Homemade Raw Chocolate Treats

I often go through phases of checking the fridge at the end of the day looking for chocolate. I go through these craving days (or more accurately - weeks!) frequently enough that we usually have a block of fair trade dark chocolate sitting there so that I can have a few pieces to satisfy my craving.

Since I recently used all of our fair trade chocolate up making delicious chocolate peanut butter brownies this has not been the case.. I then forgot to get more at the shops. I was starting to get desperate and then it hit me. I could make raw chocolate!

A good friend gave me this recipe as part of a homemade raw chocolate gift box. It had the basic ingredients (coconut oil, coconut sugar and cacao) to make the chocolate base, along with a variety of extras (nuts, desiccated coconut, amaranth puffs, etc.) to add for texture and flavour. It was such a lovely gift (and I know she is subscribed so will read this - kisses to you! x)

It is so quick and easy to make I don't know why I forget to do it at times. It takes no longer than 10-15 minutes to get them into the fridge and then around half an hour for them to set.

Raw chocolate has high levels of antioxidants and magnesium from the superfood cacao powder. If you are wondering, yes cocoa is different from cacao. Cacao also has high amounts of calcium and iron, which are both important for good health. Since the cacao is not roasted or cooked all of these important ingredients are available for your body to use.

Are you getting the picture? Raw chocolate is a guilt-free food that will help to supply you with important nutrients and make you feel good by giving you your chocolate hit!

Raw Chocolate Recipe

Preparation time: 10-15 mins; Setting time: 30 mins. Total time = 40 minutes
Materials: Mini baking cups or a chocolate mould

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125ml) coconut oil, just melted*
4 tbsp raw cacao powder
1/4 cup coconut sugar

Plus your choice of extras to taste: e.g. slivered nuts, desiccated coconut, dried fruit, amaranth puffs.

Method

1. Mix ingredients together.
2. Add your choice of extra ingredients to taste.
3. Pour into mini baking cups (small cupcake liners) and place in the fridge for 30 minutes until set**.

*Note: Coconut oil is liquid at room temperature in summer but at cooler temperatures solidifies. To melt place required amount in a bowl and sit it over a pot with warming water. Do not let the bowl touch the water. It will quickly melt. Take of heat as soon as it has melted and mix in the rest of the ingredients.

**Note: Remember these will melt out of the fridge if the weather is warm.


My bestie is trying to cut dairy out of her diet at the moment too so I shared this recipe with her at the same time I wrote this post. She was struggling to cut out chocolate, as I'm sure many of us would. She loves the raw chocolate and is set to start making some herself.

For our latest batches, at Mr Fix It's suggestion, I added dried goji berries and crushed almonds. When I made it with my bestie we also added some puffed amaranth for texture. They were all delicious. The goji berries gave a delicious chewy texture and the almonds are always a favourite of mine for their crunch.

Spice it up and mix it up however you like - enjoy! 

Linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

Homemade Beetroot and Chickpea Dip

I have been meaning to make beetroot dip for ages. Whenever we get beetroot in our organic fruit and veggie box it is always my first thought. But then I look up recipes and get turned off. I always seem to be missing the dairy ingredient. I'm not sure if I would like the flavour with yoghurt or feta for some reason anyway.

I love dips. Really love them. I'm a grazer by habit and love snacking every 2 to 3 hours. I haven't been buying dips lately, however, because I'm conscious of the packaging. Since Plastic Free July is occurring I am even more averse to buying them. So this week when we had 3 beetroots delivered in our box I decided the time had come to create a beetroot dip.

I decided I couldn't go too wrong with yummy fresh beets and chickpeas. Since chickpeas are a staple for us it makes it a convenient recipe too, which is always a winner. I am pleased with the results and thought you might like to try it too. The beetroot is the star flavour of the dip, with the chick peas providing a lovely texture.

