Heavenly Fruit with Sweet Nut Cream

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

Ingredients:

For the Fruit Part:
A selection of seasonal fruit of your choice such a berries, mangoes, peaches, grenadillas, guavas, pawpaws, bananas, pomegranates.

For the sweet nut cream:
3 cups of macadamia nuts
250 ml freshly squeezed fruit juice of your choice
2 tsp raw honey or sweetener of your choice

Preparation:
Blend the nuts in a high speed blender for approximately 3 minutes on high speed using the tamper to keep the mixture moving until a creamy consistency is reached. Add the sweetener (optional) and the fruit juice and mix.

In an attractive glass, place a layer of fruit. Add a layer of cream. Place another layer of fruit on top of the cream layer. Continue like this until the glass is full, ending with a delectable whirl of cream and a sprig of fresh mint.

Enjoy! ♥

GFCF Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:

For GFCF Pie Crust
Brown Rice Flour - 1.5 cups (more or less depending on the size of your tray)
Water - about 1/4th - 1/2 cup
Olive Oil - 2 tbsps (use 1/2 tbsp to grease the pie plate)

For Pumpkin Filling/Flan
Small Pumpkin - 1 (yielding at least 2 cups of pumpkin purée)
Egg Substitute equivalent to two eggs
Cashew/Macademia Nuts - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon Powder - 1 tsp
Clove Powder - 1/4th tsp
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Organic Pitted Dates - 1 cup (for sweetening)
Water - 1.25 cups

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

GFCF Pie Crust
Mix the ingredients listed for GFCF Pie Crust and pat the mixture on the pie plate (preferably glass). Flatten it all the way to the rim. Using fork make marks on the rim (if you like). This is your pie crust; let it sit in the refrigerator for atleast 1/2 hour or if you have your pie filling ready, bake the crust for about 10 minutes at 350F before filling it with pumpkin flan.

Pumpkin Flan/Filling

• Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds and the stringy interiors. Cut roughly and bake in a glass baking tray covered at 350F with 1/4th cup of water for an hour. Set this aside to cool down.
• Blend (in a power blender like Vitamix) the baked pumpkin bits and the other ingredients listed for pumpkin filling/flan.
• Pour the blended mixture over the pie crust. It should fully cover the pie shell. If you have some left, make pumpkin flan!
• Bake at 350F anywhere from 60-90 minutes or until done (knife inserted should come out clean).
• Let cool in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours before enjoying your GFCF Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie!

This is a super-healthy pumpkin pie and you don't have to worry about sugar or unwanted saturated fat, cholesterol, heavy cream or gluten. Enjoy this pie with your family and friends for this THANKSGIVING! Let me know how you like it...

Banana-Pineapple Ice-cream

By: Esther Vasa

Banana-Pineapple Ice-cream is all natural, casein-free and sugar-free. For this recipe you will need a power blender like a Vitamix. This tool adds a great deal of power and convenience in the kitchen to fix and serve hearty and healthy meals to your family and friends.

Ingredients:
Frozen Banana Cuts - 1
Frozen Pineapple Cuts - 1 cup
Almonds - 1/4th cup
Water - 2-3 tbsp

Any toppings of your choice. I do away with toppings for they add unwanted calories.

Preparation:
Drop the almonds and water first; alternately if you have prepared and stored almond milk, use about 1/4th cup of it. Then, add your frozen banana and pineapple bits. Follow the instructions of your Vitamix manual in making an ice cream. Start at variable low with tamper in place and increase it up all the way to 10 pushing the ingredients into the blades. Then, go high for a few seconds and wait till you see four mounds. Serve your ice-cream scoops as you wish.

Alternately, try varying your fruits and may be add a frozen carrot. My family loves this.

Cell Rejuvenating Smoothie

By: Esther Vasa
Fresh green juices rejuvenate your cells by supplying live enzymes, minerals and vitamins in their native form. The chlorophyll resembles hemin, a component of hemoglobin and that should tell you why it helps fight anemia. The vegetables used in this smoothie alkalize the body and lo and behold, your cells get rejuvenated!

Ingredients:
Celery Stalk - 1
Cucumber - a few big slices
Spinach - 10 leaves
Collard Greens / Kale / Mustard Greens - 1 large leaf
Green Pepper - 1 (deseeded)
Jalapeño Pepper - 1/2 or per your taste (deseeded)
Spring Onion - 1
Dill - a bit
Juice of one lime
Garlic - 1 large clove
Himalayan Salt - a pinch
For sweetness add a few green grapes
Water or ice-cubes based on the desired thickness

Below to be steamed lightly
Green Beans - 8
Asparagus - 1
Broccoli - a big floret
Green Peas - 1/4th cup
Any wild mushroom bits (I used shiitake) - 1/4th cup

Preparation:
Just steam the veggies listed for steaming anywhere from 3-5 minutes. Blend all the ingredients thoroughly and enjoy the smoothie for your lunch. The number of veggies you get in a glass or two is inexplicable. Super-healthy, nutritious and rejuvenating...

