29 Dec Raw Chocolate Cream Caramel Bars- Guest Post by Emily von Euw
My next guest blogger contributing to my Vegan Resources! Click here to see all of the contributors and read their stories!
Emily von Euw has been one of the biggest inspirations to me here in the ‘blogger world’. Her website, This Rawsome Vegan Life, never ceases to disappoint. All of her recipes are accompanied with mouth watering photos, and most are raw vegan. Emily has shown me, and hopefully will show the rest of you, that veganism is not bland or complicated or unappealing as most may assume it to be, but rather, it is fun, delicious, color filled, and one of the best decisions you can make for yourself in your lifetime. Emily is so positive in her writing on her posts on both her website and Instagram, and I always look forward to the weekly emails I receive.
So, without further or do, I introduce to you Emily von Euw.
My parents named me Emily von Euw, and I have been hanging around this planet for about 20 years plus a few months. I reside in Vancouver, Canada with my family, friends, lover and approximately 1 million other people I don’t know personally.
I adore being alive. I also adore avocados. I’ve always defined myself as a critical thinker, and part of being a critical thinker is hyper-analyzing everything that surrounds me (which, in this modernist world, is quite a lot). Being in my brain is overwhelming much of the time but I have learned to manage being me by treating myself with respect (this includes meditating regularly, getting outdoors whenever possible, and feeding my body and mind whole, nourishing, organic foods). I think while we are here for these some odd 80 years most of us get on average, we should make those happy years. Ultimately, who really know if anything matters? So let’s just have a good time while we can, and not tell other people how to live their lives.
I like to dance, laugh, eat, drink, eat some more, always learn, always try to improve myself, do anything that gives me a natural dopamine rush (all of the things just mentioned, plus sex, exercise, hiking, cuddling other animals, and looking into the eyes of people I love). I study history at university (getting my bachelors now, plan on getting my masters later) and I am also a full-time food blogger! What the heck does that mean? Well, it means I spend a lot of time making raw vegan recipes, taking food porn pictures of them, then sharing it all on the world wide web.
My blog is called This Rawsome Vegan Life.
People seem to like what I have to offer, so I am able to make juuust enough money every month to live off of and call this an actual job even though it’s really just my passion. I started my blog as a hobby and at first it was really lame and ugly-looking, but gradually I imposed my perfectionist ways onto the webpage and into my photography, and now I am proud to do what I do! I get to connect with thousands of amazing, compassionate people who are on my level. It’s the best. I have written two internationally published cookbooks, Rawsome Vegan Baking and 100 Best juices, Smoothies and Healthy Snacks (the first is a best seller, the other one is about to be released). I think more than anything this speaks to how popular eating plants is getting. Everyone is hopping on this healthy wagon and I love it! I see myself as a promoter of happiness, through the channel of health. I believe a foundation of health is paramount of living a full and long life, and since I share healthy recipes, I like to think I am helping people get happy, or at least get ready to be happy. I also will never stop promoting eating plants, because it saves lives. I love animals and I don’t think murder is cool, so I am vegan. If you are care about the planet, yourself or the beautiful, intelligent creatures around you – consider going vegan too. It’s damn delicious.
If you are interested in eating more plants (in other words, more flavourful, healthy, yummylicious food) then I have some tips for ya. Don’t think about it in black and white. Forget the strict labels. Just focus eating MORE of the good stuff (whole foods) and LESS of the nasty junk (processed, refined foods). Eat more plants in their whole state. Eat more raw fruit. Eat more salad. Eat more rice. Eat more beans.
If you think plant-based grub is boring or bland, thick about this for a second: all our favourite flavours come from plants. How do you prepare your meat or animal-based dishes? With spices, sauces, marinades and oils that are derived from plants. So let’s skip the pesky preparation and eat the flavours directly from where they come from! If you took a bite out of the backside of a cow it would be bloody and taste like… well, gross. if you took a bite out of a mango it would taste freaking amazing, and this is why we eat fruit on it’s own – it’s amazing.
