Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Bliss Balls

Raw Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

My grandma made the best oatmeal molasses raisin cookies.  I can still smell them!  Lots of fun was spent in the kitchen at my grandparents house.  Sweet memories.

My Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are guilt-free, gluten-free, healthy and very tasty.  They go pretty quick too, so next time I'll make a double batch... maybe even triple. 

in the dehydrator - smells so good!

No worries if you do not have a dehydrator as you can eat these cookies completely raw!  You can form them into cookie shapes or Bliss Balls (see below) - they taste like oatmeal cookie dough! 

Raw Vegan Bliss Balls - Oatmeal Raisin

For this batch I did a little of both and Mark took them to work to share.  I rolled some in hemp heart seeds, some in coconut sugar and the rest I left plain.  Shredded coconut would be a nice topping too... so many choices.

Here's my simple recipe for a yummy healthy treat.  You can adapt to fit your likes.

Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Bliss Balls

1 heaping cup of soaked steel cut gluten-free oats (rinsed and drained) - or regular oats
1 cup flax meal
1/2 cup walnuts (soaked and dehydrated - optional)
2 Tbs hemp heart seeds
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp Roasted Saigon Cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt

Put into food processor and pulse to combine.

Add in:
1/2 cup packed medjool dates (or dates of choice), process until well combined and can hold it's shape when rolled into a ball.

Add in 1/4 cup full of golden raisins and pulse a few times to mix in.  You can leave the raisins out if you like.

For dehydrated cookies:

Form into balls, sprinkle with a tiny bit of coconut sugar (or sugar of choice) and flatten.  Put onto mesh dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 degrees for approximately 4-6 hours or until desired doneness.  Time will vary due to weather, location, dehydrator, etc.

For bliss balls:

Form into round balls and if desired, roll into coconut shreds, hemp seeds, coconut sugar... or leave plain.  I love them plain.

Store them in the fridge or freezer - if they last that long. 

Peace,
Rocki

Rocki's Raw Vegan Hemp Cheese Sauce

Raw Vegan Hemp Cheese Sauce

Today was such a beautiful day all around.  We got some needed work done around the house in the morning, prepared veggies for Mark's lunch for tomorrow, played barber and cut Mark's hair, went for an awesome bicycle ride and now relaxing on the couch until it's time to create dinner. 

Oh wait, I forgot one little detail... made a batch of my hemp cheese.  Yum yum yum!

We sat down to have lunch and dug right into our veggies and cheese sauce.  I dunked my zucchini into the bowl of deliciousness, took a bite and looked at my cheesy zucchini - it looked like a half moon.  Mark's exact words were: "Well, they say the moon is made of cheese."
He always makes me laugh!

Not only is this cheese sauce gluten, dairy and nut-free, but it is super healthy and guilt-free!  Okay, on with my recipe as I'm wanting to dig back into the cheesy goodness.

Rocki's Raw Vegan Hemp Cheese Sauce

1/4 cup water
1 red bell pepper
1 large garlic clove (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
3 TBS nutritional yeast (heaping)
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS raw apple cider vinegar
1 Serrano chili pepper, seeds removed (or pepper of choice)
1 cup hemp heart seeds

Put everything into your blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  You can add more water if you want a thinner consistency.  Sometimes I add a little tahini for added creaminess.

Living in the southwest we tend to love heat, especially in our food.  Well, actually it took Mark a long time to realize that ketchup was NOT salsa (silly boy).  Now he loves heat in his food too :)  But no worries if you don't as you can change the flavor of the cheese by omitting both peppers and enjoy as is or add herbs and spices of your choice.  You can also use a yellow bell pepper instead of the red.  So many choices.

Time to eat.  Chow for now.

Peace,
Rocki

Raw Vegan Smoothies

Good Morning Smoothie - raw, vegan and gluten-free

I'm getting a bit more creative with my raw vegan food and am having a blast!  I have several to blog about, but will do a few at a time. 

Have to say that my little creations are just a drop in the bucket compared to what I've seen on Instagram - amazing and inspiring to say the least.  Speaking of Instagram, I'm becoming more active on my page and as I told Mark... "there's no stopping me now!" You can find me at Raw_Rocki.

Let's get right to the quickie recipes.  Above is my Good Morning Smoothie! I'm simply going to give the basics for this one because you really can't go wrong with smoothies.  So let your taste be your guide, experiment and have fun!

Good Morning Smoothie!

