Cashew Coconut Fruit Dip

In the last couple of weeks I have had several parties--a Pampered Chef party, a graduation party for my dear husband, and a Memorial Day picnic.  I have been trying a ton of new recipes, including this one of a Raw Vegan Ranch Dressing Dip that my friends have all loved.  I tweaked it, of course, and am not completely ready to share it, yet, but the recipe is very good just as it is from Sunny Raw Kitchen.  If any of you would like to try it before I blog my own version, please click on the link and give it a try.

Between testing new recipes, cooking for parties, and getting my garden ready to plant, I haven't had any time for blogging.  My garden is still not done (Is it ever?!?), but I figured I would take a little break to blog about a new recipe I have developed.  I made this dip for all of the recent parties I have been at, and it has been a consistent favorite, with many asking for my recipe.  With all of the busyness, I haven't gotten a picture taken, yet, however I will try to get one soon and will post it when I do.

Cashew Coconut Fruit Dip
1/2 c. cashews, soaked and rinsed
1 can Thai Kitchens coconut milk (regular, not light)
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. lemon juice
20 drops NuNaturals Alcohol-Free Vanilla Stevia
1 1/2 Tbs. chia seeds*

Blend the cashews, coconut milk, honey, lemon juice, and stevia until smooth.  Keep the blender running, and add the chia seeds.  Continue to blend until the chia seeds are blended up and the mixture is thickened.  If you don't have vanilla stevia, you could add some vanilla extract and may want to add an extra tablespoon or so of honey.  If you add vanilla and more honey, you may decide that you need to add a touch more chia seeds if your mixture doesn't thicken as much as desired.  I try to keep this dip as thick as I possibly can and still be able to blend up the chia seeds.  If it's too thick to blend up the chia seeds, you can add just a little touch of water, just enough to blend the chia seeds.  I'm sure that a VitaMix blender would be able to make it a little thicker, but my blender is not quite as powerful as that.

This dip will thicken more in the fridge as it chills.  It's a good idea to make it the day before your party, or at least several hours before.  After taking it out of the fridge, it will thin out a little as it gets to room temperature, so if it seems too thick to you (I like it really thick), let it sit out for a little while before serving.  I like to eat this with fruit for breakfast sometimes since I can't have yogurt.  It's healthy and delicious.

*You can also grind your chia seeds in a coffee grinder and then add the chia flour instead of the whole seeds.

Beautiful Luncheon Today

Some lovely friends of mine put on a beautiful ladies' luncheon at the house for all the ladies in our church, today.  It was so wonderful.  They did so much work, and everyone had a great time.  What really impressed me, though, was that these two ladies made all the food themselves.  Not only that, but they made some gluten-free foods with me in mind!  They had never made anything gluten-free before, but they ventured out of their comfort zone just to make me feel comfortable.  I offered to bring something, but they insisted on doing it all themselves.  I so appreciate that!  It was such a lovely day! 

I should have taken pictures, but I forgot to take my camera.  Otherwise, I could show you the gluten-free pasta salad made with Tinkyada pasta, the Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Brownies, a lovely chicken salad, gluten-free crackers, and a delicious salad made with broccoli, onions, bacon, raisins, and vinegar.  Everything was so delicious.  Not only was all of this gluten-free, but they took care to keep it dairy-free as well, knowing that I have trouble with both dairy and gluten.  Thank you so much! :-)

Chocolate Coconut Freezer Bites

I have been so busy this week trying to get all my housework caught up from the last several weeks of history play chaos!  I haven't had much time to be creative in the kitchen, though I have had a lot of ideas playing around in my head.  Also, my sister, Sarah, and her children came up to visit from New Jersey this week, so that has been another draw on my time.  We have actually had a lot of fun this week.  We had a birthday dinner at my mom's house to celebrate my birthday which was last weekend on the same day as the history play.

Going to my mom's or my sister's is so much easier for us than for many with dietary restrictions because my mom and sister have similar restrictions, with various other differences.  I don't have to worry about whether or not we can eat the food or whether we are going to have to deal with strange looks or frustrating conversations regarding our diet.  My mom and stepdad made a delicious lentil stew while my sister baked a wonderful birthday cake for me.  It was all very nice.  The cake was an orange creme cake based on this recipe by Gluten-Free Goddess.  I think she may have doubled it in order to make it into a 9x13 cake.  It was delicious.  Since Nathan can't have oranges, and I have been really in the mood for cheesecake which I can no longer have being dairy free, I decided to try a recipe for a dairy-free cheezecake that I found in an awesome book called Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  It was soooo good.  Everyone loved it, and my nephew who has recently had to go dairy-free as well as gluten-free asked for seconds!  I did modify Ani's recipe a little and have a couple more changes I want to make for the future, so I am not quite ready to share it yet.  I will post it soon.

