Coconut chocolate plus laundry time!

Happy Thursday everyone!

I know chocolate is a HOT topic no matter what diet/lifestyle you follow. I personally love dark chocolate with a cocoa content above 70%. Now that I'm incorporating more raw foods into my diet, I'm very intrigued by all the raw chocolate varieties out there. Seriously, Bitt, Heathy, Averie, Evergreen ,and Carmella, just to name a few, have totally changed my view on chocolate making. I'm so excited to really get down to business in the kitchen and make some chocolate, raw chocolate at that! Yet, I had my eye on a very simple recipe that Averie was raving about on her super, awesome blog, Love Veggies and Yoga. Raw, vegan coconut oil chocolate just seemed too good to be true. I had to try it!


So I followed her really simple directions but I used honey instead of agave. I place it in the fridge to set and that's when my problems began. It would not set and it was sticking to the parchment. I knew I must have done something wrong as this chocolate looked nothing like Averie's final product. It still tasted delicious so we just ate it with a spoon:) I was curious if it was the ingredients I used so I emailed Averie and asked her opinion. She responded with lightening speed and she suspected it was my substitution of the honey for the agave. So I'm going to go pick up some agave and try this ridiculously simple recipe again! Thanks Averie for your insight. And please give this recipe a try..you will love it!


Now onto some non-food related topics...laundry! Ahh..the super fun task we all love, right? Well maybe for some, but I'm really neutral about doing laundry. I live in an apartment so I have to truck my clothes down three flights of stairs and hope that there is a free washer! Yet, I find folding laundry somewhat therapeutic. Maybe it's my perfectionism sneaking to the surface again but there is something about neatly folded towels and clothes that brings me some sense of satisfaction! Are you a laundry lover or fighter? I have been putting off doing our laundry as we were out of soap and I was out of my homemade stuff. I just wasn't feeling inspired to make more but today had me in spring cleaning mode. Maybe its the warm weather outside or the fact that I was out of matching socks, but I got to making a batch of this powdered laundry soup. It took me about 10 minutes to make which is faster than going to the store to buy some! So I really don't know what I waited so long..geesh!

I grated it straight into the ziplock baggie that I use to store the soap in so it makes for a mess-free process. The recipe called for 2 cups grated soap but I just grated about half a bar. You can be more precise and eventually you can eye-ball it.

Then I added 1 Cup of Washing Soda


And finally 1 Cup of Borax

And here is the final product! It's so great and super easy and CHEAP! Plus you know exactly what's in your laundry detergent which is really great. Give it a try this weekend, the washing soda and borax is readily available in many stores. I found them right next to other laundry detergents (the ones that give you a headache to walk by!). I saw the co-op even has the washing soda in bulk if you don't want to buy a huge box.


Back to food for a minute... I'm really glad you all like your salads "dirty" too! Makes for a whole new salad experience! Today I had another dirty salad but I threw together a bunch of ingredients for the dressing and come up with a beautiful dressing! I had a few left over soaked sun-dried tomatoes from making Nikki's hummus so I decided to make a dressing with them. I basically added the tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, and a bunch of spices. Very delicious and I really loved the color. You like?



I really should write down what I put in these dressing so I can share them with you! I'll try to remember next time:)


Now, check out my prayer plant. It's been blooming like crazy lately and the flowers are really pretty. Ryan is now calling this plant "his" as he thinks its blooming due to the massive amounts of water he keeps giving it. He waters too much and there is always a puddle on the plate that we have underneath it. HAHA too funny but who know maybe he's right. Or maybe its the glacial rock dust I added awhile back. Have you ever heard of rock dust? Well, its basically rock from glacial regions that is ground up and contains tons of minerals. It's an organic product that the company I work for deals a lot with in organic soil mixes. Anywho..check out this gorgeous bud!





I kept my container inside where I had my oregano and mint growing in the summer. It basically looked dead but this week the mint has made its first appearance.


I love new growth of my plants! It's so cool seeing them come out of the ground and mature. And of course being able to use something that you've grown. Do you have any new growth in your plants/herbs?

I'm headed off to the gym...enjoy the rest of your day:)


PS do you guys use twitter? Do you like/dislike it? I'm debating whether of not to sign-up!