Beautiful layers of blended berries and nut cream combine for a memorable dessert or snack that's perfect for special occasions like Valentine's Day that's coming up. Find pretty glassware, get out your blender or Vitamix, and begin to concoct the most delicious treat! As you eat, the layers of berries and nut cream make beautiful marbleized patterns, and taste heavenly. If the nuts for the cream don't fully blend, that's okay, because the little bits of crunch add a nice touch to the overall texture.

This recipe was inspired by watching Fully Raw Kristina's video on how to make a raw banana split, totally mouth-wateringly delicious. See more about Kristina below.

Ingredients: Serves 2
2 cups blueberries
15-20 strawberries
4 tablespoons whole blueberries
1/4 cup pure water
1/8 cup almonds, soaked overnight, skins removed
1/8 cup cashews
2-3 Medjool dates
Pinch of cinnamon

Directions
I found I needed to put each puree in an individual bowl before assembling the sorbet, and I rinsed the Vitamix after I blended each component so that the colors didn't bleed in to each other. I didn't dry the Vitamix, just gave it a good shake to remove the excess water.

Have two pretty glasses ready for layering.
Soak nuts overnight, drain, rinse, and drain again. Remove skins from almonds by squeezing between thumb and index finger.
If berries are frozen, defrost overnight or rinse under warm water, and drain.
Blend blueberries. Spoon in to glassware. Add whole blueberries to each glass.
Make nut cream by blending water, nuts, and dates on highest speed until smooth.
Spoon on a layer of nut cream.
Blend strawberries, and spoon on top of cream. Sprinkle on cinnamon.
Spoon on a layer of nut cream.
Spoon on a final layer of blueberries, and top with the remaining cream and a little bit of strawberry puree. Sprinkle on a few whole blueberries.
Serve immediately, or put in fridge to enjoy for later.

I want to share this video from Fully Raw Kristina that came out at the end of her recent 21 day raw food challenge that she gave away at no cost, and which I participated in. It helped to inspire me to stay raw after my father passed, just one month ago, and to not fall into eating comfort foods. The video is filled with love, compassion, and wisdom for living a fully raw lifestyle.

Kristina overcame serious health issues in her early life, and was hospitalized on more than one occasion. She healed herself through a low fat diet of fruits, vegetables, and some nuts and seeds. At the age of 20 she started a Co-op in her living room with 12 people, and it has since blossomed into a non-profit, all-organic and local produce co-operative in Houston, Texas, that promotes raw foods and the raw food lifestyle to thousands of people. It's the largest raw, organic produce co-operative in the U.S!

Whether or not a fully raw lifestyle is for you, her message can be applied to every area of our lives. Her beauty shines, and her enthusiasm is boundless. It feels like every cell of her being is vibrant and alive! Even after being on the raw food journey for 12 years, her message and the love that poured from her essence touched me to my core.

From this link, you can also see her other videos from the 21 day challenge, with recipes for whole food salad dressings, desserts, tips for detoxing, amazing salads, mindful eating, a lovely video with her mother who joined the challenge, and so much more. She talks about eating, breathing, and being color, and if you've watched her videos it's clear that she truly eats an abundance of rainbow colored foods, because it shows!

If you feel the amount of fruit she eats is too much for you, then substitute with greens. Find ways to work with the raw food diet that are empowering! It may be with one or two raw meals a day, a green smoothie, or a total immersion experience of just diving in completely. Everyone is different, and to thrive we need the freedom to choose without fear, and to listen to our bodies, our minds, and our hearts.

You can join Kristina on Facebook, and you can join me there too! Our connections help to keep the support and love flowing, because as everyone who embarks upon this way of life knows, it can be challenging because of our pre-conditioning, and the way things are in the world around us. Begin each day anew. Begin each day fresh, and start the changes that will make dreams come true!