Dark Chocolate Love Bites

It’s Valentine’s Day week and it’s not too late to make something that requires minimal time + ingredients but looks super fancy…and tastes even better! ;-)

DARK CHOCOLATE LOVE BITES

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz. dark, organic chocolate

• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

• 1/4 cup slivered almond

Directions:

1. Fill one large pot with water and place a smaller pot inside. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Make sure no water can get into smaller pot.

2. Add dark chocolate to smaller pot and stir continuously until melted. It burns fast…don’t take your eyes off of it to help with your daughter’s math homework.

3. Spread a large piece of wax paper across your counter. Place a heaping teaspoon of melted chocolate onto the wax paper so it forms a circle. Repeat until all chocolate is used up.

4. Immediately place 4-5 pomegranate seeds in the center of each chocolate and then surround with slivered almonds.

5. Let chocolate cool for 1 hour before peeling off the wax paper. Arrange on a nice plate or place in mason jar.

   Make sure you tag me on social when you share these beauties! ;-) Enjoy!

   In good health,

   Tara

Red Velvet LOVE Brownies

February is in full swing as we are approaching the middle of the month already.  How?!?  With the famous groundhog forecasting 6 more weeks of Winter, I suppose we should've been expecting the blizzard we were met with today on Long Island.

Snow and all, February is a time for love, heart-shaped everything, shades of pink and red, heart health, and lots and lots of…chocolate!!

So, what if you're on a roll with upgrading your health so far in 2017, but still looking for something that looks and tastes like an indulgence?  What if you or a family member have some food allergies / sensitivities that prevent you from being able to eat most of the store-bought or homemade recipes out there?  I hope this Red Velvet Love Brownie recipe fills that void for you!

These bad boys are gluten-free, dairy-free, high in protein and fiber, and contain healthy fats plus a full serving of veggies.  They're chocolate-y, yet low glycemic…how's that for showing your heart some love this month?!

Black beans in brownies?!?!  Yup!  They work great for texture, color, and add lots of nutrition!  

Beets bring the "red velvet" hint of color while adding a bit of subtle sweetness.

Brownie batter all mixed up.

Red Velvet Love Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 (15-oz) can of black beans, rinsed (BPA-free can)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup beets (sliced and cooked - either roast in oven or buy a jar)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 T coconut oil, melted
• 1 T water
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup cacao powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened / dairy-free / gluten-free chocolate chips
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients in food processor, high-speed blender (keep scraping sides down), or with a mixer.
4. Combine wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour into well-greased muffin tin or line with paper liners.  This makes adorable, round brownies with slightly crispy edges that are like getting the highly sought-after corner piece each time.  ;-)
6. For the look pictured up top (with the heart in the middle), cut a beet slice into the heart shape and press onto top.  Other ideas for toppings include: chocolate chips, hemp seeds, walnuts, or anything else your creative mind comes up with.
7. Bake 20-25 minutes - until edges start to pull away from muffin tin and become slightly crispy.
8. Share with your favorite people!

Little hands couldn't wait for me to finish the photo shoot.  ;-)

Red Velvet Love Brownies with various toppings. Pictured (starting top left and going clock-wise): Walnuts, chocolate chip and hemp seeds, heart-shaped beet, chocolate chip.

Alright guys…will you dare to try these?  It is definitely "different" to bake with black beans, but they taste so chocolate-y and are healthy…come on now!  Brownies for lunch, anyone?

In good health,

Tara

Abstainers vs. Moderators

You know you WANT to change something.  You can practically feel / taste / smell the results and you've made 25 vision boards with your dreams plastered all over them.  Then why, oh why, do you end up feeling as though you've self-sabotaged?!

In this video, I get into one of the most basic and foundational questions you should be asking yourself before beginning any type of behavioral change.  I use chocolate in my example, because, well who can't relate to chocolate?!

Are YOU and abstainer or a moderator?  How will this help you moving forward in wherever you're at in your health journey?  Drop a comment or shoot me an email.  I'd love to hear more and send you some encouraging words!

Banana Sushi Shenanigans

Do you ever plan to make something really elaborate to bring to a party only to realize you have 5 minutes left to pull something together?  Please tell me it's not just me!

This weekend I was busy working hard and momming harder until nearly the time we had to leave.  That's ok!  This is where creativity shows up at just the right time.  I saw my banana hammock and knew I wanted to make something that looked and tasted fancier than it really was.  ;-)  Enter… Banana Sushi! 

P.S.  It truly took only 5 minutes to make.  Then I dropped it everywhere.  Batch #2 took another 5 minutes.  So if you're clumsy like me, allot 5 minutes (batch 1) + 5 minutes (batch 2) + 3 minutes (clean-up) = 13 minutes…still totally doable, right?! 

Side note:  This "chocolate" works for just about any chocolate-y recipe you want.  Feel free to add peanut butter too if you're feeling extra indulgent.  Just please, please, please - for the love of nut butter - make sure your peanut butter has nothing but peanuts listed in the ingredients.  Sugar, hydrogenated oils, and high fructose corn syrup have NO business being in YOUR peanut butter.  

Enjoy!

Banana Sushi

Ingredients:

Bananas

Cacao powder

Coconut oil

Honey

Hemp seeds

*Note: no measurements are listed because I just played around with the ingredients until I got the consistency and taste I wanted.   For me, I didn't want it to be too sweet, so I didn't use too much honey.  

Directions:

1. Cut banana in 1/4 inch slices.

2. In one bowl, mix coconut oil, cacao powder, and honey in a bowl.

3. Pour hemp seeds in a seperate bowl.

4. Dip bananas in chocolate mix until coated and then spoon hemp seeds on half of them.

5. Place coated bananas on wax paper.

6. Freeze for at least an hour before devouring.  ;-)

Banana Sushi waiting for their dip in the freezer