RAW VEGAN HERB-INFUSED SPECIAL BROWNIES

Look at my GIFs!!! 

I'm gonna start off by saying you can use whatever herb you like to infuse these brownies with... I certainly have my favourite. You can make them special or "special" - if you catch my drift - it's really up to you, as always. I am sure that mint, basil or rosemary would all taste great. Hehehe. 

I've made many raw brownie recipes before but this one turned out uniquely delicious, most likely due to the undertones of infused coconut oil. That's right, kids. Today we will be infusing coconut oil with herbs! *WOAH SIDE NOTE I JUST HEARD MAJOR THUNDER OUTSIDE THE WINDOW*

Okay I'm back. Just to note: you strict raw foodies will be mad at me for calling these 100% raw because infusing the coconut oil requires mixing it with boiling water and letting it simmer for a few hours. But can we please all chill and understand that coconut oil and boiling water meeting is not the end of the world? Still mega healthy. The plan for this batch of raw brownies involves friends and anime movies. Oh and a record player. It's gonna be a good night. Let's get unbaked!

raw vegan special brownies

brownies:

3/4 cup rolled oats (or hemp seeds)

3/4 cup walnuts

1 cup dates

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 heaping tablespoons Jump Up and Go Go (or cacao powder) 

Pinch of salt (optional) 

3-4 tablespoons coconut oil infused with herbs of your choosing (recipe below) 

glaze:
1 tablespoon each of almond butter, maple syrup and cacao powder

To make the herb-infused coconut oil: bring a small pot of water to boil; add in 3-4 tablespoons of coconut oil, along with however much of your dried herbs you like. Lower the temperature to simmer and let the herbs and coconut oil get to know each other for 2-6 hours, but check frequently to add water as needed (because it will evaporate). Once you want to take it off the heat, let the water evaporate completely, then let the mixture cool. Strain, disgardng the herbs and keeping the liquid coconut oil (which will now be greenish). Now it's ready to use! Let's get funky! 

To make the brownies: pulse the oats and walnuts in your food processor until they become a powder. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it all sticks together and tastes OUTTA DIS WORLD. Press into a lined baking dish and put in the fridge to set for a few hours. Spread on your glaze and munch munch munch. 

happy cannabis day! an eBook, facts and videos.

Today, my friends, is April 20th.

It is 420. You know what that means? International celebration of the wondrous and ancient herb called Cannabis Sativa. From it are two wonderful and infamous varieties - marijuana and hemp.

To celebrate hemp, I have this link to an eBook from Purely Elizabeth, an organic whole food company dedicated to sustainability. It's a FREE DOWNLOAD. There's tons of yummy hemp recipes, great facts about nutritional benefits of hemp... and, you might notice... I'M FEATURED IN IT! Very, very exciting for me.

Among some other great uses for hemp: it's a super sustainable, low energy material to grow for clothing, rope, paper, even fuel. Read for yourself (this article is short and to the point). It's so efficient because it's a weed, hence why the other variety is called weed. This means it can grow practically anywhere, with totally different climates. It also doesn't need much water. Cannabis forests can be found all around the world.

P.S. - hemp DOES NOT get you high. I think it's less than 1% THC.

Now moving on to the more controversial variety of Cannabis - marijuana. The plant has been enjoyed as medicine and for fun for thousands of years. It has healing properties and has never killed a soul. It's funny the number one killers in the U.S. are directly linked to poor diet. I say white sugar should be illegal - not a plant. Anyway that's my two cents and I won't rant about it. I can wait, because it's only a matter of time before it's decriminalized here in Canada.

 Here's a short video I've shown before about the benefits of RAW cannabis.

Let's also keep in mind that marijuana is prescribed as medicine - for everything from depression, anorexia, and glaucoma to insomnia, ADHD, Alzheimer's, cancer and IBS. Yes, the potency has been increasing a little too rapidly, but this can easily be reversed if the industry would become legal and government monitored and managed. Again - I won't rant.

Yeah, it looks pretty dangerous...

Okay lastly I wanna share these two videos. The first one is for Gorilla Food - my fave Vancouver raw food eatery. Man, if I belonged anywhere, it's here. The atmosphere is so chill and accepting, there's always new art on the walls and lots of dreadlocks.

And this super short but informative one is from Michael Pollan - you should read his books if you haven't already. I loved In Defense of Food. The Omnivore's Dilemma is also great.

Okay, okay - I lied. I have ONE MORE to show. This is a full documentary also from Michael Pollan, based on his book about how plants - like apples, flowers and marijuana - seem to be able to manipulate us to their advantage. "Huh?", you say? Watch it and see for yourself.

That's all for today, folks! I'm gonna go make my green smoothie elixir WITH HEMP SEEDS, and some avocado chocolate hemp pudding ;) Then I'm going downtown to celebrate 420 with my city!