Alissa's choc turtles...

[ViolinCyndee]

...in the dehydrator now! OMG I wanted to eat it all from the mixing bowl. Believe me: I did lick the bowl! MMMMmmmmmmmmm! Can't wait to have them tomorrow night! :D

And.. I am amazed that I am 'allowed' to have them. I mean usually you cannot have stuff like chocolate on a 'diet'! :eek:

[Veganforlife]

Yeah, aren't they good?

[ViolinCyndee]

Oh yeah--can't wait to have them later. They will be done cooking at 11:00 tonight..

Will I REALLY not gain weight eating these chocolates?? Yeah I know: don't eat them all at the same time, but still... :eek:

Also.. I used agave syrup instead of honey as I do in all recipes that call for honey. (vegan).

Mmmmmmmmmm!

[Veganforlife]

Let's put it this way - I've dropped over 50 plus pounds (gave up weighing months ago) eating "this" way. It's all good stuff. Good for us. I had a hard time too in the beginning. Sweets is one thing I don't want to give up. Love it too much! LOL!!!

Eat. Enjoy.

[ViolinCyndee]

Let's put it this way - I've dropped over 50 plus pounds (gave up weighing months ago) eating "this" way. It's all good stuff. Good for us. I had a hard time too in the beginning. Sweets is one thing I don't want to give up. Love it too much! LOL!!!

Eat. Enjoy.

50 plus pounds!! :eek:

You had a hard time with what? Sweets? Or believing you can eat stuff like the choc turtles without gaining? HAHA!

I am eating and enjoying, but by body doesn't seem to want to give up weight as quickly as others'...

<trying to be patient with the weightloss issue>

[Veganforlife]

I had a hard time THINKING I was gonna have to give up sweets and realizing I didn't. Now - shoot! I'm eating and enjoying. Don't compare. Your body is different. Just keep on doing what you're doing. Your body will cooperate.

[ViolinCyndee]

I had a hard time THINKING I was gonna have to give up sweets and realizing I didn't. Now - shoot! I'm eating and enjoying. Don't compare. Your body is different. Just keep on doing what you're doing. Your body will cooperate.

Yes, I do have a habit of comparing... Thanks for the encouragement and confidence that my body WILL cooperate. I guess that I think that would be 'too good to be true' when it comes to me personally! HAHA!!!

::::::::learning patience::::::::::; ;)

[jacsam]

I can't believe I haven't tried these yet.

[raweater]

Oh yeah--can't wait to have them later. They will be done cooking at 11:00 tonight..

Will I REALLY not gain weight eating these chocolates?? Yeah I know: don't eat them all at the same time, but still... :eek:

Also.. I used agave syrup instead of honey as I do in all recipes that call for honey. (vegan).

Mmmmmmmmmm!

Agave does not dehydrate so they will probably remain the same even after 24 hours. I've left a similar recipe with agave for days in the dehydrator and it didn't change at all, agave is "undehydratable".

[ViolinCyndee]

Agave does not dehydrate so they will probably remain the same even after 24 hours. I've left a similar recipe with agave for days in the dehydrator and it didn't change at all, agave is "undehydratable".


wow... how about maple syrup? I am vegan so am trying to stay away from honey.. But, if there is no other alternative, I guess I will have to resort to getting raw honey...

[raweater]

Maple syrup is cooked at high temperatures for a long time and is as bad as sugar which is said to be more dangerous than smoking. I have maple syrup on rare occasions but severely limit myself due to it's toxicity (just a small amount gets me feeling horrible, I can eat 4 times more agave or raw honey without getting sick like cooked sugars do).

[ViolinCyndee]

Maple syrup is cooked at high temperatures for a long time and is as bad as sugar which is said to be more dangerous than smoking. I have maple syrup on rare occasions but severely limit myself due to it's toxicity (just a small amount gets me feeling horrible, I can eat 4 times more agave or raw honey without getting sick like cooked sugars do).

OK.. interesting.. But what about Grade B maple syrup? Is that cooked as well? (the one that is used for the Master Cleanse).

I guess I will be submitting and ordering some raw honey asap. I need to make these turtles the correct way. OMG the batter is SO good, even with agave.

[Eva]

Sorry, yeah... no maple syrup is raw.

I came to this lifestyle for health reasons, and in the process I have become so much more aware of animals and their welfare. I do use agave when it makes sense, but I have debated and my personal decision has been to use honey when only honey will work for what I am making.

If you feel like it's not against your morals or ideals or whatever... then my approach may be good for you as well = just use honey when that's the only option for a recipe you REALLY want to make.

