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Before having little Wolfie, I probably made more raw desserts for myself. Why not? Nuts and dried fruit, it was like trail mix in one easy to eat bite. I’ve been a fan of This Rawsome Vegan Life for awhile, seeing how Emily has evolved over the years. So does this book hold up to the authors new perspectives on healthy eating and body image?

Photos

I feel like it has been awhile that I’ve felt like the photos have been 100% that aren’t a major publication of a tried and true writer. (IE Isa Does It, Salad Samurai and the like) Emily’s photos are beautiful. I love her natural light, but the desserts never come off as too fancy, or difficult. It is amazing the Emily was able to make, photograph, and eat all these desserts. I mean let’s be real, that’s a lot of dates, and a lot of nuts.

Set-up

Emily gives a VERY brief introduction and “where to find” chapters. She divides her chapters into five groups, Cakes & Cupcakes; Bites, Bars, and Cookies; Pies and Tarts; Puddings and Ice Cream; and Basic Recipes. Some recipes seemed a little like it could of be swapped around, but then again nothing is actually cooked so there is little different from many of the recipes other than assembly.

Writing

This is where Emily shines. I love her writing, so simple and positive. It is a little interesting reading the book and knowing about her eating disorder. I am sure some some wording would of changed if she was writing the book today, but overall I didn’t feel like it was too triggering with words like “clean” or “healthy” etc. I also love how simple the recipes and descriptions can be.

Overview

This book is REALLY easy. There is nothing in the book where I felt intimidated to make it. Perhaps some of the recipes that use fresh coconut meat turned me off, but there aren’t too many. No crazy soaking, sprouting, dehydrating, etc etc which can be off putting in raw cooking. The main reason why I haven’t cooked much from here is because of the use of dates. It is so expensive! But she does offer some subs, like raisins and dried pineapples.

My only other critique, which happens often with raw food books, is that you can easily shape and mold one recipe into something totally different with little changes. One recipe below was suppose to be a cold fridge dessert but could easily be changed to an ice cream sandwich. One dessert is a “cake” but it is pretty much just ice cream. It is all a little relative.

If you are looking for some sweets to make during the summer months, I would strongly recommend this book! The recipes are simple, non-intimidating, and everything has been yummy. She even gives weights which I find helpful to dates, which I always use too much or too little. Naturally though, the recipes can be pricey to use date and nuts for the desserts, so be warned for your wallets.

Recipes

As always I try and post as many reviews of specific recipes. I try my best to do one recipe per section, but I pretty much missed Basic Recipes. If there are any recipes approved by the publisher online I left a link. Why not? Try a recipe before buying book!

Continue reading


Let me first point out- today is such a nicer healthier collection of foods than the past few days. Yeah, I’ve been scarfing down lots and lots of sugar. Hello pumpkin spice oreos and birthday cake flavored target-os. Oh a cookies and cream filled doughnut, the broken smarties from halloween candy, you know, anything I can get my hands on really. It is so easy to eat carbs and sugars since they are shelf stable and quick to make. Bagel and cream cheese? Easy and satisfying. Vegan boxed mac and cheese? Pretty filling. My acid reflux has been AWFUL the past few days, which I think has made me reach for the super junky foods. It also might be making leftovers filled with veggies less appealing. Part of me wonders if the things I am craving with the reflux (read: sugary snacks) are what is causing it.

breakfastshake

But let’s start with my shake. I just wasn’t feeling spirulina this morning. I wanted to taste more of the chocolate so I took out the spirulina and blended up a small beet from my CSA. I love how it makes the shake turn a deep shade of pink. I pretty much made the same shake I always do- soy milk, banana, cocoa powder, stevia, brown rice protein, kale greens, and chia seeds. Super tasty and yummy.

latte

I was feeling a little peckish before heading out to work so I quickly made a macaccino using some ripple chocolate milk. I really love the consistency of ripple, it is so thick and creamy and possibly a little gritty. Target keeps having sales for them so I keep snatching the small ones.

lunch

Around 12 I got too hungry and ate my lunch. I ate two very small golden delicious apples and a cluster fuck of leftovers. I made a red curry that was very thin. It made quite a lot so I kept trying to make the leftovers a little different each time. It kind-of morphed into a bland linguine dish that had some angel hair pasta as well. I pretty much just plugged 1 1/2 cups linguine, 1/4 cup white beans, 1/8 cauliflower, and 1/8 green beans into Cronometer. Seriously, no clue what the nutritional/calorie count would be for that. My bosses also opened a bag of corn chips, and I might of eaten a few handfuls of those.

hinderfork

So I clearly didn’t eat this- but I didn’t take photos of many things I ate (2 apples, corn chips, or raw cookies) so I figured I would share this interesting piece we just got in at my work. It is a fork from the Hinderburg! One of our clients said he was scoping out the field for work and his co-worker accidentally kicked it around. The backside of the fork has a lot more melting going on. It is hard to see in the photo, but on the burnt part there is a little logo (you can see a close up here.) For the record- I did NOT use this fork for my lunch.

