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Caribbean Fig Bananna's Coverd in Raw Jamaican Chocolate

 

 

                     A Raw Caribbean Chef’s Chocolate Tale’s

Mistakes were something that I use to dread in the kitchen however I no longer view it as something bad I view it as an opportunity to grow as a chef and come up with new ideas.

I started out trying to make Raw Jamaican chocolate bars however my vitamix got all wacko and started mixing everything very high. This caused the chocolate to be airy and lumpy. As I stared at this mystery chocolate in puzzle face mode I was hit with an idea.

Why not further melt it between two bowls one filled with hot tap water. As I did that the chocolate became smooth chocolate mouse and although creamy it wasn't going to be good for making chocolate bars so I quickly came up with another plan.

 My mother brought some Caribbean figs yesterday and I decided to smear the chocolate moose like texture over it and top it with nuts. It was a great idea the chocolate did firm up over the fig bananas and most importantly they tasted great.  I am no longer afraid of kitchen mistakes they only help me to make other culinary discoveries. What kitchen mistake have you made that turned out to be a success?

Almond Hazelnut Cherry Chocolate Heart Kisses

I had a block of raw cacao butter on my kitchen counter for the past two months and I said what lets do something with it. At first I thought that I was going to make chocolate bars then I changed my mind and busted out with chocolate hearts instead.

I love them they kind of remind me of a Hersheys kiss hence the name. the combination of chocolate paste and raw cacao butter really made them creamy . I have no recipe to share because sometimes I just like to play in the kitchen.:(

   

 

Sugar Apple

 

 

I grew up eating this extremely sweet fruit it taste sooooo good, kind of like candy. They grow abundantly in the Caribbean, and we were lucky enough to have a tree in our front yard so I have no idea how much they cost ( lucky me )

Name: Sugar apple or Custard Apple

How To Eat : When ripe you can enjoy this sugary treat by breaking it open and placing the segments into your mouth separating the flesh and seeds. Trust me it is so worth it. Also you can press the the flesh and seeds through a mesh and add the juice to nut milks or ice creams ;the surgary flavor doesn't dissopoint.

To God Be the Glory                

Grown Up Caramel Apples

 

 

 

Sweet Caramel Sauce

 

 

This is a great recipe because not only is it rich in caramel flavor but it is extremely versatile. Use it for fruit dips, cake icings, ice cream toppings,  or  to make caramel apples.

 

 

 

1/3 cup of Lucama powder

1/8 cup of coconut oil

½ cup of maple syrup

1 teaspoon of salt

1 scrapped vanilla bean

 

 

Step 1: Place everything in the food processor and process until well blended.

 

            

            Lucama Fruit is dried and ground iinto a fine powder for mass   production.  

            

Spicy Pignoli Crackers

 

 

Once a week Dippig into the dehydrator recipe volt is ok with me. These crunchy crackes will amaze you. They tase fried, spicy and cheesy, they will not dissapoint.

 

 

Spicy Pignoli Crackers

1 cup of flax seeds ground

2 cups of pignoli nuts ground

3 juiced lemons

2 cups of water

1 cup of water blended with one large red pepper

1/3 cup of crushed red pepper ground

1 table spoon of salt

1 teaspoon of agave

 

 

Mix all these ingredients very well together in a large bowl.  Spread the batter evenly between two texflex sheets. Dehydrate overnight and then flip over until completely dry.

                                                       

Watermelon Three Easy Ways

 

                                                                                            Watermelon Picture Credit

Watermelon is juice-a-licious you can't deny it, when you cut into a crisp juicy watermelon and place it into your mouth it is like breaking through a juicy sugary piece of  heaven.

This season watermelon is big around here I usually buy one per week and devour it in less than two days.

    

 

Their are tons of watermelon varieties and there's even a moon and stars variety with yellow skin,can you believe it ?

Also for the married people watermelon is  a natural aphrodisiac, there's actually not a blue variety however you get the point.

 

Watermelon Juice

Watermelon juice is so nutritious and super easy too. This is a great breakfast tonic to get your body going and started off on the right track.

 

Half of watermelon

 

Step 1: scoop out the inside of a half of watermelon; place the meat in your blender, blend and drink.

 

For a tastier drink add agave and a little ginger to taste.

                              

                                                  Frozen Watermelon Juice Margarita

                                                                                                         

                             

                                                                  Watermelon with Ginger Slices

                             

 

Bomb Cucumber Salsa

 

Great Salsa is a little spicy,juicy and crunchy this is a simple satisfying snack that will please many palates.

 

Crunchy Cucumber Salsa

2 Roma Tomatoes washed and diced

1 Cucumber washed and diced

1 teaspoon of Salt

Dash of Cayenne pepper

1 /2 white onion diced

Mix in a medium bowl and Serve

 

Newbie Tuesday's

 

Newbie Tuesday's is a new addition to Raw Experiences, it is a day were I will focus excluslively on easy but satisfying recipes for newbies or others who would like to spend a little less time in the kitchen !

