Raw Vegan Recipe : Peaches and "Cream" Pie

Peach season is just around the corner. I plan on making this soon when we have fresh peaches. I also still have tons of peaches to use in my freezer. Any suggestions or recipe ideas? I am thinking of smoothies soon. Any other thoughts?

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14 Vegan Cheeses That Will Make You Forget About The Real Thing

I've made the cheddar cheese ball... Need to try some of the others soon. Yum!

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Vitamix Review

Back in early January, we bought a Vitamix. I must admit, I have been wanting a Vitamix for a while now. I originally did not want to spend the large amount of cash on a blender, but after our Ninja started having issues blending cashews and other items we decided it was time to investigate a new blender. 

At first, we looked at the new professional series Ninja. Then we compared the Blendtec to the Vitamix. It was a difficult decision, but in the end we bought a refurbished Vitamix. 






So what was one of the first things I made with the Vitamix? Well a green smoothie of course!

Ingredients: Kale, peanut butter, ground flax seeds, frozen bananas, and water. 

I highly suggest layering your smoothies in the Viatmix to make for easier cleanup. See how I have the peanut butter at the top... yeah I don't recommend that at all. Last time I made a smoothie, I put the water, peanut butter and flax seed in first. Then I packed in the kale and on the top was the frozen bananas. This made it much easier to mix up the items and not have as much stick to the side of the container. 

Blend until spinach is pulverized!

Like the top? Reused top of soy milk carton. 

Then blend until you reach desired consistency and flavor. Look at all the yummy green smoothie! It looks like Vulcan blood :) 

The Vitamix does a great job. I will say it does sound like a jet engine taking off in my kitchen, but the noise only lasts for a few minutes. I also like that it is really easy clean-up. Before I was using a juicer and then the Ninja to make smoothies. It took longer, I was cleaning up two machines, and I never used the leftover pulp like I intended. Good intentions, but never got around to it. 

I am still experiementing with the Vitamix and trying out new recipes. Actually, my husband made a great soup with the blender the other night: 

I wish I could give you the instructions and ingredients for this potato soup that he made because it was absolutely delicious. The problem is he just threw it together. I know it included 3 kinds of potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, and other spices but I don't know the proportions or rest of the ingredients. It was absolutely the best potato soup I have ever had hands down. Plus, the Vitamix made for an easy clean-up!

As we experiment more with the Vitamix, I will post more recipes and an updated review on here. So far, it is worth the investment. 

What's a Pummelo?

I'm always up for trying new food, well new vegan food. So the other day when we went to Whole Foods I saw a fruit I've never seen or had... and it was on sale! I've got a little bit of my dad in me, I could not pass up the sale :)

So what's a pummelo (or pomelo)?

Citrus maxima, is a crisp citrus fruit native to South and Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white flesh and very thick albedo. Wikipedia

When it says very thick rind, it means it! So here are the pictures of the cutting and a review of a new fruit to me. 

Here is my pummelo waiting to be cut and enjoyed. It is the largest citrus fruit and it was kind of heavy compared to a grapefruit. SO how do you cut a pummelo? 

First, chop off the cap. You will need to cut two inches into the rind. I actually had to cut it, and then cut it again as I was worried I was going to cut into the flesh of the fruit. 

Next cut into the round (scoring like an orange but cut deeper as the rind is really thick!). You can see in this picture how thick the rind is on a pummelo. You can also see in this picture that I didn't cut deep enough. I was worried again I would cut the flesh of the fruit. The interesting thing here is the rind is really soft. It feels like Styrofoam. 

You can compost the rind. I was trying to find something else to do with it, as there is a lot of rind, but I couldn't find anything else. So if you have any suggestions please let me know in the comments below. 

Finally, this is the fruit on the inside. It took a good deal of work to get into this fruit, but it was worth it. The pummelo citrus fruit is like a sweet grapefruit. It does still have a bit of a bitter twinge, but otherwise it is really good. I have to admit I'm not much of a grapefruit person, but I could be a pummelo person. I usually prefer oranges or tangerines. Sweet fruits, not twangy. 

Will I buy this fruit again? If it's on sale, yes! I did enjoy it, and enjoyed eating a different kind of fruit. I cannot say it is my favorite fruit, but it is tasty and was worth the effort to cut into it. I'm going to keep trying new fruits and veggies then bring the results here. So look for more reviews and even maybe some recipes. 

Vegan Cheese Ball

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. During the holiday season we made some yummy treats at our house, and one of my favorite was the vegan cheese ball. My mom, who is not veggie, loved it!




I mean look at that, who wouldn't love it! It was really good with the organic rice crackers, and apples.



I wish I could say that I came up with this recipe, but I did not. I found the recipe over on VedgeOut. I am pasting the ingredients below with a few of my notes and then the instructions that I followed. Full credit on the recipe goes to VedgeOut.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked in purified water for 4-6 hours. --> You can also soak it overnight, but don't soak too long. Also, if you soak it overnight keep it in your fridge. I did not use purified water. I just soaked it in filtered water and it tasted great to me. 

• 2 packed tablespoons dry pack sun dried tomatoes, snipped into small pieces with kitchen scissors then soaked in the purified water with the cashews --> The snipping is important. It helps it soak up more of the water. 

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast -->... I added a little extra :)

• 1 tablespoon dry sherry (optional) --> I left this out

• 1 heaped tablespoon mellow white miso (use chickpea miso if you are sensitive to soy) --> Use white or yellow but don't buy the brown miso. 

• 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar --> If it is not raw, that is ok unless you are following a raw vegan diet. 

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon dry ground mustard powder

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

• dash cayenne

• 1/2 cup organic unrefined coconut oil --> We used refined coconut oil as that is what we had on hand. It was the Trader Joe's brand. 

Method: 

First we soaked the cashews with the sun-dried tomatoes overnight in the fridge. Next morning drain the water, rinse, and drain well. 

Next I placed the cashews with sun-dried tomatoes in the high powered blender and let it rip. Once it is kind of like a past consistency (I should have taken pictures here, sorry!), then start mixing in all of the seasonings, and last add the coconut oil. Blend until it is a smooth consistency. 

Roll the paste into a ball, put in a container, and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Don't taste the cheese ball yet! You will be tempted to try some of the cheese ball, but just wait it will be worth it. Until the flavors have had a chance to blend/mix together it won't taste as good. So be patient. The longer you let it stay in the fridge, the more chance the flavors have to mix. Overnight is best. 

When you are ready take it out, then roll it in ground pecans (or bread crumbs, or another topping). Plate and enjoy!

I will definitely make this recipe again. It was a big hit with many people in my family. It just takes a little bit of time and prep work, but it is worth it. Patience is a virtue, name that movie! :) 

Posted by: Alisha