Tag Archives: almond butter

treat yoself

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January is a rough month.  It’s long.  It’s cold.  It’s still fairly dark when your alarm goes off in the morning, and it seems like April is mocking you with its Eastery glow…3 hard months away.

To combat the winter blues, also known as SAD (seriously), a few friends and I have decided to brighten these grey days by initiating a “treats rotation”.  For those of you unaccustomed with this particular institution (I think we made it up?), each day one of us is responsible for bringing in a yummy treat for the rest of the group.  The first week I made everyone a little batch of almond butter and packaged them in mini mason jars with rustic twine bows.  It was pretty adorable.  This week I tried out a new recipe and made these things called “energy balls”, which are apparently extremely delicious, as well as deceivingly simple to make!  Here’s how I did it…

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First combine 2 cups of nuts (I used 1 cup almonds, 1 cup pecans) in a food processor until coarse.  Then add in one cup of dates (I used medjool), and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and process again for about 2-3 minutes.  Then shape into balls and roll in shredded coconut for a shmancy touch.

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Et voila!

Outside the regular treats rotation, I’ve been attempting to cure my cold weather slump by making myself some special snacks, including a homemade granola using Alex’s family recipe, and a delicious muesli, the recipe for which I created as I went along.  Dedicating my Monday nights to the kitchen and surprising my friends with yummy bites has really helped lift my spirits as of late.

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 I’d love to know, how do you boot the winter blues?  Would you ever consider a “treats rotation” with your friends?

keeks in the kitchen: almond butter

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I recently discovered a new health food blog through an old ballet friend on trusty ol’ Instagram.  Naturally Sassy is written by a British ballerina who decided to go vegan a few years back in a (successful) attempt to cure her chronic eczema.  Since making the switch to a diet of everything diary, gluten, meat and sugar free, Saskia has discovered the many benefits of this new lifestyle.  Inflammatory and acidic properties found in these food groups can have short and long terms effects on your health, including weight gain, acne/dry skin, high cholesterol, lowering of the immune system and digestion and stomach problems. Yuck!  Reading the short bit of information on the vegan lifestyle presented on Saksia’s blog, I decided to give up meat, most of the dairy I currently consume, complex sugars, gluten, and all processed foods.  And what better way to kickstart this new lifestyle than by whipping up a batch of Naturally Sassy’s homemade almond butter?!

With just 3 ingredients and a food processor, you too can make your very own delicious, protein-packed almond butter.  I added mine into a smoothie with banana, medjool dates, flaxseed and almond milk and oh.my.god, you guys, it was so scrumptious.  That’s what has me hooked on this blog; Her recipes are so healthy, but also combine a range of flavors that I can totally get on board with.  Roasted sweet potatoes and avocados galore?  Yes, please!

So, granted I have enough time to actually cook and blog about it this season, expect to see a lot more of my kitchen experiments here on STB!  Other recipes I’m dying to try include the perfect kale salad, sweet potato salad with avocado mayonnaise, and the blueberry and baobab pancakes.