Fabulous Vegan Recipes

This pie is epic!! And it took me all of 10 minutes to make. I did a little bit of preparation the night before but I pretty much woke up, put the ingredients in my Cuisinart and here it is....the best looking and tasting key lime pie I've ever had (if I may say so myself!). Made with whole, natural ingredients and no added sugar, this pie will impress anyone at your table. The only sweetener is from fruit (dates) and I made the crust nut-free to cut down on fat.

Three ingredients and a whole lotta awesomeness. I often find myself in the jam aisle at the grocery store pondering what to get and trying to find the jam with the least amount of sugar. Even if the jam is made with natural fruit sugars, there is always some kind of preservative or something I don't want in it. So, I thought, let me just make my own jam. It turned out fabulous and I just had to share.

Medjool dates...they are beautiful, sweet, full of fiber and will satisfy any sweet tooth you have.  I became obsessed with dates about two years ago and I've expanded my use of dates in various recipes; most notably I use them in raw desserts as part of the crust.  Dates are right up there with bananas as far as sweetness goes and it's SO easy to eat a ton of dates in one sitting.  I made these stuffed dates two years ago and thought about them on the subway so I'm flashing back!

So, I finally have date sugar!  It was an all day process.  I wanted to keep the oven at 170 but I had to increase the temp to 275 because they were still soft after 2 hours.  I burned them slightly so I'm not sure how people put them in the oven at 400 degrees without frying them.  Anyway, I took them out of the oven after 4 hours and let them cool then I put them in my food processor.  Oh my gosh, it is sticky sugar!  My food processor lid was sticking and it was hard to take apart.  The date sugar looks more like cocoa.  It tastes good and I'm going to try some tomorrow morning in oatmeal.  I hope to get better at this recipe. You will need: dates of your choice-get cheaper ones cookie sheet food processor or blender Pit the dates and place on the cookie sheet.  Preheat your oven to 275 and place the dates in the oven for about 3 hours.  You will smell them start cooking and they may start to smell burnt.  ...

My obsession with dates continues with date sugar!  I just pitted about 15 dates and they are in the oven at 170 degrees.  I'm drying them out at a low temp so they don't lose all of their nutrients.  Some recipes call for 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes but I wanted to make them more "raw."  They will be in the oven for a few hours so I'm hoping by late tonight, I will have date sugar.  Date sugar is a low glycemic sugar and if you make it homemade, you will ensure there is no processing, no chemicals added, etc.  It's a great alternative to white sugar.  I'm anxious to see the consistency and I would like to add some date sugar to my oatmeal tomorrow morning.  I love sugar and I'm constantly looking for healthier sweeteners.  Stay tuned....

I talked about making stuffed dates for my friend's dinner tonight...well here they are!  I was worried about getting the pits out without destroying the entire date but it was easier than I thought.  You have to feel around for it and then use a knife to cut the date a little bit and fish out the pit.  Then you stuff an almond or two where you took the pit out.  I then covered in coconut oil and rolled it in shredded coconut.  The coconut didn't really stick to the date so I put some extra coconut on top of the date and also around the date.  Maybe I should have used coconut sugar or super finely shredded coconut.  Anyway, they look yummy and I'm excited to taste them tonight along with my friends.  Oh...I heated the coconut oil on low and painted each date using my kitchen brush.  I love coconut oil, it's a wonderful alternative to olive oil especially if you're cooking on high heat.  Behold:

It's been so long since I've posted and I'm going to dive right in with my new favorite food...dates!  I'm going to start a whole foods cleanse at the end of this week so I'll be posting recipes of dishes that only include fresh, organic whole foods with no processing, no sugar and no white flour.  I'm also a smoothie queen, especially since I've started running long distances.  Anyway, this Saturday I'm going over my friend's house to hang out and eat her delicious homemade middle eastern dinner.  She loves cooking and always cooks vegan for me so I'm excited to see her fabulous presentation.  I told her I would bring the dessert so after researching middle eastern desserts, I decided I will be bringing stuffed dates covered in coconut flakes.  After pitting the dates, you stuff them with almonds (or another nut of your choice) and then coat them with either powdered sugar or coconut-I'll do coconut since it's a little he...