Super Scrumptious Shredded Lunch – Kohl Rabi, Beetroot & Apple re-creation

Super indeed, packed with nutrition, I just loved being creative on this one, very satisfying!

Again, yep, I did, I made way too much food for us so some was left over and obviously being too good to waste, the salad from the dinner was stored as Mom’s lunch for the following day.

I hadn’t really put much thought into spicing up the previous nights dish with additional flavours and textures as it was so delicious the way it was that it nearly got eaten before I suddenly realised how delicious and even more healthy this would be with a few sprinkles of added magic from the cupboard.

Basically you can make your very own, adding whatever you love or have in the pantry.

First I started with adding Moringa Leaf Powder as its like pure life or something and I love the idea of getting that inside me, then came the Chia seed, Pumpkin seeds and gourmet seed mix oh yes they rock and then the dish nearly got eaten again before I had the urge for a bit more crunch so out came the powerhouse bread crumbs and pow, omgoodness, very very very tasty.

No skimping on lunch time here!

 

Advertisement

A must try – simple & scrumptious, shredded Kohl Rabi, Beetroot and Apple side salad.

Wow! The taste is divine. It’s totally different to what I expected!

For my first time eating a meal containing beetroot, this is now a must have regular side dish here in the kitchn. Betroot is yummy! Yummy yummy yummy!
This dish is incredibly simple (and fun) to make, it’s totally raw, organic, fresh and vegan and it truly tastes delicious. I am so thankful to my beautiful friend for gifting me this recipe 🙂
With absolutely no cooking involved and no need for sauces what could be more perfect for light summer food than this satisfying and taste bursting salad.

Requirements (adapt quantity to your preference):

– 1 Apple

– ½ Kohl Rabi
– 1 Beetroot
– Squeeze of Lemon
– Sprinkle of salt
– Shredder or grater
– Bowl & Spoon & Knife

Method:

1. Wash and peel the fruit and veg
2. Shred / grate the Kohl Rabi and the Apple first then shred the beetroot after
3. Pile it up, take a picture for your own food blog 😉
4. Gently mix ingredients into a bowl
5. Season lightly with a little Lemon for a slight zing and a pinch of Salt to combine and release flavours (if desired)
6. Plate it up alongside your main dinner ingredients or just eat as a light meal for lunch
7. Intensely devour with extreme compassion for each mouthful. It’s a true taste of God.

 

Try it yourself and see. Be brave, be bold and discover a new world within your reach.

Chocolate Diversity – Raw, Organic, Homemade & Healthy

Once you realise just how easy it is to create your own Chocolate bars you then realise just how fun it is to create diverse combinations of delicious flavour to add to them. There’s so many choices, I added more and more even after I had photographed all the ingredients! It’s all down to personal preference and availability of produce. Using a base of raw, organic Cacao, Butter, Lucuma, Coconut Sugar and Vanilla I then had a dig in my brimming cupboard and let my mind run free and impulsive over mixing up different combos of magical fruits, nuts and super powders from Walnuts to Acai powder, chopped Mulberries to Hemp flour and if the pantry was fully loaded the possibilities are infinite. How fun being an in home chocolatier is! I totally recommend it for all. Share the love. Its definitely in the School planner for a regular cooking lesson for the kids, although it literally takes a short while to produce such finery, its method from start to finish has enjoyable stages (i.e making the bain marie, melting the butter, the moulds, adding cool stuff) that differ to the average sweet food production of sweets, cakes, biscuits etc making it a truly unique and sacred food creation method. By following this way you can really feel the pleasure of Chocolate at its fullest (energy boosting, happiness enhancing, so scrummy) whilst it being highly beneficial to your health. Unlike the regular ready-made bar you usually find in the stores, you will really be nutritionalised when crafting for yourself this way with no ill after effects. The usual conception of a ‘chocolate bar’ is unhealthy, full of sugar, artificial (often dangerous)or a guilty pleasure and these all ring true for approximately 90% of street choc so people tend to avoid it like the plague or deeply indulge with huge feels of guilt and self-disappointment thus giving Cacao; true chocolate) a bad name! Well its about time we switched things up, changed this incorrect view of cacao and brought chocolate in to its rightful illumination as a heathy and dare I say vital food for humans. Raw cacao (not cocoa) instantly releases happiness and lifts energy and isn’t in anyway bad for human health so there should be no hesitance or guilt surrounding it. Now i know the trueness of Cacao and can speak from living experience of its beneficial factors, I think its important to re-introduce chocolate to people and the market through sharing the true factual knowledge, removing the mask which has formed along the lines and reveal Chocolate for its true nutritional values, educating everyone to optimum health through one of the most delicious and pleasurable ways. To find out how to make a simple base chocolate see my previous Cacao post. Once you have made up your base, before it sets, mix in your favourite super health boosting foods and create your very own personalised chocolate bars, buttons, shapes, drops etc. depending on the moulds you have to the level of fun achieved. Heck, you could even carve writing or doodle flowers in it with a knife while its setting if you’re feeling really arty! Food Fun Now! With this batch we went a little nutty with the combos but its worked and just knowing the pure goodness in each bar makes them the most delicious chocolates I ever tasted. This time we combined and added to 4 different bars to cater for the family we’re having over this weekend:

Almond, Hemp & Walnut                                                        2 types of raw chopped nuts with raw hemp flour This is definitely a favourite as it’s got the crunch

 

Blueberry and Cinnamon                                               Raw Fruit and herb powders combined Provides a smoother sweetness

 

Incan Berries, Mulberries and Strawberry                                                   2 types of chopped raw dried berries with raw dried Strawberry powder Wow the textures, the tastes, if only the batch was bigger!

 

Acai, Coconut and Moringa                                    Combination of powders. Look out optimum health, yum, yum, yummy! Jumping Jupiter who would put that lot together but yes it works, from one flavour to the next here’s a creamy tasting bar I will definitely be making again!

Wow what a greatly pleasing, inexpensive and satisfying experience this was, this will be a very regular occurrence in this house. I urge you to go out (buy online) the organic essential ingredients for Chocolate making (or blend them up if you already have them) and spice up your very own bar today! Enjoy 🙂

Chocolate Cherry & Strawberry Sanctuary Dipped Delight – Chocolate Fruit

Chocolate Cherry & Strawberry Sanctuary Dipped Delight – Chocolate Fruit

It’s not complex, it’s just a great idea!
In addition to the Raw Organic Chocolate making post that I recently wrote, I would love to share just how delicious Raw Cacao tastes with fresh Fruits.
I absolutely adore my new found love for real chocolate and simply cannot think of a fruit I do not like so putting the two together is just splendid!
After making the chocolate I simply dipped the fruit into the mix before allowing it to set and placed the fruit on a plate. Granted, this is not the most effective or best way to do them as I found out in the process but what the hell it tastes too good for worries the first time round so just enjoy however they turn out!

I would recommend dipping the fruit into the cacao mix as soon as it is ready so it’s still as molten as possible, then with a spatula round off the bottom for more aesthetic pleasure and for a smoother glide on ones tongue.
I would also recommend sitting the fruits upside down once coated so the chocolate doesn’t stick to the plate and dry in a funny form (unless that’s what you are going for of course).
Leave it to set in the fridge for around 15-30 minutes and voila there you have the most mouth wateringly sweet juicy fruits enriched with added scrummy healthiness.

On this occasion I used Strawberries and Cherries but literally any fruit will be uplifted by this technique! If you want to use large fruits for snack purposes I would advise chopping them into bite size chunks before dipping.
Both fresh fruits and raw Cacao are exceedingly good for our health boosting it to optimum levels with effects you can feel almost instantly. This dish is great for snacking, especially great for guests and is just delightful as a pudding for the whole family after a hearty meal.
If you’re feeling super creative and have enough food why not try these ingredients + whatever else takes your fancy in the blender for smoothie making time?! Let me know how that goes as, although I am extremely keen on  the idea of smoothies (especially green choc ones), I am still yet to experiment along that path. Maybe this week I’ll do granola bars and smoothies, who knows what will come. Living in the now.

