BANANA OATMEAL with HAZELNUT BUTTER, RAISINS + BAOBAB POWDER

First thing's first: listen to this. Hopefully that improved your day, as long as we disregard the painfully conventional gender norms going on and just enjoy the track for the sweet beat that it is. Moving on. To oatmeal. I think my period is coming... soon. My lower back hurts, my muscles are sore and I am TIRED even though I got a good sleep last night. I suppose it seems like I talk about my menstruation cycle all the time, but that is not true! I only talk about it MOST of the time. Gimme a break (read: pass the heat pad). If you are a woman, you understand the significance and thus why I mention my moon flow so often. If you don't got a uterus, you may as well try to empathize and respect the #$%& we go through every month as fertile ladies.

This morning I woke up and wanted oatmeal. So I made oatmeal. That is the simple story behind todays recipe. I wish it was more exciting but at this point "exciting" does not sound appealing. I just wanna lay in bed with my cat, Dante, the chocolate maca bars Vega was so kind to send me - people ALWAYS send me chocolate at the right time of the month, at least I've got that going for me - and a marathon of Downton Abbey. That show is ADDICTING. Now, I say that is all I want to do; but in reality what I probably end up doing is just wandering around the house whining and rolling on the floor sporadically. I think I'm staying at my partners place tonight so he can be victim to my moans and lack of motivation to move. I am also planning on forcing him to massage my back. This is why I am in a relationship: it's all about the rubbin'. I used a special ingredient in this bowl of oatmeal: baobab powder! It comes from the gorgeous baobab tree and is super nutritious. I tried some from Kaibae and loved it! It adds a lovely flavour.

I feel like I have written so much but I only see a measly two paragraphs... well too bad. I can't think of anything else witty to say (have I even said anything witty yet?) so I'm calling it a day. Or, blog post.

Just make the oatmeal. Wait, also listen to this.

BANANA OATMEAL with HAZELNUT BUTTER, RAISINS + BAOBAB POWDER

1 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons steel cut oats
Pinch himalayan salt
1 tablespoon hazelnut butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup or preferred sweetener
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder or extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baobab fruit powder
1/4 cup raisins
1 large sliced banana
1 tablespoon hemp seeds

Pour the water into a pot and stir in the salt. Throw in all the oats and bring the water to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, bring the temperate down to low and simmer until the oats absorb the water, I like my oatmeal thin so I don't cook it for that long, around 20-30 minutes. Throw all the other ingredients - except the banana and raisins, into the bottom of a bowl, then pour on your oatmeal and mix everything together. Top with banana slices, raisins, and hemp seeds. Ahhh. Yum. 

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blueberry hemp smoothie

i love my blue blue blueberries. 

ours have, of course, stopped growing for the winter season and i've already eaten all the extra ones we froze. but yesterday my mom bought a giant bag of frozen organic blueberries! organic is always better (i don't want my food having nasty chemicals on it that the military originally used to kill their opponents in the first world war... no way) but for berries, spinach and apples - organic is EXTRA SUPER awesome because otherwise they are some of the most contaminated foods. check it out here, homies. 

and hey, lucky me - i've also got organic spinach. be jealous. so i threw all these magical ingredients together in my vita-mix blender and out came a delicious dark purple concoction that i will call a blueberry hemp smoothie from this day forward. it makes the spinach seem like a secret... shhh.

blueberry hemp smoothie with secret sneaky spinach: serves one

1 banana

1 cup frozen blueberries

2 tablespoons raw hemp seeds

1-2 cups water/vegan milk

2-3 cups organic spinach

1/8 teaspoon stevia (or a few dates)

blend. sip. smile.

raw fig bars with almond and figs from shiloh farms

today i bring you an inspired treat, rawified: fig bars! shiloh farms, an organic whole foods company based in the states, sent me some of their products for free to use and review! yippie for me! they were kind enough to mail me more than i asked for. i got extra alfalfa seeds! i also received black mission figs and raw almonds. while they were in the mail i decided what i would make with them - fig bars (as you may have guessed).

they are delicious! they remind me of a raisin butter tarts. imagine if a fig bar and a raisin tart had a baby (don't worry about logistics here okay, humour me)... then make it raw and vegan and you've got one of these! yum. i won't make this post too long because you probably just want the recipe BUT ALSO my friend just got here and we gotta make some juice! WOO.

as far as my review of the products goes - i love shiloh farms! the figs were delicious, satisfying and full of flavour; the almonds tasted really fresh and actually RAW; i am going to sprout the alfalfa seeds and let you know how that turns out. 

raw fig bars: makes 9 big bars

crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup almonds
1 heaping cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

filling:
2 cups dried figs, soaked in water for 2-4 hours (keep the water!)
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt

topping:
1 1/2 cups pecans

to make the crust: process the nuts in your food processor until you get really fine pieces - like flour. alternately you could use oat flour here. add the raisins and cinnamon. if it's not sticky enough, add some dates or maple syrup. press into a 9X9 pan or shape it yourself on parchment paper, that's what i did.