Let’s name some examples of plant-based foods you probably already love: falafel, bread, rice, pasta, curry, hummus, tomato sauce, granola, FRUIT, fruit smoothies, fruit juices, peanut butter and chocolate – the list is endless because the edible plant kingdom is endless. But don’t take my word for it that plant-based eating is the bomb dot com, find our for yourself.
Let’s return to my advice to take things easy and not see everything in black and white. Don’t stress about if something is 100% vegan, raw, organic or whatever. Just gradually begin incorporating healthier foods into your daily meals and snacks at a pace that is comfortable for you. Despite what many believe, there are no vegan police. Instead of having yogurt, eggs or toast with butter for breakfast, make a fruit smoothie (as big as you want!) with oatmeal cooked with almond milk and topped off with bananas, maple syrup and peanut butter. Or take extra little baby steps and simply replace butter with a vegan alternative like coconut butter, Earth Balance or avocado.
Note: please eat as much as you want, because these foods are GOOD for you, there is no need to restrict yourself when you eat whole foods. I put at least 4 bananas in my smoothies every single morning, plus a bunch of other fruit, and my body just gets happier and healthier every day. For lunch, instead of a sandwich with meat and cheese, make a whole grain wrap stuffed with raw and cooked veggies, smoked tofu, hummus and greens. For dinner, add a giant salad to whatever you’re eating, along with plenty of baked vegetables, rice and peanut sauce. Eating plants is the compassionate, eco-concious way to live, but it’s also the tastiest and most fulfilling.
If you’re already on the plant-based wagon (woo!) but it doesn’t feel quite right yet, there’s many ways to improve or tweak your diet habits.
If you crave animal foods, look up what those particular foods are made up of. For instance, when I’m on my period I used to crave meat. I researched and realized meat has a lot of iron, so I just ate a bunch of iron-rich healthy foods (dried figs, brown rice and raw chocolate) and those cravings went away. Similarly, if you are craving refined foods (pop, chips, etc.) have a good think and decide why you are craving them. It might be emotional, but it might be biological as well. In any case – fill up on healthy versions! If I am really hungry, even dairy cheese starts smelling good, and that’s when I KNOW I need to stuff my face… with fruit smoothie! After I gulp down a glass of bananas, mango and berries that same dairy cheese smells like stinky feet again. Back to normal. Moral of this story: if you’re ever craving unhealthy foods or animal foods – it’s probably because you are not in eating enough in general (long-term or in that moment) or more specifically you are not getting enough of a certain nutrient, vitamin or mineral.
Eat more. Eat more of a variety of colourful, fresh, whole plant foods and the cravings should evaporate. If they don’t – see your doc and get your blood checked. If you are indeed deficient in something, find out what kinds of healthy foods provided that nutrient. No matter, what for all my herbivorous friends I recommend taking a B12 vitamin every few weeks, or throw some Vega mix into your smoothies every few days (the second option is much yummier). Better safe than sorry.
If you’re still not convinced eating more fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, beans and other plants is for you – just make this recipe for my Chocolate Caramel Bars.
Raw Chocolate Cream Caramel Bars
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Raw Vegan
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup almonds or other nuts
- 1 cup dates
- Pinch of salt (optional)
Caramel:
- ½ cup cashew butter
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 cup dates
Chocolate cream:
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 2-3 tablespoons cacao powder
- ¼ cup preferred liquid sweetener
Instructions
To make the crust:
- Process the almonds into flour in your food processor, then add the dates and process until it all begins to stick together.
- Press into the bottom of a lined baking pan (I used a small bread pan) and refrigerate.
To make both the caramel and mocha layers:
- Blend the ingredients in each list until smooth. Feel free to add other flavours like vanilla, chili , ginger, etc.
- Spread the caramel onto your crust, followed by the chocolate cream. Refrigerate until completely set; this will take a couple hours.
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