MANGO SORBET with BANANA + PINEAPPLE

Hey, guys! I have not been around for an entire week! I miss you all so much, simply keeping connected helps me stay sane... thus not communicating with you for 7 days is leaving me feeling a little ungrounded. Having said that, I am having the best time. The past week I stayed in a small town called Wells (9 hours north of Vancouver) with my partner, in his grandparents antique-y house. It was exactly what we both needed; time away from the city, just us too in a charmingly quiet home surrounded by trees and mountains. I will be posting photos from this adventure soon, but first I need to go on another one! I got back from Wells this evening, and tomorrow at 4 am I leave on a family road trip to Minnesota with my parents and younger brother! I am equally excited for this journey. But while I have a second on the computer before I disconnect for another 11 days; I figured I should share a recipe. Here is one that I offered up to the lovely Amy from Fragrant Vanilla Cake. She has the recipe featured on her site. Get the recipe here.

I have been obsessed - no, scratch that, addicted - to this recipe since I made it a few weeks ago. It has been SO hot here (30c+ degrees  everyday) and the only way the fam and I can bear it is with cold drinks! Mom realized early on that frozen fruit and booze do the trick for her and my dad. I took note of that, but swapped the vodka for bananas! You can add water (or better yet, coconut milk) to this to make it the BEST smoothie ever, or leave as is to create the perfect sorbet: creamy, cold, sweet and luscious. Who needs added sugar when you have the sweetness of the fruit!? I am quickly realizing mango will define my summer, and there ain't nothing wrong with that. Get the recipe here! 

BANANA STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM CAKE

Hello, all. How's everyone doing? This is a glorious recipe that is sure to brighten up anyone's day - who doesn't love ice cream cake? And what? It's HEALTHY, you say? Well, I'll be! It's a miracle! Actually it's not really a miracle, it's just momma nature treatin' us well and providing all the sustenance we need in the form of juicy fruits. Life is good when you've got ripe plants to eat. I am very happy with these photos, if I am being honest (and I am.) Then again, it's not hard to take beautiful photos when you have beautiful subjects to take photos of. The vibrant colours of nature are the thing to be admired here. I found these flowers at the farmer's market this morning, where a vendor was selling bunches of edible plants: 3 for $5.00! She recommended dipping the sage leaves in coconut oil then baking them with a pinch of salt until crispy... she is a genius.

Today I share with you a simple yet beautiful recipe for a sweet, creamy, fresh ice cream cake. It is made of 100% fresh fruit, and nothing else. Because when you care about the world, animals, and yourself - why eat anything but plants? Enjoying a plant-based diet is the best choice you can make to have the most positive impact on the health of our planet, our animal friends, and your own well-being. It is the intelligent decision, and the compassionate one. If you are a lover, you should let go of meat, dairy, and other animal products; it is that simple. I hope I don't sound preachy or judgemental in this post, I only want to spread a message of peace and equality. I have just been sobbing for an hour over the state of humanity. We support the systemized murder and torture of billions everyday, just to say "mmm... bacon!" It is literally insane and it must stop. I know the majority of people are not aware of the impact of their simple meal choices, and that is because there are huge corporations and massive amounts of money and power intentionally masking the truth and parading lies to the public. I do not blame the public. But I do think it's fair to demand an end to the killing. A sane person understands murder is wrong, so why eat meat? An animal is an animal - we are all animals. There is no categorical difference between us and all other living beings, so why kill one and love another? It doesn't make sense. I love my friends, so I do not eat them. Instead, I eat fruit. Let's eat cake, hug pigs, save the earth, regain our health, and love each other.

BANANA STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM CAKE

Ice cream layers:

4 frozen bananas

1 cup strawberries

Banana layers:

3 thinly sliced bananas

Slice the frozen bananas, then blend in a high speed blender until they get to the consistency of soft serve ice cream; it will take a minute but suddenly you'll have that perfect thick, creamy, fluffy texture. Add the strawberries one by one, until the mixture is pink but still thick. 

Now in a 4-inch cake mold, or other small mold, layer the sliced banana pieces with the ice cream mixture. Set in the freezer just long enough to make it hold together. Then cut around the edge of cake with a knife so it separates from the mold, then carefully take it out and enjoy! I decorated mine with edible flowers and sage leaves. 

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BANANA ICE CREAM CAKE with MATCHA, BLUEBERRY + VANILLA LAYERS

Heyo! To be honest, I wasn't too stoked on how this cake turned out, appearance-wise. I am still trying to develop my skills as a swirler (it's a word, shh), and you can really tell. If you wanna find the worlds best swirler, check out Fragrant Vanilla Cake! I am always in awe of her talent level of swirling. Anyhoo, back to my mishap: I messed up in the middle of the top of the cake, so I tried covering up my mistake with pumpkin seeds (don't we all? ... No.) Fortunately the lighting was nice today so the cake looks alright, but it still doesn't quite meet my standards in terms of prettiness. However, I am sharing it anyways because I love you. And since I love you, I of course want to give you as many delicious and healthy recipes as I can! Here's another one, folks. 

