Banana Cream Pie - Raw, Vegan, Paleo

Well while todays kitchen made something sweet, it comes with a heavy heart... haha that makes this recipe sound so much sadder than it should.

Today I baked myself a cake... a cake for my birthday. Ok, not really a cake, a pie really. But still, I made it for myself because *sigh* I turn 30 tomorrow. I know those of you that are older than me will say "that's still young" or "I loved my 30's" and I get that... but don't forget you probably also felt a little odd finally hitting your 30's as well. I just really don't understand how time flies so quickly! It really feels like in a flash the last 10 years have darted past me and I've just been standing here watching it happen. I have achieved SO much in the last 6 years alone though and I have SO much to be grateful for... I guess it just feels like the end of an era. Tomorrow I will wake up and no longer be in the bracket 18-29.... I will be in the next bracket when I tick boxes on forms - 30-40. And that, my friends, feels like a shock!

So! As I usually do when I get a little sad, I take to the kitchen and remind myself, that even when I'm old... I'm a bloody amazing cook *insert cheeky face here*. But seriously... every time I'm feeling down... the kitchen has an amazing way of bringing me back down to earth and re energising me. There's something really beautiful and calming about cooking and baking. Taking chances on new recipes, trying other peoples amazing recipes, just throwing caution to the wind and whacking anything together and seeing what happens. While the risk may be small, it still makes the day that bit more exciting to see how or if something will work out and when it does, watching my amazing family enjoy the food I make, really makes my heart and soul warm, fuzzy and happy. 

It goes without saying that If I have to turn 30, then I'm eating cake... and I will eat as much cake as I like... cake for breakfast, cake for morning tea, lunch, in the bath, with wine, after dinner, in bed... you name it, tomorrow there will be cake in, on and around me. 

While I sat here this morning (wallowing in self pity of turning 30) and staring at the quickly ripening banana's on the kitchen table and thinking "I really got over excited with the amount of fruit I bought this fortnight", I also found myself slowly gathering random ingredients and grabbed the bananas. Truth be told, when I started making this, I was going to make a pudding... but when I have a bit of pent up frustration ( get your mind out of the gutter ) , I find that I need something to chew on, and that's when I decided to turn it into a pie and add a base. 

You could pop the base into the oven to crisp it up a little bit. That would actually be delicious. But I decided since there is a large likelihood of me eating a whole cake on my own tomorrow, that I had better keep as many nutrients in tact as possible so I'm not just eating empty calories. If you do decide to pop the base into the oven for the little bit, please let me know how it goes. I reckon it would taste amazing!

If you are a frequenter of this website, and have tried the Citrus 'Cheese'cake, you will notice that some of the ingredients here over lap with that recipe. I find that most raw cakes are usually made of the same base so it's not really a shock. Providing you have the flavour in mind that you want to use, you can pretty much adapt the cheese cake recipe to make anything you like and use the coconut oil as a lever as to how firm or soft you want the final product to be. Most of the difference in this pie versus the 'cheese' cake is the way it's presented, and that this has less coconut oil to make it not set as solid...also the fact that I have never had a banana cheese cake and I'm not too sure that it would taste particularly good!

Most of the ingredients for this recipe you will find in your pantry which is really handy! And those that aren't already in your pantry won't be hard to find at all. I do like to add Collagen and Pro Biotics to any of my recipes that are raw and remain in the fridge. As I have said before, I am a big believer in Food as Medicine and therefore like to add an extra nutritional boost wherever I can. If you are strictly Vegan, you can sub the collagen/gelatine for Agar Agar for a similar nutritional boost. I know that powdered pro biotic powder and collagen can be harder to come by, so you can purchase the powder I use HERE and you can purchase the Great Lakes Gelatin/Collagen supplement I use HERE. Of Course If you really don't want to add these products you don't have too. They make no difference in the structure of the pie, they are strictly there for nutritional value. 

While I was making this I was thinking that it would actually work to add a bit of turmeric as well...this of course will brighten the colour of the pie instead of it being the off - white colour that it is and also will pack a nutritional punch... but I decided against. The next time I make it I will add it and see how it goes. 

On the top of my pie in the picture you will see there is Raw Chocolate and Caramel. Those recipes are all my own recipes. You can access the Raw Chocolate recipe HERE and the Salted Caramel Recipe HERE. There is something about Bananas and caramel that just works, and adding the little bit of raw dark chocolate was great because having banana and caramel can be a little too sweet depending on your palate. You of course don't have to add anything to the top. It looks beautiful the way it is, but I was feeling fancy and for once I had some time up my sleeve to make it a little bit extra special!

