. Massage with a little olive oil and salt. Set aside.
Chop broccoli into bite size pieces and massage in a little olive oil and garlic granules, then dehydrate for an hour to soften.

Parsley Pesto:


I soaked a cup of pecans in filtered water for 2 hours to leach some of the bitternes before blending in my food processer with a good clump of fresh parsley from the garden, 2 garlic cloves and about 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast. I added this pesto to the parsnip noodles and broccoli pieces. I drizzled a little lime juice over the top and served. This was so tasty and very similar to my pre-raw days of wheat pasta and homemade peccorino cheese parsley pesto dish.

Simple raw recipe ideas from today..

Here are a couple of simple recipes that we made today and were well received.
For breakfast, I made this simple, fresh wholesome dish that was loved by all. Starzi ate an entire huge bowl full and even asked for more a couple of hours later and again this afternoon! She also ate it happily with sesame milk which she would normally turn away from.
As it is the season of apples and we always have a stash in our house, I simply finely grated 3 apples in the food processor and placed it in a bowl. I then proceeded by processing a handful each of activated - sunflower seeds, pepitas and almonds. I then added a pinch of vanilla powder and some cinnamon. This crumble was added to the grated apples. I then added a final touch of some sultanas and shredded coconut. I scooped this mix into bowls and poured some sesame milk over the top.

I had enough left over for seconds and to pack for Micks dinner tonight on night shift.

And here is another simple snack that didnt last longer than 1 hour in our house - literally! and I only ate 1!

My version of raw chocolate crackles....

I started by blending 5 dates with half a cup of coconut oil, a dollop of honey and about 1/2 cup of cacao powder. This was blended until smooth. I then added a handful of buckwheaties (which are soaked and dehydrated buckwheat kernals) with a handful of coconut shavings. I scooped a spoonful of mixture into a patty cake papers and let set in the fridge. Simple, but extremely yummy!