to make the filling: blend the figs, maple syrup/agave and salt in the food processor (no need to wash it yet), adding the soak water as needed to make it smooth but still quite thick. spread this on the crust but keep a little less than 1/4 cup of it in the food processor...

to make the topping: add the pecans to the food processor (with the leftover fig mixture) and pulse until there are small nut chunks, but not too fine. sprinkle this on top of the fig filling and press down a little. cut and enjoy! i sliced the sides off mine to make it a nice square so i had these extra strips of fig bar... i made fig nut milk! just blend it with water.

garden kale salad

we have so much kale in our garden.

this is not a problem though, i could eat it all day... and i do. i use it in smoothies, wraps, kale chips, soups, and salads! mainly in smoothies though. so yesterday i figured i make it into a salad instead of the usual green smoothie. oh wait - i had a green smoothie for breakfast.

but still.

dino kale is a bit bitter and tough for regular salad greens so what you do to make it all nice, soft and flavourful is massage your dressing in and let it sit for a few minutes. i did that while i cut up my other salad ingredients. they included: THE BEST TOMATOES EVER, grown on our deck. i also added some bell pepper, beans, and gardein because well... i like the taste. my dad thought i had put real chicken in the salad for a second. hah.

garlic kale salad: serves one

salad:

1 large organic tomato

4-5 cups organic dino kale

1 organic bell pepper

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (or throw in some nuts to keep it raw)

1 serving of tempeh or gardein (optional) 

handful of raisins

dressing:

1 tablespoon miso

1 tablespoon mustard

2 dates

handful of walnuts

3 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon tamari

water, as needed 

chop the veggies and kale, set aside. to make the dressing blend all ingredients until smooth. i hope you like it! then massage the dressing into the kale and let it rest for a 5-10 minutes, getting soft. put the tomato, pepper, raisins, chickpeas/nuts and protein on top and enjoy!

chocolate coffee face mask

i've had the worst sleeping hours lately and because of it i have been suffering deprivation symptoms - puffy face, baggy eyes, messed up digestion, and just being really frickin tired but not being able to fall asleep. SO I FINALLY DID SOMETHING ABOUT. i made this glorious, delicious, chocolate coffee face mask, adapted from crunchy betty. here it is on my face. laugh at me.

chocolate coffee face mask: makes enough for one face... aaaand a snack

2 tablespoons freshly, finely ground organic coffee
2 tablespoons cacao/cocoa powder
water/fresh almond milk, as needed

mix the coffee and cacao together and add water until it's a good face mask consistency. you want it sticky but easy to spread. smear all that goodness onto your gorgeous face and gobble up the leftovers in the bowl! yum! i don't even like coffee... let it stay on for around 15 or 20 minutes. rinse it off gently with warm water.

P.S. this is a lovely song that i am obsessed with currently. you'll probably think it's weird but i hope you like.

raw brownies & strawberries

Oh my goodness me. These are so tasty. I ate them with some organic strawberries my mom bought for me. The combo blew my mind and I ate like... at least 3 plus almost the whole container of strawberries. I can't help myself.

Raw brownies have the same ingredients as good quality (and let's face it - expensive) energy bars like Clif Bars or Larabars. Yummy, nutritious stuff like raw dried fruit, coconut, nuts and seeds. MMM! So good for you. They give you long lasting energy and keep you strong and healthy. These are the treats mother nature intended, and they are as processed as your food should get (which is not much at all).

So instead of paying $3.50 for a Clif Bar at trendy coffee shops - make them yourself, and better!

Everybody knows how delicious chocolate and strawberries are together, so brownies and strawberries are unsurprisingly amazing. I definitely recommend eating these with organic strawberries! They are one of the most contaminated plant foods otherwise.

Don't wanna buy expensive organic strawberries? Grow your own! We have seven plants flowering this year =) Last summer we just had one but MY GOD - the few berries that grew from it were the most luscious, flavorful things I've ever put in my mouth.

RAW BROWNIES YO: makes around 16

2 cups walnuts or your fave nut
1/4 cup hemp seeds
2 Tb flax seeds
1/2 cup coconut chunks
1 1/2 cups dates/prunes
1/3 cup cacao/carob powder
1/4 tsp each salt, cinnamon and cayenne
1/4 cup goji berries (optional)
2 Tb melted virgin coconut oil 

I think that's everything I put in these... but it's different every time. Always delicious though. Process all the ingredients in your food processor until it balls together. Press into a lined brownie pan and refrigerate for maybe 20 minutes. Slice 'em and devour with ripe strawberries. Perfection on a summer day.

Oh. Mother Nature - how kind are thee to give us ART in the form of FOOD.