Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake w/ Macadamia Nut & Berry Topping

Adapted from a Berry No-Bake Cheesecake on Sweet & Healthy Living.

 This is the first time I've used the NuNatural's product:

Stevia More Fiber Baking Blend

 I can say now that I'll be using it again, and again, and again now.

I was a little concerned that the powdered Stevia would be bitter or not sweet enough for the cake.

Especially because there are no other 'sweet' ingredients except the dates.

It was neither bitter nor unsweet, it was perfection.

The Stevia held the no-bake cake together well and gave the berries a great sweetness.

I would compare the taste to a Blueberry Cream Pie!

Yum...........
So how can you make this wonderful Dairy, Sugar and Gluten free Cheesecake?

Wash off your fresh blueberries but air dry them before
using them in this recipe so they don't add a lot of water.

This is the cheesecake batter before adding in the blueberries. It will be less
smooth than dairy cheesecakes but taste even better ((I think)

This is the final cheesecake batter layer being spread on.
Fresh blueberries were dropped on throughout each layer.
See difference here between the 'blueberry flavored' batter and the plain.

Rough chop the nuts, you don't want them too crumby like dust.

Blueberry Cheesecake with Macadamia Nut & Berry Topping

Vegan, Dairy and Gluten Free

Crust
This recipe is basically the Raw Caramels shown here

1 Cup Raw Unsalted Sunflower Seeds

15 Pitted Medjool Dates

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

2 tsp. Liquid Vanilla Stevia

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

1 Tbs. Finely Ground Coffee or substitute like Cafix

Pulse Sunflower Seeds until pulverized. Add in the dates

and pulse until lumpy batter forms. Add in other ingredients and

continue pulsing until smooth.  Chill for 30 minutes and then press

into bottom of springform pan to about 1/2 inch thickness. 

Freeze until firm.

Cheesecake Filling
2 Cups of Cashews - soaked 2 - 8 hours in filtered water, drained
1 Cup of Chopped Dates soaked 30 minutes and drained

1/4 Cup Lemon Juice

1/3 Cup melted Coconut Oil

Pulse all ingredients until a smooth batter is obtained, scrape down sides of blender

Add in:

1/3 Cup Nut Milk of choice

8 oz. Non Dairy Cream Cheese like Tofutti brand

1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 Cup of Powdered Stevia More Fiber Baking Blend from NuNaturals

Pulse together with first ingredients until smooth

To have a Blueberry Flavored layer to the cheesecake:

Seperate out 2 cups of the batter and set aside.

Add 1 Cup of fresh Blueberries in with the remaining batter and pulse until smooth

To assemble the cheesecake:

Remove the chilled crust in the springform pan and set on an even surface.

Spoon out enough of the set aside, non blueberry flavored batter to cover the

bottom crust about 1/2 Inch thick.

Freeze 30 minutes to firm batter again.

When cake is firm, add spoonfuls of the blueberry flavored batter in different

areas of cake on top of first layer of plain flavored batter using about 1 cup of

blueberry flavored batter.

Spoon the remaining plain flavor batter inbetween the blueberry batter and on top of

the fresh blueberries.

Sprinkle of few fresh blueberries on top of the batter.

Spoon the remaining plain flavor batter inbetween the blueberry batter

and on top of the fresh blueberries.

Freeze again.

Pour on remaining Blueberry flavored batter over entire cake and smooth to

cover the previous layers.

Freeze at least 5 hours until whole cake is solid.

Topping

1 Cup of Macadamia Nuts, roughly chopped (see picture)

1/2 Cup Fresh Blueberries

1/2 Cup Fresh Raspberries

Top the firm frozen cake with berries and nuts - pressing down lightly to top the cake.

Freeze again for 1 hour, remove springform pan exterior.

Store in the freezer or cut into slices and freeze slices well wrapped.

This one is a keeper.  Adapt the berries to suit your own likes.

Another cheesecake posting you may enjoy:

Raspberry Mocha Cream Cookie Dough Cake

ENJOY!

Sprouting & Anti - Inflammatory Charts

I wanted to share 2 charts I came across in the last week that are really helpful

summaries of healthful eating. 

The first one deals with Anti-Inflammatory Dieting.

Courtesy of Dr. Weil, this chart really defines how we should choose our food.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet

I've used this diet guideline for the past 2 years and it REALLY does help with joint pain.

Last week I recommitted myself to sticking with this food parameter again as part

of my Getting Back On Track efforts this month.

I'm using Vega smoothies daily for the next few months to take off 20 lbs.
They work perfectly with Anti Inflammatory Dieting.

The second chart is goes hand in hand with Dr. Weil's Diet guidelines.

SPOUTING!!

I fell in love with spouting foods last spring and this chart is wonderful at organizing

techniques and general information.

When I saw it on Anna's Facebook page, I knew I had to save it for a reference.

Do any of you sprout your food?

Any good ideas for keeping the sprouts fresh longer, or what your favorite tastes are?

Great references here.  Thanks Anna, thanks Dr. Weil!

Lentil Flax Seed Pancakes w/ Sunflower Seed Mocha Butter

One thing that Gluten Free/Dairy Free/Sugar Free Dieters miss is pancakes

drizzled with butter and syrup..............

...............Not any more though!

I'm starting a strict anti-inflammatory diet for a week or two to help with some joint pains.
Two wonderful foods on the plan are Lentils and Flax Seed.
But if the healthy food doesn't taste really good, are you really going to keep eating it?

These pancakes were really simple and REALLY Good! 

It always helps to stay on track when your food is delicious.............

This recipe starts off with some ground flax seed for healthy digestion and folic acid. 

I try to eat 3 Tbs. of ground flax each day. 

Be sure to grind it fresh and/ or store it in the freezer for optimal nutrition.

Here's the super simple recipe:

Lentil & Flax Seed Pancakes

Mix the dry ingredients, then mix in the water & vanilla
and let sit for a few minutes. 
Add water if its  too thick.
The batter will be more thin than gloppy.

Drop spoonfuls onto a greased heated fry pan.
Fry up each side for about 3 minutes.

1 - 1 1/4 Cups Filtered Water
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3 Tbs. Ground Flax Seed
3/4 Cup Lentil Flour (grind Lentils into a powder  -  that's it)
1/2 tsp. Powdered Stevia *or 2 Tbs. of honey
1 tsp. Baking Powder

* leave out the sweetener and the vanilla and they are like cornbread to go alongside of a meal.

Serve these with any healthy syrup, fruit puree or a nut butter.

I did these with my

Sunflower Seed Cocoa Butter 

Berries, fruit purees or jams would also go well with these.

YYuuuummm!!!

Gluten Free, Sugar Free & Dairy Free

Lentil Flour and Flax Seed are very Healthy Fun Food!

Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate or Vanilla Oat Bran Milk

Oat Bran Milk

Add 1 cup of water to 1/4 Cup Oat Bran Cereal. 
(Substitutions include:  Oats, Steel cut Oats, Bran, Barley, Wheatgerm etc.)

Heat for 2 minutes in the microwave or on stove top until oats have softened.
Pour the Oat / Water mixture into 2 Cups water. 
Add in flavors: 
1 tsp. Stevia Powder
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
And 1 Tbs. of Cocoa powder for Chocolate Milk.
Pinch of Sea Salt.

Blend or Food Process for 2 minutes on high.
Pour the mixture through a strainer into a glass container.
Refrigerate up to 5 days. 
Use in smoothies, cooking, baking or heat a cup for a morning drink.
The oat bran left in the strainer can be frozen and used in cookies, cakes

or breakfast bars for added nutrition.

Oat Bran leftovers strained out of liquid can be frozen and used
in future cookies, pie crusts, etc.

Great substitute for Soy, Nut or Coconut Milk and at about .20 per 8oz. glass?  Great savings as well.

Leave out the sweetener and you've got a milk for cooking savory sides with added nutrition.

Other Diary Alternative posting:

Coconut

Flax Seed Milk

Soy Milk and Flour

All great alternatives to Cow's Milk and much less expensive overall.

