Snacks

Note: you'll needa nut bag, cheesecloth or clean nylons for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic unsweetened coconut flakes

• 4 cups water

Directions:

Add everything to your blender and blend until the flakes are as as emulsified as possible.

Pour the mixture through with the nut bag, cheesecloth or clean nylons and then squeeze the 'milk' out.

Pour 'milk' into a container and keep in fridge for up to a week.

Note: You'll need4 8-ounce jars with airtight lids to make this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 fresh cucumbers

• 6-8 sprigs of fresh dill

• pink salt

• water

• ume plum vinegar

• apple cider vinegar

Directions:

These ingredients will make 4 jars of pickles, 4 variations to see which one you like best.

Wash and slice all the cucumbers. Make them any size and shape you prefer them.

Fill all four jars with cucumbers.

Put 1.25 teaspoons of pink salt in 2 of the jars. Put 1 teaspoon of pink salt in the other 2 jars (mark the jars if you like to know the difference later).

Stuff sprigs of dill in the tops of each jar (you can also play with mustard seeds, garlic etc). Fill 2 jars 3/4 full with ume plum vinegar and 2 jars 3/4 full with apple cider vinegar. You should now have one jar with ume plum vinegar and more salt, one jar with ume plum vinegar and less salt, one with apple cider vinegar and more salt and one with apple cider vinegar and less salt.

Fill the remainder of all of the jars with water. Seal the jars.

Shake the jars and place in fridge minimum 4 hours.

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato

• 1 large yucca

• 1 tablespoon olive oil - I used organic, unfiltered

• pink salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

Wash and peel your sweet potato and yucca. Cut into long, rough french fry sizes. Place in a baking dish and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Bake in oven, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana

• 3 medium sweet potatoes

• 1 tablespoon coconut amino acids

Directions:

For the sweet potatoes - Earlier in the week I bake multiple sweet potatoes to use for lunches and dinners for the family all week.

Scrub the sweet potatoes, leave the skins on, wrap them each in foil like a baked potato and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 90 minutes

When finished, remove, let cool and stash in a container in the fridge. When ready to eat, slice one long line down the side of the potato and the skin will peel off.

For the Smash - In a bowl combine all ingredients and mash together and serve.

Ingredients:

• sweet potato

• Bubbie's sauerkraut

Directions:

For the sweet potatoes: Earlier in the week I bake multiple sweet potatoes to use for lunches and dinners for the family all week.

Scrub the sweet potatoes, leave the skins on, wrap them each in foil like a baked potato and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 90 minutes

When finished, remove, let cool and stash in a container in the fridge. When ready to eat, slice one long line down the side of the potato and the skin will peel off.

For the snack combo: Top sweet potato with sauerkraut and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 box strawberries

• 1 avocado

• 1 lemon

• pink salt

Directions:

Wash and cut all strawberries, place in a bowl.

Cut and add avocado.

Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the top, add pink salt to taste, gently toss and serve.

Note:This meal was another made from my batch cooking earlier in the week and then assembled.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag carrots

• 3 yellow zucchini

• 3 green zucchini

• 1 bunch celery

• fresh spinach

• 2 tablespoons unfiltered olive oil

• 1 lemon

• 1-2 teaspoons turmeric

Directions:

Yellow and Green Zucchini: Wash and slice all the zucchini. In a pan over medium heat on the stove add 1 tablespoon olive oil and all the zucchini. Sprinkle them with 1 teaspoon of turmeric and 1/2 the juice from the lemon. stir periodically and cook for approximately 5-8 minutes.

Carrots and Celery: Clean and chop the celery, and peel and chop the carrots. Re-use the same pan you used for the zucchini. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the carrots and celery, and the juice from the other half of the lemon and the remainder of the turmeric. Cook the same as the above, stirring occasionally 5-8 minutes.

On a plate layer fresh spinach, zucchini, carrots and celery. Save the remainder of the veggies in containers in the fridge for future meals.

Note: This one is so simple it's almost embarrassing. It's a huge winner at our house and has this wonderful effervescent taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Native Forest organic coconut milk (canned)

• 1 tablespoon inner-eco fresh coconut water probiotic (I got mine at Whole Foods)

Directions:

Mix the entire can of coconut milk with the tablespoon of probiotic in a clean jar and place in your oven with only the light on for 24 hours.

Remove and enjoy.

Note: These are super simple! bang for the buck, wonderful complex carb.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, use unrefined if you can.

• plantains, sliced (green ones will be more starchy, like a potato chip, yellow/brown ones will be sweeter for a treat).

Directions:

Heat coconut oil (I use a lot but you can probably do with 1/3 cup) in a pan over medium heat on the stove. Then lay the slices of plantains in the heat, let them cook approximately 3 minutes then flip them to cook another 3 minutes on the other side. Be careful not to burn them as coconut oil heats quickly. You can turn down the heat on the stove if it starts to smoke.

Slice the plantain to desired thickness and 'fry.'

Let cool and serve.

Ingredients:

• almond milk (I used home made, the recipe is under the Snack tab)

• Yogi Tea, Black Chai Tea

• Cinnamon and or nutmeg

Directions:

It's a pretty simple, warming cup: boil your water, pour over your tea bag, add almond milk and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg to your liking. ENJOY! This one came from my acupuncturist and it's lovely on super cold winter days.

Note: You will needa nut bag, cheesecloth or clean nylons for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups soaked raw almonds

• 2 1/2 cups water

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

• dash of pink salt

Directions:

Soak your almonds overnight in water (in a bowl on your kitchen counter).

Drain the soaking water, combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until the almonds are as fine a pulp as they can get. (In the vitamix I do a 20 second setting).

