Alyssa's Favorite Raw Snacks

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A post completely dedicated to my dehydrator

I've started playing around with raw foods lately. I don't know what sparked my interest, but as I was reading all the gluten-free blogs that I follow, raw foods just kept popping up. Not often, but enough that I was interested, so I started doing some research and eventually this lead me to purchase a dehydrator.

I found two amazing sites that I have continued to go back to when I'm feeling inspired to make something raw.

1. Choosing Raw
This blog is amazing. Although Gena is not dedicated to gluten-free eats, the majority of her recipes are, and she's vegan, so everything is dairy free as well. Perfect for me! She has a mixture of raw and cooked recipes, and each one looks just as amazing as the next. Also, Gena is a full-time student, so her recipes tend to include lower budget ingredients and are usually pretty easy to put together. What could be better? If you haven't checked our her blog, I highly recommend it!


2. Rawamzing
I don't know how I stumbled upon this amazing site, but boy am I glad I did. The recipes, the photographs, the ingredients, all stunning. Susan's raw foods are absolutely mouth watering. Many of her recipes are a bit more involved than those on Choosing Raw, but the end result seems totally worth it. (I have to admit, I haven't made any of her recipes yet - they're my goal, not my reality at the moment).

These women have inspired me - along with the delicious meal that I had at Crudessence on our trip to Montreal - to try experimenting with more raw foods. I've started with the basics: dried chips, fruits, cereal and desserts (my Carrot Cake Bites & Chocolate Coconut Balls are both awesome!). So far, everything has turned out great - especially my Zucchini Chips - and I'm excited to continue to experiment and learn more about this new world of food.

The following THREE RECIPES (I know a bit over zealous, but I'm leaving for the weekend and want to leave you all with some yummy recipes to try) are a few of my trials!


See the Full Recipe »

We're moving!!

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I have big news: the Queen of Quinoa is moving!

Make sure all your links are updated - we're going to be living at queenofquinoa.me!

I'm sorry if it seems like I've been a bit MIA lately, but I've been busy getting my new site up and running. I'm super excited about this move and can't wait to see you all over there! Please bear with me as we work out the kinks and I would love to hear what you think.

In case you missed them, here are my latest posts:


Detox Salad {gluten-free & vegan}



Balsamic Strawberry & Rhubarb Crisp


Mango Cardamom Juice

We're moving!!

To contact us Click HERE

I have big news: the Queen of Quinoa is moving!

Make sure all your links are updated - we're going to be living at queenofquinoa.me!

I'm sorry if it seems like I've been a bit MIA lately, but I've been busy getting my new site up and running. I'm super excited about this move and can't wait to see you all over there! Please bear with me as we work out the kinks and I would love to hear what you think.

In case you missed them, here are my latest posts:


Detox Salad {gluten-free & vegan}



Balsamic Strawberry & Rhubarb Crisp


Mango Cardamom Juice

The Secret Recipe Club: Rice Crispy Treats

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Today is Group B’s reveal day for The Secret Recipe Club. I had no problem choosing a recipe from the blog assigned to me, Big Fat Baker. One thing we have in common is our love for dessert! She has some fantastic looking recipes but I went with the most simplest recipe on her site, rice crispy treats. She uses the basic recipe off the back of the cereal box to make her treats. She recommends to measure our everything exactly, so that way the treats come out super gooey and delicious.




You will need exactly 40 large marshmallows. I actually counted mine out and my bag had exactly 40. These treats definitely hit the spot for me. I even decorated them with the white chocolate M&Ms. Boy were they delicious. I took the rest of them to work and within an hour they were all gone!



Homemade Rice Crispy Treats
Adapted from Big Fat Baker

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
40 regular sized marshmallows
6 cups rice crispy treat cereal

Directions:
In a large saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted.

Using a greased or buttered spatula, stir in the cereal. Stir until fully coated and mixed. Pour into a greased or parchment lined 9x13 pan and spread evenly. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

 

And if you want to spruce up your treats, add whatever mix-in you desire. I decided to go with the white chocolate M&Ms. These were the best and so good! My favorite part is when the treats were still warm and the M&Ms were warm, they just melt in your mouth. A bit messy but well worth it!

Always,
Fallon
PS: Sorry for the delay. I had to add in the blog hop and it totally messed up my entire post since I use Windows Live Writer.

I can’t believe it..

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I’ve been so wrapped up with work and having fun at the pools I forgot that Monday is The Secret Recipe Club reveal for Group B. Shoot!!!! I ran to the store last night to get a very special ingredient to make some “drinks.” Oh yeah!!

I also just bought a new laptop like 2 days ago and I’m trying to get everything downloaded and set up. Windows Live Writer just happened now and I’m about to go install Picasa as well. All my important blogging tools. I must say though this new laptop is amazing!!

