Chocolate Pudding

A day off from teaching is a day that I get to spend doing a couple of my most favorite me-time things: cooking and lifting!  With the latter done early today, I had lots of time to make a mess in the kitchen (no joke here!) and ended up coming up with a paleo-worthy sweet treat.

The recipe is ridiculously easy and so damn good!  I'm not sure how much self control I'll have later on! 

Recipe makes 3ish cups

Ingredients:

•2 cups of water

•1/2 cup raw cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts

•1/4 cup raw cacao powder

•1/3 cup chia seeds

•10 Medjool dates pitted

•2 teaspoons Himalayan salt or Kalahari desert salt (sea salt is fine if you don't have the others but I prefer them because they have a stronger salt flavor)

•Cacao nibs, raw coconut flakes, coconut creme, date creme, fresh fruit, or whatever the hell else you want to throw on top. 

Put everything in a high-powered blender and let that fucker blend on high for 2-5 minutes. Yeah that may seem like a big gap in time but whatever kind of blender you have will determine how long this will take. If it seems really thick, add a little more water, maybe 1/8 of a cup at a time. Don't worry if it seems a little too watery because the Chia seeds will thicken it up. 

If you have a shit blender, you should put things in little at a time and you should probably chop the dates, otherwise they may get stuck. If you have a vitamix or similar, your pudding will warm up a bit but hey, that's ok!

When everything is blended and smooth, you can either put your pudding into 1/2 size glass bowls, dump it all into one larger glass bowl, or just put your face it it! 

Don't store this in metal because it will react and change the flavor. If it's a choice between plastic and metal, use the plastic and go get yourself some glass food containers!

Raw Zucchini Spaghetti with Basil Walnut Pesto

I love zucchini!  It's one of my favorite summer veggies.  I have found that I prefer it raw because no matter how you prepare it, it retains it's crunch.  Lucky for me, my CSA, The Good Food Collective, provides me with an abundance of it!

To make zucchini noodles, you will need a spiral slicer.  There are many options for spiral slicers.  I have a World Cuisine Tri-Blade Spiral Vegetable Slicer.  It's a hand crank and was inexpensive.

SALAD

1 green zucchini

1 yellow zucchini

1 seedless cucumber (if desired)

Tomatoes (I use a variety of heirlooms to get the best flavor)

PESTO

2-3 large handfuls of fresh basil

3-5 large cloves of garlic (adjust to your liking)

1 handful of raw walnuts

Good quality olive oil (flavored olive oil works great!)

Up to1 tablespoon of sea salt

Wash the zucch and leave the skins on.

Cut off the ends and put it through the spiral slicer using the smallest noodle blade.  Put noodles in a non-reactive bowl and sprinkle with olive oil.  Dice the tomatoes and put them in with the zucch.

Put the basil, garlic, and walnuts in a food processor and chop.  When everything is chopped well, drizzle in olive oil until you are happy with the consistence of the pesto.  Add sea salt until the flavor is to your liking.  Mix in with the veggies and let sit on the counter for about 2 hours before serving. Stir frequently to release all the yummy juices!

Recovery Monster

I started making this after my workouts. I wanted to give my body a huge dose of protien.

2 cups of water (more if needed at the end)
1 tablespoon of organic, extra-virgin coconut oil
1 banana
1/2 of a Hass avocado
1/2 cup of blueberries
1 scoop of Garden of Life's Super Seed Beyond Fiber
1 level tablespoon of hemp powder (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 level tablespoon of ground flax or flax meal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 level tablespoon of ground chia
1 level tablespoon of spirulina
1 level teaspoon of maca powder
1 level tablespoon of cacao nibs
1 tablespoon (about 5 full-sized halves) of walnuts
1 tablespoon (10 whole pieces) of raw almonds
1 tablespon of raw cashews
1 level tablespoon of raw hulled pumpkin seeds
1 level tablespoon of raw hulled sunflower seeds

Put everything in the blender and mix thoroughly. I will admit, this doesn’t taste fantastic but it wasn’t disgusting either. If you want to sweeten it, you can add a bit of raw honey.  This recipe makes enough for 2.  You can either share it with someone or you can store half for the next day.  The best way to store it would be to put half in the freezer in ice cube trays.  When they freeze, pop them out and put them in a freezer bag.  Lable it as one serving.  When you want to use it, throw them in the blender with some water!

MAYAN JUNGLE Smoothie

1 cup of hemp or almond milk

2 bananas

1/4 cup of cacao nibs

1/4 cup of walnuts

1/8 cup of cinnamon

1 heaping tablespoon of maca powder

the greens from one beet

ice

Blend everything together.  Add some ice while the blender is moving.

JUNGLE BOOGIE Smoothie

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 bananas
1/4 cup of cacao nibs
1/4 cup of walnuts
1 heaping tablespoon of maca powder
the green tops of one beet
ice

Blend everything really good in the blender.  Once it's all blended, add ice cubes one at a time to slush it up.

APPLE BROWN BETTY Smoothie**Green Monster**

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 cored apples with the skin on
1/2 an avacado
1 banana
1/4 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1 big handful of fresh baby spinach
2-4 tablespoons of raw honey or agave nectar
ice
Blend all ingredients well. Add ice cubes one at a time.


**The term Green Monster was created by Oh She Glows

CHOCO-BANANA Smoothie **Green Monster**

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
6 kale leaves & stems
1 tablespoon of spirullina
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
1 tablespoon of flax seeds
1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
1 tablespoon of raw, hulled sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon of raw, hulled pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons of cacao nibs
1 handful of walnuts

Throw everything in the blender and let er rip!

**The term Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows










*Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows