What Happens in Vega, Stays in Vega….

Ben Franklin said it best, “Lost time is never found again.”.

Have you ever woke up in the morning and thought, “If I could just sleep 10 more minutes, I’d feel so more refreshed?” But then, 10 minutes turns into 20 and before you know it, you’re scrambling to get out the door and get to work and you haven’t even had a bite to eat at breakfast (and no, a latte does NOT count).

This leads me to today’s post. I’d like to share with you a product that was recently recommended to me by a friend of mine. At first, I was sceptical, well, cynical, that this was worth the money.  But, after using it every day for 2 weeks, I have to say – this is a winner! If my name was Oprah Winfrey, I would definitely have this as one of my favourite things. But I’m not. So, I will just have to blog about it instead.

The product that I am gushing about is called Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer. I think the name says it all. But I’d like to go over what it is, the benefits and where to buy it.

Vega - Whole Food Health Optimizer (15 servings of goodness!)

Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer contains 100% of your recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals, fibre, Omega 3 and 6, EFAs, antioxidants, probiotics, enzymes , ChlorEssence and MacaSure.

It comes in four flavours: Vanilla Chai (my favourite), Chocolate, Berry and Natural Flavour.

It’s free of any allergens and toxic additives such as: animal products, dairy, gluten, soy, sugar, wheat, yeast, artificial sweeteners, GMOs and pesticides.

Additionally, it’s a clean product and alkaline forming. In short, a tall glass of heaven.

It was created by Brendan Brazier, a vegan and a professional iron man athlete. He wanted to create a formula and a line of nutritional products that would aid him to train and recover in the most efficient way.

Here is his story .

He recently developed a new and improved version of the Whole Food Health Optimizer called One.

I just purchased a bunch of the old stuff since it was on sale, so eventually when I run out, I’ll be looking forward to trying this out!

Why do I like this product so much that I would want to share it with you? Here is a quick list of why I think this product is great:

1. Convenient. This is SUPER easy to make. All you really need is a cup, a measuring cup and some water. But if you want to be fancy like me, get your trusty blender out and add a couple of ice cubes and 300ml of water and blend. It makes a bit of a slushy and is delicious! It’s also super easy for when you travel. Just pre-measure the amount you will need depending on the number of days you’re gone and pack it along with the scoop that is provided in the tub. I have a plastic cup with a lid that I bring with me, so all I need to do is put 2 scoops of the powder in the cup along with enough water, put that lid on TIGHT and shake until the mix is dissolved. Then I chug that baby down and I’m done. Believe it or not, it keeps you full for about 3 or 4 hours. Starting to see why I’m loving this so much?

2. Save time in the mornings cooking breakfast. No more waking up and wondering what to make. No more wasting so much money on overpriced breakfast cereals (that are generally laden with sugars). Simply wake up, shake, drink and go. Even if you don’t have time at home, you can always bring and keep some at work to prepare at the office. If you LOOOOVE breakfast, this also makes a great meal replacement for lunch, especially if you have all day meetings or no time to grab lunch. Or you could have half of a serving as a snack!

3. Save money vitamins. Since this product contains 100% of your recommended daily intake of vitamins, you won’t need to shell out money on supplements and multivitamins.  Yes, please!

4. More energy and knowing that you’re doing something great for your health. I’ve definitely noticed that I have more energy and just feel good since taking this product. Digestion is better and I have more clarity and focus.

5. Gluten, dairy, wheat, soy, sugar, chemical free product – ‘nough said!

6. Good for the environment. I thought this was clever:

   

   I thought this was interesting.

So, where does one purchase this fine product? It can be found at any health food store such as Noah’s or in the health food store section of your grocery store.

This site also sells it http://shopca.sequelnaturals.com/ and will also indicate where Vega products are sold http://myvega.com/find-a-store .

It costs anywhere from $60 to $80 depending on the store.

Like I said, I’ve been seeing it on sale since there will be a new version launched soon. But it’s totally worth the cost considering the money you spend each month on vitamins and breakfast. Plus, aren’t you worth it?

If you’ve read this and thought that this sounds amazing and would really benefit you then I suggest that you buy some (you can buy a smaller tub for about $45) and try it out for a week and see how you like it. Why not?

I hope at the very least, I’ve given you some good information and something different to think about.

Enjoy!

