Chocolate Caramel Fudge for Immunity
This recipe needs no introduction. Just make it even if you don’t have all the ingredients (don’t let ANYTHING stop you from starting something new!), and then… devour them. Even if you have just half the ingredients, as long as you have the first FIVE, that’s fine! You can make this any way you want; double up on ingredients you DO have so you reach the total quantity of teaspoons of powders in the recipe.
Chocolate Caramel Fudge
1/3 cup raw cashew butter
1/4 cup softened coconut oil
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon local, raw, organic honey
1 T raw cacao butter
2 T raw cacao powder
1 tsp each: Chaga, Reishi, Lion’s Mane mushroom powders
1 tsp Vitamineral Green
1 tsp blue green algae (Elixir of the Lake)
1 tsp shilajit powder
1 tsp dark mint MacaForce
1 tsp mucuna powder
1 tsp vitamin E tocotrienols
1 tsp mesquite powder
1 tsp lucuma powder
3/4 tsp vanilla bean powder
1 small handful goji berries
If you don’t eat honey or want to use it, use 1/4 cup clear agave. Do whatever works for you.
Put all ingredients except your sweetener (honey, agave) in a food processor. Process. There may be a bit of oil that separates IF you include the sweetener in this first mixin’ – and if so, it’s okay – no big deal. If you do want to avoid this, just mix all ingredients together and STIR IN the sweetener slowly (in a separate bowl) after everything else has mixed well together in the processor.
Scoop little non-uniform chunks into silicon ice cube trays and freeze until frozen. Eat chilled – you may want to soften for just a couple minutes before eating for the PERFECT texture, ever!
Don’t put them back in the freezer; take out a few so you don’t do the crazy ‘get the fudge out of the freezer!’ dance (taking them out, popping out 1 piece, putting the tray back in in the freezer, craving more, taking them back out and eating another, putting it back in thinking you’re not going to eat anymore… then taking them back out… =)
You can get Vitamineral Green, Elixir of the Lake and MacaForce from HealthForce Nutritionals.
Will Eating Chocolate Ease Nervous System Disorders?
There is great controversy about whether chocolate is truly a health food. You’ve likely heard the word that there are countless raw foodists (+ ancient cultures) who’ve felt the true heart-opening, real metabolism-boosting, serious mood-lifting effects – especially if you’re part of the raw cacao / raw food movement and are into Superfoods. If it weren’t for my personal experience over the past several years or so I may have been a skeptic, at least initially, but instead I owe part of my own healing to raw organic cacao. Let me explain… Read more
Homemade Raw Chocolate Recipe
No matter what time of year, everyone is indulging in chocolates. Making raw chocolates instead of the processed, cooked (all chocolate is cooked unless it says ‘raw’), refined & sugar-laden chocolates, can allow you to feel guilt-free while still sharing your sweetness with loved ones. Remember, eating raw food is not about deprivation; I find the raw lifestyle to actually allow guilt-free indulgence while infusing your cells with life force and nutrition.
Main Ingredients:
1 cup raw cacao powder
1 cup melted raw cacao butter
1/2 cup clear agave
1-2 tbsp raw almond butter (make your own!)
pinch Celtic salt (or mix of highly mineralized salts)
—
Optional Ingredients, yet use them if you have them!
pinch of white stevia extract powder
pinch vitamin E tocotrienols
pinch blue green algae
Blend in a Vita-Mix ideally (it may warm gently which is fine – you want it to be a thinner consistency for easy pouring) or in a food processor (smaller bowl inside the bigger bowl unless you double or triple the recipe). I’ve found the VM to work best. Pour into ice cube trays or cute molds and chill until frozen.
Keep this recipe simple the first few times you make it and experiment with different versions after you’ve gotten a solid recipe that you can default to in the future.
Raw chocolate on it’s own has no sugar, but of course the clear agave brings the sweetness to this recipe. I’m personally not doing much agave recently as a personal experiment, but having a liquid sweetener for this recipe is needed. From my understanding, the raw clear agave is the healthiest agave available in comparison to the others on the market.
