chocolate chai truffles

Chocolate Chai Truffles!

These little "truffles" are made from date paste, oats, spices and cacao...a heavenly scented sweet treat!

 I love all the flavors and spices fall brings, but I am so sad to say goodbye to the summer!   I’m not ready to go full-blown pumpkin spice yet, so I will start with chai :)

These little “truffles” are made from date paste, oats, spices and cacao…a heavenly scented sweet treat!  I keep a batch of date candy or no-bake bars in the refrigerator for a little pick me up during the day or as a healthier way to satisfy my love of dessert!  They are kid approved too!

Inspiration for this recipe comes from the adorable, motivational and plant-based lady over at Earthy Andy!   I first started following her on Instagram, go check her out!

These little "truffles" are made from date paste, oats, spices and cacao...a heavenly scented sweet treat!

chocolate chai truffles
 
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Chocolate Chai Truffles, a heavenly scented sweet treat! Makes 26-28 truffles
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 28
Ingredients
  • 2 packed cups medjool dates, pitted
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons strongly brewed chai or black tea
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1 tablespoon cacao powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 healthy pinches of sea salt (I use course pink sea salt)
  • ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
  1. Place pitted dates in a food processor and pulse until a paste is formed.
  2. In a large frying pan over medium-low heat add coconut oil, date paste, tea and coconut sugar. Stir mixture until well combined and cook until bubbling. (around 3-5 mins.) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside and let cool.
  3. In a large bowl mix together oats, cacao powder, cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and sea salt. Add cooled date paste mixture and stir until well combined. (this step takes some elbow grease!)
  4. Using a tablespoon, scoop out mixture and use palms of hands to roll into a ball. Roll in coconut flakes until covered.
  5. Store in refrigerator.
  6. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 Calories: 82 Fat: 1 Carbohydrates: 19 Sugar: 14 Fiber: 2 Protein: 1

These little "truffles" are made from date paste, oats, spices and cacao...a heavenly scented sweet treat! 

What is coconut sugar?

Coconut sugar is made from the sap of the coconut palm plant.  It is light brown in color, similar to the color of light brown sugar.  However, it is not as sweet as regular white sugar or brown sugar.  Unlike white sugar, it contains trace amounts of nutrients such as iron, zinc and potassium.  The constitution of coconut palm sugar is also different than white sugar.  To best explain it, here is a blurb off of Dr. Weil’s website, “coconut sugar is 70 to 79 percent sucrose and only three percent to nine percent each of fructose and glucose. This is an advantage, because you want to keep your consumption of fructose as low as possible, and cane sugar is 50 percent fructose.”   But, don’t forget…sugar is sugar and it’s best to consume in moderation!

banana berry superfood smoothie bowl

Banana Berry Superfood Smoothie Bowl

Banana Berry Superfood Smoothie Bowl, a beautiful bowl of flavor!

Tucked away down a little path in the town of Wellfleet you can find the most beautiful smoothie bowls at a place called BOL.  Acai or pitaya blended with all sorts of creative ingredients such as mint and topped with granola and the most delicious crunchy coconut flakes.  Needless to say, we are addicted!  If you ever make it to Wellfleet, you must go!!!

When we can’t get into town for a bowl, we’ve been blending our own at home!  My freezer has been stocked with locally grown raspberries thanks to my friend April, which are perfect for just this very thing!

Banana Berry Superfood Smoothie Bowl, a beautiful bowl of flavor!

A high-speed blender such as a vitamix is needed for making smoothie bowls.  Just add the fruit of your choice, a little almond milk, flip the switch and beat the heck out of it with the damper stick!  For easier blending make sure to cut the bananas into smaller chunks before freezing, and don’t forget to peel them!  (A rookie mistake that we’ve all made before!)  You can even add one frozen banana with one unfrozen banana for a more “pudding-like” consistency.

For the peanut butter drizzle I melted a tablespoon of natural peanut butter with a little coconut oil.  When it hits the cold smoothie bowl it hardens and gets crunchy!

Banana Berry Superfood Smoothie Bowl, a beautiful bowl of flavor!

banana berry smoothie bowl
 
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Makes 1-2 servings. Banana Berry Smoothie Bowl, a beautiful bowl of flavor!
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1 cup frozen raspberries
  • 3 tablespoons almond milk
  • Toppings:
  • banana slices
  • strawberry slices
  • coconut flakes
  • peanut butter
  • hemp seeds
  • granola
Instructions
  1. Place frozen fruit and almond milk in a high-speed blender, blend until an ice cream like texture is achieved. Use damper stick or scrape down sides of blender as needed.
  2. Add favorite toppings and enjoy!

I apologize for my lack in posts recently, this last week was a busy one!  My heart was full to have my brother, sister-in-law, sister and nephews in town to celebrate my parent’s 50th Anniversary!  It’s not too often that we can all spend time together with everyone living on opposite coasts.  We went on walks, went to the Proviencetown Portuguese festival, shopped in Chatham and ate out…ate a lot!  I’m feeling the consequences of all the wheat and sugar, but it was well worth it :)

Here are a few scenes from the week!

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cilantro lime cucumbers

Cilantro Lime Cucumbers

Cilantro Lime Cucumbers

Thanks to my brother-in-law, our veggie garden will be overflowing with cucumbers soon!  We have a high demand for cucumbers in my house…my dad makes huge batches of dill pickles that last us through the winter (if we’re lucky!) and fresh cucumbers are my fall-back plan for getting veggies into Noah on a daily basis.  While Noah is pretty good with eating a variety of veggies, I can be certain he will eat cucumbers for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  And this is totally fine by me because although cucumbers are made up of mostly water, they are also nutrient dense.

Check it out!

~Cucumbers provide vitamin C and vitamin A

~A good source of folic acid

~Contain important minerals such as potassium, magnesium and molybdenum

~Provide silica, a mineral that is important for the health of our muscle, ligament and connective tissues

Cilantro Lime Cucumbers

Try this recipe for a fresh summer salad!

cilantro lime cucumber
 
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Makes 4 side servings Cilantro Lime Cucumbers, a fresh summer salad!
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 heaping cups of thinly sliced cucumbers
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • juice from 1 lime
  • 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Let marinate for 1-2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma