Raw Oat Groat Porridge

This creamy, full-flavored porridge sticks to your ribs like no other breakfast I have tried! Soaking the oat groats softens them so they can be blended, and also activates the enzymes and greatly increases the nutrition in these powerhouses. Feel free to experiment with different fruits and variations, this is just a basic recipe. I got this, although I'm not exactly sure of the proportions, from the DVD series from Rudy and Jeannie Davis, "Removing the Mystery Behind Disease". You guys should all check it out, its eye-opening!

1 cup oat groats, covered with water about an inch over the groats, soaked overnight, or at least 7-8 hours
6-8 dates, soaked until soft (the time may vary depending on how dry your dates are, we typically just soak them overnight as well)
1 ripe banana

Drain oat groats; rinse. Combine all ingredients to blender or food processor and blend until desired consistency. You may add some of the date soak liquid if the porridge needs thinning out. Kids love this one, so make plenty if there are kids involved!

Raw Creamy Cucumber Dip/Dressing

1 c. slivered almonds, soaked for at least 6 hours and kept refrigerated (other nuts could be used and may not need to be soaked first, although that would make it easier to blend them)
1/4 c. lemon juice (or to taste)
Water to desired consistency, start with 1/4 cup 
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 - 2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 tsp citric acid (optional)
2 avocadoes
1 large cucumber, halved and seeded
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp dill weed
2-4 drops stevia (optional)


Blend almonds, lemon juice, and water until almonds are smooth and there is no grit. Combine remaining ingredients and blend on high until smooth and creamy. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Fluffy Banana Cake with Creamy Carob Frosting

Vegan cakes, especially when made with whole wheat flour can often turn out to be either gooey mound or a hard brick. Bananas keep this cake soft and moist without weighing it down or making it gooey, while using whole wheat pastry flour keeps it lighter than regular whole wheat flour would. The frosting is a mock buttercream made with avocados of all things! This just came to me while wondering how I was going to make a "buttercream" frosting for my husband's birthday cake with no butter, margarine, or powdered sugar. I had a basket full of ripe avocados, so I thought, "Hey, it's worth a shot". I had to tweak it a bit to get the consistency and taste I wanted, but I turned out great, and no one at the table was any wiser about the lack of butter.

Cake:
2 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp stevia
1/2 cup xylitol
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk
3 small ripe bananas
3 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
2 ripe avocados
3 - 4 Tbsp carob powder
1/4 tsp stevia
3- 4 Tbsp xylitol
1 - 2 Tbsp honey or agave (optional)
Pinch of salt
Splash of almond milk

For cake: beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds, then on high speed until well mixed and smooth. Do not over mix. Pour into cake pan(s). Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes for rectangles, 30-35 minutes for 9-inch rounds, 20-25 minutes for 8-inch rounds, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

For frosting: beat all ingredients with electric mixer on high until smooth and whipped. Adjust sweetener and carob powder to taste. Frost cooled cake as desired.

Carob Fudge Cookies

Coming from a family of chocolate lovers, I learned to enjoy chocolate at a young age. Now that I'm older, not only do I realize the high fat and sugar content in chocolate deserts, along with caffeine and theobromine, I also have a chocolate sensitivity. Carob, a low fat and more nutritious substitute for chocolate, gives this cookie a rich, decadent taste, without the need for copious amounts of fat and sugar to mask the bitterness and make it palatable. Carob is also free of insect parts (yes, you read correctly, insect parts!) and is much better for diabetics.You may use cocoa powder if you want, but many people find that once they get used to the subtle differences in carob, they prefer it to chocolate.

1/2 cup xylitol
1/4 tsp stevia
1 banana, or 1/4 - 1/3 cup peanut or almond butter
1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla (optional)
6 Tbsp carob powder
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 chopped nuts (optional)

Mix xylitol, stevia, banana or nut butter, vanilla, carob powder, water, and flaxseed meal in a medium bowl with an electric mixer set to low until smooth and no chunks of banana/nut butter remain. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet, spreading out the dough a bit to flatten. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Remove from cookie sheet on to wire rack immediately and allow to cool.