 

Organic Raw Chocolate Natural Homeschooling Cooking Lesson

Monday morning’s class this week began in the most magical of ways. The Sun was booming in through the kitchen, the whole family was happy and the love was strong.
After a most healthy breakfast my children and I set about our homeschool for the day. The topic for the morning was cooking and as my children are young toddlers this was going to be our first real encounter with using the oven and quite a daunting one at that!
Nevertheless we began. Making raw Cacao Chocolate was to be the first set of culinary skills my children would acquire. Great start right!
As i had never done this before either it was a new, paleo technique i was to master also! How, simple, quick and easy it was, not forgetting to mention how deliciously potent the aromas are.
The kids got stuck right in and loved stirring the butter until it melted, this was a little lesson in patience and how to stir at the same time. As soon as it started to melt my eldest knew ‘chocolate, chocolate, chocolate’ was coming testing the virtue of patience further! Further through the process they both loved being in control of the spoon, minding not to touch the hot bowl and pan.
Their favourite part of making the mix was tasting it from the spoon and bowl and covering their hands and faces in it. It was a extreme chocolately mess and we all loved it! It was definitely a hit in this kitchen and one to be practiced  much more often as the list of ingredients that can be added is almost infinite. Such fun! We loved health-packed superfoods!

Nowadays when we think of Cacao, where the reality of our western culture has been so far obscured, its all too easy to fall under the influence of chocolate being full of sugar and not very good for our health but this is far from the raw truth and actually only has any connection to the readily available, heat treated, sugar laced / artificially enhanced types!
Natural Organic Raw Cacao Chocolate is nutritionally beneficial to our health and deeply satisfying  for our system holistically in so many ways, all you need to do is ingest a small amount to truly feel the full effects of its divine power.

Benefits of Raw Cacao Chocolate:
+ High Magnesium (happiness & stamina booster)
+ High Sulphur (known for healthy nail and hair growth whilst being cleansing to the liver and pancreas)
+ High in antioxidants (disease prevention)
+ Diminishes appetite (perfect for snacking / sees you through hunger gaps)
+ Tantalizes taste buds (joy for the mouth!)
+ Combines with every other food you can think of

As well as being totally amazing for your mind and body Cacao Chocolate is an awesome party piece and a brilliant talking point. Since learning just how easy it is to make I vow now to spread the word to all I know, gifting my dearest friends and family with starter kits to create their own so the love can truly be felt and cast far and wide.
We bought a beautifully made, simple, basic, standard, organic Chocolate making kit and added a few of our own ingredients from the cupboard to give added yum.

Requirements:

Heatproof Bowl
Saucepan
Spoon / Spatula
Oven top
Moulds
Cocoa Powder 100g
CocoaButter 100g
3g Vanilla Powder
100ml Agave Syrup

Optional / additional:

1tsp Acai Berry Powder
1tsp Blueberry Powder
2tsp Hemp Flour

Method:

• First put about 1/3 saucepan of water on to heat, no need fr it to boil. Place in your glass / heatproof inside the pan to flaoat and there you have created your own bain marie if you don’t already have one.
• Next add all the Cacao Butter and gently stir until just melted.
• Then add all the vanilla powder and keep stirring until totally blended. You may add the additional ingredients if desired, mixing until blended.
• After this add all of the Cacao Powder and mix until smooth.
• Last ingredient to be added is the Agave Syrup, using the full bottle mic for around 101 stirs hen you shall see it totally blended.
• Pour out the molten chocolate into your desired molds and allow to set in the fridge for around 15-30 minutes depending on fridge temp and depth of molds. I recommend using a high quality rubber mold as it will be easier to pop out and wont leave as much of the chocolate behind.
• Enjoy! (Compulsory)
  

Once you try this method and understand how simple and beautiful it is crafting your on chocolate snacks you will never look at chocolate the same again!

By creating your own blocks, bars or slabs you can be truly as diverse as you feel in that moment using whichever additional ingredients that you like. Using superfood berries really makes these chocolate bars very, very healthy for you! Really. Body and mind, a whole feeling of well-being is achieved from just a small amount. Now i know how, there is no stopping me making homemade chocolates for our family every time they are craved!

I hope yours turns out as amazing as ours 🙂

Acid Tongue: Attack of the Pineapples!

I’m sure we’ve all experienced the tingling sensation felt sometimes from eating Pineapple, you know what I mean right? Usually on the roof of the mouth?
Well…on this occasion, for my Son and I, was an extremely severe tingling sensation! So intense that I am left with a burn to the corner of my lips over 3 days later and we both experienced soreness and redness immediately after eating. The roof of my mouth, not so much but the corners of my lips and the sides of my tongue…ouch, and bless my Boy, he has it around his mouth too and an odd line above his chin. Very strange indeed!

As mentioned I had experienced these tingling symptoms before when eating Pineapple so when I discovered this burning it got me thinking about why / how this time was different. What was it about this Pineapple that created such an intense reaction? The first thing that came into my mind was the ripeness of the fruit, it was very ripe, so initially i just put it down to this assuming more acid were present.

After studying my mouth and my Sons burns I decided I needed to research further what was going on. I browsed around the net until I found a site I felt I could trust. Here it mentioned  the enzyme in Pineapple called Bromelain. This Plant Protease actually breaks down protein and immediately the connection made sense, it was indeed breaking my mouth down! In the same particular article it mentioned that the enzyme was more concentrated in the core of the fruit, usually I would cut this out but this time we ate the whole lot so this too added up.

Studies then continued to reveal the same thing, cut out the middle! Wash the cut Pineapple first. Even further research showed that the riper fruit the less acid it actually contains (gulp!) I cant imagine what my face would be like if it wasn’t so soft!
I must say we did over indulge in the amount consumed this time so this also had a roll to play here. Don’t eat copious amounts and eat it with other foods that can coat the tongue.

Wow, Pineapple really is one to watch out for!
Well Life’s about learning and oh yes Mamma learned the hard way…again…this will be the last time I’m attacked by a beasty Pineapple for sure!

Healthy and Energising snack: Cacao stuffed Apricots

 

I have found that when offering raw Cacao nibs to loved ones, to promote and encourage optimum health for all, that the response is often too predictable and their faces say it all! Unless you are a custom to the real beauty behind the harsh taste of these nibs the taste can somewhat be, shall we say, a tad overpowering! Therefore i devised a cunning and yummy plan to get the goodness into my family and friends when they visit, wrap the nibs in something else healthy that will sweeten and Apricots really do the job I hoped they would. They deeply give the cacao sweetness and encase the crunch in a smooth, fleshy coating making them more pleasant to chew (debatable – I love the raw crunch – not many others seem to though!) and easier to consume.
With both of these ‘super-foods’ boasting health benefits by being high in antioxidants this snack is perfect for an energy boost and is great for a quick bite when time just isn’t there. Apricots providing us with Beta Carotene, Vitamin C, Fiber, Copper and Potassium make them a perfect booster high in nutrients.
Theobroma Cacao nibs are definitely foods from the Gods indeed, being high in magnesium, known to boost your happiness and stamina, high in sulphur, known for healthy nail and hair growth whilst being cleansing to the liver and pancreas. Cacao is also higher in antioxidants, around 40 times more so than that of Blueberries! Known to diminish appetite this little snack will really see you through your mid morning / noon peckish times (and they taste awesome too!)

A real powerhouse snack available at a minimal price if you have the  ingredients in your cupboard. If not, both can be purchased together for very fair prices. Make a few up in an air tight container and they are great for travelling to.

I will always recommend you choose organic produce to ensure the healthiest foods possible although eating these foods organic or non organic is much better than not eating them at all!

To make these are really as simple as it seems.

You will need:

• Dried Apricots
• Raw Cacao Nibs
• Teaspoon

Method:

• Take a dried Apricot and unfold it or slice it
• Using a teaspoon scoop half a teaspoon or how ever much you feel appropriate (amount varies depending on size of fruit) of Raw Cacao Nibs and stuff them inside the Apricot
• Fold the Apricot to encase the Cacao and there you have it a delicious and highly vigorous snack

That’s convenience food at its best.

Once you’ve tried it you can share the passion I guarantee you will feel with your loved ones too. Helping to make the World a truly healthier and happier place!