Embellishmints

To be honest I have never been to a Whole Foods Market. Can you believe it? I’ve been in a couple different “healthy food” grocery stores and they were all pretty small, so I assumed Whole Foods was too. Well last week I jumped at the chance for a “Sneak Peak” at their holiday foods and gift ideas in Glastonbury and I’m so happy I did because Whole Foods is not a regular old, small, “healthy food” grocery store.

At the “Sneak Peak” event we were able to sample a lot of different holiday foods like Butternut Squash Bisque, which had kale in it! I never would have known if they hadn’t shared the recipe with us. We also tried some No-Bake Thumbprint Cookies, they have a similar recipe on their site. They sell the most amazing Red Velvet Cake too.

I mustn’t forget about their Strawberry Cheesecake with no dairy, wheat or refined sugar. No one could have convinced me that a cheesecake without dairy would even be worth trying, but Whole Foods didn’t just tell me…they showed me. And they proved it!

• 2 Cups pecans or walnuts (or one cup of each)
• 1 cup pitted dates, soaked in water 5 minutes and drained
• 1/4 cup ground hemp seeds
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1/2 t vanilla extract

Directions:   

1. Place pecans in a food processor and process or pulse until finely chopped
2. Add the dates, hemp seeds, salt, vanilla and process until mixture forms a ball
3. Turn out into an 9-inch springform pan and press the mixture into a crust.

Filling
Ingredients:

• 3 cups cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour+drained
• 1 cup soaked dates
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup raw coconut manna
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/ t sea salt

Directions:

1. Drain the dates and mash into a paste and place it with the cashews, lemon juice, coconut manna, vanilla and sea salt into a food processor
2. Process until completely sooth adding one teaspoon dof almond milk or date water at at ime, if necessary, to thin the mixture to obtain the desired consistency
3. Pour into crust and tap the pan to remove any air bubbles 

Topping
Ingredients:

• 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 cup pitted dates, soaked in water for 10 minutes+drained
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

1. Place strawberries, dates and almond milk in food processor and process until very smooth
2. Pour over the filling
3. Freeze the cheesecake for several hours until firm
4. To serve remove cheesecake from springform pan while still frozen