chocolate – The Clean Eating Mama

Treat Tuesday–Chocolate Power Balls

March 1, 2016 CleanEatingMama

So here’s the thing: I can’t help but to ALWAYS sing Chef’s Chocolate Salty Ball song from South Park whenever I make these! South Park fans… this one is for you! lol

These little power balls are the perfect snack when you are feeling sluggish or are needing an extra burst of energy! Packed with oats, peanut butter and chocolate, they are healthy and delicious!

But anyway… (And now that song is TOTALLY in your head now!) here is the recipe!

Chocolate Power Balls
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 serving of your favorite chocolate superfood protein powder (I used vegan Shakeology)
1/3 cup honey
A few tablespoons of chia seeds and hemp seeds
Dash of cinnamon
1/3 cup carob chips (or your favorite chocolate chip)
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

Combine everything in a bowl and stir until well combined. Roll into 1/2 in balls. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy! XxOo Tasha

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chocolate, coconut, muffin, recipe, vegan

Vegan Joyful Coconut Muffins

September 3, 2011 CleanEatingMama

I’ve been thinking… thinking about coconut. Chocolate. And almonds.

Can you tell?

These muffins are moist, light and not overly sweet. If you don’t have coconut oil… then I suggest you purchase a jar. It’s the key ingredient that makes these muffins what they are!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, or white unbleached
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup strong espresso
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa
½ cup sliced slivered almonds
1/4 cup toasted coconut + extra for the tops (2 heaping tablespoons)
1 tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 355 degrees.

Mix oil and sugar until combined and creamed. Add coffee, milk and vanilla and mix until combined.

Next add the dry ingredients until everything is combined, stirring the coconut and almonds in last.
The batter may be a little wet but that’s ok – it will bake to perfection!

Spoon into a greased muffin tin. Sprinkle with remaining coconut. Bake for 20 minutes or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

birthday, cake, chocolate, dessert, recipe, vegan

Leave room for cake

October 21, 2010 CleanEatingMama

Often we are left speechless by a moment that truly amazes us. Whether that be an emotion, a taste, an experience, a sight, they can each be unique in there own way and leave a lasting expression in our minds and heart.
By this, I mean Chocolate Cake. Vegan Chocolate Cake that my dear Mother made me for my birthday last week. A cake that is good enough to eat any time of day, including breakfast, and not let a single crumb go to waste.

Moist, dense, chocolaty, cakey goodness. My mom totally rocked this cake. I made a vegan cake a while back and it came out dry and more along the lines of “meh”. But this cake topped all chocolate cakes. Vegan or not!

I have had a slice of Birthday cake everyday since Sunday. It’s my way of keeping the celebration going. 27 years is a long time… ya know. Not only that but this cake was also for Jordan’s second birthday, too!

I need my mom to forward me the recipe of the frosting she used. Tasted just like butter cream and was delightful!

Vegan Suzy Q Cake
Original Recipe by Namely Marly

Ingredients
3 cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
½ cup margarine (dairy free), (softened to room temp)
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 cups cold water (I know what you’re thinking here, but trust me, water is best in this recipe.)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
Heat your oven to 350° F. Next, prepare your baking pan (I used vegetable spray but you could also grease the pan with shortening if you prefer). For this recipe I used 2 round cake pans, but you can also use a 9 x 13 cake pan as well.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, combine the margarine, oil and sugar and mix on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix again until well combined.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix again until well combined.Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

If using 2 round cake pans then bake for 20 – 25 minutes or if you’re using a 9 X 13 cake pan, bake for approximately 40 minutes. A good rule of thumb is to insert a piece of uncooked spaghetti or a toothpick into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean (no batter on it), then the cake is ready to come out of the oven.

breakfast, chocolate, lunch

Perfect Pair

April 18, 2010 CleanEatingMama

Happy Sunday! PS – If you didn’t already know, Sunday is my most favorite day. Not too sure why but I love the feeling of a Sunday. Restful, relaxing care-free… aahhhh!

Today my meals/snacks all were perfectly paired to equal some pretty tasting noshing.

Nomm Nomm Nommmm

Breakfast: tofu + turmeric = best breakfast scramble!

Lunch: Tomato + Basil & Hummus + Cucumber = heavenly salad bowl!

Tomato with basil and a little salt and pepper is the best thing on this earth. Seriously.

Desert: Chcolate + Peanuts = Mmm Mmm Mmmmmm

I made another batch of my raw CCB’s but instead of almonds I used peanuts. Perfect win!

I am off to a yearly banquet for Marc – it’s being hosted at a BBQ joint. Hmmmm…. this should be interesting….

chocolate, dessert, raw, vegan

Raw CCB’s

April 15, 2010 CleanEatingMama

These Raw Coconut Choco-Balls are loaded with chocolate and coconut flavor; 100% raw and irresistible!

