Archives for February 2015

When You’re Running Low on Nut Butter…

February 27, 2015 by Sarah

Next time the peanut butter, almond butter, you-name-it-nut/seed butter is getting low, turn it into a little superfood treat to take on-the-go!

I’m going to be honest; I didn’t take this on-the-go. I just ate it right at home, BUT I know it would be perfect and convenient to take with you when you’re out and about.

When there’s a couple tablespoons left, don’t bother scraping the edges or the bottom for the last bits of protein.. you can just fill it with clean, wholesome ingredients that will supply energy and good nutrients to your body! Simply add any combination of the following and you’ll have yourself a nice little tasty concoction:

chia seeds*
oats*
cacao nibs*, powder, butter
vanilla* or other flavor extracts
mashed banana
cinnamon*, nutmeg, allspice
hemp seeds
maca powder
ashwagandha powder
lucuma powder
ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oil
soaked and chopped dates* or any other dried fruit you may like
shredded coconut, coconut oil or butter
raw honey* or any other natural sweetener
sea salt*

The ones with an (*) are the ingredients I used in the pictures.

In my opinion, these ingredients are great to keep in the pantry so you can pull them out whenever and make something like this. There are so many other uses for these ingredients including chia porridge, banana ice cream, healthy energy bars/bits/treats (like this one), and homemade dark chocolate. You can look at those pages for more add-in ideas.

The fun part is that this jar mash-up can be used for breakfast, snacking, or dessert depending on the ingredients you put in.. you can either go for a little more hearty or delightfully sweet.

Remember the wet to dry ratio that comes into play when you do any sort of raw or mostly raw bar/bite-type things; add a little of the dry ingredients and a little of the wet, mix and see what the consistency is like. Add more of wet or dry based on what you’re going for. The one I made was like a cookie dough consistency, which was very, very yummy.

THEN you can either make little balls/bites and put them back in the jar to store them or just leave it in there and eat it with a spoon.

Either way, you can reuse the jar and enjoy at your convenience 🙂

ALRIGHT, GO FORTH AND OWN THAT PEANUT BUTTER JAR, EMBRACE THE 3 R’s, AND WORK. THAT. BUTTER-DO.

OVER TO YOU – Am I missing any ingredients you would include? Can you see yourself doing this the next time you running low on some nut/seed butter?

Blessings to you all 🙂 ,

Raw Avocado Lime Soup

February 22, 2015 by Sarah

Have you ever come across raw soups and wondered about them?

They are basically like vegetable smoothies that you eat with a spoon. Many are served chilled, but you can use hot water or keep it blending in a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix) to warm it up a little. Think the idea is kind of weird? Well, sometimes it’s nice to skip the sweet that comes with a smoothie and enjoy something savory, especially if you’re looking for a lunch or dinner idea.

Many raw soups are blended and smooth although you can certainly incorporate ingredients at the end or after blending to make more of a ‘chunky’ soup and give it some texture.

You may blend just the vegetables (like I did in this one) to make it nut-free and not creamy. However, if you’re interested in creamer-izing your soup, just add a handful of soaked cashews to the recipe!

Raw Avocado Lime Soup

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Sarah

Recipe type: Soup

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

½ cucumber
1 avocado
½ red pepper
1 small tomato
1 cup water
Handful of spinach
1 shallot and/or 2 green onions (depending on how onion-y you want it)
juice from ½ lime
salt and cayenne, to taste

Instructions

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. You may use hot water, but I think it tastes better with room temperature or cold water.
Enjoy!

With love,

OMG Sweet Potato Fries

February 18, 2015 by Sarah

Hey, ya’ll, look! I found Mr. Potato Head’s wife!

SWEET Mrs. Potato Head.

Seriously almost as big as my head..

We received this beaut of a vegetable in our weekly farmbox from Good News Farm. I couldn’t wait to slice that baby up and toss it in some oil, spices and into the oven for a blissful snack on one of these freezing Michigan days!!

