Toasted Coconut Butter

You guys. I (Emily, here!) LOVE this recipe. I used to spend 10 dollars plus on jars of this stuff from *those who take whole paychecks* and would go through it within a couple days - cue the bank robbery. It took me such a long time, even after reading recipes (!) to finally make it for myself. Thank goodness I finally did, because let's talk about a bang for your buck. Now, I spend a fifth of the price and get fresh, homemade coconut butter that takes less than 15 minutes to make and requires only one ingredient. Can I get a booyah? Too lame? Alright ... we'll move on.

This recipe brings all of the Great Vibes because it's ...

ONLY one ingredient
a perfect base recipe
done in under 15 minutes
creamy
rich
decadent
versatile

I put this yummy goodness on basically everything. A couple weeks ago, it was featured in it's non-toasted variation in my Mexican Cold Chocolate recipe. I've been known to eat it by the spoonful, drizzle it over sweet potatoes with a little bit of cinnamon, stir it into a can of pumpkin with honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and tumeric, or mix it with maple syrup and a little lemon juice to make a yummy frosting for cinnamon rolls. *cravings beginning now*.

Note: Notice in my ingredients where I've written organic and where I've written vegan. If these things are important to you, I encourage you to do the same. Finances, availability, and personal consumer choice can impact purchase decisions. My hope is that you closely follow the recipe, but make allowances where necessary -- my feelings won't be hurt and your tastebuds will still have a party. Promise!

What is it we love so much about coconut? I spent all day Monday, chatting up my favorite healthy fat, coconut, over on twitter - follow me here -, because why not? Coconut is amazing and it comes in so many different forms... flaked, whole, liquid, butter, oil, the list is endless! Okay, not endless, but definitely a lot of options from which to choose. Coconuts are made up of 90% fat, which has most people gasping and pinching their waistlines, but 65% are medium-chain fatty acids. These guys are absorbed by our body in a way that fuels us, not fattens us, and have been known to boost our metabolism, slim our waistlines, help moisturize our skin and boost it's integrity, aids in gut and digestive health, and may even have antimicrobial power. Hot dammmnnnnnn. So many benefits thanks to the nutritional profile (I'll just mention a few...) boasting of vitamins E & C, sterols, fiber, and electrolytes - i.e. potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium.

Ingredients & steps after the jump ... 

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Toasted Coconut Butter

Ingredients ::

+ 1 bag of unsweetened flake coconut
(organic, nothing added - I use Trader Joe's brand)

Recipe ::

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spread unsweetened flake coconut onto a baking tray.

3. Toast coconut in the oven for about 5 (maybe more) minutes, until lightly golden brown, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.

4. Remove from oven and let cool.

5. Place cooled, toasted coconut flakes into blender or Nutribullet (if using Nutribullet, using milling attachment, not blender attachment).

6. Blend coconut, scraping down the sides or shaking the coconut back down, until fully blended and creamy. You'll know it's done when it's the same, even consistency of peanut or almond butter.

7. Top on smoothies or oatmeal, eat by the spoonful, or drizzle over sweet potatoes with cinnamon for a decadent treat packed with nutrients. The options are endless. Enjoy! Xx.

Notes:: Store in a sealed, glass container. Will be solid in rooms cooler than about 75 degrees. To remelt, sit in a bowl of hot water, or if you're short on time (like me, always), pop in the microwave for about a minute, stirring every 15 seconds.

+ do you ever make homemade nut butters or coconut butters? Let me know in the comments or on Facebook!

[recipe inspired by Tenacious Acorn]

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Staying on Top of Work | 2015

Whether you're going back to school, helping your kids catch the bus, or eagerly awaiting the new fashions, fall is right around the corner and with it comes the nostalgia for cooler temps and a drive to hunker down, and get back to work. It's no surprise that I (Emily, here!) have headed back to school for my next semester filled with unfortunate adventures and countless hours of working. Teaching yoga five days a week, owning my own business, and going to school full time has definitely allowed me to fine-tune my ability to stay on top of work, so I thought I'd share my three no-fail tips with you. It's important to stay organized, keep a healthy time mentality, and make time for yourself. Let's get to it ...

Master list.

This piece of paper or a Word page or a folder in Evernote (more on my favorite apps to use later) has every single to-do item. Crazy right? Nope. It's life changing. Organize them into subheaders - i.e. dreams, home, work, etc - and start adding everything and anything under them. Writing down all of those "oh! I wish/need/could do that" will help with the endless cycle of what you need to get done, what you have gotten done, and what you hope to accomplish. I have a list that's several pages long but includes things I want to do ten years from now (like owning my own home - dream!).

Weekly list.

Your master list has been created. Do not and I repeat, do not, fold up that master list and start each day gawking at how much you want to do and how much you've yet to do. Que the failure. Instead, at the beginning of each week - Sundays work for most people - sit down with your master list and make your weekly to-do list. On this baby, include things like what immediately needs to get done, meals you want to have for the week, any exercise plans, social events, etc. Pull from your master list, but don't expect to get through it all in a week. Try to be realistic with what you can accomplish. If on your master list you have "Write a Book" but you've yet to write a single page, break it up into manageable pieces like, "research publication mediums, write bio, draft outline, etc". Small tasks allow for an undaunted approach to your goals.

Daily list.

This is where you take that weekly list and turn it into your daily task sheet. Take five minutes the night before to plan out your daily list. I use the 5-3-1 formula. Five big ticket tasks, 3 small steps, and one to two personal self-care items.

