The only thing not pictured is a pink heart shaped Pez dispenser with “Dream” printed on it. I gave it to Jim as he loves Pez and I wanted him to feel included in the package receiving.

But seriously, look at all those goodies!!! I had already read most of Skinny Bitch and Food Rules, but I’m happy to get to read them again. (I already read Food Rules in the bath tub 2 days ago.) I’ve also been reading Ani Phyo’s book (which Kylie won in a blog giveaway!) and The Coconut Oil book. I’m coo coo for coconut in all it’s forms but I had no idea that coconut oil has helped so many fight yeast problems. This was awesome information for me as I am highly susceptible to yeast problems (which I’ve been able to keep under control only by diet and daily probiotics). All the other books I’m so excited to finally read, rather than just flip through in airports or bookstores. Also, I’m pumped to watch the documentary Food Fight. Kylie actually got to meet the maker, helped do some promotion for the L.A. premier, and got to attend the premier too. I’m loving how many documentaries on food have been coming out. Totally rad.

So after reading until my eyes started to close, I went to bed, sleeping in! This is such a luxury since I wake up at 5am Monday through Friday for my new job as the baker and sous chef for Gindi Cafe (which I love). OH! I also had my first catering gig for 12 people a couple weeks ago. It was such a success but I’ll tell you more about that another time. For now, let’s get to breakfast…

This was awesome! Gluten free oatmeal (cooked) with chia seeds, some coconut flour, and coconut butter. I then topped it with large flakes of coconut, walnuts, a dash of cinnamon and a splash of almond milk. So coconuty and SO GOOD! I also had a glass of Amazing Grass’ Original Amazing Meal blitzed with frozen bananas and almond milk. It was good, but I’m obsessed with their Chocolate flavor!

Next up, Lafayette’s Peach Festival!

Sleepy-faced Jim with his morning watermelon smile!

Check out a couple things we’ve enjoyed eating with watermelon…

These pancakes were fun to make and even better to eat. I added coconut milk to the batter (which I probably won’t do again as it made the pancakes too chewy) and shredded coconut in and on top of the pancakes (which was totally delicious). The best was mixing the coconut milk with some real maple syrup. This is my new favorite pancake topping.

Scrambled eggs and some sauteed onions and peppers in a tortilla with hot sauce. Good then, but I can’t stand the smell of eggs being cooked lately. Ick.

Yay for watermelon! It’s so juicy and excellent blitzed up in the blender with a tad of agave, with breakfasts or even just on its own any time of day. Yum!

My favorite tea is hands down Pekoe’s Mate Chai. To say that I LOVE it is an understatement. It is caffeine free but has an herbal properties that contains a stimulant similar to caffeine, although without the jitteriness or addictive tendencies. It can also alleviate fatigue, suppress the appetite, stimulate the body, rev up the metabolism, lift the mood, improve sleeping patterns, cleanse the blood, provide antioxidant benefits, and is thermogenic which encourages the body to burn more calories. Add all that goodness with the rich and warming spices of chai (cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper), a little agave nectar, and milk or some alternative makes this a heavenly beverage.

Although they don’t have a Peokoe here in Costa Rica, I am hoping that our first visitors from Boulder will bring me some (you can buy the loose tea!), as I miss it. I would treat myself to a mate chai after running errands in Boulder throughout the year, or just drive all the way to Boulder from Lafayette to get some. I did find it nice to enjoy it while on the drive home though. I’d typically get a fat slice of Pekoe’s killer zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, or their gluten free chocolate zucchini bread to have with it!

I would order a large Mate Chai with skim milk and 1/3 the agave (1 pump) and either ask for it to be hot or at whatever the temperature the liquids were at (ice=less mate=no bueno para mi). I loved that I could swipe my Pekoe card for points and often having enough to get a free drink!

As I’ve written before, this drink rocks my world so much that I tweeted about it and a woman in Canada said she’d never heard of it but would love to try it. Being that she didn’t have a Pekoe near her, I sent her some. And get this: she offered to paint my dogs’ portraits in return for the yummy mate chai! Yet another example that generosity breeds generosity!

The photo above is one of my large mate chai’s on the porch of our temporary house before moving to Costa Rica. (It had an expansive view of the Front Range!) See that cute little Tea Cozy with the felt branch on it? I made that. Check out my Etsy shop here.

I’ve found a new bakery in Jaco, owned by a French woman and her Argentinian partner, that has mate, which makes sense as mate is from Argentina. It’s good, but I do wish they had the chai variety with agave and dairy alternatives. I’ll take it plain though, bitter taste and all for it’s aid in my mental alertness and its general healing properties. I’ll take it over coffee any day.

Now that we’ve got all of these great baking items, I thought I’d put some to use. This is only one of the many yummy things I’ve been up to, but I’ll post about the other’s later. These cookies are vegan, refined sugar free, gluten free and were an instant favorite with Jim and I! The recipe below will make about a dozen, which is plenty for two people to eat over a couple days, but double the recipe is you want more! If you want cookies quick, these are the way to go as they only take 20-25 minutes total to make. These cookies stay the perfect consistency even after a day! They’re moist and soft enough, yet don’t fall apart, and they even have a crunch factor! YUM!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Turbinado (Dried Sugar Cane Juice)
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter (the thicker and more all natural the better, we like chunky)
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Applesauce
• 1/4 cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1 cup Vegan Chocolate, chopped (I use 70% plus cocoa content)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a bowl cream together Turbinado and Peanut Butter until well combined. (Can easily do with spoon)
• Add Baking Soda and mix in.
• Add Applesauce and mix until combined.
• Add in Brown Rice Flour until everything is well incorporated and the mixture forms a doughy, texture.
• Fold in Chocolate.
• Roll into one inch balls and flatten slightly on an ungreased cookie sheet.  (I fit 12 on the sheet in 4 rows of 3.)
• Bake for 15-17 minutes.  Cookies will be golden brown and appear very soft. (They will harden up some, so don’t over bake!)
• Let cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cookie sheets.
• Enjoy them on their own or with something warm or otherwise cozy. I like them with Raw Almond Milk.