Raw Mint Chocolate Vanilla Mylkshake
Everyone loves a good milkshake, right? Like the ones we drank as a little kid? Yet as a raw foodie, conventional milk is thankfully not consumed and is in fact the very first thing I recommend people get off of (when ready to eliminate foods) because it’s by far the worst offender to the body. If you’ve been on other raw food blogs, you’ll see that many refer to their homemade nut drinks as mylks, and I do as well. You can make any nut mylk (using hemp seeds, almonds, Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds – individually or some combination of them) and use it as the base for an entirely guilt-free, yet totally indulgent mylkshake.
Raw Mint Chocolate Vanilla Mylkshake
* 2-3 cups homemade hemp mylk (or any raw nut mylk) – I dilute w/ some spring water (just a personal preference)
* 1 small to medium frozen banana
* 1 tbsp HealthForce’s Vanilla Enhanced Warrior Food (hemp protein powder)
* 1 tsp – 1 tbsp HealthForce’s Vanilla Spice MacaForce or plain raw maca powder
*1 tsp raw cacao powder
* swirl of vanilla infused clear agave (either pre-bought, or just drop vanilla beans once scraped, into your clear agave & leave them to infuse)
* small handful raw cacao nibs
* couple organic pinches organic vanilla powder
* 1/2 cap of organic peppermint extract
* pinch organic stevia extract powder
* pinch Celtic salt
* ice to chill
Blend on high in the Vita-Mix until thoroughly mixed. Drink chilled and soak in the gorgeous aroma of vanilla! As with all my recipes, if you don’t have some of the ingredients, make this anyway! Just work with what you do have and come up with your own creation. If you don’t have zeolites or fresh vanilla beans, or you have no worries – it won’t make or break this shake (if no vanilla beans, try out vanilla extract). If you don’t have all of HealthForce’s products, YET, then talk with me about where you can get them in your area and I will find you a local store (or you can shop online; just click on the links I provided).
If you’re on Facebook and happen to be friends with Jay Kordich (the Juice Daddy), he recently wrote an excellent article (found in his ‘Notes’) on making your own hemp mylk. Check it out if you get a chance! He has so much goodness in his Notes section that you could read for hours regarding juicing. He is a man of experience and someone I certainly listen to!
And if for any reason you have not watched this hysterical skit poking fun at Jay and his enthusiasm, watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lVH9vzffgw. Balance your mylkshakes with fresh vegetable juice and you’ll feel stellar all the time!
Raw Chocolate Dream Nuggets
Multi-Shapes of Bliss
This recipe is hands-down, without question, one of the most scrumptious desserts I’ve ever made in my life. It’s OUTSTANDING. If you don’t try it, you’re nutz. It’s so wonderfully decadent and rich!
These chocolate nuggets are extremely smooth, creamy dreamy, absolutely mouth-watering, and simple and quick to make! Super nutritious too! One nugget will not be enough.
Please make this and comment how you like it! Try it even if you’re not used to adding Superfoods to your chocolates. Superhero-style desserts! 
Raw Chocolate Dream Nuggets
1 cup raw cacao butter
1 cup raw cacao powder
2 spoonfuls raw almond butter (make your own if you can!)
1/2 cup local, raw organic honey
spoonful raw cacao nibs (not necessary but they add a nice chip texture)
1/2 tsp wild blue green algae
1/2 tsp shilajit powder
pinch Himalayan Crystal Salt / Celtic salt
pinch organic white stevia extract powder (if you have it – if not, no big deal)
Makes as many shapes and molds as you want! Make some thick and some thin, just for fun.
Same Recipe in Pyramid Shapes
Blend in a Vita-Mix ideally (it may warm gently which is fine – you want it to be a thinner consistency for easy pouring) or in a food processor (smaller bowl inside the bigger bowl unless you double or triple the recipe). Pour into ice cube trays or cute molds with different shapes and chill until frozen.
You can add cacao nibs (or even homemade raw chocolate chips), goji berries, and/or any other addition that sounds appealing to you. Pour into ice cube trays (or cute mold shapes if you want to have even more fun) and freeze. Please comment and tell me how you like the nuggets, your variation of them, and if you’re as hooked on this creamy perfection as I am! No chocolate lover should be without this recipe!
