im back. with blueberries and more inspiration

I'm back. I've had a few people asking where my blogging went. After a 6 month or so sabatical / uninspired to blog..or even cook, I am back.

I have been working at a local bakery around here, and when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is bake more. This meaning, I'd put the almonds, and the kitchen aid to sleep, but as of this week I am back with so much creativity flowing I can hardly keep up.

Last week I made the most luscious Blueberry Crisp.

Perfectly "buttery" (or lack of butter) crust, amazingly juicy blueberries and just the right amount of cream.

I love this recipe because it is a great American inspired dessert that is easily made gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free, and the best part, it taste amazing!

Blueberry Crisp:

Crust:

2 cups of almond flour or ground almonds

1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

1-2 tbl. of raw agave (depending how sweet you like it)

1/2 tsp. of sea salt

mix all of the ingredients in a mixer until it turns into a dough, depending how coarse your almond flour is, you may need a little bit more of the coconut oil to make it come together well.

Press the dough into a pie pan, just as you would any pastry dough.

Cook in a pie pan for 15 minutes at 350.

Cashew "Cream:"

1 1/2 cups of unsalted, raw cashews (soaked in water for a few hours is best)

1/4-1/2 cup of warm water

1 tbl. of raw agave

1/4 tsp. of sea salt

take the cashews and strain, then put in any heavy duty blender, or food processor and blend with 1/4 c. of the warm water, add more as needed until the cashews are smooth (make take up to 5 minutes) then add the agave and salt until you like the taste of it.

Once the crust is baked, spread the cashew cream on the crust, I like a really thick layer because it's so yummy, but you may want to save some to put on top when the crisp is done.

(If you aren't dairy free, you could easily just use whip cream instead of the cashew cream and not bake it!)

Blueberries:

2 cups of blueberries

1/4 c. of lemon juice

1 tbl. of raw agave or stevia

1 cup of water

I take 2 cups of blueberries and cook them on the stovetop with the water, lemon juice and agave on LOW until the blueberries get soft. Then I strain the blueberries and put on top of the Cashew Cream.

Cook at 350 for another 15 minutes or until the crust begins to brown and the blueberries are really tender.

This dessert goes great with some vanilla coconut ice cream!

Enjoy!

the bus + raw food

we are so excited to see the bus start coming together! it's looking wonderful! we ordered a toilet and got it 2 days later, just bought some tanks today for the plumbing/water, etc. we are so excited! we even started framing the bus out this week!





we had to move the bus out into the country, but we are so thankful for our friends Jonathan and Jennifer at the Green Wagon!



also, this week we were able to get our garden completely finished. Robert finished our flat beds, we got tomatoes, peppers, jalepenos, cilantro, mint, basil, strawberries! we even fashioned some beautiful window's to make a greenhouse!





we have 1 baby strawberry!!!


also, this week i'm on a raw foods detox, so the baking has been to a minimum. except robert was craving come cake, so he decided to make a cake [WHILE I CAN'T EAT IT!] he is a great husband, i promise!

lemon bliss.

the lemon's right now are so delicious. oozing with flavor. i'm delighted when I am able to incorporate fresh fruit in my baking.
yesterday it was a lemon cream cake and today I made vegan strawberry lemon cupcakes. topped with a lemon buttercream icing and a slice of a fresh strawberry! delectable! [i used almond milk, tapioca, and earth balance butter in place of the dairy/eggs!]