Blog Archives - ARTISTIC VEGAN

The 7th Planet, Mercury Rising Book Review

2/28/2015

Gerald's new book The 7th Planet, Mercury Rising changed my life for the absolute better, and I'm not the only one! I'll let you do your own deep dive, but in short, hope and faith were restored and a new connection was found. I finally started doing the Mer Ka Ba on a consistent basis and that combined with studying the material in my husband's book opened my mind and restored my connection to my Higher Self and the Source, the Creator of All! What more could one ask for? Have you ever read a book that as you read it you can't stop highlighting it, or underlining it and you think, this is a good one, I'll keep this one nearby. It turns out to be a book that you refer to for years to come. THIS is that kind of book. Like the Power of Now, The Secret..even dare I say The Bible, this book is a spiritual masterpiece not to be discounted. I'm so honored to be Gerald's wife and soul-mate in this path. I don't really quite understand why I'm so lucky, but rather than decode it, I'll enjoy it!! Okay so enough about me, the good news is Gerald is holding a CONFERENCE at CHICHEN ITZA in September! Yucatan Symposium - Field Trip - Ascension - Networking - Enlightenment & More ! Read more at: https://www.geraldclark77.com/ascension-symposium.html.Taking Place: September 18 - 23, 2015.

We will be taking tours, doing guided meditations, networking and conferring all in the beautiful Yucatan, Mexico at the Fall Equinox near the sacred temples. I will be there as well and look forward to meeting you personally to those who can attend! The grounds we'll be staying on have access directly to the temples, a museum, art gallery (where we'll be conferring), spa, organic gardens with food harvested and used in their meals, a flora and fauna discovery and protection program, cooking classes and so much more! With nearby cenotes to explore, perhaps on horseback, the spirit and mind can imagine what a fun time it will be. Imagine seeing the serpent shadow and history right at your fingertips with Gerald aside you to further enlighten your journey! I am so excited!!!

Hope to see you there, have a great weekend!

Love & Light - Shine Ever So Bright!!
Christa

Strawberry Peach Fruit Roll Ups

2/23/2015

Strawberries and peaches are bound to entice your taste buds as you bite into your very own homemade fruit roll up! I've tried varieties in the past but I must say the strawberry peach flavor is a new favorite. I love how easy it is to make fruit roll ups or fruit leathers. Puree your favorite fruit in a blender or food processor and create a fruit roll up. They are a great way to use slightly overripe fruit when you aren't sure how to use it or if you are in need of a healthy snack.

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Strawberry Peach Fruit Roll Ups:

2 cups strawberries
2 peaches
Agave to taste
Opt: Pinch of Beet Powder

Directions:

Pre-line dehydrator sheet with good quality plastic wrap or parchment paper.
Place the above ingredients in your food processor or blender, process until smooth.
Pour onto the dehydrator sheet, spreading it out so the edges are thicker than the center. Feel free to garnish with any toppings. Dehydrate as per your dehydrators instructions. I did mine at 105 degrees to keep them living / raw until the center was no longer wet and they were tacky.
Once done, prep space with a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Carefully flip the fruit roll ups on a sheet, the dried leather should lift at the edges, carefully peel away the plastic wrap or parchment paper.
If any undesired edges exist, cut them away with a pizza cutter, use the edges as a treat for wondering eyes or yourself. Cut into desired strips, I used a ruler to measure and kitchen scissors. Roll them up, tie them or use a rubber band. Store in a mason jar or air-proof container out of direct heat and sunlight, if they last that is. :)

Tips:

A variety of flavor combinations can be used for making your own fruit roll ups / leathers. Feel free to use the fruit combination you desire.
Opt to garnish the fruit leathers with a variety of toppings or even fill once done with delicious treats. Note: once filled consume immediately.
If the leather becomes brittle, you can chop it in your blender or food processor for chips or reconstitute by soaking 1 cup of chips in 1/2 cup boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Smooth in a blender or food processor and use it as a topping or pie filling!

Strawberry Papaya Sunrise

2/21/2015

This morning I was feeling refreshed after a very good nights sleep. We fueled up on some banana ice cream a.k.a. nice cream! I made it with bananas, strawberries, a touch of vanilla, a few dates and one tinsy tiny beet from our garden. It turned out so lush, rich, creamy and delicious. I divided it amongst two bowls and placed them in the freezer as I prepped the next layer. The 2nd layer was filled with papaya, bananas, a tiny dash of turmeric an ginger. I blended it up and drizzled it on top. We had some homemade strawberry jam in the fridge so I added a little bit of that as well. The best part is how good it is for your body! The beet cleanses your blood, the papaya and ginger aid in good digestion, the bananas offer a boost of energy and act as a mood booster! Add some strawberry chia jam with thyroid boosting benefits and you are set.