For Wild Blue Green Algae – check out HealthForce’s product called Elixir of the Lake:
Green Chocolate Chia Pudding
As weird as it sounds, I’ve had 16 ounces of chia seeds chillin’ in my fridge for so many months that I can’t even remember when I bought them. I’m guessing it was about 9-12 months ago (yikes!). Now that I know about them and what to do with them, I realize how silly it was that I let my lack of knowledge (particularly with how to make a real yummy dish) get in the way. Within days of each other, a friend listed a chia pudding recipe on her blog and another friend let me try his off the hook chocolate chia pudding. I was instantly hooked and thought this would be a great replacement for my old favorite of hot creamy buckwheat cereal in the old days.
On my road trips to the shows I work where I educate the thirsty (for knowledge) people with Superfood info and shower them with samples that leave them awestruck and craving more, I eat my chia pudding. I get my inexpensive chia (1 lb for only $9) from Mountain Rose Herbs, where I also get tons of loose leaf herbs for medicinal teas, spices, roots, and ingredients to make homemade raw Superfood skincare. Search online to find the best chia deals – you can get it even cheaper.
My favorite version is one with both fresh and dried fruit and loaded with a Superfood green powder and cacao. This is so satiating keeping my belly content for approx. 5 hrs. Keep in mind, I do eat a small glass Tupperware container of chia pudding over the course of about 30-45 mins because too much can be too filling and I want to know when I’ve had enough. Chia expands!
GREEN CHOCOLATE CHIA PUDDING (buy everything organic!)
(this is what I like; adjust to amounts good for you)
4 T chia seeds
pour in the homemade Brazil nut mylk (like you would over cold/hot cereal) – it will absorb well and you’ll need to add more; you can let it gel together or keep adding more until it’s more like the cereal you remember
add some Inca Berries (hands-down my fav way to eat Inca’s)
add some raisins or Goji Berries (you can soak them a bit first if you like)
add some fresh mango
add some fresh blueberries
add some fresh strawberries
OR – whatever seasonal farmer’s market fruit you’ve picked up that’s fresh and ripe
add a spoonful of HealthForce’s Manna Spirulina
add a spoonful of raw cacao powder
swirl of local raw honey or organic stevia extract powder (for lower glycemic)
I find that simple recipes for new things work best for me so that I’m not overwhelmed by including it on a regular basis (or so that I don’t ‘forget’ about it in the fridge for too long). I’d love to hear your ideas of easy ways to enjoy chia!
Angela Stokes held a creative chia pet contest on her blog recently and my friend Eranah won! There’s so many things you can do w/ this nutrient-dense seed – have fun and experiment, and learn more about it at Mtn Rose Herbs website.
You Choose: Is it Breakfast or Dessert?
I used to ask the question, ‘What’s for dessert?’ every single night as a child. Fortunately, now, I make my own desserts and they don’t come out of a carton or box. Some of them (like this one below) also happen to double as a decadent breakfast – and are still such a healthier option than the cinnamon rolls we all grew up with. Some might look at what I’m eating for dessert (don’t limit this recipe to dessert only though!) and wonder just how long it took to prepare, thinking that anything that can’t be scooped right out of the package is too much work. I have to admit, I used to feel this way and was somewhat intimidated with the idea of whipping up a raw sweet treat until that was put to rest with Naked Chocolate. This book changed my perception of what a real indulgence is and actually proved that even I (Miss Disaster in the Kitchen When the Oven is On) could make mouth-watering recipes.
This is really for those of you who do not have the Naked Chocolate book yet (what are you waiting for?), as I’m copying the recipes directly since they always turn out perfect. If I had to pick my absolute favorite.. it would be.. the Chocolate Entangled Cinnamon Roll (that’s my name for it):
Dark Chocolate Sauce (for the Cinnamon Rolls)
4 heaping tbsp raw chocolate powder
3 tbsp raw agave necter
1/2 tsp coconut oil
Mix all ingredients together to form a paste (I love watching it go from all powdery to the consistency of frosting). Add more agave if you need it runnier; add more coconut oil if you need it creamier. Store remainder of what you don’t use on the rolls in fridge and spread it on to everything!