There are sometimes when I’m too impatient to wait 20 minutes for something sweet. When that happens and I’m craving something nutty, comforting, and with a serious hit of chocolate I make this:

It may not look all that appetizing, but I promise it’s SO GOOD. I throw together Oats, Peanut Butter, Dried Unsweetened Shredded Coconut, a little Turbinado, Apple Sauce, and Chocolate Covered CaoCao Nibs. Divine!

I based my recipe off of Natasha’s from The Voracious Vegan. She has it laid out step by step with lovely photos. I didn’t sweeten mine as I was out of agave and didn’t want detract from the almond flavor with maple syrup. I don’t like sweet drinks anyway, unless it’s fresh juice. I also did not have dates, but in the future I will use them. I wanted to make sure that the milk was extra creamy so I used a little less than 3 cups of water, but I’ll probably do the full 3 cups next time. I love that Natasha adds cinnamon, as I would have done that anyway. It’s warming effects are so comforting!

Raw Almond Milk

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Raw Almonds, soaked in water overnight
• 2 1/2 -3 cups Water
• Dates, pits removed and/or Agave (if you would like it sweet)
• Cinnamon (to your liking)
  

Directions:

• After soaking the Almonds overnight, rinse them.
• Put Almonds, Water, and Dates (if using) in a blender and blitz
• Strain the mixture through a cheese cloth, clean stocking, or other fabric
• Put liquid back in the blender, add Agave (if using) and Cinnamon, and blitz
• Save Almond Meal for other use (see below)
• Enjoy it by drinking on it’s own, having it in cereal, or cook/bake with it!

Note: It kept well for the 3-4 days that it took me to consume it (it took all of me to slowly savored it) in the fridge. It may separate, but just shake it up a bit.

So I knew that making Almond Milk would leave me with Almond Meal and I refused to waste it! Many people who have a dehydrator make crackers out of it, but I don’t so I moved on to other ideas. I could have used it to bread veggies or put into a bread, but decided what I really wanted was a cookie to have with my milk! I was surprised by how little is out there online concerning what to do with your leftover nut meal.

So I made two different kinds over a few days. Neither were AWESOME, but I did enjoyed both. To be perfectly honest, I wanted these cookies to be vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar free and because I still have very limited baking products to meet those qualifications, I had to get creative. Also to be frank, the reason I didn’t think they were OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD is because I’m getting used to training my palate to enjoy treats that are not filled with horrible stuff. Neither were crispy but instead were a little more cake like, which wasn’t bad, just different. Anyway, I’d like to add that both of these are full of awesome fiber and antioxidant rich dark chocolate!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Cookies (also gluten and refined sugar free!)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Gluten-Free Oats
• 1/3 cup Almond Meal, leftover from almond milk
• 1/8-1/4 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 1/2-2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/8 cup Coconut or Canola Oil
• 1/8 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• 1/4 cup Chopped Vegan Chocolate, I used dark for it’s antioxidants

Directions:

• Mix all Dry Ingredients and all Wet Ingredients separately
• Add Dry Ingredients to Wet. It’ll be a wet mixture, don’t worry
• Add Chocolate bits
• All cookies (15) should fit on one lightly oiled tray, press flat
• Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until puffed slightly and brown (don’t burn bottoms!)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Almond Oat Cookies (also gluten and refined sugar free!)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Almond Meal, left over from almond milk
• 1/3 cup Gluten-Free Oats, processed in blender or food processor
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 4 Tablespoons Egg Substitute, I used Flax Eggs (see recipe below)
• Just shy of 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
• 1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 cup Chopped Vegan Chocolate, I used dark for it’s antioxidants

Directions:

• Mix all Dry Ingredients and all Wet Ingredients separately
• Add Dry Ingredients to Wet. It’ll be a wet mixture, don’t worry
• All cookies (15) should fit on one lightly oiled tray, press flat
• Add Chocolate bits
• Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until puffed slightly and brown (don’t burn bottoms!)

Flax Eggs

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Flax Seeds, Ground
• 4-6 Tablespoons Water

Directions:

• Simmer Ground Flax Seeds and Water in sauce pan for about 5 minutes or until it reaches an egg type consistency

Notes:

• 4 T flax eggs=1 egg
• Use the 1:3 ratio to make more
• 1 cup flax: 3 cups water makes about 16 eggs worth
• Refrigerate!

Bottom Line: The Raw Almond Milk was AMAZING! The Cookies were good I will use other “acceptable” baking products with the Almond Meal in the future. My husband liked the Cookies and the Almond Milk (when it was in a Smoothie) and was impressed by my effort and creativity (which warmed my heart). This last bit makes my dietary transition a bit easier!