This recipe might sound and look too good to be true, but it is in fact vegan (and raw!).  We had a family dinner party tonight before everyone heads off to school and I was in charge of dessert.  I found this recipe on one of my favorite vegan blogs called This Rawsome Vegan Life.  It features some seriously delectable desserts, many of them raw and filled with healthy ingredients like fruit, nuts, and superfoods- it's almost always my go-to place to find dessert recipes.  After having tried the vegan coconut cream pie from Jimbos (so delicious!) I was inspired to head in that direction.
Here is the adapted recipe I used:

Ingredients

Crust:
1 cup pecans
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
3 peeled, frozen bananas (save one to slice)
1/4 cup almond butter
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil 
1/4 cup agave/maple syrup
1/4 cup nut milk (use as little as possible)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cacao powder

Coconut whipped cream:
1 can coconut milk, put in the fridge overnight
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
1/8 teaspoon raw sugar

In a food processor, combine the walnuts and pecans until you reach a crumb-like consistency.  Add in the raisins and dates, then the vanilla.  Once all is combined, pour into a pie pan and press the mixture until it forms a firm crust.  Place in the freezer.  (Side note:  You can make the crust ahead of time and freeze it for as long as you need.  I made mine a few days early because I was going out of town, and left it in the freezer covered in plastic wrap.)

For the filling you will need a blender.  Blend 2 frozen (or semi-frozen) bananas with the rest of the ingredients for the filling until smooth.  Pour the mixture into your pie pan and lick your blender clean because that stuff is delicious!!  Slice the remaining banana and layer them over the chocolate mixture.  Refrigerate for an hour.
If you have ever made homemade whipped cream, this coconut cream will seem very familiar to you.  Leaving the can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight allows it to separate.  You only want to use the thick creamy stuff on top, not the watery milk beneath it.  So scoop out the white layer and whip with a hand mixer until it looks like whipped cream!  Add in the raw sugar and mix a little more.  I forgot to add in the vanilla seeds when I made this so now would probably be the correct time to do that as well.  It tasted delicious but I'm sure it would have been even better with a little vanilla!  Spread all over your delicious vegan pie and again lick your bowl clean if you haven't yet.  Refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to go to town.

OH! Also I added cacao nibs and some sliced raw almonds on top.  Feel free to get crazy with fruit (blueberries would be yummy) or other goodies like goji berries or even more bananas!
You can leave the pie out for 15 minutes or so before serving so it will soften up a bit.  It's a little hard to get the pieces out but this should help!
RIP you beautiful pie.
 
I spent some much needed time in my little garden this morning and was so happy to see a little baby bell pepper starting to grow!  I'm not to sure if they normally look this deformed at first but I'm just excited there's something growing.  Hopefully it has a chance to get to a normal size before the bunny that loves to poop all over our backyard gets to it.
A little mutated but I'm rolling with it.

I spent the rest of my morning at my grandparents house enjoying the warm weather and picking fresh avocados and oranges.  I just purchased a new lens for my camera so if you can't tell I'm a little excited about taking pictures of random pretty things.
These are seriously the best oranges ever.  I swear theres nothing better than homegrown citrus fruits and nothing in stores can even compare.  I made sure to pick plenty to share!  The entire bottom of this basket was packed with avocados as well. They take about 5-7 days to ripen though so I have to be patient.  Perhaps there will be some avocado recipes in the near future.

Lately I've been looking into ways to get more nutrients into my diet through natural powders and other strange sounding supplements.  I've never been one to drink protein shakes or use protein powder so I knew that was not the direction I was headed in.  I do understand the importance of protein, but a processed and isolated source of it wasn't really what I was interested in.  Instead I read more into a powder (or tablet) called Spirulina.  It's a blue-green mircoalgae superfood that contains over 94 minerals, boosting energy levels naturally and promoting longevity.  Spirulina is not only great for athletes because it contains plant protein, but is also linked to a decreased time of fatigue after exercise and an increased rate of fat burn.

When you are looking for a Spirunla supplement, make sure it is all natural, organic, and free from any pesticides, herbicides and GMO's.  I chose Pure Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica in powder form.  You can take Spirulina supplements like I mentioned earlier, but the "energizing" effects won't occur for about an hour.  However this is probably the more convenient option if you aren't a smoothie or juice drinker.  I went with the powder because I figured it would be easy enough to just add a teaspoon in my morning smoothies, and the beneficial nutrients are instantly digested.  Pick whichever suits you better, just make sure its all natural.
(excuse the iPhone photo)

Add 1 teaspoon to your daily juice or smoothie and gradually you may start to consume more.  You can even add the powder to water, but I tried this yesterday and it was one of the more unpleasent decisions I've made.  If you don't have taste buds- go for it.  Otherwise you will probably want to throw up on the spot.  The good news is you can't taste it at all in a smoothie, so try it out!  Everyone could use some extra vitamins and minerals and maybe someday you will live forever because you were that weirdo who drank deep sea algae.