As someone who LOVES wine (and worked in the wine industry 
for 8 years) I am always looking for alternative drinks that can still give me a nice “buzz” but also pumps my body full of nutrients and vitamins.
Maybe it’s just the high of eating raw foods, but I love this recipe from “Fully Raw Kristina.” I think the wine glass and decanter really make it feel like I’m having the full wine experience (not to mention the intoxicating color of the juice).
Try it and let me know what you think!
Looking for new breakfast recipes that will help kick-start your morning with nutrient dense ingredients? We all know breakfast gives you more energy and is known to help with weight loss, not to mention help boost concentration and physical endurance, so we thought we’d share with you MindBodyGreen‘s latest yum fest!
Give them a try and let us know what you think!
Raspberry Banana Smoothie 
Ingredients:
1 cup chia gel*
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 banana
Chia is a tiny seed revered for its ability to boost your energy and endurance while keeping you satiated. A cup of raspberries packs 8 grams of fiber to keep your digestive system moving, and a banana not only delivers energy and B6, it will make your smoothie creamy and delicious.
Simply add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
*Make chia gel by soaking 1 tbs. of chia seeds in 1 cup of water, for 10 minutes or more. If you make smoothies often, you can soak in a larger quantity and leave in your fridge for up to a week.
If you’re always hungry before lunch:
Steel Cut Oats* topped with Apple or Pear 
Ingredients:
½ cup steel cut oats
1 1/2 cups water
1 apple or 1 pear
handful of walnuts
cinnamon and salt to taste
Hello fiber! This filling breakfast will keep you focused straight through lunch without even a twinge of hunger. Eating this regularly should help keep your trips to the loo regular, too.
Directions:
Cook oats according to directions. Meanwhile, chop apple or pear into bite-size pieces, and add to the pot a few minutes before the oats are done. When the timer goes off and all of the water is absorbed, transfer to a bowl, top with walnuts and sprinkle with cinnamon and salt if desired.
*Admittedly, steel cut oats can take a while to cook (20-30 minutes), so rolled oats are another option. Make sure your oats only contain “oats” in the ingredient list, though, and skip the highly processed instant oats with their added sugar and chemicals.
If you’re already perfect and just want a little beauty boost:
Millet Toast with Almond Butter and Banana 
Ingredients:
2 slices of millet bread
raw almond butter
2 tbs. raw pumpkin seeds
1 banana, sliced
What’s wrong with wanting to be beautiful? A mix of creamy and crunchy, this breakfast is sure to satisfy. Banana delivers energy to keep you perky, while pumpkin seeds are loaded with beauty minerals that will help keep your skin glowing and radiant. Luscious almond butter is packed with skin-loving vitamin E, and research suggests its healthy fats may actually help you lose weight.
Directions:
Toast bread, spread with almond butter, top with pumpkin seeds and then sliced banana. In place of banana, you can also use thinly sliced apple or pear, which will deliver added vitamins and fiber.
Armed with these delicious and satisfying breakfasts, you’ll never be able to utter, “I got up on the wrong side of the bed” again.
What are some of your favorite breakfast foods?
This dessert is perfect for the warmer weather. It’s refreshing, fruity and lighter 
than most nut based treats. Plus it’s:
▪ Gluten Free
▪ Dairy Free
▪ Cacao Free
I came up with this recipe whilst trying to create something different to the usual chocolate based healthy dessert for a dinner party.
To be honest anything lemony is good with me!
This recipe makes x 4 tarts.
Ingredients:
Base
▪ 1 1/2 cups of macadamia nuts
▪ 1/2 cup of medjool dates
▪ pinch of sea salt
Blend ingredients until a dough is formed, press into the coconut oil greased tart tins.
Filling
▪ 2 cups of cashews 
▪ 1/2 cup of lemon juice
▪ 1 tbsp of honey
▪ 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil
▪ pinch of vanilla
Blend all ingredients together until a smooth cream. Pour into the tart tins on the base. Place in the freezer for 30 mins to firm.
Topping
▪ 2 cups of strawberries, chopped
▪ 3/4 cup of medjool dates.
Blend into a strawberry jam, pour in the cream filling and place in the freezer to set for about an hour.
These are delicious when totally defrosted or still slightly frozen. I like how when they are frozen you can eat them by hand! They’re like an ice-cream biscuit and oh so yummy!
What are some of your favorite summer vegan treats? Let us know in the comment section below!
Tuesday’s Tasty Treats is a weekly column bringing you the best, most 
delicious and easy raw food recipes to help maintain and support a healthy lifestyle. Brought to you by Chakra Center’s own raw food goddess, Sarah Hook.
Lemon desserts are one of my favorites! I pretty much love all fruit based desserts, like eton mess, apple crumble, apple pie, lemon meringue, and so on! Nowadays I don’t eat sugar laden desserts but have found a way to make my own versions of them with healthy ingredients instead. Guilt free desserts and no groggy feelings the day after are important to me.
The combination of the creaminess of the avocado and the astringent lemon is to die for!
My Lemon & Avocado Mousse is 
This makes mousse for 2.
Ingredients:
You can also freeze this and eat frozen like an ice-cream/sorbet.
Enjoy!
Tuesday’s Tasty Treats is a weekly column bringing you the best, most delicious and easy raw food recipes to help maintain and support a healthy lifestyle. Brought to you by Chakra Center’s own raw food goddess, Sarah Hook.
This juice is delicious, refreshing and cleansing. It’s great for boosting immunity and aiding the liver cleanse.
Ingredients:
Juice all of the ingredients and add coconut water to taste.
Enjoy!