Elijah had his first baseball game yesterday.  My sister and her kids decided to meet us at the game.  Having everyone around us eating all the food from the snack shop is like torture when you can't eat or drink anything they have to offer.  I decided to bring our own snacks and drinks.  I made my own version of sports drink (It was very hot outside.) and my Dairy Free Cheeze Dip to go with organic corn tortilla chips.  My sister and her family had not had a chance to try my cheeze dip recipe yet, so I took extra for them.  They absolutely loved it and can't wait to make some once they get home from their visit up here.

For dinner last night, Chuck wanted MEAT!  The rest of us just felt like it was too hot to eat anything cooked, but he really felt like he wanted burgers or something.  I threw on a couple of burgers for him.  When they were done, I used my Cheeze Dip as a condiment in place of a slice of cheese.  I heated up a couple of Food For Life Brown Rice Tortillas, put some lettuce on them, added the burger with Cheeze Dip, ketchup, and mustard.  Voila!  Dinner was served!  He absolutely raved about the Cheeze Dip.  I think it's not going to be so hard to transition the family to dairy-free.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of any of these great things, but I will try to make some of this stuff again some time and add pictures.  I just really wanted to get an update on my blog since some of you might be wondering what's been up with us.

One thing I do want to add, though, is a great recipe that was inspired by Averie at Love Veggies and Yoga.  She makes these lovely Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs.  I have really been so impressed by her raw vegan recipes.  She makes such lovely, simple desserts that require no baking and minimal dishes and appliances, and with a heat wave upon us I was looking for something that would fit that description.  I decided to try her snowball recipe tonight but with a few small changes.  This is what I came up with.  They are delicious, and they sort of remind me of the Girl Scout Samoas minus the caramel (I'll be working on that).  Chuck absolutely loved them.  He said they remind him of the German Chocolates he used to get.  This was his "the kids are in bed, now, treat!"  Of course, I saved plenty for the kids to try tomorrow.  I'm sure there will be no complaints.

Chocolate Coconut Freezer Bites

3/4 c. agave (I was out of maple syrup and honey, but you could certainly use them instead)
1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
15 drops NuNaturals Alcohol-Free Vanilla Stevia
a dash of pure GF vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1/2 c. blanched almond flour
1/4 c. + 2 Tbs. cocoa powder
2 t. chia seeds

Mix the liquid ingredients together.  Stir in the dry ingredients.  Spread in a freezer-safe container to cut into "bites" or shape into balls.  Freeze.  If you froze it in a container, you may have to allow it to thaw a couple of minutes before cutting into bars, or take it out of the freezer after 15-20 minutes to cut into pieces before it completely freezes. Enjoy!

Store these in the freezer.

Why Chia?

This weekend has been a blur of activity.  Actually, the last week has been a blur, really.  Cassie and Nathan were in a big play Friday and Saturday, so I was quite busy finishing up costumes and carpooling.  Today there was a big banquet for Girl Scouts, where Cassie received recognition for earning her Silver Award.  It has all been very exciting, but I can honestly say that I am more than ready for things to calm down, so I can get back to cooking, blogging, and starting my garden.  I can't go another day, however, without blogging about something, so here is a subject that I have been getting a lot of questions about lately.

Oh, yeah.  On a side note, my birthday was yesterday, and my personal chef wonderful son, Elijah (12 years old) made me breakfast.  How sweet is that?  I just had to include that in my post today since I didn't have a chance to do it yesterday (too busy with the kids' play).  Here is a picture of my wonderful birthday breakfast (Actually, it's my husband's plate since I had already eaten mine before I thought to take a picture!):

How thoughtful was that?  Happy birthday to me! :-)

Now on to the subject at hand:  chia seeds.  I have had quite a few people ask me these questions over and over again, and no wonder.  Chia seeds haven't been in the limelight very long.  Even though ancient peoples used chia seeds for a power food, they have been largely unknown as such by people in our country until very recently.  So here are answers to some of the questions I have been asked.

