 |
Living Vision
A new recipe just in time for Mother’s Day!
This recipe came about due to wanting to enjoy and share a delicious sugar free chocolate with the most amazing Momma’s in my life (there are many, but I speak specifically of my Momma and my sis who is also an incredible Momma!). We are all in line with keeping the sugar intake low and although (as you know) I make tons of raw desserts using dates, honey, maple syrup and coconut sugar; I am currently doing my best to keep the sugars to a minimal.
This recipe is really easy, doesn’t take long to make and could be the perfect gift for any chocolate loving Momma you may want to treat – or for you to enjoy a guilt free treat all to yourself!
Salted Chocolate Peppermint Morsels Chaya 2013-05-09 15:22:44 Serves 20 This is a melt in your mouth, sugar free chocolate peppermint with just the right touch of coarsely ground sea salt.
58 calories
7 g
0 g
4 g
0 g
3 g
13 g
66 g
5 g
0 g
0 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 58
Calories from Fat 30
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Total Carbohydrates 7g
2%
Sugars 5g
Protein 0g
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
3 cups shredded coconut 5-6 Tbs. Non-GMO Birch tree xylitol 5 slightly rounded Tbs. cacao powder .25 tsp. high mineral sea salt 1 drop peppermint essential oil
Blend in your high speed blender using a tamper to keep the mixture feeding toward the blade. Continue until the mixture is warm, smooth and liquid.
5 Tbs. shredded coconut Pour chocolate into molds or one large container and sprinkle with coarsely ground Celtic sea salt. Set in your fridge or freezer to set. If you set your chocolates in molds - remove them from their molds and store in an airtight container refrigerated. If you set your chocolate in one large container - pop chocolate block out and chop into desired size using a heavy chef's knife. Store in an airtight container refrigerated. These will last 3-6 months refrigerated.
Living Vision http://www.thelivingvision.com/blog/
Yesterday was supposed to be the final day of my Hara Hachi Bu agreement, and sadly I have to share that I dropped the ball big time on this one!
My family and I packed up for a 3 month visit to the states. We left just two weeks ago today and let me tell you, travel and resetting old ingrained personality traits and habits (at least this one, for me) do not go hand in hand.
What I have been enlightened to in this short period of time is that stability, routines, and personal space are the supportive factors giving me a foundation to establish change and transformation from. Since the stability, routines, and personal space have been removed, I have found it nearly impossible to hold to any of my agreements (hara hachi bu, not eating after 7 and sticking to all whole foods; Even though only hara hachi bu was this month’s focus, I was really desiring to stay in integrity with the others since they support my experience of wellness).
Without going into the emotional details and family challenges of traveling, time change, and being in a state of “limbo”, I want to focus on what I can do from this place of movement, and sense of instability.
Although I will continue to strive for Hara Hachi Bu, I will not make an “agreement” around it at this time. My focus instead will be an agreement that I know I can stay in integrity with even though my life is in flux. Hara Hachi Bu is a practice that I foresee being an integral part of my life, an internal checkpoint for what my body is telling me and a reminder of listening to the why I am doing what I am doing or in this case eating.
What I am thinking will be the most supportive agreement to make while in this transitory state is to keep a journal and write in it every day. That way I can keep active with my intentions and vision, while giving myself an emotional outlet other than food. I will keep Hara Hachi Bu in mind, as I will keep in mind how wonderful it feels to go to bed on a light if not empty stomach, start the day with a rich green juice, and how eating a high raw whole foods diet really leaves me feeling well nourished. At the end of the day I will not guilt trip myself if I eat less than ideally while on the move and I will use writing as a way to keep my mind and heart clear.
This newest agreement will begin April 22nd and go until May 20th.
We all have our ups and downs. Writing and sharing my authentic experience with you all, helps me to get my focus back on track. The Living Vision Blog is playing a role of stability while everything else is in flux.
I continue on in gratitude for every step of the journey!
What have your experiences been while traveling and striving to keep to new diets, practices, routines, or personal agreements? Have you been successful, not successful, and what (if any) have your tools been to stay on track?