Tuesday’s Tasty Treats is a weekly column bringing you the best, most delicious and easy raw food recipes to help maintain and support a healthy lifestyle. Brought to you by Chakra Center’s own raw food goddess, Sarah Hook.
Chocolate & Beetroot Cup Cakes
Yes! Chocolate and beetroot! It’s an amazing combination! Beetroot is an excellent detoxifier and cleanser, helping the liver do its job, and when combined with the taste of raw cacao it makes these cupcakes deliciously healthy. Plus they are grain free, sugar free, and dairy free.
Ingredients
Blend the eggs in a blender, add in xylitol and beetroot. Blend again.
Next add the coconut milk, coconut oil, sea salt, stevia and vanilla. Blend again. Lastly add the coconut flour and cacao powder and blend well until thoroughly mixed.
Spoon mixture into cupcake holders and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200C.
Enjoy!
Tuesday’s Tasty Treats is a weekly column bringing you the best, most delicious and easy raw food recipes to help maintain and support a healthy lifestyle. Brought to you by Chakra Center’s own raw food goddess, Sarah Hook.
Zucchini Rustic Pasta
A beautifully healthy & vibrant springtime dish bursting with flavor & color.
Serves 1 Person
Ingredients:
Recipe by nutritional health coach and raw food chef, Sarah Hook.
Superfood Smoothie
▪ 1 banana
▪ 1 cup of seed milk (fantastic with the pumpkin seed milk from last week’s recipe)
▪ 1 tsp. raw honey
▪ 1 medjool date
▪ 1 tbsp chia seeds
▪ 1/2 tsp. of chlorella
▪ 1 tsp. of acai powder
▪ 1 tbsp cacao powder
▪ 1/4 tsp. of rhodiola
▪ 1tbsp rice bran soluble
Blend and drink!
This drink is so perfect if you have a busy day a head; the cacao gives you stimulation (a healthier version than coffee), and the superfoods keep you going for hours!
Enjoy x
Tuesday’s Tasty Treats is a weekly column bringing you the best, most delicious and easy raw food recipes to help maintain and support a healthy lifestyle. Brought to you by Chakra Center’s own raw food goddess, Sarah Hook.
Pumpkin & Sunflower Seed Milk
I usually make milk with Almonds, Brazil or even Pecans, as my dairy free milk. However I had lots of seeds left over from when I soaked a whole batch and froze them. Once I had defrosted them I didn’t want the to go to waste, so I decided to make some seed milk!
It was a success so I’ll share what I did and why it makes a nice change…and it’s oh so good for you too!
Ingredients:
▪ 1 cup of soaked pumpkin seeds
▪ 1 cup of soaked sunflower seeds
▪ 1 1/2 litres of filtered water
▪ 3 medjool dates
▪ Pinch of sea salt
Add everything to the blender (I use my trusty Vitamix!).
Blend until smooth and then strain through a nut bag.
Easy!
I store mine in a mason jar in the fridge and it last for at least 4-5 days.
It’s important to soak the seeds first for at least 12 hrs; this makes the seeds more nutrient dense and also easier to digest. The digestion is your powerhouse!
To soak or not to soak..:
Soak! The reason for this is that nuts, seeds, legumes and grains, while rich in nutrients and enzymes, also contain phytic acid which inhibits the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc, they also contain enzyme inhibitors that work to block the absorption of minerals. In nature, phytic acid exists so that the seed or nut can protect itself until the proper conditions are met for it to sprout, grow and reproduce.
In addition to blocking key minerals from being absorbed into the body, phytic acid can be a great strain on the human digestive system. Traditional people have soaked and sprouted seeds, nuts, legumes, and grains for millennia in order to get the optimal nutritional benefits from these foods. Once soaked, the phytic acid is deactivated and released into the water and the enzymes and minerals in the food are more readily available for absorption into our bodies.
Why Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds are so good for you:
Sunflower Seeds
Raw sunflower seeds are a rich source of vitamin E, a valuable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and a source of vital minerals such as magnesium and selenium as well as linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. The seeds contain lots of iron, which can combat anemia, and lots of chlorophyll, which helps detoxify the liver and the blood. Amazing Stuff!
Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are rich dietary source of magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, iron and copper. So many people are deficient in important minerals like magnesium and zinc. The seeds are a good source of tryptophan, the amino acid that converts to the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is important for coping with stress and deficiencies can lead to depression and insomnia.
Pumpkin seeds are also a fairly good source of certain B vitamins, which help regulate mood. Combine this with the tryptophan mentioned above and pumpkin seeds look like a great food to eat when stressed or tired.
Give this seed milk a go and let me know what you think…
And you can make this smoothie:
I like to have a play and get all my super-foods out and play at alchemy!
Tuesday’s Tasty Treats is a weekly column bringing you the best, most delicious and easy raw food recipes to help maintain and support a healthy lifestyle. Brought to you byChakra Center’s own raw food goddess, Sarah Hook.
OMG! These taste like Ferrero Rocher and Nutella rolled into one. Delicious chocolate!
Dairy free, gluten free, and no processed sugars.
Hazelnut & Chocolate Bites
Ingredients
These are great for kids, and a perfect chocolate fix for everyone.
Enjoy!
Tuesday’s Tasty Treats is brought to you by holistic health coach, Sarah Hook.
Chocolate Raisin Fudge
Add cashews to blender and blend to a powder, then add sea salt, vanilla, and cacao powder and mix again. Add in the medjool dates and raisin and blend, then finally add the coconut oil and blend to a dough.
Spoon out and put into a rectangular dish and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes until firm.
Enjoy!
Recipe by nutritional health coach and raw food chef, Sarah Hook.
Chakra Center 