It is also going to be a laid back weekend, so I’ll have time to work on my recipe later. I have to attend a funeral tomorrow. A really good friend of my family's passed away in a plane crash. Here is a really good link that has his daughter talking about what a great person he was. http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/156514805.html. It is hard to believe how quickly life can be taken away from someone. The family has been in my prayers all week and this Sunday will be full of love and prayers for the family and to celebrate the great person Chris was. Sigh, life is just too valuable.

Heading to a female cross fit class this morning and then a little work and a whole afternoon evening to myself. Love it!

Have a great Saturday!
Fallon

The Secret Recipe Club: Skinny White Russians with Godiva Chocolate Vodka

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I was looking at my calendar, wondering when I need to get my recipe set for the reveal date and realized it was this coming Monday. OOPS!! Luckily I knew what I was making, I just needed to buy my secret ingredient, chocolate flavored vodka from Godiva. I went to my local liquor store and was surprised to find out they didn’t carry it. I went to several more stores until I found the vodka at Smith’s. It was a bit expensive but I had no choice, I needed it. It was so delicious! I’m not a vodka fan but I can definitely sip on this vodka. What can I say, I like chocolate any which way.

This month for The Secret Recipe Club I had Hezzi’s-D Books and Cooks. Heather enjoys reading and baking. I wish I could find a love for reading like Heather but nothing can beat baking in my book. As I was cruising around her blog I came upon some delicious drinks using Godiva vodka and liqueur. Heather had a house party to feature these drinks. I didn’t get to have a fun house party like her but I did enjoy my drink while cooking dinner.

I was inspired to use the chocolate vodka with coffee. She made Café Godiva featuring their white chocolate liqueur, coffee and cinnamon whipped cream. I’ve always enjoy White Russians by using low fat milk instead of cream. Now that I use almond milk for everything involving dairy I came up with Skinny White Russians. This drink is low in calories and delicious in flavor that will save at your waist line.

Skinny White Russians (serves 1)
By Fallon, inspired by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks

Ingredients
4 oz of brewed espresso or bold coffee, room temperature
2 oz of unsweetened almond milk
1 oz Godiva Chocolate flavored vodka
Ice
Agave nectar
Unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
To garnish drinking glass, place agave nectar and cocoa powder on two separate plates. Take the glass and swirl around in agave nectar then place into cocoa powder, shake excess powder off. Add in ice cubes. Pour 1 oz of vodka to 4 oz of espresso. Add in almond milk and stir with a straw. Take a sip and enjoy!

This is one of my favorite drinks as of now. It is light, tasty and so much fun to make. I love adding the garnish to the glass with cocoa powder. It is a must when having this drink.

Enjoy,
Fallon

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

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July. July. July. Really? It is hard for me to believe that we are half-way through 2012 already. This is my birthday month and I don’t know how I feel about that. But what I do know is that I have a delicious recipe to share with you. I found it from the blog Two Peas & Their Pod, Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites. Basically if you are a fan of sweet and salty you will love these bites. You take raw chocolate chip cookie dough- minus the egg, sandwiched between 2 pretzels, dipped in bittersweet chocolate and a couple sprinkles on top and you can thank me.

The 4th is on a Wednesday and our office will be closed. Kind of interesting to have a day off during the week but I’m not complaining! Last week we had a work BBQ and everyone brought in their favorite dishes. The dessert table was amazing, along with hamburgers, hot dogs, side dishes and fresh fruit. I went home with an empty container because everyone gobbled up these delicious bites of cookie dough goodness. These are best when kept in the fridge and enjoyed chill. They aren’t as messy and something about cold cookie dough just makes me melt! I keep calling them Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites because I added a little bit more dough. It is the best part!

The original recipe calls for 1/2 stick unsalted butter but I didn’t have a full stick left. I subbed in the coconut oil and it worked out just fine. The cookie dough was a bit more stickier but I just dusted some more flour into the dough till I found the right texture for raw cookie dough. No one mentioned coconut,so the taste is very faint.

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pretzels
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
Sprinkles

Directions
To make the cookie dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, coconut oil and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in flour, powdered sugar and salt. Slowly add milk and vanilla extract and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. Roll the cookie dough into balls, about 2 teaspoons each. Sandwich between two pretzels and put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze the pretzel bites for 30 minutes.

Melt two cups of bittersweet chocolate chips, using the microwave (30 second intervals) or a double boiler. Dip half of each pretzel sandwich into the chocolate. Sprinkle bites with sprinkles, if using. Return the tray to the freezer and chill until the chocolate sets. Store the cookie dough bites in the refrigerator until serving time.

Have a Happy 4th of July this week!
Fallon

PS: I can’t stop thinking how HOT Channing Tatum is! I saw Magic Mike over the weekend.. definitely not going to win any fancy awards BUT if the whole movie was 2 hours of just Channing Tatum dancing and grinding, I would TOTALLY be okay with that. Plus if I ever have a boy I’m naming him Channing!