Pak Choi is back!

Boy am I glad to say that!

This member of the cruciferous family, at an average of around 105mg of Calcium per 100g of raw Pak Choi, is a delicate source of greens, truly an Asian treasure. A treasure that was definitely on this weeks list! That level of Calcium is ranking higher than Broccoli per 100g and seeing as this veg is also rich in Vitamin C it is most definitely therefore making its into my families meal times wherever possible. I just love raw food and discovering the true goodness of the Chinese cabbage really made me listen in and focus (well try to, given the stage of the moon we are in).
Our source of Pak Choi comes from Riverford Organic Farms where it arrives in a beautiful, clean, well packed condition.
Pak Choi is a delicious addition to any meal and can be enjoyed lightly cooked (steamed or lightly stir fried) or eaten raw in salads where this vegetable holds the most nutritional value. It has smooth and tender, large, thin leaves on a crunchy stalk with a mild ‘green’, pleasant and earthy taste.
I used some tonight in a soup where a habanero totally drowned any other flavour out so I took an after nibble sometime later and in fact after actually trying Pak Choi raw on its own again, has reminded me how wonderful this cabbage can be in a salad and with my new style of salad I am sure it will go down a treat for tomorrows testings.
Also known as Bok Choy and several other names this leafy wonder is booming full of nutrients containing high levels of Vitamins A, C and B-6 whilst also gifting small amounts of Iron and Magnesium, providing us with a healthy boost of brain and body functioning power!
I can roll with that, it is such a handsome veggie after all!

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Homemade Raw Snack Balls

Next batch of Coconut milk, water and oil done…now what to do with all this left over Coconut pulp, it can’t simply go to waste, even after three times in the nut bag it still must have some use…yay…it does! Wow looking for a healthy filling snack, well here we are, just remember it is Coconut and you will wear it around your waist! Introducing Mamma’s Pulp Balls!
How cool and resourceful are these. Make your Coconut milk and with the left over pulp, just add a small amount of your desired liquid, a little natural sweetener, nuts, berries, seeds or whatever else takes your fancy and there you have a full batch of healthy snacks. Now that’s making the most of what you have an not wasting a thing, ok so it means another 30 bicycle crunches per 3 balls but hey when you need a snack, you need a snack and being this yummy and nutritional let’s face it there is a lot worse out there. Moderation now!
And yummy they are, this was my first batch and I kept it quite simple using Coconut Milk, Coconut Oil, Agave Syrup, Goji berries and an extra few magic powders that I had on hand, I rolled it all into balls then rolled each ball in desiccated Coconut just to be really Coconutty, placed them on a plate…(ate a few)…then popped them in the fridge to set.
They are so cute and they really set off my creative flare as they have to be the most versatile snack out there. What to use?  What to combine? The possibilities really are endless and I was still having fun making different types yesterday out of Almond pulp…that’s in a follow up post.
I totally recommend at least 12-18 hours in a very cold fridge to get the perfect density going on here, if you have a freezer, I’ve heard a while in there works a treat and if you just can’t wait and don’t mind a lil softness, heck they are raw snack balls, dig straight in!

We are all looking for sweet indulgences that won’t leave us with the guilt of that being unhealthy right? Well these babies do just that, although they contain quite a lot of healthy fats and may plump you up a bit, you can be assured that they are totally nutritional in a beneficiary way. Sweet snacks that are good for you seize the day!

Being resourceful in this way means you are being eco-friendly and respectful of food by re-using and creating no waste. It means you will save loads of money on bought-in snacks too as the pulp from one batch of milk makes a large batch of balls. You can change it up any which way you want using different pulps, milks, waters and oils/butters/fats which means you have your own custom homemade snacks for life at an extremely low cost…providing you don’t let the binge monster take over that is 😉

I’m thrilled to have discovered this new raw and totally vegan way to make deliciously satisfying snacks and I urge you to try your very own and then pass it on so everyone can see just how simple and cost effective natural healthy food really can be.

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 🙂