Are these chia seeds related to the chia pets?  I instantly can hear, "Ch-ch-ch-chia!" ringing in my head.  Yes, they are one and the same.  In fact, you can sprout your chia seeds to make nutritious sprouts for your salads and sandwiches.  You can also use them to refill your chia pet if you want to.

What do chia seeds taste like?  Chia seeds are very mild in flavor.  I can barely distinguish any flavor at all--especially if I mix them with other things (like vanilla almond milk).  They pretty much pick up the flavor of whatever you put them in.

What can you do with chia seeds?  You can use chia seeds as a thickener.  You can grind them into flour using a coffee grinder, and use the flour in your baking (though you may need to increase the liquid in your recipe).  You can make puddings and thicken your smoothies with chia seeds.  You can make refreshing beverages with chia seeds.  You can make chia gel and add it to your salad dressings, condiments, and other things in order to stretch them farther or to add nutrition.   Chia seeds soak up and retain a lot of liquid, so when you eat them dry, you should make sure you drink a lot to prevent the seeds from taking moisture from your body.  When you take them with a lot of water or juice, they are a great way to hydrate yourself.  One note to add is that when you heat up chia seeds, the live enzymes get killed, as with all living digestive enzymes in foods, so eating them raw will give you the most benefits.  A lot of people add chia seeds to their yogurt or their oatmeal.  If you want to add them to your oatmeal, you could make your oatmeal as usual and then add some cool water with your chia seeds or make chia gel ahead of time and add it.

What are chia seeds similar to?  Chia seeds are very much like flax seeds when it comes to their nutritional value, except they are very stable (don't go rancid).  Chia seeds contain more calcium and provide more energy than flax.  They provide more dietary fiber and less fat than flax.  They also provide a balanced ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs.  They also contain a lot of antioxidants, whereas the flax seeds don't have any.  Chia seeds help regulate blood sugar levels, enabling diabetics to keep their sugar levels from spiking as much.  They slow digestion of carbohydrates and can aid in weight loss by making you feel full longer.

Why are chia seeds so healthy?  This question is partially answered by my answer to the previous question.  On top of that information, I will add that chia seeds are a good source of protein and contain calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, vitamin C, vitamin A, and many of the B vitamins.  Chia seeds are a great source of antioxidants, amino acids, and essential fatty acids.

Do you have any recipes for using chia seeds?  I am currently coming up with recipes.  Right now, I have 3 recipes for chia seed pudding on my blog.  I have a recipe for meat loaf that I am currently perfecting (almost done) that uses chia seeds.  I am also working on a Chocolate Rum Raisin Pudding using chia seeds that I blend in the blender until smooth.  I plan on coming up with many more recipes over the coming months that I will be sharing.  In the meantime, you can find lots of recipes online.  Just do a google search.  There is also a good book, The Magic of Chia, that you can find on Amazon.com for a decent price.  I plan on ordering that book soon.  I am interested in looking at the many recipes included in it.

How much does chia cost?  Is it expensive?  There seems to be a wide variety of prices on chia seeds.  I was recently disappointed to find that our local health food store is trying to sell chia seeds for over $30.00 per pound!  I found chia seeds on Amazon.com for $4.59 per pound, with free shipping!  I have found the seeds for many prices in between, but Amazon is the cheapest.  Considering that a small amount goes a long way, I feel that it is a decent price to pay.  I believe the price will probably lower as chia seeds become more and more popular.  Incidentally, if you purchase the seeds through amazon for that price, you have to buy a 5 pound bag of them.  You can purchase a smaller amount, though the price will be slightly more per pound.  Just do a search on amazon for chia seeds.  Even with the slightly higher per pound price, it may still be cheaper than at your local store.

You can find more information and a few recipes on chia seeds here:

The Chia Cheat Sheet and 10 Recipes

The Secret of Chia:  An Interview with James Scheer
Herbs are Special:  Chia
The Raw Food World:  Chia

Disclaimer:  I have included links in this post that will take you to several places where chia seeds are being sold.  I am including them only because there is valuable information on those sites that you may be interested in.  I am in no way advertising for these particular companies, and I am not making any money from them.  The information you will find at these places can also be found in The Magic of Chia book as well as other websites and/or books, not just sites that are trying to sell a product.
 
Do a google search for chia seeds and you will find a lot of information and recipes.

That's it for now.  I will continue to update this page as I find new interesting information.  Does anyone have any questions or comments?  Please ask your questions or leave comments in the comments section under this post, and I will respond as soon as I can.