Fabulous Vegan Recipes

When you are eating raw, the majority of your calories comes from fruit. I bought a ton of fruit, leaning heavily on berries and I also bought my least favorite fruits: apples, pears and oranges. Oranges are a pain in the ass because you have to peel them but apples and pears are just boring. I mean, they are such a snooze. I hate just taking an apple or pear and eating it; it doesn't fill me up and there is nothing exciting about eating either. Maybe I've been eating apples and peanut butter for too many years but...snoooze! So, I decided to make my pears into a dessert and I'm LOVING them now!

It is my 5th day eating fully raw and I'm loving it. I'm not going to say I haven't thought about cooked food but I've been able to stay on track. It's so hot and humid so I'm sure that has something to do with wanting cold fresh fruits and veggies.

I just came back to the city after being home for a week visiting my family and friends in the burbs and I feel rejuvenated! I spent time with my little niece, drove around the burbs, hung out with my friends and enjoyed central air conditioning! The first thing I did when I got back to the city was hit the farmers market in Union Square to get a ton of veggies and fruit so I could start up my fully raw rest of the summer. I've always wanted to go fully raw for a few reasons: the health benefits, the weather and having a ton of in season fruit available to me, weight loss and to see how my body would feel eating completely raw, fresh foods. It's day 1 of being completely raw and I feel great.

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.

So, it has taken me all week to get this right and I'm 99% loving this recipe because I'm a perfectionist. I say 99% because I wasn't able to achieve the exact consistency as my chocolate peanut butter gelato, perhaps because I need to let the gelato freeze more. Anyway, my new Cuisinart blender was doing overtime for this recipe and I do love how the gelato tastes. It's made with super whole ingredients and it's great to make for your family without having to spend alot of money on non dairy ice cream. Also, I'm not loving my photos but the natural light was weak due to the stormy weather. Anyway, this recipe is here and that's all that matters so get to making some fresh, organic, natural ice cream!!

My mom bought me a cuisinart food processor that is much bigger than my old one. I'm in the process of perfecting my gelato recipe and I decided to make a chocolate pie while I was thinking about raw desserts. I used pecans for the crust and I never realized how oily they can be. These were raw pieces of pecans that I purchased yesterday. But the crust is insanely yum so let me just say if raw desserts tempt you to splurge more than you should, place the pie immediately in the freezer after making it. It's got an oooy gooy crust and a chocolate peanut butter bomb taste for the filling. Break this one out for your next party so you can impress the non vegans. I've made this pie before so I wanted to try a different crust but the filling is my chocolate avocado pudding filling that you just can't go wrong with. This recipe requires no bananas unless you want them.

I'm flashing back to two winters ago when I made this banana coconut cream pie because my whole life is all about coconut! I love coconut; I just bought coconut cream and coconut sugar to make my strawberry gelato. And banana coconut cream pie is sooooo a summer dessert that I just need to share this again. I made this pie with canned coconut cream that I bought at Trader joe's because I've never had success refrigerating and using coconut milk; it's always too runny. If you use coconut milk for creamy recipes, use it, you don't HAVE to use canned coconut cream. If you use coconut milk, use BPA free, canned full fat coconut milk. The filling for this pie is two ingredients (bananas and coconut cream) so it's a great I need to bring a dessert to this party but have no time to make anything recipe.

I was starving yesterday and I wanted something sweet so I whipped these up in two seconds. These are perfect to take to a BBQ or summer time party, just keep them out of the sun. Four ingredients, delicious and healthy, you can't go wrong with these. You can substitute almond butter for the peanut butter, you can use any nut butter for that matter. If you are gluten-free  make sure the oats are gluten-free. The spices in these just make them so delish.

I fixed my website so that my domain name points directly to my blog!!!  And the ads are back on my website!!! And the design looks so good, I'm so so happy!! Yay, the greatest feeling ever is loving the way your website looks. It's admiring how easy it is for your readers to navigate (see ingredient labels at the bottom of the blog). It's creating a website that you love to open in your browser....that is the greatest feeling as a blogger! I love Google blogs; everything I do is google, email, chats, my phone is a google phone.

Irish potatoes....they are not potatoes at all but a sweet dessert that resembles potatoes in appearance only. Apparently they are a Philadelphia/South Jersey dessert as not everyone is aware of what irish potatoes are. I grew up eating these tasty truffles around St. Patty's Day and they are so easy to make vegan and healthy. They are made from cream cheese mixed with coconut, sugar and rolled in cinnamon, some recipes call for butter but you don't need it. I made this recipe mostly raw so feel free to check out what these yummy morsels are all about.

