Simply Fresh Living

I was celebrating my birthday out of town this weekend with a group of friends and of course no birthday is complete without cake! When people first ask questions about becoming vegan and even taking the transition to a high raw diet it’s often situations like this they fear most. Social gatherings that involve friends and family and things like birthday cake. I always take the easiest way out and… bring my own!

I thought about bringing a vegan birthday cake that most replicated the real thing, assuming it would be easiest to find and the biggest crowd pleaser. But I quickly decided against it. This was my birthday and I was not going to think about everyone else, I was going to put myself first and I wanted only the best of the best, raw cake!

I did not want to make the cake myself though because my husband and I have been doing alot of traveling lately and the last thing I wanted was a cake preparation lingering over my head. I also didn’t want just ONE cake, I wanted a variety! Something that was sure to please everyone, even though it was entirely raw.

I came across Innocent Indulgence in the ever so handy Natural Awakenings magazine. I honestly couldn’t believe it- everything I wanted ALL in one place! Entirely vegan, entirely raw, a great variety, and from the pictures everything looked delicious.

Below are all of the different treats I tried:

I don’t have any pictures of the cheesecakes I was so concerned with everybody getting to try each piece and then eating mine up so fast I totally forgot

Raspberry Bliss

This wasn’t close to the “real” thing, this WAS the real thing. Did not taste a smidge different than regular cheesecake, and the topping was absolutely DELICIOUS!

Double Fudge

Again, this tasted exactly like the most chocolate-y cheesecake you have ever had in your life. It was insanely rich, maybe even too rich for some, but seeing as I am a chocolate LOVER, it was perfect. Everybody commented on how much they liked the fudge.

Lemon Island

This was the least favorite of the cheesecakes by the other people in my group. I personally loved it, it was a great balance between sweet and tangy. It was on the top of the other cakes in the ice chest though and was significantly more thawed out than the others. I think this was definitely a factor as to why some were not as keen on this flavor. The cheesecakes taste the best when slightly thawed but still cool and firm (in my opinion).

Fudge Brownie Squares

These were extremely tasty as well. They were the perfect amount of fudge and had a very nice consistency, not too dense. Bite size pieces were the best from the start.

Peanut Butter Squares

These were my favorite between the brownies and the cookies. (ignore the holes, they had birthday candles in them  It was the most delicious peanut butter cup flavor I have ever tasted. I cut them into 4 pieces to begin with but were so rich that I ended up dicing into bite size pieces.

Cocoa Nib Squares

Although these did not taste exactly like the chocolate chip cookies some may have been expecting the other people in our group still loved them! (as did I) They were light and airy and just the right amount of chocolate.

Gingerbread

Because it was my first order with Innocent Indulgence Alisha gave me the choice of a free dessert, totally awesome! I chose the gingerbread since I had not ordered it and figured I would try out as many different flavors as I could. I ADORED the gingerbread cookie dough. It literally was exploding with flavor in my mouth. It was by far the richest gingerbread cookie I have ever tasted. It comes with a vanilla creme, but I choose to eat them plain. Maybe the creme had too much true vanilla flavor for me but I just did not like it very much. I think it would have been awesome paired with a much sweeter creme made with coconut oil to offset the spicey, gingery taste of the cookies. (but again, I love all things very sweet)

Not only did all of the dessert taste amazing, but the entire ordering process was incredibly smooth. I submitted an order online (weeks in advance just to make sure, which was not neccessary) and Alisha, who is an absolute sweetheart, phoned me a couple of days later to verify the details.

I ordered an Experience Sampler and substituted a peanut butter square and additional brownie for the parfaits, which was no problem. There were 9 of us total, and I still have leftovers! We all split the cakes, each having a tiny piece of all 3 flavors. Some people didn’t even finish this much, they are all so rich and filling. Although it may not seem like a ton of food because the portions are not as HUGE as we are used to, it was more than enough. Along with the ease of the ordering process the other very convenient aspect of these deserts is that they are frozen. You can pick up days in advance and store them in your freezer until the day you need them, or like us transport them with you in a cooler without compromising flavor, texture, etc. They also ship anywhere, so if you are not in AZ don’t worry, just add the price of an icepack to your order and you will be receiving your desserts shortly Each dessert also came with detailed instructions as to the thawing process and the best way to store, cut, and serve-all great info to have.

I would reccommend Innocent Indulgence to anyone and everyone, especially for any type of special occasion or get together. Anybody else know of any other raw dessert companys? Anybody looking for raw desserts and is going to give Innocent Indulgence a chance?? Let me know!

Alisha Chasey can be contacted at: (602) 509-0744 or on the web at http://www.innocentindulgence.net/

Recently I came across a flier advertising that Blue Nile Cafe now had Raw Sundays & Mondays. What!!?? Blue Nile Cafe is a very quaint Mediterranean/Ethiopian cafe located on the southeast corner of Rural & University in Tempe, AZ right next to ASU campus. They have an awesome menu with a section specifically identified as vegan and the service is always extremely friendly. I don’t possibly know why I waited so long to check out what Raw Sundays & Mondays was all about but I am so happy I finally did!! Honestly, I figured the advertising was a bit embellished and expected to just find one featured raw dish: salad, guacamole, fruit and the like but I was totally off base.

Blue Nile actually has an entire raw menu available on Sundays and Mondays all day, that changes each week. It features starters, entrees, and even desserts! That is not even the best part though, it is also entirely ORGANIC! yippee! all you could ever want in one totally rawsome restaurant. These are not just salads or even pates, they are delicious gourmet entrees!

My husband & I started with  hummus (not raw but I adore the hummus there) it comes with pita bread by default but you can always substitute chopped veggies and even raw, fruit & vegetable crackers!!

I ordered the raw lasagna and it was everything I had hoped for. The piece was an incredibly huge portion that I definitely could not finish. (It still tasted spectacular the next day for lunch). It had hints of citrus and even a tease of minty flavor to it, very tasty. My husband ordered a carrot onion bread sandwich and it did not disappoint either!! The bread was extremely soft and pliable ( and not too gooey) and just dripped with that incredible “grilled” onion taste. It was stuffed with a spicy horseradish-y mayo, tomatoes, sprouts, avocado and cucumber all very fresh and even better because they were of course, organic.

On the dessert menu I spotted “cinnamon rolls” so I HAD to have them. Cinnamon rolls are one “food” I often miss (I use that term very loosely) Their smell and thinking of their oh so gooey texture always delights me. These were very different than your typical cinnamon roll as they were made of dates and figs and did not resemble a bread-y texture, but they were still unbelievably tasty. Again, portion size was huge, coming with 5 small cinnamon rolls.

Our total bill was $43.. seems like a lot but that included an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert. It also included lunch for me the next day as we had leftovers of both entrees. And for a completely organic, prepared raw meal-it was completely worth it to me!

Highs of my visit:

• Complete menu with a variety of choices
• Organic
• Nice staff
• Fair price for the quality
• Satisfaction of supporting local businesses!
• Huge portions

Lows:

To be honest there were none, it was an overall great experience and I would recommend to anybody!!

Hopefully some of you get the chance to stop by there sometime. I know they haven’t always had Raw Sundays & Mondays and I am not sure how long they plan on continuing with them, but I do know its worth checking out for sure! You can look at their other day-to-day menu online at their website as well bluenilecafe.net

Let me know what you think-I will be back to visit Blue Nile soon in the upcoming weeks to see what other raw treats have rotated onto the menu!