This is mostly bananas! As you may have learned from my reading my past posts and checkin' me out on Instagram - YES, I GOT INSTAGRAM! - I am eating essentially 80/10/10 now. That is, 80% carbs, 10% each for protein and fat. My diet looks a lot like *smoothiemania* all day (10 bananas per smoothie wasssapp!?) plus giant bowls of rice and vegetables for dinner. I ain't missing out on a thing! Even dessert! I love this lifestyle. I am so excited to eat everything all the time. And I have energy out the wazoo (we still do not have confirmation on the precise definition of wazoo though). Here I show you that you can have a tasty raw vegan treat, but it doesn't have to be filled with nuts and coconut oil! Those foods are awesome, but we don't need much of them; only a handful a day. You get just that with this cake. Actually, I'm gonna let you in on a secret - this cake is, for all practical purposes, a smoothie that is frozen in a cake mold. If that makes it seem unappealing to you, pretend I never said it. Blot it out from your mind forever. But if that fact makes it even MORE enticing... well, you're welcome. I think it's cool. Get it? 'Cause it's frozen? "OMG Em you are soooo funny!" Aw shucks, you're too kind. 

BANANA ICE CREAM CAKE with MATCHA, BLUEBERRY + VANILLA LAYERS

Matcha layer:

3 frozen bananas

1 teaspoon matcha powder

5 Medjool dates (optional)

Blueberry layer:

2 frozen bananas

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Handful cashews

Handful dried coconut flakes

Vanilla layer:

3 frozen bananas

1/2 vanilla bean

2 tablespoon coconut nectar or other sweetener

Handful dried coconut shreds (optional) 

For each layer: just blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth and very thick! If your blender cannot handle it, add some coconut milk to keep things moving, and keep things creamy (if you add water it'll just make it icy). Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the matcha and blueberry mixtures. Spread each layer evenly into a 6 inch cake pan (mine is adjustable), with the vanilla layer being on top. Now drop little dots of the matcha and blueberry mixtures onto the top of the cake. Use a toothpick or chopstick and drag the tip through the dots - it makes hearts! Freeze until sold. When you wanna serve this, I recommend letting it thaw for a bit so it gets creamy. 

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GIMME SUSHI: THE GREEN ROLL

Okay first of all don't freak out 'cause I'm eatin' white rice. I have been consuming so much brown rice lately that tonight I just wanted to do it up white. I hope we can still be friends.

Some of you may have tuned into the fact that I have hopped on the YouTube train! That's right, peeps - I'm making videos now. (Psst you should subscribe and stuff.) The past seven days I have been uploading "What I Ate Today" videos to give you guys a better idea of my general diet. Keep in mind I go through phases of liking certain meals/foods. The past week, I have been loving rice and tomato bowls, and sushi rolls. The smoothies I have all day are basically a ritual though, they don't change much because I will never get tired of my giant smoothies... *kisses Mason jar devotedly*

Upon watching my daily food videos, you may also pick up on the fact that I am eating an 80/10/10-ish diet these days. I say "-ish" because I don't stress over sticking to labels, I just eat what I want. Recently, what I want to eat has gradually turned into a high-carb diet. It was pretty much that before (fruit all day then grains and veggies for dinner) except that I never limited my fat intake. So now I am merely cutting down on my nuts and coco oil. As I have said before - I am not trying to scare anyone about consuming fat. Fat in your diet is awesome and uber necessary; PLEASE KEEP EATING IT. However, eat it in moderation. A single serving of most of my desserts will give you your daily recommended intake of healthy, wholesome fats so no worries there, bro. I got you. And honestly even if you eat like three servings it's still all raw goodness and you'll probably keep glowing and feeling great. Some of the healthiest people in the world consume all the fat they want, so it's not like the 80/10/10 diet is ideal for everyone. I always say just DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. And right now, for me, it feels most natural for me to carb it up and lower the fat content. I haven't been wanting to make the recipes I usually post on my blog. I've just been wanting ALL the fruit (smoothies with 10 bananas and crazy s*** like that) and massive bowls of rice and steamed veggies. There isn't a point in the day where I'm like "ugh I want a caramel chocolate bar with all my soul at this moment" (as ludicrous as that sounds)... so I haven't been making those kinds of recipes. Again... I am NOT SAYING they are unhealthy. They're flipping fantastic. But this is a personal diet shift for me. I was consuming a lot of fat because I would test all my recipes as I was making them, and then proceed to eat most of them all by myself. Hehe. My life is fab.

