I’ll never forget the first time I watched almonds blend away and white, pure “milk” be created. It’s a surreal experience, try it for yourself!1. Soak nuts or seeds (almonds and hazelnuts for 8-12 hours, sunflower seeds or brazil nuts for 3 hours) I like to soak the nuts before bed and then in the morning it’s ready for biz-nas!
2. Place soaked nuts or seeds in a blender so that the nuts are even with the level of the uppermost part of the blades.
3. Add pure water to just cover the nuts and blend until smooth. Add more water until desired consistency is reached.
4. Sweeten to suit your taste buds with a soft date or two, raw agave, raw honey or a packet or drop of stevia (if you use too much stevia, it will become bitter). Strain with cheesecloth or a nut milk bag.
5. Make only what you will use in a day or two. Refrigerate.
(These mylks will go bad after about 48 hours)
Vanilla Hemp Seed Mylk:1. Place the hempseeds in a blender with just enough water to cover them and blend well.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
3. Strain in a mesh strainer and drink! Refrigerate the remainder.
Optional: for a thicker, more omega 3 rich milk, soak 1/4 cup flax seeds for 2 hours, then rinse and blend with hemp seeds.
my fruit bowl today and felt sad. My pears and apples were going to go bad any minute and I knew we wouldn’t eat them in time. There were just too many. What to do?? Make a raw pie crumble of course!! This dessert can obviously be just made of apples and use as many different varieties as you like.
Ingredients for Crust:* 2 cups almonds (soaked 12-24 hours)
*2 cups pitted dates
*1 tsp orange or lemon zest
*5-6 organic apples
*3-4 organic pears
*1 cup raisins (soaked several hours in just enough water to cover them)
*2 tbsp ground flax seeds or psyllium powder
*2 tsp cinnamon powder
*1/2 tsp allspice powder
*1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
*1 pinch Garam masala
place all crust ingredients in a food processor and process with the S blade until it resembles dough. It will form a ball in the processor, then you know it’s ready! Press into a pie plate or 9×12 pan.
*Core and chop the apples and pears into medium sized pieces. Place half the apples into a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients, including the water from the soaking raisin’s, and process until smooth. Set aside the mixture in a mixing bowl.
Place the rest of the apples in food processor and pulse until a chunky texture is achieved. Mix the batches together. Pour into the pie shell or pan and enjoy!

Tonight we are having a holiday party and I want to make something festive!!!
Blend on a low speed for 45 seconds, sprinkle nutmeg on top before serving!
Ingredients
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com
1 Large Butternut Squash (about 1-2/3 cups to 2 cups)
2 eggs worth of Ener-G or Smash up a banana and 1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 Cup Softened Vegan Butter (earth balance)
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pumpkin Spice
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 Cups Gluten-free Flour (I suggest something neutral like brown rice flour or regular flour if you’re okay with gluten)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400º degrees. Wash, dry and cut the squash in half length wise and remove seeds and place on a baking sheet. Brush on some extra virgin olive oil. Bake for about an hour. Check to see if the squash is done by piercing it with a fork.
2. Scoop the squash out, allow to cool and puree in your food processor. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, chia seeds, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and pumpkin spice and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the agave, vanilla, eggs substitute and butter. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Then whisk in the butternut squash puree. My batter was a little dry so I added a little almond milk and Organic canned pumpkin.
5. Prepare your muffin pan and add the batter a little over halfway. I made 12 cupcakes, you can make more. Bake at 350º for 18 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center and check to see if it comes out clean.
That’s it! Allow to cool and then smother with pumpkin butter, almond butter or just eat plain! Enjoy!!!
Ingredients:

