Vegan Coconut Creme Pie!

Oh baby, I wish you all could have a bite!

This is a Vegan Coconut-Creme Pie. It is beyond my expectations! Ivy and I created this recipe. It has a macaroon crust made from shredded coconut and dates and the rest is made from coconut creme, dates, vanilla and coconut oil... Read on!

I have never actually had coconut creme pie before! It has never been something that my family made for holidays, or for any other occasion. I've always gazed at photos of it lovingly, wondering what it's cloud-like fluffiness tasted like.. I discovered the other night, and may I say, I was taken to heaven!

Ingredients:
2 cans coconut creme (not milk) Be sure to buy the kind with no added sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup date paste
2 tsp real vanilla
1/4 water

Blend all ingredients and pour over macaroon crust, as follows

Crust:
1 cup unsweetened, raw shredded coconut
1/4 cup raw, pitted dates
1 tsp real vanilla

Process crust in food processor. Push crust crumbs into pie plate, gently. You don't want to push so hard that it is difficult to get the pie pieces off of the pie plate. After blending, pour filling ingredients over prepared pie crust. Sprinkle raw shredded coconut over top of pie. Use as much or as little as you'd like. You could even toast the coconut for added color and a richer flavor.

 Place in freezer for two hour and store in fridge after that. 
Enjoy this delicious, heavenly, cloud-like, vegan creation! I am starting a new family tradition and bringing this pie to every family occasion that I can! 

The health benefits of coconut creme are many. here are a few that I though I'd share:

5 Health Benefits of Coconut Cream

"If you make curries, desserts, ice-cream, yogurt, milkshake, pies, cookies or cream-based or pureed soup, I strongly encourage you to use coconut cream and use more of it because coconut cream benefits your health so much that you would never have thought of, especially when you've previously been told or taught that it makes you fat, clogs your arteries and raises your risk of stroke and heart diseases, and all sorts of unfounded crap.

1. Improve Your Immunity

I wonder if you've heard about the health benefits of coconut oil. You can find the exact antimicrobial compounds that coconut oil contains in coconut cream too. They're lauric acid, capric acid, caprylic acid, caproic acid, and myristic acid etc.

These fatty acids (with lauric acid as the leader) are effective fighters against viruses that cause flu, hepatitis C, measles, herpes, AIDS etc. They also kill bacteria that cause throat infections, food poisoning, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, gonorrhea etc. Fungi and yeast that cause candida, ringworm, athlete's foot etc are no match for them too.

In short, coconut cream provides health benefits by lightening the burden of your immune system so that your body can concentrate more on other critical tasks like repairing cells and tissues, and keeping your organs like kidney, heart, liver and lungs etc normal.

2. Give You Energy, Not Fat.

About 60% of the fatty acids in coconut cream belong to the medium-chain group. Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) are smaller in size than long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). For this reason, MCFAs do not require insulins (unlike LCFAs) to help them enter cells. They can easily penetrate cell walls and supply quick energy to cells.

When your cells receive energy, they perk up and become active. Active cells step up metabolism. This means your body goes into fat-burning mode.

Having fatty acids doesn't mean it'll make you fat. It all depends on the type of fatty acids you're taking in. Most of the fatty acids in coconut cream are fat-burning, which is one of the greatest health benefits of this coconut product.

3. Slow Aging

More than 90% of the fatty acids in coconut cream are saturated fat. And saturated fat is a natural antioxidant by itself. This means that saturated fat stops free-radical activity.

Free radicals attack connective fibers that hold the skin tissues together and make our skin firm and bouncy. When these connective fibers break down as a result of free-radical attack, our skin sags and looks old.

Stopping free-radical activity is one good way to keep your connective fibers strong and healthy. And saturated fat does the job.

Another great benefit of coconut cream on skin is that it contains 17–18 amino acids and of which, 10 of them are essential since our body cannot make them. They are histidine, arginine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, valine, threonine and tryptophan.

We need these amino acids (together with the standard ones such as tyrosine, alanine, glycine and proline etc) to help us build and repair cells and tissues timely and effectively to minimize the damaging effect of free radicals and germs on our skin.

Though coconut cream may not carry them in large quantity, it does provide a good supplementary source of these essential and standard amino acids as the building blocks of proteins for our skin.

