2013-02-13

Oh Yeah, Valentine's Day

I can't believe it's already Valentine's Day!  It's not necessarily a holiday I am particularly fond of, but I do enjoy seeing fun Love-Themed recipes in the blogosphere.  Has anyone else seen the picture tutorial on how to cut your carrots in heart shaped slices for soups?  How stinking cute!

Kevin and I usually don't do much for V-Day.  Generally we stay in and watch a movie with a nice homemade dinner.  I'm not a huge fan of crowds at restaurants, and an evening spent waiting too long for a table and getting sub-par food and service due to the increased business is not my idea of a romantic evening.  For those of you going out for dinner... Good Luck!

This year we are going to have another evening in.  I'll be making spaghetti and spaghetti squash with marinara sauce for dinner, with the following recipe for dessert.  Not sure if Kevin will like it, as he is a bit picky, but hopefully he will at least give it a try.  If not, I have an ice cream sandwich on standby for him hehe.  Then after dinner we'll probably just relax and watch a Netflix movie, hopefully one from our book of 501 Must See Movies that we have been working our way through for over a year.  (I know this recipe is REALLY similar to my last post of my Healthy Chocolate-Fix Smoothie, but I'm on a chocolate-spree this week!  Don't judge!)


Ingredients:
  • 2 cups frozen strawberries
  • 2 cups non-dairy milk
  • 1 fresh banana, peeled
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • 3 dates, pitted
  • 1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup whole chia seeds
  • fresh straw berries to garnish
Directions:
  1. In a high powered blender, blend all ingredients EXCEPT for the chai seeds, until creamy and smooth.
  2. Pour blended chocolate mixture into a medium sized bowl and whisk in the chia seeds until combined.
  3. Cover and let cool in the fridge for one hour or overnight.
  4. Serve cold and top with fresh chopped strawberries, in heart shapes if you so desire ;).
Amy's Notes:
  • Ok, I really stink when it comes down to gauging how much a recipe is going to make!  I would suggest making a half of this recipe for just a couple, or make the regular recipe for a party.
  • If you don't have frozen strawberries, substitute it for any other frozen fruit you have on hand.
  • Chia seeds are what makes this a "pudding", but if you don't have any, just reserve about 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk when originally blending it, and keep adding little by little until you have the right consistency.

Do you have any fun plans for Valentine's Day?

5 comments:

  1. This looks yummy! I love using chia seeds to turn my morning bowl of fruit into a tapioca-like fruit pudding.
    I just recently found your blog and have been skipping all over looking at recipes and such. I have tried E2L several times over the years, since the first edition came out. I always caved to the pressures of my family, but I love how I feel when I'm following a nutritarian eating style, so I'm getting ready to get back to it. I own the 2nd edition of E2L now (the recipes are SO much better than the 1st edition) and I'm reading through a copy of the updated Eat For Health to remind myself why this is important.
    Anyway, thanks for writing about your experiences and for sharing recipes.

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    Replies
    1. That's a good idea to use chia seeds with your fruit in the morning.
      I have both editions of E2L, and I agree that the recipes are better, but for the most part, I have been Nutritarian long enough to make most of my own recipes. There are also so many more resources and blogs for Nutritarian plant-based diets now too.
      Thanks for reading and good luck!

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    2. HI there, I'm not losing weight, either. Don't know what I'm doing wrong since I am following it so closely. I am on Day 10...

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    3. I'm sorry to hear that. I would say to pay attention to when you are truly hungry and be sure to drink plenty of water. Depending on your physical health, light exercise could help you over that losing weight hump. I also like to think of this image when I am losing weight: http://dangerandplay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/5-pounds-of-fat-5-pounds-of-muscle.jpg

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  2. Amy,
    Thank you so much for these recipes! I have truly enjoyed the chia pudding! The other day I was going through my race day bag and found some chocolate chip cookies that were not too old to eat. I found them after I had decided to take the Nutritarian plunge and cut out the refined sugar. I argued and bartered with myself about throwing them in the trash, but just could not do it, until…I thought of the chia pudding already made in my refrigerator! I dumped those cookies and put a handful of chopped walnuts on the top of a 1/2 cup serving of the pudding. My craving was satisfied, AND I got a lot of nutrients to boot! Thank you again!

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