Raw Tahini Cocoa Candy Recipe

What if I told you my seven year old could make you a delicious, healthy, raw dessert with only 4 primary ingredients in about 5 minutes?  Sound too good to be true??  Welcome to the world of RAW!

For those of you who don't know, raw foods are defined as foods in their purest state -- organic (preferably) and unaltered by heat, chemicals, stabilizers, preservatives, colorings, additives, etc.  Natural enzymes are destroyed at 118 degress Farhenheit, so "Raw Foodies" prefer to stay in the 100 degree range for food preparation.  This is often accomplished by the use of a dehydrator.

A friend of mine has recently inspired me to pull out my raw recipe book again and get creative!  In addition to eliminating ALL refined sugar in my diet, I'm intentionally adding lots of smoothies, salads, and raw veggie snacks.  BUT, my sweet tooth aches if I don't have a little something in the mix to sweeten the pot.

Enter my daughter, Avi.  She was bound and determined to make something tasty yesterday afternoon, but I already had meatloaf in the oven -- so she had to fix something that did not require baking.  Not a problem ... I just whipped out my RAW recipes!  Dessert!

You'll need a mixing bowl and spoon, measuring cups, and the following ingredients:

Tahini (look for organic)

Honey (preferably raw)

Carob or Cocoa powder

salt

You can also add any of your favorite chopped nuts, shredded coconut, etc.

Begin by pouring 1/3 cup tahini into the bowl.



Then add 1/4 cup honey.

Add 1/8 cup cocoa powder OR 1/4 cup carob powder.

Add a pinch of salt and any add-ins you like.  We had some pre-soaked and dehydrated salty sunflower seeds on hand.



Mix it all together and roll into balls.

Place in the freezer until ready to serve!

Feel free to get creative with these!  They are yummy, healthy, and even a seven year old can do it!  :-)

Until next time,

Pam

Dunkin Donuts Flavors Perfect For Iced Coffee In The Summer

As temperatures are finally in the 80s here, I teamed up with Mom Central Consulting, who had Dunkin Donuts send me a pack of coffee, a cup, bag, and coupons for each person that could attend our little party.  We had a small brunch after church one day and tested the three seasonal coffee flavors - dCoconut, Triple Berry or Strawberry Shortcake.

Everyone who was there already likes Dunkin Donuts, and were excited to try these flavors.  Most of them just stick to regular coffee, so flavored coffee was different for them.  First, we tried them cold.  They sent us a recipe to make delicious iced coffee with the three different flavors.

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup of your Favorite ground Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee
• 3 Cups of Cold Water, Divided
• 1/3 Cup of Sugar
• 1/2 Cup of Half-and-half
• Whipped Cream (optional)

Instructions

• Brew coffee in a coffee maker, use 3/4 ground coffee and 1 and 1/2 cups of the water.
• Combine hot coffee, sugar and half and half in a pitcher. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Blend in 1 1/2 cups cold water. Chill until ready to serve.
• Pour over ice in tall glass. Add whipped cream if you like!
• Enjoy

The kids were ready to swim, so we took our iced coffee and headed down to the dock.  There were mixed reviews.  I think that the Strawberry Shortcake was the winner, with Coconut being a close second.  Most people thought that the Triple Berry was OK, but it definitely wasn't a favorite.  This is my sister, mom, and brother.

I had a sneaky suspicion that the cocunut flavor would be really good hot - I was right!  Yum!  I wasn't a huge fan of the Triple Berry hot, but I did like the Strawberry Shortcake.  We often have a large group come to our house after church - especially now that it is finally warm enough to get in the water.  We usually pick up a variety of donuts/danishes/pastries and swim/boat the day away.  These flavors will be an awesome icy addition to our weekly parties to go with our yummy treats while sitting on the dock or deck and watching the kids splash in the water.

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Dunkin' Donuts. I received a Dunkin' Donuts Party Kit to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Wordless Wednesday - Finally

Last year we were in the water by March.  It was getting nice enough to swim a few weeks ago, then it was chilly/rainy for 2 weeks.  We're back close to 90(with the exception of today which was in the 70s and windy) and this past weekend was beautiful!  We're finally back on the boat...

Swimming off the dock...

And in the pool!

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