I thank you for joining and sharing!
In Love,
Chaya
Photo credit: Scr47chy / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
Photo credit: Curt Fleenor Photography / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
As I enter my 3rd week of hara hachi bu, the Okinawan practice of eating to 80% fullness, I am humbly aware that this is one practice I am far from mastering. However, this is not a bad thing by any means. To the contrary, my attention has been brought into my body with respect and attention in terms of food consumption like never before. It is very possible that for the past 2 weeks I have not once actually stopped eating at 80% full, but I have regularly stopped way before I would have previously.
Being that since I can remember, I have been a compulsive overeater, this is HUGE! I am so used to eating beyond full, that I haven’t really had an awareness of where full is, let alone 80% full. With every meal, and snack, and drink more attention is brought into if I am actually hungry, how I will feel if I partake in that food or drink, what am I craving and why, and if it is not authentic hunger, I am left sitting (often uncomfortably) with those feelings to ponder and acknowledge.
All I can say is YES! This feels like THE practice to practice for life! Out of all of my “agreements” to this point hara hachi bu is the one that brings me into the greatest level of self awareness, respect and seems to touch the the basic physical expression of the underlying issues holding me from an awareness of liberation. I know that (for me) overeating is the outward expression of emotional disturbances and a mechanism to keep me from facing them. Hara hachi bu is not the answer, but it gives me room to find a new way to unfold and understand my inner workings, while supporting my health, well being, longevity and peace of mind.
I imagined this would be THE most challenging agreement yet. To my surprise, once I allowed myself the possibility of feeling the discomfort of doing something different, I come to find it is not as difficult as I imagined. Actually, it feels so much more natural than over filling my belly ever did. Just allowing ourselves the discomfort of acting in a way that is more in integrity with our truest nature – reveals to me that our truest nature is more comfortable, and satisfying than my extra full plate of food ever was.
In general I’ve been feeling much lighter, full of energy, and not at all tired after meals. I’ve more energy to play with Hodie and I NEVER feel full, but I do feel satisfied. My biggest challenges have come during the holidays (we just went through Passover), and during the Jewish holidays a large meal is central to the observance and celebration. Those meals were the only ones where I felt like I went a bit over my limit and still, I ate much lighter than I would have otherwise. So in general I walked away with a feeling of accomplishment and joy.
Hara hachi bu is a practice that I highly recommend to everyone. Whether one is eating the cleanest greenest diet on the planet or not, if we are overeating we are taxing our system, and if we are not waiting for about 20 minutes after feeling sufficient but not full we don’t really know if we are full or not.
I just read an article on a blog called “Healthy Compromises” called “Do you Hara Hachi Bu? Understanding the art of eating until 80% full”. I found the article to be very informative and further inspired my enthusiasm in this practice. Take a look at that article and perhaps you too will feel inspired to hara hachi bu for you!
Thanks for joining me, and please let me know if you choose to hara hachi bu, or if you do something similar already, how is your practice? I would love to be a support and to be of mutual encouragement.
In Love,
Chaya
Photo credit: ~jjjohn~ / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
If you have been keeping up with me you know that I began “Living Vision Agreements” about 3 months ago now. With all of the traveling I am doing creating a video log (VLOG) feels like a more practical way to keep you updated on my progress, and to possibly even inspire some of you to make agreements of your own.
The below video was my first and very impromptu “Agreements” vlog. It introduces you to my process in taking on these agreements, what they are, what I have accomplished so far and what my most recent agreement was. It’s a little long (30 minutes), so you may enjoy listening to it while doing some mindless task. If you don’t have the 30 minutes but would like to get a bit of the update, I suggest hopping around and watching a bit from the beginning, middle and end. That way you can hear about how it began, what agreements I have completed and what I am currently practicing.
Future vlog’s will be kept under 10 minutes and you can subscribe to my youtube page here to be automatically updated when a new video is posted. There are a number of impromptu recipe videos up, featuring myself and my son at various ages. We will continue recipe videos in the near future with ongoing agreements to welcome intimacy and inspire some hearts to courageously make the effort toward blossoming!