4. Hydrate Your Body

Next time after a sweaty workout, try sucking a popsicle made of pure coconut cream. I did that before and it does pretty well in replenishing the loss of water and electrolytes through sweating.

The most important electrolytes contained in a typical isotonic drinks are sodium and potassium (some don't even have potassium). We need some sugars as well. And Coconut cream has them all and in pretty good amount.

In other words, you probably don't need isotonic drinks at all as long as you have enough coconut cream in your food. But for a better hydration, coconut water is better since it contains a lot more sodium and potassium.

Note: Do not take in cold stuff immediately after workout or your blood vessels may suddenly constrict and upset the normal blood flow. Take it only when your body has cooled down, like after 30 mins or so.

5. Stimulate Bowel Movement

Depending on the brands, some coconut cream may contain a few percent of fiber. But this little amount of fiber is not the leading role in loosening your bowels though it does help to certain extent.

Remember earlier I said that the fatty acids in coconut cream provide quick energy?

Yes, when your cells get energy, every single part of your body gets motivated, including your bowels.

When your bowels move faster, your stools tend to become more watery and hence, softer because your bowels do not have enough time to extract much water from the watery waste. For this reason, your stools are able to "slide" out of the "exit" more effortlessly.

Which is why curry or cream-based soup added with coconut cream helps to detox especially when you've added lots of coconut cream to make the curry creamier, smoother and tastier.

Conclusion

If you're on a healthy diet like a whole food diet (meat-free), coconut cream provides proven added benefits to your health.

On top of that, substituting coconut cream for dairy cream particularly benefits those who are lactose-intolerant. But you do really have to watch out for some brands that add guar gum to make the cream creamier. Guar gum is not easy to digest. So, if you have digestive problem, choose the brand that comes without guar gum.

Another thing worth mentioning is that people always associate coconut cream with high-calorie and so it will make you fat easily. Here's the fact: 50–70% of coconut cream (depending on brands) contain water. And 15–35% contain fatty acids. What's more, most fatty acids in the cream convert easily to energy rather than being stored as body fat.

So, which are you going to believe... the fact stated right in front of you or fiction as parroted by the ignoramuses?

Last but not least, if you need to strengthen your immunity to an all-time high so that your body will become more capable of fighting even cancers and pathogens, coconut oil is what you need for stronger health protection since coconut oil has 3–5 times as much medium-chain and saturated fatty acids as coconut cream. Moreover, coconut oil is more versatile than coconut cream since you can literally add coconut oil to all kinds of food (and beverages if you don't mind having the oil floating on the surface)." fussybody.com

So there you have it! I delicious pie that tastes like heaven and has just as many health benefits as there is yumminess! Win/Win, baby!  Let me know how yours comes out!

 Peace & Decadent Love, Dayna

No-Bake Vegan Sweet Potato & Coconut Donut Holes by Dayna Martin

I love having healthy vegan snacks on hand at all times for our family. We don't buy any convenience foods, so much of what we eat needs to be created by scratch. Every morning, I made something different. Today, I created this recipe and I just had to share with you all! These don't have the texture of a donut, but the flavor is very satisfying and not too sweet. You *feel* like you are eating something that is truly feeding your body. Try these and tell me how you like them!

INGREDIENTS
1 Large, Cooked Sweet Potato
1/4-1/2 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk.
1 Teaspoon Ea. Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Ginger
3/4 cup Coconut Flour
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
½ T. Salt
½ Cup Raw Pecans Chopped
1/4 Cup Raw Shredded, Unsweetened Coconut

RECIPE
Add Sweet potato to food processor. Slowly add almond milk.  Transfer to a bowl and add remaining ingredients excepts pecans and shredded coconut. One tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into balls. .
Spread pecans and shredded coconut on a tray and roll each ball in the pecans and/or coconut to coat.
Refrigerate covered for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy healthy indulgence!

Peanut Butter Cup Pie?! Oh my, YES!

I had the idea to create this dessert when Joe's best friend, Chad came over for a visit. He is clueless when it comes to veganism and assumes it is just eating tons of salads. He is coming over tomorrow to help Joe out in the shop, Willow Toys, and I am surprising Chad with this pie. He loves chocolate and has never had a vegan dessert. This will blow his mind. It is sinfully decadent! 


I made the crust out of raw cashews, dates and shredded coconut, combined in the food processor and pressed into a pie plate. You will love this recipe! It is the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut buttery goodness. 

