Vegan Chocolate Coconut Cups & Full Moon Effects

Happy Thursday! Who's looking forward to the weekend? I know I am! We usually get to scoot out of work early before long weekends, so that's definitely a plus! Anyone else feeling the effects of the Full Moon? My good friend Averie mentioned some of the effects, and I can say I am definitely sensing some of the weirdness! A few days ago, I found my beloved Sigg water bottle in the fridge and it had frozen solid (my husband had a gallon - yes a gallon! - of beer that had shoved it to the back) and burst, destroying it :( sorry no pic... but he did replace it with this beauty:

I would've picked out something pink but it was super sweet of him to pick me out a new one :) He also got me this beauty from Whole Paycheck:


he might not eat kale with me, but he replenishes my supply! What a guy :) I had this random (full moon?) thing happen... broken cutting board:

I made this dressing today:


sooo delish! I started with this:

homemade tahini! What can't the vitamix do? All I did was put in about a cup of raw sesame seeds, a third a cup of warm water, and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, plus a pinch of sea salt. Super easy. I just took some of the tahini out of the blender, then left about half a cup in to make my salad dressing.

Caesar-Inspired Dressing:
1/2 c raw tahini
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
juice & zest of one lemon
juice of half an orange
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic (optional - omit if you aren't into garlic)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 T fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley
sea salt to taste (several grinds)
cracked black pepper to taste (several grinds)

Blend until smooth. I poured mine over kale....

and stuffed my face! (guess I forgot to take a picture... it was good though :) I could eat kale all day, every day, and be one happy happy kid. I also had some spiralized zucchini noodles with the dressing:

also pretty tasty!

Dessert #1... inspired from a Reese's, coconut-style! I used these vegan chocolate chips:

(the dark and regular semi-sweet 365 brand from whole foods also appear to be vegan, even though they aren't certified. I like to say I'm 'plant-based' more so than vegan... plus I do still eat seafood from time to time. Cheese doesn't so much do it for me anymore, and it was my last dairy thing... we'll see what the diet progresses to) I used about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips for 2 coconut-cup desserts, melting the chocolate in the microwave (you could also do a double boiler). Be careful in the microwave - check on it about every 10-15 seconds so that it doesn't burn. Pour half of the melted chocolate into each of the cupcake liners, then put in fridge until hardened slightly (while making filling). After about 10 minutes, once chocolate is cool and slightly firm, top with coconut filling.

Coconut Filling: (for 2 desserts)
2 Tablespoons shredded coconut
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon agave or maple syrup

Melt coconut oil and mix ingredients together in food processor until smooth.

Add dollop of filling to each:

Then melt another 1/4 cup or so of chocolate and top filling with chocolate:


Put desserts in fridge or freezer (depending on how impatient you are!) to cool and harden. Finished product:






Very rich, but pretty tasty if I do say so :)

I also had some popcorn, using the brown paper bag method (just put about two tablespoons of kernels in a brown paper lunch bag and microwave until you hear 1-2 seconds between pops - I do it without oil or anything in the bag, and it comes out perfectly every time. Love it! Economical, good for the environment, easy-peasy, and yummy!). I topped it with melted coconut oil, vegan chocolate chips, cinnamon, powdered ginger, and stevia.


Soooo awesome! Like chocolately caramel corn. But better.

I made Averie's Vegan Coffee Chocolate Chip Softserve... yummy :)

those dark chocolate chunks were stellar in it! It's been a big dessert week... or big chocolate week, should I say?

The other day I made some mango vinaigrette


Here it is over spiralized zucchini noodles:

It was spicy! Here's the recipe:

1 Mango
1" chunk ginger, peeled
1 garlic clove
1/2 jalapeno (depending on how spicy you like it!)
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon brown rice vinegar
zest & juice of 1 lime
juice of half an orange
handful cilantro

Blend all ingredients in Vitamix until smooth.

What does everyone have going on this weekend? Fill me in! I am long overdue for some spring cleaning... With the wedding and the knee injury I've been procrastinating... which leads me to my *tip of the day* Just do it! whatever it is - stop waiting for your kids to get older or life to slow down or the weight to come off or the weather to get warmer .... just start the project or whatever it is - many times in life, we just need to take one step towards something to realize how badly we want it, and how capable we are of achieving what we want. And other times, that one step is all it takes to realize that it's not what we want. But whatever it is - go after it - life is too short to not put everything we have into everything we do! Have a fabulous weekend!