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Strawberry Beet ~ Layer 1:

2 cups Frozen Bananas (in about 1" sized chunks)
1/2 cup Frozen Strawberries
2 tbsp Fresh Peeled & Diced Beet
3 Dates
Dash Vanilla

Papaya Sunrise ~ Layer 2:

1 ripe banana
1/3 cup frozen papaya
Dash of ginger
Dash of Turmeric

Layer 3:

Strawberry Jam

Directions:

Combine Layer 1 ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor and pulse, and blend until smooth. It takes a bit of patience, a butter knife or spatula but eventually it whips into the smoothest, creamiest ice cream. With either an ice cream scoop or spatula, I used a spatula, divide Layer 1 into two bowls. Place in the freezer and prepare layer 2.
Combine Layer 2 ingredients in the same blender or food processor and process until smooth. Drizzle on top of the frozen Layer 1.
Drizzle fresh Strawberry Jam on top or pass altogether and dig in!

OPT: Use your favorite berries, pass on the beet, skip the ginger and or turmeric, use a mango instead of a papaya, top with desired goodies - have fun!!

Best wishes for a refreshing Saturday!
Christa

Tropical Granola Bar Hearts ~ Raw & Vegan

2/14/2015

Enjoy a taste of the tropics with mango infused granola bars that are full of healthy ingredients bound to make your heart shine this Valentines Day! With an oil and oil-free option you can choose how you'd like to prepare these treats. They are raw and vegan, vibrating with health leading to a more vibrant you! These were designed with tender, love and care with hand selected ingredients to create a bar with protein, fruit and a little bit of salt and sweet. Pecans, cashews, puffed amaranth, oats, mango, dates, cinnamon and raisins with sweetener are combined together and dehydrated making a delicious treat for on the go or around the home.

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Ingredients:

1 cup - Dates (+ hot water to soak)
3/4 cup - Pecans
3/4 cup - Cashews
1 cup - Puffed Amaranth
1 cup - Gluten-Free Oats (I used Bob's Red Mill brand)
1 tbsp - Cinnamon
Dash - Salt
1/4 Cup Coconut or Olive Oil (*Oil Free: Nut Butter or Mashed Banana)
1/4 cup - Agave (Brown Rice Syrup, Maple Syrup..)
1 cup - Raisins
1 cup - Freshly Chopped Mango

Directions:

Soak 1 cup dates in hot water, set aside and soak until soft. About 10 minutes.
In a food processor combine the pecans and cashews and pulse until it forms small chunks.
Pour the pecan and cashew mixture into a large bowl. Mix in the puffed amaranth, oats, cinnamon and salt. Stir to incorporate.
Drain the soaked dates (reserving water if you please for a smoothie) saving a tbsp or two or liquid and pulse the dates in a food processor until a date paste is formed.
Add the date paste, oil (or oil free option), agave and stir into the dry mixture until well combined. Fold in the raisins and mango.
Grab a tray from your dehydrator, line with parchment paper, place your heart shaped cookie cutters on the dehydrator tray. Scoop and press the granola mixture into the cookie cutters until full, press down firmly. I filled 4 cookie cutters in various sizes descending from large to small, and then put the balance in 5 cupcake liners until they were about 1/2 way full.
Place in a dehydrator overnight at 105 degrees F. In the morning, remove the cookie cutter and cupcake liners and dehyrdate for another 2-3 hours until desired consistency. I left them slightly soft and stored them in the fridge. They make a great snack for on the go moments, a quick breakfast or after meal treat! Serve with a little agave on top or chocolate sauce for an extra special treat! Enjoy!!!

ThermieLiving Magazine Feature

2/9/2015

Hey everyone!
I hope you are all doing great! If you've visited my blog you may have noticed it has been re-designed, and if not please stop by. I really hope you find it easier to navigate. I'll be sending out a weekly update vs. each recipe as it is posted. If you prefer to receive each recipe as it comes vs. a weekly update let me know, we can vote on it!
Exciting news for the Artistic Vegan community, 2 recipes from artisticvegan.com were featured in this months ThermieLiving Magazine based out of Australia! I am so excited to have the opportunity to share recipes with a broader audience that may or may not be vegan! It was my first time appearing in a magazine and a dream come true. Just last month I thought "wouldn't it be nice to appear in a magazine" as I noticed a fellow blogger was and thought it was so neat. The law of attraction worked, hooray! Here are a few snippets from the magazine which you can subscribe to below. Thank you ThermieLiving for for the opportunity!! I was thrilled to be alongside the talented Raw Chef Viktor and many others!!
http://thermieliving.com/
A special thanks to Andrea and her husband for offering an exclusive ThermieLiving Sneak Peak issue and 2 extra e-books at:
http://www.contributor.thermieliving.com/

How did Andrea reach out? She saw my recipe on One Green Planet! I am so excited to contribute to this page and be apart of the "Green Monster" Movement where more people are empowered to live a plant based lifestyle! Or at least give it a try..

