July 2, 2010 by Chris Whitcoe
I am truly a blessed man. I have the privilege of working at one of the best companies ever, with a remarkable team. For instance, this blog is so full of delicious and inspiring recipes, I feel compelled to contribute. Of course Erika is likely going to tell me to take lots of photos while I make my morning smoothie, so I will wait till next week to document my routine. (Yes Erika, I pinky swear that I will actually do it this time).
And while I’m talking about Erika and the blog, I am totally loving to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of Erika moving to Patagonia. The impact she has made to our company is not only beyond measure, it’s actually totally within measure. Our sales dramatically increased the month after she arrived, and due to her impact, we have seen strong growth ever since.
This blog had fits and starts until she took it under her wing. Looking at the recipe photos, has anyone figured out how awesome a chef she is? Well, I have the pleasure of tasting many of the finished treats featured here, and I can tell you, it’s worth the trip to Patagonia if you are ever thinking about visiting (please call ahead first).
If you are a regular customer, chances are quite dandy that Erika remembers you. Don’t believe me? Next time you call the store, ask her. “Remember me? I got some Spirulina Crunchies and other stuff, like, 3 months ago or sumpin-like-dat.” See what she says 
And just because I’m the CEO, that doesn’t mean that Erika won’t tell it like it is. That’s what I love about this environment, I encourage that the truth be told, even if it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient. So I expect to be told that I can’t post this because it’s over the top or something. Maybe it is. Perhaps we should just get her an iPad and forgo the whole public-blog-kudos-thing. Of course, if you are reading this, it passed!
Thanks Erika. We love you.
Chris Whitcoe
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged vivapura, chris whitcoe, Testimonial, Erika, Executive | 1 Comment »
I was a very big yogurt eater back in the day before I realized that eating dairy sends me into a stupor. My grandmother would make fresh yogurt almost daily. We’d eat it at breakfast with homemade granola and for supper with a “fruit cup”. Fruit cup was my favorite supper. We lived in Maine and my grandparents’ property had acres and acres of fruit growing: strawberries (wild & domesticated), cranberries, wild blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and currants. So fruit cup had whatever fruits were in season fresh along with the various fruits she’d preserved by freezing, canning or drying. With the fruit was her yogurt.
Finding something to stand in for yogurt has been quite a journey for me. This morning for breakfast, despite the fact that I overslept, a potential recipe dawned on me. I had bought a bunch of fresh apricots yesterday for another recipe idea which paired beautifully with this recipe. In the recipe I use a container of Bio-K probiotics. This liquid probiotic can be found in the cooler case of many natural foods stores. It is cultured in a variety of mediums including various dairy-free, gluten-free options. Choose whichever one lines up with your specific dietary requirements.
Lemon Yogurt with Apricots
1 cup Really Raw Cashews, soaked
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup Coconut Creme Vanilla
2 tbs. local, raw honey
1 tbs. Chia Seeds
1 cup water
2 drops lemon essential oil
1 container Bio-K of choice
6-8 fresh apricots, chopped
Add cashews, lemon juice, coconut creme, honey and chia to a high-speed blender. Start blending and slowly pour in water. Allow to blend until smooth. Turn off blender and add lemon oil and Bio-K. Blend to combine. Serve with apricots.
I ended up eating this right away (like I said, I overslept!). I’m going to try a batch soon that ferments a little longer. I’ll let you know how that works out.
Posted in Breakfast, Recipe | Tagged apricot, bio-k, cashews, chia, coconut creme, dairy-free, probiotics, Recipe, superfood, vivapura, yogurt | 1 Comment »
Last week a hankering for a sweet came upon me. What I really desired was a cream-filled bonbon but alas, I had not the correct type of mold. I do have silicon cupcake molds so I decided to try those. As I was collecting the ingredients I decided to throw a brownie base onto my fantasy treat. I don’t usually use maple syrup in my chocolates but I had some on hand from another project so decided to use that this time. Not raw but so delicious! I always forget how gorgeously maple syrup blends with raw cacao.