So I've crapped on enough now, the recipe is below and as per usual... if you make it, chuck a comment below and shareeeee far and wide so others can enjoy some healthy deliciousness in their lives!

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Recipe

Serves - 8 - 

Time - 45 Minutes - Plus setting time

What you Need:

Pyrex Pie Dish ( or any pie dish )

Crust:

220g Roasted Mixed Nuts ( or nuts of choice ) 

2 Tablespoons Raw Organic Maple Syrup

1 Tablespoon Melted Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Fine Desiccated Coconut

2 Tablespoon Flaxseed

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Filling:

220g Raw Organic Cashews ( Soaked Over Night, or for non Raw Version, in boiling water for 1 hour )

Can of Coconut Cream ( In Fridge Over Night and drain Water, use solids that remains )

1 Over ripe Banana

1 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

2 Tablespoons Raw Organic Maple Syrup

1 Cup Melted Coconut Oil

Pinch of Salt

If adding - 2 Tablespoons Collagen or Agar Agar, 1 Teaspoon Pro Biotic Powder

What to do:

 

Crust:

In a Food processor ( I use the processor attachment on a Nutri ninja ) add all of the ingredients for the crust and process until combined. The Maple needs to be evenly combined amongst it all so it goes firm in the fridge. Don't pulverise until it goes liquid. You want there to still be some chunks to the nuts. Think Crushed nuts on the top of a sundae... that's the type of texture you want. 

Once everything is processed, push firmly into the bottom of your pie dish. I use a pyrex pie dish for mine. There is no need to pre grease the tray. Because this isn't baked it won't stick to the bottom. 

Place the base into the freezer while you prepare the filling. 

Filling:

Soak your cashews over night ( for a raw version ) but if you aren't phased on if it is raw or not, you can fasten this process up by covering your cashews in boiling water and covering with a lid for an hour. 

Once your cashews are soaked, place in your high powered food processor with all the other ingredients and blend until smooth and airy. Now I was doing this in the food processor attachment of my Nutri ninja, but I noticed it was somewhat grainy in texture. So I transferred the contents to the Cup Blender ( Similar to the Nutri Bullet ) as it processes things much more fine. This is what gives the creamy texture instead of grainy. You can't do it in the cup processor first as it isn't big enough and your ingredients won't be evenly combined. It is well worth the extra dishes if its grainy, to transfer after the food processor to the cup processor like the Nutri Bullet and blend until no lumps remain. 

Pull the base from the freezer and pour in your filling. 

If you are going to decorate with the Raw Chocolate, place the pie into the fridge and let a skin develop on the top of the pie before you drizzle the chocolate over the top. This stops the chocolate from 'seeping' and making the pie top look messy. Then place a dollop of you Salted Caramel Sauce on top.

Place in the fridge for four hours or until set. You can also freeze the pie to make ahead and pull out and place in the fridge to thaw over night!

Dark Chocolate - Raw, Vegan, Paleo, Refined Sugar Free

Hey guyssssss. 

I am SO excited today. Seriously. SO Excited! I have not only managed to make a delicious Dark Chocolate...it actually tastes like dark chocolate! 

So many times I have tried to make Raw chocolate and it's always with coconut oil... and I'm not gunna lie... the taste after a while... phwoar. Well, needless to say you can get sick of it pretty quickly. 

I am in love with two brands of chocolate in this world. They are Pana Chocolate and Loving Earth. And this recipe I kid you not, is close to my favourite Dark Loving Earth Chocolate. Ok, clearly theirs has more depth of flavour, but this, I tell you, is close. Absolutely delicious and how perfect is this for Christmas! I got this amazingly cute little mould from Kmart about 3 years ago and I love it. They really have some great things if you get there at the right time. This mould cost $2 and it's silicone so you can freeze AND bake in it! I know right... your mind right now is like KABOOM!!!!!

Anyway... 

When you make this recipe, it's really important to maintain the nutritional value of the honey or maple syrup and cacao. When foods get too hot their nutrient content depletes dramatically. Especially when it comes to Raw Organic honey and Raw Organic Maple...you're spending the money to buy good honey and maple..so don't ruin it by over heating it. If you do that, you get absolutely none of the health benefits, and are just ingesting sugar. So I recommend adding the sweetener of your choice at the very last moment to make sure the mixture is as cool as humanly possible. It can be a little tricky because it also has to be warm enough that the honey or maple will somewhat melt and distribute evenly amongst the mixture. But providing you don't heat the cacao butter more than 46 degrees in the first place, you don't have to worry about this step. 

