Sunday Market

Since returning home to Christchurch we have gone to the organic and vegetarian market near our house every Sunday. It's a sweet little routine to have, not to mention a nice walk along the river to get there.

This is a stall which sells sauerkraut, raw crackers, raw truffles and other chocolate delights.

... And this is me eating a raw truffle.

Raw Vegan Recipe: Chocolate Ice Cream (with Chocolate Sauce)

Today is my mum's birthday, and her favorite food is ice cream, so of course I had to make her some. I personally didn't eat any, after just completing a 5 day smoothie challenge, but hopefully she'll save me some, though I wouldn't count on it :P

Chocolate Ice Cream

10-15 medjool dates

1T unhulled tahini

1T sunflower/cashew butter (either)

2T honey

1 banana

1/3c coconut butter

3c water or whatever milk is on hand (preferably not cow's though haha)

1/4c cacao powder

(I know what you're thinking, "Tahini + Dessert?!" Bear with me here)

Blend the dates in the milk/water. If you don't have a great blender (like me) add water gradually, so it will sort of be like a paste.

Melt the coconut butter, tahini, sunflower butter. I boil the kettle and put the water in a big bowl and the ingredients in a smaller bowl. Continue to add the milk and/or water.

Finally mix all the ingredients together in the blender. (Or if you have a good blender you could have done this in the beginning). The right texture shouldn't be too thin, and should be more on the creamy side.

Freeze, or put in the ice cream maker. If you freeze it, take it out of the freezer first for 10 minutes before you eat it so it will be softer.

Note: I always make this recipe for me and my mum's taste, and we don't like things to be so sweet. If you think it needs more honey, dates, bananas, or anything else ADD THEM. Also, these are estimates, I hardly ever follow recipes and just add till things are 'good enough'.

I also don't have an exact recipe with the sauce, I used honey (even though I'd been warned against it, though it worked this time), cacao butter, and cacao powder.

Peace,

Felic x

Raw Vegan Ice Cream Bars

Back in the 'old days' (and I mean the real old days) me and my mum would often have choc bars, which I think are normally called Ice Cream Bars. They are ice creams, with chocolate coating.

I got the recipe from Nina, who runs the blog called Veggie Wedgie. I really admire her recipes, photography, and just her in general. My try wasn't exactly perfect. I didn't want to use agave, so instead I used Raw Manuka Honey, NEXT TIME I would definitely use liquid honey. The chocolate coating was all lumpy! But apart from the funny bumps all over the shell it was absolutely delicious. Also, it was my first time ever using Cacao Butter, so if anyone has any tips about it they would be hugely appreciated, cos I had no idea what I was doing...

I definitely want to try it again, and get it perfect this time :D

My Job, at Eternal Delight: Raw/Vegan café

This is the beautiful place where I work, known as Eternal Delight.

Front Counter

Food Cabinet. Yum!

I have always really loved the way they have painted words around the room, as you can see.

The view from where I sit

Today was insanely busy, but I managed to snatch a few minutes to myself when there was no one in the café, and take some pictures of my food, and of my surroundings.

The Counter

Here are all the goodies that are for sale, food, teas, superfoods, hydrosols, sauerkraut, cheeses, pesto (all raw and vegan)

For lunch I had a raw Italian burger. It was amazing - smooth cheese, crispy sprouts, crunchy greens, tomato, cucumber, and even a 'meat' patty! Ok, it didn't taste like meat, thankfully, but I really liked the way the burger was built like a burger, with the bread, cheese and meat. I loved it.

Black Forest Gâteau

This is another amazing dessert, the cream tastes so creamy, but without the cow, or the guilt. Plus the caramel sauce was just the best thing ever.

On another angle, you may notice that there are even grapes inside, oh wow!

Creamy Thai Mushroom Soup

I know what you're thinking, 'Felicity, do you actually do any work at that place?' Well, the answer is I do. But they offered that I try this, so how could I refuse? It was so rich and flavorful. Yes, the word I would use to describe this is definitely flavorful. As well as that it was very filling. But oh so good.

Also because today was really hot, I had a scoop of Coffee flavored ice cream! I didn't get a picture of it though, I forgot I had the camera with me, haha :D

They gave me some food to take home too, Pesto for my mum (who eats it like there is no tomorrow), another slice of Black Forest Gâteau, a slice of the Berry Cheesecake, and a roll of Sushi. Yay for my awesome dinner. Sadly the food was not in a photographable state after the dangerous bike ride home, and was beaten to a pulp, but it still tasted great.

Love,

Felic Pear x

The Official Raw Vegan Ice Cream Cone

Creamy Chocolate Ice Cream with Chia Cone

I didn't invent this, sadly, my mother did! We had left over fruit pulp from juicing, so, using the power of water + chia seeds (anyone who has used chia seeds and water will know what happens...) + pulp = cone.

Even though I was the one who did the whole Ice Cream Week, but my mum's ice cream is truly the best I have ever tasted. Raw or otherwise! It is even good when put in the freezer, it is still creamy and melts in the mouth. I don't know how, I don't do chemistry, but somethin' happens and you just end up with a bowl of deliciousness.

Green?

Yes, very green. A lot more green than you!

Green smoothies always look really gross, but taste great. This is my current favorite: Bananas, Strawberries, Cacao Powder and Goji Berries.

Breakfast

Cacao Crepes. My mum decided to meet up with an old school friend, and suggested we have breakfast at a vegetarian/vegan/raw cafe.

I had the cacao crepes. They were delicious.

Since I had the camera on me I decided to take a picture of one of the coolest streets in Christchurch, which thankfully wasn't destroyed in the earthquake.

