Homemade Lara Bars

If you enjoy eating well, and healthy, you will love these homemade Lara bars. They are lightly sweet, using only dates as the sweetner. They can be customized to your liking and preference and they are so easy and only contain a handfull of ingredients. Here is the list:

Coconut Cream Pie
1/4 Cup Whole Roasted or raw Almonds
1/4 Cup Cashews
1/2 Cup Coconut flakes, UNSWEETENED
1 tsp Extra Virgin Coconut oil
6 Medjool, Pitted Dates

First put your nuts and coconut flakes in a food processor, or my favorite, a Blend Tech Blender. Process till fine but not floury. Then add the dates and coconut oil. Pulse the blender in short pulses, stiring when the mixture sticks to the sides, or just run your food processor for about 2 minutes, until the mixture forms a nice ball of "dough". You can press the mixture between pieces of wax paper to flatten it and form bars, or you can form balls, or you can put it in a silicone cupcake pan like I do and make little "pucks". I like to set mine and store them in the fridge, but it is not necessary. Enjoy!

Brownie Bar
1/4 cup Walnuts
1/2 cup Almonds
3 squares of Baking Cocoa
5 Dates
1 tsp of coconut oil

First process your nuts and baking cocoa untill fine but not floury. Then add the dates and follow the same directions as the coconut creme pie bars.

Chocolate Cookie Dough Bars


1/2 cup Cashews
1/4 cup Almonds
4 Dates
1/4 cup mini or chopped chocolate chips

Process your chocolate chips first, if they are full size. Just very corsely chop them up and place them aside. Then chop the nuts finely and add the dates, when a nice ball is formed add the chocolate chips.
Enjoy!

Baby Soft Hair

I rarely do beauty posts, because... well, I've had 2 kids and stay at home and frequently feel less than beautiful.  So, I've been going to the gym a lot and a good friend taught me how to make eyeliner work for me, so I thought I would try out a  Beauty post today.
Coconut oil is amazing.  You should be eating it, using it somewhere on your skin and now you should be using it in your hair.   (I also have a great recipe for facial cleansing wipes and baby wipes with CO to share later.)  It's so simple to refresh and soften your hair.  It takes a couple extra shampoo's, but that is all.
Step one.  Coat most of your hair, but not your scalp in extra virgin coconut oil.

See?  Super coconut oily!

This is a sufficient amount of coconut oil.  It will look oily, but doesn't need to be dripping with it.  I used about 2 tbl, and I have quite thick hair. 

Now let it sit for at least 5 minutes and then hop in the shower.  You will probably need to shampoo it at least 3 times or more, if you use a natural, gentle cleanser like I do.  

If you don't get it out of every square inch of hair, you will end up with this after you dry it. 

Still oily.  Not super great for styling. 

Here's how your hair should look after washing it enough times. 

..........................................................................

..............Oh sorry, I got distracted because I was petting my super soft hair................... 

It is super soft and dries very quickly after a Coconut oil treatment.  It seems to really help the hair retain enough moisture to repel water.  After it's dry you can get to styling just like normal, except that your hair now feels more fabulous than should be legal! 

Look at how happy I am with my fabulous hair!

If this doesn't work for you, then here are a few of my suggestions.  You are using a shampoo that is way too harsh and is stripping your hair so much that not even coconut oil can save it. Switch to a more gentle, natural shampoo.  If you are one of those people that has to wash their hair everyday or else your hair gets super greasy then you are definitively using a much too harsh shampoo. It is stripping your hair of it's natural oils so severely that your body produces extra oils to compensate.  Switch to washing your hair at most every other day and switch to a more natural shampoo and conditioner.  I don't know what kind because I don't use shampoo.  I use an all natural bar of glycerin soap and no conditioner.   I don't need it!  

If you can't get all the oil out no matter what you try, then you probably really suck at washing your hair, or you need to use hotter water to assist the soap in removing it from your hair. 

