HOT CHAGA with carob, cinnamon and cayenne

I get the feeling this recipe may need a little introducing.

Here's the deal. I love hot chocolate however on some days it can make me a bit jittery especially when I'm feeling overwhelmed or stressed and is no bueno as an evening drink, which is generally when I get the hankering.

As does happen most of the time, problems offer us a place to be creative and resourceful.

This is my version of evening hot chocolate. Made with carob powder [chaco look-a-like], chaga mushrooms [immune booster!], ashwagandha [relax and rest], triphala [tri-doshic powerhouse] and few other more recognizable ingredients.

What I love about this drink is it's calming quality and sink-into-a-chair-with-a-good-book-and-fire invitation.

If you're curious and want to give it a try, you can find the ingredients [local to me] at Global Infusion, your local health foods store or online through Mountain Rose Herbs.

Cheers!

[THE RECIPE] 

1/4 cup roasted carob powder
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon chaga mushroom powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ashwagandha powder
1 teaspoon triphala powder
2 large pinches of smoked [opt.] sea salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in dry blender container, spice or coffee grinder. Blend on high until a fine powder is achieved.

Mix one tablespoon of blend per every eight ounces of boiling water or warmed milk of choice.

Top with additional cinnamon, cardamom and/or homemade marshmallows.

PUDDING 3 WAYS: CHOCOLATE + CAROB + KEY LIME

So pudding. We love pudding in this house. I mean all caps and in italics LOVE pudding. For the longest time I tried to find a pudding recipe that maintained the texture and flavor of the traditional but with a bit of added virtue. Meaning I wanted a pudding I could eat any day, all day without an ounce of guilt. Okay maybe not all day but definitely without the guilt. At the time I couldn't find any so, in frustration [desperation?], I started experimenting.

From this came two recipes. And we love them both.

The first I created specifically for my youngest child who is allergic [hives and all] to cacao / cocoa / chocolate. I know, the horror right?! No way was I going to make pudding for the rest of us and keep it from her. Come to find out it's delicious and we all love it! It's sweetener free, using dates in place of syrup, honey, or sugar. I add coconut oil to boost the healthy fat content but this isn't necessary and can be cut if fat is a concern. Oh and for the record, this is not a low-fat treat. But "low fat" has become a bit of a swear word in some circles anyway and it is packed with healthy fats!

The second recipe is for any pure chocolate lovers [or in my 4 year-old's words "chocolate monsters"]. Adding less maple syrup and / or more cacao will place it in the realm of dark chocolate and adding more syrup and less cacao brings it closer to milk chocolate in flavor.

We like to experiment with different natural flavors: almond, hazelnut, peppermint, and coconut. Adding toasted coconut flakes as a garnish is amazing. Top either pudding with berries, whipped coconut cream [see recipe below], or toasted nuts. Add a tablespoon of seed or nut butter for a peanut butter-chocolate blend. The options are endless which means you can try something different every day!

The beauty with simple recipes using versitile ingredients is once you've made them a few times over you can really get creative. For example, the other night I whipped up a key lime version [listed below] using many of these ingredients.

[CAROB + DATE PUDDING]

2 ripe avocados
8 - 10 dates, pitted
boiling water
3 - 4 T. carob powder
1 T. unrefined / raw / extra virgin coconut oil, soft but not melted [optional]
pinch of sea salt
pinch of cinnamon

Place dates in a glass cup or jar [Ball jars work great] and add boiling water until dates are just covered. Set aside for 10 - 20 minutes so soak. Cut avocados in half, remove pit, and scoop out flesh into a blender or food processor. Add carob powder, coconut oil, sea salt, and cinnamon. When dates are finished soaking and soft pour dates and water into the blender or food processor. Blend on high until mixture is thick and very smooth. Transfer to a glass bowl, cover and refrigerate to stiffen. You can also enjoy immediately!

[CACAO + MAPLE SYRUP PUDDING]

2 ripe avocados
1/8 - 1/4 c. unrefined / raw / extra virgin coconut oil, soft but not melted [less oil makes a softer pudding, more oil makes a more fudge-like pudding after refrigeration]
1/4 - 1/3 c. maple syrup, local if available [start with the smaller amount and add to taste if needed]
3 T. raw cacao powder [or cocoa powder]
pinch sea salt
pinch of cinnamon

Cut avocados in half, remove pit, and scoop out flesh into a blender or food processor. Add coconut oil, maple syrup, cacao or cocoa powder, sea salt, and cinnamon. Blend on high until mixture is thick and very smooth. Transfer to a glass bowl, cover and refrigerate to stiffen. You can also enjoy immediately!

Note: If you serve immediately the texture will be standard pudding-like. If you refrigerate, the texture becomes more fudge like. Both are delicious!

[KEY LIME PUDDING]

2 ripe avocados
2 - 3 T. unrefined / raw / extra virgin coconut oil, soft but not melted [less oil makes a softer pudding, more oil makes a more fudge-like pudding after refrigeration]
1/4 - 1/3 c. maple syrup, local if available [start with the smaller amount and add to taste if needed]
1/2 - 1 whole lime, juiced
pinch sea salt

Cut avocados in half, remove pit, and scoop out flesh into a blender or food processor. Add coconut oil, maple syrup, fresh lime juice, and sea salt. Blend on high until mixture is thick and very smooth. Transfer to a glass bowl, cover and refrigerate to stiffen. You can also enjoy immediately!

