Real Cream Cheese

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you are all doing well today.

Some of my blogging friends may have noticed my recent absence from commenting on your blogs. I had to step away from the computer several times lately because my computer is loading reallllllllly slooooowww.

It takes almost half an hour to load many blogs and even after waiting I sometimes cannot comment, or the comment disappears! Until I can figure out what to do about this situation, I hope you will forgive my lack of comments. I still love you all, and am trying to keep up with you even though Google reader no longer updates for me either:) Is anyone else having these problems, or am I the lucky one? :)

Looking on the bright side, I am grateful that I can still post on my blog. And, I now have more time to have fun in the kitchie!

A recent recipe I enjoyed was Poemomm's Real Cream Cheese.

I noticed it was posted on Raw Freedom Community, and it is also on Gone Raw. This is a very easy, fermented nut cheese. I made about half the recipe, using 2 cups of macadamia nuts, approx. 1 cup of water, and 4 gelcaps of probiotic powder(approx 1/2 a teaspoon of powder measured).

*Since goneraw.com has sadly become undependable I am posting the recipe for cream cheese:
 

Here are a few pics of making the cheese, the method is about the same with any fermented nut cheese:

Blended nuts, water and probiotic

Scoop out into cheesecloth or large paint strainer bag (double thickness).

Squeeze cloth tight(do this over the sink...hehe)

Place wrapped cheese into a strainer placed in a bowl to catch whey drips

I used a small open spring-form pan ring with the base on top to press evenly. The weight is a jar of coins.

At this point, I wait a day or two for the nut cheese to ferment. After it is done to taste, I put the unwrapped nut cheese back into a small spring-form to shape it and refrigerate for a day until firm. Sometimes I like to add herbs, salt or spices at this point to mix it up a little. I just love this raw cheese! Thanks to Poemomm for posting this wonderful recipe!

I also made Poemomm's Basic Brown Bread.

**Link may not work, so I am now posting the bread recipe :

 
 I used a crust cutter to shape the slices. Click here if you would like to see my step by step raw bread making tips:)

It was perfect for making cream cheese and jelly sandwiches.

I always loved cream cheese and jelly, and I was so happy to find a healthy raw version. Next time I will try Poemomm's version with cherries as the jelly....yummmm! Thank you Poemomm! The bread is fantastic!

Have you ever tried cream cheese and jelly?


Here is a simple jelly recipe:

1 cup fresh fruit
1/2 cup pitted dates

note: I have made this with equal parts fruit and dates, depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

Blend together until smooth, store in refrigerator several days in a covered jar. This makes a sweet jam that kids just love! Of course you can try blending any other fresh fruit, or any soaked dried fruit (and water if needed) for different flavors. I really love goji jam:)

While there was still some cream cheese left, I filled some mini sweet peppers and a few jalapeno peppers with it and topped it with some eggplant bacon.

I always seem to have plenty of that eggplant bacon around:)

I also mixed in some garlic and herbs to make a boursin flavored cheese. This made one of the best poppers ever!

Hmmmm...with Father's Day coming up, maybe you can make some poppers for poppa:)