Pour the mixture through the nut bag, cheese cloth or clean nylons and then squeeze the 'milk' out.

You can keep the almond meal in a container in the fridge for up to a week to add to smoothies if you like.

Pour 'milk' into a container and keep in fridge for up to a week!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soaked raw organic cashews (simply cover them with water and let them sit overnight)

• 1/2 cup shelled organic hemp seeds

• 4 cups water

• a pinch of pink salt

Directions:

Combine the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Once the mixture is smooth, pour it through a cheesecloth, nut bag or a clean pair of nylons or a strainer to filter out the 'chunks.' I do this twice and usually in a strainer when I do hemp milk.

Pour into a container and, if you like, add a vanilla bean to it and let it soak in the milk.

Tip:

To sweeten things you can also add 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup to it in the blender, or cinnamon and nutmeg. Flavor to your taste. ;)

Note: My youngest son calls hummus "hummy." My boys eat it often and as a mainstay of nutrition.

Ingredients:

• 1 can garbanzo beans

• 1 lemon (juiced)

• 1 tablespoon tahini

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• pink sea salt

Directions:

Combine everything in a blender or a food processor.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup blueberries

• 1/2 peach

• 1/2 cup cashews

• handful of unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions:

In an elegant bowl, artfully arrange your ingredients and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 rice cakes

• sunflower seed butter

• sliced cucumber

• sliced red peppers

• freeze dried blueberries

• pistachios

Directions:

Spread sunflower seed butter on the rice cakes. Pack these and the rest of the snack in happy little containers and take your happy littles to the park!

Ingredients:

• 1 small eggplant

• 1 Japanese eggplant

• 1 zucchini

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon oregano

• 1 tablespoon basil

• pink sea salt to taste

Directions:

Chop eggplant, Japanese eggplant and zucchini. Then in a pan over medium heat on the stove, heat olive oil, oregano, and basil. Add pink sea salt to taste. Cook long enough for the veggies to soften, then pull them off the heat and serve as a side or a snack on their own.

Note: My boys call this mom dirt, because I eat it and would play in it if I could. I love this mix on it's own, over fruit, cereal, if you eat yogurt or even on an 'ice cream'.

Ingredients:

• 5 medjool dates

• 1/2 cup of organic, unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1 1/2 cup almonds

Directions:

In a blender or food processor combine the ingredients. Blend until a sandy/dirt consistency. This is also the crust of the raw vegan pie. If you press it, the heat from your hands gets it to stick together.

Note: I started making my own almond milk and it's super simple.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw almonds

• 2-3 cups water

Directions:

Soak raw almonds overnight. When almonds are ready, combine them with 2-3 cups of water in a blender or food processor and blend until the almond pieces are as small as possible. Pour your blend through cheescloth (or pantyhose) and squeeze your milk out into a container. You can save the pulp to add to smoothies or breakfast grains. Keep the milk in a container with a lid in the fridge.

It tastes amazing and muuuuuch better than the boxed ones you can buy. It's a little thinner but tastes fresher.

Note: I get asked all the time what my kids eat. Here it is!

Ingredients:

• tamari rice cakes

• strawberries

• cashews

• red grapes

Directions:

Pack it to go. Fuel to play!

Note: This is what my kids eat at the park.

Ingredients:

• fresh strawberries

• raw hazelnuts & cashews

• plantain chips

• dried figs

Directions:

Pack it all to go and have fun at the park!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups garbanzo beans

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 garlic cloves

• pink sea salt

• basil

• pepper

• juice of 2 lemons

• 2 tablespoons tahini

• 1 cup water

Directions:

Sprout garbanzo beans. Saute the garbanzo beans in a pan on the stove over medium heat with olive oil, garlic, pink sea salt, basil and pepper to taste for about 15 minutes.

Transfer the garbanzo beans to a blender or food processor and add the lemon juice, tahini and water. Blend until smooth.

The taste IS a bit different than hummus you buy. We love it at our house.

Ingredients:

• 2 kiwis

• plantain chips

Directions:

This is what my kids snack on. Cut up the kiwis and pour out 1/2 a bowl of plantain chips. These are not banana chips, they're not sweet. Ours came form Trader Joe's.

Ingredients:

• 7 sliced strawberries

• 1/2 a box of blueberries

• 3 medjool dates

Directions:

Put the ingredients together and enjoy! Because most of the time, snacks are THAT easy. GO MOTHER NATURE!

Ingredients:

• brown rice

• red quinoa

• blueberries

• 1/2 avocado, cubed

• 1/2 lemon

Directions:

Make your brown rice and red quinoa. Mix them in a bowl. Add blueberries and avocado, cubed. Squeeze 1/2 lemon over the whole thing and toss.

Ingredients:

• raw cacao nibs

• goji berries

• raw, unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions:

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl.

This is one of my favorite treats to eat alone, sprinkle on granola, or dip a banana in or even to sprinkle on an 'ice cream' treat.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups whole raw almonds

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directions:

Put the almonds in a blender or food processor. Blend. This can take up to 20 minutes to start to become smooth. Stop periodically to push the nuts down to blend evenly.

When smooth, add the oil IF you want to thin it out a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup organic popcorn seeds

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted coconut oil

• 1/4 teaspoon pink sea salt

Directions:

Add popcorn kernels to a plain brown paper lunch bag. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes (we hit the 'popcorn' button). Transfer popcorn to a large container with a lid or a reusable baggie. Add either olive oil or melted coconut oil — drizzle the oil over the popcorn.

Add pink sea salt and cover. Shake to combine and coat the popcorn.