Almond Cashew Butter

While nut butters are super easy to purchase from the store, I'm continuing on my journey of trying to make store bought things at home. Nut butter is remarkably easy to make, and tastes awesome, without having to worry about any weird preservatives or the high amounts of sugar most conventional nut butters seem to mix in. I love almond anything, and cashews always add such a pleasant creaminess to any recipe. So I decided to mix them together. All of this has nothing to do with the fact that I just got a food processor and am using it for everything under the sun.

Adding a little bit of oil can help get things going faster, as it can be a bit of a process for the nuts to break down and start releasing their oils. A little salt also helps perk up the taste. You could try adding some maple powder in for maple almond butter, or if you're feeling fancy some cocoa powder. If you wanted to you could throw some chopped nuts in at the end to make it chunky.

Almond Cashew Butter

1 cup unsalted almonds(I used raw but roasted would work too)
1 cup unsalted cashews
pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Place the nuts in a food processor and blend until it becomes almost smooth, add in oil and keep blending until you reach the consistency you like!

Rest Days & Lara Bars

This Monday when I went to do my workout my body just felt exhausted. Which is to be expected I guess, I'm bad at trying to take rest days. Comes with the territory of never feeling like I'm doing enough, I guess. But I'm trying to learn to listen to my body's cues, and so it says it's exhausted I guess I've got to give it a break. I've been taking it easy the past couple days and just doing a little bit of pilates and yoga, and making tons of goodies in the meantime.

I saw the recipe for a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, so I decided to make mini versions of that! I halved the recipe, and swapped applesauce for mashed banana. I also accidentally forgot the oil, but since I used coconut milk which is fairly high in fat it didn't affect it too much. They're to die for!!!

Since I had purchased the biggest bag of dates ever, I decided to make something else I've been meaning to try forever; making my own Lara Bars. I just kept adding random things from my cupboard into them, and they turned out great! One thing I love about recipes like this is they're so open to experimentation, you can swap out different types of nuts, and whatever goodies you want to put in them. I went with chocolate chips, chocolate protein powder, and cocoa powder(there's never enough chocolate). A handful of gojis and hemp seeds finished it off!

Chocolate Cashew Energy Bars

1 cup Cashews(or any nut)
1 1/2 cups pitted dates
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 scoop chocolate protein powder(I used Vega)
1/4 cup goji berries
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Process everything in a food processor(I used my vitamix and did small batches, but a food processor would definitely be better) until it starts to stick together. Press into a parchment lined pan, and let set in the fridge or freezer for a couple hours. Cut into slices and enjoy!

Nutritional Info(1 serving of 12)
Calories: 140
Protein 5 grams
Fibre: 3 grams