beginner's guide | Edibly Educated

Beginner’s Guide to Stuffed Energy Dates

August 1, 2015 by Sarah

So I made these quite awhile ago and never got around to posting them. I feel that they’re a little too pretty not to, so here they are!

But the only problem is that I never made a recipe for this. I actually made them and took pictures for a demonstration I was doing so I never wrote anything down because I just wanted the pictures. I know what’s in them, just not the amounts.

Buuut, I’m just going to go about this like I do with most of my beginner’s guides. I give you the ideas, you run with them.

I came across this raw stuffed dates idea and thought it was pretty rad. I really just experimented without following any sort of recipe and used inspiration from other recipes I’d seen. I also just used things I had in my cupboard, which I recommend. No need to go out and buy all sorts of stuff if you’ve got a well-stocked pantry.

Where to begin?

Start with the date. The food kind of date. As far as amounts go, it all depends on how much you stuff them, how big the dates are, how much mixture you have, and so on. My advice is to make a cup or two of the mixture and then stuff dates until you run out. Dates usually come in a container with quite a few or you can buy them in bulk. I would get at least 10-12 dates.Which variety? Doesn’t really matter. A really common and popular one to use is the medjool date because they are quite large and nice and chewy. I have also used some smaller Deglet Noor ones, and those worked fine too – they were just less sweet and can’t hold as much. The kind of date you use is dependent on your preference (sweeter, chewier, nuttier, etc.) and availability. Here is a website that talks a little bit more about different types of dates if you’d like to read about them.

Next, you’re going to want to use a food processor for best results. You could get by hand chopping and mixing all of your desired ingredients, but it takes a lot more time and the mixture may not stick to itself as well as it does when you use a food processor.

Place your choice of the following ingredients together and process until combined. It should be a chewy granola bar texture so keep in mind your wet/dry ratio. If it’s too dry, add some more ingredients from the wet category and vice versa.

Dry

Nuts and Seeds

Walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, pistachios, ground flax seeds (bring on the omega-3’s!)

Powders, Spices and Other Superfoods

Shredded coconut, cacao nibs or powder, carob powder, vanilla bean powder, cinnamon, allspice, sea salt, ashwagandha, maca, spirulina or chlorella powder, wheat grass powder, ginseng, lucuma, mesquite, camu camu, mangosteen, maqui berry, reishi, turmeric

Wet

Dried Fruits – these can be soaked to help the mixture come together more

Cranberries, blueberries, goji berries, raisins, dried mango, currants, apricots, figs, and dried cherries

Other

Small amount of lemon or orange juice, drop of essential oil (like a citrus one), vanilla extract, coconut oil or manna, cacao butter, any nut/seed butter, any liquid sweetener like raw honey or maple syrup**

**As far as the liquid sweetener, I would first determine if you’re going for more of a snack or a dessert. If it’s a snack stick with a more savory/nutty/less sweet filling, but if you’d like to make more of a dessert or a treat, I’d play around with adding a little sweetener for taste if you’d like. Be careful not to add too much though, the date itself is pretty sweet on it’s own!

Like I always say, add small handfuls/spoons/dashes at a time and taste test your mixture as you go along to make sure it’s something that you’re taking a liking too.

Next is ready, set, stuff!

Slice the date on one side, remove the pit and then take a spoon or small handful of the mixture and press it into the date. I had quite a bit of the mixture so I stuffed my dates to the brim and beyond. I also think it helped balance out the sweetness of the date by adding more of the mixture.

Keep these babies stored in the refrigerator and consume within a few days for the freshest tasting stuffed dates!

This is what I put in the ones shown in the pictures:

Soaked raisins, soaked goji berries, sunflower seeds, soaked almonds, walnuts, shredded coconut, chia seeds, allspice, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and a couple cranks of sea salt

Now over to you — do you have any other ideas I’m missing? I’m sure there are more. I’d love to hear from you!

With love,

Beginner’s Guide to Homemade Hummus

June 24, 2015 by Sarah

Hummus…the dip that is sure to give you your savory food fix and is sent from the glorious snacking god.

But how can you avoid the GMO oils in the store-bought hummus, make up some rad new flavors, and possibly save a little money while doing so?

You know me so well. Yes, you can make your own, of course!

Why do I want to make my own hummus?