It busy week with a lot of stuff behind the scenes but overall EXCELLENT! I hope yours was too!!! May you be blessed with an abundance of great health, good food, happy vibes and love this next week!
With Love & Light,
Christa
PS - If you have not seen my husband's new YouTube Channel please subscribe today! He has a brand new radio show out discussing new material with more data and past videos uploading soon. Also check out his site www.geraldclark77.com where you can find new products like a signed copy of The 7th Planet, Mercury Rising.

Zen Fusion Carrot Cake Muffins with Pecan Frosting + Raw Carrot Cake

2/8/2015

Zen Fusion Carrot Cake Muffins are roaring with health benefits! The muffins are made with carrots, fresh apple puree, bananas, raisins, flax meal, pecans, and spices. Add some homemade Cinnamon Vanilla Pecan Frosting Infused with Coffee and you are in for a real treat. This recipe was created with tender love and care. If you only saw my notebook with scratch marks, arrows, circles and modifications galore to create a vegan, gluten-free, paleo, oil-free dessert with a raw option that tastes moist, decadent and won't stick to ones hips. I am very grateful for the inspiration to create this recipe, I hope you enjoy it too!

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Zen Fusion Carrot Cake Muffins

2 cups Pecan Flour*
1.5 tsp xanthum gum (or guar gum)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cloves
1 tsp Baking Soda
Opt: 1 tsp Greens Powder (or Protein Powder)
4 tbsp flax meal
1/2 cup Hot Water
1-2 bananas - pureed (3/4 cup puree)
1/2 Apple
1/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Agave Syrup*
2 tsp Vanilla
3 organic carrots - processed fine (2 cups)
1 cup Raisins

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Whisk the flax meal and hot water together, set aside to congeal.
Process 1-2 bananas in a food processor or mash to create a puree. Place in a small bowl.
Process 1/2 cored apple with 1/4 cup water in a food processor until mixed very well to create a fresh applesauce, pour in the bowl with the bananas. Add the balance of wet ingredients, including the flax meal mixture and mix well. Mix the wet into the dry.
Process 3 organic carrots to create 2 cups of finely processed carrots, fold into the wet mixture along with the raisins.
Take 1/3 heaping cup and pour into the muffin liner. Save the balance of the batter for the raw carrot cake, or pass on the raw carrot cake and make more muffins!
Bake for 50-60 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
Cool, frost, decorate and enjoy!!!

Tips:

Place the carrots in a food processor and pulse until fine.
Use your favorite sweetener: Maple Syrup, Brown Rice Syrup, Honey for Vegetarians
Omit the ginger if allergic.
Use a gluten-free flour or your favorite.

Raw Carrot Cake:

Line a dehydrator tray with parchment paper or lightly grease a plate that is safe to heat. Take the balance of the Zen Fusion Carrot Cake Muffin batter from step 8 above and pour into a large heart shaped cookie cutter (or shape/mold of choice).
Dehydrate in a dehydrator at 103-105 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.
In the morning, carefully remove the cookie cutter and dehydrate for another 2-3 hours until the sides begin to lightly brown and firm. Once it reaches the desired consistency, remove, allow to cool, frost and decorate!

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Vanilla Pecan Frosting Infused with Coffee

1 Cup Pecans
1/2 Cup Hot Coffee
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon
Stevia Extract to taste

Directions:

Soak the pecans in hot coffee for 30 + minutes, until they soften.
Combine the ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor and blend.
Pulse, scrape down the sides, blend again, repeating as needed until smooth.
Place in fridge while cake is baking to firm.

Tips:

Skip the coffee and use hot water if you don't drink coffee.
Use Agave Syrup or sweetener of choice.

Top With:

Handful of Raisins
Sprinkle of coconut sugar
Few Pecans

Bon Appétit!

Canella Cafe Frosting

2/8/2015

Coffee, vanilla, cinnamon and pecans create a unique vegan frosting that pairs wonderfully with many treats. This is featured on the Zen Fusion Carrot Cake (Raw!). Enjoy a new spin on frosting.

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Canella Cafe Frosting

1 Cup Pecans
1/2 Cup Hot Coffee
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon
Stevia Extract or preferred sweetener to taste

Directions:

Soak the pecans in hot coffee for 30 + minutes, until they soften.
Combine the ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor and blend.
Pulse, scrape down the sides, blend again, repeating as needed until smooth. Use as you wish!
Store in the fridge in a sealed container, it will thicken in the fridge, use as desired.

