Banana Carrot Muffins

Simple and delicious. Nutritious and filling, these are the perfect little muffin to put in my kids snack bag, or as a quick grab-and-go breakfast. We just had our first week of school here and you know what that means?? Muffin time!! I find muffins to be so convenient during the school year as I can pack them with all kinds of nutritious foods and they come conveniently shaped in a ball that fits in all my kids hands! Making them an ideal food. And whether I choose to make them savory or sweet, I usually find a way to sneak in some veggies in there.

For my little 2nd graders first week I decided to make these simple-in-flavor banana carrot muffins. I made a huge batch and froze about 2 dozen for an easy last minute snack in the weeks to come, ad still had enough to feed all my kids all week.

One big baking batch saves me time in the long run.

I hope you try these and enjoy them as much as we did!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (I mixed teff, rice and coconut)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4tsp nutmeg, (I would’ve used cinnamon but ran out)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup packed shredded carrots
• 1 cup packed mashed bananas
• 3/4 maple syrup
• 1 cup milk (I used almond
• 3 TBS ground flax soaked in 6 TBS water (flax “egg”)

Steps:

• preheat oven to 350*F
• soak the flax seeds in water
• In a large bowl combine the first 3 ingredients
• in a blender combine all the other ingredients and blend just enough to mix everything together
• combine dry and wet ingredients
• grease some mini muffin tins with coconut oil and fill them up
• bake for about 10 minutes for mini muffins, and about 18 minutes for larger muffins
• let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack

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Carrot Cake Bites

These came out perfect. Cake-like texture even without flour, sweet even without sugar and the frosting came out so smooth and rich even without dairy. I will definitely be making these again. This recipe was inspired by my brother. We both love carrot cake and he is a huge fan of all my rawcaroons. A few months back we had salivated over the idea of me making a carrot cake flavored rawcaroon. Although this is not exactly what I would consider a rawcaroon since it has more the texture of cake, the inspiration is what got me there.

I wasn’t planning on making these for Thanksgiving. For the past 4 years, my contribution to the Thanksgiving meal has been raw dessert. And up until this year I have made cheesecakes and pies. This year I was planning on making another pie when everything in my kitchen started directing me towards making these raw bites. I am SO happy I went with the flow and created these little balls of tasty magic. They taste so decadent, yet are healthy enough to eat for breakfast. Patting myself on the back for this one. As I am constantly creating new things in my kitchen, it is unavoidable that I make some stuff that I am not so proud of. And every now and then I come up with something like these bites, and I think “It is recipes like these that make me love the time I spend in my kitchen”.

Ingredients for cake balls:

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup dates
• 2 cups almond meal (left over from making milk)
• 1 1/2 cups carrot pulp + 1 large chunk (1 1/2 inches?)of fresh ginger (I ran carrots and ginger through the Champion juicer with the blank screen attachment for this, but you could just pulverize them in your blender to make this)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut (I put this in the blender to make it into a fine powder, this step is optional if you don’t mind bigger chunks of coconut in your rawcaroons)
• 3/4 cups raisins
• 1/4 psyllium husk
• 1 TBS cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 3/4 cups chopped pecans

Ingredients for coconut frosting:

• 1 cup coconut cream
• 2 TBS coconut milk
• 2 dates
• 1 tsp lecithin

Steps:

• in a blender combine dates and water and blend on high until it forms a liquid paste
• mix all other ingredients in a large bowl
• add the paste and mix well
• scoop mixture on a dehydrator mesh screen in uniform balls
• dehydrate for 10 to 12 hours
• during that time blend all frosting ingredients and put in fridge to set, at least 1 hour
• top bites with frosting
• decorate with carrot shreds

Note: The picture shows cake bites decorated with icing. I am not sharing the recipe at this time because I think it needs a little more work.

Carrot Coconut Soup

This recipe was inspired by my really good friend Sam. She made it for me this weekend and I loved it so much I had to come home and make my version of it for my family and now share it with you.

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS coconut oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 medium to large carrots, chopped
• 3 medium to large potatoes, chopped (if using russet, peel them)
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped
• 6 cups water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 small can coconut milk (5.6oz or 165 ml)
• 1 TBS fresh ginger (optional)
• cayenne pepper (optional)

Steps:

• Melt the coconut oil in a large pot
• add onions and cook 2 to 4 minutes
• add carrots and potatoes and mix well to coat with the oil, cook another 3 minutes
• add water, ginger and salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook another 15 minutes or so, until the veggies are soft but not falling apart
• turn off heat, add the coconut milk and blend!
• I added 1 TBS of fresh ginger at the end to add a little extra kick and to boost our immune systems during this cold weather. Make sure to test this if you have children sensitive to too much spice. We love ginger at our house 🙂
• sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper for extra heat