Raw Caramel Apples

apples awaiting their caramelly fate

Whew, mini camera emergency. I was taking a million pictures of these beautiful little apples, I stuck the sticks into them, and was taking a bunch more pictures, and poof! "Battery exhausted." Why does it get exhausted? I feel like that's a weird way to put it and I have that thought every time it happens. After a moment of panic and more than a couple of moments rummaging through boxes, I found the cord to charge the camera. Whew, crisis averted. Onto making some caramel apples. Raw caramel apples free of refined sugar! That may not sound great to you, but for those in the know, they know that dates make an amaaazing caramel sauce. And also, you don't have to cook date caramel! Now, caramel is one of my all-time favorite things, don't get me wrong, but usually it's sticky, makes a mess, and takes quite a long while. Not this time. Super quick and only uses one kitchen tool-- a food processor. You can also do this with a blender, just take a little more time, add a little more water, and scrape down the sides a lot. This is where I got to put into play my birthday present! It was my birthday on Saturday.

vegan oreo cake from Whole Foods!

I had a fun day hanging out with family, going swimming-- an all time dream of mine, to go swimming on my birthday!-- and eating some delicious beans my honey cooked, along with some homemade tortillas-- recipe for those coming later.

Homemade tortillas and Sam's amazing beans

pretty peppers, while Sam was chopping veggies to make the beans

Anyway, my father-in-law got me the most thoughtful gift! A Ninja Kitchen System. It's awesome. So far, it whips out a mean pumpkin spice tea coconut oil latte,

yummy coconut oil pumpkin spice latte-- just blend a tablespoon of coconut oil with a strong cup of pumpkin  spice tea until creamy... so yum

.... and makes the best banana ice cream ice ever had. 
 

so good

yum! check out how creamy that is!

It can also make this delicious caramel sauce. As I am typing this, I'm attempting to get the last bit of caramel out of the mug I dipped the apples in. I've already had to wash my face and hands once. It's delicious.

Date Caramel

1 cup dates
1 tablespoon peanut butter (raw if you want to keep things raw)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water/non-dairy milk
apples on sticks (I used kabob sticks because that's all I could find--you'd think the stores would have sticks right by the apples this time of year, but not that I saw)
other yummy toppings, if desired-- chocolate chips, nuts, etc.

Whir together in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed-- a couple of minutes. Scoop out into a bowl (or large mug) and dunk your apples in. Coat in extra yummies if you want. I'm kind of a caramel apple purist, but other toppings are good too, sometimes.

swirly caramel goodness

 

Qdoba

Just a quick post to share my lunch! Qdoba is one of my favorite restaurants because vegans can eat everything there except the meat, cheese, and sour cream. Everything else, all the rice and beans and everything is vegan- woo hoo! And since I had a coupon, it's like my birthday came a week early. 

Birthday Cake!

My birthday was last Friday and my sweet, sweet husband got me a vegan cake! He called everywhere in town, and guess what? There is not a single slice of vegan cake being sold anywhere in or near Wichita Falls, Texas. One bakery, Margie's Sweet Shop, is actually testing recipes and should have a vegan option in the next six months-- so, "yay!" for my next birthday, if we're still here then. Anyway, the only other option for purchasing a bakery cake was to get it shipped, which turns out is really expensive. Sooo... my dear, creative husband paid one of his classmates to make one! (Thank you, Jessi!) It was delicious, and made even more delicious by the fact that it was a surprise and that I didn't have to make it myself! I love cooking, but I make almost every morsel that goes in my mouth, and I love getting a break. So thank hubby, for a great day and for such a wonderful surprise!

I also got an air popper (I've been having popcorn almost every day, yum!) and a cherry pitter (I haven't had a chance to get to the store to buy cherries yet.... so that one's waiting to be used), and a target gift card (woohoo!), and various monies from parents and grandparents (thanks guys!).

On a different note, my camera died the other day. It most of the time now will only take insanely overexposed pictures, so pics on the blog for now will probably be ipod or phone quality, but I hope to get a new one at some point!