So! Things that will be helpful in making this are - Moulds and a Thermometer. A Mould is great if you want to make little chocolates like I have above. These are great because you can wrap them in little cute gift bags for presents, or to hang off your Christmas tree. However, if you don't have a mould, fear not, because you can just line a baking sheet with baking paper and pour the mixture on. You could then chop up some nuts, perhaps add some beautiful dried fruits and sprinkle on top (try grated orange zest!) and then when it's set, break it up into bark chunks. This actually looks super cute as a Chrissy gift as well if you pop the pieces of bark into little cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon. The Thermometer is going to be your friend for making sure you don't heat over 46 degrees, HOWEVER, if you are willing to compromise SLIGHTLY the nutrient value of the cacao butter, you can just place it into a sauce pan, and leave over a light heat until half of the butter is melted. Take away from the heat and then stir until the remaining pieces are melted. 

For this recipe I prefer to use the Loving Earth Cacao Butter. The reason for this is it is grated and that means all different sizes. Because some are granule sizes, it doesn't take long to heat at all.

As you can see from the picture, a lot of it is really small so it takes minimal heat to melt which means chances are you won't go over 46 degrees Celsius.  But if you want to be extra careful, get a thermometer involved :)

So with Christmas coming at us full steam ahead, I'm making sure this year (like I do every year) that I eat sweets in moderation. And while my whole family doesn't follow my eating principles, I will be making some of these beauties to take with me to my parents to at least have a semi-healthy option. 

I seem to add this into every sweet recipe that I do, and today will be no exception. So I stress, Just because there is unrefined sugar in this, it doesn't mean it's a free for all to eat as much of it in one sitting as humanly possible. Honey and Maple while having so many health benefits, is still a form of sugar and will give you the same effects as refined sugar if you eat too much. So go easy. Be mindful when you eat and savour the food and experience it. Doing this makes it likely to stop you from over indulging. 

So Enjoy - and if you try the recipe, always to be sure to comment below and let me know how you went!

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Recipe

Serves - 12 - (1 Piece per serve)

Time - 10 Minutes - 

What you need:

125 grams Organic Raw Cacao Butter

5 Tablespoons Raw Organic Cacao Powder 

2 Tablespoons Raw Organic Honey or Maple

1/2 Vanilla Bean

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg

What to do:

In a saucepan, melt your cacao butter to no higher than 46 Degrees Celsius to melt and then remove from heat ( If you don't have a thermometer, place over heat until half the butter is melted, turn off heat and stir to melt the rest)

Once off the heat, add the cacao powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir until combined. 

Add the Vanilla bean and Honey/Maple and stir until the sweeter of choice has dissolved. 

Pour into your silicone mould (no need to grease it) or pour onto your parchment paper. Place in the fridge if it is a hot day (you may notice the top of the chocolate turn white as the butter will solidify before the rest, this is normal and still fine to eat) or if it is a cool day or your kitchen is cool, leave on a table to solidify. 

Once the Chocolate has turned hard, place in the fridge for 30 minutes before handling for wrapping etc. 

Voila !

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Baby Food - Pear, Pea & Chia

Whenever I take pictures of my food for my recipe collection, it takes me a while... This time, a while is an understatement! 

You and I both know that making baby food puree look good is well, nearly impossible. So apart from the fact that this colour green is just divine, please excuse that it isn't a fancy photo that it doesn't exactly make you want to don your apron and get cooking.

I have six month old twins... well seven months in a few days, and I also have a 3 year old.  I remember from when my eldest was an only child and we were introducing solids, the amount of conflicting information there is out there. I was left so confused and worried if I was doing the right thing! 

There were so many do's and don'ts and not this till this age and don't have this till that age.... JESUS! No wonder intolerance is on the rise! Apart from Honey ( for the botulism factor ) I thought -Fuck it! (excuse my language) but I'm just going to feed them what the damn hell I like and I'll deal with the consequences. If it makes them sick, windy, itchy, sad - then I just won't make that again. So this is the mantra I lived by when I was feeding my first born and introducing him to solids. I have to tell you - I am one of the only mummas I know that doesn't have a picky eater. My boy would eat the arse out of a horse if I let him, and is happy at dinner to sit down to a plate of salad with olive oil dressing, munch on radish and carrots during the day for a snack, and will happily hoe into a raw sweet potato like an apple. In short, he LOVES his food! So I am doing it again. I am not following all the 'rules' and I'm feeding my kids in short - Wholesome, healthy foods, the way god intended... mostly raw. 

