Coconut Macaroon Cookies

December 18, 2014December 19, 20143 Comments

I’ve been meaning to make something like these for a long time and finally got around to it yesterday! As always, I made sure to get the sugar down to a minimum, and these certainly don’t disappoint. Everyone who has tried them has said, “These are healthy?” Well, they’re as healthy as I could get them! I mean, they’re not a spinach salad. They’re still cookies!

But unlike a lot of the Christmas goodies you’ll cross paths with, they’re extremely low in sugar, which means you can eat them and not turn into the grinch 30 minutes later. Each cookie has only 1/2 tsp of maple syrup.

Coconut Macaroon Cookies

3 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup almond flour
2 eggs
¼ cup maple syrup
15 drops stevia (I use Now’s French Vanilla flavour)
½ cup coconut milk, canned, full fat
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
½ tsp sea salt

For the chocolate topping:

1/3 cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 325F and place a silpat sheet over a cookie tray.

In a large bowl, mix together the coconut, almond flour, and sea salt.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, and then add the stevia, coconut milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.

Drop dough in tablespoon amounts onto the silpat sheet. Roll them into balls and then flatten them with your fingers.

Cook at 325F for 22-25 minutes.

As the cookies are cooling, melt the chocolate. Place an inch of water in a medium sized pot and bring it to a simmer. Place a bowl over the simmering water and add the chocolate chips and coconut oil. Stir frequently until all the chocolate has melted. If you need to thin the chocolate, you can add more coconut oil. Remove the chocolate from the heat and drizzle over the cooled cookies. Refrigerate.

Keep the cookies in the fridge until ready to serve!

Quinoa Chili

December 12, 2014December 13, 2014Leave a comment

Every parent dreams of having a dinner scene that isn’t complete chaos. Imagine your kids sitting at the table and actually EATING what you put in front of them for once. This is that recipe. Not only that, but this is the meal they won’t complain about if they have to eat it tomorrow night as well.

Ok, ok it’s not all rainbows and glitter, I had to bribe them the second night and let them eat on the couch, but still. And people I have sent this recipe to loved it. Their families loved it. And you’re going to put it in your dinner rotation. I pinky swear.

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Quinoa Chili

2 1/2 lbs minced sirloin
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 orange or yellow pepper, chopped
1 19 oz can kidney beans
1 15 oz can black beans
2 28 oz can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups beef broth
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp sea salt
roasted jalapenos, hot sauce, and/or avocado to garnish – they’re all delicious!

In a large pot, cook the beef until no longer pink. Add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes and then add the garlic and sweet peppers. Cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, quinoa, beef broth, chili powder, paprika, cumin, and sea salt, and simmer partially covered for 3 hours to let the magic happen, stirring occasionally.

You can eat it after 1 hour but the longer you leave it the tastier it gets!

Love Yourself First

December 10, 20142 Comments

Eleven months ago I was snapped out of the deep fog that I was in and awoke to this great need to be more, well, me. I realized that part of me was slowly dying and I needed help ASAP. I turned to the Divine, opened up communication with my angels, and never looked back.

The time had come to stop making excuses.

We have 3 young boys: presently 3, 2, and 9 months, and they were my evergreen excuse for everything and anything. “I’m tired. I’ll live my life when they grow up” sums it up. What I didn’t realize was that putting my life on hold was pretty much killing me. I had fallen out of love and I was suffering.

You simply cannot give love to others if you don’t love yourself first. That was the lesson I was learning. I send so much love and respect to stay at home moms. It is the hardest job anyone will ever have. For years I tried to love it but it just wasn’t me. I was so unhappy sacrificing my spirit that I had nothing left to give. I had it so backward. I needed to show myself some honest love. I needed to admit that I didn’t enjoy being a stay at home mother.

I thought that I had to give all of my love and all of my time to my kids – that’s why I had kids in the first place, right? I thought that I was a failure if I wanted anything other than to spend all of my time with them. But if you are not doing something that you absolutely love, if you are not giving love to yourself first, then you are withholding the only thing that is real from your spirit. I wasn’t doing anything to feed my spirit and I was suffocating. Between drowning in the fear of failure as a stay at home mother and the lack of oxygen my spirit was receiving, I was barely functioning. Throw my negative mindset into the heap and you have one very unhappy individual.

Once I let go of the belief that I had to be a servant to my children 24/7 and started to ask myself what I really wanted out of life, things started happening. Once you start to follow your bliss and start feeding your spirit, life gets magical. If there are excuses that you’re used to making, it’s time to call yourself out on it. Notice the patterns, the choices, the addictions, and start questioning the status quo. Are you growing, or are you wilting?

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Most of the time, we hold ourselves back. We hold limiting beliefs that keep us right where we are. We build the boxes that we’re stuck in, and we build them ourselves. It’s not because we’re scared of not making it, but that we’re scared of what will happen in our lives if we DO make it.

There are choices that we have to make in life that we simply cannot come back from. Once our eyes are open, we can never close them. When we’ve tasted Divine love and grace, we want to share it with the world. Negativity will feel like a magnet pushing you away. Your ability to tolerate negativity will be high, and anyone and everyone who exhibits a lower frequency will fall away. When you start to focus on love, fear falls away as well. New opportunities and people will notice your high vibration and they will be attracted to it.

When I opened my eyes to Divine love, the world ceased to exist as I knew it. I came to know so many truths that I hadn’t even thought about before. I came to know that we are all Divine beings; we are one. Only love is real. Fear is an illusion that we create in our minds. Most things that we are fearful of, we have made up! If you are warm, dry, fed, and not in the path of an oncoming car, your fears are probably in your head.

The fear that you’re not good enough and that you don’t have what it takes to be successful? It’s in your head. And that fear that you’re not worthy of great love? It’s also in your head. Tell the Universe, your angels, and God what you want from life. Expect great things. Have the courage to rise out of fear and act out of love. Love yourself first, and you will see magical things happen in all of your relationships. Do the inner work and your outer world will start to reflect your inner world of great love.

What are you scared of? What is holding you back? Are you making excuses? Are you being truthful with yourself? Are you being truthful with others? Is there something that you want to do in life that you’re not doing? Why? Do you love yourself?

For example, finding productive time is really hard with 3 young kids. Lately I’ve been getting up at 5am so that I can have time to myself. I write, I work, I meditate, or I go to the gym. It’s my time to follow my inspiration and I love it. I get more done in those 2 hours than I do in an entire day looking after an infant! It’s magic time when you are fresh off a night of sleep. Your mind is calm and rested and laser focus is the norm.

Know that you are worth great love. Take the time to meditate each day and ask yourself some questions, even if can find only 5 minutes a day. Meditation time is one of the greatest gifts that we can give ourselves. It’s time that we use to connect with our Higher Selves. Ask for guidance and see what comes up for you. The results really could change your life.

Book recommendation: I highly recommend The Courage to Love Yourself by Janice Parviainen. It amazes me that Janice lives in my small town! I have met her and her energy is amazing. Her book is amazing. It’s definitely at the top of my must read list for personal growth and empowerment!

Low Carb Chocolate Shake

December 7, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

I joined Yuri’s beta testing group for the new book that he’s writing, and it all kicked off yesterday. Since then I’ve been trying to come up with new recipes for old favourites, bringing the carbohydrate levels way down for those low carb days. Since the diet doesn’t include my daily stress management tool – chocolate – I’ve been looking for alternatives.

So today being a low carb day, I changed up my favourite chocolate shake to stifle a craving. Not only is it low in carbs but it is very high in protein due to the peanut butter, spinach, and protein powder. My taste testers agreed that it was a fantastic alternative, both returning for seconds.

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