Or for a face mask. ;) Then you could exfoliate with brown sugar to remove it. Ah, that makes my skin soooooo soft and just WONDERFUL.

[raweater]

OK.. interesting.. But what about Grade B maple syrup? Is that cooked as well? (the one that is used for the Master Cleanse).

I guess I will be submitting and ordering some raw honey asap. I need to make these turtles the correct way. OMG the batter is SO good, even with agave.

It is pretty much impossible to make raw maple syrup, maple syrup is simply maple water that is boiled for hours to concentrate it 40 times, essentially liquid cocaine.

You can find raw honey in most grocery/health food stores.

[cara4art]

Really, you can eat chocolate on a raw diet and not gain weight? I know from past experiences on regular diets that I had to strictly avoid fats, starches, salt AND sweets in order to lose a few pounds, and starve too. Just for the record, I am not an obese body type, I'm actually pretty small, with weighing 115 pounds at 5'5".(used to weigh around 108, which is perfect on my delicate bone structure) I do work out, so no comments about muscle weighing more than fat. If I wasn't feeling like I was starving, the weight wouldn't budge, and that's double now that I'm past menopause. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around being able to eat plenty and still be able to drop a few pounds, which is actually all I want to get rid of anyway, aside from the myriad health benefits of going raw in general.

[raweater]

Yes, the reason you need to starve yourself on cooked food is because cooking destroys nutrients but not calories, so you end up with empty calories. What causes you to feel full is the nutrients, so with cooked food you need to eat much more calories because it's lacking nutrition. With raw food you will feel full after much less calories because all the nutrition is still there.

It is not calories, fat or sugar that causes weight gain, it is eating empty calories (food that has calories but no nutrition left due to cooking/processing).

[carolg]

Lucy,
Way to go.

Just back from yoga, then my own weight training, but have to do cardio (probably biking at gym again later) as it was 2 1/2 hours later and had to take a break out of the gym.

All,
Thanks for sharing.
carolg

[deberaw]

Cara4art, yes you can have chocolates and agave and delicious raw cheesecake etc...as long as you balance it out with greens greens greens...! green smoothies, salads etc! ..really though...I find I don't always feel like eating too much chocolate, because it is satisfying and nutrient rich...not empty refined calories.....balance is key...and exercise too....Deb

[cara4art]

"Cara4art, yes you can have chocolates and agave and delicious raw cheesecake etc...as long as you balance it out with greens greens greens...! green smoothies, salads etc! ..really though...I find I don't always feel like eating too much chocolate, because it is satisfying and nutrient rich...not empty refined calories...balance is key...and exercise too..."Deb

"Yes, the reason you need to starve yourself on cooked food is because cooking destroys nutrients but not calories, so you end up with empty calories. What causes you to feel full is the nutrients, so with cooked food you need to eat much more calories because it's lacking nutrition. With raw food you will feel full after much less calories because all the nutrition is still there.

It is not calories, fat or sugar that causes weight gain, it is eating empty calories (food that has calories but no nutrition left due to cooking/processing)." - raweater

Thanks - I'm so glad to hear this, because since I've been predominantly-raw, I have been eating more food on some days, and I do get in a good bit of greens in my green smoothies and salads, as well as working out with weights 3 times a week and a few days of cardio too per week. Since I don't yet have a food processor, I haven't gotten around to trying raw desserts other than some banana-oat cookies in my dehydrator. But the raw chocolate sounds intriguing to say the very least. I've only sampled it once, at a local fair with David Wolfe's Sacred Chocolate, which was amazing - I was in LOVE! I was all set to buy some, but it was VERY expensive for this budget-minded gal. Maybe once a year for a VERY special treat though. So I'm still eating regular 72% dark chocolate as my only sweet. Is it possible to get raw cacao for reasonable price? I love chocolate and this is THE hardest SAD thing for me to give up. The other SAD stuff was no problem to ditch though. Well, OK, maybe cheese was second on the list of harder SAD things to ditch, but that was easier. I've tried numerous times to quit chocolate, without much success, which of course keeps me from releasing a few menopausal pounds around my middle, or I've white-knuckled it through a couple of weeks or so, only to cave into temptation. And coconut oil, is that really possible to eat that and also release weight??
Right now, my only fat sources are half of an avocado, and a small handful of nuts per day - are those too much? I feel so decadent eating these! I know, I probably sound like a total newbie, but I've been doing this since February of this year!

