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Raw Brownies

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These days, I'm trying to eat a raw vegan diet. I did it in October of 2011 for the month, loved it, and have been wanting to do it again. But, real talk, it's been a little freakin' hard! I'm not sure why, however I'm working harder now trying to stick with it... until Sunday that is. See, I'm taking some precious little middle schoolers to camp and I couldn't bare to tell the chef I'm a RAW vegan, so I just went with 'normal' vegan.

Lame. I know. Worst part is I kind of forgot, therefore I have a good amount of produce that I'm actually going to take with me. Is that weird? Or rude? "Hi, I'm a guest leader here for the week with the speaker. I'm a vegan so make me special meals all week. Also, I carry around my own produce, so I'm going to need to store it in your fridge. Thanks!" Hmm... Anyways, I'll worry about that later. 

A full pan, though my housemates and I each had a spoonful before hand :)

Last night I made some killer Raw Brownies. In fact, my wonderful housemates tried them and also agreed that they were quite deeelish! (WARNING: The following recipe is both tasty and chocolatey. A nice cool glass of your favorite non-dairy milk will most likely be craved).


corner piece with extra coconut, DIBS!

Raw Brownies
*This recipe was inspired by Kristen's Raw
     
what you'll need:
  • 1/2 cup hazelnuts
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 flax seeds
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1/2 cup chocolate powder
  • cinnamon to taste
  • 1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp extract
  • 15 medjool dates, pitted
  • agave, optional
  • shredded coconut, optional

most of what you'll need

what you'll do:
  • Add the seeds, nuts, coco, cinnamon, and vanilla to food processor fitted with "S" blade and process until coarsely ground.
  • Add dates, processing until they're well incorporated and mixture is sticky.
  • Evenly distribute and flatten into a 9x13 pan.
  • Add a light drizzle of agave across the top and sprinkle with coconut.
  • Enjoy!

my little guy has never been so full

TIP: Parchment paper is a great way to keep your hands nice and clean

We enjoyed these raw brownies last night and it was great having such willing housemates to try something so far fetched. I love 'em. These brownies were also a great way to introduce raw foodism/veganism to my housemates. Again, I just love 'em.

Today we had a throwback slash birthday party for the lone male in the house. I was able to get some of our friends to give this nice chocolatey raw brownie a try and I got nothing but positive reviews! They're super simple and a healthy alternative to its sugary, processed, heavy gluten, caloric counterpart.

If you've had something similar or try these ones, leave a comment and let me know what you think!


Until next time friends,
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Black Friday and Butternut Squash

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Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! And to those of you who believe in the magic of the craziest retail shopping day of the year, Happy Black Friday!! I spent a total of zero dollars today (combo of self control and not leaving the house, the first to do the second) and made a total of zero dollars today. Still, bitter about the latter.

It's so frustrating being a nanny and working your schedule into the schedule of the family you work for; but the WORST part is when they cancel last minute on you. I love the kids I watch and adore their parents, but it's getting to the point where I want to make plans in addition to nannying because then I know at least one will happen (However, in the odd chance that I did that and then I had to work, flaking on plans is never okay, so that plan has it's faults). Anyways, so the family I nanny canceled last minute on me which was kind of nice because now I can stay home a little longer (and my clothes wouldn't have been done drying by the time I would have had to leave).

Thankfully, when I came over to my mother's I brought some of my own food with me because I figured there wouldn't be much for me to eat. So, since I had time to make dinner, I had to improvise with what I had: butternut squash.

Here's what I ate:

caramelization at it's finest

mmmmm

Honey Glazed Butternut Squash

what you'll need:
  • 1 small butternut squash, about 1-2 lbs
  • 3 tbsp honey (to make truly vegan, use maple syrup instead)
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp fresh ground sea salt
what you'll do:
  • Preheat oven to 450º F.
  • Peel and cube squash. (Need help? No problem, click here.)
  • Mix cubed squash, honey, oil, and salt in a bowl until squash is well coated.
  • Move squash into a baking dish; cook for 35 minutes uncovered stirring every 10 minutes so as not to burn the squash. *Note: A larger squash will require more time, add 5 minutes and check. It will be done when it is tender.
  • Serve as a side, or as I did on top of some plain cooked oats. 
sloppy presentation, I'm no culinary decorator!
This combination of squash and oats seems bizarre, I know, but it was good. It was sweet because of the caramelization of the squash, but filling because of the cooked oats. I imagine this also being good with some spicy fried rice (next time...)! 

If you try it with something else, let me know how it goes!

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