Feeding Vegan Kids: Using Homemade “Larabars” To Make Raw Vegan Cashew Cookies-and-Cream Breakfast Sundaes

My kids LOVE breakfast sundaes. Love love love them.

Taking fresh organic vegan ingredients and creating a layered, delicious little breakfast is such a fun way for me the kids to start the day!

A while back, my older daughter had a sweet friend spend the night, and I decided to make breakfast sundaes as a fun little sleepover-breakfast.

The night before,  I made a pan of raw vegan cashew cookie Larabars:

I make these ALL THE TIME, in various flavor combinations.  Cashew cookie is our favorite flavor, and I think chocolate-maple-goji is a close second. Hmmm…almond-banana-vanilla is pretty darn tasty too.

I don’t buy Larabars  (or any other pre-made bars, for that matter).  I think Larabars are delicious, but they’re too spendy for my grocery budget. At $1.89 or so per bar, Larabars are a small fortune!  And they’re a little on the small side — my kids would polish off a Larabar in 3 bites and ask for another one.  So if I bought two Larabars for each of us as a snack, and there’s 7 of us…well, that’s a LOT of money spent on Larabars.

That would run me about $28…just for a little Larabar snack for my family!

That would be a pretty expensive snacktime.

So, needless to say, it is far cheaper and healthier for me to make my own.

Cheaper, because I can make a whole 9×13 pan for just a few dollars.

Healthier, because my homemade larabars are organic (last I looked, the originals are not organic).

To make these, I simply ground up fresh raw organic cashews in the food processor (approximately 2 cups).  Then I added pitted fresh organic medjool dates, one at a time, as the food processor was running (approximately 2 cups).  I then added a splash of pure vanilla extract, a spoonful of raw organic unrefined coconut oil, a scoop of organic flax seeds, and a scoop of organic raw hempseeds, all while the food processor was on. I processed it all until it was well-combined and all the ingredients were mixed together.

All you really need to make these bars are the cashews and the dates, approximately equal parts of each — the rest of the ingredients are totally optional but they really boost the nutrition of these bars, and where my children are concerned, I like to add as much goodness as possible to their foods.

I press the mixture into a 9×13 pan, and let chill for a while.  And then they’re ready for devouring!

For these particular breakfast sundaes, I had made the larabars the night before.  In the morning, I placed a large slab of homemade larabar into each breakfast dish (the plate at the top of the picture is for my baby, and I rolled her bar into little balls):

Then we got out our topping ingredients, and, with the help of one kiddo, we got busy topping our raw sundaes:

We started with sliced organic bananas, and then piled on vegan dark chocolate chips, organic flax seeds, organic chia seeds, and organic cacao powder:

And added some organic goji berries:

LOTS of goodness on these sundaes!

While all the sundae-makin’ was going on, I made a quick batch of cashew cream.  This is just soaked organic raw cashews (soaked for about 20-30 minutes), blended with some of the soak water, organic lemon juice, some agave (add according to sweetness-preference), and a splash of organic pure vanilla extract.  Give it all a good blending , and if you need to thin it, add some of the soak water from the cashews.  Blend until you have a nice creamy consistency.  This stuff is so good that we often eat it as a dip for fruits!

Just 30 seconds in the Blendtec and I had a swoon-worthy batch of cashew whipping cream.

Of COURSE I dipped my finger in for a taste test…wouldn’t you!?

I plopped a big dollop of cashew whipped cream on top of each sundae:

And here’s what we ended up with:  Raw Vegan Cashew Cookies-and Cream Breakfast Sundaes!

This was a decadent, delicious, nutrient-dense breakfast; so fun to make and eat!  Each sundae was absolutely loaded with vitamins and minerals — iron, zinc, B vitamins, fiber, potassium, lots of essential fatty acids and omegas, plenty of good fats.  I served each sundae with a nice hot cup of organic rooibos tea, and this was a great way to start the day!

The kids loved this!  Breakfast sundaes are always a hit around here.

And this breakfast took a short amount of time to prepare — I had made the larabars the night before, so in the morning my job was easier.  Put a slab of larabar in each bowl, top with sliced bananas, add toppings of your choice, and whip up a quick batch of cashew whipping cream (4 ingredients, 30 seconds in the Blendtec, quick and easy).

That’s it from me today — heading out for a family outing, so have a wonderful Sunday!

Sheri

Monthly Vegan Bulk Food Order, A Case of Dates, and My Favorite Gluten-Free Tortillas

Hi again!

I’ve mentioned that we shop in bulk as a way to save money on organic groceries, and last month I showed you my organic bulk food order.  This is for a family of 7, and we eat a high-raw organic vegan diet, all 7 of us.  Many of these items will last for several months.  My monthly bulk food order varies according to what we are running low on when I place my order.