Flower Power Salad

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

Take your everyday Green Salad ingredients and add sliced red peppers and a mix of some of the following flowers:

Nasturtium flowers, Daisy Petals, Marigold Petals, Borage Flowers, Garlic chive Flowers, Fennel Flowers, Geranium Flowers, Rocket Flowers, Clover Flowers, Mint Flowers, Coriander Flowers, Basil Flowers, Thyme Flowers, Courgette Flowers and Butternut Flowers

Green Smoothie

By: Shawn Caroline Powell
Thanks to Shawn for sharing this healthy green smoothie recipe with all of us. All the ingredients used are organic!

Ingredients:
1 banana
1 cup kale and or broccoli
1 cup chard, collard greens, and/or spinach
2 carrots
1 cup frozen berries, mangos and/or cherries
1 small tomato (optional)
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
1/2 cup water

Preparation:
Blend the above ingredients thoroughly to form a thick green smoothie.

Vn Smoothie

By: Esther Vasa

Vn Smoothie includes vegetables from red, orange, orange/yellow, yellow/green, green and the white/green group. The rich combination of vegetables in the smoothie will be protecting your cells against oxidative damage, cancers, tumors and helping your vision.

Ingredients:
Carrot - 1 whole (peeled and halved)
Tomato - 1/2
Onion - 1 small moon
Chives - 1 (halved)
Beet Root - 2 round slices
Ginger - 1 small piece
Kale - 1 leaf
Spinach - 8 leaves
Fresh Sage or Rosemary - 1 leaf
Celery stalk - 1 (cut roughly)
Fresh Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Cayenne Pepper - a pinch
Himalayan Salt to taste
Water (or ice cubes) - 1 cup or as you wish
Add any other fresh vegetables you have on hand.

Preparation:
Blend all the ingredients thoroughly until you get a nice smoothie/juice. Yields around two tall glasses!

Crunchy Rice Crackers

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:
Brown Rice Flour - 2 cups
Crushed Peanuts - 1/2 cup (toasted)
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4th tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/8th tsp
Fresh or Dried Cilantro - 2 tsp
Red Pepper Flakes - per your taste
Himalayan Salt to taste
Water just enough to make a thick dough (about 1/2 cup - 3/4th cup)
Olive oil to grease the baking tray

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F. Form a thick dough by mixing all the ingredients above. Grease a baking tray with olive oil and pat the prepared dough flat, right on the tray using the palm of your hand. Even it out. Then using a pizza cutter cut into your desired size and shape. Bake at 350F for about 1/2 hour. Let cool and separate the crackers and serve with salsa or garlic-olive oil-herbs sauce. A healthier snack for you and your children.

Alternately, you could try changing the spices and/or herbs. You could try ginger, garlic, basil, sage, oregano, mint etc., Enjoy!

"ST-RAW" Vegan Black Quinoa Salad

By: Esther Vasa

ST-RAW stands for "Steamed and Raw" salad. This is a super-healthy salad and a must eat for us with MS. Quinoa is a gluten-free seed used as rice substitute and is rich in protein. Bundling it with all the other super-foods makes you energetic and fresh. Try it yourself!

Ingredients:
Organic Black Quinoa Seeds - 1 cup
Water - 2 and a 1/4th cups (2 to cook quinoa and 1/4th to steam)
Shiitake Mushrooms - 1 pack (0.02 lb) - cut
Curly or Dinosaur Kale - chopped and packed tightly - 2 cups
Garlic Cloves - 3 (minced)
Red Onion - finely chopped
Carrot - 1 (grated)
Cucumber - 1 (diced)
Cherry Tomatoes - 10 (halved)
Fresh Basil - 1/2 tsp
Red Pepper Flakes - a few pinches or as needed
Himalayan Salt to taste
Juice of two large lemons
Olive oil - 2 tsps

Preparation:

• Clean and cook quinoa using two cups of water per the package instructions. Allow the cooked quinoa to cool down.
• Use a stockpot and a wire mesh (that fits the stockpot) to steam kale and mushrooms. Over the wire mesh, place the mushrooms bits and sprinkle salt lightly and in the stockpot put the 1/4th cup of water, crushed garlic and kale. Turn on the stove to medium and let these steam for 8-10 minutes. Leave the veggies in the pot. There is a special taste with mushroom juice seeping into Kale. 
• Prepare the raw salad with your other veggies, basil, lemon juice, salt and olive oil. Mix the quinoa into the raw salad and then the steamed mushrooms and kale can join the salad. Serve the salad with any soup.
• This was quite a treat to me and my family!

Serves: 5-6

Olive/Dulse Bites

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

Ingredients:
Cucumber - mandolined into thin strips
Avocado - diced
Dulse strips or pitted olives
Chives

Preparation:
Take a mandolined cucumber strip, place a piece of avocado at the base of the strip and cover with a strip of dulse or a pitted olive. Slowly roll the cucumber strip up and hold it together by tying it closed with a chive.