Lizzing Lightly's Beetroot and Chickpea Dip Recipe

Time to prepare: 1hr 15 mins (1hr for roasting beetroot and garlic; 15 mins to prepare)

Ingredients

2 to 3 Beetroots
1 can chick peas (400g) drained and rinsed
1 to 2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp mustard seeds

Method

1. Roast beetroots in moderate oven for 1 hour or until soft.
2. Roast garlic for 1/2 hour (add to pan with beetroots).
3. Take out beetroot and garlic and leave to cool.
4. Peel and cut off beetroot skin. Cut into wedges and then in half again.
5. Squeeze roasted garlic out of its skin.
6. Add olive oil, beetroot, garlic, lemon juice, chick peas and mustard seeds to food processor or blender. Mix until smooth.

Enjoy with crackers, bread or crunchy vegetables sticks.

Have you got any recipes at the back of your mind that just never seem to happen?

I'm joining Essentially Jess today for #IBOT

Crafting eye pillows for special people in your life: A tribute for World Ovarian Cancer Day

Although I made these eye pillows late last year I held off on writing this post since I gave one in our family's Kris Kringle and I didn't want to blow my cover. Sadly I am sharing it because the recipient of my secret gift has passed away. My aunt was quite sick with ovarian cancer at Christmas. I don't think any of us realised just how sick she was though. She died within 2 months. Since she was only 49 it has been a stark reminder to us all that life is fleeting and you can't know what might be around the corner.

My gorgeous aunt at our wedding 2011

I love eye pillows and thought that it was an appropriate gift for my aunt while she was having chemotherapy. I discovered them during rest time (shavasana) in yoga and found they help me to relax and unwind. I liked the idea of making an eye pillow since it would be more personal. We also had a $20 limit for our gifts so it helped me to come in under budget while still being able to give other things as part of the gift.

Since my sewing skills are rather lacking, however, I was a bit hesitant about how it would go. Luckily a friend had recently made herself one, although she used a sewing machine. She encouraged me to do it and said it would be easy. Now that's my kind of project!

I went to the fabric store to buy some silk. That's right, I went straight to the silk. The eye pillows I had previously used in yoga class were silk and I loved the feel of the cold soft fabric on my eyes. Once I started looking I realised that the silk could have been spun by child labour for all I knew. I didn't feel comfortable buying new fabric either. Surely there was a more ethical way to make my gift?

The local op shops were my next step to see if they had any silk items that I could upcycle for my project. I was in luck! I found the most beautiful fabric in a dress that cost about $25 from memory (note: since I could make multiple eye pillows I decided that adhered to the Kris Kringle rules). I was sad to cut it up but the style didn't suit me at all. Then I was set to start. I am glad I chose silk because, apart from being lovely on, the silk ended up being very easy to sew.

I cut the fabric in a long rectangle of 10 x 25cm to make sure there would be room for my rather unskilled sewing errors. Then I hand sewed three and a half of the sides, turned it inside out and filled it with linseeds. I was careful not to overfill it since it wouldn't feel as nice or shape as nicely to the face. I also added some dried lavender from the garden for a slight scent to aid with relaxation. I only added about 2 teaspoons of lavender so that it wasn't too strong but some blogs recommend adding much more. After filling it, I sewed the last part up and it was done. I made an extra eye pillow for myself at the same time.

I have been very happy with the mine, despite it being a tad wonky. I use it after every yoga practice during shavasana. I encourage you to give it a go - give one to someone special in your life and keep one for yourself.

This Friday is World Ovarian Cancer Day. Learn the facts about ovarian cancer and share them with at least 5 people to try and raise awareness of ovarian cancer amongst women everywhere. To find out more about ovarian cancer and the symptoms follow this link to Ovarian Cancer Australia's website. 

My aunt was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in late 2013 and died in February 2015. She stopped work immediately after her diagnosis and had two prolonged chemotherapy treatments. It has been a terrible loss to our family, particularly for her older siblings. My mum and uncle. May she rest in peace and be lovingly remembered always.

Tips to make a delicious curry - every time!

One of the main things I love about cooking is creating a unique dish. Making curry is a favourite since I use different vegetables, or a different ratio of spices, which makes it a bit of an adventure each time.

There was a time when I would never have considered making a curry from scratch. I would have picked a pre-made sauce off a shelf in the supermarket, thrown it in with some meat and vegetables and that would have been the end of it. The reason I make my own now is that it is easy, cheap and delicious. After you stock up on spices then you are set for many (even hundreds) of curries whenever it takes your fancy. As I have already said, I actually quite enjoy the cooking part too.

