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!

Sweet & Spicy Slaw w/ Stove Top BBQ Beans

What's better on a hot 95 degree day than some cool slaw and some spicy beans?

 This past weekend, my husband and I went to a BBQ that was serving Tennessee Tacos.

I had one and promised myself I'd make a healthy version with less sugar and more spice.

The soft tortilla is a great way to combine these two flavors. 

You get a little of this and some of that in each bite.

When I went to the store to get the basics for this meal, I thought about how many types of beans there are available, but not many healthier brands.  I did get organic black and kidney beans but this meal could have a lot of extra sugar.

So I decided to make the beans and slaw myself and control the sugar with Stevia.

I have never made homemade baked beans before but in looking at a few of the cans, they didn't seem that hard to cook up on my own.

These definitely look a little different than store bought.  I thought that they were going to taste

like pasta sauce when I first saw them cooking.  But they don't at all.

They have a sweet background with a pinch of spice that can easily increase with more red pepper.

Stove Top BBQ Baked Beans:

Mix all ingredients in a 3 Quart Sauce Pan -

3 Cups Water
3 Cans of Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Can Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can Tomato Paste
2 Vegetable Bullion Cubes
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
4 Tbs. Brown Sugar
1/8 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Spicy Brown Mustard


I used my homemade brown sugar in this
and it really was nice to have fresh soft sugar to work with.

1-3 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1/8 Cup Ground Flax Seed (optional)

Heat on low at least 1 hour, stirring to prevent burning.
Serve with Spicy Slaw inside a wrap or soft tortilla.

*Optional:  Chop one cooked Pork Chop and add that in.

I used my homemade Whole Grain Spicy Brown Mustard
in the beans, so good and easy to make.

Sweet & Spicy Slaw:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Keep refrigerated.  Flavors are best next day when they've had time to meld.

3 Cups chopped Cabbage/Carrot Slaw mixture
3/4 - 1 Cup of Miracle Whip Mayo or Vegan Mayo
(start with 3/4 cup and then add more if you'd like it creamier)
1 tsp. Powdered Stevia
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
1/4 Cup Spicy Brown Mustard
1 Tbs. Celery Salt
1 Tbs. Honey *optional

An easy Summer meal with lots of fiber, a little sugar and a whole lot of flavor.

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!

Easy Veggie Chili Verde w/ Vegan Options

This Chili turned out just great!  Especially considering every part of it came out of a jar or can....

This would be a super fast supper for anyone who's too tired to cook but wants a

 healthy great tasting meal....plus leftovers for the next day!

And just leave out the meat, and it's a perfect

Vegan Veggie Verde Chili

Take everything from here



                                                 And put it into here

Pour the 2 cans of Tomatillo Puree, Olive Oil and seasonings to a large pot.
Rinse and drain all the veggies and then transfer everything to the large pot. 
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Spicy, full of flavor and lots of healthy veggies.

Add / Subtract to suit your own tastes and heat tolerance..............

Makes about 3 Quarts so you can save another meals worth for another night.

Great taste and quick...
Enjoy!

Vegan Poblano Corn Chowder

This Dairy Free version of one of my favorite soups is still creamy and spicy.  Just like a cream filled recipe.  It goes well with just chips or along side of any main Mexican dish. 

 Freezes well for quick meals on busy nights. 

Vegan Poblano Pepper Corn Chowder

6 Cups of Vegetable Stock
5 Cups of cubed white potatoes
3 Roasted Poblano Peppers cut into small pieces
1 large (29 oz.) Can of Corn
1 tsp. Celery Seed
1/2 Tbs. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large Dutch Oven sized pot.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 1
hour until potatoes and pepper have softened.

Remove from heat.
If you have an immersion blender, carefully puree
most of the soup leaving some chunks of corn and potato.
Or
Carefully blend 2/3 of the soup in a blender until smooth
then add it back into the pot.

Serve with chips, tortillas or bread.  Makes about 4 quarts
Freezes well.

Congratulations again to Margaret Sarro, winner of the Kindred Bliss Bath & Body giveaway!

Sunday Spring Rain

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Check out Katie's post to get the simple recipe for this perfect Chocolate base.  I changed my fudge here by adding in 1 Cup of my Flax Milk and added a little more Stevia but the rest is per her recipe, check it out.

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Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/lid-off-plastic-pail-opener.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h6eycjf29M