-Val 

Sprouted Grain Tortilla's

There is a food movement, where people only eat raw/ live vegetable foods.  I think eating raw foods is very beneficial to our diet because of the phytonutrients and enzymes that you cannot get from cooked food, however,  most people cannot eat 100% raw all the time.  I really like to try new foods and experience different cultures, so for me, eating a raw diet would make this impossible.  So, I try to incorporate as many raw foods in to my daily diet as possible.  Sprouted tortillas are not 100% raw, unless you use a dehydrator instead of a skillet to cook them.  I used a skillet but feel like the low temperature I used in combination with the short cooking time preserved many of the health benefits.  Here is my recipe:

  

First you have to sprout your grains. I use a hemp sprouting bag.  I sprouted about 1 cup of red wheat and 3/4 cup of brown flax seed.  Refer to this article on sprouting wheat.  You only need to sprout it for about 24 hours. when your seeds have sprouted and have a little tail on them, then you simply put them in the food processor or a meat grinder with salt to taste, I used about 3/4 tsp.  

I removed one side of the tin foil and placed the tortilla on the grill with the tinfoil side up.  Once the tortilla set a little, it was easy to peel off the other side of tinfoil.

After they are all set, put them in a plastic bag,
 or tortilla warmer to retain their moisture. 

  You only need to cook them until they set, they do not need to brown at all.  The less you cook them the more nutrients they retain.  For dinner, the night I made these,  we cooked up onion and bell peppers on the grill and seasoned them with chili powder and lemon juice.  They were like vegetarian fajitas and they were delicious!  The flavor is different than whole wheat tortillas.  They are nutty, and quite tasty.  They are grainy but since the grains are sprouted, they are soft and more chewy than gritty like whole wheat flour. Enjoy!

My "Cure" for Allergies

This morning I woke up with itchy eyes, and an itchy throat and even the end of my nose itched like the dickens, this soon turned in to puffy eyes and continual, ridiculous sneezing.  I did not reach for the over the counter allergy drugs though... I did something much more instantly effective for me and with no drug related side effects.   I grabbed my bottle of organic lavender essential oil, lemon essential oil and peppermint essential oil.  I used one drop of each in the palm of my hand then dabbed it carefully around the bone structure of my eye sockets.  Within seconds the itching stopped.  Then I put some all over my nose and under the nostrils.  My sneezing stopped after just two more sneezes.  My sneezes were about 5 seconds apart so this is pretty fast.  I had to reapply the oil to my nose one more time about 10 minutes later, but then I have been allergy free for the rest of the day.  The peppermint can make your face feel cold or tingly and make your eyes water, but that is only temporary and goes away after about 10- 15 minutes.  Just keep it away from your actual eye to avoid serious burning sensations in your eyeball!  I will be putting this on my face before bed tonight and hopefully tomorrow morning I will wake up allergy free!  Every year around this time, those dang cottonwoods make my allergies go crazy.  They seem to be the only thing left that I am allergic too after cleaning up my diet.  I think it's because they are the Devil's trees...  What are you allergic to?

-Val

BTW- About essential oils, I used to buy DoTerra oils and before that I bought Be Young oils.  This is my opinion about those companies.  They are multi level marketing companies which means their prices are super inflated, and if you sign up to get the wholesale pricing you are still paying a lot of money towards the commission of the person you are signed up under and the person they are signed up under and so forth.  They make a lot of claims about their oils being the purest in the world and the only ones that are tested etc.  I would say all those things too if I was trying to sell something in the essential oil market for 3 times what you can buy it for elsewhere.  I do think the oils are very high quality and have never had any reason to doubt the purity of the oils.  I now buy my oils from rose mountain herbs online.  I am enjoying paying a fraction of the price I was before and and still enjoying the same therapeutic benefits of the oils. They make the same claims about testing, origin and purity as the other companies but they can also certify theirs as organic, which none of the other MLM type companies can do.  So save yourself a lot of money and buy from rose mountain herbs.
* by saying this is my "cure" for allergies, I mean that this is what works for me. I am not claiming that this is any sort of cure in the way that the FDA can come and take your children for claiming, because they have not evaluated the effectiveness of my claims. ** I am also not claiming that the FDA takes children but making a facetious comment that is probably untrue.    

Mashed Cauliflower Delicious and not at all what you thought it would taste like.

Cauliflower is a great alternative to mashed potatoes because unlike potatoes it is low in simple starches and therefore low in carbohydrate.  Keeping carbohydrates low is important to easily maintaining a healthy weight or for those trying to loose weight.  I will elaborate in a later post.  The secret ingredient to my mashed cauliflower may sound naughty, but I assure you it is perfectly legal... it is potatoes... I know I basically said potatoes are bad, but I only use a negligible amount and it really makes the texture better.  Here's the recipe:

1. Large head of cauliflower.
2. 1/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes
3. salt and pepper to taste
4. 1/3 cup sour cream.  Use Daisy brand sour cream or a local organic brand they are the best.