This is LAST month’s order:

• 25 pound cases of organic raw cashews and organic raw almonds
• 20 pounds of organic frozen raspberries
• 25 pound sack of organic dried chickpeas
• 5-gallon bucket of Bubbies pickles
• 11 pound case of organic medjool dates
• 6 pound bucket of Red Star Nutritional Yeast
• 15 pound bag of organic ch-ch-ch-chia! seeds
• case of Ezekiel gluten-free tortillas
• case of Guiltless Gourmet no salt tortilla chips (for dippin’)
• 40 pound case of organic bananas (these were pre-ordered and then picked up from my local grocery store, not through my co-op)
• 10 pounds of organic raw pistachios
• 10 pounds of raw organic pecans
• 5 pounds of organic shelled hempseed
• 10 pounds of organic raw walnuts
• 5 pounds organic red lentils
• 5 pounds organic white sesame seeds
• 5 pounds raw organic macadamia nuts
• box of organic green tea (100 unbleached bags)
• foil bags of loose leaf teas and spices in 1-pound sizes, all organic:  black sesame seeds, curry powder, garlic powder, red raspberry leaf tea, onion powder, spirulina powder, ground ginger root, smoked paprika, rooibos tea.
• not pictured because the kids already hauled them downstairs and put them away are:  25 pound sack of black beans (not part of my co-op order, bought instead through Whole Foods), 8 pound tub of Nutiva Coconut Oil (not part of my co-op order, bought via Amazon), a case of ZICO Coconut Water (via Amazon — thanks to Earthmother for the yummy recommendation!), and a case of Amy’s organic dairy-free roasted vegetable pizzas which hubby takes to work for lunches on days when we have no leftovers for his lunch.

Here is THIS month’s organic vegan bulk food order.  Again, many of these items will last much longer than one month:

• one case of Food For Life Gluten Free Brown Rice Tortillas (these are the only gluten free tortillas that we have tried that do not taste like cardboard!  and they roll up wonderfully well too)
• two foil bags: one contains 1 lb of organic smoked paprika and the other contains 1 lb of organic garlic powder
• 25 lbs of organic yellow popcorn for Family Nights (I live with oodles of popcorn-lovers)
• 25 lbs of organic french lentils (I make lentil soup weekly — my idea of vegan comfort food!)
• a case of organic Thai Kitchen coconut milk (for making coconut kefir, homemade coconut milk yogurt, etc.)
• 5 lbs of organic buckwheat groats (for making raw buckwheaties and raw crackers and breads)
• 25 lb case of organic frozen strawberries
• 10 lb case of organic Tinkyada Gluten Free Brown Rice Pasta (once every week or two a nice easy pasta dinner at the end of a hectic day is ideal)
• one case (12 bags) of Garden Of Eatin’ Organic Blue Corn Unsalted Tortilla Chips (for dippin on dip nights!)
• 25 lb case of organic raw almonds
• 2 cases of O.N.E. 100% Natural Coconut water (each case has 12 of the 1 litre cartons; they were on sale so we stocked up)
• one 11 lb case of organic medjool dates (the brand is Oasis Date Gardens and it is the only brand we use)
• 2 jars of South River Miso — one is sweet tasting brown rice and one is chickpea, both are organic and they taste wonderful!

I get a lot of emails about what dates we use, so here’s a peek at the medjool dates we use and love.

We are a sugar-free family — we avoid granulated sugars and prefer to reach for sweet alternatives instead.  Organic medjool dates are a wonderful alternative to granulated sugars and they offer plenty of nutrition as well.  They are a great way to sweeten things naturally.

This is an 11 pound case.  The dates are organic, soft, plump, and taste sweetly delicious!  I have been buying these dates by the 11 pound case through my bulk co-op for years and they have always been fresh:

They are so plump and moist! They taste like a bite of maple syrup:

This is the South River Organic Miso we enjoy:

The Brown Rice variety is tasty but it does contain soy.  It was an accidental order — as delicious as it tastes, they offer plenty of soy-free varieties (like the Chickpea one, pictured), so I’ll stick to soy-free for future miso orders.

And here’s the Food For Life Gluten=-Free Brown Rice Tortillas that we enjoy.  They fold and wrap beautifully, without breaking OR tasting like cardboard (bonus!).   I just wish they were organic and I’d be one happy little wrap-eating gal:

I also ordered a 10 pound bag of organic goji berries this month (through Amazon, not through my co-op).  The brand is Navitas Naturals and these are the ones we always order.  We fill a glass jar of goji berries for the pantry, and the remaining goji berries get divided up into 2 pound portions and vacuum-sealed to maintain freshness.  When my pantry jar of gojis is empty, I simply open up one of my vacuum-sealed bags and refill the jar.

