Jingle Bells Down Under! Some ideas for easy home made food gifts.

Good quality chocolate or something easily made at home is always a great last minute gift.

The Festive Season is a time of year when many of us - Christian or not - need a few little gifts on hand or items easy to prepare.

What do you like to give? In the past I have made up gifts from mixed fruit, nut and chocolate; fruit baskets; home made items or even recycling something I have previously been given but cannot use.

In Australia, the "Silly Season" is during late spring-early summer and you do not always feel like baking/cooking. You can make some lovely, from the heart gifts with simple pantry items.

When in a real hurry, making up your own  mix of bought fruit, nuts, and chocolate is lovely. Choosing a nice box or other re-usable container makes it sustainable too.

If you want to make something without having to cook then you could do things like a fruit-nut log;  fruit-nut balls; nut free balls; chocolate coated fruit and nuts; nut butters. You can add variety to all these item ideas by adding something from your favourite superfood powder option [examples - cacao of course!; maqui, acai, lucuma, camu camu; mesquite, carob, spirulina, etc etc]

There really is no shortage of free recipes on the internet. A couple of key words into your browser and you will probably be overloaded with ideas.

A few tips:

Set up a good clear space to work in;

Clean up utensils as you go [especially if you do not have a dishwasher];

Food hygiene;

Use a scale & measuring spoons as a guide - it's ok if it isn't exact expecially with non baked goods;

Use fresh as possible ingredients;

Soak dried fruits for at least 1-2 hours to assist blending; 

Sieve powders to avoid lumps;

If you want to use activated nuts or seeds you need to prepare them a few days in advance;

For a better tasting vegan nut cheese, use a probiotic & let the flavour develop for a couple of days.

One important point - be mindful of allergies that the recipient may have and modify your recipe idea accordingly.

There is a bountiful choice of options.
Enjoy the process of making something for people rather than getting hung up on the process itself - i.e. being true to a recipe is not important with regards to quantities in many instances and many ingredients are interchangeable. 

Have fun, enjoy the the sharing.

Miriam. 

A Satifying & Energy Providing Chocolate Alternative

Today I found out one of my favourite fair trade, organic chocolate bars has been discontinued.

OH, THE AGONY!!

Well, as a way to comfort myself, I would like to pass on a recipe of something I have been enjoying every day over the Australian Summer. It keeps me going for hours.

A well mashed banana,
juice of one orange,
3 generous teaspoons raw cacao powder,
a bit of macqui powder,
some shredded coconut,
1-2 teaspoons of hemp protein
and mix/blend well.

Mmmm YUMMY - ENJOY!

I'm off to place a raw chocolate order - see you later.

Miriam.

YUMMY New Energy Treat.

Finally, the Australian Banana supply is back to normal!!

It has been around 10-11 months of very small quantities at very high prices (mostly around AUD16/kg for organic bananas!).

So we have been munching on them once more - getting a good boost of potassium and magnesium in particular.

I have been treating myself to this little Coconut-Banana-Cacao "Goo" (yes, that is it's official name):

Method:
Mash one banana (organic), add 2-3 heaped teaspoons raw organic cacao powder and approximately 4 dessertspoons of fine dessicated coconut. A few drops of liquid will help too (I've been using the tiny bit of freshly squeezed orange juice left in the hand juicer after the family have had their juice). Mix it all up and enjoy!!

Give it a try and let us know what you think - tell us about any modifications you have made and we will give it a try. If we like it we will name it after you and give you a discount!

Have a YUMMY day,

Miriam.

Do We Have a Deal For You!?

We all know there is no such thing as "a free lunch" - you generally get what you pay for in life.

So, we have been trying to decide on how to structure a good deal for potential new customers.

This is what we are thinking about, and have put it on our website:

http://tinyurl.com/3gha4h8

What do you think?

Do you think you have a better idea?

We have a number of new gift pack ideas we are setting up too. Looking forward to chatting to you about those soon!

Enjoy Chocolate - dark chocolate (70%+ cacao) is good for you in moderation (around 5-7g before a meal is supposed to have a number of benefits including appetite control).

Cheers,

Miriam.

A Healthy Snack Treat - Raw Cacao & Dried Fruit - Free Recipe

I have a confession – not only am I a chocoholic, but I am also addicted to dried fruit.

There, I said it. Cat’s out of the proverbial bag.

On both counts, these days, I only eat organic chocolate and fruit – so the quality and nutrient levels are high.  I also find, as a result, I manage to consume smaller quantities and truly enjoy without guilt.

A few weeks ago I experimented with combining the two food groups as a way to substitute my addiction to a very yummy but expensive raw cacao fruit bar.

Today I experimented again and the result was truly awesome for my taste buds. So much so, I am going to share what I did with you now.

You will need a mortar and pestle or a mini blender or a live juice extractor that homogenises. I used a mortar and pestle. You may want to modify the ingredient ratios to suit your taste preferences.

Mim’s Raw Cacao & Fruit Mix

Ingredients:

5 Medgool Dates (organic)

3 soaked dried apricots (organic)

8 teaspoons raw, organic cacao power

Approximately 1 tablespoon virgin, organic coconut oil

Approximately 4 tablespoons fine dessicated organic coconut (you could substitute ground almond)

Method:

Pitt the dates and combine them with 5 tablespoons of cacao and half the oil in your mortar and pestle. Once well blended, add the apricots, the remainder of the cacao and the remainder of the oil. Blend well. Add the dessicated coconut and blend well.

Notes:

This is quite rich, so experiment if you prefer less cacao. Also, you may like to substitute carob for the cacao for children or those allergic to cacao. If you do, remember that carob is about 50% fructose, so it will result in a sweeter mix.

ENJOY!!

Miriam xox

New Website

We have launched a website to sell club membership. Please check it out and tell us how you think we can improve what we have to offer.

http://yummychocolateclub.webs.com/


We have set up membership periods of 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. There also is the opportunity to purchase chocolate to host a chocolate tasting party. This has been set up so that the amount of product is enough for six people. You can order as many lots of any of the products that you like.

We look forward to hearing from you and providing you with delectable chocolate treats.

Thanks.
Miriam.

Top 20 Reasons Why Chocolate is Better Than Men

I recently heard about this Chocolate-themed card - 20 Reasons Chocolate is better than Men:

20.  All the good Chocolate isn’t already taken.
19.  Chocolate never leaves the seat up.
18.  Chocolate is easily molded.
17.  All your friends understand what you see in it.
16.  Every Chocolate is rich.
15.  Its sole purpose is to give you pleasure.
14.  When you’ve had enough Chocolate, you can put it away in its box.
13.  Chocolate might make you fat, but it can’t make you pregnant.
12.  You can spot the nutty ones immediately.
11.  PMS only makes you appreciate it more.
10.  With Chocolate, you can admit that size really matters.
9.  You don’t have to go to sleazy bars to pick up Chocolate.
8.  Your mother will never say it’s not good enough for you.
7.  If you and your best friend like the same Chocolate, it’s not a problem.
6.  Chocolate can be sweet without having ulterior motives.
5.  You can have more than one Chocolate a day, and nobody will call you a slut.
4.  You always know where your Chocolate is.
3.  If you want to make it hard, you just stick it in the fridge.
2.  With Chocolate, you never have to fake being satisfied!
And the #1 Reason Why Chocolate is Better Than Men…
1.  Chocolate is always there for you when you need it!

Yummy!