No-Bake Vegan Rum Cake Balls, Raw Vegan Foods Presentation

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!  How are you doing today?  What’s been going on in your world?  I ask this half-jokingly, but kinda serious because you never know when it could happen, but did anyone get engaged this weekend?  Ahem, Janetha’s was last week…Congrats honey!!!  For the rest of you, what’s been happening this weekend?  I swear to God, I have done more in the past 48 hours than I did all week and I am not one to have any grass grow under my feet:  I did 8 hours worth of yoga and related-yoga things like my presentation, a trip to the regular grocery, a TJ’s run, Target trip, made numerous raw vegan desserts and you lucky kids will reap the benefits as soon as I get everything typed up and recipes posted!  And let’s not forget cleaning my house, taking care of Skylar and hooking her up with a Valentine’s Day Gift, and trying to not neglect my husband, as it’s Valentine’s Day Weekend after all!

For me, there was a nice surprise:  A Dozen Roses from Scott!  I know I said before that we don’t exchange gifts on holiday, and so I was shocked he bought these for me!

I don’t care if a woman says, “Oh, You Don’t Have To…”  It’s always nice to get flowers and he scored major points!  Even after 9 years of marriage and 11 years together, it’s nice to still feel special with pink (my favorite color!) flowers…thanks babe! 

And as I mentioned yesterday I would be doing, I gave my Raw & Vegan Foods Presentation as part of the completion of my 500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program!   Things went really well in terms of the food I made, live and in front of 15 people, while talking, answering questions, multitasking, and trying to appear cool-as-a-cucumber.

Here’s What I Made: (sorry there was absolutely no time to be whipping out the camera for detailed pictures)

Appetizer: Chunky Veggie Guacamole: Avocado, Chili Peppers, Red Peppers, Lime Juice, Cayenne, Chili Powder, Salt

Entree: Spiralized Zuke Noodles 
(for spiralizer info and what I have, where to buy it (the best $29.99 you’ll ever spend!) check out this post)

To Create This Dish

And For Dessert:
Raw Vegan Mango-Banana Softserve with Vanilla Extract, sweetened with Agave

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse: Avocado, Cocoa Powder, Agave, Vanilla Extract

I have to say that everyone was thoroughly impressed that Raw & Vegan Foods & Meals were so: Easy, Fast, Delicious, Filling, and Satisfying!  In my mind, that’s a job well done on my part, if I do say-so myself. 

However, and I did give out my business cards with the blog info on them so I really don’t want to go into total details here, but let’s just suffice to say that there are always moments when people say things about their own diet or makes claims that X is just as good as Y, and I was totally taken back.  I was there to give a presentation, not engage in a debate.  The title of the presentation was: Raw Vegan Foods Info & Cooking Class and so it was clear I wasn’t going to be serving or discussing the merits of burgers and fries.  I wanted to make a Netflix recommendation to see the movie Supersize Me and get back with me on if X is just as good as Y, but I didn’t! 

A few random comments aside, it was a great afternoon and although I have never cooked, live, in front of that many people and felt a bit like the Raw Version of Rachel Ray, whipping up “fast delicious RAW VEGAN meals in 30 minutes or less” complete with an audience watching, it was a wonderful experience!  The best thing was the feedback both in terms of their words such as, “Amazing” and “Eye-Opening” to their reactions upon eating the food; lots of oohs, aahhs, and “ohmygodthisissogood’s”!!!!!!  They licked their plates clean and I loved it!

Thanks everyone for reading along and chiming in on my Weekly Highlights and Recaps Post from yesterday!  Glad you Enjoyed that beast of a post!  I did have one person write to me and tell me she didn’t like my recaps.  But it’s my blog and so I get to make the rules! 

The lovely Abby, asked me if my posts take me a long time?  The answer to your question, my sweet friend,  is yes, my posts do take me a long time which is why I do recaps because I also know not everyone catches every post and my posts are big & labor-intensive on my part, so why not!  I know Katie feels the same way!  Sorry if I am redundant and bore you guys with my recappin’!   

(Enter a plug for my past post) But in case you missed it, Check Yesterday’s Highlight Reel Out if you’re not too bored or sick of me and missed it!  Vegan Fudge

 Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies

 And Cool New Product Finds

Ok so it’s time for a new recipe!   But I have to give you the backstory on this one!  This recipe is inspired from a memory I have of a trip to Grand Cayman that Scott and I took when we had been dating about 3 weeks.  I said, hey, let’s go to Grand Cayman next week, and we did.  We just got on a plane and went, just like that!  Life was alot different back then!  Anyway, we were at a souvenir shop and they had samples of Rum Cake.  The cake was pretty much saturated in rum.  But I was a heavy drinker at the time and thought, no way could I catch a buzz from cake.  Well, I did.  