Ok, on a more serious note, I was at the chemist's the other day (or as peepz in America would say, the 'drug store'), no that is not the serious note. We were looking for some natural and vegan medicines/remedies for depression, that I have recently been suffering from. I spoke with a counsellor who happens to think it's earthquake related, but anyway...

The person who was working at the counter was suggesting that I get a blood type test done, and suggested I read a book called Eat Right for Your Type .

Anyway, I was horrified to discover that I was type O, which is supposed to thrive on meat products.

Luckily for me, I had already read in The Food Revolution that the diet had absolutely no credibility, so I decided to ignore it totally.

I don't think I could handle eating another creature's heart (stupidly recommended by the book), and that thought snapped me out of any depression.

Cake. Chocolate Cake

Mmmm... Cake. Enough said.

Yum. Um, it was a bit messy to eat, refer to the picture below.

You can't see the crust, but it was sort of like a... nice surprise waiting at the bottom! :)

The Best of Raw Chocolate

It has always saddened me that chocolate is supposedly so bad for me. Amazingly enough, RAW chocolate is very healthful! Because the nutrition isn't bubbled and boiled away, the raw cacao (which is a superfood) can deliver the antioxidants, magnesium, and iron. Please note: this is RAW chocolate we are talking about, the other stuff will just go straight to your hips. :)

Because I live in a tiny island in the middle of nowhere, I was amazed to find a place that sold raw products, and then I stumbled upon raw chocolate bars!! We decided to try them all, and I have to admit, these Tama Toa bars (pictured right) are my definite favorite.

I really love the whole raw chocolate eating experience. Maybe it's because the chocolate is handmade, and beautifully packaged. This chocolate is different, it's not the sort you buy and quickly shove into your mouth. It's the sort where you carefully remove the wrapping, savor the sight, and equally savor the taste, texture, and moment.

I've noticed with other raw chocolate that they often aren't sweet. I have a sweet tooth, and so I was delighted to discover that the Tama Toa chocolates are sweet!

It trult melts in the mouth, too, and because Pixie (the creator) adds nuts, seeds, goji berries and a few other delights to the mix, they have a nice crunch to them.

(I'm starting to salivate looking at the pictures, excuse me.)


Great news, we are selling a few from our stash! But be quick, we will not sell many, and they are sure to go quick, due to deliciousness and the fact that I know where my mother has hidden them.

Contact me at felic [dot] pear [at] gmail [dot] com, if you would like to purchase one.

Or you can order them directly from Pixie's website rawhearts.com

Vegetarian/Vegan/Raw Expo 2010

So much fun! :D

The day started off with me meeting my BFFL Josh in town.

We had to walk a mile or two to get to the venue, but eventually... we made it! The day was like rly warm.

It was so crowded.

We walked through Hagley Park to get there. It was pretty cool, you gotta admit. There were blossoms on the trees, flowers scattered, sort of like a fairytale. It probably wouldn't be a fairytale if you had allergies though, then it would be a minefield.

But back to the soothing pictures.

The lol moment du jour was when me and Josh went up to a table to grab a free sample, and the lady was like, "Hey Gurlz!", and Josh was like, "Ahem. Excuse me?" and she was like, "Uh... and Guyz..." I laughed for the next ten minutes.

Food! Food was so tasty. Of course, I only ate the raw vegan stuff. I bought a bottle of Kombucha, too, 'cos I was so thirsty. But ew, it did not taste good. The stuff we brewed at home was so much better. (No offence to the guy who made it if you're reading this, though why would you be. Are you a stalker or something?!)

We had one each of these. On the left are Chia Swirls, and on the right are Chocolate Velvet Slices. They are even better than they sound!

I had a Lucuma Luxury drink. This is the drink stand.

I had a Quiche Lorraine. That sounds like a person's name, or is that just me?

Josh had a truffle, as usual. Because Josh always has a truffle. What am I getting Josh for his birthday in two weeks? A truffle.

Can you spot my mother, I mean, uh, Waldo? Chances are, you cannot.

Haha. Thar she is.

I had a slice of gateau as well, and me + mum halved a raw tortilla wrap.

The day was so great, perfect weather, great food, except for my mum constantly making inappropriate jokes in front of Josh. Just kidding, I do love you mum. :)

Peace and Raw Food,
Felic x

Raw Recipe: Decadent Chocolate Mousse

This is just so damn tasty.

Ingredients:
10 Dates
1/2 Avocado
1 tbsp Organic Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp Raw Organic Honey
1/4c Raw Organic Cacao Powder
1/2c Filtered Water


Method:
Blend all the ingredients until they are smooth and creamy, then serve.

If you want to use it as a cake topping I suggest putting it in the fridge for a few hours to set.

Friday: Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream

Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream

This was SO decadent and chocolate-y, I could only eat one small bowl! Which was probably a good thing, too.

For some reason, cacao seems so amazingly rich and divine. As you can see I adorned the 'crown' of the ice cream with cacao bean chips. I ate it a few hours ago, but upon adding the pictures, I think I'm going to go and get some more... I mean, erm, take the dog for a walk.

I hope everyone is having as good a week as I am ;)

Peace and Raw Food,
Felic Pear x

Monday: Cacao Cashew Ice Cream

Cacao Cashew Ice Cream

Through my whole life I have loved Chocolate Ice Cream. Who doesn't? I love a lot of other flavors, but if there was only one I could have for the rest of my life, it would have to be this one.

Hmm... I don't really know about nutrition. I read the other day that 2 handfuls of cashews per day can decrease depression, I know cacao is a great antioxident, and I read that dates can have certain health benefits. But you know what? I don't care! This Ice Cream is Raw Vegan, tastes fantastic, so that's good enough for me!

I didn't invent this recipe, but I did edit it a little.

If you do the "I-eat-things-in-moderation" thing then that's great.

But I challenge you to eat this in moderation.