Onto the video ~ Enjoy!
This recipe is slightly overdue (I spoke about it a couple weeks ago), but all that really matters is I’m getting it to you! (That rhymed  )
All I can say about these bars is that if you want some really tasty chocolate, a nice crunch and something that will satisfy a sweet tooth (without being overly sweet) and keep you going for a little before your next meal, I’m pretty sure you will love this recipe.
Without further ado, here it is!
Coco Crispy Raw Energy Bars Chaya-Ryvka 2013-03-21 06:43:52 Serves 24 A satisfying, high protein raw energy bar that will satiate a craving for chocolate, and rumbling belly when your on the move or between meals.
126 calories
17 g
0 g
6 g
3 g
1 g
32 g
58 g
5 g
0 g
5 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 126
Calories from Fat 49
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Total Carbohydrates 17g
6%
Sugars 5g
Protein 3g
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
1/2 cup sprouted and crispy sesame seeds 1/2 cup soaked and crispy walnuts 1/2 cup grade 'B' Maple syrup 5 Tbs. cacao powder 1/2 tsp. high mineral sea salt 6 drops medicine flower vanilla flavor extract, 1 vanilla bean scraped, or 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 Tbs. purified water Process until smooth in a food processor fitted with the "S" blade attachment
⅔ cup sprouted buckwheat crispies, ground to a flour using a high speed blender or spice grinder Add to food processor and continue to process until well combined and of a uniform texture.
1 cup sprouted buckwheat crispies ⅓ cup crispy walnuts, rough chopped
Line an 8x8 cake pan with a teflex sheet or plastic wrap. If you are using plastic wrap make sure to slightly grease your pan first, and leave a few inches of overhang so you can remove the bar easily. Break the dough into chunks and spread the chunks throughout your lined cake pan. Press down firmly until your dough is a solid block with an even thickness and level surface texture. Remove the block from your pan and transfer it to a large cutting board. Cut your bars into the desired sizes. My yield above has you slicing it in 8 strips one way and three the other, but I cut small squares using a cookie cutter making bites rather than bars. Store your bars in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. They will last for up to a month in the fridge and even longer if frozen. Enjoy!
Total time above does not include soaking and dehydrating time. I recommend pre-prepping these ingredients and having them on hand, make sure to store your nuts and seeds in the freezer. Buckwheat crispies are excellent in raw grawnola's, to top raw yoghurt or add to fruit salads. I also use them in pie crusts, crackers or even sprinkled over raw ice cream. So make a large batch and have them on hand for whatever your are playing with. I soak my nuts and seeds in salt water for up to 16 hours to reduce the anti-nutrients and make them more digestible. I rinse them at least 3 - 4 times during that time period. If your nuts or seeds are sproutable, after they have been soaked (rinse the well), hang them in a nut milk bag, or place them in a colander over another bowl to drain, and rinse them once or twice a day until they have small tails. That method can also be used for buckwheat groats, only you don't need the salt water. Once your nuts, seeds or grains are ready you can dehydrate them until they are crispy all the way through sometimes up to 30 hours, it will vary depending on the weather. If you don't have a dehydrator use your oven on the lowest setting and keep the door slightly ajar until crispy.
Living Vision http://www.thelivingvision.com/blog/
Happy Spring Equinox to you all, blessings of rebirth, renewal, and the fullness of your souls expression!
My 3rd 30 day agreement began yesterday, the 19th of March 2013, but before I go on to denote this month’s agreement my heart is moved to share with you the depths of gratitude that I’ve been feeling. I preface this by saying that next week, March 28th is my 35th birthday (halfway to 70 – wooohooo!) and perhaps that is part of the reason for the enormity of the love and gratitude that is surging through me.
It has been since the 4th grade (around 10 years old or 24 years ago) that I have been dealing with, or hiding my light beneath the shadow of many forms of addiction and denying myself the space to shine as brightly as I’ve always known that I am here to shine.