Chia chia!  I love me some chia seeds.  They are full of omegas, fiber, healthy fat and energy, this is a great snack before a run or a middle of the day pick me up.This is also a great snack if you are craving sweets like I do. My cupcake craving is quickly satisfied with this bowl of goodness.

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!

For the first time since moving to NYC, I made dinner for my friends.  I went shopping at Trader Joe's, packed everything up and moved to a way bigger kitchen-my friend's in Brooklyn.  She has a Cuisinart food processor!  My dream food processor-much bigger than mine and it moved so smoothly and quietly. It was just beautiful and I wanted to take it home with me.  Making the pesto was such an easy process and I didn't have to worry about it.  My food processor is wonderful though; I've put it though the ringer (can you say sticky dates?) and it's still working well.  The grass is always greener right?  I couldn't fit the Cuisinart in my tiny kitchen anyway lol.

So, I ran out of cocoa powder and have not had cacao powder in a while (I buy Navitas Naturals brand) and I can't wait to run out and get some more. So whenever I'm missing chocolate, I obsess over it. I was flashing back to my chocolate mousse pie that I made at Christmas and wishing I had a piece. This is a super healthy, whole ingredient pie that is sweet and great for taking to a special occasion...or who are we kidding, just making for yourself at home!

I love easy sweet treats that are at the most 4 ingredients.  I was thinking about making my energy bars all week but haven't had time so I thought why not dedicate this post to them.  When you're making raw desserts such as pies or truffles, the base is almost always nuts and a dried fruit.  The dried fruit makes the mixture sticky and provides a cohesive force that holds it all together.  Since some people are allergic to nuts, you can use rolled oats and dried fruit.  The dried fruit I usually use are medjool dates but lately I'm also obsessed with dried apricots and dried pitted prunes.  So, for your base, use a nut of your choice and dried fruit OR rolled oats and dried fruit.  You can also throw in chia seeds or flaxseed meal.  It's best to use a food processor for these treats; you may also need coconut oil or just water to keep your processor going.  The dried fruit and nut/oat base gets super sticky and can stop up your food processor.

                                   This beautiful, crumbly, chocolate dessert is similar to a moist chocolate cake.....and it's completely made from whole, raw ingredients.  The beauty of raw food is immense, the versatility of fruit is awesome, you need never use sugar again if you make raw desserts using sweetness from fruit.  This is my favorite aspect of consuming raw food; you get right down to the nuts and bolts of what makes food, food... a raw chocolate cake: nuts and dried fruit, a little chocolate and vanilla flavor as well.  I love this recipe!

I re-designed my blog and I am so so proud of the look and layout!  I added labels and my sites section which makes it that much easier for you to navigate.  My whole purpose in redesigning the blog was to make it easier for you to find specific recipes based on what you are looking for: oats, smoothies, raw desserts etc.  So, now that I have that, I hope you take a look at each and every recipe you're interested in.  I noticed how much I've improved with my writing and photography skills since I started blogging back in 2011 and also when I picked back up again with the blog in 2013.  I've come a long way, baby! I love this blog, it makes me so happy, it is written with love, love for the animals, love for cooking, love for my readers.  I designed it myself, I spend lots of time thinking about the content and making recipes, it's my baby and I want to pass on that love to you.  So, take a look around and leave a comment if you love it or have any further sug

It's Thanksgiving week and all week I'm going to feature thanksgiving seasonal recipes. Are you already planning your dinner and buying all of your recipe ingredients? Friday I will recap what I had for thanksgiving dinner to show you that vegans can have a fabulous dinner even though we don't eat meat, dairy or eggs.

Tonight my friend Michele and I had our first workshop of many workshops yet to come.  We talked about healthy eating, managing cravings, self care tips and Michele taught some yoga poses and I taught meditation.  We also gave out gift bags and served vegan sweets.

I'm always inspired to make raw cakes when I see awesome recipes on Instagram. People go nuts with them, using nuts, fruit and berries, they all look so delish. Whenever I have dates and figs in the house, I look for a cake recipe to make since dates and dried figs make an awesome raw crust. So, this morning I wanted to make a cake with a peach theme and now I can't wait to share it. Here is what you will need: