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Tasty

Healthy Donut Holes

May 21, 2014

The hardest part about my Barre3 Spring Challenge is laying off of the sugar (oh and the wine, and the bread, and…) but luckily they have a ton of recipes to help you get through the month with minimal slip-ups. My favorite “cheat treat?” These “healthy” donut holes. And not only are they not SUPER bad for you, but they are easy enough to make that a 4 year old can make them… literally!

Healthy Donut Holes

by Andrea Nakayama

1-1/2 cups raw almonds
5 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 cup dates (pitted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Large handful unsweetened, shredded coconut (I recommend toasting it!)

Place first 5 ingredients (all but coconut) into a food processor and combine until mixture resembles a cookie dough consistency (you may need to add a little water at this point… I usually need a Tablespoon or 2).
Roll the dough into little bite sized balls (about a Tablespoon worth).
Roll date balls/donut holes in coconut.
Transfer finished treats into a Tupperware and freeze for about an hour (although they really are great straight away too) and enjoy!

Store them in the freezer/fridge until a craving hits!

(they took artistic liberties during our arts and crafts session)

The great part about this recipe is once the dough is made, any little helpers can be in charge of making their own bited sized treats. Or you can be like Tucker (above) and just eat your serving straight away.

They store wonderfully… so I highly recommend doubling this recipe and storing for those days where you want to go nuts on those new Ben & Jerry’s Core Ice Cream flavors… ugh.

Tasty

Morning Shake

May 7, 2014

Last week I shared my Lemon Water recipe… today I wanted to share with you my “take to work breakfast shake.” My mom put this recipe together and it is so easy and delicious! The best part? You make the night before and don’t have to worry about prepping anything the day of!

Morning Shake

2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds
2 Tablespoons Hemp Seeds
2 Tablespoons PB2
12 oz Almond Milk

Simply put all ingredients into a glass container and shake!
Let sit overnight and enjoy in the morning.

Notes:

A mason jar is a great container, as well as the Nut Milk jars that Whole Foods sells (simply enjoy their in-house vanilla almond milk and clean out the container). I also found that Juice Shop uses the same bottles… so if you are in the city, you can snag one of those as well! I just fill the almond milk to almost the top (still need room to shake).
Buy your chia seeds at Costco… you get way more bang for your buck (as usual).
What is PB2? It is basically dehydrated peanut butter, thus removing most of the fat from it – only 45 calories a serving! If you don’t like peanut butter, this shake may not be for you… although they do have a chocolate PB2 that may taste more chocolatey than peanut butter, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Make sure to make this the night before. The seeds need time to be submerged in liquid, so that you can get the full nutrients.

Check out my other favorite morning beverages here, here and here!

Tasty

Vanilla Almond Milk

April 30, 2014

In a world of “pre-made” everything, it is really easy to take shortcuts in the kitchen. Unfortunately there are a ton of preservatives and unhealthy additives in most of the products, so I try to make my own “stuff” whenever time permits.

Now that I’ve been starting my morning with this shake I wanted to find a way to make my own almond milk… I’ve always thought it was way too much work than it was worth, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that wasn’t the case!

Vanilla Almond Milk

1 cup raw almonds
3.5 cups filtered water
2 dates, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
Optional: ground cinnamon, sea salt

Soak almonds overnight in water (make sure to cover them in enough water, because they really plump up).
Rinse almonds in a collinder.
Put almonds, water, dates and vanilla in a blender.
Blend on high until well combined.
Pour almond mixture into a nut bag over a bowl.
Let milk drain into a bowl and squeeze mixture to remove any liquid (should take 3-5 minutes to release all of the milk).
Add cinnamon, salt or any other flavors.
Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days and shake before you drink it (it will separate).

Notes: If you don’t have a nut bag you can use cheesecloth or a fine mesh sieve – but you will probably have some texture to your almond milk. Also the nut bag is reusable and makes the whole process so much easier and cleaner… plus it’s under $10!