Ingredients

1 cup raw almonds, or toasted
1 1/12 cup pitted dates
3/4 cup raw, unsweetened coconut – or toasted
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
Blend all of the ingredients in a food processor for a good 3-4 minutes. The batter will be a little dry looking but it will be perfect!

Take about a tablespoon of batter and roll it into balls; adding more or less depending on how big you want to make them. Arrange them on a plate and put in the fridge to chill. They will become dense, flavorful and addicting! Once chilled, transfer to a container with a lid and keep sealed in the refrigerator for up to a week. But I guarantee they will not last that long!

chocolate, recipe, shake

PB and Chocolate Shake

February 12, 2010 CleanEatingMama

Love peanut butter and chocolate? Ok, that was a pretty stupid question, I admit. This shake is loaded with chocolate and peanut butter flavor – you won’t even know it’s healthy!

Ingredients

1 cup non-dairy milk, I use almond milk
1 tablespoon pure cocoa powder
1 hefty tablespoon of peanut butter, or more if you like 😉
sweeten to taste – I use honey or agave syrup; about 1-2 tablespoons
greens – you can either use juiced or blended spinach; but I am using my container of Chocolate Superfood
Ice

Blend and blend some more! You should have an amazingly tasty treat. Tip: Taste before pouring to see if you have the sweetener to cocoa right for your tongue.

Enjoy!

baking, breakfast, chocolate, cookie, half marathon, juicing, lunch, running, weight loss, workout

Taking the lead

December 14, 2009May 9, 2013 CleanEatingMama

Happy Monday! I hope everyone’s day started out wonderfully!

So the snow didn’t last very long, just a few flakes here and there. But it’s extremely icy out this morning! Be careful, Seattlites!

I had a great run on the treadmill yesterday! I did 4 miles between running and walking on hills. My legs were feeling great and so was my throat; until I got home and started to cough again. Bummer.

I had an amazing lunch, though.

I took out some frozen lasgna that we had in the freezer and warmed it up + paired it with a wonderful caesar salad.

I love caesar salads. I normally do not eat salads with dressing on them besides a little oil but caesar is one of my favorites. I ALWAYS make an exception for them! 😉 With A LOT of fresh cracked black pepper – a total must!

It was a nice, lazy day yesterday. A lot of football watching and lounging. Dinner was not exciting last night – an apple with PB and some yogurt with granola/trail mix. I didn’t end up eating the yogurt, though.

I also put on my baking apron and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies for Marc.

I used an entire bag of chips – chocolate heaven!

I made another juice drink this morning – I am in love with my juicer! Can you tell?! =)

I used my good ole standby mix – an apple, a beet, one carrot, 3 clementines, 3 huge handfuls of spinach, a banana and some ice.

Never disappoints me.

———————————————————————————————–

Confession time – I need to workout more.

I need to make time for working out as I have problem areas that I have been lazy about. Yes, I do run but that’s about it. And even this is few and far between. I think I use J as my crutch – making excuses that revolve around him. I hate it, I know I need to up my time and effort to start results again.

So I thought I would come up with a spreadsheet, filled with each day of the month and I would fill in what I would like to do. Like a check list. Workouts that I can do at home and at the gym – I generally stick to doing all cardio at the gym. I’m a little self conscious about doing weights at the gym; I don’t know how to work the machines =(

I want to run a half marathon in June and I know that I am not going to be ready at the pace I have been going. Plus I need to start incorporating more resistance training – I have NOT been doing this at all.

So I need some ideas: what keeps you motivated to continue to workout? What are some tools that help you?

I need to start being more proactive and talking the lead!

Chelsea : here is the nutrition information for the scones. I made half of the bag – the instructions and nutrition info is for the entire bag. So I am guessing that it’s fairly accurate for one of my scones. All I do is add water, that’s it.

breakfast, chocolate, give away, jordan, lunch

STOP! It’s Kobacha time!

December 9, 2009 CleanEatingMama

How is your Tuesday going?

Mine has been good, besides the fact that my throat is killing me. Great – not another cold! I am hoping that it will just pass; I really don’t want to be like I was a month ago. =(

So I am hoping some green tea and a gingerbread cookie will make me feel better.

Marc was out of town last night for some meetings – it was quiet this morning. I made a hot cup of coffee with some peppermint hot chocolate. Tasted so good!

I think my wrapping job from last night turned out pretty good! 😉

Like our tree skirt?! lol – I bought Hanukah fabric last year and just wrapped it around the base! Marc loves it =)

Camera fun with J!

And of course with Lilly, too!

The breakfast time – granola, dried cranberries and almond milk.

When J took a nap I decided it would be a good time to make my Kobacha squash – my first time preparing it!

It was VERY hard to cut into! Dense with tough skin!

