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Vegan Vanilla Hot Cocoa, Product Reviews & Finds

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How did Monday go for you? Is it chilly willy where you live because it’s coooold and raining here! Brrrr!!! Just over Thanksgiving I was running on Thanksgiving Day in a sports bra, no shirt . And now, a down coat! Which is why I was grateful to get a nice, hot, yoga class in this morning . One of the major perks of teaching at this one particular club is that I am able to take classes there and they have extremely low cost, practically free , childcare on the premises . So, Skylar gets to play with a bunch of other sick and germy toddlers and bring some H1N1 germs back home, and I get a great yoga sesh in. Works out perfectly!

Today’s yoga practice involved holding all poses for 1 minute . So Warrior A & B, right and left sides, were one minute each (4 minutes of Warrior’ing!) The splits : left, right, center, for one minute each (Splitting my pants for 3 minutes!). Handstand was 1 minute. Headstand was 3 minutes. You know a real light workout. Kidding!!!

Any stories to fill me in on from Monday on your end? I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to!

I want to thank everyone who wrote raving about the Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies & Cookie Dough Balls recipe from yesterday.

Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies & Cookie Dough Balls - 3 Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies & Cookie Dough Balls - 4

Honestly, I am happily blown away by new commenters ( thanks for coming out of the woodwork to those who’ve de-lurked ) and faithful commenters who gave me major amounts of sweet praise for my creativity on that recipe .

Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies in container separated by parchment paper - 5 Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies in container separated by parchment paper - 6 Underside of Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies - 7 Underside of Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies - 8 Close up of Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls - 9 Close up of Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls - 10

Thank you and please make them and report back with pics, stories, and holiday cheer!

Just wanted to give a shoutout to Kathleen who wrote me and said she melted semi-sweet chocolate over the stove and simply used organic peanut butter for the filling for her version of my Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups .

Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cup - 11 Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cup - 12

If you somehow haven’t jumped on the Raw Vegan PB Cup Bandwagon , start jumping on it! Maybe these pics will get you inspired!

Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cup being help on paper liner - 13 Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cup being help on paper liner - 14 Stacked Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups on paper liner - 15 Stacked Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups on paper liner - 16

And here’s the inner workings of my Raw Vegan PB Cups.

Stacked Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups on paper liner showing inside filling - 17 Stacked Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups on paper liner showing inside filling - 18

Anyway here’s a few things I’ve been up to…. Shopping for yoga clothes . It’s quite sad that I went to pick up my check at this one studio and pretty much spent my check and then some on yoga-wear . Oh well.

A Pair of Hippy Dippy Tie-Dyed Pants .

Tie-dyed pants on countertop - 19 Tie-dyed pants on countertop - 20

If these don’t scream Flower Child Earth Goddess , I don’t know what does. But OMG these things are sooo comfy! And I want to buy the entire collection !

Close up of Tie-Dyed Pants - 21 Close up of Tie-Dyed Pants - 22

Next was a burnout tshirt I found that had the phrase: Do You Practice? on it.

Shirts saying do you practice? - 23 Shirts saying do you practice? - 24

So, what do YOU practice? Yoga? Mindfulness? Meditation? Chocolate and raw vegan dessert face stuffing? What do you practice?

Shirt saying do you practice? - 25 Shirt saying do you practice? - 26

And another burnout tee with a Tree with an Om symbol in the middle of the tree

Tee with a Tree with an Om symbol in the middle of the tree - 27 Tee with a Tree with an Om symbol in the middle of the tree - 28

The tee’s a perfect match for my Om tattoo

Tattoo on foot that matches symbol in middle of tree on shirt - 29 Tattoo on foot that matches symbol in middle of tree on shirt - 30

And we’re going to be taking a little trip and I needed to get some essentials packed that may not be readily available: Agave , 2 types of Stevia , and organic cinnamon .

Bag full of various ingredients - 31 Bag full of various ingredients - 32

And Gluten-Free Oats , And Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein Powder in both Chocolate and Vanilla . Normally I don’t go nuts with protein powders , but when traveling, I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Packaged up oats and Brown Rice Protein Powder - 33 Packaged up oats and Brown Rice Protein Powder - 34

Moving along to a few bars I’ve tried. Sale finds, my friends.

The Clif Spiced Pumpkin Pie bar

Spice Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar - 35 Spice Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar - 36

Smells lovely, and very chewy, and sugar-lover that I am, the entire bottom coated in some sort of highly processed soy-based frosting was actually exciting in a very non-earth Goddess kind of way …

Clif Bar out of package - 37 Clif Bar out of package - 38

….But the bar was a little bland and lacked rich pumpkin flavor .

