Gastrawnomica

Hey there!
Hope everyone’s having a great weekend! I was looking forward for this weekend so bad! I’ve been having so much fun lately and enjoying the beautiful weather in Montreal! So hot!!

So, last Monday I posted the recipe for my delish carrot cupcakes and from what I’ve heard it has been a success for the ones who already tried them, what are you waiting for? These are the real deal, seriously. I’m competing with this recipe at the FullyRaw’s Recipe Competition so don’t forget to like my photo if you liked the recipe, just click on the “Like” button on the right side of the picture. Won’t take you more than 2 min!

My dear and beautiful friend Anette from Norway made my recipe for Tamarind Asian Rolls a few days ago, her words: “I think I must have this dip every day until the store runs out of tamarinds, haha! I just finished this super yummy dinner, thank you for introducing me to this fruit”. I’m so happy you liked it! Those reviews always make my day! Here’s a picture she took of her beautiful plate.

The great thing about these recipes is that you can always change and tweak the recipe according to your taste, adding a little bit more or less of something until you say “Voilà, it’s ready”! She added different spices to the sauce and topped her rolls with some fresh herbs. If you ever try some of my recipes send me your photo! Love to see your Gastrawnomica recipe pictures!

The week was great, going in and out all the time, spending a lot of time outdoors and working out a lot too! Like I’ve mention before, I’ve always been super active and a sports fan, but it wasn’t until the beginning of this year that I took a step further into fitness and I just simply love it!

Well I hope you all have an amazing weekend, I have some cool plans for mine! I’ll talk to you next week, with a new recipe on the way! TTYL

Follow me on twitter @gastrawnomica

Bonjour tout le monde!!

The beginning of a new week! How crazy is that? Time is flying, seriously..
As many of you saw yesterday on Facebook, I’m competing at the FullyRaw’s Recipe Competition and I’m making.. CUPCAKES! I had a hard time choosing a recipe, since I really have a few favorites of mine. But without a doubt, I knew that my carrot cupcakes are my best creation so far.

I only changed a few things, but it’s basically the same recipe I made long time ago, while I was with Arnold at Arnold’s Way. Instead of using raisins I only used dates this time, but the taste is pretty much the same. Delicious!

The winner will get a Vitamix, and that would make a big difference while I make new recipes, so that’s keeping me super excited! So please vote for my recipe on Facebook/Pinterest, you just need to Like the photo and that’s it! I never win anything, seriously haha but I’m always hoping for the best! So don’t forget to vote and if you can share it with your friends and family that would be awesome!

Prep time!

This is so easy to do and there’s no one who hasn’t liked them! It is just so filling and the best dessert ever when craving for sweets, or at least it is for me.
You can check the recipe here and watch the “how to” video. Sorry that video was kind of messy, you know I love clean kitchens! Big difference in a man’s kitchen and a women’s kitchen don’t you think? So funny!

The recipe yields around 7 medium cupcakes it all depends on the size, because if you make them bigger an thicker probably just around 4. Leave your cupcakes in the fridge while you make your pink icing, around 5-10 min. I used 2 frozen bananas this time, blended on my food processor and while blending added around 1 Tbsp of fresh beet juice. Keep blending until really smooth and pink. Top your cupcakes with the icing and serve immediately! The icing defrosts super quickly, I had some “technical problems” while taking my pictures so trust me, you want to eat it right away.

I do have an important thing to remark: these are highly addictive! I ended up eating the whole cupcake mixture and pink icing! Oh my goodness, you need a lot of self-control with this one, trust me. But don’t worry this is super healthy, great carb sources and packed with fiber from the juice pulp. So you’re both nourishing your body and having a feast in your mouth! Yumm!

Ok, so friends and all you pretty people out there, don’t forget to like the picture on Facebook/Pinterest please!! Just click here and that’s it! I can’t wait to hear all your comments once you try this cupcakes.
Lots of love to everyone and I’ll talk to you soon! Have a great week!!

Follow me on twitter @gastrawnomica

Good morning people!
How was your weekend? I’m glad many of you liked the apple-pear tower it was so simple and good right? I had a really nice and quiet weekend, starting with the beautiful weather! I saw a couple of friends and I also had a chance to go to the park for a while, oh my goodness, so much beauty!
I can definitely notice that I’m still very attached to my mexican roots, hot weather is my thing.

