Strawberry Shortcake, Deep Chocolate Cookies & Tahini Zuke Wraps

Eat me!

Oh my! Haha Just watched Wizard of Oz. No. Really. I've also been meaning to post about my new ~Yoga Room~ !! So, while I don't post daily, I do make food and run (pretty much daily). Let's start out with my morph of Ani Phyos Strawberry Shortcake and Strawberry Kream Pie (out of the new Ani's Raw Food Essentials). I try to stay away from raw desserts that are so heavy on nuts/seeds. But I needed to use some almond pulp, and I already have more raw bread than I need right now.
I used to love, love, crave, obsess over raw strawberry parfaits that were made with cashew cream. Then I realized the poison-ivy-on-my-lips reaction wasn't a look doing me any favors and I dropped a favorite dairy free dessert. Since then, I've used macadamia's, a delicious but pricey alternative. Now I use hazelnuts! If you'd never made raw 'cream.' I recommend using macadamia's or cashews so you get the absolute "OMG this is so good I'm gonna die" flavor.

Filling:
1 Cup Frozen/thawed Strawberries
Crust:
1 cup Medjool Dates
1 cup Almond Pulp (or meal)
 Pinch of salt
Cream:

1/2 cup Hazelnuts (soaked/drained)
1-3 Tbs Yacon Syrup (or substitute)

1 Tsp Coconut Oil
1 inch Vanilla Bean scraped (or 1 tsp extract)

1st,  the filling: I thawed some frozen strawberries purchased in town, but brought here from WA. It's not often I get really good organic 'big' strawberries, so I froze some. And, I'm out of those tiny cuties from the beach here. So, thaw, then slice.. frozen then thawed works great because you get this 'cooked' consistency and a natural 'sauce.'  Mash up 1/8 cup. Set aside.

2nd, the crust: I took 1 cup of leftover almond pulp from making milk and processed it with 1 cup of pitted soft medjool dates (mmmmm). Almost a cup. I ate two dates while processing. Whoops

3rd, I made Hazelnut Cream... blend soaked hazelnuts, 1 inch vanilla bean (scraped-or 1 tsp extract), 1 tsp coconut oil and 1 good squirt of Yacon syrup. If you wish to omit the oil, that's okay. I did it because it helps give a creamy consistency and when chilled, it's a firmer 'cream.'  Fun Fact: The pattern of amino acids present in hazels makes them a source of high quality protein (about 13 grams in every 100 gram serving).

Strawberry Madness!

Assembly:  press crust into tart dishes, small pie pan, or plate or individual serving dish. Spread mashed strawberries on top, then place sliced strawberries onto crust, then spoon the cream over the top. I garnished with sliced pear and a dusting of cocao powder.

Ani's recipe(s) calls for sweetener in the strawberries, 2 additional Tbs of sweetener on top, and chocolate fudge sauce. Also, for assembly, she puts the cream in first, and the strawberries on top.. which I do think would be pretty. I just looked at the individual recipes and modified them to my liking and threw it together. It actually tastes similar to cheesecake. So good! I might even save some for my sweetheart! I had to post two photos.. don't you want to make it now!?

Easy lil' Almond Pulp Chocolate Cookies

Next up, I needed to use the rest of that almond pulp! I took 1 cup of it, processed with 1/4 cup of dates (about 4) and 2 heaping tsp raw cocao and pressed the dough into little cookies on a dehydrator sheet. Dehydrated about 2 hours on mesh. Delicious, easy and nutritious!

And lastly, Ani Phyo's Apple Crepes. Basically, 1 cup chopped apple, 1/2 cup flax meal, 1 1/2 (she calls for 2) Tbs agave, 1/2 cup water or as needed. Blend until super smooth.
I used these wraps to try for an alternative to my old favorite coconut/banana/flax wraps, since I'm trying my dang hardest not to buy banana's here and coconuts are impossible to get unless I'm in Juneau and even then, um.. just how far did that coconut travel? Anything in Alaska usually comes a long way, period. How I love you state of Washington! 

So, I made Ani Phyos Tahini-Zucchini Wraps and of course, tweaked it 'cause I'm too cool for school. Ani's Lemon Tahini dressing is so good. I only had Santa Cruz Lime, so:
a squirt of lime, a squirt of braggs, a tsp of tahini and stir.

Tahini Zucchini Wraps

Now, I spread some dressing onto an apple crepe, added a few leaves of bebe spinach, julienned zuke, & ribboned red pepper. Rolled it up, and drizzled hot pepper oil (that I posted the recipe for somewhere on this blog). Yum! SO, good.

A Room of Her Own (get it Woolf Fans?)

And here is my Yoga Room. I've been meaning to go get fully into Crane pose (knees are higher, this is Crow-bakasana) and get the hubs to take a better photo, but it's way to cold to use the room. I've only used it twice. Once the stone flooring is in (we are scavenging for!), that should help regulate the temperature. It is downright blazin' in here during summer. Makes a great place to harden off seedlings. So excited to have a room for this! Before the wood flooring I had chairs and a mini library and plants... ahh.. and I love reading in here so much, I may put some of that back.. hmmmm so hard to decide. I can do both! By the way.. can you see those kick ass yoga socks I'm wearing? This talented artist Tinque, made them for me and I bet if you contact her, she'll make you a pair too! Amazing fiber artist!

Blah, Blah, Blah, what a long post! Running update; I post it all on daily mile sooo....this may turn into a strictly food blog? Nah...