Please keep in mind that I am by no means an expert on cooking curries. I started cooking curry by randomly throwing spices into the pot and letting them work their magic as they simmered away. This would result in either a delicious meal or an average tasting dish. I rarely found the meal to be terrible, despite my lack of knowledge, so I can attest to cooking curry as being quite a simple thing to do. I encourage you to give it a go!

We often make vegetarian curry but the tips below apply to making meat curry too. I recommend the vegetables and the flavour being the main stars of the dish and to treat meat as an add on if you do use it. This is how we often use meat when we do eat it. As a protein source as part of a dish, rather than the key element. Since meat is resource intensive, and expensive, this results in a diet that has less impact on the environment and it saves money too.

Over time I have learnt to do a few things to make sure my curry turns out well, sometimes even spectacularly, every time. On a recent trip to Adelaide I made curry for the family and my mum wanted to find out how I had done it. This was what gave me the idea for this post. I have decided to share these tips with you too - please use them well.

Lizzing Lightly's Curry Tips

1. Use enough oil

In these weight obsessive times we often don't receive good advice like this - use enough oil, butter, ghee or whatever it is that you are using to fry up your ingredients. I tend to use olive oil since that is what we have on hand. Ghee is the traditional choice for Indians so if you're going for the authentic flavour then use that. I find that having enough oil means that the spices don't stick and burn in the pan. This improves the curry flavour by releasing the spices on the heat in a moist paste. I probably use around 4 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil. If it starts to dry out after I add the spices then I throw another couple of tablespoons in.

2. Use lots of spice - don't be scared!

I tend to use some or all of the following spices in my curries: coriander, cumin, garam marsala, indian curry powder, turmeric, ginger powder and fennel seeds. It is important to use lots of these spices to get enough flavour in the dish. Forget about using a few teaspoons. A few tablespoons is what you should be using. I tend to choose a couple of tablespoons of the dominant spices (for example cumin, coriander and garam marsala) and then less of the others. The spice mix needs to be fried up in the cooking oil or fat after onions, garlic and chilli have been sautéed. Remember number 1: use enough oil to keep the mixture moist.

3. Use the right vegetables to give it some texture

Some vegetables stew down to give a brilliant texture for curries. I recommend using pumpkin, eggplant, sweet potato and/or potato. This thickens the sauce and holds the spices throughout the dish beautifully.

4. Balance sweet and salt to bring out the spices

My mother (coincidentally!) was the first person to give me this advice and it was seconded by a chef at a pub that I worked at - use sweet and salt to balance curry spices. Sweet can come from anything - honey, jam or chutney. I often add a bit of sour too by adding a squeeze of lime or lemon. Then salt to taste. Keep tasting and adding sweet, spices and salt to find a balance that you like.

5. Give it enough time to simmer

This can take as little as 30 minutes with a vegetarian curry on a high simmer or a couple of hours if you are stewing meat. Look for the right texture with a thickened sauce and make sure all of the elements are soft and tender.

6. Use plain yoghurt or raiita and cook some pappadums

As a final touch I recommend that you buy some pappadums and plain yoghurt to make your curry a real treat. One of the funnest parts of eating curry is dipping pappadums. If you have gone a little overboard with the chilli then the yoghurt will cool the dish down. For an added treat consider making a raiita with cucumber or buying some chutney to go with the dish. My tip for pappadums is to buy the cumin ones. They are delicious.

So there you have it - they are my tips to creating your own delicious curry. I hope they motivate you to make one for yourself.

Are you a big curry fan? Do you tend to order it as take away, buy pre-made or create your own? Do you have any tips of your own to share?

Sustainability Game Plan - Setting some goals

To try and stop myself from being pulled in a million different directions at once I have decided to set some goals (or more specifically, eleven goals) for myself. I am hoping that it will help me to start and then continue to work on projects, make some changes and try some new things that I have been wanting to do for awhile. I will share my experiences each time I tick off a goal. I will also share any entertaining events that may occur while I am attempting to achieve one of these things.