Detox: Day Four

What a week! I only had a three day work week but Heaven knows that it felt like at least a six day week compressed into three.  I think it was mainly because of the adjustment to the detox diet and the fact that I had four glorious days off – which meant lots of sleeping in and lounging about, then when that alarm goes off for work I had to snap back into reality and get with the program: work, errands, house work, obligations. Not complaining – but I’m glad it’s Friday!

One aspect of the detoxing that I really like is that it gives me the opportunity to just take a break and do things that I don’t normally get the opportunity to do (scratch that – allot myself the opportunity to do).  This weekend, for once in a long time, I don’t have any serious plans. No scheduled dinners or birthday parties, no events or trips out of town to make. I just get to be at home all weekend and hibernate if I want to. And I just might. I have a mountain of laundry that needs some attention and I need to organize and clean my room before I trip and break my neck. I also want to spend time to catch up on some reading that I haven’t had the energy to do lately. Mainly, I just want to catch up with myself.

But the detox does have its drawbacks. I don’t want to paint this super rosy picture that this week so far has been a breeze. Frankly, it’s been quite challenging. There’s nothing I wanted more, most mornings, than a nice cup of chai tea with soy milk. Or one of my roommates fresh (?) buns that taunt me when I open the fridge to grab some spinach for my stir fry (that I’ve had for dinner and lunch two days in a row). Or the overwhelming craving for a nice, cold, pint of beer after a long week. Instead, I came home, had a nap and went for a run. Then I rewarded myself with a spinach salad with some smoked salmon on top (the recipe is below). It was AMAZING and very satifsfying! Almost made me forget about that pint that I was so looking forward to. But, there’s light at the end of the tunnel: I’ll be finishing my detox in time to celebrate my Irish heritage on St. Paddy’s day and will hopefully be feeling a lot less sluggish and shed those few pounds that I gained over the last month. More importantly, I hope to have regained some better eating habits instead of resorting to pizza when I’m starving after work.

Here’s that spinach salad I was gloating about:

Spinach Salad with Spicy Smoked Salmon

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 handfuls of baby spinach
• 8-10 baby carrots (chopped)
• 1 slice of red onion (chopped)
• 2 handfuls of sprouts
• 1/4 of an avocado
• 1/4 of lemon (juice)
• 1 lime (juice)
• Oregano
• Salmon (sliced)
• Olive oil (3 tbsps)
• Chilli powder (1/4 tsp)
• Black pepper (1/4 tsp)

Method:

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the spices once the oil is warm. Let the spices simmer for a minute then add the salmon. Let cook until the meat darkens. While this is cooking, grab a large bowl (you can either eat this as a meal or make it and share it with a friend).  Layer the spinach, carrots, onion, avocado and sprouts in the bowl. Squeeze the lemon slice and the lime over top of the salad. Sprinkle the dried oregano on top. Once the salmon has finished cooking, place the salmon on top of the salad and drizzle the spicy oil on the salad. Mix it all together, and voila!

Of course, you can add or replace whatever veggies you like but I found that this combination was very satisfying. Next time, I’d definitely add cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. If I weren’t detoxing, I’d add some goat cheese or feta, too. If you wanted to add some grains, you could always mix in some cooked quinoa. Why not? AND you could always replace the salmon with chicken (chopped up and fried in the same oil). Okay. I’ll stop and let you try this out for yourself.

Enjoy!

Detox: Always seems like a good idea at the time….

Well, I wish I had a good excuse for why I’ve been MIA the past couple of months, but I don’t. The holiday season was pretty crazy for me and my work load exploded. So between working lots and a full social calendar, I didn’t have much time to cook let alone blog. Then after Christmas, I had a few personal things to deal with and now, I’m back on track!

Since my eating habits needed a lot of fine tuning after one too many pizza nights and pitchers of beer, I recruited a friend of mine to do a detox diet with me for the next few weeks. What that means is: no dairy, no wheat, no refined sugar, no caffeine, no booze, and no smoking – basically, no junk!

It’s day 2 and I have to admit, it’s pretty tough so far. Temptations are everywhere! I was walking home from work tonight, starving, and I saw a massive poster for a large pizza for only $5. You have no idea how tempting that was. Or maybe you do. But I stayed focused and realized that quitting on day 2 is pretty lame, even for someone as inconsistent as me.

