cocoa – Top Morning Recommendations

A Delicious Homemade ENERGY BAR … No Cooking Required!

maud — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 23:28:04 +0000

It’s healthier (and cheaper!) to make your own energy bar snacks at home. Here’s a healthy recipe with dates, nuts, cocoa powder, coconut and vanilla that is really decadent and delicious. No cooking! You will be amazed with the end result.

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate-Cashew-Almond Energy Bar Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Cups (300g) Moist Medjool Dates, pitted and chopped
2 Cups (280g) Raw Cashew Nuts
½ Cup (60g) Raw Almond (without skin)
¾ Cup (75g) Cocoa Powder
A Pinch Of Sea Salt
½ Cup (40g) Unsweetened Shredded Coconuts
2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
2 to 3 Tbsp Cold Water

Before making this, check to see how dry the dates are since you want them to be relatively moist. You may want to soak them overnight in water before tossing them in the food processor with all of the other ingredients. Make sure that the all of the pits are removed, too!

Equipment needed:

Food processor
Loaf pan: 11½ x 4½ inches (29 x 12 cm) , lined with aluminum foil

Preparation:

Combine chopped dates, cashews, almonds, cocoa powder, and sea salt in a food processor.

Pulse and process all the ingredients together until the texture is coarse.

Then add the shredded coconut, a quick pulse, and add the vanilla extract, a little water at a time until it reaches a dry but moist dough consistency.

Scrape the dough mixture into the lined pan, press evenly with a rubber spatula, and chill for about an hour before serving.

Source: Angie Tee

The post A Delicious Homemade ENERGY BAR … No Cooking Required! appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

Make a Perfect Protein-Rich CHOCOLATE OATMEAL BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE!

maud — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 12:08:50 +0000

This is like a liquid cookie, and full of protein. This Chocolate Oatmeal Smoothie has a rich cocoa flavor and is sweetened naturally with a ripe banana. The recipe calls for blending with creamy yogurt and oats to create a healthy smoothie that you can make in 5 minutes. Perfect for breakfast — with the following nutrients in a 16 oz serving:

Calories: 240
Fat: 3.2 g
Saturated fat: 1.2 g
Unsaturated fat: 2 g
Trans fat: 0
Carbohydrates: 37.7 g
Sugar: 13.6 g
Sodium: 368 mg
Fiber: 5.3 g
Protein: 17.7 g
Cholesterol: 2 mg

Here are the ingredients you need to make 2 of these smoothies:

1 ripe banana

1 cup plain low fat yogurt

½ cup oats – old fashioned or quick cooking

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 scoops chocolate protein powder + 1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

ice to thicken

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and puree until smooth. Start with a handful of ice and add more until you’ve reached desired consistency.

Just add more ice if you want to make it thicker!

Source: Liz DellaCroce

The post Make a Perfect Protein-Rich CHOCOLATE OATMEAL BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE! appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

[Video] Homemade CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT Recipe … Better Than a Jar of Nutella!

maud — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 20:13:43 +0000

David shows how to make yummy “Home Made Nutella” sandwich spread in this recipe. This is good for a smile on every face.

He uses the following ingredients:

250 grams Roasted Hazelnuts (skins removed)

1/4 Cup of Cocoa Powder

1/2 Cup of Caster Sugar (Super Fine White Sugar)

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract / Essence

1/4 Cup of Vegetable Oil

This only takes about 5 minutes to mix together, making 1 jarful.

Watch how he does this in the video …

This Home Made Nutella is obviously a lot healthier than the store-bought version:

Now watch another video to learn how to make this mouth-watering sandwich spread into a “cheesecake” treat: No-Bake Protein Cheesecake Bites

The post [Video] Homemade CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT Recipe … Better Than a Jar of Nutella! appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

Important Facts About Adding CACAO NIBS (or Cocoa Nibs?) to Your Recipes

maud — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 21:39:22 +0000

There are numerous reasons to include healthy cacao nibs in your recipes and in your diet. You may want to note that cacao nibs are also referred to as (raw) cocoa nibs, just in case you get confused! Regardless of how it’s spelled, cacao nibs are a pure chocolate treat made from crushed cacao beans: essentially unsweetened chocolate chips with nothing added.

They are dried and fermented bits of cacao beans. The texture of our raw organic cacao nibs is similar to that of roasted coffee beans. They have a deep chocolate flavor which can be described as slightly bitter and nutty.

Cacao nibs are an excellent source of antioxidants, fiber, iron and magnesium.