Cream-Filled Brownie Cups
Cream Filling
1 cup Really Raw Cashews
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup raw, local honey
2 drops lemon essential oil
pinch of salt
1/2 cup Vanilla Coconut Creme
1/4 cup Cacao Butter, melted
1 tsp lecithin
Place cashews in a food processor. Process until finely chopped. While the food processor is running pour water in. Allow to process until creamy. Stop machine and add honey, lemon oil and salt and process until well-combined. Add vanilla creme & cacao butter and process again until creamy. Add lecithin to running machine and process just a moment more. Pour into a bowl and allow to set in the freezer while you make brownie base.
Brownie Base
1 1/2 cups Pecans
1/2 cup Coconut Chips
1/3 cup mesquite meal
pinch of salt
1/3 cup Cacao Powder
1/4 cup raw, local honey
1/4 cup Cacao Butter, melted
Add pecans to food processor and process for a moment. Add each ingredient individually and process for a moment until each ingredient has been added. Process until it clumps up a little.
Press a small amount of brownie base into a silicon cupcake wrapper until you’ve used up brownie batter. Allow brownie base to set in the freezer 5-10 minutes. Once set remove cream and brownies from the freezer. Put a tablespoon dollop on top of each brownie base. Put back in the freezer until chocolate topping is ready.
Chocolate Topping
3/4 cup Cacao Butter, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla Bean Powder
1/2 cup Cacao Powder
1 tsp. wheat-free tamari or nama shoyu
Whisk ingredients together until smooth. Take cupcakes out of freezer and fill the remainder of cups with chocolate topping. Return to freezer until set then devour.
Posted in Desserts, Recipe | Tagged cacao, vivapura, Recipe, superfood, vanilla powder, gluten-free recipe, cashews, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, GFCF, coconut creme, pecans, dairy free cream filling | 3 Comments »
I have a new food obsession, rather a food combination obsession: tahini and Spirulina Crunchies. Not only am I crazy for the flavor but it is an amazing texture combination as well.
Lately for lunch I’ve been wrapping leftover salad fixings, sauerkraut, tahini dressing and spirulina crunchies wrapped in nori. A nice thick layer of spirulina crunchies on top of tahini dressing in a nori roll reminds me of the days I used to put potato chips on my sandwiches.
Here’s a photo of a recent nori wrap prior to rolling:
Tahini Parsley Spread
1 jar Tahini
2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup water
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped.
Add everything except water and parsley to a food processor. Begin processing and slowly pour water in while the machine is running. Once it is smooth a creamy turn off machine and add parsley. Pulse machine until parsley it mixed in but still distinct pieces. Eat with copious amounts of spirulina crunchies.
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Posted in Dressings, Recipe, Vivapura Coupon | Tagged raw food, raw vegan recipe, Recipe, spirulina crunchies, superfood, tahini, vegan, vivapura | Leave a Comment »
Usually when it comes to breakfast I go for a green juice. Sometimes for a green juice and raw chocolate. On the weekends though I often miss meals from weekends past so I often will make something a little fancier. Parfaits tend to be a favorite weekend breakfast. This past weekend I made the following parfait which was easy to make, delicious and not too sweet.
Blueberry Goji Pudding Parfait
16 ounces frozen wild blueberries
1/2 cup Goji Berries
1 tbs Chia Seeds
a drops of stevia
1 cup Raw Cashews, soaked
1 tbs. Coconut Oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbs. liquid sweetener of choice
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Bean Powder
2 tbs. water
Mix frozen blueberries and goji berries together, place in a refrigerator overnight to allow the blueberries to defrost. Place the mixed berries in a blender with chia and stevia and blend until smooth.
Next process cashews in a food processor until finely chopped. Add coconut oil, lemon juice, sweetener, vanilla and water. Process until creamy.
