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Apple Banana Craisin Bran Flakes

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Full of wonderful nutrients, Raw Apple Banana Craisin Bran Flake Recipe
~ raw, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free ~

Today….was a historic day.  For the first time in 4 years, I was able to enjoy an actual bowl of cereal.  Remember the kind that came in a box, and you poured it in a bowl with milk? But before that even happened your hand would disappear into the box of cereal as you dug anxiously looking for a surprise toy inside?

Well, today I made a RAW cereal to where when I brought the spoon to my lips it was filled with a little bit of cereal, dried apple, Craisins, bananas, and a little bit of milk!!!  It was heaven; I had almost forgotten what that “combination” in one spoonful tasted and felt like.  It was simply incredible.

I use to spend Saturday mornings as a child in front of the TV watching cartoons.  I was so enthralled with Fred Flinstone (thank goodness my time was long before Square Bob Sponge Pants)  that I aimlessly shoveled spoonful after spoonful of cereal into my mouth.

This morning was a different story.  I ate my cereal with awareness and such joy!  As I savored each bite, I totally forgot that it was packed full of wonderful nutrients or that it was even RAW!

It is important to know that this cereal has been NRFDA (Nouveau Raw Food Determining Association) approved. The Soggy Cereal Test was conducted at Nouveau Raw Kitchens. Please see below. I hope you thoroughly enjoy this recipe and I would love to hear from you below in the comments. Many blessings, amie sue

Full of wonderful nutrients healthy Apple Banana Craisin Bran FlakesIngredients:

Yields 8 cups when done

Preparation:

  1. Take the 3 apples and core them.  I left the skins on my apples. If you don’t have organic, peel them first to reduce the pesticides.
    • Rough chop them and place them in the food processor and pulse till they are small bits.
    • Don’t over process to where you start making them juicy.
    • Place pulsed apples on the teflex sheet that came with your dehydrator and dry at 115 degrees (F) until the moisture is gone.  I did this in the same time frame as the cereal.
  2. In the food processor, fitted with an “S” blade, combine the oats, protein powder, cinnamon, and maca.  Process until all the ingredients resemble a fine powder.
  3. Add the bananas, strawberries, dried cranberries, and puree all ingredients until smooth.
  4. Spread the batter out real thin on the non-stick sheet that comes with the dehydrator.
  5. Dehydrate at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour, then reduce to 115 degrees (F) for about 4 hours or until you can peel it off the teflex sheet.
  6. Peel from the teflex sheet and flip onto the mesh sheets that come with your dehydrator and continue drying for several hours or overnight, basically until crunchy.
    • Allow to cool, then break apart into cereal flake sizes, mix in the dried cranberries and dried apples.
  7. Store cereal in an airtight glass container for a week or longer. I even store mine in the freezer for up to a month.

The Institute of Culinary Ingredients™

Culinary Explanations:

  • Why do I start the dehydrator at 145 degrees (F)?  Click (here) to learn the reason behind this.
  • When working with fresh ingredients, it is important to taste test as you build a recipe.  Learn why (here).
  • Don’t own a dehydrator? Learn how to use your oven (here). I do however truly believe that it is a worthwhile investment. Click (here) to learn what I use.

Spread the cereal batter thinly on a dehydrator sheet.

Cereal batter spread thin on a dehydrator sheet

Here it is dried. I tried to capture how thin it is.

Dried Cereal batter spread thin on a dehydrator sheet

Shredded apples were waiting to be dried.

Shredded apples waiting to be dried

NRFDA

(Nouveau Raw Food Determining Association) conducted a test at

Nouveau Raw Kitchens, The Soggy Cereal Test.
The subject: Apple Banana Craisin Bran Flakes.  
Object: to see how long this raw cereal could stand up to almond

milk before getting soggy.  
No animals were harmed in this test.  
Results posted below.

Apple Banana Craisin Bran Flakes milk almond test, before getting soggy

Timer set for 5 minutes… still had crunch.

Soggy Test, 5 minutes... still had crunch

Timer set for an additional 5 minutes. Still had slight crunch.

Soggy Test, 15 minutes... still hadsome crunch

The lab tech conducting this test ate the whole bowl of the subject matter.
Ending the test at 15 minutes.  Still had a little crunch but

edges were softening.  This concludes our test. :) Approved!

