I love you day ♥

What's your Valentine's story?

This morning I woke up to post-it notes all over the kitchen, bathroom, living room and everywhere else I looked. Each one had a sweet message written to me about why I was loved ♥ It eventually led me to a card and Valentine's hedgehog stuffie holding a heart! I felt very special and loved today ♥

For my boys I decided to make some raw chocolates, which I have not made in quite some time. You can find the recipe I used for the chocolate here. The chocolate really works well in the molds and it does not take long before they are done setting. This time around I wanted to do something a little different, so I decided to try out different fillings.



~Chocolate Strawberry Smooches
~Chocolate Almond Kissables
~Chocolate Peanut Butter Love Bites


I basically poured a little bit of chocolate into each plastic mold, covering the sides and then threw it in the freezer. Once the chocolate hardened I spooned in a bit of whatever filling and back into the freezer it went. After a few minutes I pulled the chocolates out of the freezer and poured more chocolate on top of the filling to eventually fill the mold.

<---Here is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Love Bites ready for more chocolate to be poured on top! Each chocolate surrounds a whole natural raw almond
Chocolate covering a strawberry puree filling (To make the filling whip 4-5 strawberries in a food processor till they are a saucy consistency)
Chocolate cups with a natural raw peanut butter filling

You may have noticed the Coconut, almond and date mix in the ingredients photo, this was used for the truffles. I couldn't resist making truffles...rich, soft and delicious!


This recipe is basically the same as the one above, I just add about 1/2 cup more cacao powder. This seems to give it a thicker consistency, perfect for rolling out truffles.
Step 1: Tablespoon of Truffle Mix
Step 2: Almond Filling
Step 3: Roll into a Truffle
Step 4: Cover in a Coconut, Almond and Date Mix
The finale, a few pieces of each in a heart shape container for my sweethearts ♥

Mornings

Every morning I tell myself this, sometimes I listen and sometimes I don't. Yesterday my body and mind did not listen. I was exhausted all day, so I went to bed knowing that I would be able to at least get 8 hours sleep and I ended up getting 9.5! Oh how I love sleep in mornings :)

After stumbling out of bed and doing all those toiletry type things, I usually pick out a favorite tea :) I sometimes do coffee, but you will more likely catch me with just a glass of water.

This is my new tea set up, I used to have them lined up over my stove, but thought this was a cute nook in my kitchen to use for them. Right now I just have my favorites:

Organic Chai(my absolute fav!)
Herbal Lemon Zinger
Herbal Cranberry Apple
Vanilla Chai(not a fav but others enjoy)


My Morning Fruit BowlLayer your favorite fruits, I keep it simple by only adding 2-3 types of fruit. My mix included:

+ 1 Banana
+ 1 Kiwi
+ 5 Strawberries

Then add your favorite nut butter, I chose a natural peanut butter. There is something about natural raw nut butters that are so much better than the processed, added sugar types, but then again that is usually the case.

+ 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

Then I sprinkle on some toppings. This morning I chose a tablespoon of my favorite topping mix:

+ Almonds
+ Coconut (Shredded/dry)
+ Dates

I take about equal parts of each and mix them in a food processor till they are crumbly. Be careful when adding your dates because if you add to many it will become a nice dough mixture perfect for a pie crust. I usually make about 1 cup of the mixture and store it in a jar. I typically use it up during the week.


Here is an estimate on the nutritional break down of this meal (toppings included):
291 Calories
50 Carbs
9 Fat
7 Protein

It's a yummy, long lasting start to a day, which I love if I know I'm going to be working out before lunch.

Enjoy breakfast everyone! I'm off to eat mine :)

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Mommy Blogger E-Book

I am really proud to share with you an e-book project I was part of....

"Mommy Menus-A compilation of kid menus submitted by health conscious moms", is a beautiful book brought together by blogger mom's from all different walks of life. I've had the chance to read through this entire book, read each of the mom's bios, review and tried some of their recipes and it really is a wonderful addition to my raw and health conscious collection of recipe books.

This book was created by Rawkinmom from Color Wheel Meals and Rawkinmom's Blog. She contacted me a few months ago to see if I wanted to be one of the mom's part of the project and I of course said yes!

Here are more details from Rawkinmom herself...
"Each mom submitted their blog/website information, a detailed Bio about themselves, and a recipe for a Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Dessert, and Drink. They also provided pictures of some of their creations. The result is an amazing and inspirational E-book.

I would love for you to receive this valuable E-book so I have priced it at only $12-this is less than a fast food meal for a family of four-these recipes may change your families life and health forever!"

Here is the paypal link if you are interested in checking out this fabulous e-book!

Enjoy all you wonderful parents!