[Recipe] Vegan Chocolate Topping/Spread!

Hello my dear readers. As I've promised in the previous blogpost, I did come up with a vegan version of a chocolate spread that is delicious as hell.

If you're anything like me, you always want (/desperately need) something sweet after a healthy lunch. Well desserts can be healthy as well! That is what I made today:

No, it's not Nutella. I actually think it's way better than Nutella. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a huge Nutella fan (hence this empty glass jar I used to store my spread), but since it totally ruins my skin for at least a week after I have had it and the ingredients are so not good for you, I simply don't buy it anymore. 

So, to satisfy my cravings, I came up with this spread, that you can use however you may like. You can put it on a slice of bread, you can use it to top a raw food cake (or the ordinary one for that matter), you can eat it with a spoon just like that (what I do most of the time), you can mix it with some fruits...

Today I chose the strawberries!

I put it all in a martini glass.

The ingredients:

1 avocado
10 dates
1 tsp coconut oil
100 mL almond milk
2 tsp coconut sugar
1 tsp 100% unsweatened cocoa

Of course I had to add some coconut chips to oppose my red-brown color coordination. And they taste good.

Give it a go and let me know what you think!

Bisous,
Eva

[Let's make some] Avocado Cocoa Ice Cream!

Well hello! Today's dessert isn't a 100% healthy alternative to the ice cream that you can buy in stores and it's also not vegan, cause I did put some cream in it. But it still is way healthier than the ordinary one. Why? Because the only sugar in it comes from dates and of course I haven't put any preservatives or food colorants (that practically every ice cream bought in stores is full of) in it.

As you might have already noticed, I love simple recipes. This one is no exception.

You will need:

1 avocado
16 dates
2 tsp 100% unsweetened cocoa powder
100 mL cream
2 tsp extra-virgin coconut cream

The ingredients.

This thingy is just such a treat. It makes every recipe 100% better and it reduces the amount of sugar (e.g. dates) that you have to put into your mixture.

Cut the avocado.

And mix mix mix.

Now this looks really attractive and appetizing, right? [sarcasm]

So after you've mixed all the ingredients, just put them in little containers (or all together, that works as well) and freeze for at least a couple of hours.

For today's dessert, I put one out of the containers, turned it upside down and topped it with some coconut flakes to make it somehwat more attractive.

Final presentation.

And that's it. Hope you try it out. But if you're more into vegan desserts, I will be making a no-cream alternative to this recipe soon, so stay tuned!

Bisous,
Eva

[Raw Food Desserts] Apricot Almond Coconut Balls

Even though I'm far from eating raw at all times, when it comes to desserts, I actually prefer the taste of dates, avocado, coconut butter etc. to the old eggs-flour-sugar mixture... That being said, I still mostly bake just ordinary desserts (see earlier posts for proof). Well, it's 2014 and I wanted to make a little present for some of my 'like-to-eat-healthy' girlfriends, so I decided to kickstart my raw food desserts experiment with this deliciousness you can see on the photo above. I present you the Apricot Almond Coconut Balls.

The recipe is really very simple and quick to make. All you need is:

1 cup of dried organic apricots (they really should be organic, cause their taste and appearance are completely different compared to dried apricots treated with sulfur dioxide)

3/4 cup of almonds

2 dates (yes, just the two of them)

juice from half a lemon

cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt to spice it up

a plate of chopped coconut chips

Instructions:

As I've said, it's almost too easy to make these:

Tip No.1: If the dried apricots you are using are not moist enough already (most of them aren't), put them in water for a couple of hours beforehand to soften them up.

Just put everything in a blender and mix mix mix!

Tip No.2: Put the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes before making the balls.

Take small parts of the mixture and make little balls with your hands and roll them in coconut chips, that you crushed with your hands (or properly chopped if you prefer that).

Just keep on rolling! (Anybody else having a 90s reference moment right now?)

Lastly, I made these two very asymmetrical boxes to store and transport my treats.

Two funny little boxes (but made with lots of love!).