Cacao nibs are often included in trail mix, smoothies, overnight oats, brownies and muffins for an enriched flavor as well as for the many health benefits. Here are 6 health benefits that you should be aware of:

1) Nutritional Powerhouse: Chocolate lovers, rejoice! Raw organic cacao nibs are an excellent source of fiber and iron. A single one-ounce serving of cacao nibs provides 18% of the DV for fiber and 21% of the DV for iron. They are also chock-full of protective antioxidants and magnesium. In fact, raw cacao nibs are one of the best food sources of magnesium: an essential mineral involved in over 300 chemical reactions in our body, from nerve function to bone health.

2) Brain Food: A study led by researchers at the Northumbria University in England examined the effects of cacao consumption on cognitive activity. Subjects who consumed a cacao drink before performing mathematical calculations completed them more quickly and accurately than the control group that received no cacao. The lead professor of the study suggested that the high polyphenol content of cacao may be protective against declining cognitive function. Organic cacao nibs are one smart snack!

Read about 4 more health benefits on the next page …

The post Important Facts About Adding CACAO NIBS (or Cocoa Nibs?) to Your Recipes appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

An Easy Recipe to Make Delicious Crunchy GOJI BERRY ENERGY BARS

maud — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 17:05:05 +0000

Here’s a wholesome energy snack to make at home. The featured ingredients are goji berries with dates, walnuts and sunflower seeds.

Goji berries are extremely high in energy and nutrition: packed full of antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. They have a unique, vibrant flavor that tastes a bit like chocolate. They are harvested in the Himalayan mountains and may not have made it to the shelves of your local supermarket, but they are readily available in health food and gourmet stores.

We’ve added cocoa nibs (tiny pieces of the cocoa bean) to this recipe for an extra boost of antioxidants along with a rich and tangy chocolate crunch. Feel free to substitute your favorite nuts, seeds dried fruits.

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts

1 cup almonds

1 cup pumpkin seeds

6 dates

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

½ cup agave

½ cups cocoa nibs

1 cup goji berries

Add more dates if you need to make them “stickier”.

Here’s how to prepare these yummy snacks:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grind walnuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds in a food processor. Add the dates and pulse the mixture few times, leaving some texture.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl; add the other ingredients.

Mix well.

Spread mixture into an 8×8 pyrex baking dish.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cut into squares and serve

Source: Marie Poulin

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Popular Homemade (No-Cook) Nutritious PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE CUPS

Chris — Thu, 17 May 2018 10:24:19 +0000

Try this delicious healthy fudge treat without the traditional butter and sugar that you’d find in normal (unhealthy) Fudge. This no-cook recipe uses cholesterol-free coconut oil, honey and stevia to start with. Then extra protein and nutrients are added to turn this Peanut Butter Fudge into a perfect health food!

These Fudge Cups are perhaps a bit high in calories, but that comes from healthy monounsaturated fats (like in olive oil) that contribute to satiety, so you’ll indulge in moderation. Nevertheless, you’ll want to make plenty of these since they’re popular with everyone, especially when they find out that they are homemade with healthy ingredients.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make 24 of these healthy Peanut Butter Fudge Cups:

1/2 cup (112 grams) virgin coconut oil, softened
2 scoops (47 grams) chocolate protein powder
1/2 cup (128 grams) salted creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup (20 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons (42 grams) honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 drops liquid stevia

The nutritional values in each Fudge Cup are:

85 cal
7 g fat (4 g sat)
3.5 g carbs
19 mg sodium
2 g protein

Now just follow these 3 easy steps to make these delicious and healthy Peanut Butter Fudge Cups:

1. Fill a mini-muffin pan with 24 liners; set aside.

2. In a blender or food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour 1 tablespoon of the mixture into each muffin liner.

3. Place the muffin pan in the refrigerator for 45-60 minutes or until the fudge firms up. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, but we doubt they’ll last that long.

TIP: Weighing out the sticky ingredients with a kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups makes the process much easier, and saves you more dishes to do. For this reason, we provided the weight in grams of each ingredient.

Try this homemade Non-Dairy Vanilla Smoothie for a healthy thirst-quencher along with a Protein Fudge Cup or two!

If you would like to see more healthy recipes for early morning energy, then please Like our Facebook Page!

Source: Daily Burn

Top 10 Foods for Brain Health (Video)

maud — Sat, 07 Apr 2018 19:00:04 +0000

These foods are touted as the Top 10 Healthy Foods for the Brain, starting with oysters (rich in zinc and iron to help “memory recall”) and ending with dessert: chocolate and cocoa powder (strong antioxidants).

This video (on the next page) is good to watch and share with anyone looking to improve their memory, concentration and other important brain functions.

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