May 10, 2013

Weekend Recipe - Raw Coconut Fudge

Yum yum yum! I'm always up for a treat, but make me one with amazing ingredients, no crap, that tastes delicious AND is super good for my mind, body and soul... oh baby! I'm there. This is one of those treats and it comes from the gorgeous Heather over at Sweetly Raw, who is perhaps the best raw desserts chic on the inter-web so go check her out.


What you'll need:

6 tablespoons melted coconut butter
6 tablespoons cashew or almond butter

2 tablespoons coconut nectar
2 tablespoons lucuma

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt


Stir all ingredients together in a bowl.
Spread into a plastic wrap lined container.

Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
Slice. Taste. Enjoy. Let this deliciousness fill every inch of your body. Mmmm.
And store in the fridge - if there's any left ;)




Want more recipes? More notes on nutrition? More reasons to eat healthy but make sure it tastes incredible? Sign up for my newsletter to get more.

Have a fabulous weekend. Catch you all  next week.

Christie xx

This recipe is from the incredibly talented Heather over at Sweetly Raw







Apr 27, 2012

One step at a time

So not off to the best of starts after my 2 months away... and as much as I procrastinate telling myself that I can't post a blog without photos, as my mobile phone/camera is in at the shop getting repairs done (complete with all my photos of our Sunday banana-choccie-almond-crunch-chia-layered-parfait-brekkie, my tranquil trip away to Bowral last week with my step-mum's home grown vegies in the back yard, the massive green salads Brock and I had post yoga, and more)!!

NOTE: since typing this draft yesterday I've had an AHA moment and 2 of the pics I posted straight from my phone last week onto FB, have now been posted below. Blonde moment yes, but we've got some piccies!! :) And my photo-shopping program has been updated so I have a bucket load of new designs and effects to play with! Happy days :)

Mid-morning snack on the front balcony over looking the lake

Besides the lack of a good mobile phone at present (although my old cute little flip top Sony I bought in Italy years ago brings back such happy memories), things are pretty much the same as usual.
Actually no - you know what, they're not the same! They're BETTER than usual! Yep! BETTER! I'm forever telling people I'm the "same as usual - never ending study, work, etc, you know" when this past week has been so much more than just that! The past few weeks infact.

- I took 3 weeks off work to really knuckle down some college modules and I have done just that, and feel great for it! Sure it's a challenge getting my head around Biology and the deepening ins and outs of nutritional studies but when I understand it I LOVE IT and it's FASCINATING!

- I spent 5 days down in Bowral at my dad's place to really chill out, focus, drink tea (I say that like I don't otherwise drink copious amounts), eat lightly, and rest. I got a bunch of assessments done there, and since being back I've got a bunch more done.

- I'm trying new bits n pieces for my skin issues and am finding small improvements (yippee!). I'll let you know how things are going a bit later.

- Brock and I have been spending the best time ever together - even if that was one whole day driving from one mobile phone shop to the next, back home for contracts and receipts and back again. He is due to head off to Thailand on Sunday so intentionally or not, we've been glued to one another hip. I quite like that ;)

- I've also been doing a few gentle -but powerful- online workouts as well as rebounding and find I'm feeling a lot better from them both. I've always been a fitness and gym junkie but after a shoulder injury, followed by a sciatic injury (both for reason's still unknown to me), I was off the gym and have been for probably 3months now. Soooo unlike me! But you know what? I am so surprised at how my body has held up! My mind was trying to convince me that without my 4-6 gym classes a week I would surely balloon out, get fat and feel yuck! Well, my body looks very close to exactly the same as it was when I was up early every second day to work out. I know there's no way I could lift the weights I was 3 months ago now which is a bit of a bummer, but Brock mentioned to me yesterday that some of the world's top athlete's take 6 months off every year to really rest and recover, which was a huge boost to my self esteem, and a real joy to hear after beating myself up for not working out. My step-dad has also said each time I've popped over to say hello, that I'm looking better than ever! I laugh and say I'm doing absolutely nothing! It doesn't really surprise me though. My body has been feeling too tired and sore and exhausted to do much of anything that all I muster up is a 20minute walk most days, and even that brings on minor pain. But it's good to get out of the house.
So with that, I've been on my rebounder more and that has given me loads of energy, lymphatic boosts, and with minimal impact, and I'm feeling so-far-so-good coz of it! Really good infact. Yay :)

But I best get going again coz my aim is to finish one big Nutrition assessment today, and a Biology one too if I can squeeze it in! I'm off to a comedy gig tonight and very much looking forward to surprising Brock with that! I only just got given free tickets - ten minutes ago!