We save a LOT of money on organic groceries by buying in bulk.  We have other ways that we save money on groceries too (being vegan is another great money-saver, though that is not why we’re vegan), but bulk buying is a big one.  Buying in large quantities means that the price per pound drops considerably — the bigger the quantity, the cheaper the price/lb.  So as long as you have a place to store your bulk food properly, you can really take advantage of savings by shopping bulk.

And saving money on organic groceries is A Very Good Thing, especially when you’ve got a big brood to feed!

My sweet older daughter just made some vegan cocoa — I’m off to fill my travel mug with steamy vegan cocoa on this snowy day, and take my kids to homeschool gym classes.

Happy Friday!

Sheri

“Layered” Green Smoothie

It’s winter, and in winter I like to dress in layers.

I also like to DRINK in layers.

Look at all the pretties in my blender!

This was the lovely layered base to one really SPECTACULAR green smoothie.

Usually I keep my green smoothies on the simpler side, but every now and then I like to jazz things up.

This was one jazzy smoothie.

From the bottom up:

• organic freshly ground golden flax meal (I grind it fresh in my Blendtec) (bought flax seed in bulk, 25 lb bag)
• organic hempseeds and organic sesame seeds (both bought in bulk, both in 5 lb bags)
• organic goji berries (I use this brand, bought in bulk, 10 lb bag)
• organic pumpkin seeds (bought in bulk, 5 lb bag)
• organic chia seeds (Say it with me…”Ch-ch-ch-CHIA!”)  (I’m sorry.  I have outbursts like that all the time.  Darn chia song is stuck in my head). (bought ch-ch-ch-chia! in bulk, 15 lb bag)
• organic spirulina powder (bought in bulk, 1 lb bag)
• organic sunflower seeds (bought in bulk, 25 lb bag)
• organic raw cacao nibs (I use this brand, bought in bulk, 10 lb bag)

There were some serious superfoods among these layers.  And look at the color of those gorgeous gojis!  Promise I didn’t Photoshop them.  They were really that red and vibrant.  Like tasty little gems.

I topped up those pretty layers with a few more goodies.

Fresh organic kale:

I washed the head of kale, tore it up a little, and then crammed the entire head in there, stems and all:

Then I added some frozen organic raspberries and mango:

And I stuffed a few organic bananas in to top it all off:

**I buy my organic bananas in bulk in a 40 pound case.  I bring them home and ripen them.  Some get eaten fresh and some get peeled and frozen, destined to become all sorts of yummy smoothies, vegan shakes, and raw vegan ice cream.  Buying in bulk like this means I don’t need to go to the grocery store as often, and with 5 little kids, fewer grocery trips is a VERY good thing!

I added some filtered water (reverse osmosis) to the full-to-bursting Blendtec and gave it a thorough blending:

This is Blendtec’s new 3-Quart BPA-free jug.  We recently purchased this bigger jug so that we could make bigger batches of smoothies to accomodate all the little smoothie-drinkers in this house.

So yeah, that’s 3 quarts of Green Sludge.  Yummers!

Close-up of Green Sludgey Goodness:

This was my breakfast.

I just LOVE my morning sludge.

My kids love it too.  I poured a round of green goodness for everyone and we jumpstarted our day in a very GREEN way.

Smoothies packed with greens and nutrients like this one leave me feeling like a million bucks!  There is no denying how fabulous I feel when I have a glass or two of very green smoothie to start my day.

I’m telling you, that green smoothie “high” is WAY better than a caffeine buzz

What yummy concoctions have YOU blended lately?  Do tell!  I love hearing new ideas for sludge smoothie combinations!

A Dip-Night Dinner In A Vegan House

On Sunday night we had…Dip Night!

Dip-night is a favorite around here.

We love dips.

In fact, we’re a pretty dippy bunch.

This is my plate.  It was high-Raw and high-Yum!

Clockwise from top:

• sharing a section in the section plate, there is homemade (Raw) organic kale chips (OM MY WORD I COULD EAT THESE ALL DAY) alongside a handful of Guiltless Gourmet Unsalted Baked Organic Tortilla Chips
• sliced organic cucumber
• my hubby’s homemade organic (Raw) Chipotle Pineapple Salsa
• my hubby’s homemade organic (Raw) chunky guacamole
• my hubby’s homemade organic olive tapenade (methinks ‘tapenade’ is just a fancy-schmancy word for ‘dip’)
• a few slices of Bubbie’s pickles

My hubby makes GREAT dips.

