Livin' Lean

With Halloween right around the corner, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of us will be indulging in some of our favorite candy and treats! There aren’t many “clean” options when it comes to sweets at the store, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create your own versions at home! I love finding new ways to turn my favorite restaurant foods and desserts into healthier, clean versions that I can eat on a daily basis without blowing up like a balloon.
Chipotle better watch out! Although I can’t exactly replicate their flavors, I don’t think you can go wrong with this combination of foods. I’m sad I ran out of cooked barley yesterday (I used barley instead of rice), or else I would have eaten this meal for the 4th day in a row! I’ll have to make another batch today.

Anyways, on to the extra good stuff…chocolate. This recipe is seriously so simple, and you can have homemade, healthy chocolate in your mouth within minutes.
Raw Chocolate

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix together all of the ingredients very well (the honey can congregate in one area, making part of the chocolate way too sweet and part of it super bitter). Pour mixture into chocolate molds or onto parchment paper. Freeze for ten minutes or until chocolate hardens.

It’s that simple! If you can resist not eating all of it at once, you can keep it in the freezer or refrigerator. If you leave it out, the coconut oil may melt (since it melts at ~76 degrees).

There’s endless options that you can do with this chocolate…like adding almonds or peppermint extract, or using unsweetened dark cocoa powder instead of regular. Or, you can be a Reese’s addict like me…

and make your own peanut butter cups! I experimented with some pumpkin fillings, but I haven’t gotten it quite right yet. Recipe coming your way as soon as I get out of a chocolate coma have more time. At least I’m knocking off two things at once on my fall bucket list!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Question of the day:
If you could only have ONE last restaurant meal, what would you get and from where?

Hardest question ever, but I might have to go with the falafel pita wrap from Cava Mezze Grill (in the MD/DC/VA area). This place is like the Greek Chipotle, and they have the world’s fluffiest pitas and tastiest falafel. I’d appreciate it if someone from MD would be kind enough to ship me some.