Quick and easy (minimal pantry ingredients) dessert or brekkie parfait

But before I jet I'll spill the beans on a super easy-use-whatever-you've-got-dessert-or-brekkie-recipe you can try this weekend.I made this at dad's down in Bowral the night before I left to use up my last few bananas, and coconut. I've tried to guess the quantities I used but adjust to taste coz I never measure anything myself.

Recipe (quite literally):

Step 1
Young coconut flesh from one coconut
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla
Coconut water as needed... blend all until smooth then pour into a small bowl and set aside

Step 2
2 bananas
1-2 tsp cacao... blend together then pour into a small bowl

Step 3
Handful of chopped dates
Handful of nuts
Pinch of salt...blend until crumbly and set aside

Pull out 3 little glass cups, bowls or jars and start layering your 3 mixtures. Eat straight away, or set in fridge or freezer. If you're like we were and too full from dinner, save these for brekkie!

I'd usually use a few other ingredients in something like this but at my dad's the pantry is not stocked for a raw vegan and so I use what I can. Something like this can be made with any fruit, and nuts, and any dried fruit. Be creative. Experiment with your favourite flavours and let me know how you go!


Have an awesome weekend!!
Christie :)

Mar 16, 2011

Botanical Confectionary

Salivating much?

Is that not one of the most beautiful desserts you've seen? Wait til you see the rest! This baby is one of many creations from Omid Jaffari - Melbourne Botanical Cuisine chef extraordinaire! And last Sunday was Day 2 of his Sydney tour.

The Botanical Confectionary Workshop - aka dessert day!!
And oh - my - god! If ever a menu has gotten better and better and BETTER with each course served, this was it!

We had a full house again (of course - its desserts!!) with a couple of new faces, and we were all blessed with another spectacularly warm sunny day :)

Tables set, music on, waters poured...

Omid, Maya and I all made sure the day was chilled and relaxing for all our guests so that they could INDULGE a little (well alot) guiltfree... every morsel, every taste, every texture, every flavour, and intriguing combination that was to pass their lips and linger on their taste buds had to be perfect. And so (drumroll please) in order of appearance (and almost order of crowd favourites to be honest), the deathly sins were as follows…

- "Gimme Summer That" Smoothie
- Strawberry Granita
- Salt of the Earth; Chocolate Mousse on Chocolate soil and candied citrus
- Coconut, ginger and lime sorbet
- Green smoothie
- Blueberry flan with lavender syrup and triple-candied citurs
- Panna Cotta with fresh passionfruit and edible flowers
- Lemon granita with sweet cinnamon drizzle

We re-arranged the order of dishes last minute and it worked perfectly! Granitas and sorbets cleansed palates after rich chocolate dishes, and the sweet green smoothie mid way helped to bring everyone back down to Earth after their Heaven highs :)

The presentation Omid has perfected with his dishes is the most beautiful thing to watch for anyone with 'perfectionistic traits'... um, cough cough... ;)
This beauty was the Blueberry flan and it was the number one favourite.

... Until this baby entered the room...

Welcome the Panna Cotta. Close your eyes and imagine this - a creamy yet refreshing-sweet-coconutty-sorbet-like-textured-petite-little-beauty... contrasted so SO well with the TANG of fresh passionfruit. Got it? YUM! This was the winner. Hands down. Said by all.


HOWEVER...