 

 

Cinnamon Crispies 

 

Buckwheat is natures little raw Rice Crispies!This cereal is crunchy and crisp with natural cinnamon flavor. You can eat it plain or add your favorite nut milk for a true cereal and milk experience.

 

2 Cups of raw Buckwheat

1 ½ cups of water

½ cup of agave or maple syrup

one tablespoon of cinnimon

Pinch of Celtic salt

Dash of stevia

 

 

Step  1:  Soak the Buckwheat in 11/2 cups of water for at least 4 hours.

Step 2: Strain and rinse the buckwheat then place it into a bowl

Step 3: Add the remaining ingredients and mix well

Step 4: Spread the buckwheat evenly over your texflex sheet and dehydrate overnight

 

Fun Buckwheat Fact : Buckwheat is actually a fruit

 

 

Easy Watermelon Sorbet

 

 

 

Sometimes you don’t have to work for hours in the kitchen to achieve a successful dish. This can be a quick lunch time snack or a simple summertime breakfast. Allot of people are making more raw complicated recipes and that is great I indulge in those too, but lets not forget that some of the most tastiest and nutritious raw foods are the simplest ones.

 

 

 

Step 1: Cut a medium watermelon in half

Step 2: Scoop out the watermelon with an ice cream scooper and place it into a medium bowl.

Step 3: Place the bowl with the watermelon in the freezer and freeze for 30 mins or more.

Step: 4 garnish with fresh cherries and serve

Watermelons are at their peek season right now if your aren't at your farmers market picking some up you are seriously missing out. 

These are great useful tips for indulging in melons  of all kinds:

 

 

Melon Fruits like watermelon,cantaloupe and honey dew are great for the skin. You can make delicious juices and drinks out of them; you can also utilize them in fruit salads, smoothies and sorbets.

Smoothie Solution

 

 

There's nothing that a smoothie can't do ! They can be desserts,snacks,or complete meals ! Also you can talior fit them to your specific nutritional need. Green smothies are great for your skin and can aid in the repair of cells. Sweet smoothies like strawberry and blueberry are great as natural pick me ups and bad snack replacements. They also help to give you the raw glow because they need less digestion from the body and go straight into the blood stream.I have enjoyed all of these in great gratitude. They are also very child friendly and  Grown ups love them too. So continue to drink up I know I will !

                   Whats your favorite smoothie or smoothie combination ?

                                                                                                                                            Avocado Smoothie and Recipe from bewellbuzz

Avocado Smoothie Recipe

Half a ripe Avocado                                       1. Vanilla Bliss Smoothie

2 frozen bananas                                             2. Cantaloupe Strawberry

5 frozen or fresh strawberries                   3. Coconut Blueberry

splash of nut milk                                            4. Strawberry Banana

Pinch of cardamom                                        5. Blueberry Strawberry

Pinch of all spice                                              6. Coconut Banana

Blend and serve                                                7. Strawberry

                                                                                8. Strawberry almond Butter Cup frozen

 

Caribbean Almonds

 

Whole in shell Almonds                                             The inside of a Caribbean almond.  

                                                                                               Photo credit from Coffee and Vanilla

 

Caribbean almonds were always a special treat for me as a child. Growing up in Barbados meant that we always had an abundance of these green gems when we went to the beach.  Caribbean almonds are a real super food because even the leaves of the almond tree can be taken as medicine.  The red skin on the inside of these almonds are used to make water resistant canoes. The skin on the Caribbean almonds are also quite soft in comparison to other nuts; which made them even more of a delight to eat. Also the nut itselfs flavor is of a light almond extract and the nut is crunchy, dense and milky. Caribbean almonds are so popular because they are usually found at the sea shore that many island resorts name themselves after them.

Whole in shell Almonds                                             The inside of a Caribbean almond.  

                                                                                               Photo credit from Coffee and Vanilla

 

Caribbean almonds were always a special treat for me as a child. Growing up in Barbados meant that we always had an abundance of these green gems when we went to the beach.  Caribbean almonds are a real super food because even the leaves of the almond tree can be taken as medicine.  The red skin on the inside of these almonds are used to make water resistant canoes. The skin on the Caribbean almonds are also quite soft in comparison to other nuts; which made them even more of a delight to eat. Also the nut itselfs flavor is of a light almond extract and the nut is crunchy, dense and milky. Caribbean almonds are so popular because they are usually found at the sea shore that many island resorts name themselves after them.

Crunchy Munchies

 

These snacks are great to eat alone or with salad or even ice cream. I made a batch of these and they were gone in minutes. Try them,they are easy but very tasty.