Note: If you serve immediately the texture will be standard pudding-like. If you refrigerate, the texture becomes more fudge like. Both are delicious!

[COCONUT WHIPPED TOPPING]

To make coconut whipped cream: place a can of regular coconut milk in the fridge to separate. To test, gently shake the can slowly. If you hear liquid, continue to refrigerate. If you don't it is ready.  When ready, carefully remove lid and scoop out just the solid coconut cream. Reserve the coconut liquid [water] for smoothies, jello, or another recipe.

Place coconut cream in a bowl and add a tablespoon or two of maple syrup [if sweet whipped topping is desired], the contents of a scraped vanilla bean or a large pinch of vanilla powder [optional], and a pinch of sea salt. Whip on high for a minute or so until soft peaks that hold their shape have formed. Place whipped cream in a glass bowl, cover, and refrigerate 30 - 60 minutes to set.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND OTHER SWEET TREATS

Okay, it's Valentine's Day, you had to know love-something was coming. Stay with me for a minute or two and I promise some yummy recipes at the end.

Since becoming a parent, I am realizing God outfitted us with a certain little mechanism that makes it impossible - I mean pull your hair out, cross your eyes, scream into a pillow impossible - to not love your child. Both unbelievably frustrating and so fantastically brilliant it's hard to really understand. I've found this thing called unconditional love to be devastatingly hard yet so beautiful it brings me to tears. It's what makes me want so deeply, from the core of my being, to give my children the best possible life.

If you're a fellow parent* you know unconditional love gets us through the "I hate yous!" and "No! NOs!" and "WAAAAAAAAs!" and whining and complaining and ignoring. It's what allows us to laugh at the pee in our hands, the stack of dirty diapers to be sprayed, the parent/child torture called teething and then adolescence. It's what breaks our hearts and then makes them burst and brings us to our knees - daily.

Unconditional love blinds [maybe belatedly but still] us to the tantrums in the grocery store, the all-nighters [when's the last time you had a full nights sleep?], the dirt on the freshly mopped floor, the bodies that become canvases, the lost phones, swallowed money, the broken bones, and chicken pox. It keeps us sane through the "I don't like this" after hours in the kitchen, the wet beds, the marked up walls, the broken windows, the laundry, the dishes, and the flu. It covers the vomit down your shirt, the chunk of food behind your ear, the shower that you should have taken three days ago [okay, five]. It forgives the insensitive comments, inappropriate jokes, and obnoxiously loud screams.

This love carries us through puberty, it promises your child actually does love you back, and rejoices in those small moments that take your breath away. It's what makes you cling to the hope it's only a phase and gives you endurance to weather the phase that sticks around for years [decades?]. Unconditional love makes us stronger than we really are, wiser than we should be, and ready with open arms regardless of the circumstance. It makes us pack more toys than necessary - you know, just in case they need that one they haven't played with in 3 years. It cares deeply about the little details that matter so much.

I know most people think of this day, Valentine's Day, as the day of romance. I usually do too. Today however I want to say thank you. If you're a parent, thank you for sticking by your child. For doing the work [usually very hard work] of loving your children well. Thank you for showing up and being present. You do make a difference. Every effort, every conversation, every smile, every hug, every word of encouragement, every tough conversation, every boundary, each time you bite your tongue, every minute, every prayer - they matter. Please keep going. If you are in a rough season, please keep going. If you are in a season of joy , please keep going. Trust that this love will carry you through.

[*] If you're not a parent then the jokes on you because in one way or another you've parented somebody. Maybe it's the highschoolers you mentor, the kid you tutor, the campers you serve, the kids you babysit, or the neighbor you see from time to time. Maybe it's the toddler you talk to in the check-out line or the newborn infant you pass to an exhausted but ecstatic new mom. Maybe it's the family you pray for each day or the kid you fill a backpack for. Maybe you sponsor a child you will most likely never meet but write him / her letters anyway. Maybe you cuddle babies in tiny huts on a different continent or care for infants who may not live to see tomorrow. To those of you who are parents without being parents, thank you. Thank you for caring for our children in a way that we aren't able to. Thank you for stepping in when we just need a break and for giving our kids another positive example to follow. Thank you for bringing new energy, enthusiasm, hope and grace. We need you, so please keep going.

This Valentine's Day may you celebrate the ways parenthood [actual or otherwise] have shown you just how much love you can hold. May it open your eyes to blessings overlooked, lessons learned, and mercy granted. May it remind you of prayers answered, memories made [some even forgotten], and a love so strong it makes you weak.

Happy Valentine's Day.

[THE RECIPES]

Below are some of my favorite sweet treats. Grab your hunnies and your honey [and dates and chocolate and carob] and celebrate this day of love!

Note: I'm in the process of updating this blog which means some of the pictures are sorely outdated [trust me] so please bear with me!

Chocolate Truffles
Carob-Chia Pudding
Velvet Chocolate Ice Cream
Creamy-Dreamy Fudgesicles
Date-Sweetened Ice Cream
Real-Food Brownies
Raw Chocolate Milkshake
Berry-Lavender Freezer Cupcakes
Chocolate-Coconut Freezer Fudge
Chocolate Freezer Fudge