In 3 or four glasses put a dollop of blueberry pudding. Follow with the cashew cream. Repeat until all of the pudding & cream is finished. Garnish with Bee Pollen. Eat right away or chill.
Posted in Breakfast, Desserts, Recipe | Tagged raw food, vivapura, chia, pudding, Recipe, superfood, vanilla powder, raw vegan recipe, vegan, dairy-free, goji berries, coconut oil, wild blueberry, parfait | Leave a Comment »
This $&*# Is Banana’s B-A-N-A-N-A-S
First, sorry about the title. I am forever ruined. When I hear the word banana, I always sing that Gwen Stefani song in my head. Ugh.
Anyway, it’s summertime and for me, it’s time for frozen stuff! I love making raw ice cream utilizing amazingly good-for-you nut fats (including coconuts; it’s a nut) whole and in “milk” form, but it takes some prep work, and I am really over the simple raw ice cream route. You know, frozen naner’s, water and sweetener ground up in the Vita-mix. Hot summer days create lazy kitchen days, with a craving for cool down foods, but I don’t always feel like diggin’ the meat out of a coconut, so I’ve taken the banana and given it new life by leaving it in it’s original shape, drowning it in chocolate sauce, rolling it in goji berry powder and freezing that bad boy! It doesn’t get any easier or delicious than that on a hot summers day.
Frozen Choco-Covered Naner’s w/Goji Dust – YEAH, BUDDY!!
Bunch of ripe bananas
2 cups Cacao Powder
1 1/2 cups maple syrup
½ tablespoon Vanilla Powder
Pinch of sea salt
½ cup Coconut Oil, warmed to liquefy
1 cup Goji Berries
Wooden skewers
First, cut bananas in half on the bias and freeze for ½ hour (they are easier to work with when they are a little firmer). Combine all the ingredients except the coconut oil and goji berries in a high-speed blender. With the blender running, add the coconut oil and continue blending to emulsify. In a clean Vita-mix container, grind goji berries into a powder (or you can use a coffee grinder) and set aside. Next, roll the nanas into the chocolate sauce, place onto a stick length-wise, then sprinkle all sides with goji berry dust. Lastly, place these beauties back into the freezer and freeze for firmness; at least 3 hours.
Store the leftover chocolate sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator. Before using, place it in the dehydrator to warm to liquefy it. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can also place the container in a warm water bath.
Posted in Desserts, Guest Recipe Contributor | Tagged Andrea McNinch, bananas, cacao, chocolate covered bananas, coconut oil, dairy-free, GFCF, goji berries, raw chocolate chip cookies, Recipe, superfood, vanilla powder, vegan, vivapura | 2 Comments »
For months I have been trying to create the “perfect” cracker, granted perfect for me. I like super savory crackers that are nice on the side of a salad or dipped in soup or spread with some creamy spread. I’ve been testing and tweaking endless recipes, trying different commercial brands and trying to recreate textures & flavors. This is the recipe I’ve finally settled on…though I’m sure it will continue to develop.
Savory Green Italian Crackers
2 onions, shredded
4 cups sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
1 tbs. mineral-rich salt
3 tbs. nutritional flakes
1 bunch fresh basil or 1 tbs. dried
1 tbs. Chlorella Powder
1 bunch parsley
8 oz. Sundried Heirloom Tomatoes, soaked 30 minutes (save water)
2 3/4 cups tomato soak water
8 fresh rosemary twigs
1 bunch fresh spinach
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs miso
2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup flax or Chia Seeds, ground
Place shredded onions in a very large mixing bowl.
Place half of the soaked sunflower seeds in a food processor and process until broken down. Add salt, nutritional flakes, basil and chlorella. Process again, adding tomato water as needed to facilitate smooth processing. Remove this mixture and add to the onions.
Without cleaning the processor add the remaining sunflowers seeds and process. Add parsley and rosemary, process adding tomato water as needed. Add spinach and process until smooth. Add this mixture to the mixing bowl.