Tips:

Skip the coffee and use hot water if you don't drink coffee.
Use Agave Syrup or sweetener of choice.

Creamy Pecan Butter

2/7/2015

Pecan butter is a new favorite nut butter in our home. It blends up incredibly nicely as it has a high content of healthy fats that once released create a luxurious buttery spread. The flavor is so good it's hard not to test it along the way. With a high speed blender or food processor homemade pecan butter can be yours! Add it to sandwiches, smoothies or have a spoonful for a nice healthy treat full of protein and fiber!

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Creamy Pecan Butter:

3 cups Pecans (*See tip)

Optional Flavor Boosters:

2 tbsp Agave (Or: Maple Syrup / Honey for Vegetarians)
1 tbsp Melted Coconut Oil or Coconut Butter (Olive Oil, Avocado Oil...)
Pinch Salt

Directions:

Place nuts and optional flavor boosters in your blender. Blend on low speed (speed 1 on blendtec) for one cycle, or until it sounds like it is done. Mine took about 25 seconds.
Remove the lid, with a spatula, scrape the nuts towards the center of the jar and speed up to level 5 on a Blendtec or high. A butter should begin to form, scrape to the center.
Repeat, with patience and love, until a rich creamy spread or desired consistency is reached. It takes me about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Tips:

Use a food processor. Sometimes I use my blender first, then switch to the food processor.
I tried a couple different settings such as Ice Crush and Pulse to mix it up, play around and see what works best for you and your blender.

Use Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Brazil Nuts, Peanuts, Hazelnuts, Mixed Nuts or the nut of your hearts desire.
Add additional coconut butter or oil of choice to assist.
Go oil free and use only nuts, the oils will come out as it is whipped and as it sits out overnight / over time.
Add chocolate, vanilla, or any flavors that you'd like!

Adapted and methodology: Blendtec Lifestyles Recipe Book - Fresh Peanut Butter

PB&J - 100% Homemade, Gluten-free & Vegan

2/3/2015

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Sometimes there is nothing more comforting than a PB&J! It brings me right back to being a kid and fond memories. Those memories extend through out my life. Is it true for you? My husband is a huge fan and I knew he'd be tickled if I made him one. With homemade oat bread, pecan butter and strawberry jam, satisfaction was found!!

Oats and water plus a few other ingredients are all that will be needed to whip up a loaf of bread. It's not the fanciest loaf but it's warm, hot, gluten-free bread that works great as sandwich bread. Spread some nut butter and jam and you are eating few ingredients, all of which are healthy for you! No preservatives here, no additives, sugar, dairy, oil or gluten just 100% healthy ingredients to create a yummy sandwich!

For the bread:

3 tbsp flax meal
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp warm water
3 cups oat flour *Certified gluten free
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 & 1/2 cups water
Opt: 1/3 Cup Agave

Top with:

Handful of gluten free oats

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix flax meal with 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp warm water and let sit while prepping the balance.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.
Combine the congealed flax mixture to 1 1/2 cups of water and agave if using. Whisk until mixed together.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until thoroughly combined.
Place in greased and floured 9″ x 5″ loaf pan
Bake for approximately 50+ minutes, until a knife comes out clean. Turn off oven and leave bread in oven to cool for about 30 minutes. Slice and serve!

Add Your Favorite Nut Butter and Jam. We chose a pecan butter with Homemade Strawberry Chia Jam!

Bon Appétit!
Christa

5 Stars - Marcia writes:

Submitted on 2015/03/05 at 4:38 PM"This was absolutely delicious. This was only my 2nd try at using the bread machine first try did not come out so good. I used agave nectar, 1/3 cup. The bread was sweet and the texture was perfect. I am making it again, this time using molasses, because agave is so expensive. I highly recommend this recipe."

Strawberry Jam

2/2/2015

Strawberry Jam! Fresh or Frozen Strawberries Chia Seeds blended in a blender or food processor = Jam! Add sweetener or lemon/lime juice as a preservative if desired. I added a touch of stevia for sugar free! Place in freezer for freezer jam or fridge to thicken. Super easy, incredibly empowering, healthy and delicious!

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Total Time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups Strawberries (Fresh or Frozen)
2 tbsp Chia Seeds

Directions:

Blend in blender or process in food processor until no chunks remain.
Place in a jar, seal and freeze as freezer jam or place in the fridge.

Tips:

Use your favorite berry
Add sweetener like stevia or agave syrup
Add lime or lemon juice as a preservative