For example, my daily list two days ago looked like:

+ 5 Big-Ticket Items - draft Yoga for Basketball Philosophy outline, finalize and post Foods I Take to Wake: First Edition, meet with Beth and Mason, go to Class, and start Staying on Top of Work Post.

+ 3 Small Steps: emails - reply to the athletic trainer, email my past econ professor, and send my outline to Dana; purchase my textbook for German; purchase a gift.

+ Personal Self-care: take a Barre3 class and work on wall hanging - art project.

On this list you'll also see my meals for the day - or at least where I'm eating and at what time.

I love the thrill of crossing things out or checking things off, so by the end of the day, my list normally looks like a black hole - paper copy - or all green - online app. Cross it off your weekly list too! Annnnnd if you hit something on your master list, you guessed it, cross it off! You did it! Woohoo!

Every couple of weeks or every month, sit down and review your master list: cross off things you've missed, maybe take off items in which you no longer have interest, or add even more. It's a constant process, but one that keeps your life rooted in action rather than fear.

50 minutes of work followed by ten minutes of stretching your fingers, shaking your booty, checking out a cool blog, or sipping on some tea. Gauge your time frame of productive ability, and remember that each day is different. Some days, I operate on a 30/15 focus, while other days I can hammer out work at a 55/5 pace. It's amazing how when you listen to your mind's ability to focus, and don't force it to do anything crazy like work for three hours with only a five minute break, you can maximize productivity and cross off everything on your daily list.

So you've planned your life down to a T, and you've maximized productivity in the blocks you've allotted for yourself. It's time to make time for rest and self-care too. Without it, you get sick, fall back on work, lose your drive, and end up right where you began. Burning the candle on both ends might make a bright and beautiful light, but pretty soon the light fizzles out, and there isn't anything left.

Personal self-care items can be: read a book, call a friend, or take a bubble bath. They are meant as ways of rejuvenating your system.

Still don't think it's important? Imagine if you never rubbed the belly of a service dog or let them take a nap but made them work all of the time. Think they would be the loving, capable, and incredible animals we hear about or see every day? I certainly don't think so. Self-care = most important part.

And remember it's all a process! Some days it works amazingly, and other days you throw your plan to the wind, get under the covers, and watch four seasons of a great show on Netflix. It happens. But now you have the tools to get back on track.

So there you have it! My three, go-to tips for staying on top of work. I'm sure I'll be rereading my own words when I get too stressed to think, but that's life, eh? Just remember:

1. Write it all down.
2. Block it out.
3. Don't forget self-care.

+ Do these seem doable? What are your go-to productivity tips?

R E C I P E // A Little Yum: Smoothie Bowls

Green Smoothie BowlSpinach & Banana, Naturally

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R E C I P E || what is a smoothie bowl? it's an amazing blend of frozen fruit and veggies that comes out in a frosty-esque consistency, perfect for upending into a bowl and eating with a spoon. It's cold, it forces you to really slow down and enjoy the nutrients (unlike guzzling a smoothie like a person who has just crossed the finish line in the Boston Marathon), and it's perfectly top-able and delicious. I love these over the summer for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and sometimes it tastes so good I want another. If the green freaks you out, try adding some cacao or cocoa and make it a chocolate frosty. You don't taste the greens in my opinion, but sometimes it's easier to eat something that looks like chocolate ice cream, am I right? I left the recipe purposely vague so you can experiment, and find your favorite combination. Starting with the base of banana and spinach (both frozen so it's super spoonable), anything else goes -- if I don't have almond milk, I'll use just water; if chia seeds and flax seeds are at a low, I'll omit or throw in a different seed if I have it on hand; if I don't want oatmeal in my smoothie (I normally add it on the days I run), I don't put it in there ... you guys get the idea, right? It's simple! 

+ 1-2 cups of Non-Dairy Milk
+ 1-2 cups of frozen spinach (if new to the world of green smoothies, start at 1 cup and work up)
+ 1 frozen banana (peel the banana and break it up into bite size pieces -- makes it easier on the blender -- and then place it in the freezer in a baggie or on a tray until frozen. they last forever so feel free to freeze in bulk)
+ Flax & Chia Seeds
+ 1-2 tbsp oatmeal
+ Almond butter to drizzle heavenly on top
+ Spices of Choice (I love cinnamon and nutmeg)
+ Ice (optional)

Add all of the ingredients* (minus the almond butter if you want to drizzle it on top) to a blender until all is combined. I've tried it with my nutribullet and it works just fine! 

*You want the milk to just cover the frozen banana and spinach. After you run it through the blender to get it started, you add very small amounts to help it blend completely, but not too much that it becomes any ol' smoothie -- it's all about that spooning action! If you made it too runny, no worries! Add a little more frozen banana or ice to it and thicken it right back up -- it's almost too simple to call it a recipe.

Why do we love Green Smoothies? The one above packs potassium, manganese, folate, fiber, vital vitamins and nutrients (think B6, C, E, omegas), as well as protein and more, and it's all jam packed into something that tastes amazing ;-). Plus, it makes your body glow from the inside out and feel like it can go for hours (if you're wondering how filling a simple recipe could be, try it out -- I think you'll be pleasantly surprised).

For another smoothie recipe, check out this Berry & Beet Smoothie or the non-bowl version of this recipe, The Training Wheels Green Smoothie.

+ have you tried smoothie bowls before ? was this a new idea for you? comment below or on facebook!

Want to feel like a million bucks with high energy, self-love, and freedom from fad-diets? Let’s work together.

Xx. Remember, always listen to your body and soul when fixing yourself food -- it's generally in there that you'll find just what you need.