Like I mentioned, making something yourself from scratch is usually going to trump store-bought versions when taking into consideration freshness and healthiness. You get to choose all your own ingredients (including ones that are in season) thereby avoiding any of the questionable ingredients found in brands at the store. Most are made with soybean or canola oil, which are primarily genetically modified if not organic. I do my best to avoid GMOs if I can, so making my own allows me to use higher quality oils like organic extra virgin olive oil or organic sesame oil. You typically won’t see these used with many common brands because the vegetable oils are so much cheaper. With homemade hummus, you really are saving money too, especially if you can find chickpeas on sale. Tahini may seem to be expensive, but you only use a very small amount so it’s a worthy investment. Plus, you don’t have to use it, and you can make your own for way cheaper! You know I hopped on that train. 🙂 Also, like I state in many of my other guides, the coolest thing about making things homemade is the opportunities for customization. You can add any flavors, tap into your creative culinary side – yeah, ya got one! – and cater it to your liking/needs/preferences. Also, it’s INCREDIBLY quick and easy to make!

What’s so great about hummus?

Chickpeas are a great source of fiber and protein. It’s a great food that will keep you full AND provide you with nutrients – it’s not just empty calories like many other snack foods can be. Fiber is good for your digestive and intestinal system, and the soluble fiber in chickpeas may also usher bad cholesterol out of the body. Protein can help stabilize blood sugar levels and promote satiety. Chickpeas also contain vitamins and minerals like iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphate, vitamin K, vitamin B-6, and calcium, which may contribute to bone health, increased energy levels and many other benefits.

Whatever you decide to add to your hummus, whether it be the anti-bacterial properties of lemon juice and garlic, calcium and healthy fats from the tahini or phytonutrients from greens, will also offer additional nutrients and benefits.

What are all the ways I can use hummus?

Most people know of hummus as a dip for pita bread/chips, crackers, or chopped veggies. But hummus wears a couple more hats including its use:

On Salads – if you want to do this, remember you can always change the consistency of your final product by adding more liquid, whether that be oil, lemon juice or water! You can also add a little vinegar instead to give it a little zing or just add it to other salad dressing recipes that you think it would compliment well. I also came across one that’s made with orange juice, hummus and olive oil.
As a Spread – can use in place of mayo, on bread, tacos or wraps, on top of grilled portobello mushroom caps
As a Sauce – for homemade pizza with veggies, added to chopped eggs or chicken for a sandwich filling, with pasta or noodles
In Soup – You can add it to your favorite soups to make them more creamy or try this one or this mushroom one

Alright, now how can I master this art of making hummus?

Here are the main components:

Chickpeas – Key player here! I’ve only ever used canned and think that’s going to be your easiest, most convenient method. I always find organic ones on sale for $1 and just buy a few to have on hand. There are also darker colored, more odd-shaped garbanzo beans out there that may be higher in some nutrients and are more common around the world. They are referred to as ‘desi’ type beans. If you see these, they’re worth trying! If you’re going to cook the chickpeas yourself using dried legumes, use about 2 cups cooked chickpeas in place of the can.
Fats/Oils – Most common are Tahini and Olive Oil, but you can also use sesame oil
Acids – Lemon or Lime Juice
(Typically) Garlic – Minced or pressed
Seasonings – Most common is just sea salt, but you can also add pepper, garlic powder (if you don’t have or want to use fresh), onion powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, chives, rosemary, thyme, cayenne, chipotle powder (or chilies), dillweed

Then, get jazzy by adding these extras if you please:

Flavors – 1-2 tbsp. tamari (or any substitute like organic soy, nama shoyu, coconut aminos), roasted pine nuts, walnuts or almonds, hemp seeds, olives, small amount of organic yogurt or some cashews for creaminess, nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor, sriracha or jalapaño, balsamic-glazed onions
Veggies – Grilled or marinated artichoke, spinach, kale, sun-dried tomato, roasted or fresh red peppers, cooked beets or sweet potato, avocado, roasted eggplant or zucchini
Herbs, fresh or dried – basil, parsley, cilantro, tarragon

Below is a sweet potato hummus I made without a recipe; I just added one medium cooked sweet potato with a can of chickpeas, some olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and sea salt. It was quite tasty!! I liked the sweetness added because of the yam. It was decently thick so if I wanted a thinner consistency, I would have just added more water, oil or lemon juice.

First you want to rinse and drain the beans, then you basically place all the ingredients, except for garnishes if using some, in a blender or food processor and blend/process until smooth. You may need to add small amounts of warm water ( 1 tbsp.) at a time to get it to blend if using a blender. A tip from Cookie and Kate is to blend/process the tahini and lemon juice together first to make the hummus extra creamy. That’s a link to her fabulous Green Goddess Recipe.. you should check it out!

Below is a great common starter recipe from a jar of tahini. You can use it to reference for the amounts and then you can add any of the things mentioned above to spice it up! Just taste test as you go by adding a little of each ingredient at a time.