These are dangerously good; I don’t even know what to call them besides ‘OMG Sweet Potato Fries’ because ‘OMG’ was the only thing that kept coming to mind as I was thoroughly enjoying these. Maybe sweet potato just hits the spot for me, but I have a feeling that I’m not alone and these will be a big success for you too. I actually made only half of the sweet potato at first (for two people), but the fries really cook down quite a bit. I just couldn’t get over how yummy they were so I went ahead and made a second batch with the other half!

Oh, the perks of a human head-sized sweet potato. 🙂

My advice with these is to adapt the spices to your preferences. I really only eyeballed everything so the amounts in the recipe are not exact, but I don’t think they should be. They are merely a jumping off point. Not a huge fan of cinnamon? Tone that one down and add a bit more of something else. Want more of the benefits of turmeric in your life? Then add a little more organic PURE turmeric powder to the mix and call it a heck of a day.

Whatever you do, you’re going to knock it right out of the park! So don’t hesitate to pick up an extra couple sweet potatoes next time you’re out and about 🙂

OMG Sweet Potato Fries

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

35 mins

These sweet potato fries are simple yet irresistible. They are a perfect whole food snack for any time of the day!

Author: Sarah

Recipe type: Snack, Side Dish

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

1 very large sweet potato or 2 medium ones
2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
½ tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven at 350°F.
Slice sweet potato(es) into strips. The thinner they are, the faster they'll cook and more crunchy they'll be on the edges. Sweet potato fries tend to be softer overall, but having thicker cut fries will ensure that they are more chewy, if that's what you desire.
Coat the fries with oil and spices and mix well so all of the fries are covered thoroughly. You can adjust the spices according to personal preferences.
Place on a cookie sheet or baking stone and spread out so none of them are overlapping.
Place in the oven for 30-45 minutes, flipping them over about halfway through. Remember, the baking time really varies depending on how thick or thin you cut your fries. Just keep an eye on them, and take them out when they are golden brown around the edges.

Now, over to you! Is there any other spices you think would be a good on the fries or any additional ideas for all the sweet potato lovers out there?

Enjoy!

Sending warm love your way,

Beginner’s Guide to Homemade Organic Dark Chocolate

February 13, 2015 by Sarah

You know the dreaded moment when you could really go for some dark chocolate and don’t have any stashed in the cupboard?

Well, you can say goodbye to that feeling; you are about to get fancy in your kitchen.

I have to admit that dark chocolate is my favorite indulgence. Hands down. It just hits the spot. And if you are like me, you’ll be glad to know that it’s not hard to make your own. This guide is going to teach you so many new little things about chocolate and chocolate-making.. I even learned quite a bit more than I did before I started writing this!

Let’s talk dark chocolate.

Chocolate is considered dark when there are little to no milk solids added to it and a high percentage (>55-60%) of the ingredients by weight are cacao solids. Cacao solids are any elements of the cacao bean, which could be a liquor, powder or butter. Cacao powder is made by pressing the butter out of the bean and grinding the rest of it into powder. The cacao butter is the fat part, or cold-pressed oil, that comes from the bean and melts at body temperature. Why dark over milk chocolate? Milk has a much lower cacao content than dark; it only has to contain 10% cacao and is instead filled with other ingredients, mostly milk and sugar. Not only is it better to consume less sugar, but most conventional milk chocolates are not made with milk that has come from well-treated cows. Also, the most nutritious part of chocolate is from the actual cacao beans, not milk and sugar.

I absolutely love dark chocolate, and there are some really great brands of chocolate bars out there, some of my favorites being Endangered Species, Green & Black’s Organic, Alter Eco, Equal Exchange Chocolates, Dagoba, and Theo. Whenever I buy dark chocolate, I like to make sure it’s organic and made with fairly traded cacao beans.

So why do I like to make my own? Because I can hand-pick all the ingredients to my liking. That way I can make any kind I desire, which means awesome flavor combinations I might not see in the store. I also prefer to use ingredients that are of high quality so when I make my own I know exactly what kinds of ingredients I’m putting in the batch. And like I mentioned, it’s also very convenient for curbing a dark chocolate craving every once and awhile 😉

The basics.

I suggest using organic ingredients when it is possible; if you’re going to make homemade dark chocolate, you might as well hit it out of the park with some high-quality ingredients! If some things are unaffordable for you, don’t worry. Your bar will still be many times better than a Hershey’s bar. Trust me.

When I make dark chocolate, I use equal parts organic cacao powder and organic cacao butter (usually a 1/2 cup of each) as my cacao components, which constitutes the majority of the bar. I use these two because they they mix very smoothly with each other, and you can easily buy raw powder and butter to make a raw bar. Melt the cacao butter on very low heat. If you want the bar to be truly raw, use a double boiler to melt the butter (bowl or pan inside a pan that has simmered water in it). Sometimes I like to add a small amount of organic coconut oil, like 1 to 2 tsp. Not only do I like the flavor, but I think it gives the chocolate a nice, smooth taste.

Next, pick some sort of sweetener and add it to taste. I use liquid sweeteners because I find that to be the best way to incorporate them into the bar. My first choice is raw honey, and I use about 2 tbsp. of it. You can also use maple syrup, agave nectar or stevia. Molasses is also an option, but I would use that more for flavor and combine it with another sweetener as well. I don’t like to use much heat in the chocolate-making process so when I use some sort of granulated sugar like turbinado, sucanat, rapadura, coconut sugar, etc., the granules don’t melt and just sink to the bottom of the bar. Then you are literally just crunching on sugar granules when it comes time to enjoy the chocolate. You probably could heat it up so that the granules melt, but I just feel like that destroys the delicate properties of the cacao solids. You could also try grinding the natural granulated sugars into a powder using a blender, food processor, or coffee/spice grinder, but it does depend on the type and quality of equipment you have available. It’s always worth experimenting with if you are curious. I might try this with coconut palm sugar soon because it’s so tasty 🙂

You could be done at this point by placing the mixture into a silicone mold or pan lined with wax paper and setting it out to cool. You’d have some solid dark chocolate, and something to be very proud of.

Or you could keep going. AKA add-ins.

This is where it gets fun. REALLY fun. Just as was the case with chia porridge and banana ice cream, there are literally endless combinations of ways you can spice up your chocolate bar. I so thoroughly enjoyed researching this part.

With these, the only advice I’d really give is to eyeball and taste test. There are no exact formulas, this is YOUR chocolate bar. Obviously with strong or unique ingredients, especially spices like cayenne, chipotle, thyme and chilies you’ll want to err on the side of caution and add conservatively. Don’t get carried away, remember you can always add more of something, but can’t really take it out. I would start by trying combinations of things you would like together using two to four ingredients off this list. Don’t be worried about this being an exact science. It’s not. It’s an art!!

I decided to organize the different addition ideas into broad categories. I realize some may belong under a few or come in two forms, but bear with me. Some of these may not be raw, but are great additions regardless.

Spices

Sea salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, cardamom-good for chai flavor, cayenne-with cinnamon is common, chillies, paprika, chipotle, thyme, coffee beans/espresso powder, and turmeric

Extracts -here are some examples, but there are tons out there! I just like to make sure they are organic (I really like this brand). There are also a lot of other good options here. I would add about 1/2 – 1 tsp. depending on how strong you want the flavor to be.

Vanilla (very common), hazelnut, almond, anise, coconut, coffee, lemon, orange, peppermint, and almond

Dried Fruits – I would add about a small/medium-sized handful of dried fruit.

Cherries, blueberries, mangos, currants, cranberries, coconut, mulberries, figs, ginger, apricots, orange peel/zest, goji berries, inca berries, aronia berries, dates, raisins, freeze-dried rasperries or strawberries, or fresh pomegranate arils

Powders/Herbs – If you have not heard of some of these, do a quick Google search to see what they are. The world of herbs is fascinating. Most of these I would just sprinkle in if I were going to use them – probably up to a teaspoon.

Maca, lucuma, ashwagandha, acai, rose hips (dried berries or powder), maqui, spirulina and chlorella-tablets can be ground into powder, carob, mesquite, mangosteen, Siberian Ginseng, burdock, reishi and chaga, echinacea, ginko biloba, hawthorne, cordyceps, fo ti, damiana, horny goat weed, gotu kola, lion’s mane, valerian

Nuts and Seeds – I like to chop up the nuts so they are in smaller pieces before adding them to the bar. You can also soak or sprout them a little too! I would add about the same amount as you would dried berries (small/medium-sized handful).

Hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds-grind into powder for maximum absorption

Grains – Switch it up a little bit!

Crisped/puffed quinoa, granola

I found some great inspiration from the company, Gnosis Chocolates. What a great thing they have going on over there!! If you’d like to see how they combined some of the above ingredients, check out a list of their bars here.

Don’t have very many of these ingredients at home? Check out my page ‘Revamp Your Pantry‘ to see what kinds of ingredients you can acquire at home that will help you make lots of great combinations of whole food dishes and treats like these chocolate bars, chia porridge, banana ice cream, and many more!

Now over to you – I’d love to know what you think about making your own raw organic dark chocolate! Are you excited? Have you tried it before? Do you have any other questions or ideas? Leave a comment below to connect with me 🙂

*Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally and believe will be worthwhile for my readers. If you choose to do so, I appreciate the support to keep Edibly Educated running strong!

January Challenge: Yoga (Balance and Flexibility)

February 8, 2015 by Sarah

The first challenge of the year is complete!

The delay with the video is because of the laaarge amount of footage I captured and had to sift through, hence the longer video duration.

Phew. Glad that’s done.

I know I mentioned it in the video, but I’d like to reiterate and expand. Sometimes I’m not as articulate as I’d like to be when I’m behind the lens 🙂

I think one thing I gained from this challenge, beyond the physical aspect, was a renewed perspective about how change occurs with our bodies. Like I say in the video, I wanted to see rapid progress and whenever I seemed to feel tight or not progressing, I would get a little flustered internally and think that maybe I wasn’t going to see change like I wanted to. I do realize now that our bodies can only do so much sometimes and we have to be patient with the progress even if it’s slow or seems discouraging at times. And we have to love our bodies where they’re at. The more positive we feel about our body and efforts, the more positive experiences and outcomes we will attract into our lives.

I also didn’t mention that I really relaxed after stretching and had a better session when I listened to some peaceful music and focused on my breathing. In the video you can’t tell that I did that much, but I did numerous times and really felt like it made a difference.

I took notes everyday (some days more than others) to reflect on the session and keep track of what happened. Quotes from some of those days are below the video.

Have you started your challenges yet??

1/4 – Did if for a good 30 mins before work. I was nooot feeling good! Feeling a little discouraged and nervous I won’t see enough improvement.

1/5 – Really pretty sick and didn’t stretch. I’m definitely fighting off a yucky virus 🙁

1/10 – I lied down and relaxed after and it was SO PEACEFUL. I forgot how good that feels after. I think I won’t forget again 😉

1/13 – 60 mins. Starting to see some improvement on my splits and other poses. I love my stretching time. It’s hard to start but once I get warmed up, I absolutely love it. Laid down again after. Mmmmmm.

1/16 – Did it for a good 50 mins. Especially worked on forearm handstands and regular ones. Just kept stretching on and off. I love the feeling when you’re done with a stretch. Your legs and muscles feel so relaxed, and it just makes me want to go and do the stretch again to feel that after. I was working a little on ab strength while laying down and that was SO relaxing too! I loved it so much!

1/17 – Stretched for about 35 mins. Sometimes it’s a little discouraging because progress is slow. It’s like I want things to happen overnight and they don’t. Still seeing steady improvement though. Sometimes I wait until 1 AM to do my stretching because for some reason I always want to put it off, but once I start doing it, I remember how much I love it and it’s easy for me to spend a good half hour doing it.

1/18 – I woke up and started to do some row-ups and went on Instagram and saw this yogi girl. It inspired me to go practice my handstands and forearm stands. I’m getting better little by little, but I took a bad fall when my hands were placed too far apart, and hit my knee on the floor really hard.. I guess no pain, no gain! lol

1/20 – BEST STRETCH NIGHT yet I think. I felt so peaceful and relaxed and was just feeling my stretches so much more deeply. It was pure serenity. I was SO encouraged to see my progress and spent a good hour just doing whatever I felt. It was perfect. I think it helped to have the nice calm Pandora station playing. I’m loving this and am so glad I did this challenge. I’m getting much more bendy!!

1/21- Another great night of stretching!! I would say I spend a good hour again, but I also took some videos. I’m loving the progress I’ve made – it’s really encouraging! I’m getting a lot more flexible and a little better at balance. Still really practicing forearm handstands and getting a little better, but those are really tough! I’ve realized calming music and focusing more on my breathing really helps me do a lot better and feel so much more relaxed. It’s awesome! The feeling is so great and my body just feels so good. Especially coming out of a stretch and just laying there. Wish I would’ve done it more sooner.

1/24 – Stretched in the wee hours of the morning and did it for a good hour and 15 mins! I watched videos of Kino MacGregor and really focused on the tough yoga poses part. Realizing I should hold a little longer/breath into the stretch more. I also like having some guidance like with those videos! Even though I’m realizing that it’s hard to get some of these poses in just one month – some people take years to get them – I have definitely seen improvement, and I love it. I hope to dedicate more of my time to this beyond the challenge.

1/26 – I GOT MY SPLITS ON BOTH SIDES!!!! OMG! BEST DAY EVER! WOOO! I spent another hour stretching and watching some videos. It helped a lot and I loved it. I’m so excited!

1/28 – I spent almost an hour (55 minutes I’d say) stretching. It was a tougher one. I couldn’t get my splits as good as the other night, and I can’t fold over as much with my legs open out front. For some reason that one really hurts, the bottom part of my hips where it connects to my legs hurts. I don’t really know why. It’s been hurting a bit so I must be doing something a little off or too quick.

1/31 – Did alright for my last day. Recorded the video and did better on my forearm handstand! Overall, I’m very satisfied with this challenge. I really had to stay dedicated at times and it taught me better self-discipline. It also reminded me of how important and how amazing it feels to just breath and relax along with the stretches. I love the peace it brings me. Can’t wait to keep stretching and working on poses!

Raw Apple Chips

February 5, 2015 by Sarah

Trying to help you re-think snacking over here. Just like with these ‘Best Ever Cheesy Kale Chips‘, snack solutions like these are dynamite.

The other night, my mom and I had a food prep night; we spent some time in the kitchen preparing foods that would be enjoyed throughout the week.

We made two big batches of different soups made with veggies from our FarmBox, raw apple chips, raw exotic (beet, parsnip, sweet potato) chips, and apricot almond chia pudding. Food prep nights make it possible to eat clean, delicious meals throughout the week as they bail you out of those in-a-pinch kind of days. Imagine how nice it is not to have to make dinner and just warm up a homemade soup. Or have breakfast made for two mornings in a row. Or wholesome snacks right at your fingertips.

It’s perty nice. You should try it.

To make this crunchy raw treat, all you need to do is slice the apples thinly (I used the food processor-total time saver), flavor them up with lemon and spices, and then place them in the dehydrator.

