Healthy Holiday Candy (made with coconut oil)

If you are one of those people who associate the holidays with candy and stock up as soon as the Christmas candy goes on sale, I invite you to resist the urge to buy all those tempting, beautiful packages, and make your own candy instead! It tastes just as good (better in my opinion) and is made from real ingredients (no nasty artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, etc) and no refined sugar! It's amazing how simple it is too. Just heat up your coconut oil and have several recipes going on at the same time in different bowls. Then you can make an assortment plate for your friends and family!

Reese's Peanut butter (or Sunbutter) Cups
Found this recipe at: http://www.teacheatlove.com/2013/05/unjunked-peanut-butter-cups-and.html 

Chocolate:
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted*
1/2 cup cocoa or carob powder
2 tsp vanilla (alcohol-free)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or raw honey)

 Filling:
1/2 cup peanut butter, other nut butter (I used Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter)
1 tsp coconut oil, melted

1. Mix the chocolate ingredients together.
2. Mix the sunbutter or peanut butter filling in a separate bowl.

*Hint: To warm your coconut oil, you can scoop it into a 2 cup glass measuring cup and then place it in a bigger pan that already has a couple inches of hot water. Stirring makes it melt faster. Once it has turned to liquid, I added the other chocolate ingredients directly into the measuring cup. I also warmed my sunflower seed butter mixture this way. Don't microwave it, or it will destroy the amazing nutrients in the oil!)

2. Drop a teaspoon of the chocolate mixture into mini muffin cups. Put in the freezer for 5 minutes to set.

3. Drop a half teaspoon of the nut butter filling in the center of each chocolate. Freeze for 5 minutes to set.

4. Cover with another teaspoon of the chocolate mixture, adding a little more to completely cover the filling.

5. Freeze for at least an hour.

Store in the freezer and take out just before serving.

(Warning: These are so good! You won't be able to stop eating them!)


Coconut Macaroons
Found this recipe here: http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/smart-sweet-raw-macaroons/ 

Mix together:
3/4 cup coconut oil (warmed)
2 cups shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
(1/2 tsp almond extract, optional)

Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and freeze until set.
Take out just before serving. (You can also drizzle chocolate over the top before freezing. See the chocolate recipe above.)

Chocolate Macaroons with almonds

Make coconut macaroons using the above recipe.
Add 1/4 cup chocolate or carob powder.
Add chopped nuts if desired.

(My husband and I loved these better than the regular macaroons- we used chocolate powder and loved raw almonds in them!)


Almond Chocolate Bar
From a recipe here: http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/smart-sweet-raw-macaroons/ 

2 cups coconut oil
1 cup cocoa or carob powder*
1/3 cup Maple syrup or honey
1 1/2 cups nuts, roughly chopped.

*Carob did not work for me in this recipe- I would stick with cocoa

Whip oil in bowl until fluffy (2-3 mins) or vitamix.
Add chocolate (or carob) powder and maple syrup and whip (1 min).
Stir in nuts.
Pour into a 9x9 baking pan and chill for 1 hour. Then break into pieces and enjoy!

Chewy Chocolate Candy:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raw honey (thick)
1/2 cup cocoa or carob powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Combine ingredients (this was a little challenging with the thick honey- I would suggest warming the honey a little to make it easier to mix in). Drop teaspoons onto wax paper lined cookie sheet to form small discs. Freeze until firm (keep stored in the freezer).

Molasses candy:
Taken from: http://www.hybridrastamama.com/2012/03/how-to-consume-coconut-oil-reader-questions-answered-plus-coconut-oil-candy-recipes.html 
(I wouldn't make this for other people, but personally I love them and they are so good for you with the blackstrap molasses- a great source of calcium and iron!)

2 Tbsp. Blackstrap molasses
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 Tbsp. nut butter (I used sunflower seed butter)

Mix ingredients and pour into silicone candy mold (or mini muffin pan with liners). Freeze until firm. Enjoy your healthy candy treat!

Chewy Fudge or Vegan Frosting- (previously labeled as Classic Chocolate Candy)

1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup (I used maple syrup when making this to use as frosting)
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp carob or cocoa powder
2 Tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter)

Whisk oil and honey. Slowly whisk in powder. Whisk in almond butter (or use a Vita Mix blender and blend until well combined- you will have to use your tamper, as it will be pretty thick). If making fudge, pour into a loaf pan and freeze for 15 minutes. Then cut into squares and enjoy. :) If making frosting, spread over your cupcakes or vegan cake (or make a pan full of these homemade bars to use as your "cake" like I just did!). Keep chilled until ready to eat. If you want the frosting to be softer, take out about an hour before serving.

