Leggo My Mango

So, I am a bit sad. I've been eating a lot of mangoes lately and I had a reaction to them. My lips got really irritated and now they are dry. It finally occurred to me that it must be because of the mangoes because my lips and tongue tingle a little when I eat them. I love mangoes, so my heart started to break a little at this realization! I love the texture and the smooth sweetness of this tropical fruit!

Fortunately, it looks like I was just eating them improperly, so I thought it was worth sharing off the blog. I would just wash them and cut slices and bite the fruit off the skin, but apparently it's the skin that is causing my reaction. So I thought I would share this information just in case anyone else had the same problem. You can find out more information at http://www.allergy-details.com/allergy-c/mango-allergy/.

Raw Vegan Key Lime Pie

I thought the Raw Vegan Cheesecake was good, but this Key Lime Pie recipe is way better! And I'm actually not a big fan of key lime pie!

Some notes about the recipe. I didn't have any almonds, so I used raw cashews and some peanuts for the crust. I also didn't have raisins (why would I? They are gross!). The crust is still awesome! I'm not sure you can mess this up.

Unless... you don't taste the filling before you put it in the pie. Ours was WAY too tart. I mean pucker your lips and squint your eyes tart! I added some raw honey, but it didn't do the trick and I only had a little left, so I resorted to using a bit of Splenda (bad, I know). But... I saved the pie!

For the "frosting," I used almond milk instead of water and dates instead of honey. I topped the entire pie with some shredded coconut. Heaven in every bite! I'm seriously in love! And I'm beyond excited about it having avocado in it. I just think it's brilliant! This was yet another Raw Guru recipe. I love that site!



Crust:
1 cup almonds
2 cups walnuts
1 cup dates
1/3 cup raisons
2 tbs. orange juice

Filling:
2 big avocados or 3 small ones
juice of 4 limes or 7 keylimes
zest of the limes/keylimes
1/2 cup cashew nuts

Frosting:
1/2 cup almond milk or water
1 cup mac nuts
1/4 cup Cashews
1 vanilla bean scraped (optional)
3 tbs honey or 7-10 dates

Garnish:
Crushed pistachios
lemon wedges
Methods/steps

Preparing crust:
Process all ingredients until crumbly and soft. Press into a 10 inch springform pan and chill

Preparing filling:
Either blend everything in blender until thick and creamy or put through juicer (ie: champion, greenpower)

Preparing frosting:
Put everything in a clean blender and whip it up until nice and smooth. No lumps please.

Assembly:
Take out the chilled crust. spoon the filling on top. Smooth it out with a spatula or spoon. Let chill for 1 hour. Take it out and then pipe or spoon the frosting on top. Garnish with lemon/lime wedges and chopped pistachios. Put in the fridge/freezer for another hour to set and enjoy.

Raw Vegan Cheesecake

Up til now, we've only been having fresh fruit for dessert. But to make the challenge of going raw for one week even "sweeter," I decided to try out some recipes for raw desserts. I think I now have my hubby sold on the idea of raw foods!

This recipes was so easy to make! It took a little time, but it was well worth it. My hubby and I both had a second slice of it tonight! I found this recipe on the Gone Raw website and I knew I HAD to make it this week! I may just have to make it EVERY week! Try it... you won't be disappointed!!



Raw Vegan Cheesecake

In this raw food cheesecake, dried coconut is used as the bottom layer (to replace the crumbled graham crackers), macadamia nuts are used for the bulk of the "crust" layer, and cashews make up most of the "cheese" portion.

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer Ingredients:

1/4 cup of dried coconut

Crust Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of raw macadamia nuts
1/2 cup of dates
1 pinch of sea salt (optional)

Raw Cashew Cheesecake Filling Ingredients:

3 cups of cashews
3/4 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cup of raw honey (or other raw sweetener)
3/4 cup of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of vanilla

Sauce Ingredients:

2 cups frozen mixed berries (or any frozen fruit)
1/2 cup of dates
Preparation:

Directions:

1. Sprinkle coconut on the bottom of cheesecake pan (or any glass 'baking' dish).
2. Blend crust ingredients (you'll see when it starts to get 'crusty') in food processor and spread on top of coconut layer.
3. Blend filling ingredients in food processor and then spread on top of crust layer.
4. Cool in fridge or freezer to firm up a bit. It took about 45 minutes in the freezer when I prepared it.
5. Blend sauce ingredients in food processor and then spread on top of cheesecake layer.

Baked Apples and Pears

My metabolism is in high gear right now, so it's almost a requirement that I have dessert! We tried this one the other night and it was delicious!

Ingredients:
2 apples (sliced)
1-2 pears (sliced)
honey
cinnamon
nutmeg
1 orange

Set oven to 350 degrees. Slice up apples and pears and place them in a glass baking dish. Drizzle lightly with honey and fresh squeezed orange. Season liberally with cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.