Plus you can keep the dry ingredients for months, years and always have a source on hand

to mix up some milk without spoiling or additives.

VEGA Plant Protein mixes + Dairy Free Milks make a great meal substitute

Using Dairy Free Milks with smoothies can greatly increase the vitamin intake and still be delicious!

If you'd like more information on Dairy Free Cooking you can click here:

http://cannedtime.blogspot.com/p/why-go-dairy-free.html

Enjoy!

Raw Vegan Caramels with Chocolate Nut Butter

These Raw Vegan Caramels are adapted from a recipe at Averie Cooks

These are beautiful little bites of chewy, sweet goodness.

I took Averie's advise and added some homemade chocolate butter on top

just to make them even more perfect.

I made a chocolate sauce by blending sugar free peanut butter with cocoa powder and

NuNaturals Liquid Vanilla Stevia

The main sweetness comes from ground up dates.

Make sure if you're using whole dates to remove the pits.

Thanks to NuNaturals, they are sugar free except for the date sugar.

When you have the 'caramel' dough, flatten it out on a stick free surface to about 1/2 inch thick.
Refrigerate to firm the caramel.

 I combined the dates with sunflower seeds.  Blend the Sunflower Seeds first and then add in the other caramel ingredients. 

I had better success pulsing the blender much of the time until a paste formed.

The original recipe calls for pine nuts, but I'm saving money using sunflower seeds but
I'm sure that these would be even better using Pine Nuts.

Raw Vegan Caramels with Chocolate Nut Butter Frosting

Caramels

1 Cup Raw Unsalted Sunflower Seeds (or Pine Nuts)

15 Pitted Medjool Dates

2 Tbs. Olive Oil (if using Pine Nuts, omit the oil)

2 tsp. Liquid Vanilla Stevia

Pulse Sunflower Seeds until pulverized.  Add in the dates

and pulse until lumpy batter forms.  Add in other ingredients and

continue pulsing until smooth and lay out on a non stick surface.

Push batter down to form a large 1/4 inch thick rectangle.  Refrigerate for

30 minutes to firm up caramels before icing.  Cut into squares.  Store in a

sealed container.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

16 oz Jar of Natural Peanut Butter

1/4 Cup Palm Sugar or other sweetener

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbs. Cocoa Powder

1 tsp. Liquid Vanilla Stevia

1 Tbs. Non Dairy Milk

Pinch of Sea Salt

Blend in a food processor until smooth.  Store in a sealed container

in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 2 months (they won't last that long but they could)

See the original recipe for other options and flavors. I think next time

I will make a smaller batch and use the Pine Nuts.

I'm also thinking that some coarse Sea Salt sprinkled in would be a great addition too!

Guilt free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free delicious little bites of sweet enjoyment!

Fantastic heathy recipe.  Thanks again Averie....

Enjoy!

Make sure you've entered to win in the NuNaturals giveaway!

Peach Apple Salsa

 Sometimes recipes come from strange places in our imaginations...........           Other times, we just need to clean out the fridge.

Dice up your ingredients

Apple Peach Salsa

(Makes about 4 Cups)
4 Jalapeno Peppers, diced
1 Red Onion, diced
3 Celery Stalks, diced small
1 Small Can of Peaches, drained and diced
1 Granny Smith Apple, diced, toss in lemon juice to prevent browning
1 Can Black Beans, rinsed well
Small bunch of Cilantro, leaves only, chopped
1 Cup of Enchilada Red Sauce
2 Tbs. Honey
2 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp. each)

Mix all ingredients and allow to sit in the fridge
for a few hours to meld the flavors.

This can be also be 'canned' to preserve.
15 minutes processing time - water bath.

Find a good Gluten free chip or make your own!

This one would work as a topping for fish or chicken too.  It's light with a good punch of flavor.

If you'd like it spicier, just leave in the seeds when you dice the jalapenos. 

Used up a lot of good fresh ingredients for this one.
Enjoy!

Be sure you're entered in the NuNaturals giveaway.  Contest ends Saturday.