Cheesecake your body will love !

Love a good cheesecake but don't like the added sugars and fats they give you? Hmm.

Whenever I start a Pure Life Fitness program, I am faced with concerned clients who are worried about how they are going to attend their next social function without being tempted by unhealthy food.

 

I find many people either trying to adapt their nutritional lives around certain events (I'll be good this week because next week is a right off) or feel left out when they attend a party. Time and time again I hear..

 

"I can't go to a party and not eat the food, it's rude!", "I'll be hungry and wont be able to survive the night. I will need to eat something".

 

The truth is your family and friends will be happy to see you whether you eat at the event or not (chances are they probably wont even notice). I always eat at home before I go out and often take a great party trick along with me (a great raw dessert). Most of the time (with the exception of my 1st raw carrot cake), the plate is empty before I can even put it down!

 

I have never felt left out or isolated because I eat healthy. In fact, it's quite the opposite. People are often interested in what I do and I often find myself at parties playing tag with other health professionals (or like minded individuals) answering health-related questions. People love to know how they can create a better life for themselves by looking and feeling great.. it increases their quality of life and level of happiness.

 

Truth be told, sugar of any kind in large quantities can have damaging effects to the body and a huge downfall of the RAW revolution is that refined sugars are not only being "replaced" by natural sugars but I'm finding raw recipes are  increasingly becoming sugar "based" meals.

 

For those who ask me.. if you feel like a cheesecake, what do you do? Here is the answer. It isn't often that I crave sweets or sugary foods as my body is generally getting all the nutrients it requires to satisfy it completely.

 

However, often I do feel like sharing in festivities with friends and family and I will go about making a lovely raw and unprocessed gift for the party.

 

Competitive runner Amy, has shared some of her gorgeous vegan raw cheesecake recipes below.

 

Check out more of Amy's creations at www.fragrantvanillacake.blogspot.com

"A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools".
(Spanish Proverb)
 

Raw Blackberry Lemon/Lavender Cheesecake

 

Ingredients

 

Crust

 

3/4 cup hazelnuts

1/8 teaspoon sea salt
3 soft medjool dates, pitted and chopped

 

Filling

2 1/2 cups raw cashews (preferably soaked overnight)

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp lemon zest

1/3 cup plus 3 Tbsp agave nectar

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract and seeds from half a vanilla bean (other half reserved for topping)

2 Tbsp organic dried lavender flowers

1 cup fresh organic blackberries

 

Blackberry Puree

 

1/4 cup blackberries

1 Tbsp agave nectar

Cream Topping

1/2 cup raw cashew pieces (preferably soaked overnight)
1/2 cup cococut water3/4 cup fresh young coconut meat* (or additional soaked cashews if not available)

2 tablespoons agave syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla and seeds of half a vanilla bean (the other half of the one you used for the filling)

1/4 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

 

 

Directions

 

To prepare the crust, spray a 6 inch spring form pan with nonstick spray. Process hazelnuts and sea salt in a food processor until the hazelnuts are fine crumbs, then add the dates and process until the mixture holds together when squeezed between your fingers.

 

Firmly press crust into the bottom of prepared pan. Set aside.

 

To make filling, drain cashews and combine them with lemon juice, and zest, agave nectar, coconut oil, sea salt and vanilla in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Remove the filling from the food processor, stir in lavender and divide evenly between 2 bowls. Place half back into the food processor and add 1 cup blackberries.

 

Puree until smooth and scrape back in the bowl. For the blackberry puree, using an immersion blender (or you can rinse out the food processor) combine the 1/4 cup blackberries and 1 Tbsp agave nectar and puree until smooth. Drop the filling alternating between the vanilla and blackberry in about 3 tbspful amounts over crust in pan, until all is used up, sort of in a checkerboard fashion. Tap on the counter to level (keeping pan level). 

 

Drop some of the puree in teaspoonful amounts over the top of the cake (reserving some for serving) and swirl with a knife to create marbling. Place in the freezer until it is set, 6 hours about. After that store in the fridge until ready to top.