Well talking about warmer times coming ahead, I have something refreshing and for sure delicious! I made this back in Mexico a couple of months ago, I can’t wait to be back home to make more goodies! And I have a few fresh jackfruits waiting for me, so exciting!!

As you may know, or maybe not, tamarind is a very popular fruit in Mexico, traditional mexican foods include tamarind all the time, specially beverages. So, I was trying to get the most out of local things that are available while I was there, but also keeping in mind that it was available in other countries. Tamarind is very easy to find both in Canada and USA, most of the time in asian, caribbean or latin markets.

This sauce came out of my head while shopping at a local market. You can follow the instructions in the video, and what a better way to eat it than with some veggie rolls! I tried it both as a dipping sauce for the rolls and as a dressing, just added a little bit more water and both were fine. Your choice!

Gastrawnomica’s Tamarind Asian Rolls
Zucchini, peeled
Veggies (julienned)
Spinach and cilantro leaves
1/2 cup tamarind pulp
1/2 cup dates, soaked and pitted
2 Tbsp fresh apple juice
Water as needed

Follow video instructions.

Well I hope you give this a try if you find some tamarind, which I’m pretty sure you will if you look for it. I always see it here in Montreal so I’m sure if you ask maybe you will. I hoep you all have an awesome weekend, which is almost here! I have a long weekend, Monday is Queen Victoria’s Day, so no school for me!

Talk to you soon!

Hola!!
Happy Saturday everyone! Another week that is almost gone! How crazy is that?
The weather has been amazing since a few days ago, finally! I love being able to be outside and have a sunny and clear sky until late. That’s definitely a mood changer! I mean who doesn’t love sunny warm days right?

Oh gosh, lately I’ve been all into fitness! I’m so in love with it! I’ve always been a very active girl, since I was a kid, wether it was tennis, pilates, yoga, zumba or even golf, my mom was always keeping me busy. The problem is that lately, I became a treadmill bunny, big mistake! So after reading a lot I’ve been trying new things and I love it, I’m actually having so much fun! Thanks TIU girls!

Anyways, yesterday morning I went to buy all my food and bought a couple of different things that I’m planning to use for some upcoming recipes, we’ll see how they go.. I’m an apple junkie by the way, I know apples are the most random fruit but for some reason I’ve always like them, so I decided to make something new with them. I bought a couple of others things to go with the recipe I had in mind and guess what? Success, success!

This was so good! Better than I expected, I mean it’s just so easy and simple but yet it is perfect if your craving desserts, a really good and healthy alternative, and the best part is that you only need 3 ingredients! How cool is that right? This can be eaten even as part of your breakfast. If you eat other cooked foods (vegan or not) this is a great way to incorporate more fruits into your diet, specially in the morning. You can spread the Apple-Pear Butter over some toast too!

Gastrawnomica’s 10 min Apple-Pear Tower
Serves 2
Apple-Pear Butter
1 big red apple
5 dates, pitted
3 medium ripe pears (peeled if not ripe enough)
*Add spices if desired, I didn’t. (Cinnamon, pumpkin spice, ginger..)
1 red apple
Blend the Apple-Pear Butter ingredients in the food processor until smooth and not very chunky. Using a mandoline, cut the red apple in thin slices and serve over a bowl or glass. Top with butter and add another layer of apples, top again with butter and serve.

You must try this, as you can see it’s super easy! And I bet you guys will really enjoy it! Great for a lazy weekend dessert! Hope you all have a great weekend, talk to you soon!

Hello!!

How’s everyone doing? I’ve been having such a good time lately, enjoying the few days with nice weather outside, so I haven’t spend much time home. Sadly the rain is back, it always comes and goes, so it is all about attitude, and like they say: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain”.
My weekend was full of laughs, fun, walks, hikes and so much sun! It was perfect.

Anyways, a few months ago I made this dessert while I was in my “boom” for mangos, I think I seriously ate at least a hundred during the winter, I was buying boxes and boxes every week. But thank goodness I’m done with mangos for a while, I’ve been having so much variety in my food lately and I’m loving it!

