Week in Review

In the last week or so there was this,

skillet blackberry honey preserves

and some of this,

sleeping guys: mayor & tom peters

a bit of this,

vegan, gluten-free dinner: cauliflower coconut curry

a lot of this!

what's cooking?

homemade soymilk! delicious, nutritious, plant-based and thrifty.

More of this,

lacto-fermented pickled garlic and spicy carrots~ currently doing their thang in the cupboard for another week or so

a tidge of this,

the heirloom variety is doing well, though the fruit is more scarce than on the other plants

some of this,

portland cracks me up

lots of this,

got my gaming wrists on! (laptop gets pretty hot =P)

and lastly, this.

after 9 years, got the old tat retouched and jazzed up

My life in pictures. At least the parts I feel like sharing!

a happy ladybug on my 4 o'clocks~ plant mystery solved!

Frozen Lime Bars, raw & no sugar added!

Even if you don't restrict yourself dietarily, these lime bars are a treat! Especially on these hot days, (hello summer!) a frozen sweet-tart bar that melts in your mouth is the perfect dessert or breakfast. Because I eat dessert for breakfast, don't you?

So let's get to it! You do need a food processor for this, although I think a VitaMix would work as well. This recipe comes together in 15 minutes or less and then should be frozen for at least a half hour to firm up. Keep these in the freezer and pop them out whenever the mood strikes you! I made this the first time as written in a small oval baking dish, and the bars came out very thin. The second time I made a 3/4 batch of crust and kept the same filling amount, then shaped the bars into a loaf pan which made thicker bars. Either way, this recipe is very forgiving and easy to adapt. You can always just not use some of the crust and make powerballs with the extras (recipe coming soon!).

This is what cooking looks like in my kitchen

Raw Lime Bars
Adapted from Raw Model, via Pinterest

For the crust:
80g (~5) medjool dates
60g (~1/3 cup) cashews
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

For the filling:
1 large (~160 g) avocado 
2 (~35g) medjool dates (or 1/4 c. honey/agave if you prefer)
1/4 c. (50g) coconut oil
1-3 Tbl. fresh lime juice

In a food processor, combine all the crust ingredients and pulse until the nuts are ground to your liking. I prefer a smaller bit of nut when I'm eating so I pulse until it looks like this:

Press your crust ingredients into a small pan of your choice lined with saran wrap or foil.

Rinse out the food processor, no need to wash with soap, and combine all the filling ingredients. Process until very smooth. I start with 1 Tbl. lime juice and add more to taste after processing. I usually add up to 1/4 c. myself, as I really like the tart lime flavor. Also, the dates will never be completely incorporated, so you will have some very tiny pieces. 

When the filling is smooth, spread on top of the crust and pop into the freezer for at least 30 minutes before eating. Cut into bars and enjoy! Keep the leftovers frozen as these "melt" quickly. So so good.