I was told not to do Chia seeds before 8 months and not raw veg. Sorry. But no! Not for me. My babies live on 80% raw foods and 20% cooked. They have no dairy ( myself and my son are allergic and the twins have had similar signs of the allergy - but get ready to hate me all you 'dairy is the best source of calcium people' because even if there were no issues, I wouldn't feed it to them any way... my children are human, not bovine). I am coeliac, as well as my first born... and I HATE Gluten because of the way it is now produced and that it literally comes with no fibre and therefore sets in the digestive tract like glue (don't get me started on that) so they only have Barley, Rye and Spelt when it comes to Gluten and I only do it because I don't want to create unnecessary intolerance if it can be avoided. 

So what do we eat I keep being asked by the MCHN ( Maternal Child Health Nurse ). We eat whole foods. 80% Plant Based and 20% Meat and Raw whenever possible. That's Fish, Meat, Nuts, Seeds, Eggs, Vegetables and Fruit. And we NEVER go without! Our meals are always so full of flavour that I don't understand how some people can live on the shit that is in the supermarket these days. 

So this is what I figured I would live by with my kids. At the end of the day, I know what health looks like when it comes to food, so I will feed them what I see fit, instead of following rules and stressing myself about things that may not even happen. I have to tell you. My twins now with this mantra are LOVING their food most of which is raw and they're just little perfect pictures of health. 

That's when I thought I'd share my recipes for baby foods. To help the mums that are over all the conflicting information. To help the mums that are concerned about what's healthy and what's not. To help the mums that don't have much time and can't sit and cook and puree every. little. fruit. and. vegetable. This is for you. I am time poor, Three children, two adults, 3 loads of washing a day, Constant dishes, playing, learning, running a business. Let me tell you and take a load off your shoulders, not only is Raw food easy - It is SO healthy!

When you cook food, it loses the nutrient content. It also breaks down the fibres in the fruit and vegetables that are fantastic for feeding the micro biome in our gut because a lot of those fibres and starches that are raw are resistant and reach the lower intestinal tract. Our gut bacteria need this to survive, flourish and multiple and create different species to ward off diseases and bugs. 

The most important thing I believe when it comes to your children and feeding them raw, is buy organic if you eat the skin, and just wash it well. We don't need to be taxing their poor little livers by flooding their helpless bodies with pesticides and all the chemicals that are on fruit and veggies these days. 

Of course I'm not a doctor and if you decide to try these recipes it is completely on your own accord, but I feed this to my children every day and they are blossoming, bright and just beautiful. 

I was told not to give chia seeds until 8 months, which is so frustrating! They're such a good source of fats which is so good for developing brains, amazing source of fibre AND they are really awesome at helping make that transition from completely puree'd food, to food with small lumps. It can be sweet, savoury you name it. This is why I love Chia and decided against listening to our severely over weight MCHN and began feeding it to my babes at 6 months. 

The key is the ratio. They say 8 months because it can bind them up. So, I just quarter the ratio and it's perfect. It has even helped to regulate my little boy's bowels (the eldest of the twins).

So I hope you like this recipe. I know your babies will. You can rest well knowing that you have fed them something nutritious and good for them while knowing that other mums feed their kids raw foods, and it's ok! and it's even better, because it takes 5 minutes. 

Rest Well Mumma, Rest Well. 

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Recipe

Serves - 4-6 depending on age - 

Time - 10 Minutes - 

What you need:

1 Organic Ripe Pear

1/4 Cup Organic Peas ( Frozen works too ) 

1/4 Cup Filtered Water

1 Teaspoon Chia Seeds. 

What to do:

Place Pear, Peas and Filtered water into a blender ( I use a Nutri Ninja ) and blend depending on the age of your child. For my six month old twins I pulse until the peas are blended, but still have some small chunks. 

Take the lid off and add in your teaspoon of Chia Seeds. Put the lid back on and shake to mix the seeds throughout. Place into the fridge for 4 Hours for the Chia to absorb some of the water. 

Portion, and place in the fridge (if you will use it all the day you make it, or the following day) otherwise freeze in baby freezer pots. 

Easy. Tasty. Healthy. 

Here are my darlings enjoying their Pea, Pear and Chia