To make topping, drain cashews and blend all ingredients until smooth in a food processor, and set in the freezer about 30 minutes until a frosting consistency. Place in a pastry bag and pipe decoratively on top of the cheesecake. Store in the fridge when not enjoying.

Strawberry Key Lime Cheesecake

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

3/4 cup pecans

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

3 soft medjool dates, pitted and chopped

Filling

2 1/2 cups cashews (preferably soaked overnight), divided

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp organic lime zest

1/3 cup plus 3 Tbsp agave nectar

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract and seeds from half a vanilla bean (other half reserved for topping)

a few spinach leaves (to color green if desired)

1 cup fresh organic strawberries

Cream Topping

1/4 cup raw cashew pieces (preferably soaked overnight)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp fresh young coconut meat

1 tablespoons agave syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla and seeds of half a vanilla bean (the other half from the filling)

2 Tbsp coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

 

Directions

 

Spray a six inch spring form pan with coconut oil spray (or other oil spray) and set aside.

To prepare the crust, process pecans and sea salt in a food processor until the pecans are fine crumbs, then add the dates and process until the mixture holds together when squeezed between your fingers. Firmly press crust into the bottom of prepared pan. Set aside.

 

 

To make filling, drain cashews and combine them with lime juice and zest, agave nectar, coconut oil, sea salt and vanilla in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Remove the filling from the food processor and divide evenly between 2 bowls.  Place half back into the food processor and add the spinach leaves to tint green and process until smooth and uniform, scrape back into the bowl and rinse out food proocessor. 

 

Stir 1 cup strawberries into the other half of the filling and place back in the processor.  Puree until smooth.  Drop the filling alternating between the lime and strawberry (in about 3 tbspful amounts) over crust in pan until all is used up, sort of in a checkerboard fashion.

 

Tap on the counter to level (keeping pan level) and swirl with a knife to create marbling.  Place in the freezer or fridge until it is set, 4 hours or overnight (overnight in the fridge, but the freezer might get too hard after a few hours).

 

To make topping, drain cashews and blend all ingredients until smooth in a food processor, and set in the freezer about 30 minutes until a frosting consistency. Place in a pastry bag and pipe decoratively on top of the cheesecake.
 

Committed to your success,

Marissa

www.marissanieves.com

REAL advice on which juicer is best for YOU !

I have many people asking for my opinion on the best juicer to buy and in the last few years, I have spent a great deal of time talking to people in the industry, trying juicers first hand and researching their mechanical parts to understand their structure and how they work. 

What have I come up with?

Well, unfortunately, I don't think there is one juicer that suits everyone. Sorry! T
here are just too many different factors involved, from produce types to ease of cleaning, price and primary use to size and space!

What did I learn?

As I spent more time in the juicing maze, I found a number of people 100% dedicated to finding and sharing information on juicing and in my search for the perfect juicer, I found people like Cecilia at Raw Glow who not only cured herself from ill health over 10 years ago but now devotes her time to sharing information with others. Thank you Cecilia! 

Cecilia now educates people all over the world on the benefits of living raw. She has been juicing for over 10 years and has tested and tried a variety of juicers. So I would like to share Cecilia's knowledge with you as we talk about different juicer types.

For the sake of this article, we will assume there are 3 "main'"types of juicers that get the job done. We all know (as most of you learned first hand!) that there are a million juicers on the market all claiming to be better in one way or another. The truth is at the end of it all, it is highly likely they will all fit into one of the 3 categories below:

Centrifugal Ejection

The Centrifugal Ejection juicer is usually on the low end of the juicer price range so is good for those wanting to try juicing but don't want to make a big investment.

It is great for produce that has a large surface area such as hard root vegetables, apples, celery, and most fruit. Because of the fast moving blades you are able to juice pretty quickly and if you put a plastic produce bag in the pulp container, clean-up can be pretty quick as well" 

What are the cons? 

