Garden of Life RAW meal replacement shake

I am trying TWO new things as we speak.

1) This shake:

and

2) Blogging from my iPhone.

I am a fan of Garden of Life products in general. They seem to use quality ingredients and put together good combinations. Although I have read about them, & researched their ingredients, I have not tried too many of their products myself, as I experienced so many sensitivities to so many ingredients that it was difficult for me to find ANY commercial product that did not contain at least one ingredient to which I was sensitive.

The good news is, I believe my gut has (finally!) come a long way in healing. I have been branching out with more and more foods, & experiencing only minor, if any, reactions.

So I am once again trying a few commercial products, & hoping I do ok with them. Today I am trying this Garden of Life RAW meal replacement shake.

Generally, I believe that if one is eating a healthy balanced diet, there is no need for additional supplements or protein shakes. I found that, for me, when I eat high raw, I feel amazing and have no need for vitamins or protein supplements. As I've shared before, my lab tests have borne that out, which is awesome.

However, I have NOT been eating well lately, and certainly nothing that could be considered "balanced". I have been lacking in both energy & motivation to come up with menu ideas or prepare anything- so my diet has consisted of nuts, apples, rice cakes, maybe a salad or piece of gluten free toast. Not a sustainable source if energy or nutrients!

So, I figured why not try a meal replacement shake? Especially one that is raw & vegan. It's got to be better than a dinner of rice cakes ;)

So, as I'm sitting here sipping my vanilla shake, I have to say, it's not bad! I blended the packet with 16oz of filtered water, and first tried it just like that, to see what it was like. It was surprisingly tasty. I decided I'd like it cold, & a little more flavor, so I added some frozen bing cherries. Very tasty. Decided I'd like it colder, so added some ice cubes- and we have a winner.

Cheers!

Black Forest (Mini) Pie

Guess what? Today we have another mini-pie : )

I needed to: 1) use up some fresh cherries which are in season and abundant and nearly falling out of my refrigerator and I was out of ideas for using them 2) find a good use for the leftover vanilla creme from the Key Lime Pie. Those are good reasons for more pie, right???

Since last week was so much fun, I'm also going to submit this recipe to Vegan Culinary Crusade's Raw Vegan Mini-Pie Challenge, Cybele Pascal's Allergy-Friendly Friday, and Diet, Dessert, and Dogs' Wellness Weekends (Hi Ricki!) Be sure to check out each of those pages for even more allergy-friendly and healthy recipes. I had a lot of fun browsing recipes on those sites last week.

Note: This is a very rich pie! In my opinion, 1/4 of the 4" pie is enough for a serving.

Raw Vegan Black Forest (Mini) Pies
Makes three, 4" pies

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups walnuts
Dash himalayan salt
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
Approximately 10 pitted dates (unsoaked)

For the filling:
1 cup soaked cashews
3 tablespoons light agave nectar
1 vanilla bean- scraped or ground whole in coffee grinder (see this post)
Approximately 1/4 cup filtered water- enough to blend to a creamy texture

For the topping: 
Pitted fresh cherries

Method

Crust:
Place walnuts and salt in food processor fitted with the S blade. Process until finely ground.
Add the raw cacao and pulse a few times to mix.
Add the dates and process until well combined and you have a consistency that sticks together when you press it between your fingers. Try not to overprocess, or your mixture will become oily. Mine is a little oily, you can tell in the pics- this happens when the nuts release their natural oils while processing. It still tastes great, but the texture is better if you can manage to stop processing before they start to release their oils.
Using your fingers, gently press pie crust into mini pie pans or tart pans. A tart pan with a removable bottom makes removal much easier, if you want to display your crust. But mini pie pans are cute, too, and you can serve right out of the dish. Your choice!

Filling:
Place cashews, agave nectar, vanilla bean, and water in VitaMix or blender and blend until creamy. Adjust ingredients to taste, if necessary.

Pour filling into pie shells:

Top with fresh pitted cherries, cut in half:

Enjoy a teeny tiny slice of a teeny tiny pie: 

More on the health benefits of: walnuts, cashews, cherries, dates, raw cacao

Gluten free cherry vanilla pecan waffles

Rainier cherries were on sale this week at Whole Foods.

Gluten free cherry vanilla pecan waffles (vegan)
Makes 10-12 waffles

Ingredients

• 2 cups gluten free flour mix
• 1 tsp guar gum
• 1 tsp corn-free baking powder
• 4 Tbsp organic cane sugar
• 3/4 tsp himalayan salt
• 3/4 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 4 Tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1 cup seltzer water
• 3/4 cup white grape juice

Method

• In a large bowl, mix together gluten free flour mix, guar gum, sugar, salt, chia seeds, vanilla powder, and pecans.
• Add seltzer water, white grape juice, and grapeseed oil and stir to combine. Make sure you don't have any lumps.
• Make waffles according to the directions for your waffle maker. 

Ugh! Please excuse the terrible lighting in this picture.

Top with fresh cherries, and additional pecans, if desired. Enjoy!