 

Maple syrup

chili powder

salt

Pecans

buckwheat

sunflower seeds

Coat the nuts very well with the maple syrup then dehydrate over night

Chocolate Madness

Raw Chocolate with Strawberries

 

Raw Caco Nibs

 

Raw Chocolate Pudding

 

Raw Chocolate Smoothie with Goji Berry Love

 

 

1/2 C whole peeled cacao beans, ground
1/8 C coconut oil
1/8 C melted cacao butter (use coconut oil if not available)
1/4 C raw honey or raw agave syrup

Grind cacao until it is very fine. The cacao will have a consistency like raw almond butter and will stick to the sides of the grinder. Mix ground cacao with coconut oil or cacao butter in grinder. Remove mixture and add honey and other ingredients. Stir well with a fork. The mixture should be able to be poured. If not, add more coconut oil. Pour into ice cube trays or other forms and freeze for 45 minutes. Serve immediately after removing from the freezer.

Recipe from Mark Ament

Raw Peppermint Chocolate Birthday Cake

 

 

I am so sorry guys I love to not measure and be more of a vibration chef. However I also want you guys to be able to get ideas and be inspired to recreate this food that you see here as well. So I will do my best to get the recipes together for you. However in the mean time I will give out the main ingredients and the preparation involved in making each dish.

For the cake

• Raw Cashews
• coconut oil
• agave
• water
• *Peppermint leaf water
• Peppermint oil

Frosting

• Chocolate Paste
• Agave
• Maple syrup
• Vanilla
• Pinch of Pink Salt

Blend and freeze for 20 mins, then pipe it through a pastry bag on to the cake.

Peppermint Leaf Water: To make this simply blend a hand full of peppermint leafs with with one cup of water,strain

Raw Blueberry Yogurt over Agave Infused Fruit Medoly

 

 

 

Hello Lovely's,I have been dying for a taste of pure yogurt you know the puss free kind. The kind that's not made with killer alternative rat poison better known as aspartame. Sorry if im being to  descriptive but the truth is the truth. I bet if there was a commercial for yogurt that said get your daily puss and rat poison all in one cup their sales would go under the ground. So instead of activaaaaaaaaaaaaa I am calling my raw yogurt pussfreevaaaaaa :) Thall be all and I know that thall isn't a word.

Off topic I heard a vegan joke that I would love to share with ya. Is a vegan allowed to eat animal crackers ? at least it's better that the where do you get your protein question.

 

Barbaque Dip with Dried Plantain

 

In the Caribbean plantain is a staple food in our diet. I wanted to recreate it in a raw version,so I sliced the plantain very thin using a  mandolin, then I soaked it  in  olive oil and a little salt. I then dehydrated them over night. I was pleased with the turn out. I pared them with a spicy barbecue dip,the result a crunchy savory experience.

                                   

                                                  Raw Barbaque Dip smeared on sliced fennel

Raw Brownie

Who doesn't like a good brownie ? This brownie is a frosted chocolate Brownie that I made it was quite delicious. What is your favorate drink that you like to wash your brownies down with ?

                                 

                                               Raw Chocolate Beans in dried Caco Fruit

This is why I love Raw Foods

G-living really got to this coconut lover with this episode. I really and truly love anything coconut I guess you can take the girl out of  the island but you can't take the island out of the girl.  When I seen this episode it really got me,like yes I can truly be raw and actually stay raw. I had to share this wonderful recipe and episode with my reader or readers lol.

                                                                                                  

 

Raw Banana Coconut Cream Pie

 

Crust

1/2 cup of macadamia nut

1/2 cup of shredded dry coconut

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoons of coconut oil

2 tablespoons of agave nectar

 

Crust Preparation

 

Blend first 5 ingredients in the food processor

Add more agave to stick the crust together

Line pan with saran wrap,press crust on top

Freeze the crust while preparing the filling

 

Filling

 

2 Cups of coconut meat

1/2 cup of virgin coconut oil

2-4 tablespoons of agave nectar

Coconut water (if needed)

1 tablespoon of lime juice

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or half of a vanilla bean

1-2 bananas sliced 1/2 inch

 

Filling Preparation

Blend the rest of the ingredients except the banana slices in the blender until smooth

Make sure there is enough liquid to have the ingredients swirling in a vortex

Add coconut water if needed

Take the crust out of the freezer and place sliced bananas on top of the crust

Pour filling on top of bananas

Place in the freezer for three to four hours to set

 

Run mature coconut meat through the juicer to make coconut whipped cream from the juice.

Thanks Chef Vanessa !

 

 

 

Apple Bar

 

This apple bar is sticky,sweet and crunchy who could ask for anything more.

Peach Smoothies

 

Me and my mother loves smoothies,peach is an often overlooked fruit option however you really don't know what your missing. Pech smoothies rawk !

 

Peach Smoothie

 

Peach Smoothie