 

Then I got hungry again around 3, and ate the rest of the Rawdical Raisin Cacao Cookies with Oats I made. I really didn’t like them much, which is weird since I really like a similar dish from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. I think it is the coconut oil that Emily adds to hers, it just is icky to me. Plus Ani puts hers in a dehydrator, which I think makes them a little more intense in flavor. I ate about 2.5-3 little cookies worth.

dinnerbaby

Then for dinner I made a recipe for the Vegan Mofo Blackest Dish challenge. Funny because I love this dish, it is very dark, but compared to the black rice, the stir-fry looks so brown. XD I thought the super metal dish matchy my spoopy shirt. So you guys get some tummy action. And you’ll just have to wait for the recipe for this. But it does use chunjang, a Korean black bean paste. I also used eggplant and broccoli from my CSA and a can of vegan abalone that I’ve had sitting around forever.

I might have a snack- thinking maybe half of a pumpkin mocha scone that I made from Protein Ninja. It’s the first time I made scones before, and I think I added too much flour to them. I wish she gave weights instead of cups for measurements. I plugged half a scone into Cronometer, just incase I decided to eat it before going to bed. As always, the numbers are off. The black rice and ripple didn’t have a full nutritional profile, nor did the canned abalone, I used miso instead of black bean paste, and so on. So I fell short, though I am sure I would of been off anyways.

As always, got all the calories I need- and hey I have 45 calories left! JK I had half of a broken package of smarties. I mean I can’t give it to trick or treaters right? Just got my fats requirements, all my carb, and pleanty of protein (160%, who says vegans don’t get protein?!) I am getting a lot of sugar though. I know I ate a banana and two apples, but there was a good amount of sugar in the ripple milk and in the raw cookies I ate which used agave. I am still short on a lot of various vitamins, but again, some food didn’t get fully registered, and it might of added to the totals.

calories

Anyone else get their Halloween candy yet? And do you have a strong will to not eat the whole thing?

I know I’ve got the will to not eat the ones I can give out. XD


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Hey guys I am pooped today. My husband and I went for 9+ mile hike today. At the time I felt a little bummed about ending the hike, I felt like I could keep going, but once I sat down it all sank in. I got some soup cooking and I am ready to watch the newest episode of Once Upon a Time and series finale of Gilmore Girls. Side note, I’ve only two clips of Gilmore Girls before I sat down and watched the whole series via Netflix, and I am finding out I literally saw parts of the very first episode and the very last episode. Very very weird. Anyways your reading:

Recipes:

I had a big “duh” moment when I read Emily’s new chia pudding recipe on her blog. Instead of using a milk, she just blends almond butter into water. I am getting a little tired of just simply having two shakes in the morning, so maybe having a pre-run chia pudding will shake things up.

OMG gotta get some dates so I can make these Ooey Gooey Caramel Bars.

What a brilliant idea for using cauliflower leaves- roasting them as a little side dish.

When I get my carrots from my CSA I have to try out this Carrot Top Pesto. Instead of using oil Lacy uses tofu, and I hate that oily-greasy feeling in pesto.

Mental Health:

I’ve always at a weird feeling about plus size models. It was great to see different body types but it felt like it was creating new difficult body standard. Good thing I am not alone. I want to see more plus size models, but I want to see more in-between, more girls with realistic bellies, etc.

This is in interesting article about how body positivity focuses so much on everyone is beautiful, and it is missing the point a little. As an artist I feel like there is always something beautiful about everything, I also know that angles, make-up, lighting, context, all make something more attractive… but overall I think the article hits something we should remember, beauty isn’t everything.

News:

LA Times had a fun interactive how much water do you use for your dinner page. But I call bullshit on their water numbers for meat versus beans. A quick search reveals that a pound of beef, pork, and mutton need more water than chickpeas or lentils. But the Huffington Post has a cool comparison of which food uses more water. Some information was surprising- chocolate and vanilla! Holy cow so much water!

Fun Stuff:

These sunglasses are magical (and so are the photos). Too bad they are already sold out.. but let’s be real, I probably wouldn’t of bought them anyways.

I am in love with this dress.

A list of top bars to sit outside at in Philadelphia. I’ll be busy this summer.

I love when artists use layers to create extra depth to their art. Kate Gabrielle made this awesome layered painting of a misty beach scene. It is beautiful and a surprising change from her normal bubbly art.

This couple just stole my heart!

Videos:

Thank god fitness has evolved for women because this would be sooo boring.