In my opinion - dare I stray from the crowd - the chocolate mousse has to be THE best thing I have EVER tasted in my life! EVER! (lucky for me I’ve had leftovers in my fridge all week)
Soft, smooth, melt in your mouth… A deep rich chocolate flavour, with a hint of dragonfruit peppered throughout ever so subtley … a touch of candied lime gently perched ontop with a pinch of sea salt to finish it off… every little detail thought of and teamed up perfectly. Oh and the chocolate soil underneath - whoah! Holy moley!




Yep that's me alright! Totally blissing out on chocolate mousse.
It was another successful day, full of fun and laughs, wonderful conversations had, questions passed around and bouncing off each other for answers... I love moments like these. Days like these! I was blessed with a whole weekend of it! Like-minded people coming together and HAVING A BALL!

So this weekend I'll be down in MELBOURNE for the final leg of the Botanical Cuisine Tour which is going to be quite the Grand finale and I get to indulge in more of everything I loved so much about last weekend! There will be more chef's in Melbourne, more dishes, more guests, more surprises! I cannot wait! I'll be busy busy making sure everything is ready and everyone knows what they're doing but know we will all pull it off with a BANG! I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes next week sometime. Until then... put those tongues back in your mouth ;)

Nov 11, 2010

Anniversary Dinner

Happy Vegan MoFo Day 11

A celebratory post this evening for you all -

Tuesday was my one year anniversary with Brock and we celebrated - in style - in the comfort of our own home.

We set up a table in the backyard, donned our best going-out clothes, prepared the last-minute menu and enjoyed one another's company after both working all day.

The Menu:

Fresh chilled Thai young coconut water to begin...


A great big red cabbage salad with shredded carrot, parsley, celery, raisins, sunflower seeds, coconut, flaxseed oil and apple cider vinegar.

A layered lasagna with eggplant, zucchini strips, fresh tomato salsa, sweet corn, shredded kale and mushrooms topped with sliced avocado, chilli flakes and nutritional yeast...


Then onto dessert...

Due to my first thought (layered choc mousse/coconut cream/berries/etc) turning into something not so yummy, I was lucky to have had Maya's Moonlight Shadow brownie in the fridge waiting to be eaten... and it teamed up perfectly with my home made coconut ice cream (recipe found here) topped with cacao nibs and agave syrup...

...served with cacao-dipped strawberries... some also dunked in coconut.



Everything was DELICIOUS. Our evening was BEAUTIFUL. And we each gave each other a photo frame with a photo of us as up until now, we never had one. Now we have two.

Happy Anniversary babes xx

Nov 5, 2010

Sunset Parfaits

MoFo Day 5 peoples!!

Last night Brock and I went to Dad and Gails for dinner which is always FAB! I love to see what gail prepares as she herself knows very little about RAW cuisine but as a MAD foodie nonetheless, she's always up for the challenge.

Unfortunatley I forgot to take my camera to snap pics of the amazing presentation, but a quick run down of what we ate...

- Assorted nuts to nibble on...
- Glasses of fresh watermelon juice (which I thought would upset my tum tum with other food combos but after a little sip that was INCREDIBLE, I had a glass and was very pleased with no nasty side effects)

Then we had:

- Shredded cabbage and carrot salad with snow pea sprouts...
- A big green leaf salad with celery, cucumber, radish and herbs...
- A bowl full of THE BEST heirloom tomatoes I've ever had!! with baby onion, basil and shallots...
- Soft, smooth avocado halves with tomato salsa in the centres...

And the the piste-resistance (for which I found Dads camera coz this just HAD to be seen to be believed)... DESSERT!!


Watermelon, mango and mulberry parfaits with frozen melon balls and fresh juicy, tasy fruit to go with it. Oh my god! She did well.


Very well.

Aug 12, 2010

Food Porn



Need I say more?

I made seven of these little babies for a decadent rich dessert last weekend to celebrate a belated Christmas In July at our place, and my god was it good!

If your keen to replicate it yourself, head over here for the recipe.

I altered a few things in mine as you can do with yours, but the basics are there. A little time needed but well worth it :)