1. Organise our family schedule

We have just started to make a huge effort with goal number 1. We were kindly given a family organiser calendar for Christmas. I got it out at the end of March, which shows just how organised things have been in our house so far this year! Not only have we planned out jobs, appointments and commitments but we have also planned meals through the week too. This is a huge change for us. So far it has helped me to set firm boundaries for what I need to do each day. This is helping me to find time to relax and we are fitting in some more family activities too.

2. Try a moon cup

This is something that I have been thinking of trying for a couple of years now. It is amazing how much negativity surrounds women trying alternative menstrual products. They are definitely not something that is discussed openly. I recently read this fantastic account of a mum trying a moon cup for the first time.  It has provided me with some additional, and probably much needed!, motivation to buy one and give it a try.

3. Phase out plastic in the kitchen

Since I am increasingly worried about the environmental and health impacts of having so much plastic surrounding us I try to minimise the plastic I use, particularly single-use items. I am a proud participant of Plastic Free July and I have found it easy to apply these ideas to many areas of my life. I have decreased my use of cling wrap to practically zero. I have also stopped buying water in plastic bottles. I use a glass re-usable bottle that I carry most places with me. My next step is to reduce plastic storage in the cupboards by using glass jars and any suitable up-cycled containers that I can find.

4. Decluttering the house

This is an ongoing job since we live in a small house.  However, with the change of season I am particularly focused on clearing out Turtle's and my own clothes. I will gift items to friends if they need them, sell things on Gumtree or donate them to charity. There is no plan for things to be thrown in the bin unless they are really worn out. Even then there might be a use for them as rags.

5. Increase my yoga practice

I am currently doing 1 to 2 yoga practices a week unless there is a big disruption, such as Easter long weekend! Since I am considering doing a yoga instructing course in a year I would like to increase my practice to 2-3 yoga session a week. The idea will be to keep increasing in frequency until I am practicing daily (gasp!).

6. Make homemade muesli bars

I have had one try at this already and, although it tasted delicious, the mixture didn't stick together. We ended up with a kind of trail mix of muesli bar, which was (luckily!) very well received. My main motivation to make homemade muesli bars is to provide nutritious snacks for the family without the packaging of bought muesli bars. I am aiming to create a yummy treat that isn't too sweet.

7. Make my own bread

I am keen to make my own bread. We don't have space for a bread maker so I don't want to buy one. I  want to bake a traditional loaf that is simple so that I could realistically do it regularly. If I set my mind to this goal I am sure I can easily achieve it. I was even given a recipe by a friend awhile ago that is apparently quick and simple. Baking bread has just not been at the forefront of my mind. Clearly it did not make the top of this list either but since it here I am feeling confident I will get to it soon(ish)!

8. Continue to increase the garden's productivity

This is something that Mr Fix It and I are very committed to but we are limited by time. We have recently scheduled a gardening day a month to try and help with this problem. At the moment the vegetable garden is in transition.

There is some basil that still needs to be harvested (I feel a batch of pesto coming on). The corn crop we planted in late summer didn't yield any corn unfortunately. However, the late zucchini crop is going well. We harvested our first zucchini a week or so ago and they are producing a lot of zucchini (big delicious zucchini!). I have just planted some snow peas since Turtle was getting quite upset that there was nothing for her to eat regularly from the garden. The eggplant is still producing baby eggplants and she gets upset every time I take them away while she tries to eat them raw. We are still getting some strawberries too, all of which Turtle is eating immediately after they are harvested.

The kale and celery in the back bed are infested with aphids so we are planning to rip them out and refill that whole bed since the soil has sunk. So there is definitely some work to do here.

9. Make a toadstool stool and other up-cycled toys, mending and crafts

I recently saw a post about making a toadstool stool and I am inspired to make one. The other ideas in that post on how to up-cycle kitchens and toys are brilliant too. Goal number 9 also includes crafts to make gifts and mending things to extend their life (including dog beds!). This is such a broad and fun area, I hope that I find some quality time to make some things (which will rely on goal 1 going smoothly!).