Again, without cleaning the processor, add garlic, miso, lemon juice, olive oil and soaked tomatoes. Process, adding tomato water as needed, until smooth. Add this mixture to the mixing bowl. Also add the ground flax or chia.
Mix everything, using your hands works best, adding additional tomato water to facilitate blending. Once it is well mixed spread onto teflex sheets. I usually fill about 5 trays but you can make your crackers thinner or thicker depending on your preference. Dehydrate at 115 for 3 hours. Score each sheet of crackers to desired size/shape and transfer off of the teflex sheet and dehydrate for another 12 hours or until dry and crispy.
Posted in Recipe, Side Dish | Tagged chia, crackers, GFCF, gluten-free, gluten-free recipe, greens, raw food, raw vegan recipe, Recipe, superfood, vegan, vivapura | Leave a Comment »
This recipe has been burning a hole in my little black book since Valentine’s. Now I’m ready to post this delightful recipe for your enjoyment!
Pecan Nougat & Maca Creme Filled Chocolates
Pecan Nougat
1 jar Pecan Butter
1/3 cup raw, local honey or liquid sweetener of choice
1/3 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Bean Powder
2 tbs. Cacao Powder
1/4 cup Pecan Halves, broken into bits
In a food processor combine all the ingredients except for the Pecan Halves. Process until smooth and creamy. Spread this mixture in an 8″x6″ baking dish and press pecan pieces on top. Place pan in the freezer and allow to set while you prepare the other parts of the chocolates
Maca Creme
6 dates (I use local Arizona Black Sphinx)
1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1 tbs. Lucuma Powder
1 tsp. Super Maca
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbs. raw, local honey or liquid sweetener of choice
2 tbs. Really Raw Almond Butter
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Bean Powder
pinch of salt
1/3 cup of water
Place ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Spread over the pecan mixture and put back in the freezer to set.
Chocolate
1 pound Cacao Butter
2 1/2 cups Cacao Powder
1/2 tbs. Vanilla Bean Powder
1/2 cup Yacon Syrup
1/4 cup Lucuma Powder
pinch of salt
In a double boiler or two stacked bowls place some hot water in the bottom and the cacao butter in top. Melt the cacao butter. Once melted stir in the remaining ingredients one at a time until well combined and smooth. Re-heat water as necessary.
Assembly:
Remove the layered pecan & maca from the freezer. Using a knife cut nougat into 10 bars. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully remove one pecan maca bar from the baking dish and dunk the bar into the melted chocolate, then place on the parchment paper. Repeat process until all bars have been dipped. This is very messy! Place bars in the freezer.
Once they set, dip again. You can repeat this process until your melted chocolate is used up or until you have reached a desired thickness on the coating. Pour remaining chocolate into molds to enjoy on its own.
Make sure to store these in the refrigerator once you have finished them.
Posted in Desserts, Recipe | Tagged cacao, chocolate, dairy-free, GFCF, gluten-free, gluten-free recipe, maca, pecans, raw food, Recipe, superfood, vanilla powder, vivapura | 7 Comments »
We received this e-mail a few days ago, I love it when these find their way into my inbox!
Hello,
I just received my first order from your company yesterday. First, I want
to thank you for such professional and prompt service. Second, I had to try
the Spirulina Crunchies immediately and WOW Fabulous!! Does not compare to
the pre-formed pill looking Spirulina that I have purchased in the past. I
just now tried the Jarrah Bee Pollen, again another WOW came out of my
mouth, what a big difference than the Bee Pollen I have sitting in my
refrigerator. Have not tried the other two products I ordered but I bet
they are just as fabulous.
Thank you for offering such quality (and ethical) products. I will
definitely be a returning customer to try more goodies your company offers,
in addition to recommending your Company/Website.
Warm Regards,
Diane
Posted in Testimonial | Tagged customer testimonial, jarrah bee pollen, spirulina crunchies | 1 Comment »
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