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

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.

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.

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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COUPON Alert!

We have a great coupon running right now:
Dulse
Barberries
Sundried Botija Olives Aji with Pits
Green Hemp Seed Meal
Salad Sprinkles
Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil

Use coupon code “junesalad” for 20% off these items. Coupon is good for internet orders only and cannot be used for phone orders or walk-in orders. Only one coupon can be used per order.

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.

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.

So what does a company like Vivapura do when presented with this abundance of figs? Well the first thing is obviously stop selling them! We want to be sure our customers get the most fresh, nutrient-dense and delicious foods.

The second is to find someplace that would benefit from these figs. In the past when we’ve had products that required a new home I’ve reached out to a semi-local branch of Food Not Bombs. The fig situation required something different, it required pigs.

I searched for local farm rescues in our area and the first one I found was a sanctuary for pot-bellied pigs. Ironwood Pig Sanctuary turned out to be the perfect place. Home to 600 potbellied pigs Ironwood is a truly amazing place. The sanctuary covers a wide area of land where the pigs are grouped into communities based on age and health care requirements. They have multiple areas designated “assisted living communities” for elderly or otherwise unwell pigs. The staff is amazingly dedicated and knowledgeable. When asked if they get a lot of adoptions the response was no due to the high-level they require potential piggie parents to meet.

We were given a lovely tour of the Sanctuary and even got to feed some pigs some figs. See our day in pictures below!

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.

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.

Hello,

Warm Regards,
Diane