Why Vegan?

Since my daughters and I are vegan, we are often asked to share why we decided to not eat animal products. I believe that starting out, we knew it just felt better to not eat animals that were killed in order for us to survive. It felt wrong to eat the flesh of another living being. I read the book, "Skinny Bitch," and I learned more about why many people are choosing veganism. I loved that book and it solidified my decision.  There are many blogs that highlight the reasons for being vegan, so I found some of my favorites, to highlight the blogs and the authors and to share with you the many answers to the question:

WHY ARE YOU and YOUR DAUGHTERS VEGAN?

The first explanation is from http://goodnessgreen.com/
"Why we eat a plant-based diet:

1. Humans really don’t need meat or dairy:
Plants provide a source of protein, fats, calcium, vitamins…EVERYTHING we need.

2. The huge global impact on the environment really hits hard when you get a few facts under your belt:

• Cows and sheep are responsible for 37% of the total methane generated by human activity and more than 1/3 of the world’s grain harvest is to feed livestock (Vegetarian Society))
• Livestock generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes in the world combined (United Nations, 2006)
• A typical pig factory generates the same amount of raw waste as a city of 12,000 people. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, raising animals for food is the number-one source of water pollution (Peta)
• One study estimated that the farming of animals caused more emissions (18%) than the world’s entire transport system (13.5%). (Vegetarian society)
• If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock (Huffington Post)
• If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week by substituting with vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. (Environmental Defence)

3. We have bundles more energy and a body that runs way more efficiently.

4. Consuming meat & dairy is just flat out cruel. I gotta say “Earthlings’ (http://goodnessgreen.com/resources/) was a real personal turning point for us. Meat & Fish are killed cruelly in the most awful conditions and their innocent lives are taken with such ease and cruelness To me, killing animals so that I can eat just seems such an extreme thing to do. We have the same feelings with regards to dairy farming which is not only abusive and cruel but with a resulting product which is packed full of hormones and infections.

5. Better Health! Hello, don’t I know it. I can whole heartedly say that since being vegan I haven’t gotten ill once, not even a sniffle – not bad when you consider I work in a packed office full of the season’s coughs and wheezes! However it has been proven that a plant based lifestyle can have greater health benefits than warding off cold and flu:

• Numerous studies highlight again and again the lower rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and overall mortality of those on plant based diets. Can’t argue with science 
• It’s a fact that factory farmed animals are fed a myriad of artificial hormones and antibiotics that have a detrimental impact on human hormone balances which cause endless health issues including developmental problems, reproductive problems, and cancer. 
• Scientific research has shown that plant based diets not only prevent heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer but can in fact reverse these, thus highlighting the powerful effects of plants.

6. It’s political:
The dairy industries of the world are largely funded by governments and the brainwashing of educational institutions & manipulative advertising are just two ways dairy reigns supreme.

7. Never need to diet, ever:

Numerous studies highlight the link between the consumption of meat and obesity. Eating a real plant based diet means there is never any need to ‘diet’ because you wont get fat, this is a lifestyle.

8. It just feels good and so do we:
Plant based makes you much happier, really. It’s more than a diet but a lifestyle of peace and mindful living. It makes me a better, happier and calmer person.

9. You actually end up eating more REAL food thus gaining greater control and insight into what goes into that precious body."

**I left out their number ten, because I don't agree that we save money with the vegan diet. It is actually more expensive for us to eat this way, but it is worth it!"

Being a children's rights advocate, the rights for all living beings weighs heavy on my shoulders. Human rights violations are an aspect of this choice to not eat animals for me. On Livevegan.org, they explain it perfectly: 

"Food Justice: Classism & RacismThe poor and people of color are being exploited by a system built on supplying and even pushing tax-subsidized, inexpensive animal products while ignoring the need for and right to fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables.

In the U.S., the prevalence of diet-related disease especially disease correlated with consuming animal products, is highest among people of color. Government policies ignore this fact. According to the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine, “Although unintentional, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines as they exist [promoting the consumption of animal products] are really a fundamental form of institutionalized racism...” (2)

Some telling facts: (3)

People eating vegan diets have far lower rates of heart disease, cancer, hypertension, obesity and diabetes than do those who eat “meat”/dairy. The USDA continues to push “meat”/dairy via industry-biased “Food Pyramid” and “Food Plate” and dietary recommendations meant more for industry profits than human requirements or human health.

