Like last week, this afternoon I prepared myself something to eat for when I got back from a run this evening. Like last week, I couldn’t resist ‘testing’ it first. I’d made myself a pasta salad with pesto, spinach, toasted pumpkin seeds and toasted pine nuts and it’s sitting in the fridge, taunting me. I remembered I had cashews and dates in the cupboard and thought, there must be something I can make with them to have as a healthy snack to stop me pigging out on the pasta? So I googled and found this recipe. It’s simply a cup of cashews, a cup of dates and a tablespoon of coconut oil put into a food processor for a couple of minutes, then rolled into balls and I can tell you this – they’re flipping delicious.
I reckon they’d be even nicer – if that’s possible – also rolled in desiccated coconut.
In Wholefoods the other day, I bought a Raw Chocolate Chilli Pie. It was delicious and inspired me to make my own. I didn’t have all the ingredients listed on the label so I had a look for a raw chilli chocolate recipe using cacao powder and coconut oil and stumbled across this raw chocolate recipe. Their recipe calls for cacao butter, which I didn’t have, so I used coconut oil instead.
These raw chocolates are delicious – why did I only make six of them; they’ll be gone in no time! They only take a couple of minutes to make and you could add any flavourings you want. I added desiccated coconut to mine – next time I think I’ll add a bit of vanilla, too.
Raw Chilli Coconut Chocolate (makes 6)
50g coconut oil
3 tbsp raw cacao powder
1-2 tbsp agave nectar
3 tbsp desiccated coconut
pinch of rock salt
chilli flakes – add depending on how hot you want it
Heat a pan of water and place a bowl over it.
Melt the coconut oil in the bowl.
Add the raw cacao powder and mix well with a whisk.
Remove from the heat and add the agave nectar and mix in.
Add the desiccated coconut, salt and chilli flakes.
Pour into moulds/cases.
Leave to set in the freezer for about 20 minutes, or a couple of hours in the fridge.
I always seem to want to cook something on a Sunday and today was no exception. Today I fancied something involving raw chocolate and found a raw vegan brownie recipe.
These raw vegan brownies are delicious. They only take a few minutes to make too – it took far longer going to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. The hardest part was waiting for them to chill in the fridge for two hours.
Raw Vegan Brownies
1 cup pecans
1 cup dates
5 tbsp raw cacao
4 tbsp dessicated coconut
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp sea salt
Place the pecans in the food processor and whizz until they become small and crumbly.
Add dates to the pecan pieces and whizz again until the mixture sticks together and the dates are well processed.
Add the remaining ingredients and process again until the mixture turns a dark chocolatey brown. Stop processing before it gets too buttery (there should still be air between the small bits so you will be able to press them down into the tin).
Put the mixture into an 8” square tin and press down firmly.
Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. You don’t have to do this but it’ll make the brownie easier to slice.
Katie (who blogs at Cakes vs Scales) tweeted yesterday:
And I thought I WANT THOSE COOKIES and asked her for the recipe. Katie kindly obliged and I’m glad she did as they’re absolutely gorgeous and, as there’s no baking involved, are ready in a couple of minutes. If you want to veganise them, swap the honey for maple syrup.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I occasionally get a box from Graze.com. I didn’t think anything could top their snacks in terms of variety and healthiness but then I heard about The Nutribox.
Wow, what can I say? Their boxes are amazing. I received a Nutribox-Mini and inside were nine different snacks which were all vegan and/or raw. There were even two bars of raw chocolate. Raw chocolate? Doesn’t sound great, does it? But I tried it and there was no difference between that and a good quality bar of dark chocolate. The Meat Eater refused to try it as, although he’s okay with vegetarianism, he’ll roll his eyes if I mention words such as ‘vegan’ or ‘raw’. But, hey, pah to him. More snacks for me, eh?
Each month, Nutribox will send a box containing such goodies like the ones in the photo above (or tons more if you choose the next size box up – you’ll receive a massive 16-20 snacks, including vegetable crisps), along with a card letting you know what’s in your box.
Also in my Nutribox-Mini were Energise Raw ‘Fruit Cookies’ (these were delicious and my absolute fave so far), a Braw bar (similar to a Nakd bar), a bag of No Choc Fruit & Nut (whole almonds, hazelnuts, sultanas and raisins), a bag of Tropical Mix (banana chips, whole almonds and coconut), two bars of Ombar Raw Chocolate (plain and orange), a raw choc crisp Energy Bomb (a natural energy bar with raw chocolate, guarana and gingseng), Bounce Energy Ball (a chewy mix of nuts (cashew and pecan), oats and seeds) and a bag of Hot Cross Bun (cranberries, hazelnuts and sultanas).
All snacks in a Nutribox are suitable for vegetarians, gluten-free and the majority are dairy-free.
You’ll get 25% off your first box, so why not sign up now – I’m already looking forward to my second box!
‘Fruit juice, water or Prosecco?’ Prosecco? Did she just say Prosecco? I’m at a Nãkd Wholefoods launch and I wasn’t expecting any alcohol. I’m not sure she actually did offer me Prosecco, so I play it safe and ask for a cherry juice. Then someone walks in and gets poured a glass of Prosecco, dammit! Still, it’s not long until I have a glass of wine in my hand and the event begins.
Brill Café in Exmouth Market is full of bloggers, PRs, and the team from Nãkd Wholefoods. We’re here because Nakd Wholefoods have launched two new flavours – Rhubarb & Custard, and Caffé Mocha. I’m asked if I’d like to try one of the new flavours and I’m led past a counter laden with hummous, olives, stuffed peppers, cashews, pitta bread (that I’m avoiding as I’m meeting a friend for dinner later) and two bowls containing the latest Nãkd flavours. Not being a lover of coffee, I try the Rhubarb & Custard flavour. I’m not sure how they’ve done it, but it’s just like the old-fashioned sweets. Nicola, a yoga teacher from Camden, who blogs at Peace Under Pressure, asks me how I think they’ve made a custard flavour out of natural ingredients and I say I’m not sure, maybe they grew a custard plant? I’m then asked if I want to try the Caffé Mocha flavour. I hate coffee but I’m willing to give it a try and I’m surprised, but pleased, that it doesn’t taste like coffee, it’s more of a fudge brownie taste.
We’re then given a talk by the founder and managing director, Jamie Combs, and Lucy-Ann Prideaux, a nutritionist at Simply Nutrition.
After the talk, we’re invited to make our own Nãkd Bars. Nãkd Bars all have the same base of dates and cashews, to which other raw ingredients are added.
Bowls containing ingredients and flavourings were brought out for us.
A couple of other bloggers and I made a banoffee flavour bar with banana slices and toffee flavouring.
The end result didn’t look appetising (the blogger in the middle of the photo was obsessed with calling it a turd) but smelt gorgeous.
At the end of the evening, we were given a generous goody bag, bulging with Nãkd Bars and raisins.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t one of the fetching Nãkd t-shirts I’d been admiring on the team, but perhaps if someone from Nãkd reads this, I’m a size medium, and my address is…
