Wednesday 1 June 2016

My Chaos and Chocolate Bark

 
It has been a very busy few weeks. My household is going to grow again by one. Daughter number 1 needs to come home for some much needed healing time. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that our "little girl" needs the support that only a family can give. Sara will be with us for now till at least the end of the summer, longer if necessary. That being said, I have been busy making space for her in her old room. We don't have a huge house so after she left, we have been slowly, "oozing" our things into her room and taking over the space. Her room has become my office space and her desk became my desk. Her dresser became my linens, table cloths and napkins storag place. Her closet became hanging space for Randy's suits and dress shirts and a place to store some of my "use once and a while items". I have had to find space elsewhere for these things, and let me tell you, it has been a test for my talents. We also had to move our old queen sized bed out of her room to make room for the bed Sara is bringing home. ACK! Our youngest is thrilled because that means she gets a "big" bed for a while since it will be easier to store her single, she inherits the queen bed for the short term. I told her not to get too used to it!

Of course, changing out the beds meant that I would get a much closer view of the upheaval in our youngest's room. As with so many kids, her version of a "clean" and "organised" room is VERY different than mine. Sadly, I got to see all the bits and pieces, lost socks, and clutter stashed here, there, and everywhere.  This was oh so much more than I could bear! For those of you who know me, I don't function well with clutter in my life. Given the extent of my daughter's chaos, it was a much bigger deal than simply swapping the beds out. It was time, again, for some extreme editing and purging which is hard for Erika to do since she has acquired the pack rat gene. I figured that since the young miss will be done high school next year, now is as good as any to start the downsizing process. Right now, my living room has become the dumping zone for stuff that needs a home or needs to be yard saled or donated. If I don't get my act together before Saturday, I will be adding to the confusion with Sara's stuff... breathe; I must remember to breathe!


This picture gives me goosebumps just looking at it! I think I need some chocolate STAT!  Why chocolate? Because chocolate makes me feel better and as I found out with a little research, there apparently is some science behind why chocolate improves how we feel. Do keep in mind, the crap that NestlĂ© and the like churn out by the ton may have some of the benefits, but due to the mystery ingredients and high sugar content, I think I would stick to the highest quality dark chocolate (at least 70%) to treat myself. 

Chocolate makes you feel better. It contains phenylethylamine (PEA) which is the same chemical that your brain creates when you feel like you are falling in love. PEA encourages your brain to release feel good endorphins. These endorphins that are released into the brain are known to decrease levels of both stress and pain. Apparently chocolate also causes your neuro-transmitters to create serotonin and dopamine which helps calm, relax, and create feelings of well being. YES... Exactly what I need! That said, do remember that a little goes a long way and just because dark chocolate is said to have great health benefits, it's still a sometimes food and in small portions. So no, chocolate can't be a food group... sadness, but it can be a healthy treat!

Check out here, here, here, and here for some of my information search,

So now that I know dark chocolate has some health benefits, I thought I would marry up the chocolate health benefits with those of coconut oil. A WIN/WIN for sure! I got my base recipe from one of my favourite writers... Oh She Glows! She has a wonderful chocolate bark recipe on her blog and this is from where my inspiration came!

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.


In a large heavy bottomed pan, I used my cast iron, heat over a medium heat. Toast your nuts, stirring or shaking regularly to prevent burning. When they are fragrant, pour nuts onto a plate to cool. Repeat the process with the coconut. Watch it like a hawk as it will go from just a little golden to burnt in a flash. On my first attempt I used a combination of pistachios and pumpkin seeds On my second attempt I used a combination of almonds and pumpkin seeds.  I wanted to have the green contrast in my finished product.





Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds and almonds and set aside.
Chop the cranberries in to small bits, roughly each cranberry into thirds. Mix the nuts, dried cranberries and coconut together in a small bowl.
 





In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil, cashew butter, and maple syrup over low heat. It will look like it has separated, but not to worry.  Whisk or stir in the cocoa (or cacao) powder, until super smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt and stir well. Remove from the heat.


Stir in half of nut mixture. With a spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture onto the prepared parchment-lined and smooth out until it's about 1/4 inch thick.


 

 
Sprinkle on the remaining nuts, cranberry and coconut mixture over top of the chocolate. Place into freezer on a flat surface for about 30 minutes, until frozen solid. 

 

 

Once frozen, break apart into small pieces, about 20 or so. Store in the freezer until ready to eat. This chocolate melts quickly so don't keep it out long.


Chocolate Bark with Nuts & Dried Fruit

1/4 cup shelled pistachios*
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup dried cranberries*
1/3 cup dried  unsweetened coconut, without sulphites if you can
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup natural cocoa or cacao powder, sifted 
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon smooth cashew butter (it's what I had on hand)
Pinch of pink Himalayan salt or fine sea salt

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 
 
In a large heavy bottomed pan, I used my cast iron, heat over a medium heat. Toast your nuts and/or seeds, stirring or shaking regularly to prevent burning. When they are fragrant, pour nuts onto a plate to cool. Repeat the process with the coconut. Watch it like a hawk as it will go from just a little golden to burnt in a flash.
 
When the coconut is a golden brown colour, immediately pour it onto a plate to cool.
 
Roughly chop the nuts and seeds and set aside.
 
Chop the cranberries in to small bits, roughly each cranberry into thirds. Mix the nuts, dried cranberries and coconut together in a small bowl.
 
In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil, cashew butter, and maple syrup over low heat. Whisk in the cocoa (or cacao) powder, until super smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt and stir well. Remove from the heat. 
 
Stir in half of nut mixture. 
 
With a spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture onto the prepared parchment-lined and smooth out (if necessary) until it's about 1/4 inch thick.
 
Sprinkle on the remaining nuts, cranberry and coconut mixture over top of the chocolate. Place into freezer on a flat surface for about 30 minutes, until frozen solid. 
 
Once frozen, break apart into small pieces, about 20 or so. Store in the freezer until ready to eat. This chocolate melts quickly so don't keep it out long.
 
Because I love chocolate and I wanted to give a special friend a healthier treat for her birthday, I made another batch. For this, I doubled my recipe so I could gift part of the recipe and have a little for me and my man! Sadly, I didn't have enough of the ingredients in my original recipe so I made the following substitutions with great success.


*Note On Substitutions
Instead of cranberries, I used dried cherries, and I used all pumpkin seeds instead of a pistachios/pumpkin seed mix and the bark was just as tasty. Bottom line is, I think you could use any combination of your favourite nuts, seeds and dried fruit. The possibilities are almost endless.
 
I hope you try this out and let me know how you enjoy it.