Bottom layer: banana, mango, pineapple, coconut water, flax meal and warrior blend protein powder - natural flavor

Top layer: baby spinach, matcha green tea powder and coconut water
- you can add a banana with this part for a thicker consistency

Guilt-Free Chocolate Shake - raw, vegan and gluten-free

You can't say no to a healthy chocolate shake in the middle of the afternoon, can you?  No way!  Especially since it is raw, vegan, gluten-free and nutritious with no processed sugar.  Say it with me: "GUILT-FREE!"

Guilt-Free Chocolate Shake

Step 1:
2 very ripe frozen bananas
1 cup pure coconut water
1 Tbs protein powder
1 Tbs hemp seeds
vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla
1 cup ice

Blend the above.  Pour half or more of this vanilla mixture into a tall glass and leave the rest in the blender. 

Step 2:
Add 1 Tbs or more of cacao powder to the remaining mixture in the blender and blend briefly until combined.  Pour slowly on top of the vanilla mixture.  I garnished mine with coconut and cacao nibs, but you can garnish any way you want or not.

Note: if you do not have very ripe bananas and/or like it more on the sweeter side, simply add sweetener of choice in Step 1.

I'll post more of my raw vegan smoothies soon.  Enjoy!

Peace,
Rocki

Raw Vegan Jicama "Fries" & Veggie Burgers - gluten-free too!

I cannot tell you enough of how AMAZINGLY awesome our dinner was!  I’m not sure which I love more – the jicama “fries” or veggie burgers.  Naw, they were both winners!

 

For both of the raw dishes, I used my dehydrator for the entire meal so this is how the recipe is prepared.  However, I’m sure these can be done in the oven as well, so you’ll have to use your best guess for cooking temps and time.

 

Smoked Paprika Jicama “Fries” (feel free to alter to your liking)

 

1 medium jicama cut into fry shape

1 tablespoon or more of cold-pressed Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt (more or less)

1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika

1 tablespoon Garlic Powder

 

In a large bowl combine the oil and seasonings.  Add the jicama fries and coat well.  Place “fries” on mesh dehydrator screen and into the dehydrator they go.  Set it at 110 F and dehydrate for about 4 hours or to your liking.

 

Look at this beautiful bowl of colors!  This is just part of what goes into the veggie burgers.  The brilliant orange color of the carrots made me smile, so I had to take a pic of the veggie bowl.

The burgers look a little pale at start, but turn a deep brown when they are done.  Let me tell you, while they are in the dehydrator, the house smells delicious!

The veggie burgers are from my Rawmazing recipe book and while I tweaked it a little, credit still goes entirely to her. I’m writing the recipe below as it is in the book, with my adjustments next to the applicable item.
 
Mushroom Walnut Veggie Burgers (Veggie Burgers) – Makes 8-9

2 cups carrots, grated (pulse processed small diced)
2 cups portobello mushrooms, chopped fine (pulse processed small diced)
1 cup onion, chopped fine (pulse processed fine)
3/4 cup celery, diced (pulse processed small diced)
1 cup walnuts, soaked, drained and ground fine while wet
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked, drained and ground fine while wet (I used pepitas)
1/4 cup water, filtered
1/4 cup Nama Shoyu (I used Braggs)
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon thyme
(I added 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon rosemary)
1 cup raw oat flour, or 3/4 cup ground flax seeds (I used the flour plus about 1/3 cup ground flax)

1. In large bowl combine carrots, mushrooms, celery and onion
2. Stir in walnuts and pumpkin seeds, combine well
3. Combine water and Nama Shoyu, mix into veggie/nut mixture
4. Add herbs, stir well
5. Stir raw oat flour or ground flax seeds in batches
6. Shape into patties, 4-5 inches across, no more than 1 inch thick.  Place on screens and dehydrate at *145 degrees for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 115 degrees and dehydrate until mostly dry, 3-4 hours.  You want these to be moist, not rock hard.

My note: Since both of these dishes were our dinner that night, I made the veggie burgers first as they went in at a higher temp for the first hour, then turned it down to 110 degrees and popped in the “fries”, while resisting to eat them, until done.

*Note about temp setting. I was curious about setting the temp so high, when raw food cannot be above 115 degrees.  Here’s a brief explanation of it by Rawmazing:

“You will notice on many recipes that dehydration starts at a higher temperature and then is reduced for the remainder of the dehydration. It is still raw. The food is throwing off water and stays cool at the beginning of the dehydration process. Dehydrating like this saves time and also prevents possible fermentation. The food temperature never goes above 115 so your food stays raw.”

 

Our meal was complete with a healthy green salad and fresh raw almond milk (skim milk for Mark).  I've since made another batch of the veggie burgers for our lunches this week.

Eatin' raw and lovin' it!
Peace,
Rocki