10. Reduce our water use at home

Occasionally our toilet pipe makes funny sounds that we think could mean it has a leak. I have been meaning to properly check out this problem and, while I am at it, check to see if there are any other opportunities to save water. Our water use has gone up a lot since we put in the garden and again since we had Turtle. It's time to see if we can change that.

11. Stop buying products that contain palm oil

I recently changed peanut butter brand since I found out the popular name brand that I was buying contains palm oil. Palm oil production requires huge areas of important forests to be cleared. This has significant environmental impacts, especially removing habitat for many endangered species. To find out more about this issue follow this link to Say No to Palm Oil.

Can you join me on one or more of these goals? I would love to know if you are working towards anything similar or different.

Lizzing Lightly

Cut my costs in half for the dog food recipe!

I'm pleased to share that after writing Lizzing Lightly's Homemade Dog Food Recipe I was motivated to buy the dog's kangaroo meat from a pet shop at half the price.

Freshly made dog food

It was only a ten minute drive each way and instead of paying $20.00 for 2kg I paid $22.00 for 4kg of kangaroo.  2kg was bought freshly cut and ready to cook.  2kg was purchased (also cut) frozen so I have put it in the freezer ready for when I need to make the next batch.

This is my first real changed behaviour from reviewing and sharing my day to day activities through Lizzing Lightly.  While it is not really a win for the environment I think it is worth celebrating as a win for my weekly budget :-)

The gorgeous pooches again - Zac and Chile

Thanks for reading and helping to motivate me to try and be as sustainable as I can be - I really hope some of my thoughts and ideas are motivating you too!

Lizzing Lightly

Lizzing Lightly's Homemade Dog Food Recipe

As mentioned in dog allergies and sustainable meat choices we choose to make our own dog food to reduce our pooches impact on the environment and give them good quality food.  Feel free to use and adapt this recipe for your own fur babies.  I would love to hear if they like it!

Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil
Leftover vegetables: try to include something green and some sweet potato or pumpkin but whatever you have in the house will often do.
2 x 375 g can of beans.  We usually use kidney beans but chickpeas, cannelloni or four bean mix is fine.
2 kg Kangaroo mince.  We buy human grade from the supermarket for convenience but the pet grade is sufficient and much cheaper.
2-3 cups of rice or pasta (or any filler you wish to use).  Add more if you want the mixture to go a bit further.
Approximately 8 cups of water (enough to just cover vegetables and meat in your saucepan)
Optional:
1 or 2 can(s) of tomatoes
2 tsp of vegetable stock or gravox

Method:

1. Roughly chop up leftover veggies to a size that you think is manageable for your dog.
2. Drain and rinse the cans of beans that you have selected.
3. Place your largest saucepan on a high heat.  Add the oil and allow to heat up, then add the kangaroo mince.  Fry the mince on a high heat, mixing regularly to break it up into smallish lumps.
4. After the meat is browned and cooked add veggies and stir through allowing heat to penetrate.
5. After the mixture is heated through add the water along with the stock or gravox if you want to add this (be careful not to add too much salt).  Then add the rinsed beans.  If you are adding canned tomatoes then do this at the same time as the beans.  Mix well.
6. Add the rice or pasta to the mix.  After the mixture begins to bubble reduce the heat so that it simmers away.
7. Cook for about half an hour, until liquid is absorbed and rice or pasta and veggies are cooked through, stirring occasionally so that the bottom doesn't stick and burn.  Leave to cool and then serve into plastic containers for putting into the fridge or freezing.

This recipe makes about 21 cups of dog food.

Each of our Jack Russells will eat a bowl of this (approximately 1.5 cups) each night.  So the two of them eat about 3 cups each night.  This means that the mixture makes enough for 7 nights.  However, it lasts longer (probably 2-3 weeks) for us since we also feed the dogs our leftovers and the occasional packet of free range chicken wings.  We always have dog biscuits in the house to tide us over when we run out between batches.

This recipe costs approximately $30 to make (we pay about $20 for the kangaroo meat alone) so that works out to about $4.30 per day as the sole food source for 1 week.  Buying pet grade meat would reduce the cost by about half. After looking at the savings I feel more motivated to go out of my way to buy pet grade meat!