Protein Packed Plants!

Since so many people ask me, here are some of the plant foods with especially high protein.

Keep in mind that, not only are these foods high in protein, they are also filled with other important nutrients, including calcium, iron, cancer-fighting antioxidants, phytonutrients, etc.
AND they contain NO saturated fat, cholesterol, antibiotics or other toxins found in animal products, that are linked to cancer and other diseases.

So...would you rather get your protein from a slab of cow, increase your chances of cancer and heart disease, miss out on all the other nutrients your body needs, and feel sluggish and, well, like you just ate a dead animal...

OR eat real food, grown from this amazing planet God has given us, and feel super light and energetic as nutrients only nature can provide pour into your body?

Protein Packed Plants:

Legumes
1 cup lentils= 18g
1 cup black beans= 15g
1 cup red kidney beans= 14g
1 cup pinto beans= 12g
1 cup chickpeas/garbanzo= 12g
1 cup green peas= 9g

Whole Grains (cooked)
1 cup amaranth= 9g
1 cup quinoa= 8g
1 cup millet= 6g
1 cup buckwheat= 6g
1 cup brown rice= 5g
1 slice sprouted whole wheat bread (aka Ezekiel or Trader Joe's)= 5-6g

Nuts/Seeds (Raw)
1 cup cashews= 20g
1 cup almonds= 24g
1 cup sunflower seeds= 28g
1 cup flaxseed (whole)= 31g!
1 cup pumpkin seeds= 36g!!
1 cup chia seeds= 48g!!!

Vegetables
1 cup spinach (raw, packed)= 5g
1 potato (with skin)= 4.3g 
1 cup asparagus (raw, chopped)= 3g
1 cup kale (raw, chopped)= 2.9g 
1 cup broccoli (raw, chopped)= 2.6g
1 cup cauliflower (raw, chopped)= 2g
1 cup carrots (raw, chopped)= 1.2g

Fruits
1 cup avocado (mashed)= 4.5g 
1 cup dried apricots= 4.4g
1 cup prunes= 3.8g
1 cup dates (chopped)= 3.6g
1 cup banana (mashed)= 2.5g (1 medium banana= 1.3g)
1 cup kiwi (sliced)= 2g
1 cup cherries= 1.6g

The more real food you eat, the less room there will be in your stomach for junk. So fill up on all these amazing foods and feel the difference in your health!

Note: Vitamin B-12 is only found in animals, therefore it is important to either supplement or eat fortified foods (almond milk, nutritional yeast, etc).

Raw Cranberry Sauce

This tasty cranberry dish is great all by itself, on top of a bed of crisp romaine, or alongside your holiday meal. Most importantly, it contains NO refined sugar, and all of the ingredients are RAW which means you are getting all the nutrients in your foods. You will be eating whole, real foods, straight from nature into your mouth. You will feel great and energized instead of gross and left craving more sugar. Ok, I will stop convincing you of the power of raw foods and let you try this amazing recipe.

Raw Cranberry Sauce

2 cups fresh cranberries
1 large orange
6 medjool dates
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
optional: a handful of chopped raw nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, macadamias, etc)

Blend in your Vitamix (or high speed blender) until desired consistency is reached. I like mine nice and chunky.

You can add more maple syrup or dates if it's not sweet enough for you.

Enjoy!

:)

Our Daily Green Smoothie

We make daily green smoothies at our house, around lunch time (in addition to green juice 4-6 mornings a week) using our Vita Mix. We first started doing this for our extremely picky 3 year old, so he would get some good nutrition, without having to force him to eat the slimy & wet textures of fruits/veggies that he would burst into tears just looking at. So if we miss a day, it means that he isn't getting a really big part of his diet. Hence, we are committed to making this everyday, whenever possible. It also has been great for my husband and I- a sure way to get our daily nuts/seeds, omega 3s, probiotics, vitamin C, and of course all the fruits and veggies and protein.

