Did you know if every American skipped meat and cheese one day a week, it would have the same environmental impact as the country driving 91 billion fewer miles a year? Wow, that is a lot of saved miles.
You know, cutting out animals products doesn't mean your meals have to be bland and boring. Actually, quite the opposite has happened for me. I tend to cook and uncook more than before. I have tried so many different foods that I would have otherwise just dismissed and not eaten eight months ago.
Who would have thought that I would be enjoying a green juice and/or smoothie every morning made with fresh kale or spinach? I had never even tried kale eight months ago and now it is a staple in my home.
So much has changed for me over the last year, and this is just one thing to add to the list. Most people wonder why I made this drastic diet change. For me the answer is simple: environmental, health and ethical reasons.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not perfect, but I do the best I can. I eat an exclusively plant based diet, but I am pretty sure I may have munched on an animal by product somewhere along the way. I am just not going to stress about it. I try to avoid them, but sometimes it can get over whelming.
The one thing I find that has helped me along my journey is researching recipes. My four all-time favorite vegan chefs:
I know you are all drooling over the thought of the raw lemon pie. So, I thought I would share my recipe. Last week, I bought a small raw lemon tart and feel in love. I looked at the ingredient list and attempted my own version. Enjoy!
Raw Mini Lemon Pie
Ingredients
The Pie Crust
- 2 cups of almond pulp- left over after making almond milk or 2 cups of almond meal
- 8 dates
- Water from soaked dates
- 1/2 cup of shredded dried coconut
- 1 teaspoon of almond extract
The Filling
- 2 cups of raw cashews
- 6 dates or more depending on how sweet you would like the filling
- Water from the soaked dates
- Juice from 5 lemons
- Zest from 5 lemons
- 1/4 cup of raw coconut butter or coconut oil
Instructions
The Pie Crust
- Place the dates in a bowl and cover with water. Let them soak for an hour. Drain off the water from the dates and place the water into another bowl. Blend the dates and water (you may or may not need all the water for blending) in a food processor until it reaches a creamy texture. Add the remaining ingredients in the food processor until it begins to stick together. Press the crust mixture into an 8-9inch round or square glass pan. Place the crust in the freezer while you are preparing the filling.
- If you do not have almond pulp, take enough almonds to make 2 cup of ground almonds and cover with water over night. In the morning, rinse the almonds and place them in the food processor. Grind them until coarsely ground. Now continue with the other steps.
The Filling
- Place the dates in a bowl and cover with water. Let them soak for an hour. Do the same with the cashews in a separate bowl. Drain off the water from the dates and place the water into another bowl to save for later. Drain the water from the cashews as well, but the water is not needed.
- First blend the dates in a food processor while slowly adding some of the water until it reaches a creamy consistency. Discard remaining water. Add all remaining ingredients into the food processor with the dates except for the coconut butter. Blend until smooth; could take about 5 minutes.
- Now add the coconut butter or oil. Incorporate well. Pour the filling into the pie crust and smooth it down with a spatula. Place the pie in the freezer or leave it to chill in the fridge.
- You may add more lemon zest and juice if the filling is not “lemony” enough. Additionally, you can add more dates in the filling, if you desire a more sweet lemon filling. Just taste test before you are done.
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Thats great! I bought all 12 of Kristen’s raw recipe books and I love them and on top of it, she is a really great person. I met the almost vegan chef a few weeks as well as the blissful chef in Texas. Both fantastic women! I bought the blissful chefs e-book and the almost vegan is coming out with a raw recipe book! Yum! I love raw foods. They are so tasty! I will post my raw almond milk recipe on Saturday!
That creamy raw lemon pie looks delicious. I do eat meat and cheese but that’s some interesting facts. By the way, you are this week’s #3 spot for Keepin’ Company Thursdays. Your blog will be the #3 featured spot at 7 am Thursday morning at my blog, heckofabunch6.com, and at traci66.com.
Thanks Terra so much!
thanks for sharing your menu plan; the quinoa pizza sounds delicious – I’d love a recipe if you’d care to post up? My hubby has really gotten into quinoa, so I’m always on the look out for new ideas 🙂
I will share the quinoa pizza recipe with you. I will email it to you! 🙂
I could so live on that diet – and definitely have to start making more quinoa!
I could eat quinoa every.single.day! So yummy!
This sounds delicious! I love tart things, so I think I would really like this! I’ll have to try it!
And it is so yummy!
Thank you for the recipe. I’m your newest follower on GFC. Would love a visit and follow back. http://www.thebewitchinkitchen.com
Glad you like it! 🙂
My pleasure, Christy! Happy to!
it is delicious!
My hubby loves lemon ANYTHING, and I love using healthy ingredients. Sounds like this recipe would be a perfect fit for the two of us. 😉
Thanks for linking to Time Travel Thursday. Hope you’ll join the fun each week.
Blessings,
Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
I love lemon everything, too! Hope you enjoy the pie! 🙂
Wow! That was so nice… Thx for the shout out. You’re awesome. :)))
Thanks, Kristen for all your inspiration! 🙂
Of course you are one of them! I love ya girl! And yes it was Hail Merry lemon tart…I cant go shopping anymore because I almost always buy one! I will have to check that book out! 🙂