Here's the idea: when you are eating high-carb, you get so full on carbs - which are the body's ideal fuel source - because you eat as much of them as you want so you don't even have room to crave fats. For example: some people who choose this diet eat like 20 mangoes for breakfast. This is more of an experiment than anything else, because I've never done 80/10/10 for long, so I don't know if this will work for me long-term or not. I will keep you guys informed the entire way. And you can stop sweating - just 'cause I'm goin' low-fat now doesn't mean I'm ever gonna stop posting food porn recipes and photos on my blog... *wink*. Speaking of yummy recipes... sushi, anyone? This roll is themed green because it's got avocado, zucchini and cucumber as the fillings. It tastes aaaaamaazzzinng so you should make it immediately. Now. Do it.... why are you still here.

THE GREEN ROLL

3 nori sheets
2 cups cooked rice (or use sprouts instead of rice to make it raw)
1 tablespoon peeled ginger root
1/2 cucumber
1/2 avocado
1 zucchini 

Slice the zucchini on a mandolin into thin noodles. Slice the avocado, ginger, and cucumber thinly. Evenly spread the rice onto the nori sheets and then layer on the plants; roll it up and have a party! Don't know how to roll sushi? Click here. By the way: this serves one person. Also: I ate it with this sauce.

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coconut, ginger + mint tart with kiwi

This is delightful, refreshing and sweet like the summer sun. Okay - I know I am getting ahead of the seasons here but I am just so excited for summer to arrive. We are finally started to get blue sky and warmer temperatures here in good ole British Columbia. That was the inspiration for this tart. Besides... I like mint.

I added ginger just because it was there, I sniffed it, and decided it might pair well with Mr. Mint. Hurrah! I was right. Thank you, nose - rarely have you steered me in the wrong direction (except with durian). My boyfriend was quite happy to run away with the piece of this tart I cut for him, smiling maniacally. I think there might have been a giggle in there too. Point being: this is tasty.

Mint has got to be one of my top three favourite herbs. The other two are sweet basil and rosemary. OH MA GERD they are all just so delicious, unique, beautifully evolved and... green. The best things are always green, when you really think about it. T'is why I topped this baby off with kiwi slices and more mint leaves. Okay - and a bit of coconut shavings because you can't go wrong with those. Unless you are deathly allergic, then things will go as wrong as possible. Bad.

I took photos of this before it had enough time to set, so it didn't hold it's shape very well but don't fret, my dear friends, it will be fine after a few hours or overnight in the reliable and handy refrigerating machine. Also know as your fridge. If you like, add a banana or avocado into the filling for another layer of flavour, creaminess and plain bulk. The more tart, the better. Amiright.

cashew fruit tart with coconut, ginger + mint:

Crust:

1 cup walnuts

1 cup oats or buckwheat groats

2 cups raisins or dates

Filling:

1 cup cashews

Handful mint leaves

1 tablespoon peeled ginger root

2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil

1 cup dates

1/4 cup maple syrup (optional) 

Water or other liquid, as needed

To make the crust: process the walnuts and oats/groats in your food processor until they are a rough flour. Add the raisins and process until it starts sticking together. Press in the bottom of a lined tart tin. Set aside. 

To make the filling: blend all ingredients until smooth, adding as little water or other liquid as possible, but enough to make it creamy and smooth. Taste it and add more stuff according to your preferences. Or not. 

Assemble the beauty: spread the filling onto your crust evenly and set in the fridge overnight or for a few hours. Decorate with sliced fruit, coconut shavings and mint leaves. Enjoy!

health on a budget summit

You guys, I have been asked to be an affiliate for the Health On A Budget Summit, which is a 5 day event hosted by Raw Foods On A Budget. Check it out here.

 Pretty cool, huh? The following gives you a good idea about what this Summit is about.
And DON'T WORRY - IT'S FREE! And online.

Let’s be honest, the topic of being healthy on a budget has been brushed aside for WAY TOO LONG! And in the current economy, we need these answers more than ever! The people over at the Health on a Budget Summit have made it their mission to find experts in affordable healthy living and they have brought them to you! For FREE!

The Health on a Budget Summit is a FREE 5-Day online conference that will be aired LIVE from May 19th to 23rd! During the Summit, you will be able to listen to over 30 talks and interviews with experts discussing topics like:

Eating Raw Foods on a Budget
Eating Vegan on a Budget
Eating Vegetarian on a Budget
Eating Organic on a Budget
Eating Gluten-Free on a Budget
Feeding Your Family on a Budget
Foraging Basics and Foraging in Urban Areas
Eating Healthy on Food Stamps
Eating Healthy in College
Raw Food for Busy People
Getting Fit on a Budget
Budgeting 101
Raising Financially Responsible Children
Creating a Budget that You Love
Live More on Less
Gardening on a Budget
Getting Healthcare on a Budget
Natural Beauty on a Budget

The Summit will feature a Cooking section that will showcase affordable raw, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free recipes; a Fitness section featuring exercise videos exclusively created for the Summit; a Summit cookbook with 100+ vegan, raw, vegetarian, and gluten-free recipes; Gardening and Budgeting 101 guides; and a HUGE Community Forum!

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