Studies show that Centrifugal juicers create high heat with the fast shredding which reduces the nutrient value of produce and causes oxidisation. Shelf life will also be reduced dramatically. Cecilia say's: "They are usually the type of juicer that you might see on a late night infomercial". 

* Important note for cancer patients: The ICRF suggest cleansing for healing of diseases and cancers should not be undertaken with Centrifugal juicers. They have fast rotaing blades which shred the produce and in reduce the enzyme content of the food.

What are the Pros: 

Cecilia says "The Centrifugal Ejection juicer tends to be loud and it doesn't juice leafy greens well. I have found it to be a dependable good quality juicer, with good construction, a strong motor, produces a high yield, with fairly easy clean-up and a 15 year warranty".   

Cecilia's best buy in this category: is the Omega 4000.

Single Auger

Single Auger juicers crush an squeeze out the juice with one rotating auger. Cecilia says "Single Auger juicers are excellent at juicing leafy greens and even wheatgrass, the crushing motion of the rotating auger gets the best yield from leafy greens and wheatgrass"

What are some other pro's?

Single Auger juicers have the mechanics to juice slowly for optimum nutrition and juicers all types of produce, even root vegetables and leafy greens. They also have the ability to create nut butters. Cecilia suggests these juicers are "more quiet than the centrifugal juicers" and are "probably the easiest.. to clean".

Sounds good. What are the Cons?

Cecilia says "They juice more slowly than the centrifugal ejection types and because of the horizontal auger they tend to take up more counter space than other types of juicers. Although they do greens and wheatgrass wonderfully, they aren't made to do a lot of soft fruits".

Cecilia's choice for the best juicer to buy in this category is the Omega 8004 or 8006. She recommends it for those focused on juicing green vegetables and grasses.

Upright Style Slow/Mastication Juicer

This is a new style of juicer that uses a single auger model except for that the auger is larger and thicker and is turned upright. While single auger juicers have an auger that lays horizontally the upright style juicer's auger stands upright. Just like the single auger style juicer, the upright (sometimes called vertical juicer) uses an auger to crush the produce and extract the juice slowly, leaving the live nutrients in the produce. Personally, this is my choice in a juicer due to all of the above. It juices greens, hard root vegetable, soft fruits and creates nut butters, is quiet, easy to clean, small in size. 

Cecelia recognises these Pros: 

"The upright style juicer has many pros of the single auger juicer and in addition is the only type of juicer that can easily juice firm vegetables, soft fruit, leafy greens, and wheatgrass! You do not need to constantly push the produce into the juicer, the upright style juicer pulls the produce in with minimal effort. It's upright design also takes up less kitchen counter space.

And the Cons:  

Cecelia mentions that this style of juicer "does have a larger screen to clean" compared to a single auger juicer but suggests that "clean up is still pretty quick as long as you run water through the juicer before". 

The juice from the upright juicer will contain a little pulp, which is what I personally like about it. The fibre plus the physical act of mastication (chewing) assists with enzyme control, a better breakdown and quicker absorption.

Well Cecelia agrees that the "upright style juicer is the most versatile type of juicer on the market today because there is no limit to what type of produce you can juice and is the best juicer to buy for those who are juicing a variety of produce". 

My recommendation for the best juicer to buy in this category would be the Hurom 300 slow press juicer as I have personally tried it myself and it makes nut butters and milk.

Cecilia's best pick is the Omega Vert HD 350 which I am told is of identical structure and made in the same factory. Also the Omega offers a full 10 year warranty and Hurom only offers 5 years. 

Omega also stock the Omega Vert 330 HD. Cecilia mentioned that "the only difference between the Omega Vert HD 350 and the Omega Vert 330 HD is that the 350 HD is black and silver and the 330 HD model is white". Good to note!

Well I hope we have managed to assist you with future juicing dilemmas. If you need further advice on what is best for YOU, please contact us at marissa@purelifefitness.com.au. Also check out Cecilia's link www.rawglow.com for some great recipes! 

Enjoy juicing for Health and Vitality !! 

Committed to your success,

Marissa
www.marissanieves.com
www.purelifefitness.com