This won’t take you time at all! As you know, must of the time I try to do simple things that you can do without much preparation, you can even make this a pudding if you can’t wait for the fruit to get frozen.

Ok, so first I have to tell you I tried this with both banana and mango and I personally preferred banana ice cream, the good thing is that you have both options and you can use whatever you have on hand.

Mango-Cookie Dough Ice Cream
2 big mangos, frozen
1/2 cup dates, pitted
1/4 cup raisins
Handful of grapes, seedless and halved

First, blend your mangos until creamy, you can follow this mango ice cream recipe.
Using a food processor, blend your dried fruits until you get a dough consistency, or if you want to, try this delish cookies or this ones I made during the holidays, and just give them the shape of small balls.
Serve your ice cream over a cup or bowl and top with grapes and cookie dough. You can use any type of fruit, I would have used some berries but they were out of season. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Well, as you can see this is super simple and the best part is that you can change the ingredients depending on your preferences and taste! Let me know if you like it, I always love to hear your feedback!
Have a great week everyone, talk to you very soon!

Hey everyone!
Finally Friday! The days went by flying this week! I’ve been pretty busy lately, actually more than what I thought I would be with just one summer course, but I’m loving it!

Sadly we haven’t got much spring weather here, it has been rainy and cloudy but at least the cold weather is gone.

Last weekend I made something super yummy! I think this is great to serve when you’re having guests and trying to serve 811 or raw vegan food. This is super simple, fresh and goes perfect as a side dish. As you know oranges are still in season, and I had a couple of organic oranges waiting for me but wasn’t sure what to do with them, I wanted to try something different and so I did.

Orange-Olive “Carpaccio”
4 navel oranges, peeled
1/4 cup Nicoise olives, pitted and halved
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley, plus more garnish

Peel the oranges using a sharp knife, slice off both ends. Carefully slice downward following the curve of the fruit to remove rind and pith. Slice each orange crosswise into about six rounds, arranging them in overlapping rows on a serving plate. Sprinkle with olives.
In a small bowl, combine paprika and lemon juice. Add chopped parsley, and stir to combine. Drizzle over oranges and olives; garnish with parsley leaves and serve.

As you can see this doesn’t take any time and it has a really nice presentation. If you’re worried about food combining, well don’t, once in a while, specially when you have guests and want to share more about this lifestyle it’s important to show variety.

I hope you try it and let me know what you think. Have an awesome weekend everyone, talk to you soon!

Hey everyone!
So the weekend is almost here! Can’t believe how fast this last couple of days went by. I’ve been enjoying every.single.hour of my freedom!

A few days ago I had some dried figs on hand and I was wondering what to do with them, as I usually eat them alone or with salads. So trying to get a little creative in the kitchen I made something many of you will love: fig jelly!

This turned out to be really good and simple! You can basically spread it over anything and everything! Even if you’re not raw, spreading this over some toast would be great too.

Gastrawnomica’s Fig Jelly
2 cups dried figs, soaked overnight
1-3 tablespoons soaking water
*You can add cinnamon if desired, I didn’t

After soaking your figs, rinse them and save some of the water. Put them into your food processor and start blending, adding the water as needed. Blend until smooth and perfect! I served it with fresh pears.
This keeps on the fridge between 3-5 days. Spread it and enjoy!

Have an amazing weekend everyone! Talk to you soon!

Hey everyone!
I’m glad to hear you all liked my dancing video, I honestly had so much fun doing it, I might get addicted now.. just kidding! I hope your week is going amazing! I’m done with my finals and I’m so excited to have a free week before I start my summer courses next Monday.
The weather has been horrible lately here in Montreal, non-stop rain plus cold weather. Not to mention very close from here it was snowing! So crazy…

Anyways, I have something super simple for you to try today. This is great if you’re looking for a fast lunch or something to take with you for work or school, or even for a picnic, it is portable friendly!
You’ll see how it is so easy to do, and you can basically use whatever you have on hand, except for a few things..

