A 'monster' winter storm has hit the South at the beginning of this week and is headed up the Eastern Seaboard now! AHHH!
For you Southerners, the snow may come as a bit shock. It's all cold and stuff. Crazy.
So I want to introduce you to an old secret for those of us* who have woken up on a lazy Saturday morning with massive piles of snow outside. An amazing, nourishing, warming cup of Hot Chocolate.
But the problem with normal hot chocolate is ... well, it's a giant sugar-bomb in the morning. Not cool. Instead, it would be cool to jump start your metabolism in a more natural way. Here's how I make my Paleo** hot chocolate:
(By the way, I also use this trick during my cyclic caffeine-kicking routine. I'll put up a blog post with the science behind that soon and link to it).
Ingredients:
1. Whole (or dried) Stevia Leaves.
It is possible to buy stevia plants, and really enjoyable to have a plant to water and take care of every morning. However, you can also buy dried leaves online.
For you Southerners, the snow may come as a bit shock. It's all cold and stuff. Crazy.
So I want to introduce you to an old secret for those of us* who have woken up on a lazy Saturday morning with massive piles of snow outside. An amazing, nourishing, warming cup of Hot Chocolate.
But the problem with normal hot chocolate is ... well, it's a giant sugar-bomb in the morning. Not cool. Instead, it would be cool to jump start your metabolism in a more natural way. Here's how I make my Paleo** hot chocolate:
(By the way, I also use this trick during my cyclic caffeine-kicking routine. I'll put up a blog post with the science behind that soon and link to it).
Ingredients:
1. Whole (or dried) Stevia Leaves.
It is possible to buy stevia plants, and really enjoyable to have a plant to water and take care of every morning. However, you can also buy dried leaves online.
Dried Stevia Leaves from bulkherbstore.com
2. Cacao Powder.
Cacao Powder from sunburstsuperfoods.com
3. Cacao Butter.
Cacao Butter from sunburstsuperfoods.com
4. KerryGold Unsalted Butter.
So beautiful... kerrygoldusa.com
5. Vanilla Beans (optional)
Directions:
First, remember what I have to remind my mom of all the time: directions to a recipe are like a formula in math. They can be helpful, but you don't actually need it because with a little bit of experimentation, you can come to the same conclusion via a different method. Experiment with this recipe until it suits your tastes. For example, I already eat 100% chocolate by itself, so I liked a heavy chocolate taste compared to other people.
Alright. Brew the Stevia Leaves as you would coffee or tea. Start with 1 TBSP of dried leaves, and adjust until you reach your desired level of sweetness (do the same with the amount of Cacao powder & butter). If you are unsure how to brew, simply get a tea infuser (from our friends at Adventure Tea!) and let it sit in your large mug for ~5-6 minutes with water that has cooled from boiling for ~30-60 seconds.
Add the tea into a blender with 1 TBSP of cacao powder, 1 TBSP of cacao butter, and 1TBSP of Kerrygold. If you wish, add some ground vanilla beans to further bring out the flavor or some MCT Oil to enhance the metabolic effects.
Blend for a little while. Make sure to put your hand over the top of the blender so the lid doesn't shoot off because of the vapor pressure.
Stay warm and enjoy.
Directions:
First, remember what I have to remind my mom of all the time: directions to a recipe are like a formula in math. They can be helpful, but you don't actually need it because with a little bit of experimentation, you can come to the same conclusion via a different method. Experiment with this recipe until it suits your tastes. For example, I already eat 100% chocolate by itself, so I liked a heavy chocolate taste compared to other people.
Alright. Brew the Stevia Leaves as you would coffee or tea. Start with 1 TBSP of dried leaves, and adjust until you reach your desired level of sweetness (do the same with the amount of Cacao powder & butter). If you are unsure how to brew, simply get a tea infuser (from our friends at Adventure Tea!) and let it sit in your large mug for ~5-6 minutes with water that has cooled from boiling for ~30-60 seconds.
Add the tea into a blender with 1 TBSP of cacao powder, 1 TBSP of cacao butter, and 1TBSP of Kerrygold. If you wish, add some ground vanilla beans to further bring out the flavor or some MCT Oil to enhance the metabolic effects.
Blend for a little while. Make sure to put your hand over the top of the blender so the lid doesn't shoot off because of the vapor pressure.
Stay warm and enjoy.
Tea infuser from our friends at adventure-tea.com
*I'm not going to lie... I have been in Joshua Tree this week. I did have to put my coat on once, though, so I can empathize with all of my Southeastern/Eastern readers (shout out to all you guys who joined the Newsletter in the last couple weeks!)
**I apologize for the use of the word 'paleo'. I don't like the word very much - you can be on a really unhealthy paleo diet just as easily as you can be on a good paleo diet. You can be on an unsustainable paleo diet just as easily as you can be on a unsustainable vegan diet. Without going on a big rant, let's please try to 1. reduce the use of food packaging, and 2. shun any factory-farmed foods. If you haven't yet, check out Paleo vs. Vegan.
**I apologize for the use of the word 'paleo'. I don't like the word very much - you can be on a really unhealthy paleo diet just as easily as you can be on a good paleo diet. You can be on an unsustainable paleo diet just as easily as you can be on a unsustainable vegan diet. Without going on a big rant, let's please try to 1. reduce the use of food packaging, and 2. shun any factory-farmed foods. If you haven't yet, check out Paleo vs. Vegan.