The secret of doing these kinds of diets is to plan ahead and make sure that you have enough of the right food on hand so that you don’t blow your diet and order a pizza (like I almost did) because you’re way too starving to even open the fridge. I’ve been there – it’s riduculous.

It’s amazing, too, how when you “deprive” yourself of certain things, it seems like that’s when you want it most. Today, for instance, was my first day back at work after four glorious days off and my eyes didn’t stop burning for one minute the entire day. Nope, not one single minute. All I wanted was a nice cup of chai tea or even a small cup of coffee to get the motor going but I’m not allowed. I ended up just sitting, staring blankly at my computer screen and imagining how delicious and satisfying a cup of coffee would be. Out of sheer will, I snapped out of it and got a cup of green tea and some water instead.  It only took about 5 cups of green tea before I sort of felt like myself again and by then, it was 4:30pm; almost time to go home. I think tomorrow will be better. It`s got to be. I’ve done these detox diets before and I always find that the first days are the hardest (mostly mentally).

For me, the hardest things to give up are drinking alcohol and dairy. To get through, I usually make a deal with myself that at the end of my detox, I’ll treat myself to a nice glass of red wine and some goat’s milk ice cream. Not both at the same time.

Anyways, today was pretty easy – for breakfast I had 2 eggs and some soy milk blended with strawberries; for lunch I had a MASSIVE spinach salad and for dinner, I had a delicious stir fry. I sent pictures to my friends who’s doing the detox with me and he was pretty jealous so I promised him that I’d blog about it. You’re welcome!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsps Olive Oil
• 1/4 tsp Thyme
• 1/4 tsp (or to taste) Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 Black Pepper
• 1/3 Turmeric
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 lime
• 2 cloves of garlic choped
• 3 chicken skinless/boneless chicken thighs (breast would work too, that just sounds wrong)
• Bean Sprouts (a handful)
• 1/2 a tomato, diced
• Spinach (a handful)
• 1/2 a Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
• 1/2 a Floret of Broccoli
• 1 cup of brown rice pasta or 2 servings of brown rice

Method:

In a large frying pan or skillet, pour about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and let it heat up. Once it’s heated, add the spices and stir them around so that they mix in with the oil.

Boil the water and cook the rice pasta or rice as directed.

Once the spices have heated up and are fragrant, add the diced onion. Stir it in the spiced oil and lit it simmer. Add the garlic and the diced tomato and stir. Let it cook for about 3 or 4 minutes, until the onions become translucent. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and the lime and pour it in the pan.  Add the diced chicken and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the broccoli and the red bell pepper. Stir all the ingredients together and make sure that the chicken pieces are cooked on both sides.

When the chicken looks like it’s mostly cooked (should be brown and nearly crispy on the outside with no visible raw skin showing), add the sprouts and the  spinach and stir, mixing all the ingredients. The stir fry is done when the spinach and sprouts are limp and have mixed in with the other ingredients.

When the rice pasta or rice is finished cooking, add to the pan and stir.

This should serve 2 but I like to put some aside for lunch the next day.

Enjoy!

Curried Veggie Chickpea Stew

The one thing that I’ve come to enjoy about cooking is the creativity aspect of it. I love having a whole bunch of ingredients in front of me and trying to come up with something healthy and delicious to make.  Last night, I had some tomatoes to clean up so I decided to make a tomato-based curried stew.  In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of spices, which is funny because I grew up in a household where paprika was considered exotic.

When I went to India, last year (I can’t believe it’s been almost a year already!) I felt right at home with their food – the spicier the better! The people I was staying with were amazed that a white girl could handle all the spices and chilli. Honestly, I was a bit amazed too until the end of my trip when my stomach began to revolt against me.  Needless to say, it took me a few months to recover and to be able to eat curry again.

How could I ever stop, though?! Which leads me to today’s leftovers – Curried Veggie Chickpea Stew.

Here it is in the bowl, ready to eat for dinner!

Chickpeas are a Godsend and are a super healthy alternative to eating meat.

