Yesterday was my son Kai's (3rd birthday). We had a superhero joint birthday party for Kai and Leo and the kids had such a blast! Obviously Philosophie superfoods were ever present at the party...we had superfood smoothies, cacao magic (healthy, kid friendly) cupcakes, and a green dream banana smash cake for our big 1 year old!!

         Green Dream Smash Cake          

Cacao Magic Cupcakes

Cacao Magic Cupcakes Recipe: (cake be made as a cake as well)

1 cup boiling water
4 ounces Cacao Magic
10 1/2 ounces dark brown sugar
9 1/2 ounces gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup applesauce
4 1/2 ounces plain non-fat greek yogurt, at room temperature
2 large whole eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

Whisk the boiling water and Cacao powder together in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whisk the applesauce, yogurt, eggs and egg yolks in a large pourable vessel. Add the applesauce mixture to the Cacao and water mixture and slowly whisk to combine. With the mixer on low speed, add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture over 30 seconds. Continue to beat on low speed for another 30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to beat on low speed until the batter is smooth, 10 to 15 seconds. Pour into lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. (for a cake bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes).

I've been really missing my moms chewy, rich, homemade fudge. It was her grandmothers recipe + it left you feeling hung over + depressed because of the sugar rush. This recipe was an attempt to recreate the fudge satisfaction I so long for, without the downsides of having processed sugar + a crash. (bonus of being vegan, raw + gluten-free!)

{gather this}

1 C Cacao Magic powder

1 C cacao butter

1/2 C cashew butter (or almond/peanut)

1 1/2 C liquid sweetener

1/4 t pink sea salt

1 T vanilla extract

1 T hazelnut or almond extract

{GARNISH}

chopped candied hazelnuts, goji berries, cacao nibs and/or candied walnuts

{ DO THIS }

Prepare 9" square cheesecake pan by greasing the sides with coconut oil and lining the bottom with parchment paper.

Blend all ingredients except candied hazelnuts until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Add garnish. Put into freezer until fudge is solid. Serve at room temperature. 

Yields ~ 3 dozen pieces

As a raw food chef, I’m always looking for new ways to be inspired when making the food I love. I’m sure with any cuisine it’s easy to get stuck in the same routine… same spices, similar dishes, obvious go-to flavors.

I was sent Matt and Janabai Amsden’s new recipe book: The Rawvolution Continues. It’s absolutely beautiful. The moment I received it I broke it open and began pouring through it, absorbing the gorgeous, colorful photographs and salivating as I read through the recipes.

I think this would be an amazing first book for anyone interested in starting down the path of raw food. Maybe someone wanting to eat more living foods or someone wanting to transition to eating completely vegan.

I love that Matt explains how to stock your raw pantry and tips on how to travel and eat raw. I’m constantly asked how to eat high raw and healthy foods when I travel and I really like his advice to bring nori sheets because they can instantly turn any salad into a wrap. It really isn’t that hard to pack healthy foods when you think about all the new options. From dried goji berries and raw nuts + seeds to fresh fruit and veggies and raw chocolate bars, the options are really endless. Obviously my favorite advice he gave is to pack “green powder” which to us Philosophie lovers is Green Dream! He says to:

“pour green powder directly into a bottle of orange, apple juice or water. This simple mixture can supply concentrated vitamins and minerals when you haven’t been eating the most nutritious foods, supply extra energy while you’re on the go, and even replace a meal in a pinch.”

Yay Philosophie Green Dream!

“It can combat jet lag or make up for a bad night’s sleep on an inflatable air mattress.”

yes, Matt, it sure does! 

A really great tip for going out to a mexican restaurant is to order the largest guacamole, the largest salsa and a large plate of shredded lettuce with cilantro to make your own raw taco salad! Love that!

They also shared that in a 2010 Huffington Post article, addressing air travel, Dr. Joseph Mercola stated, “if you fly at night you can reduce your radiation risk by 99% because nearly all of the radiation from the sun is being blocked by the earth.” really amazing.