I used an ice cream scoop to get the “guts’ out – worked like a charm!

I cubed the squash, put it all in a cake pan, drizzled a bit of evoo and some sea salt. Covered it with foil, baked in oven on 375 F for 25-30 minutes and viola!

Tasty! It was more mild than butter nut and very delicious!

I rinsed off the seeds and roasted them after the squash came out. Just a dab of EVOO and some sea salt.

I didn’t care for them, though. They were a lot thicker than pumpkin seeds. I couldn’t really eat them whole because they were so fibrous yet it was painstakingly slow to crack them. So, I tossed them =(

Overall I am very pleased with my whole Kobacha experience! =) I just LOVE squash!

Lunch was late – around 2:30. An easy mexican style salad. Black beans cooked with taco seasoning, over romain lettuce, topped with shredded cheddar and black olives. Along with some salsa, tortilla chips and a carrot.

And a piece of sea salt dark chocolate for dessert 😉

Marc will be back tonight – I have no idea what we are doing for dinner. All I know is that I am drinking tea all night to help my throat!

Health News

8 worst Holiday foods to eat: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20322475,00.html

Giveaway’s to mention!

Want to stay organized this year? Get a coupon organizer! Sam from Fabule$$ly Frugal Mom is giving away a coupon to get one FREE! It’s awesome – check it out!

Caitlin is giving away some Chobani yogurt! http://www.healthytippingpoint.com/2009/12/no-run-and-giveaway-fun.html

chocolate, groceries, magazine, Project Feed Me

PEACE – A new day!

December 4, 2009 CleanEatingMama

Hi!

I promise that I will be in a better mind set than I was yesterday. I had a good night sleep and woke up feeling more positive! =) And thanks everyone for the kind comments – it really does help! LOVE YOU!!!

So I am drinking my coffee out of my “peace” coffee cup with some mint chocolate cocoa powder. Mmmm… I thought it was appropriate.

But I found this disappointing – I opened the package with it being only half full. Boo. I hate when packaging companies do this; make the package look big but the contents small.

Yesterday J and I did a little shopping! :Ahem: For groceries 😉

Just some staples: almond milk, J’s milk, honey, tofu, some fruit, kobacha!, yougurt, granola, soup… I also picked up some miso since I have a lot of recipes that call for it that I want to try.

I also picked up some food specifically for PFM as I have been slacking the past few weeks.

We also went to World Market. Marc had mentioned that he wanted to do Chanukah this year and I saw that they had menorah’s the last time I went shopping. I was so excited that he had said this! We have never done Chanukah before – I am in the process of gathering some authentic Jewish recipes to make. I already make a good matzo ball soup but there are so many other dishes to make!

I also picked up these yummy items:

The Hello Kitty snacks are for Marc’s stocking (shhhh), I have always wanted to try Tabouli, we were out of Cholula, I needed some tumeric, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate (the Lindt sea salt dark chocolate is DEVINE! LOVE the combo!) and some veggie tortilla chips.

I love World Market!

I munched on some Pumpkin Pie yogurt and granola while J ate his dinner:

The taste was AWESOME but I am so used to greek yogurt that I didn’t enjoy the thinness of it. BUT it was still goodness in a bowl!

And then when I was feeling down I sucked it up, grabbed a few clementines and snuggled on the couch with my new reading material.

Oh, and I found Mr. Penguin hiding under the blankets – peek-a-boo!

I hope everyone has a great Friday! And thanks again for all the kind words of support! =)

baking, breakfast, chocolate, jordan, pie

Chocolate!!!!

November 28, 2009 CleanEatingMama

Happy Saturday! How are you enjoying your day?

I woke up 15 minutes before J woke up – made some coffee and relaxed a tad. Then the cuteness awoke! =)

We spent a few minutes admiring the tree – he loves it!

Here is a small showcase of a few ornaments that we have.

My first Christmas ornament

I admit: I have a lot of Starbucks ornaments!

I see you!

With all the ornament excitement, J went down for a nap and I made breakfast!

Peach Chobani yogurt, vanilla granola, walnuts, organic strawberries and chocolate chips. The peach yogurt is not my favorite but it worked!

And while Marc was away I made him another chocolate cream pie! It’s his favorite!

Taste testing!

He should be pretty happy when he get’s home from refereeing!

I did have to make a small trip to the store to pick up another package of instant chocolate pudding – ya, I don’t make it from “scratch”. Marc prefers the pudding, anyway.

A hot soy chai latte to keep me warm!

And look at the treats that came in the mail!

They were chocolate peppermint crème! HOLY YUM! We bought some items from the neighbor girls that were doing a fundraiser… I totally forgot about it!

I have no idea when Marc is due to arrive home but I have been enjoying a relaxing day with J!

I will leave you with a sleeping angel! =)