Here is what our juice usually consists of (the measurements are approximate since we are always changing the kind of fruits & veggies we put in and we sometimes add the juice from our greens instead of the whole greens):

Our Green Smoothie:

(REVISED April 2014)

GREENS:

2-3 cups (tightly packed) leafy greens: spinach, kale, or collards (spinach blends a lot easier and is almost tasteless, so great for those not accustomed to green smoothies)

FRUIT:

2 cups frozen fruit (mango, berries, pineapple, etc)- we love mango & strawberries

1-2 bananas (for sweetness)

1/4 lemon (peeled & seeded)- lemons have so many health benefits!

OTHER VEGGIES:

2 carrots (or carrot pulp from earlier juice)

or

a small wedge red cabbage

or 

1/4 cup chopped cucumber, zucchini, or asparagus or broccoli

NUTS/SEEDS:

1/4 cup raw almonds or raw sunflower seeds

3 Tablespoons source of Omega 3s (ground flaxseed, chia seed, or hempseed)

LIQUID:

2 cups water, almond milk, or coconut milk

EXTRAS:

- Protein powder: 1 scoop raw organic protein powder (Garden of Life brand) (my husband likes extra protein, but I don't add to mine or my kids) 

- Probiotics: 2 Tablespoons Inner-eco probiotic kefir (from coconut water)- added to adults smoothies (kids get different kind of probiotics separately)

- Extra Vitamin C: 3/4 teaspoon Vitamin C powder (ascorbic acid) (3000 mg) (I try to add more Vitamin C to our diet after reading Dr. Andrew Saul's book "Doctor Yourself" and learning about the research showing diseases being cured with high levels of Vitamin C.)

ORIGINAL POST (Nov. 2013):
Our Green Smoothie:
1/4 cup raw almonds or raw sunflower/pumpkin/sesame seeds
3 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
2 big handfuls greens (spinach, collards, or broccoli usually)
2 carrots (or carrot pulp from earlier juice)
1/2 cup frozen fruit (mango, berries, pineapple, etc)
1-2 bananas
scoop raw organic protein powder (Garden of Life brand)- added to adults' smoothies
2 Tablespoons Inner-eco probiotic kefir (from coconut water)- added to adults smoothies (kids get different kind of probiotics separately)
3/4 teaspoon Vitamin C powder (ascorbic acid) (3000 mg)
water- enough to get desired consistency

** This smoothie is guzzled by 2 adults and an almost 4 year old (our 14 month old gets a slightly different smoothie you can see here).

My daily juice recipe

These days we try to make fresh juice at least 4 times a week. Here is what our juice usually consists of (this is for 2 adults, 1 small child, and a baby):

Daily Green Juice:
3-4 cups of dark leafy greens (kale, collards, or spinach)
a pound of carrots
1/2 large cucumber
1-2 celery
1/2 lemon or lime
small piece ginger
a sweet fruit such as: oranges (3-4), pineapple (1/3), apples (2-3), or grapes (1 cup)

This makes enough for about 8-10 oz for each adult, 6 oz for the child, and 2 oz for the baby.

Note: For our baby, who is 14 months right now, we don't include pineapple, oranges or lemon/limes  since they give him a rash around the mouth. Instead we use apples or grapes for sweetness.
However, most of the time, we will just juice greens and carrots for our baby and blend that up with some fruit and a little water and raw almonds (or sunflower or pumpkin seeds) to make it into a smoothie for him which he loves. We use fruits such as frozen mangoes, berries, and banana.

We also add to our juice sometimes (remember these are all raw):
- zucchini- It tastes bland and goes well with any other juice, especially carrot. The pulp is actually really good to eat plain too; it's still somewhat moist and just tastes like grated zucchini.
- broccoli
- bell peppers
- parsley

What do I do with the pulp? (I get this question all the time)

Since carrot pulp makes up the bulk of our pulp container, I mostly just use that and discard the rest (it is not very much and most of the juice/nutrition has been extracted so there's no flavor, just a small mass of tasteless stringy stuff).

This is what I do with carrot pulp:
- Add to oatmeal with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, dates, vanilla, almonds, for a "carrot cake" taste
- Add to cooked grains, such as quinoa, for a warm, savory pilaf with italian seasonings, garlic, and a little Earth Balance "butter"
- Add to smoothies for some extra fiber
- Add to muffins or baked goods (I'm just now experimenting with this)