I obviously loved all the creative new recipes and ones that I’ve been doing for years (like truffles/energy balls, kale salad, smoothies) with a new, fresh twist. I’ve been so lucky throughout the years to visit Matt’s amazing raw food restaurant in Santa Monica (Euphoria Loves Rawvolution) so as I was reading through his book, I could almost taste the dishes asI read the recipes!

One of my favorite new recipes from this book I will share with all of you is for Spinach Cheese Dip. YUM! Super easy, quick and simple ingredients.

Spinach Cheese Dip

• 2 C chopped avocados
• 1 C chopped spinach, briefly marinated in 1 T olive oil
• 1 C raw walnuts
• 1/4 C chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 2 T fresh lemon juice
• 1 T coconut aminos
• 1 t nutritional yeast (use 1/4C cashews if you don’t have nutritional yeast)
• 1/2 t ground black pepper

in a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with basil just before serving.

serve as a dip for bell peppers, celery and carrots or with raw flax crackers.

My absolute most exciting recipe I made was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls because I buy them ALL the time (and they are expensive!) and can finalllllllyyyy make them EXACTLY like the ones I buy for myself! SCORE!

My other favorite recipes from the cookbook were: the Hot Chocolate (would be so taste with Cacao Magic in it!), Strawberry Sangria, Big Nachos, Cucumber Summer Rolls, Sea Cakes with cilantro chutney and all the sushi rolls (especially the atlantis rolls!). My husband (Israeli man!) loved the Falafel Wraps and Kai (our almost-3-year old!) loved the “Cheesy” Broccoli (which we call “trees”. That was the only new idea for kids stuff… I do wish there were more creative ideas for kids but luckily my boys are pretty good eaters so I’ve been doing ok 

Baby Leo (almost a year old) ADORED the Fluffy Pudding Parfaits and we made them a few days in a row because they were such a hit!

I’m so excited to try more and post pretty pictures from my creative play! Stay tuned… and go get this amazing raw food recipe book!

When taking the first sip of this green juice, you may be shocked that it tastes so refreshing, clean and delicious! It's so light, almost like a green colored lemonade! Give it a go!

This is an incredibly healthy, refreshing way to start your day. Kale is full of calcium and antioxidants and just about everything else—it’s one of the best things you can put into your system. Kale and other green vegetables are super alkalizing for your system, and therefore helps to cleanse the body. When juiced with a bit of lemon and agave, kale turns into a sort-of grassy lemonade.

No worries if you don’t have a juicer, a blender and a sieve do the trick.

• 1 bunch of organic kale, stems removed and leaves washed

• 1 green apple, juiced

• the juice of 2 small lemons

• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of agave nectar (optional)

• 1/2 cup cold, filtered water

Combine everything in a blender and blend until completely pureed. It might take a little bit of time and manpower to get it going. Strain the juice through a fine sieve or colander into a bowl, pushing down on the solids with a kitchen spoon being sure to extract all the juice. Taste the juice and add a bit more lemon or agave if you think it needs it. Pour into a glass and drink up!

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!

To make dairy-free mylk, you can use pretty much any seed, grain or nut. I like almond, oat and coconut mylk the best. Experiment with your own taste buds  to see what works for you.

Mylk Ingredients:

• Nuts or seeds of choice
• Pure water
• sweetener of your choice (a few soft dates, raw honey, raw agave or stevia)
• 1 pinch of unprocessed sea salt (optional)

General Directions:

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:

• 1/4 cup shelled hempseeds (buy them in air-tight containers, not from bulk bins where they can be rancid)
• 1 liter pure water
• 1 pinch of unprocessed sea salt (optional)
• sweetener of your choice
• vanilla pod or a few drops of vanilla stevia instead of sweetener

Directions:

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.

*If you want to make these mylks chocolate for a kid or for a yummy treat, add raw cacao powder at the end of the final blend. It tastes DELICIOUS and no one will ever know you are drinking something with amazing superfoods, antioxidants and health benefits!!! :)