[raweater]

Coconut oil is proven to cause weight loss. Eating fat does not make you fat as long as it's raw, I have around 60&#37; of my calories from fat and eat 4000 calories a day yet I barely have any fat at all (and the fat I do have is due to the 25% cooked food I eat, I noticed my fat percentage goes up and down along with my cooked food percentage, the more cooked food I eat the more fat I gain).

[cara4art]

I've only used the extra-virgin coconut oil as a body moisturizer - I haven't dared eat it because I thought it would be so fattening! I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that an OIL could cause weight loss! You see, I've refrained from making any raw desserts, other than simple fat-less banana-oat dehydrator cookies because of the sweet and fat issue for me. And I count out my nuts too, like maybe 7-10 almonds at a time, or just a few cashews. I don't add oil to my salads either, just lemon juice. On more of a treat day, I will take 2 tsp or so of raw tahini and mix it with some lemon juice and salt for the salad. I guess I'm still really afraid of too many fats after years of being in fitness activities and it being virtually verboten to eat those. Plus I cut my teeth on info like fat should be 5-10% of calories for optimum health and fitness. Meanwhile I crave some fat but am just too anxious about eating any more than I already am, which is above the 5-10% that I mentioned. As I mentioned, I'm past menopause, so that imposes dietary restrictions that can be looser for non-menopausal women.

[Eva]

cara4art -- I was smiling while I read the things you wrote in this thread. Because... guess what?! You really don't need to count the almonds. If you are CRAVING fat, eat it! Seriously. I weighed about 125-130ish at 5'6" when I went raw. I was happy enough with it. I tend to just be happy with what I have unless I have good reason to believe I could improve it.

Anyways, I lost about 10 pounds when I first went raw, and most of it was around my waist. So I stayed around the same size, except my waist. I was NOT counting anything. I ate lots of nuts, lots of desserts, lots of avocados (I mean lots), lots of fat. But eventually, I was no longer craving all the fat. I have had times where the thought of fat really grosses me out. But when I am craving fat like crazy, THAT is when my body wants to clean me out. So, if I really, really crave avocados like crazy and they taste SPLENDID even if I eat 4 or 5 in the same day... this is when I am going to lose a layer of something (not sure what, but I know from my BMs that I am eliminating something in my body)... Then I go back to not craving it so much when my body's done cleaning. It is when I do NOT crave it but munch on nuts like crazy for the crunch, that bad things happen with my weight (OK, not really, I just get bloated and maybe gain a pound or something).

SO, all that to say, if you are craving the fat and want the turtles, run with it!!

[ViolinCyndee]

OK I got raw honey so I could make these choc turtles.. Well: same thing happened as with agave! They were still very soft after dehydrating them for 24 hours. I will have to scrape them off of the teflex sheet.. grrrrrrr!

I followed the recipe exactly..

Any secret to these?

[ViolinCyndee]

OK I got raw honey so I could make these choc turtles.. Well: same thing happened as with agave! They were still very soft after dehydrating them for 24 hours. I will have to scrape them off of the teflex sheet.. grrrrrrr!

I followed the recipe exactly..

Any secret to these?

Anyone who made these: have you had this same experience?

[JEN]

I think there is a tweeked version of these turtles somewhere here. Maybe someone here will remember.

[JEN]

Maybe one of these threads will be of help.

http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11173&highlight=turtles


http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35494&highlight=turtles

[ViolinCyndee]

Maybe one of these threads will be of help.

http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11173&highlight=turtles


http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35494&highlight=turtles

That is a major help! Thanks! I will have to try it again, mixing the caramel sauce with the turtle recipe! Psyyyyyyyched now!

[RaDixon]

ViolinCyndee,
I too made the chocolate turtles and no matter how long I dehydrated them they never hardened and came off my trays in sticky globs. So I just threw them in the freezer and broke off pieces whenever I had a chocolate craving. So delish!

[Pony500]

Where is the caramel sauce recipe? I have been trying to find it with no luck.

[ViolinCyndee]

Where is the caramel sauce recipe? I have been trying to find it with no luck.

Good thing I copy/pasted the post then emailed it to myself!

Here is the post:


1 cup dates (pitted and unsoaked)
1/4 cup almond milk
1 dash sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract, or 1 inch vanilla bean scraped
1 T raw honey or agave

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until smooth and well blended.

Then make one batch of Alissa's Turtles on page 486. I modified this recipe a bit using walnuts and pecans for the nuts (and I've added cashews and raisins to one batch also) and for the honey I used agave.

Mix both recipes together and dehydrate for maybe a half day, checking just until they aren't very sticky and then I store in the fridge.

This is now one of my favorite recipes and non-raw fooders love them and would never guess they weren't "regular" candy.