How’s life treatin’ ya today? Well, things are good here. I’ve been a busy beaver whipping up new recipes in the kitch. But before I share it, I wanna thank everyone who’s been writing in and commenting on my recent posts, like my Chia-Coconut-Mango Overnight Oats and for chiming in about your shopping strategies in the comments. I agree…good jeans and good shoes are a must. And so true about the right jeans with the right fit making you feel soooo good!
I reallllllly appreciate you all showing the love and leaving your great comments. I wanna give everyone a biggggg hugggggg!
Oh and did you notice who won the Vegan Blondie Macaroons? Congrats chicas, enjoy!!!
So moving onto the chocolate food & recipe action….
Remember when I made the Raw Vegan Donut Holes?
They’ve been getting alot of praise so I thought well everything’s better with chocolate, right? And so I created Raw Vegan Chocolate Donut Holes and they’re really good, and yep, they’re really only a 5 minute and 3-4 ingredient recipe. Double bonus!!!
Now, I’m going to tell you in advance that if you like really sweet chocolate treats, then amp up the sweetener in these (i.e. lucama, stevia, more agave, white sugar, brown sugar, roll in powder sugar at the end, whatever floats your sweet boat). These are more of smooth, dark chocolate kind of vibe. Sweet, but not like zinnggggg sweet.
Averie’s Raw Vegan Chocolate Donut Holes
1 c flax seeds. Grind them well.
Add 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup (not tech raw) or Agave
Optional: 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil. Don’t add this if your batter is already very moist. You’ll end up with sloppy balls. Never good. TWSS
Blend to Incorporate.
At this point, I took half the batter out and made 3 cute little Cookies. That I topped with a fingerswipe of Maple Syrup and a Raz-Cherry from Oh Nuts. Cute, huh.
Then I took the remaining half of the batter and to it added:
2 Heaping Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
Dash Vanilla Extract
Blended again
Took the dough out and formed 15 cute little Raw Vegan Chocolate Donut Holes
And if you really wanna get naughy, roll ’em in powdered sugar. They’d still be vegan, just not raw. Or, roll them in Carob or Raw Cocoa Powder. Or dust with cinnamon. Limitless possibilities!
I wrapped ’em in plastic for snacks on the go. Voila, done.
So in 5 Minutes I made 3 of these…
…And 15 of these.
All with 1 c of Flax Seeds. A little maple syrup, and a little cocoa powder.
Now that’s super silly easy peasy. Raw (use agave instead of maple if you’re hung-up), vegan, healthy, and fast! Always good things ’round here.
Oh, and if you’d prefer to skip the 3 little cookies and just go with all chocolate donut holes, I’d suggest:
1 c flax seeds + 2-3 Tbsp Maple Syrup + 1/4 c cocoa powder + dash vanilla + 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (optional and check batter for consistency before you add it so it’s not too wet).
Things today were brought to you in VeganMofo spirit.
Yoga today is Parsvottanasana (Intense Side Angle Stretch)
And Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle)
Both of these asanas are great for opening up the hips, hamstrings, and lower back. Runners especially, take note. But everyone is just so gosh darn tight in the hips, hammies, and back, we can all benefit.
Tip of the Day: Just get started. I’ve had a few people write to me wondering how they should incorporate yoga into their life. My basic advice remains the same which is to just get started. If you have 15 minutes a day, then use that. If you have access to health club yoga, great! Go! If all you can manage is a yoga download or a dvd, then go with that. If you have a glorious hour to yourself 3 times a week that you can carve some yoga time on your living room floor, great, unroll your yoga mat and start! Just get started! Don’t put off til tomorrow what you can do today is some grandmotherly wisdom and I think with yoga, or with any exercise program, getting going is the hardest part and once you get in the groove it becomes second nature and you crave it. Namaste friends!!!!!
So are you a Vanilla Person or a Chocolate Person? I do love my banana-vanilla softserve, and I prefer vanilla brown rice protein powder to chocolate…but when I want a cake or a cookie, I usually go for the chocolate. And of course, munching dark choco squares takes the edge off any kind of moodiness or day-gone-wrong-drama. So I guess I’m a split personality. Which do you prefer, Vanilla or Chocolate? Do Tell!
Next post will have some Product Reviews and a Blogger Meetup recap!
Love the sister pics :) I know what it's like to be away from family and it sucks :( I'm glad you got some good time together.
I've heard so much about your donut holes lately–I hear they are delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Great shots of you and your sis! The one of you 3 girls is nice — hope you get more visits in together. Lucky you to have a beloved sister!
