Happy making (a diversion of sorts...)
Hi. It's been awhile. What you don't know is that I've been writing this very long draft of a neat thing that I did back in March, but it's taking awhile because I have too much to say about it. Also, I have no time these days. But I promise you, it's on it's way.Because I've been so AWOL, I thought I'd sweeten the deal, end the silence and check in with something kinda wonderful. We all need a little more easily-attainable-wonderful these days, especially in light of all the complex-terrible we've witnessed lately. So here's something wonderful and easy. My gift to you. Mr. Rooth and I have embarked on a pretty significant lifestyle change - we have jumped on the Paleo bandwagon. I'll be writing more on this at a later date, 'cause I'm just so damn enthused about it, but what began as a 30 day challenge to reset our taste buds, conquer our sugar addiction and give our systems a break has become something so much more. It has been a life changing 30 day challenge. No foolin'. Anyhow, I'm starting to fancy myself a decent chef of late because when you go paleo, you spend a lot of time in your kitchen. Planning is key, or you go hungry (which is not cool) or you end up eating the same thing day in and day out (which is less than cool.) A lot of what we cook for dinner gets rehashed as lunch, or even breakfast, and I've gotten awfully creative with ingredients, seasonings and prep styles that are either new to me, or new to my routine. Case in point, this lovely thing I'm about to show you. For reasons of a 'female biological nature' (*peers over glasses at you, pointedly*) I have had a bit of a want for chocolate lately. Having finished our 30 day challenge last week, we enjoyed a small amount of insanely good Circus chocolate on the weekend as a long-awaited treat, but I was definitely feeling like some more...and was hoping to find a healthier means to an end. Internets to the rescue! The online paleo community is jaw-dropping. I have lost days on MarksDailyApple.com, EatDrinkPaleo.au and NomNomPaleo.com drooling over recipes and learning paleo-ninja-cooking tricks. PaleOmg.com is a pretty fantastic site with pretty fantastic ideas, and it was here that I discovered the wacky notion of adding chocolate to avocado. I was perturbed. WTF PaleOmg? I don't even..srsly, chocolate and avocado...go home, you're drunk?!...but...but...I have all the ingredients. I'm scared, what if it sucks!? I don't think I'm into choco-guac! I'm hungry, I am incapable of rational thought! I need chocolate! (see previous!) I have all the reasons! ALL THE REASONS! You can see where I'm going with this... Anyhow, while my dinner of sweet potato/salmon cakes and swiss chard was frying up, I consulted the recipe, consulted the fridge, and made a leap of faith. OMFG. Please, just go and make this now, ok? Like, let's not get into the nutritional values and how incredibly good for you this is and how totally simple it is and how you will amaze your meal-mates with your culinary prowess...seriously, drop it. It's all unimportant. Just promise me that as soon as you stop reading this drivel you will go AND MAKE THIS RIGHT NOW...
Mr. Rooth took one bite, threw his head back and growl-groaned in that highly gratifying way that he does, then smiled at me and said "wow, that's happy-making!" THAT WAS THE ENDORSEMENT YOU WERE WAITING FOR...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? GO MAKE THE HAPPY!
Happy-Making Chocolate Avocado Pudding (adapted from 5 Ingredient Avocado Pudding from Paleomg.com - thanks PaleOmg!)
These are approximate measures. I wasn't paying attention too closely, so let your taste buds guide you.
- 1 avocado - ripe, please - 1/ 4 cup of coconut cream (the thick stuff from the top of the can) - 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder - 2 tablespoons of cashew butter (any nut butter would work) - 6-8 dates soaked in 1/2 c of boiling water for 10 mins - 1/2 cup of cooked sweet potato (nuked works just fine!) - pinch of salt - 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract 1 tsp of raw honey (or to taste - I used 1 tsp, it was perfect.) Blend all of these ingredients by any means possible until creamy and smooth. For me that meant blending the cashew butter and dates/water to a paste with my little food processor, then adding that mix to the avocado, sweet potato, coconut and cocoa in a bowl and mash-mixing it by hand. I then added in a pinch of salt, a bit of vanilla extract and the honey, and beat it with a hand mixer for a bit until it was super smooth. This made 4 servings of about 1/2-2/3 cup each. It's very filling, very rich, and very AWESOME. It was the perfect, happy-making end to a Monday.
(aaaaaand I'm totally eating it for breakfast tomorrow morning....)
Next post will be a.) sooner than the last one. b.) about my upcoming shows! and/or the long post I've been writing forever, and c.) possibly chocolate-avocado -pudding fueled...