Cinnamon Rolls
1 Serving of Dark Chocolate Sauce (couple spoonfuls)
Ground Cinnamon
1 cup of pecans, not soaked
1 cup of medjool dates, stoned
Blend the pecans and dates together in a food processor to make a dough. Dust some cinnamon onto a clean work surface (bamboo cutting board is good), and place the dough on it (dough is a bit oily). Sprinkle some more cinnamon on top of the dough and flatten it out, adding more cinnamon if it ever get sticky.
Once the dough is about 1/4 inch thick, cut or round out the edges so they are neat (make a square). Spread the chocolate sauce evenly on top. Pick up one side of dough and start to roll to the other side, so you end up with a spiraled log. Chill the log in the fridge (it will be relatively soft and is best when cool) and then cut into slices of heaven.
To see a picture of the Cinnamon Rolls, just click on any of the links in this post and scroll down. Naked Chocolate provides several mineral-rich shakes, yummy morsels of goodness, and versions of chocolate desserts you’ve probably never heard of (like the chocolate pizza!). Isn’t it time we stop feeling guilty for indulging in the best food ever?
If you chose to make this in place of the traditional gooey, saturated, and heavy cinnamon rolls (with heavy cream, butter, eggs, and white flour) that bring back those memories we can all relate to, the results would show on the outside. You know that at some point you’ll treat yourself to something ‘sinful’, so you may as well devour what will make you look good too!
ATTN: Raw, Organic, Skincare Lovers!
As many of you already know, I handcraft my own line of superfood infused skincare products. These are the purest products I’ve ever experienced and it gives me immense joy to see the demand for this (a desire for real natural beauty) rapidly increasing. My line, currently known as Organic Healing, is organic, free of toxins and preservatives, raw, made fresh to order (no inventory just laying around), herbal infused with 8 certified organic and biodynamic herbs (alfalfa, burdock root, comfrey leaf, horsetail, nettle leaf, noni, oatstraw, and red clover blossoms), vegan, holistic, environmentally conscious, and cruelty-free. Some of the Superfoods that are used include: angstrom sulfur, burdock root, wildcrafted horsetail, green tea extract, raw cacao powder, raw maca powder, goji berry powder, marine phytoplankton, stabilized oxygen, goji berry extract, and cacao extract.
I currently offer Healing Body Scrubs (body exfoliants), Body Silks (rich body moisture replenisher), Beauty Silks (creams for the face, neck, and undereye), Clay Masques (that are detoxifying, nourishing, soothing, and balancing – even using Vitamineral Green in one of them!), Belly Silks (for stretch marks, scarring, cellulite, skin appearance), Organic Edibles (sensual massage silks), and Luscious Bundles (discounted gifts and packages).
My very first product was the Java Body Scrub (named after my sweet gorgeous dog) and was created one afternoon as a result of playful experimenting in my kitchen. Little did I know that was the beginning of what it has become! I never expected or dreamt it would turn into an expanding line of the purest products, in demand by those who truly understand the amazing benefits of super nutrient-rich topical luxuries (I imagine, YOU!).
My intention in creating these products has been to make skincare that parallels my nutrition philosophy and approach (raw, organic, fresh living foods, Superfoods, medicinal herbs and teas). You could essentially lick the products right off your skin because they are that pure! There are few ingredients which make it so that you shouldn’t do this (except in the Organic Edibles – eat of much of this as you want), but the idea is that what you put onto your skin should be to these standards. If you shutter at the idea of doing this, then it’s time to reconsider what you’re applying to your skin! If you aren’t comfortable putting lotion and cream on your hands and then eating right out of them (without washing your hands first), once again.. time to re-evaluate what you’re using! I’ve been told I’m a purist at heart; isn’t it time we Embrace Purity (my monthly eZine to help you achieve exceptional internal health and stunning external beauty) for what goes not only into our mouths, but also onto our skin?