*1 1/2 cups extra virgin coconut oil, melted
*3/4 C hemp butter
*1/2 C ZSweet (see bottom of post)
*1 teaspoon peppermint extract
*3 drops of liquid stevia peppermint
*3 drops of liquid stevia chocolate
*1/4 C agave
*3/4 C vegan carob chips (melted) or powder
*1/2 C raw cacao nibs
*1/2 C hemp butter
*1/4 C agave
*1/4 C powdered ZSweet
*2 drops of liquid stevia peppermint
Line mini cup cake tins with paper liners. Melt coconut oil by placing jar under hot water. when coconut oil turns to a liquid, pour the oil in medium bowl. Slowly whisk in hemp butter until smooth.
Whisk ZSweet into wet batter. Add in peppermint extract, liquid stevias, and agave one at a time and blend.
Slowly stir in the carob and cacao powder a spoonful at a time. Stir raw cacao nibs one at a time. Batter should run off the spoon easily, but not too runny.
in a small bowl, mix together hemp butter and agave.
Add ZSweet and Liquid stevia and mix. with two spoons, drop a small teaspoon full of filling into prepared paper liners.
Spoon a tablespoon full of prepared batter on top of the filling. Freeze for 15 minutes. Store in the freezer.
Yield: 50 candies
A fellow LA vegan chef, Kelly Keough, introduced me to ZSweet. This recipe was my first time experimenting with the calorie free sugar substitute, and to be honest I didn’t taste any difference. I am going to keep experimenting with it and let you know my thoughts! So far, so good!
for the layers:
*1 1/2 C Pure canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) I like Trader Joes Organic canned pumpkin
1. Prepare the brown rice lasagna according to the box instructions, until al dente (firm, not hard)
2. For the pumpkin sauce, mix pumpkin, egg replacer and 1/4 C almond milk. Then mix in nutmeg, salt, pepper and sage.
3. For the mock ricotta cheese:
In your high powered blender, blend mac nuts, almonds, water, 1 tsp of salt, and apple cider vinegar. This will take about 7-8 minutes. Blend until very smooth.
Add the rest of the almonds, 1/4 c at a time, waiting until they are finely ground and fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt, if desired.
Blend until smooth, with a very slightly grainy texture (It should NOT be gritty). You may want to finish this in your food processor (unless you have a great blender).
4. Make the “cream” sauce by melting the butter on low heat. When it’s melted, whisk in tapioca starch, then remove from heat. Slowly whisk in almond milk, then turn the heat back on and whisk constantly until the consistency is thickened enough to coat a spoon. (about 3-5 minutes)
5. Begin layering all the ingredients. Start with a small amount of the pumpkin sauce to layer on the casserole dish and to act as a non stick ingredient. Then add strips of lasagna. Then pumpkin sauce, then mock ricotta cheese. Add a layer of fresh spinach leaves. Then
drizzle the cream sauce on top.
Repeat the layers until you reach the top of the casserole dish. Sprinkle the nutritional yeast on top for a mock parmesan flavor.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for 10 minutes and serve warm.
7. Enjoy your delicious lasagna and store the leftovers or have a big meal and share with friends (with wine!!)!

The full interview can be found on the Inspiral website, where I designed their new raw and vegan full menu! I wish they were closer!!! I miss their desserts BADLY
(vegan tiramisu anyone!?! eek!) Full Interview: Click Here
1. take all ingredients for the crust and mix in the food processor. Once they are combined, take the filling and push it into a pie/tart pan with your fingers. (the best kinds are the ones that have a removable bottom) Chill in the fridge for an hour or freezer for 30 minutes.
2. Mix the filling ingredients and add on top of the filling. Put back in the fridge or freezer for at least an hour. Viola!
You’ll never know (or anyone else) that this is completely gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free and HEALTHY for you! Cacao is the highest ranked antioxidant in the world!
*Top with raspberries, strawberries and/or nuts and drizzles of cacao! (an easy cacao topping is mixing cacao powder and agave with a spoon until it’s runny)
*2 packages Kelp Noodles
*2 large bushels of fresh Basil leaves
*1 Cup fresh Spinach
*1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*1/2 Cup raw Pinenuts
*2 fresh Garlic cloves
*1/2 Teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
Directions:1) soak kelp noodles in warm/hot water for at least 20 minutes. Drain and wring out excess water.
2) combine all ingredients in food processor/Cuisinart (except kelp noodles)
3) taste the pesto. It may need more sea salt or garlic for your taste. Also, if it’s too chunky, add more olive oil or a little bit of filtered water. If it’s too watery, add more pine nuts or spinach/basil.
If you want a variation, try my recipe for Cheezy Kelp Noodles!
*2 C nuts (soaked almonds)
*1/2 C dates
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1/2 tsp sea salt
*1/4 C coconut oil, melted (not in a microwave)
*1/4 C-1/2 C chocolate chips (depending on your love of chocolate)
1. With a food processor, grind up all above ingredients except the chocolate chips. If you process them for a long time they will taste much more like cookie dough, if you process for less time they will have a nutty consistency which is fun and tasty, too!
2. After processing to desired consistency, drop the chocolate chips into the dough and mix with a spoon. Then pulse 3-4 times to mix it and grind the chips into the mixture.
3. Take a cookie sheet and spread the cookie dough into the pan, using your fingers to press into the corners and flatten into one even, level, layer.
4. Put in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to harden.
5. I then took it out and used heart cookie shape cutters but you can roll them into a ball and leave them that way, use another shape, or take the ball and flatten it into a round “cookie”. sky’s the limit!
ENJOY!!!