Veggie Rolls with Cauliflower Mash

Mash:
1 small cauliflower
2 garlic cloves
2 limes, juiced
1 small handful of cilantro leaves (you can use any herb like basil, parsley, thyme..)
Rolls:
Swiss Chard leaves
1 carrot, julienned
1 zucchini, peeled (half spiralized, half julienned)
1/4 cup green beans
1/2 apple, julienned
1/4 cup red onion
Juice of 1 orange
1 1/2 cups of spring mix lettuce

Blend the mash ingredients in your food processor. Wait until the cauliflower is completely smooth and doesn’t look like “rice” consistency. **Add more spices according to your taste. I know many of you don’t use garlic but it really makes a difference in the taste of the “mash”.
For the rolls you can basically put whatever you want and have, take your swiss chard leaves and spread a couple of tablespoons of the mash over, top with your favorite fresh veggies and even fruit (I added some apple). Roll them and serve.
As a side dish I just made a simple salad with spring mix, the rest of the ingredients and the spiralized zucchini. I didn’t had much time to make a dressing, so I simply used the juice of 1 orange, but I think this would go really good with my macadamia nut dressing or basically any other fruit based dressing from the main course dishes here would be great. Your choice!

Well I hope you all have a great day and give this 10 min meal a try! I’ll talk to you soon!

Hey everyone!
It’s been a while since my last post. Sorry!

This whole month has been crazy, I finished school 2 weeks ago and I left town right after to visit a friend. I had so much fun, the weather was amazing and a lot of fresh fruit, nature and sun was involved! Delish!

While I was there, I had the chance to go strawberry picking! It was my first time and I think I ate strawberries as if it was the end of the world!

I had so much fun, I couldn’t ate one more! Oh, and they were pesticide free too! It couldn’t get any better..

It was so nice to see and spend some time with people I met in Costa Rica. We did so many different things and the time went by flying! Oh and not to mention on my last day there we had a dance dare… So funny! If you ever watched Ellen’s show you know what I’m talking about.

The past few days have been very different though, I came back home to a tight schedule because of my final exams, but thank goodness it will be over this Monday. I can’t believe my semester is all gone, I’m so happy!

So about recipes, I haven’t done anything special lately to be honest, but I still have some yummy things to share super soon! This is just a short catch up so that you don’t think I forgot about the blog.

I hope you all have an awesome weekend, next week I promise something super yummy that I can’t wait for you to try, plus a new video!
Talk to you soon!

Hello people!
How’s everyone doing? My week has been so crazy and is just Wednesday! I’m in my last 2 weeks of classes and after that I’ll be finally done with school! I’m so excited but at the same time is so nerve-racking to see how I do at the end of the semester, hopefully it will be good and I’m super positive that I’ll get good grades.

Anyways, lately I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really done anything special in the kitchen, except for a few drinks that I’m trying and experimenting with, and probably I’ll share the recipes here soon. I just need to improve them a little bit more.

Good news is that I still have a lot of things from my time in Mexico to share here, so I don’t worry about lack of recipes for a few more months; and during the summer I’ll be back home, so for sure I’ll be making many more goodies. Can’t wait!

Do you remember my chocolate pudding made with black sapotes? Well if you don’t you can read the recipe post or watch the video here and if you have some black sapotes on hand you should definitively give it a try. For the recipe I’m sharing today you’ll need this chocolate pudding, I mean if you’re eating 811 this is one of my favorite alternatives to chocolate, I love it!
But I know finding black sapotes can be pretty hard in some places and it also depends on the season, so I have 2 options for you.

We’re making chocolate-covered strawberries! I love berries, all of them, so for sure I had a blast when I made this dessert.

Gastrawnomica’s 811 Un-Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
Option 1
Strawberries, washed and trimmed (optional)
Chocolate Pudding
Option 2
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup dates, pitted and soaked
3 tablespoons carob powder

For the first option just cover you strawberries with the pudding and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours.
If doing option 2, blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. Add more carob powder if necessary, according to your taste. Cover strawberries and let it sit in the fridge.

I hope you give this super simple recipe a try. Sometimes it’s hard to do some 811 recipes that we crave, but for sure not impossible so I’m pretty sure anyone, raw or not will like this.
Let me know what you think!

Have an awesome week! Talk to you all soon!