OMG, SPRING? SQUEEEE!!!

Can you smell it in the air?

Already little green shoots have started to appear in the dirt around our mailbox. There are flowers all around our front stoop. With the help of last week's monsoon, all of the lawns have ripened to a fresh green. My Boston BFF's father calls it "acid green." I think of it as limey. What about you? How would you describe the fresh green of spring?

I celebrated the changing seasons by making up some lovely light and spring-y dishes. And I continued with the theme of the month - biting recipes off all my bloggie friends!

HEABs' Raw Bread

This bread is THE PERFECT for IBSsers. No typo there. It is THE PERFECT. It's light, but full of protein and fiber. It has a gentle sweetness and brownie-like moistness to it. I eat it as a three o'clock snack with Gena's Cashew Cheese... comin' up next!

Gena's Flax Crackers and Cashew Cheese

Gena's flax crackers are made from flax seeds. I had only flax meal. The result? The crackers came out like flat breads.

Or should I say flaxtbreads? HA!

I soaked the flax seed meal in water for about an hour. I stirred until the consistency had that jelly flax-egg look. Then I mixed in caraway and sesame seeds.

Theeeeeen I spread the dough on parchment, as Gena says.

The flaxtbreads ended up looking and tasting EXACTLY like my super super favorite German breads that I used to devour pre-gluten-free days.

It was a very happy week to have these back in my life again!

The cashew cheese also brought back another old fave. I decided to keep out the cherries (due to my synaesthesia) and agave. What I got? CREAM CHEESE! Thanks, Gena!

Averie's Coconut Oil Chocolate

St. Patty's Day was my mom's birthday.

Her maiden name is Ireland too! No lie!

To celebrate, I made her chocolates. I followed Averie's recipe - only I added a dollop of almond butter to the mix. Momma LOVED them. She cut the cups into fourths. That way she can savor them as long as possible! She's so cute, my mom!

This is us as little snickerdoodles together.

This is her touching my face at Christmastime.

This is me crushing her head.

As a little girl, I always wanted her to be my best friend. Now that we are both grown ladies (and teachers!), we are friends! I love her so much. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Btw. We're not done with the food.

Pure2Raw Twins' Fermented Foods

The twins love their fermented veggies. I had to jump on the bandwagon and try them out. This has been my lunch as of late - fermented cabbage and kimchi topped with lemon, nooch and hemp seed.

Again. This is another IBSser's dream meal. THE PERFECT.

With the help of Marilyn the Kefir Lady, I started making my own coconut milk kefir. It's been interesting. The last few batches have been very sour, so I'm starting to give away the extra grains. Anybody want kefir grains, email me!

Aaaaaaand... last but not least!!!

The Vegan Almost Raw Cannoli

Inspired by...

Iris' Fruit Roll Ups

I think that Iris and I have some weird foodie ESP going on. We both bought rice paper on the same day and were experimenting with it at the same exact time. How do I know? Because we both twittered about it at the same time! Twins!

Her first rice paper recipe - fruit roll ups - came out way better than mine. I tried to make a fermented veggie avocado roll up. It was drippy and fell apart.

The next morning I got up early and wanted a rematch with the rice paper. Quiet production was key. Because it was four am. Mom and Dad and brother were all still sleeping.

Hmmm...Maybe I should call this the "Quiet Cannoli"?

Vegan Almost Raw Cannoli

1/4 of block of organic tofu or 1/4 cup of pumpkin or squash puree

1-2 Tablespoons raw almond butter

2 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

capful of vanilla extract

pinch of salt

5-10 drops of stevia

Coconut, cacao nibs, and 1/2 packet of stevia on top

The Process

Mix, mix. Stir, stir.

Plop mess onto wet rice paper.

Wrap it up!

Can't end it this way!!!

I LOVE CACAO!!!

Not gonna lie - This definitely tasted more like dessert than breakfast. But, like the raw bread, it was light on my tum. I really appreciated that.

It's so so so AWESOME discovering foods that don't turn my belly into pregnancy. THANK YOU, blogger friends, for all that you do. By sharing your stories, you help create a neat little online community. By sharing your recipes, you make the world a healthier place!

UPDATE!!!

The "About the Author" section has been completed up above. I included my whole farty story, as well as links to my publications and my real name. Friend me on Facebook, if you want!