There have been periods of great revelation, allowing and self expression where from the outside looking in I may have seemed like a fully expressed and confident Woman. On some levels I have been and on other levels I have certainly not – there’s always the side of a person that only the “I” sees. For me, many levels of strength expressed, were actually cloaks covering deeper levels of fear, self doubt, low self esteem, and self judgment (I do acknowledge that the strength expressed was coming from a real place only it wasn’t complete).
During the past 10 years all those suppressed emotions centered around worthiness, self love, acceptance and trust were tested, I have been tested in some of the biggest ways ever. I was broken down to just a shell of myself and have been building myself back piece by piece. The funny thing is that I had no conscious idea that I had come so far from my place of peace. It took going to some of the darkest places to really see that I had come so far.
It’s amazing to see life come together. To see the synchronicity of things that would seem pretty distinct in their roles. But, life is a pulse and there is not a part or piece that is outside of that pulse. This is a reference for me personally to how my website is turning into a vehicle for my personal transformation. I started Living Vision during one period of transformation, and have moved through and into diametrical expressions of my life’s path. To the degree that at certain points I felt like I just had nothing to contribute to this website that I started during a 92 day juice fast, while holding the highest ideals for myself and everyone else.
With those highest intentions, and my life no longer matching them I felt I had nothing to offer. It wasn’t until just a few months ago, when I had the clarity that Living Vision is a dynamic expression of our unique life which we are all always in the process of. I finally felt liberated from thinking I had to show up for you – the audience – as a radiant raw goddess, already in my most brilliant expression. It hit me that perhaps many of you would connect to me as the real person working through my own muck in the dynamic process of transformation and Living Vision. It was then that I decided to show up, letting go of the idea that I need to be perfect to do so. So what do I do? I decided to take all that I desire for myself, and start working on it piece by piece. To take an honest look at where I stand now and put it all out and open on the table. That is when the 30 day agreements emerged and where I decided to allow myself the privilege of having an audience to be accountable to, and to share my journey with. I decided to be really, really real, and to love and accept all that I am right now!
Thinking like that has given me the strength to actually begin chipping away at all the habits and addictions that have been keeping my brilliance dulled and kept me numbed from intuition, power and the fullest expression of all I am. For this I am grateful, I am thankful, I am LOVE.
It is now my 3rd cycle of 30, I am feeling a sense of triumph and excitement at the few agreements completed, all those still to come and the immense light to be expressed by way of them.
For now, I humbly take it upon myself to begin the practice of Hara Hachi Bu or eating to 80% of my fullness for 30 days beginning March 19th, 2013. In thinking about that I am taking this on, my heart melts in joy and gratitude. I can feel my body saying yes and thank you!
Today was my first day in trying to hold to Hara Hachi Bu, and it is very interesting to experience how out of touch I have been with my body. Part of what is so thrilling is knowing that this practice is further bringing me into alignment with my intuition. A thought I had tonight was how can we expect to be in touch with the subtle voice of intuition if we are not even in touch with the loud voice of physical satiety. I don’t know honestly if I stopped eating today or tonight at 80%, because I have no idea what that feels like. If I am going to be completely transparent with you, my normal MO has been to eat until I am pretty well stuffed and those stretch receptors are saying “NO MORE!!!!!”. Perhaps I ate to 90% full tonight, all I know is it felt good to sit, eat slowly (which I must to pay attention to the voice in my belly), and stop when I thought that may be what 80% feels like. My spirit is saying “ ah, she is beginning to listen. We will be allowed expression soon enough.”, my heart is saying THANK YOU, and perhaps I am feeling more of the love that is Soul.
If you are reading this I urge you to think about something, anything that you have been wanting to shift, or allow, or surrender, and give thought to taking 30 days to make that your practice. You are welcome to leave a comment here to announce your agreement as I have found making the public statement brings a whole new level to feeling accountable. What’s most important is taking the first step no matter how big or small it may be. And, no matter how big or small, it is MASSIVE because it is you ALLOWING your brilliance a little more room to shine!
In Love,
Chaya
Photo credit: Steve took it / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
Photo credit: Jody McNary Photography / Foter.com / CC BY
|
|
