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3-Ingredient Fig & Almond Bites | Raw, Vegan

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Each one of these 3-ingredient fig & almond bites is a perfect mouthful of sweet fig, delicate almond and nutty tahini, and is packed full of vitamins A, B2, E & K, calcium and more.Fig & Almond Bites, Raw Vegan | The Tofu DiariesI seem to be on a roll at the moment making lots of vegan desserts. This time of year, and all of winter really, makes me crave sugary things and hopefully these will be something to turn back to for a sweet treat that doesn’t really have any added sugar. These fig & almond bites are another ideal healthy option.Fig & Almond Bites, Raw Vegan | The Tofu DiariesAs I mentioned in my last recipe post (a vegan apple crumble recipe using quinoa if you missed it!) my new kitchen is slowly coming together with the addition of some carefully chosen blue crockery. Another recent addition is this adorable Scandinavian-inspired Setesdal set of measuring cups that were sent to me by Culture Vulture Direct. I’m excited about these for two reasons. Firstly they add some much needed animals into my crockery collection with foxes, squirrels, hedgehogs and more incorporated into the folk print.Fig & Almond Bites, Raw Vegan | The Tofu DiariesSecondly, as someone who only really weighs ingredients so I can write proper recipes that stand a chance of being followed, these really appeal to me as an effortless way to measure ingredient ratios. Actually, as a bonus they make following US recipes that rely on cup measurements a whole lot easier too!Fig & Almond Bites, Raw Vegan | The Tofu DiariesCulture Vulture Direct is a website full of what they call ‘finds from a world well-travelled.’ I’ve completely fallen in love with their curated selection of home and kitchen ware and, consequently, I now have my eye on several things from their website such as these zinc photo frames and this gorgeous folk print coffee pot. They are exactly the kind of website I love stumbling across to find something that bit more special and I know these measuring cups are going to be very well-used in my kitchen.Fig & Almond Bites, Raw Vegan | The Tofu DiariesFor this recipe, using measuring cups was an ideal way to get the right ratio of figs/almonds/tahini easily and quickly. I’ve been making some kind of raw treat almost every week as they are perfect to keep me going during an afternoon in the office, without resorting to something processed or full of refined sugar. The quantities here make twelve small balls but can be increased or decreased just by keeping the 4:2:1 ratio the same.

Makes approx. 12

Ingredients:

1 cup dried figs, chopped

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup tahini

Method:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until they have formed a sticky dough

2. Separate the mixture and roll into small balls

3. Eat and enjoy!Fig & Almond Bites, Raw Vegan | The Tofu Diaries

What have you bought for your kitchen recently? Share in the comments!

Raw, Vegan Food on the Go – Creative Nature Bars

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Working full-time means it can be hard sometimes to find time to create my own healthy snacks on a regular basis. As a result there are few foodie discoveries right now that delight me more than finding more amazing companies who are filling this gap with raw, vegan, super food packed options.Creative Nature BarsCreative Nature are a UK company creating high quality nutrient-dense snack bars filled with cold-pressed oils, seeds and dried fruit that more than fit the bill. All of their products are vegan-registered and certified organic.Creative Nature BarsThe bars come in four flavours: Tropical Treat, Heavenly Cacao, Blissful Berry, and Sublime Seed. The cold-pressed oils in them give them a more moist texture than many raw food bars, whilst the added extras such as hemp powder in the Sublime Seed bar and pau d’arco in the Tropical Treat give the flavours an unexpected complexity. The Heavenly Cacao is perfect for satisfying a chocolate craving too with its raw cocao nibs, cocao powder and maca powder.Creative Nature BarsCreative Nature offers free UK mainland shipping for orders over 2kg so there’s no reason not to head over to their range of super food bars and stock up!

Have you ever tried Creative Nature Super Food Bars? Do you have a favourite healthy snack?

Little Vegetarian Treats: Mininibs from Ripon, Yorkshire

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Something I love about living in Yorkshire, aside from all of the beautiful countryside, is the creativity and artisanal flair you find here. One of the wonderful things about having adopted the county as my home is the chance to discover many of them first hand, whether it is from living and working in such a vibrant neighbourhood as Chapel Allerton or from exploring the surrounding towns.

NibNibs is one such company. Located up in North Yorkshire, they create handmade nibbles fresh from their bakery in Ripon using only the finest locally sourced ingredients. Their vegetarian snacks contain Yorkshire-milled wheat and British Cheddar (they even list Yorkshire water as an ingredient) making the food miles that go into these remarkably low. Since hearing from NibNibs, I have been, well, nibbling my way through their yummy range of mininibs.

NibNibs MininibsThe cheerfully packaged mininibs come in three exceptionally cheesy flavours: Cheddar Cheese, Cheddar & Spicy Chili, and Cheddar &Cheeky Onion. The first thing to hit you with each variety is undoubtedly the Cheddar, but what I really love is how the accompanying flavours – be it chilli or onion – develop after the initial cheesy hit. After my first mininib, I wasn’t too sure but as soon as it was done with I couldn’t wait to reach for the next one; the strong flavour combined with the crunch makes these beyond moreish!Mininibs 2NibNib’s Salt & Pepper Jumbo Peanuts were another pleasant surprise, and dare I say it, equally as moreish.Mininibs 3The pots are all foil sealed when they arrive with a handy little lid to keep them fresh after opening. It also makes them ideal to pop into your bag for a snack on the go.