I loved that cake so much that I bought a really overpriced cake and carried it home with me on the plane.  Once at home, I was all excited to break into my little treasure I hand-carried from the Caymans.  However, when I got it home and opened it, the cake was dry, had hardly any rum, and was nothing special.  I was duped by the free samples which were clearly spiked to increase cake sales!  Well, more than 10 years later, I am still thinking of that perfect drunk rum cake and decided to recreate a No-Bake, Vegan version of Rum Cake.  Here’s What I Came Up With.  This recipe is a total keeper, if I do say so myself!

Averie’s No Bake Vegan Rum Cake Balls-Gluten & Soy Free
Ingredients
1/4 c Cashews–Grind them first, then add the remaining ingredients.
1/2 c Medjool Dates
1/4 c Raisins
1/2 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (or similar clove, cinnamon, lemon spices)
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Dark Rum (or a rum you enjoy; note that schnapps such as banana, mango, peach, or pineapple schnapps would all be heavenly in this recipe)

Optional (I used all and in the amounts listed) & See Common Sense Tips:
2 Tbsp Agave (or stevia to taste)
3 Tbsp Almond Meal (or 1/4 c almonds that you grind)
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Common Sense Tips depend on: 
1. How Moist Your Batter is and 
2. How Sweet you Like Things


Here’s a Basic “Troubleshooting Grid”
If your mixture is too wet, add more almond meal.
If your mixture is too wet and not sweet enough, add more brown sugar.
If your mixture is too dry (doubtful but anything’s possible), add a tbsp of water if you don’t want to impart sweetness.
If your mixture is too dry and not sweet enough, add more agave.

Instructions
Add Cashews

Grind Them

Then Add Medjool Dates.  I used a scant 1/2 c, loosely packed.  Forgot to break out my new food scale, silly me.

And Raisins.  I used a scant 1/4 c.

Add the dates & raisins to the cashew flour

Then I added Pumpkin Pie Spice, Cinnamon, Bourbon Vanilla Extract

And Rum!

All Into the Vita

Blended

The dough was Too wet and Not sweet enough.  Added 2 Tbsp Agave

and Added 3 Tbsp Almond Meal, and 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar.  Again, follow my advice above and use common sense, if it’s too wet, dry it out with flour.  If it’s not sweet enough, sweeten it.  Don’t be scared, this is just dessert, not rocket science.

Grind Again. Perfect. 

Remove Dough

Form into Rum Cake Balls

Would that be a bad thing?

Seriously, the scant amount of rum in this entire recipe flavors the dessert rather than getting you buzzed.

This picture reminds me of my Ball Jokes Post
Slightly like the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Remember this Post with my Vegan Peanut Butter Vanilla Balls?
And Ball Jokes: Leaning Tower of Pisa Balls  

Here’s a Few Pictures of Skylar and I as she played with her 3 books, 1 pair of socks, and 1 string of red beads for Valentine’s Day that I so handily scored from the Target $1 Bins!

Do we look alike?

Socks as Puppets

Yoga Today is Scorpion Pose (Vrschikasana)

Tip of the Day: Here’s as Sexy as Foodie Talk Can Get….In Honor of Valentine’s Day!  (from Living Light)

Questions:
Do you believe in the Powers of Foods?  Such as, do you think Vitamin C has medicinal powers that are helpful when you’re feeling sick?  Or do you believe that Oysters have aphrodisiac powers?  Or that the Ginkgo Biloba herb will help your memory?  How much do you believe in the intangible and hidden powers of foods? Alot, a little?  Or, it’s all hocus pocus! I am definitely a believer, up to a point, of course!

What’s your comfort level with public speaking?  I have to say, public speaking was never something I enjoyed.  Groups of more than a half dozen or so, with eyeballs and blank stares peering back used to be really nerve-racking!  However, when I was in graduate school, I had to give so many presentations, sometimes for 45 minutes or more, just me, talking, educating, and entertaining my teachers and classmates and I truly found my zone with public speaking.

That said, cooking, making it look effortless, while fielding somewhat in-depth questions from the audience at my raw foods presentation yesterday, well, it was a little daunting.  It felt similar to when you’re talking on your cell phone and you know you should be paying attention to your driving and you need to tell the other person on the line, hey, I need to let you go so I can concentrate on the road.  Well, there were a couple times I wanted to tell people, hey, can you sit tight with that question while I just cook and worry about the food so it turns out!  haha!

Anyway, how good are you with public speaking or public presentations?  Are you a good multi-tasker?  Can you “fake it” if you’re feeling flustered and appear cool as a cucumber or does everyone know it when you’re hit a wall because you’re tripping all over your words?

Stay Tuned For Lots of Product Finds & Reviews…