Clif bar broken in half and stacked - 39 Clif bar broken in half and stacked - 40

Just not the BAM of pumpkin I was hoping for , but for a $1 buck on sale, it was fine for Skylar’s liking.

Hand holding portion of Clif Bar - 41 Hand holding portion of Clif Bar - 42

Moving to another $1 dollar sale find. The Clif Cranberry Orange Nut Bread.

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread Clif Bar - 43 Cranberry Orange Nut Bread Clif Bar - 44

Super Moist as you can see by the ability to curl it without it breaking in two . Nice. Nothing worse than dry food. Blech!

Clif Bar being bent to show moisture - 45 Clif Bar being bent to show moisture - 46

Flavor is Orangey and plesant , but again, just a little lackluster. Maybe it’s because I am used to Green and Raw types of bars so these uber-processed bars just don’t cut it for me. Which is actually a nice sign I think. However, I don’t want to be negative on these bars because I do think for a non-raw bar they are fine, they are reasonable, you can find them easily, and they’ve got great fiber. So there’s your silver linings.

Portion of Clif bar on packaging - 47 Portion of Clif bar on packaging - 48

Moving along to foods that ARE raw. Salad eating included Mixed Field Green, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cukes…

Mixed green salad with sliced vegetables - 49 Mixed green salad with sliced vegetables - 50 Up close of mixed green salad with vegetables - 51 Up close of mixed green salad with vegetables - 52

….And then slathered with my Creamy Tahini “Cesar” Inspired Vegan Dressing

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And because it’s been so chilly here, I decided to whip up some Vegan Hot Cocoa . I’ve made it before, check this post out for the microwave-able, fast and easy way to warm your tummy.

And I just kicked it up with some Vanilla Extract .

McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract bottle - 57 McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract bottle - 58

And boy, it totally hit the Vegan Vanilla Hot Cocoa Spot. Averie’s Vegan Guiltless & Fast Vanilla Hot Cocoa In a mug combine: 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (Or 2 Tbsp if you’re like me & want it extra chocolaty ) 5-6 oz water (or nut/seed milk of your choice) Stevia or Agave to Taste (I used both agave and liquid cocoa bean stevia but I like things really sweet ) 1/4 Tsp Vanilla Extract (or more to taste) Stir well or Whisk Microwave for 60 seconds and Voila…

Vegan Guiltless & Fast Vanilla Hot Cocoa in brown mug - 59 Vegan Guiltless & Fast Vanilla Hot Cocoa in brown mug - 60

Why do I say guiltless? Because at probably under 50 calories I feel like I am really indulging in a decadent, warm, soothing treat without any regret.

Optional Recipe Tweaks: Add cinnamon Add a drop of coconut oil Add a drop or two of hazelnut or almond extract Add a pinch of nutmeg

My Vanilla Hot Cocoa went perfectly with dessert! For Dessert, I savored a few Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies & Cookie Dough Balls

Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls stacked - 61 Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls stacked - 62 Up close of stacked Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls - 63 Up close of stacked Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls - 64

Yoga Today is an Astavakrasana Variation

Woman doing Astavakrasana Variation yoga pose - 65 Woman doing Astavakrasana Variation yoga pose - 66

Tip of the Day: Both Contests End Tuesday (tomorrow)

And my Favorite Twins have a great Give Away going on!!

Next Tip of the Day: For anyone who’s written me asking if yoga is a workout? YES!!!! We burn calories doing anything from peeling an apple to running a marathon. It’s just how many and at what level. Yoga, depending on what style of yoga you do, most definitely burns calories! I am into ashtanga yoga , that is my path, my calling because it challenges me physically and mentally , spiritually and emotionally, too . But other higher physical intensity forms of yoga include: power, vinyasa, flow, viniyoga , and then random “styles” of classes like bootcamp yoga or yoga for runners . Those are your code words for more physical forms of yoga because although it’s lovely and nourishing to chant and breathe, I also believe in asana (physical poses) practice, too!

What’s your theory on working out in the rain? Yay or nay? Or if you’re a cold-weather climate dweller, do you skip your outdoor workout if it’s cold out? I grew up in MN and then Chicago and I was that freak person outside running, power walking, or doing something outdoors because I truly crave fresh air, daily! But I dressed in a ridic amount of layers and normally wouldn’t go out if it was less than 0 degrees F. However, had I been into yoga and knew that I could savor an indoor physical activity, I would have been doing that instead! What about you, do you work out in inclement weather?