He’s the Resident Dip-Dude.

That’s my plate in the picture above — my 5 kids all ate the exact same meal as mine, only they all went back for seconds (and thirds even!) of the olive tapenade and also the guacamole.  Good healthy fats in those dips. The kids also had extra handfuls of the unsalted Guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips.    While they used the Guiltless Gourmet for their dippin’ needs, I was busy gobbling up the kale chips.

Kale chips = OOH LA LA.

There was a whole lotta dippin’ goin’ on!

We eat dinner together every single night.  Such a nice way to wrap up the day!

After dinner, we each had a slice of dessert.  I made a quickie version of a lime ice cream pie.  Raw and vegan, it hit the spot and was the perfect sweet ending to our dippy-dinner.

it tasted like lime-heaven

I did not follow a recipe for this — I made it up as I went along (and thankfully, it turned out rather well!).  I was in the mood for a lime pie so my older daughter and I got to work.  She whipped up a raw crust of equal parts dates and almonds, while I went to work creating the filling.  I combined soaked organic cashews with some agave, filtered water, lemon juice, coconut shreds, whole limes, and coconut oil.  I placed all the ingredients in the Blendtec and gave it a good blending.  Then I poured the limey mixture into my daughter’s beautiful raw crust and put the pie in the freezer to harden.

This was super-easy and super-fast to make.  I was glad it came together so fast — I needed to be quick because I had kids chasing each other wildly through the kitchen while the baby fussed in the Ergo strapped to mama’s back.  All together, it took 10 minutes to come together and made for one gorgeous quickie dessert.  It wasn’t fancy (as you can see by the pictures) but it sure was good!  I threw two entire organic limes in the Blendtec — adding whole limes with peel on just made the lime flavor absolutely burst in our mouths.

One of the best parts about Dip Night is the leftovers!  There was plenty of dip-leftovers to serve to all my little homeschooled dips for lunch the next day.

• fresh organic salad: romaine, spinach, carrots, pecans, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, topped with homemade balsamic dressing
• leftover olive tapenade
• slices of Bubbie’s pickles
• little dish of homemade organic kimchi (fermented, raw) and a bunch of steamed brussel sprouts
• leftover guacamole
• a stack of mama-made organic raw kale chips
• DESSERT (not pictured) — big slices of leftover raw lime pie!

Hope you’re having a good week so far!  Had any good dips lately?

Sheri

Feeding Vegan Kids: Section Plate Snacks For 6

Sometimes we feed our friends our hippie-food, too.

They don’t mind, mostly.

My kids had a friend over after homeschool co-op last week.  The minute we got home from co-op, I headed to the kitchen, whipped out my section plates, and got busy.

These six kids were needing a snack, PRONTO!

I sent the kids to the playroom to trash it play nicely while I prepped food:

They played happily together and spread a Sea of Lego all over the floor.

In fact, there’s more lego on the floor than there is on their lego-table.

That Sea of Lego all over the floor drives me BONKERS.

(Especially when I step on it.)

I quickly filled 6 section plates for 6 hungry kiddos:

Close-up of section-plate goodies:

Clockwise from top:

• one gluten-free brown rice tortilla filled with a very thick layer of homemade organic almond butter, a sprinkle of fresh ground flax meal and chia seeds, and one organic banana. Simply spread the nut butter on the tortilla and lay one banana on top, add your sprinkles, then roll up.  Yum!
• earth balls: ground nuts and dates, with plenty of add-ins like flax, ch-ch-ch-chia!, raw cacao nibs, spirulina, hemp, goji berries.  I grind it all in the food processor and then roll into little balls.  Click here for my earth ball method. Warning: they are addicting!
• frozen organic raspberries, lightly thawed so they just melt in your mouth
• half a red grapefruit
• tahini-boats!  this is simply organic celery, filled with a blend of homemade organic tahini and homemade organic almond butter mixed together.  SO good.  I am on a tahini-kick lately.
• one big Bubbie’s pickle (we are still working our way through the 5 gallons of pickles.  Thankfully no one is sick of them. Yet.)
• two little cubes of raw organic crystallized ginger (these are ZINGY!)

Here’s my baby’s plate.  She has the same as the big kids except no tahini-butter in her sliced celery.

My little guy munched happily:

With bellies full and happy tummies all around, we bundled everyone up and went sledding!

And then came home and cleaned up that darn Sea of Lego, while hubby whipped out those section plates and started filling them all over again.

Just like the laundry, the meal prep never ends ’round here

Have a cozy evening!

Sheri

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