Here are the ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 red bell pepper
• 1/4 chilli flakes
• 1/4 garam masala
• 1/2 curry powder
•  1/4 paprika
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
•  1 and 1/2 tomatoes chopped
• 1/2 head broccoli steamed (this was left over from the other day)
• 1/2 carrot peeled and chopped
•  1/2 onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 small potato, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 can of chickpeas (drained)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup of brown rice

Method:

1. Cook the rice as directed.
2. In the meantime, in a large sauce pan or pot, heat the olive oil then add the spices. Stir in the oil until fragrant.
3. Add the onions and stir so that the spices mix in with the onions and let simmer for a few minutes, then add the garlic and stir. Let simmer for another minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, red peppers, and carrots. Let simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add the water, chickpeas and broccoli. Stir all contents together and cover for 10 minutes. Cook until the tomatoes have “melted” and until it is lightly boiling.

Serve over brown rice.

This was definitely amazing as a left over meal. It’s nice and light yet filling and I don’t feel sleepy or sluggish after lunch. I will definitely be making this again! Next time, I’d like to try it with water chestnuts or even some small apple pieces to add some sweetness.

What will you experiment with?

Enjoy!

Baked Salmon and Veggie Stir fry

Day two! Seriously, there is nothing better than waking up and realizing that your lunch is already made. Actually, the next best thing  is waking up and realizing that it’s Saturday.

I was so tired this morning that it took me at least 3 minutes to figure out where I was and what day it was. That’s normal, right? But after a couple of cups of tea, I’m feeling more energetic and able to keep up a conversation without struggling, well..sort of.

Is it lunch time, yet? Home time? It’s only Tuesday, right?

Last night, I had a tonne of errands to run, since I was so lazy on Sunday and needed to make something quick. I realized that I had some salmon to clean up so I decided to make baked salmon in a bit of lemon juice with spices and then a veggie stir fry and all over some rice noodles. I was going to make some brown rice, but I dropped the ball and thought of it a bit too late – so noodles it was!

Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients for the salmon

• 1 Salmon fillet
• The juice of 1 lemon or ¼ cup of lemon juice
• ¼ cup of water ¼ tsp of thyme
• ¼ tsp of chilli flakes ¼ tsp of black pepper
• ¼ tsp mustard powder

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
2. Put the salmon fillet in a baking dish and pour the water and lemon juice in the base of the dish.
3. Sprinkle the spices on top of the fish. Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Ingredients for the stir fry:

The beauty of stir fries, is that you can seriously make them with any combination of your favourite veggies and spices. Be careful of sauces as they often contain extra sodium and sugar and preservatives which totally defeats the purpose of making a healthy stir fry in the first place!

• 1 red bell pepper (chopped into strips)
• ½ head of steamed broccoli (chopped)
• ½ peeled and chopped carrot ¼ of an onion (chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (chopped) 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika 2 tbsp of olive oil 2 tbsp of soy sauce or I recommend Liquid Aminos
• 1 cup of rice or any rice noodle that you prefer

Method:

1. Prepare the rice or noodles as directed and steam the broccoli.
2. While that is cooking, heat the oil in medium or large frying pan (whatever you prefer).
3. Once the oil has heated, add the black pepper and parika. Stir the spices in with the oil until fragrant. Add the onions and stir until they are soft then add the garlic.
4. After a few minutes, add the red peppers and stir, then add the carrots and the broccoli (after it has been steamed).
5. Stir in the soy sauce or liquid aminos and let simmer.
6. When everything is ready, cut up the salmon and place veggies over the rice and serve.

Serves about 2 people.

Enjoy!

Chickpea Coconut Curry

Well, I have been slacking this week. There really isn’t any valid excuse that I can give other than I have been taking a lot more time for myself these days and honestly, I’m loving it! In January, I’ll be starting my courses at Humber to be a project manager and between that, work and my Toastmaster responsibilities, I’ll be busy. Better to enjoy some down time now!

As today is Monday, I’d like to begin, or rather, re-begin (is that a word?) my “lunch a day” for a month challenge.

Today, my leftovers were chickpea coconut curry. YUM! It was Sunday evening, I had no desire or motivation to go the store so I scrounged up whatever I had in my cupboards and fridge and I came up with this little number.

Ingredients:

• 2 small potatoes (finely chopped)
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 ½ large tomatoes (finely chopped)
• 1/2 an onion (minced)
• ½ can of chickpeas
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• ¼ tsp of black pepper
• ½ tsp coriander
• ¼ tsp tsp thyme
• ½ tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp turmeric
• Chilli flakes to taste
• ½ cup cooked quinoa
• 2 tbsp of grape seed or olive oil or coconut oil (I used grape seed

This looks like a lot of ingredients, but it was SO easy to make!

