|| Health & Wellness Thursdays || Dates, Remedies, & Hormones

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|| Some Healthy Links to Keep Us Going ||

Don't Worry. Be Happy & Healthy & Healing. It's Possible for All.


Three Cheers for Date Recipes

"Dates are filled with tons of healthy vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Not only that, they’re loaded with fiber, allowing your body to make full use of their goodness as they are easily digested." -- recipes through link above


Flu and cold season is upon us, but don't worry, here's a handy dandy guide/remedy!

"The bottom line is, if you eat right, and have been eating right for some time, cold and flus shouldn’t even affect you. No single herb or natural remedy compares to a diet with a low toxic load and daily salads with 14 different vegetables, turmeric, garlic, etc."

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A quick background on how hormones truly affect us. 

"Hormones are liquid chemical messengers that regulate many activities of the body. They signal biological processes from metabolism, growth, and maturation to sexuality and reproduction (and everything in between)."

Was any of this information surprising or new? Do you love dates as much as I do? Have you gotten sick thus far this season? After reading the article, are you ready to work on your hormonal balance?

Stay Happy & Healthy

xx

[images linked with word]

Halloween Recipe || Caramel ||10.30.14

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Halloween is upon us! In fact it’s tomorrow!!! Do you love Halloween as much as I do? Because my room is decorated with fake leaves, window stickies, and pumpkin paintings. I have been reading some great blog posts written by ladies who painted their pumpkins white to line their entryways and others who spread out huge cobwebs throughout their houses. In honor of our Health and Wellness Thursdays, here’s what I’m contributing to the best day of the year… Introducing a beautifying and delicious, blended to perfection caramel! And since I couldn’t decide just which one to make, I decided to make three and let you know how they all worked out! The recipes below are vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free, and definitely so delicious your spoon will be diving back in for more.

Enjoy some of this deliciousness with apples (my personal favorite), on top of oatmeal, inside homemade peanut butter cups, or straight from the spoon. Imagine this stirred into a container of peanut butter … drool.

|| CARAMEL ||

date based, with oil or without, maybe some almond butter – all good

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first recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup organic coconut oil
  • 1/6 cup + 1 tbsp almond butter
  • 2 dates
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Dash of salt (to taste)

Recipe ||

  1. Add all of the ingredients to a high speed blender (I used my magic bullet – not the best, but hey, dorm room) and blend until all ingredients are incorporated, the texture is a light golden brown, and the consistency is smooth – easy peasy

Notes ||

Experimenting with this recipe was so fun, because the flavors individually are so far from the taste of caramel – but when combined I must kiss my fingers and say mmmmagnificent. At first I could still taste almond butter in one bite, maple syrup in the other, maybe a little date, but after letting the flavors sit and mingle, the flavor was more caramel than I ever imagined -- not exact but pretty darn close. Plus, it looks like caramel and has that gorgeous drippy texture that I was looking for in my little experiment. The original recipe uses vanilla, and I bet that would have added another dynamic, but I didn’t have some quality vanilla extract on me and since we were keeping this raw, I didn’t want any of that alcohol aftertaste. This one is great with apples. I had to restrain myself. Majorly restrain. I also made my almond butter in my Magic Bullet before I made this, so it was a little drier than the usual store-bought brands and that might have contributed to the original overwhelming almond butter taste.

tested and adapted from Nutrition Stripped

second recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ¼ cup soaked dates
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • ½ tablespoon almond butter (can be omitted)
  • cinnamon
  • a dash of sea salt
  • water as needed

Recipe ||

  1. Send all of the ingredients to a high speed blender, like above, and let it do it’s thing --

Notes ||

Dates naturally taste very carameley – it’s awesome for quick snacks with a little chocolate chips and almond butter inside, but that's beside the point . This recipe had a very nice light flavor, an airy texture, and didn’t sit heavy in my stomach. It also didn’t taste rich and decadent which is what I was going for, but it would be awesome in a peanut butter cup inspired recipe with tahini and this caramel wrapped with raw chocolate. Yum. The almond butter wasn’t in the original recipe but just added a nice depth of flavor I couldn’t pass up.

 

tested and adapted from This Rawsome Vegan Life 

 

third recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ½ cup of dates
  • ½ banana (or 2 tbsp coconut oil if not staying oil free)
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • dash of sea salt

Recipe ||

  1. Yep! You guessed right – throw them all in the blender and wait for smooth perfection --

Notes ||

This recipe looked the most like caramel, but unfortunately tasted too much like banana (duh em, there’s a banana in there). Nevertheless, I think this would be amazing swirled into a banana bread recipe or cookie rather than dipped with apples or eaten by itself.

tested and adapted from This Rawsome Vegan Life 

 

Overall, I love the first one for eating on its own and the other two for swirling into some delicious recipes. I really encourage you to tweak all the recipes, throw them all together if you want, and let me know what you think! I was playing with these during a really upsetting weekend, so it was a great relief. Just go in there with no expectations and let me know what magic you whip up?

 

[photos by emily friend]

Weekend Extra || Coconut Exposed

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I know I promised you all a coconut-tell-all ... enjoy!

COCONUT

from the Cocos nucifera palm

Coconut is unbelievable. -- there are so many incredibly, amazing, fantabulous things that coconut can do/be, I was pretty intimidated to write this post, because I wasn't sure where to start, stop, or keep going. You'll see, don't worry... Studiesencourage the idea that coconut is great for health promotion and disease prevention. Parts of the fruit and coconut water host so many medicinal properties like being antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, antidermatophytic, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, hepatoprotective, immunostimulant -- woah. Coconut water and the coconut kernel contain microminerals and nutrients, too! These are essential to human health and survival, and thus coconut is desired by those all over the world and readily found in tropical areas/countries.

Nutritional Benefits | just some of the amazing qualities… per 80g or one cup shredded ... percentages of daily value

  • Healthy fat // saturated fat (65% medium chain triglycerides)
    • Fatty acids in coconut // fatty acids necessary for optimal health
      • 49% lauric acid
      • ~ 18% mysteric acid
      • 9% palmitic acid,
      • 7 % capric acid
      • 8% aprylic acid
      • 5-6% oleic acid
      • ~3% stearic acid
      • 2% linoleic acid
      • Vitamin E // 1%
      • Vitamin C // 4%
      • Sterols
      • Fiber (in coconut meat)
      • Electrolytes
        • potassium // 8%
        • magnesium // 6%
        • manganese // 60%
        • sodium (coconut water) // 1%

What it can help me with |

Different Forms That I Can Use |

Coconut meat // white flesh within the coconut amount varies depending on age -- young coconuts have very soft coconut meat similar to a gelatin / mature coconuts have a very hard, dense, and fibrous coconut meat with a stronger flavor

Coconut water // clear liquid within the coconut young coconuts have a greater amount of coconut water than the mature coconuts high in natural electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium and a small amount of simple sugars perfect to sip all day long or post-workout

Coconut milk // liquid from grated coconut meat thick, creamy and white used in sweet and savory dishes -- think curries or for making dairy-free ice cream

Coconut oil // oil extracted or pressed from mature coconut meat solid at room temperature and melts around 76 degrees note//always choose organic cold pressed oil and stay away from any coconut oils that say hydrogenated great for cooking and eating amazing beauty product replacement

Coconut butter // pureed unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut meat similar consistency to cashew or almond butter naturally sweet flavor and thick creamy texture great as a replacement for butter +            my favorite -- drizzled over warm fall squash for a filling, healthy, and delicious treat

Coconut flour // simply dried and ground coconut meat high in fiber and great for gluten free + low carbohydrate baking

Coconut shredded flakes // coconut meat either shredded very small or larger sized flakes used in baking or as toppings yummy note: toast in the oven until golden brown for a nice nutty flavor Used in Chocolate Covered Coconut Circles

I couldn't even put a star next to my favorites... I love coconut too much!

[great research site for coconut][image found on refinery29 + edited by emily friend]