heartyspoonful

"Health is not just about what you're eating. It's also about what you're thinking and saying."

- Unknown

"You are what you think about all day."

- Dr. Robert Schuller

"If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently."

- Bill Watterson

• 1 can (15 oz) white beans
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup pure maple syrup *
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• Dark chocolate chips 
• Shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a square pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Drain and rinse white beans. Pour into the food processor along with tahini, maple syrup, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Process until smooth. If the batter becomes too thick, add wee bit more maple syrup or liquid of choice.

Add as much chocolate chips you desire and mix with a wooden spoon. Transfer into the prepared pan and top with more chocolate and coconut, if desired.

Bake for at 23-25 minutes. Check to see that the mixture has set. It should be soft, but not mushy. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. To aid with the texture, place in the fridge for a few hours before slicing.

Enjoy! xx

"I'll read my books and I'll drink coffee and I'll listen to music, and I'll bolt the door."

- J.D. Salinger

• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seed, 2 tbsp water)
• 2 cups sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Add sunflower seeds to a food processor and process until until you reach a coarse flour consistency. Add the arrowroot powder and sea salt and pulse for five seconds.

Pour the mixture in a bowl. Add the cranberries and pumpkin seeds.

With the flax egg, add the maple syrup and vanilla mixture. Stir well.

Pour the flax-maple mixture over the sunflower seed mixture. Keep on stirring, don't give up. It'll bind (eventually).

Pour the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. With wet hands, shape into two rectangles (size: 4 x 6 inches). Bake for 18-22 minutes, or when the edges are slightly golden brown. (Since mine were pretty thin, I baked them for 15 minutes.) Let cool for at least 20 minutes.

Lower the temperature of the oven to 275F.

Once the biscotti have cooled, use a sharp knife to cut 1-inch-thick slices lengthwise.

Return into oven and bake for 16-18 minutes then carefully flip and bake for another 16-18 minutes. (In my case, I only had to bake 8 minutes each side.)

Carefully transfer onto a cooling rack and let cool completely. To keep freshness and crispness, store in airtight glass container. The biscotti will keep for a week.

Enjoy! xx

• 1/3 cup mashed avocado (half an avocado)
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 
• Cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
• Pinch of sea salt
• Unsweetened coconut flakes

Mash avocado with a fork and add some sea salt. Make sure there are no lumps.

Using a bain-marie (pot with hot water with a glass bowl on top), melt the chocolate. If you don't have a bain-marie (or if you're lazy), microwave the chocolate, but make sure you don't burn it.

Mix the chocolate with the avocado and combine thoroughly.

Place the mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. When set, start rolling your truffles. In a shallow bowl, place some cocoa powder and roll the balls. Or if using coconut flakes as well, repeat the step. Make sure the truffles are fully covered. Store in the fridge until ready to nom-nom-nom.

Enjoy! xx

"Imperfections are attractive when their owners are happy with them."

- Augusten Burroughs

• "Why base your peace of mind on other people's opinions? Especially of people you don't even care for."
• "Being skinny and mentally weak, that's not healthy nor attractive. Don't you want to look and actually be strong?"
• "If you mask your imperfections, how can you know you're real?"
• "Hey, I have sparse eyebrows, but I'm pretty tall. You can't have it all." 
• "Always have the piece of cake. You'll eventually run it off anyway." 

• My impatience, especially for tardiness;
• My seeming uptightness (gotta find my laid-back self);
• Indecisiveness (I just take forever and I yo-yo with decisions);
• Introversion (I prefer my solitude over "fun" loud settings). 

Vegan Chocolate Fudge
Makes 9x5 loaf pan
(Recipe adapted from Voila Vegan - my changes are reflected below)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/3 cup cashew butter or almond butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder

Add-ins:

• Pistachios, roughly chopped
• Raspberries
• Almonds, roughly chopped
• Blueberries
• Sea salt

"A day without laughter is a day wasted."

- Nicolas Chamfort

• 1 cup oat flour 
• 1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut/almond yoghurt
• 1/4 cup cashew butter (or nut butter of choice)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 flax or chia eggs (2 tbsp ground flax plus 5 tbsp of water)
• Handful of blueberries and raspberries