Method:

1. Cook the quinoa as directed.
2. In a large sauce pan, pour the oil in and let it heat up. Then, add the onions and cook until they are soft. Add the black pepper, chilli flakes, coriander and thyme. Cook for a couple of minutes (until fragrant). Add the garlic and stir.
3. Once this has simmered, add the potatoes and ¼ of the can of coconut milk and stir until simmering. Then, add the curry powder, garam masala and turmeric and stir. Let it simmer and add the other ¼ of the can of coconut milk. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, the chicpeas and the other ¼ can of coconut milk. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Stir the pot and add the quinoa and the rest of the coconut milk. Stir again and let simmer for about 5 minutes.

This may look kind of weird, but it was absolutely delicious and tastes even more amazing the next day.

If I could, I would have added spinach to this, but I ran out so I had to do without.  Shredded carrots would also be amazing in this too – or any other veggie that you love and cannot live without. I find that by layering the ingredients, you get a fuller flavour and a more cohesive sauce/curry.  If you don’t have quinoa, you could always skip the step and serve over brown rice.

Let me know what you think and share with me any variations that you may have tried.

Enjoy!

Just left of leftovers.

What’s so great about leftovers? Especially a mish-mash of veggies sitting in your fridge that don’t quite fit into any other recipe?

You know what?

What?

They’re great for making soup!

The other day, when I was looking through my fridge, I noticed that I had about a handful of spinach, half of a head of cauliflower and a half a bag of baby carrots that weren’t going to eat themselves and I couuldn’t think for the life of me what I could use these for. Then it hit me…I decided to get creative and make a soup out of them. Yes! Genius! I know it’s about 40c here, BUT I couldn’t let these go to waste and it’s SO easy to make soup. Plus, I’m feeling pretty confident these days about my mad cooking skillz so I decided to try out my very own original recipe (though I’m sure someone has made this at some point in time). Anyways, it was easy, and delicious!

If you love creamy soups with a bit of kick, then this will totally be up your alley.

Ingredients:

• ½ head of cauliflower
• 1 cup of baby carrots
• 1 handful of spinach
• 1 TBSP of chopped ginger
• 1 TBSP of chopped jalapeno pepper (don’t feel pressure if you don’t like it hot)
• 1/3 TSP of all spice
• 1/3 TSP of paprika
• A pinch of salt or salt to taste
• 1 cup veg broth or enough to add consistency
• A dollop of goat cheese (optional, but amazing!)

Method:

1. Steam the cauliflower, carrots, ginger and jalapeno pepper until soft. Test it by sticking a fork in the carrots and cauliflower.
2. Add some of the steamed veggies, the spinach and spices to a blender. Slowly add the veggie broth to blend. Slowly add broth and veggies until all ingredients are mixed.
3. This will be a hot soup, so make sure that your blender or food processor can handle the heat.
4. Serve immediately and add that dollop of goat cheese and mix it in the soup.

TIP: Freeze extra portions for later!

Serving: Makes about 4-6 cups.

Time: However long it takes to steam your veggies plus 10 minutes of blending.

Enjoy!

Breakfast of Champions!

When I first started changing the way I ate, I had a really hard time with figuring out what to eat for breakfast. I had to avoid wheat and sugar so 99% of all breakfast cereals were off the list; and, bye-bye to toast in the morning, too. I had read that eggs are a good option since they provide protein to keep you full and don’t fall into any of the “no-no” categories that I had to avoid.

I decided to spice it up and make omelettes – so, I’d throw some spinach, onions and garlic and some spices in the mix. Sounds yummy, eh? BUT, after 3 weeks straight of omelettes, the thought of eating another egg made me want to throw up.

Before I became completely repulsed by eggs, I decided that on my next visit to my Naturopath that I would get some advice. She gave me the go-ahead to have oats in the morning. Huh. I thought oats were the same as wheat!? Nope. Totally different family.  Who knew? So that was good news. She also recommended that I buy Ezekiel bread which is bread made of sprouted grain i.e. not processed and it’s way easier on my immune system. At least that way, she said, I’d have more options than just omelettes every morning. BARF!

The Ezekiel bread, I will discuss later on (which is AMAZING by the way, can be found in your grocer’s freezer section, in the “organics” section OR in any health food store).

