super food energy bars with cacao

These are chock full of super foods to provide your body and mind with long-lasting energy to get through your busy (or leisurely) day. What have they got? Chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, cacao nibs, raisins, dates and coconut. You can't beat this recipe as far as nutrition goes. Try to find organic varieties of each ingredient - and of course raw! 

I was snacking on the mix as I made the recipe and immediately felt a difference, they gave me enough strength to get through a workout and then they made an excellent post-exercise snack, paired with my green protein smoothie. I had a bit of extra mix that I shaped into tiny cupcakes and I thought... hey, I could top these off with dark chocolate to make it a sweet super food treat. Done. 

If you want real, raw, cruelty-free, high quality, efficient and delicious energy bars - you've got 'em right here. Don't look at those sugar- and refined protein powder-filled candy bars in the grocery store that for some inexplicable reason happen to be called "power bars". It's a joke. The best brand on the market is the Larabar (or the Clif bar for more protein) but you can make better recipes yourself, plus add in a bunch of other awesome ingredients. You've got the power! Get it...

super food energy bars with cacao: makes about 15 bars

1 cup walnuts

1/3 cup chia seeds

1/3 cup ground flax seeds

1/3 cup hemp seeds

1/4 cup cacao nibs

1/4 cup coconut flakes 

3/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup dates 

1-2 tablespoons melted coconut oil, if needed

Throw the dry ingredients (keep a little bit of each ingredient to add in a second) in your food processor, then add the dates and raisins and process until everything it starts to stick together. If too dry, add more dates or coconut oil. Put in the remaining dry ingredients you left out and mix in with your hands. Press into a lined pan and set in the fridge for an hour or more. Cut into bars and store for up to one week. If you have extra, shape them into cupcakes and top off with raw chocolate.

another juice fast

hello, my sweet, plant-loving comrades.

i have decided to go on another juice-alicious fast. why? let's start at the beginning: i didn't tell you that when i THOUGHT i had strep throat and couldn't swallow without flinching for a week... i actually had MONO. it was total agony for seven days and i hope i never go through it again. would've been nice to know what i actually was suffering from...

thanks a lot, doc.

he tells me AFTER i recover... cool. anyways, that's not really relevant but you must deal with it. tough. the point  is - i didn't eat for a week. the first two days i just drank tea, lemon water and miso soup, the remaining days i basically went on a juice fast. it reminded me how much i love juice, and how much i appreciated my previous juice fast (search "juice fast" on my blog to get my posts about it.) it made me want to complete another one.

so i have the best news ever... for me, anyway. 

we (mom and i) have officially ordered our OMEGA VRT350 JUICER!!! i am way too excited about this, people. but as i said to my girlfriend - at which she promptly laughed - "why can't everyone get this stoked about juicing!?" as you may have noticed, i have gradually fallen head over heels for juice. i used to be a smoothie girl all the way. i will always keep a place in my heart for my green smoothies. but i have warmed up to juicing. i used to dislike the absence of fiber but my mind has been changed. taking out the fiber allows for instant assimilation... it is the fastest way to get the highest quality nutrients in the greatest quantity. simply put: it's excellent nutrition in a glass.

we should get our juicer in about five days (fingers crossed, canadian postal system) and then i'm going to sell our old juicer to my friend. at that point she will join me in a juice fast! i am really excited about this because i've only ever cleansed and/or fasted by myself. i think it's gonna be loads better with a partner. i don't want to set a number of days this juice fast will be, but i'd like it to exceed ten days (the length of my last one). we will see. i plan to listen to my body.

i'm going to be reading up on juice fasting this time too. so far i've gotten juice fasting & detoxification, and juicing, fasting and detoxing for life - sound pretty enthralling, huh?

just wanted to give you all a heads up about this! i will be posting recipes for shampoo and conditioner soon, as well as some salads and other raw concoctions that have come from my twisted mind and dutch-inspired kitchen. love all. drink juice.

chia shots

My mom bought a loaf of chia bread at Cobs last week, and they gave her this free package of a chia shot. I thought it was cute. I love chia seeds. They're definitely the new goji berry of 2012, if ya know what I mean. (Never before heard-of "super food" that will soon be in health stores/magazines everywhere.)

I already have a good supply of chia seeds in the house but I figured I'd use the chia shot for my breakfast. A serving of chia is about 2 Tb, and that's what they gave me.
I added water to it, along with some goji berries, coconut flakes, and raisins. I spiced it with cinnamon and nutmeg. YUM! Simple and delicious.

One thing - of the many, many things - I love about chia is their insoluble fibre aspect. When you add water, they gel up. This is exactly what happens when you eat them too, and that's why they're great for keeping your bowels moving - yes, you understand. Basically they soak up extra "waste" in your digestive tract ... it's a beautiful thing. Flax seeds also hold this ability.

On top of that, they're a good source of omega-3's (EFA's), which most people don't get enough of. They also have a substantial percent of protein, like most other seeds and nuts. And of course, with any raw plant food you're gonna get a ton of antioxidants and phyto-nutrients.  

You can research yourself about the benefits of chia, and I've also found this link. It's pretty basic.

I'm not saying adding chia to your diet is gonna change the world, as if it's the missing link to superior health and longevity. However, it's a nutrient-packed raw plant food that's a heck of a lot better than cheerios for breakfast. I think everyone could benefit from incorporating some chia into their diet. If not, no worries.