My original vision was, continues to be, and will always be – Cultivate Beauty in Harmony with Nature. For an excellent review of my product line done by Lenette with Go Raw Have Fun, click here. She also did a 40 minute interview that was just released, delving into the details of my introduction into the natural beauty industry: click here to listen. And THANK YOU for reading the review and/or listening to the interview
2009 has already brought me huge opportunities for growth. If you didn’t see my announcement through Twitter and Facebook yesterday – My product line is now officially sold in stores (at Raw Vegan Source in Redmond, WA)!
I look forward to meeting you in person if you plan to attend one of these huge gatherings of conscious, like-minded individuals. The festivals I’ll be exhibiting at in 2009 are:
The Seattle Green Festival on March 28 & 29: http://www.greenfestivals.org/seattle/
Raw Spirit Santa Barbara, CA, June 5-7: http://www.rawspiritfest.com/
Raw Spirit Prescott, AZ, Sept 26 & 27: http://www.rawspiritfest.com/
If there is anyone reading this that feels inclined to support my business, whether as an angel investor, working as a distributor (where you buy wholesale and sell retail – and you keep the profit), or if you have the means or know-how to take my grand vision to the next level, I’d love to hear from you. Spread the pure beauty word .. I feel the momentum .. this is just the beginning!
Raw Chocolate Dream Fudge
I used to make an incredible vegan fudge made with tofutti’s soy cream cheese (which now I cringe at) and powdered sugar – there were only 4 ingredients and it was so easy to make. But, I’ve found the perfect raw replacement and I know you will absolutely love it. It takes minutes to make from start to finish and there’s no heat or anything complicated about it. You can make it in a food processor (as I did tonight) or a high-speed blender (like the Vitamix).
Confession: I made a batch just two days ago, filled up an entire ice cube tray (which makes perfect BIG bite size pieces), and needed (yes, NEEDED), to make another batch tonight because we (I do share these indulgences however difficult it may be) plowed through the first within 48 hours.
I am currently living on fresh green juices, collard wraps w/ the best hummus ever (recipe coming soon), super plump goji berries, macadamia nuts, and a different raw cacao dessert every other day. I’m finding this to be quite balanced. Actually, when have you ever had fudge that is super packed with super-nutrition? As a nutrition educator, I can tell you this is likely the healthiest fudge you’ll ever eat, and you’ll feel fabulous and guilt-free afterward, as you should. And now…
Raw Chocolate Dream Fudge
1/3 cup raw organic almond butter (Maranatha)
1/4 cup organic coconut oil
2 T raw cacao powder
small handful raw cacao nibs
1/4 cup agave (I prefer Sunfood Nutrition)
1 T maca force (HealthForce Nutritionals)
1 tsp raw lucuma powder (makes everything sweeter & smoother)
1 tsp – 1 T of E3Live (how good do you really want to feel?)
1 tsp vit E tocotrienols
drizzle of angstrom calcium (for mineral balance – see note below)
Whip this up into a creamy dessert in your food processor or blender, pour into ice cube trays, and freeze or refrigerate to store.
If you don’t have every single ingredient, make it anyway! You can still make this even if you only have the almond butter, coconut oil, cacao powder, and agave – the remaining ingredients boost the nutrition, but I certainly don’t want you to postpone making this just because your cupboards aren’t filled with every superfood out there. I just started using lucuma powder this week and am experimenting with it in these desserts. Coincidence? I’ve eaten more chocolate desserts this past week than… – could it be that I’m still celebrating my birthday (yes, 4 days later), or, my body is craving sweets after the 3.5 day green smoothie challenge of deprivation (just kidding), or, is there something addicting about lucuma?
Angstom calcium is the most bioavailable form of calcium. Raw chocolate is exceptionally high in magnesium and the body needs calcium to balance this out, hence the addition of angstrom calcium. I get it mine from Sunfood Nutrition or Raw Vegan Source).
I’m throwing a Spa Party this coming Sunday, at the Beauty Bar Spa and Boutique in West Seattle and will be making this raw fudge as a decadent addition to the other sweet indulgences during this very special evening. Contact me if you’d like to join us – all are welcome!
Details: Sunday, November 16 from 5 – 9pm.