Okay, back to oatmeal. Because I’m a bit of a go-getter, the very next day, I bought a bag of Robin Hood Minute Oats for less than $2.00. This product has everything that I could ever want…Cheap and easy. I’ve had it about 4 days a week since May and I’m JUST running out now, so I think that it was well worth the toonie. Just sayin’.

Here’s my oatmeal from this morning, nicely cooked. It seriously only took me a few minutes.

And while that was cooking, I mixed some ingredients in my bowl (at least I can justify the fact that I put “multi-tasking” on my resume).

I had read,too, that if you are going to have veggies or carbs, that it’s a good idea to mix it with protein in order to balance out the insulin levels (blood sugar) in your body to avoid feeling too hungry later on and to keep you pancreas working steadily. Apparently, insulin spikes are bad – they lead to light headedness, fatigue, drowsiness, weight gain, irritability etc.

Ever feel drowsy and cranky after eating too much? Kind of like you’re in a coma? That’s why. Too much sugar from the starches in your food is causing a negative reaction in your body. If you balance out your meals with enough protein, you’ll avoid these effects. Seriously, why didn’t I know this before?

So! Back to the morning oats…here is what I came up with (after a few months of experimenting):

• 1 serving of minute oats (cooked)
• 1 small handful of sliced almonds
• 3 dates chopped
• ¼ TSP ground cinnamon
• 1 TSP grated coconut

Mix these in the bowl and enjoy!

Other variants can include (though I have not tried this yet, but daydream about it):

• Pumpkin seeds
• Walnuts (okay, I lied, I have tried this and it was glorious!)
• Dried cranberries
• Raisins
• Nutmeg
• Agave honey (A little goes a long way, people)
• Maple Syrup (preferably pure and/or organic – or unprocessed – again, a little goes a long way)

What else tickles your fancy? Get creative!

You can also purchase pre-made granola or trail mixes at the health food store or grocery store, but read the ingredients as they often contain a lot of added sugar. Plus, most of these ingredients purchased can be used in other recipes like smoothies or salads. I am amazed by what I find out just by reading the ingredients (something I never did before). If it contains, wheat, dairy, preservatives (i.e. something I can’t pronounce) or sugar, I ditch it. NEXT!

Enjoy!

Lamb Coconut Curry

One new recipe that I tried recently, is lamb coconut curry. In fact, this was my first time EVER cooking lamb. And you know what, not that different than cooking beef. It was kind of a hybrid between chicken and beef. It was some good times and very easy. This recipe is simple and delicious. I will definitely be including it in my regular rotation.

This website acutally has a ton of great recipes. Don’t be put off by the fact that it is targeted to people with candida, these recipes are nutritious and suit a variety of tastes.

Here’s a pic of my masterpiece:

Enjoy!

Best First Date, Ever!

A couple of months ago, I was getting dinner at Kale and I noticed that they had desserts in their display. They had these coconut balls that instantly appealed to me, even before the lady behind the counter advised me that they were vegan, organic AND contained no added sugar. No added sugar? Were they bland? How were they sweet, then? Dates. I think dates are serious contenders for nature’s candy. Raisins, you better watch out! You’ve been warned!

Being an adventurous Aries, I decided that one day and one day soon, to make these myself. I scowered the interwebs in search of a recipe that omitted any kinds of sugar and had the simplest recipe with the simplest ingredients. I settled on the following, and ladies and gents, it turned out to be glorious! My parents and friends tried them and they asked me to make them again, which I totally will – when life settles down a bit (famous last words, I know).

Here’s the recipe!

For me, I don’t own a food processor and I naively thought that a blender would be the next best thing. Normally, it really is but when it comes to mashing mass quantities of sticky dates and coconut pieces, it was very laborious and time consuming – BUT well worth it!

If you’re using a blender, like me, I would blend the coconut first, then slowly add the dates in batches. I added everything at once and it was the worst. Nothing blended. Everything stuck to the blade. I had to pour in some water to get things to move and was constantly using a spoon to de-clog the dates from the blade so that the coconut pieces would blend. Excellent times.  But, like I said, well worth it!

See how nicely they turned out?

The best part? GUILT FREE! Just like Margarita says! This works with nearly every diet (unless you are avoiding coconut, but why? WHYYYY?)

Enjoy!