Pure Food & Pure Dessert Push Pops

I've only had this book a few days, but I couldn't wait to tell all of you about it, especially with Mother's Day this weekend. You see, Veronica Boscraff, the founder the Pure Bar, was kind enough to send me her new book, "Pure Food: Eat Well With Seasonal, Plant-based Recipes," along with some other Pure Bar goodies.

Veronica is a mommy of three, who created Pure Bar when her daughter decided to become a vegetarian at the age of 6. Therefore, I wanted to blog about this wonderful mom's book today (rather than after Mother's Day).

Although it would be great to have all those yummy Pure Bar recipes in one book (just look at all the bar flavors), Veronica opted to compile recipes she feeds her family on a regular basis. They are simple, whole food, seasonal recipes, which she organizes in the book by months with sample menus.

This month's dessert is Mother's Day Strawberry, Mango and Coconut Mousse. I just had to try it in time for this review. I put my personal spin on it, by serving it as a layered dessert in these nifty reusable treat pops. I swapped the tofu for some coconut cream and used the strawberries for layering between the Mango and Coconut Mousse (the original recipe calls for mixing them into the mousse, which is lovely).

I topped the individual pops with a strawberry heart and unsweetened coconut flakes. This Mother's Day treat is so good, I'd eat it any day.

Since I was on a layered pop roll, I decided to also make the Vegan Orange Cream Pops, which I found in the March section of the book. I used coconut cream in place of the coconut milk and froze the orange portion of the recipe prior to layering it. I also added some Cranberry Orange Pure Bar chunks within the layers for texture. It's not the most photogenic version of this Vegan Orange Cream Pop, but it's quite tasty.

For the last layered pop of the day, I considered using Veronica's Stewed Apples as one of the layers, but it is much better suited for the fall (it can be found in the October section of the book). Instead, I was inspired by that recipe to layer fresh thinly sliced raw apples with coconut cream, chunks of Apple Cinnamon Pure Bar and the new Pure Organic Crispy Clusters in Salted Caramel. This tasted like a caramel apple pie with whipped cream. Yum!

Oh, and I have to recommend the Pure Organic Crispy Clusters. They are a delicious on-the-go snack, made out of gluten-free oats and a Pure Ancient Grains Blend (much like Pure Ancient Grains Bars). I got salted caramel, which is sweetened with tapioca syrup, honey, agave and molasses, and has almonds, peanuts and sea salt. These are a little addicting.

Now that I've gone off track, let's get back to the book, which would be perfect for Mother's Day. As a mom, I've really enjoyed Veronica's easy, family-friendly recipes and how she shares her personal stories throughout the book. You get to know her and her family as you cook/prepare the same meals she serves to them. I hope to make some of the drool-worthy sweet recipes you see above (there's some gorgeous food photography in the middle of this book), as well as a salad and quinoa recipe this weekend.

I'm also planning to make more semi-homemade treats out of these Pure Bars she sent me, so stay tuned.

If you missed my other semi-homemade Pure Bar treats, here are my Last-Minute Love Bug Brownie Bites ...

... and my Pure Bees.

On another note, you can save your Pure Bar wrappers for making projects like my Pure Bar purse. I must really love Pure Bars.