Magic Mornings Smoothie

As you know if you have been keeping up with us here at PeaceCrafting, we are totally raw and organic superfood manic and love to try new things especially if they are packed with superfoods!

I am slowly getting to know more and more of the named superfoods and my ‘pantry’ cupboard is now starting to look like the shelves in the local health store, expensive but yay!! Can’t put, a price on your children’s health right? I mean once your ethics agree with something you can’t just ignore it can you? If you’re like me you’ll get an icky sensation until you iron out the creases and follow yourself fully (seems to be the answers to all problems but that’s another post ;).

Besides family and nature, food has become my biggest passion over the last couple of years, well since I discovered the poison Aspartame actually and its disgraceful abundance in the public food market. More recently, since following a strictly vegan lifestyle, I have become obsessed with health and exactly what goes into my children. Respect for life and following the word being the main objective.

This is the first official smoothie to be worthy of a post, admittedly I was slightly daunted and put off by smoothies as I ignorantly thought they needed a tonne of fruit which would be a) a serious health problem for me and b) totally out of our budget so I shyed away and just didn’t do any. Recently my health has taken a turn for the worst which is extremely hard for me to accept and amend but I am determined to make the needed changes and sacrifice everything I am used to, surrendering to the will of God. Good thing I do have a fetish for Sauerkraut then.

All jokes aside it is time to switch out the overly sweet breakfasts and get in touch with these magic leaf powders that will actually help to heal me.

Yes this smoothie does contain 2 fruits that are high in fat and probably well over my fructose limit for the day but in my eyes it was a good start, albeit the wrong time of the moon…look out February New Moon your energy is mine! Anyways this little lot made me feel amazing and gave me a magic glow which definitely supressed all hunger until lunch time when the thought of more leaves (Bergamot & Rocket Topped Salad for Lunch) in the form of rocket popped up so yes it was awesome and I felt amazing as I didn’t have 3 breakfasts today! I could really and truly feel the natural high and happiness gifted from this elixir and I am overjoyed I decided to give it a go!

Sound good? Then why not get the taste of what was coming out of my blender this morning…

Magic Mornings Smoothie – Recipe Ingredients: 

1x organic Fair Trade Banana
1/4 x organic Riverford Avocado
1 tbsp raw organic Superfoodies Cacao powder
1 tbsp raw organic Superfoodies Moringa Leaf Powder
1 tbsp raw Minvita Mulberry Leaf Powder
1 tbsp raw organic Minvita Baobab Powder + 400ml Cold Water

Chop the banana and avocado and add all the ingredients into a blender. Use on full power for about 1 minute. Serve and enjoy. So good!

Let me know what you think 🙂

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Organic Orange Zest Cacao Chip – No Cook Cookies

Who says you need an oven to make cookies? Just look at these beautiful babies! These are possibly the yummiest raw snacks I have ever made, so good! Wait until you try them 😊
If you are looking for a way to make delicious cookies that don’t require cooking then you have come to the right place.
I make Almond milk all the time and am forever fussing over what I can create with the pulp, not wanting to waste it. If you have been following this blog you will see all the wonderful snack balls that are possible to make from left over Almond pulp but today I was inspired by a recipe I got through with a delivery of Love and suddenly got the urge to be creative. Also having made the boys Orange shakes I had some Orange pulp to use too. Having absolutely no ingredients from the cookie recipe that came through, bar the Himalayan Sea Salt, I was still determined to finally make some healthy natural organic cookies that rock, so that is exactly what I did!

To make these no cook cookies the ingredients required are:

1 cup Organic Almond Pulp
The pulp from 2 Organic Oranges
1/2 cup Organic Coconut Powder
1 Organic Banana
3 tblsp Raw Organic Cacao Nibs
2/3 tblsp Organic Agave Syrup
3 chopped Organic Figs
1 tsp Organic Açai Powder
1 tsp Organic Maca Powder
2 tsp Organic Chia Seeds
1 tsp Organic Orange Zest
A pinch of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

The method is this:

1) Mix together the Almond & Coconut
2) Mash the Banana until it is liquidated
3) Chop the Figs as small as you can
4) Grate the Orange Peel
5) Add all the ingredients together in one bowl and mix thoroughly until it looks as even as you can get it – I used my clean hands
6) Roll it into a large ball then separate it into smaller balls, flatten it out and round into cookie shapes
8) Place into a very cold fridge for at least 2 hours to allow it to set
9) Enjoy!

Last point is crucial!

I really hope this method of making cookies inspires you to indulge in other raw food methods as much as first learning the ways did me. Raw foods have changed my life gifting me useful knowledge to have.

Here’s to health.

Berry Boulder Bombs – Homemade Healthy Raw Snacks

They’re big, they’re bad and they are back! Woah I just couldn’t help myself from resisting making another batch of health bombs and this time I have almost doubled them in size as I kept opening the fridge for another one and well bigger is just more economical here!
Who knew snacks were readily available just like that and totally raw…I’m more than happy, just need to curb the moderation and respect, happiness helps (thanks to Saffron for this morning’s boost)!
So previously I made Coconut rolled Goji bombs and ate the whole lot in like 36 hours as my kids didn’t like them and when I’m down or stressed I eat!…a lot! They were delicious and so easy to make, besides being fun, next time the kids can help and it can become a fun activity, rolling the balls, chopping the berries etc. they don’t seem to like Coconut so we’ll try a different mix perhaps this one although I feel it maybe too dark for them as the Cacao penetrates through the other flavours.
This time I was pondering on what to do with the leftover Almond pulp from the milk I had just made and you know me by now I just can’t stand waste so I needed something to do with this mountain of Almondness, I remembered I have a very dear friend who writes about and cooks (or doesn’t cook) the most amazingly inspirational dishes so I thought I’d see what ideas she had as I am new to the real food lifestyle and I’m so glad I did. She’s awesome at making the most simple of dishes into the most magical, every time, especially raw ones. And through her inspiration I decided not to make an Almond & Cacao butter but to try a different type of snack ball. Yay! With a little tweaking and experimenting it worked wonderfully, tasting sweet and holding together just right. I recommend 1/3 cup Almond milk here as I actually used about ½ and it’s proven a little too much. Live and learn ey!

Here’s my recipe.

Requirements:

1 Mixing Bowl
2 CUPS Almond Pulp
1/3 CUP Almond Milk
1/3 CUP Millet Flour
1/3 CUP Coconut Butter
1 tblsp Cacao Powder
1 tblsp Hemp Flour
1 tblsp Milled Chia Seed & Blueberry Powder
½ tblsp Passion Fruit Dry Extract
13 dried Incan Berries

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together.
Roll into balls. Roll into extra Chia seed.
Put them on a plate and place in the fridge overnight to set.

It really is that simple.

but watch out…a moment on the lips really is a lifetime on the hips with these bad boys!

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 🙂

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!