Boil the Cauliflower in cut up pieces.  It doesn't have to be fancy.  Boil it for about 10-15 minutes or until the cauliflower is very fork tender.  Drain the cauliflower very well in a strainer or colander the put it in a food processor with the potato flakes and salt and cream.  Puree it very well while it's still steaming hot.  As it puree's the potatoes will absorb the excess water in the Cauliflower.  This should make about 3-4 servings depending on the size of your cauliflower.  I think its just as easy if not easier than making regular mashed potatoes.  Add chives, onion powder or any other flavor you love in your potatoes.  Enjoy!

Sprouts: A how to guide to the easiest, sprouts in the world!

If you have ever tried a sprouting jar you know that sprouting beans, grains and seeds can be a stinky and time consuming affair.  They can mold and rot within hours and only a lucky few can get their sprouts to an edible fruition.
Why sprout at all? Some may be asking.  Sprouts are healthy little packets of vitamins and minerals.  They are tasty, healthy and can be made in to yummy things like Malt and Sprouted flours.  They make great additions to salads, breads or just for snacking.
You can sprout anything that is a whole seed, grain or legume. Even peanuts!
If you use a hemp sprouting bag it is as easy as washing your hands.
I bought a sproutman hemp bag from rosemountainherbs.com  Within 24 hours I had little sprouted lentils.  All I had to do was soak the lentils overnight in a bowl of water, then put them in the bag and dip it in fresh water every morning and night then hang up to drip, until my sprouts were the desired size.  Then I tried wheat.  I got lazy and didnt soak the wheat like the instructions said and it still worked!  I let the wheat sprout for 3 days and then put it on a cookie sheet and let it dry in the oven at 170 F for about 5-7 hours.  Then I put it in a metal colander and stirred it with my hands until the little sprouted stems all fell off.  I then ran it through my wheat grinder.  It had a wonderful malt taste.  I used it up very quickly adding it to smoothies 1/4 cup at a time.  It can also be used in place of flour for a nice loaf of sprouted wheat bread.  This adds vitamin C that the grain only develops when it has sprouted.  If you are going to use it to sprout for wheat bread, I would recommend getting 2 bags, as you will go through the small amount of flour it makes very fast, and it takes days to make more.  Try it, it is easy and a great way to add greens to your diet!
The Sprout House Hemp Sprouting Bag Kit for Sprouting Beans and Grains
Sproutman Hemp Sprout Bag
Hemp Sprout Bag - by Sproutman
-V


      

Chap Split?

  
    I have been meaning to post on this through the whole winter but kept forgetting.  Here is a super awesome tip for those of you (if you are like me) that get those awful splits on your fingers and hands in the winter.  (No that is not my finger thank goodness.)  You know, the really deep ones that hurt like crazy and always seem to find their way on the places of your hands you bend, move or use the most?  This tip is awesome.  I discovered it this year and have been amazed by how well it truly works.  When I used to get one of these splits, sometimes multiple at at time, they would hurt for days, sometimes a week or more!  They seem to kind of start healing and then get worse again a few times over the whole healing process.  I have even had them "heal" for the most part only to re-open in the exact same spot again a few weeks later.  The remedy of the past was to glue them shut with crazy glue.  Don't do that.  First of all it seals in any germs you might have and can cause infection.  Second, it doesn't allow any air into the cut.   And third, why would you want to put that stuff into your body...gross!  Lotions and creams don't cut it for me, even the most expensive kinds that are meant for super dry skin.  When it comes to winter, my hands are dry, dry, dry no matter what I do.
So here is what you do next time one of these rears its ugly head.  Take some Natural Ice Original chap stick, another brand would probably work but I swear by this one and it is great for lips too.  Rub it on and into the crack.  That is it!  Usually, after only one application it quits hurting and heels in a day or two, no joke.  I most always never have to apply it more than once, maybe twice.  It works IMMEDIATELY with the pain and heels it right up.  Even if the split is still open and still there, it won't hurt anymore and it will heal super fast.  I figured if it worked on cracked lips, why not cracked fingers or hands and boy did it.  So give it a try if you have a split or two.  Cheers!


-Liz-