This giveaway has now closed – thanks to the 3511 of you who entered!

And finally, the all important question, where do I nibble mine? …At my desk to keep me going through the afternoon! Where would you nibble yours?

Superfood Snacking – Punku Quinoa Cookies

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As far as superfoods go, quinoa seems to pretty much have it all: a complete protein full of minerals and amino acids. It is low in fat, cholesterol-free, high in fibre and a good source of iron. Not only that but it is also incredibly versatile. There are a lot of recipes out there that demonstrate the creative ways it is being used, such as in baking or pizza bases (that probably deserves a whole post of its own).

I love cooking with quinoa and have featured a few of recipes on this blog such as my Spiced  Quinoa Medallions and Curly Kale Quinoa. I’ve yet to try making anything more adventurous using quinoa though, so I was excited when I recently heard about Punku’s quinoa cookies and was offered the opportunity to try them out.Punku Cookies 01Punku Cookies 02

Punku offer two varieties of cookie, orange & mango and chocolate chips, with an orange & cranberry variety on its way. Made from organic Royal Quinoa, their vegan cookies are wheat, gluten, dairy and egg-free. Deliciously crunchy, I found the cookies to be that ideal balance between satisfying my sweet cravings whilst not actually being particularly sweet in taste.

The fruity flavours of the orange & mango variety hit you immediately with a mellow nuttiness that rounds it off beautifully. The chocolate chip ones are more subtle, with just a hint of cocoa, but have a moreish quality about them.Punku Cookies 03

Each cookie comes individually wrapped in a box of twelve. This makes them really convenient for popping your bag as a snack and removes some of the temptation to scoff a whole box (as I might have done had they not been individually wrapped). I’ve been taking one of each flavour to work everyday; one to accompany my morning coffee and one to go with my afternoon coffee. That’s the theory anyway, they haven’t always made it past lunchtime. The boxes clock in at £4.99 each. The packaging is very simple and clean-looking, although I would love to see them reflect their Bolivian roots a little more.Punku Cookies 04

Punku Cookies 05The word ‘Punku’ comes from Aymara, the language native to some parts of The Andes, meaning ‘door.’ A perfect metaphor since Patricia Estivariz, Punku’s founder who grew up in Bolivia, aims to open doors both here in the UK and in Bolivia; by bringing high quality, healthy, and natural foods from Bolivia to the UK and by creating education and health programmes for their employees in Bolivia.

The impact of quinoa’s rapidly growing popularity in Western countries has pushed prices up and made growing quinoa a more attractive trade. As more families in Bolivia become dependent upon quinoa crops, it is even more important that companies behave in socially responsible ways so it really is wonderful to hear about the positive impact Punku are striving to create.

To find out more about Punku, visit their website.

Have you ever tried any unusual quinoa foods or recipes? Share below!

Raw, Vegan Food on the Go – Nākd Bars

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Did you know that serendipity is one of the hardest words to translate into any other language? Well, a near-perfect example of such a happy coincidence happened to me recently. As I mentioned here I’ve been trying to get back into some healthier habits lately, but one of the hardest things has to be those moments when you need to pick up a quick snack on the go. My local supermarket has recently started colour-coding the nutritional information on the front of their packaging and trust me, the amount of glowing red labels is enough to make you run for cover (or leave empty-handed!)

It seemed therefore like a little ray of light when I spotted they had started selling Nākd Bars. Made up of less than a handful of natural, raw ingredients, they are wheat, dairy and gluten-free, with real nutritional value. I picked up a ‘Cashew Cookie’ bar to have at my desk as a mid-morning snack (OK, so it may not have made it past 9am) and spent a good five minutes raving to my colleague about how good it was.

So where is the coincidence? As luck would have it, a few hours later an email dropped into my inbox inviting me to try out and review a range of… Nākd Bars! You can probably tell from the above that I jumped for joy at the prospect of testing their other flavours.Nakd Bars Review

Natural Balance Foods, who make Nākd Bars and other equally yummy-looking wholefood snacks, are a British company that got started a decade ago exactly to provide unprocessed snacks that can be eaten on the go. The classic Nākd Bars come in nine different flavours, all with only a few ingredients and occasionally some natural flavourings. Upon trying them all, the thing that amazed me was how each of them is so true to their name despite so little having gone into it – it definitely shows how unnecessary a lot of sugars and flavourings are in most products like this!Nakd box review

Nakd Flavours ReviewThe nutty flavour of the ‘Cashew Cookie’ that I’d first tried was sweet but not sugary, with a rich lightly chewy texture. Of the other flavours, I was most curious to try the ‘Rhubarb & Custard’ as it was so hard to imagine quite how that would or could work. I tucked into one of these first and honestly, it tasted just like rhubarb and custard sweets! The real treat however, had to be the bars with cocoa in – ‘Caffé Mocha,’ ‘Cocoa Delight’ and ‘Cocoa Mint’ were all as good as any chocolate bar with an even richer texture and dark heavenly taste.Rhubarb & Custard Nakd Bar

I was already convinced after my first try that these were going to become my ‘go-to’ snack but I’m even more certain after trying the rest of their flavours. Their website offers free UK shipping and international shipping options so be sure to check out their full natural foods range.

What is your go-to snack when you’re out and about? Share your recommendations below!