Test approved

8 thoughts on “Apple Banana Craisin Bran Flakes

  1. Patty Richards says:

    Good Morning–Amie Sue
    I have been a dehydrating freak!! I can’t tell you how many people have tasted some of the great food I have made from your website. I think I have made some fans of dehydration. Thank you for all your great recipes and beautiful website(which I have shared with a number of people).
    One question I have is how do you make a powdered oat flour in the food processor from soaked oats? I have been soaking my oats overnight like you say and I would think it would turn mushy in the food processor.
    Happy sunny fall day,
    Patty

    • amie-sue says:

      Hi Patty,

      After soaking the oats you need to dehydrate them till they are dry. Set your dehydrator at 105 degrees and spread the oats out thin. Thank you for sharing my site with others. Spreading the health is what it is all about!! Have a blessed day, amie sue

  2. Gina says:

    Hi Amie Sue,
    My husband is in the military and cannot have hemp products because when the military does random drug test, it comes out as positive. So, I used Shakeology’s chocolate protein powder, and tasted the smooth batter before drying it. OMGsh!! We can just eat it as porridge! It is delish, and eagerly waiting to try it in the morning. We LOVE your website and we have been telling our friends about it. I have been reading your website daily since I stumbled upon it 3 weeks ago, and LOVE your recipes. All the explanations and pictures make it easier for us to be raw foodists. We think you should get a spot on the Food Channel as the raw chef. (Can we nominate you to their network? hehe)
    We currently live in Hawaii and have to order many tools and ingredients on-line (and thank you for the Amazon link,) but will be glad to move to Tucson in a few months and start to grow our own veggie/herb garden and will be able to buy organic produce at more reasonable price than here.
    God bless!
    Gina

    • amie-sue says:

      Good morning Gina,

      Thank you so much for posting and letting me know what you think. What a great substitution for hemp seeds! Way to go. Don’t you just love foods when it comes to being so versatile with a recipe. Is it a porridge? Dry it, is it a cereal? Add some chunky nuts to it, is it a granola? The ideas just keep rolling. It is because of this that I rarely have a bad recipe. :) I understand how hard it is to get stuff in Hawaii. I spent 28 yrs in AK and that was just like living on a foreign island.

      When will you be heading to Tucson? That is where we live in the winter. We might need to get together for a cold-pressed coffee and some delicious raw treat!!! :)

      I would LOVE to be on the Food Network Channel. lol I watch that station all the time. Not sure how I am behind a camera, but I am good behind a blender! hehe Well, I need to go but thank you again for all your kind words. It really means a lot and inspires me. Many blessings, amie sue

  3. Gina Thomas says:

    Hi Amie Sue,

    We’ll be moving to Tucson in June and I hope that we’ll be settled there by July/ August. I just found out that we have to send my dog there by next week because many airline companies will not fly dogs in hot temperature starting mid April to mid October. Luckily, my mother-in-law lives in Phoenix and she will be watching our dog for a few months until our move there. When we get there, I plan on introducing her to raw food diet and to your website.

    I would LOVE to drink cold pressed coffee and eat raw snacks with you! Cold pressed coffe is all we drink now. My husband is excited that I will have a chance to meet you in person! He calls you the Iron Chef of raw food ;-)

    As for having your own TV show, you can video tape an instructional demonstration of one of your recipes with your smart phone, upload it on YouTube, and put the hyperlink of the YouTube on the recipe and see how many hits you get on it. Then it will be easier for me to nominate you to the Food Network, and maybe you can do a “raw food throw down” with Bobby Flay! Ok, I maybe getting a bit carried away with this idea, but who knows, I bet there are several Nouveau Raw website fans who would love to see your demonstration on YouTube.

    Anyway, I am just excited that I’ll be making my first raw Honey Oat bread and Onion and Cheese bread tomorrow! I resisted buying fresh baked bread at Costco today so that we can enjoy our first raw bread tomorrow. I purchased enough oat flour, flax meal, and almond flour from a local health food store to bake these breads and share them at the Easter potluck dinner at our church this weekend.

    Will post on how the breads come out. Thanks again for these AWESOME recipes, and easy to follow instructions!
    Gina

    • amie-sue says:

      Gina, I just love your messages. They sure put a smile on my lips and giggle in my belly! For years my husband has poked me about being on Food Network, but then he is my number one fan. :) The day is coming when raw will be more main stream. It is growing leaps and bounds for sure. I have over 1,000 subscribers to this site which just blows my mind. What a blessing to have so many people interested in healthy eating!!

      We have talked about me doing some videos, just a matter of timing I guess. I am such a busy body in the kitchen that I am lucky to get a picture taken. hehe One day! There are so many tips that I want to share and are often difficult to put into text, so it will happen. Bless your heart, you are coming to Tucson during the hottest months. But August brings monsoons and I LOVE those rains. Please keep in touch… I will have some cold-pressed coffee in the fridge awaiting you! Oh and please please let me know what you think of the raw bread that you might. I hope it brings you pleasure. hugs, amie sue

  4. Susan says:

    This is excellent!! Made some over the weekend and had a bowl this morning – awesome!!! I poured almond milk on it and really enjoyed it. Getting ready to make up some of your granola ( used up all I had made previously). Thanks for your website and emails.

    • amie-sue says:

      Morning Susan,
      I love this recipe. It is the closest I have come yet in making a “cereal”…. which I ooooh soooo love. :)I have a few more recipes in the making for simular cereals…. just need to time to try them out. Have a wonderful day… I plan on it. :)

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