Slightly weird how a combination of events can switch things around in your head and have an instant effect – a death of a friend, a book about raw foods and a couple of videos on how food had cured a Doctor of multiple sclerosis and a bout of catarrh and aches and pains have started us on a total revamp of our lifestyle, recipe stash and  pantry.   We have always believed in food as your medicine and      Victoria Boutenko’s book   is all about Raw Food and the extreme changes the family made to become healthy and is pretty inspiring – a topic for another blog but there is a Truffle recipe in the book called Sergei’s Amazing Truffles  – the recipe uses 1 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup pitted dates, 1/4 cups young coconut water 4 Tablespoons raw carob.  - blend the whole lot in a food processor like a Vitamix and roll in carob.
Victoria Boutenko/s Books here
Vitamix Blenders Here

We made the Truffles and they were delicious but  the next batch was an experiment since we had no walnuts, no coconut water and wanted to reduce the amount of Carob to make it less rich  so we came up with the version below you can increase the amounts to make more or substitute ingredients – cashews are good but see what you have to hand.

Yummy Carob Pyramids or Balls

•  3 prunes  - cut in half to make sure there are no stones
• handful of dates –  cut in half to make sure there are no stones
• Rolled Oats or instant porridge
• handful sunflower seeds
• Carob – 1 large dessertspoon
• handful shredded coconut
• scrunched cornflakes or crunchy cereal of your choice
• Apple juice to mix to the right consistency

How to:  Put the everything except cornflakes  in a high speed blender like a Vitamix (I use a Magic Bullet)The Amazing Magic Bullet whizz up until desired chunkiness – don’t blend too much or they will be too smooth.   Either add crunchy cereal later or pulse until desired level of crunchiness and stir through.   Form into pyramids ( or balls if you prefer) and roll in a mix of coconut, Carob, sesame seeds and mixed nuts and chill in the fridge.

 12 Steps to Raw Foods by Victoria Boutenko

Want to try something cool, icy, and delicious but want to know what’s in it ?

Try these  Chocolate Ice Blocks or Iced Lollies

•  1 teaspoon gelatine
• 1/2 Cup cold water
• 1/4 Cup castor sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 Cup milk
• 1/2 Cup full cream milk powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Put gelatine and water in bowl and leave for three minutes ( to set gelatine)

Put everything else in a blender and blitz

Melt gelatine in the water in microwave for 10 – 15 minutes on high

Add melted gelatine  to blender and whizz again

Pour into ice block moulds and freeze for at least 12 hours  - or in ice cube trays and add toothpicks

Additions and options 

Coffee version: leave out the cocoa and add instant coffee or strong coffee to the gelatine soak

Yoghurt and whizzed up pineapple is great 

Any fruit juice frozen by itself or blended with yogurt

Add cinnamon or  fresh or frozen berries – raspberries go well with chocolate.

 Kitchen Utensils and Gadgets

Bliss Balls  - quick easy and delicious treat that is healthy too.

Here is the approximate “recipe” but it is not an exact science as you can put in whatever nuts, dried fruits you have on hand.   Basically it is a grind and blend recipe and if the mix is not moist enough to mold into balls add a little fruit juice – orange or lemon is good but any will do.

Ingredients:

• Oats – any quantity
• Prunes
• Hazelnuts
• Dates, Banana
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves – ground
• 1 tablespoon carob powder
• lemon rind
• coconut for rolling the Bliss Balls in

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If you want to lose weight more efficiently, you need to eat more to get it done. You may not believe it because it disagrees with the whole concept of dieting, but it really work. The truth is you need to eat more of the good food.

The sizes of the food you eat depend on your total daily calorie allowance. You may stock your metabolism by eating a snack or small meal around every 3 hours. In a day you may eat up to 5 or 6 small meals for instance breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner and evening meal.

It is advisable that snacks should contain between 100 and 200 calories each. You are probably wondering what kind of snacks could possibly contain 100 to 200 calories and at the same time satisfy your taste. You can agree with me that junk food options or any sort of processed snacks can lead to zero nutrition and full of empty calories. You will notice that processed snacks will not satisfy you and it cause a drop in blood sugar levels, which lead to unhealthy food cravings. The only way you can avoid this viscous cycle is to get foods that are naturally low in calories and nutrient dense.

The top 10 Nutrient Rich Snacks are given below:

1. Dried Fruit like prunes, raisins, cranberries, dates and cherries – unsweetened.
2. Popcorn for example unsalted, no butter, margarine or air popped.
3. Veggies such as baby carrots, sugar snap peas, celery sticks and so on.
4. Nuts for instance pine nuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts.
5. Dark Chocolate.
6. String Cheese.
7. Whole grain cracker with Peanut butter or Hummus.
8. Fresh fruit & Berries.
9. Cottage cheese, frozen berries and honey.
10. Smoothie.

Finally, lots of these snacks are great for on-the-go or at your desk at work. Make sure that you develop a very good portion control if you really desire healthy snacks. By the time you have these healthy snacks at your disposal; it will help in avoiding any dietary difficulty.

