Haste Makes Waste, and Waste makes... Raw Snacks!

As I've said countless times by now, my initial fear of the juicer was that I would be wasting all this lovely fruit and veggie fiber to make myself a little glass of juice. As you know, juicing separates the 'liquid'/nutrient substrate of a fruit or veggie from its pulp/fiber content. While drinking juice makes nutrients much more absorbable by your body, I can't help but sigh at all that lovely fiber-y goodness that stays in the juicer. I do love increasing my nutrient intake, but at what cost?

The suggestion I always got was compost the pulp, it makes great compost whether you do it directly in your yard or have a home vermicomposter. Though that might be a great solution for a lot of other people, on a raw diet, Andrew and I already produce LOTS of compost for our garden wormies. So, I wanted another option. Once again, raw food was the answer. Since I started making juice on a raw diet, I've had a purpose for all that pulp: crackers, and now yummy carrot cake snack bars.

I present to you, my latest creation made from the pulp of my favourite juice combination: carrot, apple, ginger.

Carrot-Cake Bars

1/2 C Ground oats/spelt*

1 C Carrot-apple-ginger juice pulp

1 1/2 Tbsp of pumpkin pie spices**

1/4 C + 1 Tbsp of maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

Salt to taste

3/4 C Sweet nuts***

1/2 C of dried fruits (dried currants, raisins, etc.)

1. Mix pulp and ground oats/spelt together in a bowl

2. Add spices, salt, and then blend in maple syrup and vanilla

3. Mix in sweet nuts and dried fruit

4. Shape into bars on Teflex sheet and dehydrate at 115 for 4-6 hours

(No-dehydrator option: I'm sure you could chill these in the fridge and have them still work; another option would be to shape them into balls and chill them... I think I'll try that next time! Be creative!)

*see my recent cookie recipe for a raw and less-raw option

**a blend of cinnamon, and smaller amounts of nutmeg, allspice, cloves, mace... I like a lot of spice

***I made about 1 C of a walnut-pecan blend mixed with 1 Tbsp of flax (or olive) oil, 1 1/2 T maple syrup, salt, and pumpkin pie spices, dehydrated about 4 hours (they're good in everything or just as a snack of their own)

If anyone has a yummy raw icing recipe, I think it would go fabulously on these bars (especially if you over-dehydrate them and they become a little too dry!). Plus, everyone knows carrot cake just isn't the same without that cream cheese icing! And remember your 3 Rs: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle! I'm doing my part, and it's pretty tasty!