Basic Hummus Recipe

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Sarah

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas, drained
¼ cup tahini
1 clove garlic
sea salt, to taste
3 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

Place all ingredients (plus any others that you'd like) in a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth.

Okay, so I did come across cookie dough hummus when I was doing a little reasearchin’. Yeah, you know I tried it. It was a little different, but overall I did really like it! I really enjoyed it spread on some sprouted grain (like Ezekial) toast! I just did a fusion of these three recipes from Chocolate-Covered Katie, A Dash of Compassion, and Pop Sugar.

Sources: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280244.php
http://oldwayspt.org/resources/12-ways-use-hummus

Now over to you..any other flavors I’m missing? Are you ready to make your own? Chat with me using the form below!

Have fun!

Beginner’s Guide to Homemade Superfood Fruit Roll-Ups

June 15, 2015 by Sarah

Okay, so I advise you to steer clear of the traditional ‘fruit’ roll-up from Betty Crocker.

Berry Berry Cool Ingredients: Pears From Concentrate, Corn Syrup, Dried Corn Syrup, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Acetylated Mono And Diglycerides, Pectin, Malic Acid, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Natural And Artificial Flavor, Color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1).

That is NOT a berry berry cool ingredient list, Betty.

Now I know these may be a thing of the past and you don’t necessarily eat them anymore, but many, many foods like Betty Crocker’s Fruit Roll-Ups are being sold all over and tons of kids are consuming them. The corn syrup, the trans fats, the ‘flavors’, the dies – they’re so prominent in candy and children’s foods these days. Not only can we ourselves avoid eating these kinds of foods, but we can also avoid giving them to our children and future children. There are infinitely better options! Including these ~~dehydrated smoothies~~ homemade superfood real fruit roll-ups. I guess you can call these ‘the adult fruit roll-up’ or ‘the improved kid fruit roll-up’.

They are made primarily from fruit, but you can also sneak in some super foods, seeds, powders and what have you to make them more nutritious!

Need a little inspiration?

I gotchu.

Start with the fruit.. bananas, pineapple, apples, melon, all kinds of berries, apricots, peaches, mango, pears, kiwi, durian, lychee, etc. You want your mixture to be primarily fruit.

If you’d like..

Add some greens or a sneaky veggie.. kale, spinach, mixed greens, chard, cucumber
Add some super foods.. spirulina, chlorella, maca, cacao, açaí, goji berries, lucuma, mesquite powder, camu camu
Add some ingredients to change up the flavor.. shredded coconut, lemon/lime juice, cinnamon, vanilla, other flavor extracts and spices
Add some seeds.. chia, ground flax and hemp are great
Add a hint of sweetness.. raw honey, maple syrup, agave, etc.

Then place it all in a blender and blend away.

You literally just make a smoothie! Don’t be scared to mess up. Just taste test as you add ingredients and start by adding a very small amount because you can always add more! Some great combinations I’ve liked are:

Piña Colada – pineapple, spirulina or chlorella, banana and coconut

Banana Power – banana, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, cinnamon, maca, mesquite

Superberry – Mixed berries, açaí, goji berries, greens, banana, pear

Tango – Mango, lemon juice, chia, strawberry, lucuma

Grab Bag (shown in the pictures) – Banana, apple, blueberry, cranberry, strawberry, vanilla bean powder, ashwagandha powder, superfood smoothie mix from Bright Earth Foods

Pour the mixture onto a Teflex sheet or wax paper and spread using a spatula so it’s about 1/8 inch thick. On a Teflex sheet, I like to pour a circle in the middle and then just move it in the air side to side, front to back so that the smoothie spreads over the sheet – it makes it a lot more even than trying to use a spatula to do it. Dehydrate at 115 for 8-12 hours (overnight works great) until dry. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can bake them on your oven’s lowest setting on a parchment or Silpat-lined pan for 4-5 hours until dry as well. You don’t want this to bake so if your oven’s lowest setting is over 170, you may want to prop it open slightly or let it heat up to it’s lowest temperature and then turn it off and repeat every hour. Do so until it is not gooey at all when you touch it.

If you are going to use a dehydrator and you have a lot of trays you can fill, it’s nice to make up different kinds or multiple batches so you can make a mess once and have more on hand for snacking. I’ll make around a 40 oz. smoothe and fill about 5 trays. When dried, I then cut each big leather into thirds or fourths.

Do you have any other questions or ideas?! Send them my way using the comments section below 🙂 Also, let me know what you try and how you like it!

Until next time 😉