To get weight loss fast, click here Six Pack Abs.     Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Mike

Avocado with   ….  ?     Everything )   Some quick and easy ways to use avocado

Avocado Dip – mash avocado with sweet chilli sauce  and use as a dip for nachos or crackers

• Avocado  - mashed on toast with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt from a grinder
• Add a poached egg  topped with sprouts for a more substantial light meal
• Splash a small amount of lime juice over mashed avocado and sprinkle with Gomasio or pine nuts
• Add a splash of olive oil, paprika and pistachio nuts to mashed avo’s
• Top avo dip with sweet chilli sauce with slices of tomato
• Top Avo dip  with thin slices of cucumber
• Mashed avocado with crumbled feta cheese sprinkled with chopped chives on cracker biscuits or Crostini
• Rub Toast or Crostini with crushed garlic before adding Avo topping of your choice
• Lemon infused olive oil is extra delicious with Avo and lemon zest sprinkled on top

There is a never ending  variety of breads to experiment with as a base – you will find your own favorite but half the fun is trying different combinations.

Remember to use freshly ground salt and pepper to bring out the best flavor

Turn the oven on

Grate Parmesan ( if feeling super lazy then buy it grated !)

Spread small handfuls on a greased  oven tray (or covered with baking paper)

- spread out a wee bit rather than “clump” them up

Bake in moderate oven until nicely browned

Let cool then transfer to cake cooler

These will be crisp and delicious and great to dip into dips, soups, crumble over dishes and salads and is superb  with slices  of pear or apple

Try different cheese to see which one you prefer and experiment with the placement of the cheese “gratings” to get the most pleasing effect.  Best with more holes and less cheesy “dumpings” as they tend to be more crisp.

Want something  quick, healthy and delicious  ?

Quick Hummus Recipe for 1 1/2 cups of Dip

• 1 can chick peas
• 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika – optional
• 1 clove garlic  minced or chopped finely if not using a processor

Combine all ingredients and blitz in a blender or food process until smooth or the consistency you desire.  Serve with Pita Bread, crackers, on pizza as a base, corn chips

Chilli Sauce is a great addition

Plum Ambrosia Popsicles – ambrosia as it tastes so scrummy and delicious !

We were given some plums that looked mouthwatering but tasted “mouthwateringly” sour and made our eyes water. We left them on the bench in disgust until we hit on the brainwave of iced plums , then even better, iced Popsicles and the tartness just adds to the flavor. How can something so good for you taste so good ?

How to:

• Stew your plums
• Add either sugar – honey for a healthier version
• Take out the stones ( this is the most time consuming but stick with it as its so worth it when you taste it – besides they play havoc with your blender !
• Blend the plum puree ( blend for a long time if you want smoother or we like it more chunky to give it more body. Pour into your chosen molds and leave to set. These have gone down a treat today and we spent part of the afternoon reclining in the shade slurping and drooling.

We were so taken with the idea that we have expanded it to tart, stewed cooking apples but any fruit and apricot or berry fruit would be sublime and is only limited by your imagination. What about adding Lemon Grass or Ginger to the mix ?

Adult version of Plum Ambrosia

Serve plum puree over crushed ice in a tall glass with a long spoon, add a sprig of mint and a dash of Cointreau or your preferred liqueur.   Serve with pistachio nuts and if feeling decadent shaved dark chocolate.

Try Peach Schnapps with peach puree and crushed ice.

Enjoy.

Need yummy healthy snacks ?

100 Healthy Raw Snacks and Treats

Try this refreshing selection for healthy recipes for snacks :

Iced lollies or healthy frozen snacks

You will need some ice block molds – the plastic kind with sticks attached that fit into the holder. I wish now I had bought two more so they can be setting while we munch……

Fill ice block holders with lemonade (wait until is stops fizzing before you insert the sticks or you will have very aerated ice blocks like we did the first time – really we like home made or ginger beer is good.

100 Easy and Healthy Snacks and Treats

Any type of fruit juice will be tasty – apple, peach, pear, but pineapple is very refreshing and passionfruit is scrummy added to almost any juice – or juice your own fruit and pour into the moulds to set. If you are in a huge rush to cool down use fruit juice from the supermarket but fresh always tastes best. We have found a delicious and natural juice that is thick and packed with real fruit in a Tropical Nectar that is almost as good as fresh squeezed.

Ice blocks for healthy easy snacks

Very weak jelly can make an interesting iced lolly

Lime juice and home made lemonade

Yoghurt smoothies make great frozen iced lollies

Iced coffee and iced drinking chocolate (added bonus = you know what is in them)

Freeze grapes and taste like mini Sherberts

Skin bananas and mash slightly and place on greaseproof paper or plastic wrap and freeze. These are a quick and delicious snack that is good for you and cooling too.

Super yummy is nice and tart rhubarb juice if you can strike the right balance and it is not too sweet.

4 hardboiled eggs (shelled and mashed)

1 & 1/2 Teaspoonsful of curry powder ( 2 if you prefer it hotter)

Salt and pepper to taste

Add mayonnaise or butter until smooth and chopped parsley is an optional extra.

Gluten Free Recipes

This same recipe can be used for a shared lunch.

Hard boil 4 – 6 eggs , cool in cold water ( makes them easier to shell) until cool. Shell and cut in half lengthwise.

Take out the yolks and mash with the above ingredients and place the yolks back in the whites.

Serve on lettuce leaves

Link for Devilled Eggs Recipe

Ria Patels Simple Egg Curry Recipe

Gluten Free Recipes