Thanks for the shout out re: the glass straws giveaway — your bendy straws are awesome! So glad you're happy with your win! Looks like you've been on a bit of a winning streak lately, you lucky thing :)
Your desserts look scrumptious and if you put out an e-book, I'll happily buy one. Pretty please include your macaroons recipe in it :)
Glad you had fun with the sister- cute pics. All of your desserts look incredible. Especially the apple crumble. Can't wait for the nana bread
Oh yeah, my ex housemate turned totally lame when she met her current beau. I wont go into details, but it was awkward because I didn't enjoy her company as a friend but we still had to live together!
I tried to respectfully "disengage", I stopped hanging out with her in social situations, and tried to give myself space.
Well, it backfired. She just accused me of being biatch and thinking I was too good for her and her friends. Eventually I got sick of her assuming she knew why I stopped hanging with her so I had to come clean.
I told her exactly what I thought of her and how she'd changed, which she didn't appreciate. She decided to move out and left me many angry heinous notes accusing me of stealing her things etc.
She basically turned really psycho, but I don't have to deal with it anymore which is good.
I'm not very good at being two faced, if I don't like someone it's very obvious so it's better for me to stop hanging with them instead of being all pretendy fake friend :)
Oh, and thanks for your supportive comment on my blog. It's such a relief not to TRY so hard and to just BE a little with the diet thing :)
Big hugs for your Sunday/Monday
ABB
I absolutely love what you said about friendships and just being who you are. It's taking me a lot of hurt and years to realize that there are people who love me exactly as I am and for being myself. Those that I have to put on fronts for are not worth it. But I don't throw friendship away lightly, and sometimes its not anything we have done, but sometimes its something internal in our friend that they need to work through before they can truly be a friend to me.
hey doll! just playing catchup from the weekend. that is so awesome your sister came to town! even if it was brief, that is great. love the photo of the 3 of you!
thanks for the how to on the kale chips. i have only tried kale in my green smoothies, but i have seen kale chips all over and wondered how exactly to make them. now i know! yours look better than any i've seen, to tell you the truth. i wonder how they would do in the oven. maybe i will wait to hear the verdict from someone!
OH.. i ate a macaroon and died, went to heaven, came back and decided to tell you about it. you have some serious talent! those things are incredible!!
love your tip of the day. unfortunately i have more people i have had to cut ties with than i can count. but it is for the better in the long run.
look how lucky you have been with all the giveaway lovin!!!
xo!
i love your blog…your food creation make waters run from my mouth….never ever imagined vegan food can look and taste so good!
Thank you! You are an amazing friend. I know that the changes that are happening my life are for the best. And it helped so much to read that it is a natural part of growing and become a better person. I am just going to let time heal my heart and know that I will meet new friends that in the long run will be better for me and my family. Thank you so much again… you made my day. XOXO
Glad to see you so happy with your sister.
Rach
Blaine is going to write something to you now:
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Averie I loved this post.
I definatly am feeling anxious, antsy, and a tad unhappy.. as I definatly feel like I am trying to please EVERYONE around me.. and not take an ounce of time for myself.
I adore my career as a makeup artist ( or at least, aspiring career, current profession )
yet, i get people pushing me to be a model.. i do love modeling.. yet, its definatly not a healthy life style for me.
I get people telling me I look "perfect". (cringe)
and I get people telling me to eat more to gain "effing weight"
(cringe again)
honestly, I dont know how to look into my own thoughts anymore to figure out what I really want.
bleh. so frusterating.
sorry for my rant.
where do you get NOOCH from? i adore kale chips!
So glad you had fun with your sister! I love when family comes to visit.
UH loving those raw bars you got.. I get bored with lunas and laras (even though I LOVE em) so its nice to see some other products being reviewed!!
The kale chips look great, thanks for telling me about them. I have seen them made on other blogs before and was kinda turned off because I thought they had mustard on them (HATE mustard) sooo glad to see that they are made with nutritional yeast!!
Thanks Averie.. you're the best! :)
aw sisterly lurveeeeeee <3 so many gorgeous blonde bombshells in your fam :)
love the weekly recap – I just tried the donut holes yesterday and felled in LOVE! so crumbly and I love the seeds.. *swoooooon*
in HS I was a major believer in quantity rather than quality – in turn, I had a lot of unfaithful, disloyal friends.. including one who hooked up with my boyfriend (not Gingie, the scumbag before him) Needless to say now I have like .. 2 good friends.. and i'm okay with that because they are amazing and truly care about me and that's all that matters right?
banana bread cake teaser.. bah! the suspense!
love you Av, have a great Sunday :)
aah, i've been away too long :) so glad you got some good time with your sister!!
wow, have i had some interesting relationships… me of course giving way too much and expecting the best out of people. sometimes it just doesn't happen :( i was living with a friend in grad school and we were great… until one day she said she was moving out. we never really talked about that i have no idea why she decided it wasn't worth her time anymore. it took me a bit to get over it, blaming myself for whatever i may or may not have done. but then i realized if she was really like that than i was better off!