Fun Weekend with Great Eats!

This weekend was my dad's birthday. My dad is an amazing person and has been very supportive to me throughout my life. He has always encouraged me to listen to my heart and to follow my passions. Saturday the entire day was devoted my dad. It all started with lunch at Cafe Sunflower, which is probably my favorite vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Atlanta. The food is always amazing and I love the chic atmosphere and friendly service. I was there with my brother, boyfriend, and one of my dad's long time friends. We had a great time talking and eating our delicious food. I ordered a quinoa veggie stir fry which was delicious (pictures of food from the restaurant are below the vegetable lasagna). I wanted something light and healthy. My boyfriend ordered the sesame chicken, my dad ordered the veggie quesadilla with a chocolate raspberry dessert for his bday cake and my dad's friend and my brother ordered a beet salad. Apparently my dad's friend did not realize we were at a vegetarian restaurant and he thought he was ordering a "roast beef" salad.

After lunch I headed back to my place to make my vegan lasagna. I made the chocolate strawberry cake on Friday. We had a good sized gathering of friends and family that evening and everyone enjoyed the food and the cake as well. Today there isn't any evidence left that there was a cake or lasagna. The lasagna is basically the recipe I use for my raw lasagna but I decided to cook it and the cashew cheeze does great in the oven I must say! The top three picture are of the cake I made and the two bottom ones are the vegan lasagna that I made.

Overall, the day was a big success! My dad had a great time and got a chance to see friends and family he hasn't seen in quite some time and I got a chance to try out some new recipes!

Chocolate Strawberry Cake:

Ingredients: 5 cups of dried coconut flakes, 2 cups of dates, 2 cups of strawberries, 1/2 cup of water, 2 cups of cashews, 1/2 cup of water 1/2 cup of raw chocolate powder, 1 avocado, 1/2 cup of honey, pinch of vanilla.

Directions: Put the two cups of dates into the vitamixer (or blender) and add the 1/2 cup of water. Mix until smooth and creamy. Put the coconut flakes into a large mixing bowl, add the date paste just made. Blend the strawberries until they are liquified and add this to the mixing bowl with the date paste and dried coconuts. If the cake mixture is too dry add few more table spoons of water. If the mixture is too wet add some more dried coconut flakes.

Press this mixture into a cake pan (the kind with the removable sides and bottom). Put this into the freezer for a few hours. To make the frosting put the cashews, water, honey, raw chocolate powder, avocado, and vanilla into the vitamixer until the mixture and firm and smooth. When the cake can be removed from the pan with falling apart (after being in the freezer a while) you can put icing on top and decorate with strawberries!