If you do not have a dehydrator, do not fret for a minute; baked apple chips are still certainly a heck of a lot better than Lay’s! You can bake the apples at 200°F for an hour on each side. I read that you can leave them in the oven after you turn it off to help them get a little extra crunchy.

Because it is necessary to crunch on these chips loud and proud. 😉

Raw Apple Chips

These are the perfect light and crunchy snack!

Author: Sarah

Recipe type: Snacks

Ingredients

5 organic apples
juice from 1 lemon
cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, to taste

Instructions

Core the apples and place them through the food processor to make chip slices.
Place all ingredients in the bowl and mix so everything is distributed evenly throughout.
Place in the dehydrator at 110 degrees overnight or for about 8-10 (until very dry).
Store in an airtight glass container.

Enjoy!

An Herb to Combat Stress + Stess-Reducing Apricot Almond Chia Porridge Recipe

February 1, 2015 by Sarah

Stress represents our reaction to the factors that offset our mental and physical equilibrium; you know, what we feel when life gets too busy, messy, or taxing at times. Unfortunately, stress not only worsens health problems, it can also cause them. The negative effects of stress on the body are unique and vary greatly from person to person, but are very much so present regardless. To a certain extent, we can try and reduce stress in our lives, but we all may experience some form of it, as we cannot control everything that happens to us. Sometimes we may need a little assistance with coping or working through certain struggles in life.

Enter ashwagandha.

This night-shade plant, particularly the root, has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. Ayurveda is an ancient holistic medical system that originated in India and is centered on the importance of balance and harmony between the body, mind, and spirit.

Compounds found in ashwagandha act as a sedative and help to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. “Indian Ginseng”, as it’s sometimes referred, is considered an adaptogen, or a healing plant that equips your body to better handle stress. Both Ginseng and Ashwagandha, although not from the same plant family, are hailed to fight stress, the former through stimulation and the latter, tranquility. Ashwagandha has been shown to be successful in reducing overall stress levels in participants in various different studies and has also been attributed to protecting the brain from neural tension and possibly reconstructing nerve cell components. Recent studies have even shown that its extracts may also possess anti-cancer properties. Ashwagandha root or root powder can be purchased online or at health food stores; the root can be used to make tinctures and tea, while the powder can be used to make capsules. You can also buy pre-made capsules from many different places online and in stores as well. In the West, it is not advised to take ashwagandha while pregnant. The root powder can also be added to foods like smoothies, juices and chia porridge. This recipe combines Aswaghanda, Maca and Lucuma with dried apricots, coconut milk and almonds for a filling, nutritious adaptogenic dish. The dried apricots soak up the milk and become plump and tart while the almonds add a nice crunch. Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit that can be dried into a fine powder and used as a low-glycemic sweetener. It has a maple-like flavor, and it’s not necessary to add to this recipe, but we had some in the cupboard so I thought I would add it for some extra flavor and nutrients – beta-carotene, iron and niacin (vitamin B3) in particular. Maca is another gem from Peru although it’s not a fruit, it’s a root vegetable. Ironically, it’s sometimes referred to as ‘Peruvian Ginseng’ and may be beneficial for hormone function. It may also help improve adrenal fatigue and reduce stress hormones as well. Maca should not be taken while pregnant.

Stress-Reducing Apricot Almond Chia Porridge

Author: Sarah

Ingredients

2 bananas, mashed
¼ cup chia seeds
¾ cup coconut milk
10 dried apricots, diced/quartered
small handful of almonds, soaked overnight
1 tsp. maca powder
1 tsp. lucuma powder
1 tsp. ashwaghanda powder
½ tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

Combine all of the ingredients besides the almonds and mix well. Let sit for a few hours or overnight.
Let almonds soak overnight and chop up in the morning. Place chopped almonds on top of or mix into porridge.

With love,

Note: Ashwagandha has varying effects on different people. Some people notice a difference from consuming it, some do not, and others may experience side effects. You should always consult your physician before trying any new supplements, especially if you have other health conditions. This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.