• Food policy and availability has led women of color are 50% more likely to be obese than white women.
• African-Americans’ rate of cancer is 26% higher than whites’.
• In the U.S., Hispanic women’s rate of heart disease is double that of white women.
• Among Hispanic men, the diabetes rate is 54% higher than among white men.
• Native American women have three times the rate of diabetes than white women.

While cows’ milk continues to be subsidized and pushed on U.S. school children, 25% of the white population, 70% of African Americans, 90% of Asian Americans, 53% of Hispanic Americans, and 74% of Native Americans are lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance is also prevalent in those whose ancestry is Arab, Jewish, Italian, or Greek.

Environmentally hazardous factory farms and processing plants are more often located in communities of color.

More poor children and a disproportionate number of children of color depend on the National School Lunch Program, but the program is built using biased guidelines that benefit wealthy animal agribusiness over children’s health. 90% of the $3-4 billion program is used to buy cholesterol and fat-laden pork, beef, milk, cheese, and eggs.

Neighborhoods of color are targets of flesh/dairy industry billboard advertising. Affordable fruits and vegetables are difficult to find; instead fast food chains push unhealthy 'bargain'"

I don't think that people have any idea of how cruelly animals are treated in order to provide meat for consumers. It is almost too much to bear to see the abuse and trauma that animals are put through. This movie, Peaceable Kingdom is such a great view into the industry:

So, there you have it! Just a few reasons why we decided to live a vegan lifestyle. I hope it inspired you to do your own research and learn how compassion towards every living thing can change the world! Peace & Love to you,

Raw Vegan Pineapple-Berry Cheesecake Bites!

Raw Vegan Pineapple-Berry Cheesecake! It is so delicious and so good for you. It is all organic, uncooked, raw plant-based ingredients - but you'd never know it!

Crust
1 cup raw pecans

5 pitted dates

1 tsp coconut oil 

Grind in food processor and press into a circle on a pizza plate.

Filling 

1 1/2 cups raw, soaked cashews

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup raw honey

1 tsp real vanilla

1/2 cup raw almond milk 

1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple

juice from one lemon

Mix in Vitamix

Pour out HALF of the filling onto the pie crust

Spread over crust. 

Put in freezer for one - two hours.
With the remaining filling in the Vitamix, add, 6 large fresh strawberries and 1/2 cup fresh blueberries. Mix until berries are well-combined.

Spread onto frozen cheesecake. Put back in freezer until frozen.

When ready to serve remove from freezer and let sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes-one hour. Add fresh fruit, shredded coconut and raw nuts on the top. Serve and EnJOY!

Peace & Love, Dayna

Nutritionally Dense Chocolate Pudding!

The chocolate pudding recipe is my own creation, formulated to be the healthiest dessert ever!
To make this yummy pudding you need:

Chocolate Pudding
3 Avocados
2 Bananas
1/4 Cup coconut oil
1/4 raw almond butter
1/4 raw honey
1 tbl. real vanilla
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

Add all ingredients to food processor until smooth and creamy

Coconut Creme
2 cans coconut milk (Thai Kitchen brand)
take solid coconut milk from top of both cans.
Beat with 1 tbl maple syrup
1tsp. vanilla

Beat until fluffy.Put pudding in a glass bowl
Top with coconut whipped creme
Add fresh fruit and cacao nibs, coconut

Chill for 1-2 hours

 

Enjoy! ALL of my kids loved this pudding!! Even my son's teenage friends ate every bit and said it was delicious! You would honestly never guess that this has so many healthy ingredients.

There is nothing better than food that tastes like it is bad for you.... but it is really GOOD for you!

Peace & Love, Dayna

COCONUT CREME..... Where Have You Been All My VEGAN LIFE!?

This week, I discovered the JOY of making a delicious, whipped creme out of coconut milk! I have been making new vegan deserts JUST to use the coconut creme! So, ya.... I guess you could say I am obsessed! Coconut Creme is even tastier than traditional, cow whipped creme and I will never not have a few cans of coconut milk in my fridge!