So, if you're looking for a healthy dessert without processed sugar, eggs, flour and so on... I dare you to try these!

Bon Appetit!

[Amateur Hour] DIY Statement Necklace and Bracelet

Hiiiii! I have been struggling with an obsession with 'gem DIY-ing' for quite some time now. I have put them literally everywhere. I can't even describe how bad it has gotten. Well, I don't care. I've done it again. Let's have a look, shall we?

This is the statement bracelet I've managed to create:

The bracelet.

And this is the statement necklace:

Heavily contemplating if my gems obsession will ever come to an end...

Yes, they are the same. Why, you ask? Cause initially I was trying to make a collar necklace, but I just wasn't liking the result. No matter how I've tried to style it, I just wasn't feeling it. So I cut it in halves, and I much prefer it this way. 

What is this I don't even... no, thanks!

Let me take you through a quick photo procedure:

My work area.

 For the fabric I cut a sleeve of a very old white jacket from my mom that she told me to throw away. Then, the gluing began...

First, I just glued the gems around the lower edge. I had no idea of what I was trying to make.

A plain blue ribbon.

The collar seemed kind of plain so I added a blue ribbon on top. I just glued it with some fabric glue. 

The straps.

As for the straps, I went with these small white straps, that help the T-shirts be properly hanged in stores... I have no idea how to describe them in another way or what they are officially called. The thing is, I always cut them off after I buy a shirt cause I just find them totally useless in my closet. But they can come in handy when you're DIY-ing!

Lastly I just put a mixure of light blue, light violet and green gems in the middle of the fabric.

Et voila!

End result.

Till' next time! Bisous

[Tea Time] Lemon balm tea

A part of my tea collection are these three tea containers.

 

I've posted so many food related blogposts lately, that I know you've all started worrying if I'm not suffering from dehydration already. Well I might have. But not today! Cause you know what we're drinking this fine evening? Let's have a look inside...

You've guessed it! It's Melissa! Well at least that's how we call it in Slovenia. But my dear friend Wiki tells me it goes by the name of lemon balm or balm or balm mint ("and not to be confused with bee balm") in the English speaking community.

I've prepared my teaset while waiting for the water to boil... gettin' excited!

Why did I chose Melissa officinalis?

Cause it is supposed to calm you down. And don't we all need a bit of calmness in our lives on a late Monday evening? (Yes we do.) It reduces oxidative stress and the levels of thyroid hormones in your body (e.i. make you calm). But most importantly, it has a soft and gentle taste and smells really light and healthy (yes, that is a totally legit adjective to describe its smell).

You can just feel the softness of the lemon balm tea from the photo by its light color.

Oh and also, I have this beauty living in my home.

Disclaimer: The plant in the photo was not used for drinking purposes. (At least not today.)

[Lunch Idea] Buckwheat Porridge with Carrots

Quick 'n' easy 'n' healthy 'n' delicious!

Hello there everybody! Today I've wanted to share with you a quick and easy (very student friendly) lunch, that I've been absolutely loving lately. It's so delicious, that you actually forget how healthy it is.

So I started off by sautéing some onions in a pan and by cooking the buckwheat separately in a pot. I sliced a carrot and mixed it in with the onions. Somewhere in the middle of the buckwheat cooking time, I put it all in a pan, together with the carrots and onions. I added a little bit of tomato paste, some Dijon mustard, a clove of garlic, Herbes de Provence, salt and pepper. Once it was done, I added almost a half of freshly squeezed lemon juice (this might be a bit much for some, but I just adore the sour flavor it brings to this dish) and put it on a plate. As I've said, I've been loving this so much, that I've been eating it for a couple of days in a row now. Don't judge me.

Hope you enjoy! Bisous


Med student approved health info:

• buckwheat contains ALL of the essential amino acids! (vegetarian win)
• containts a lot of fibre (anti-constipation win)
• contains flavonoids (anti-cancer win)
• is gluten-free (anti-celiac disease win)
• is a good source of magnesium (anti-cramps win)