CSN Stores Giveaway Winner!

It's January 11th everyone, which means you find out who won the giveaway, which was launched 3 weeks ago! Thank you to everyone who participated and commented away.

Here was the deal:

"The giveaway will close 3 weeks from today, which is January 11th. After that time, the winner will be chosen at random. Entries can be submitted up till the evening of January 10th. The winner will be announced on January 11th. And you will have your new culinary "toy" on your doorstep to play with in the first month of the New Year!"

So without further a do (commonly known as stalling :) I shall announce the winner of the giveaway...

The winner is #23, Ashley! Congratulations Ashley! Please contact me with your email and address so we can figure this thing out :) and get your mini-food processor on the way to you!

If I am not contacted within 2 days, I will be contacting another contestant and congratulating them on their win!

-Update-
Cyclic Unemployment is the second winner, #36. Congratulations!! I have contacted you via email. Please contact me back so we can get you your prize!



Thanks again everyone :) I look forward to hosting more giveaways in the future.

Breakfast Bowls.

Bananas, cinnamon, ground walnuts, cacao nibs, warmed frozen blueberries, yogurt of choice.

Food bloggers everywhere seem to be quite particular about breakfast. There's a good reason for this, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets up your metabolism and energy for the whole day. And it also provides important nutrition. Having enough nutrients in the morning will allow you to enjoy your day so much more. I usually never have the same thing each day for breakfast. But it always revolves around protein, fats and minimal carbs. Leftovers from the evening meal before works well too.

Goat milk yogurt, banana, cinnamon, fresh raspberries, ground walnuts, raisins, chia seeds, almond butter.

Left over soup, chunks of banana, cinnamon, greek yogurt.

Mashed avocado and banana, cinnamon, raisins, white chocolate wonderful peanut butter, creamy peanut butter, raw cow's cream.

Fresh blueberries, cinnamon, ground flaxseed, raisins, peanut butter, raw cow's cream.

Plain yogurt, fresh raspberries, whole macadamia nuts, coconut, cacao nibs, chia seeds.

Banana, cinnamon, ground flaxseed, walnuts, sprouted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, sprouted buckwheat, fruit juice sweeteneed raspberry jam.

Banana, cinnamon, ground flaxseed, coconut chips, raisins, raw and roasted almond butter, 2MomsintheRaw grain-free cereal.

Banana, sliced strawberries, cinnamon, ground flaxseed, brazil nuts, leftover cranberry orange muffin.

Avocado chocolate pudding, banana, chia seeds, maple sugar pecans and walnuts, creamy peanut butter.

Plain yogurt, baked plantains, raisins, cinnamon, cacao nibs, homemade cashew butter, roasted almond butter.

The spotted blue bowl was custom made just for me by my college friend Lydia, who was an art major.  I used that bowl nearly everyday when I was in undergrad.  Now I like to use it to hold garlic in the pantry ;) Bowls just have so many uses!

Hopefully these bowls will be helpful for some ideas for you :)

Chocolate Chunk Bark

It's easy to walk into the kitchen and plan on doing a recipe, from start to finish. I do this often. It's a whole 'nother story when you walk into the kitchen, plan on doing a recipe, and end up making something different because one component of the recipe goes awray.

Last weekend, my brother was over for dinner. He requested I make him a snack to take home (I love to make people things, and was delighted!) which is basically pomogranate seeds mixed with dark chocolate. It comes out in clumps and he calls it "Moose Poop." To funny! When I was melting the chocolate to make the recipe, it seized. Most likely because I added some butter to it, the chocolate was too warm, and the type of chocolate I was melting wasn't appropriate for the situation. I find that Enjoy Life chocolate chips, while delicious, do NOT work in any sort of chocolate melting application. When properly heating chocolate slowly over a double boiler, adding butter should not make it seize.

Jumping into action, my Mom grabbed a pan, some nuts and other mix-ins, into which I stirred the almost-completely-seized-ruined chocolate. We spread it out on the bottom of the pan and threw it in the freezer to set. It turned out a complete success! My remedy for seized chocolate? Make BARK. I've done this twice now, and am always pleased with the results.

So use a good chocolate when melting, and if you accidentally seize your chocolate, make it into this delicious bark!

Chocolate Chunk Bark
    makes a full 9x13

2 cups chocolate of choice (chips or bars is fine)
3 Tbsp real butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup cacao nibs
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup raisins
flaked coconut - for topping

To make the bark:
1. Melt chocolate gently over a double boiler. Remove from heat when almost totally melted and add 3 tablespoons of butter. Mix with a spatula until melted.
2. Mix nuts and nibs in a separate bowl. Pour in the chocolate. Toss until everything is well coated with chocolate.
3. Spoon into a 9x13 pan and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle flaked coconut on top, press down with back of a spatula, your hands or plastic wrap.
4. Freeze until set. Let warm in kitchen for 10 minutes before slicing. Refridgerate or freeze the squares. Put way back into the freezer so you don't eat too many! (This really works :)

This bark makes a great dessert or snack. It's also a great "granola bar" replacement, which are full of processed sugars and grains. While there is some sugar in the chocolate, the fat in the chocolate, cacao nibs and nuts balance out it's affect on your blood sugar, so there are no big spikes. The kids will love it's flavorful crunchy texture! Since it is a super easy recipe, get your kids involved. They can have fun measuring out the nuts- feel free to use your nuts and seeds of choice! Kids will also love licking the bowl of chocolate. But of course, adults can do that too :)

Enjoy your new gluten-, soy- and grain-free snack option! Happy snacking!!