Chewy Vegan Brownies

• 1 Flax Egg (1 TB ground flax seeds mixed with 3 TB warm water)
• 3 Tablespoons Coconut Flour
• 1/4 Cup Raw Cacao Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
• 1/2 Cup Raw Agave
• 1 Cup Almond Butter 
• 1/2 Cup Almond Milk 
• 1 Tablespoon Pure Organic Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Raw, Chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the flax egg and set aside. In another bowl, combine coconut flour, raw cacao, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in the raw agave and almond butter. Whisk the flax eggs until they are an even consistency and add the vanilla extract and whisk again until combined. Add the vanilla flax mixture to the rest of the ingredients. Add the almond milk and mix until everything is combined. Pour batter in a greased 6 inch pan and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when removed. Top with COCONUT CREME and Berries, or whatever else you like! ENJOY!

Berry, Coconut Creme Parfaits! 

These delicious parfaits are easy, beautiful and so delicious on all of their simplicity! Make Coconut Creme. Set aside. Mix one cup of berries with 2 Tbl of maple syrup or agave. Start layering the berries with the coconut creme in a glass or jar, or anything else you can see the layers through. There is something so appealing about desserts that you can see layered in a glass! 

Serve and EnJOY!!

Peace & Love, Dayna

Raw-Vegan Raspberry- Chia Bars!

I made a delicious batch of Raw-Vegan Raspberry, Chia Bars! 

I have only recently discovered the ease and joy of using chia seeds with mashed, raw fruit to make jam! It is easy and just perfect for the consistancy you are looking for in recipes that call for jam or jelly. This recipe was a creation based on the pecan and date crust that I use for my raw cheesecakes. I added some chia raspberry jam and BAM! healthy, raw-vegan bars that are to die for when warmed in the dehydrator! 

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 1½ C raw pecans
  3 dates, pitted
• ¾ C unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
• 3 tbsp Maple Syrup or raw agave
• ¾ tsp vanilla
• pinch sea salt
  For the Raspberry Topping:
• 1 C fresh raspberries
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp chia seeds(any color will work)
• extra coconut, almonds and cacao nibs for topping, if desired

Instructions

1. Prepare a standard sized loaf pan by lining with wax or parchment paper or even plastic wrap. Set aside.
2. For the crust, place the pecans, coconut, maple syrup vanilla and salt and dates in a food processor. Process just until no large pieces remain and the nuts and coconut are evenly ground and mixed. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly and press down firmly.
3. Prepare the raspberry filling by lightly mashing the berries with a fork. If using frozen berries, thaw before using and drain out any extra liquid sitting on top of the berries before lightly mashing. Stir in the maple syrup or agave and chia seeds and pour over the crust.
4. Cover the bars with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. To remove, lift out the bars with the paper or plastic used to line the pan. Cut into equal sized bars .

Valentine's Day Bliss: Cacao Crepes with Cashew Creme and Fresh Berries!

Today, was Valentine's Day! It just so happens that it is my favorite holiday all year! Why? Because it is all about LOVE!!

Making memories for my children is one of my priorities, so holidays are a time to create fun, and delicious, special food that everyone will love. Being high-raw vegan means that keeping food in it's most natural state possible, with all the living enzymes in tact is important to us! Just because we live this way, doesn't mean that we sacrifice flavor. 

These raw cacao wraps are delicious and oh, so chocolaty!

Raw Cacao Crepes
4 bananas-mashed
1/4 cup flax seed flour
4 Tbs raw cacao powder

1/4 cup water
1/4 real maple syrup
1Tbs. real vanilla

Mix by hand and spread on Teflex sheets. Dehydrate for 8 hours, flip and dehydrate for 2 more hours.

Cashew Creme

2 cups raw cashews

beans from one whole vanilla pod, scrapes

1/2 real maple syrup or raw honey

1/4 cup water (Start with ¼ cup of water, and then gradually thin it out in order to achieve the desired thickness.)

Blend ingredients with a Vitamix. Use tamper to push ingredients to the blade. Scrap sides of blender if needed and continue blending.

Mixed Berry Topping
Use whatever fresh berries you like and add 1/4 cup maple syrup or raw agave. Let berries sit for 30 minutes.

To assemble: Add cashew creme to the center of the crepes. Add mixed berries and wrap! Enjoy this delicious brunch for Valentine's Day, or any day you want to celebrate something special!

I hope you had a day filled with LOVE!

Raw-Vegan, Chocolate, Mint Smoothie!

This is a recipe that I created after seeing massive amounts of fresh mint growing in my herb garden! It is delicious and so refreshing! You won't believe this is good for you when you taste it!