Spring is in the air...and in my heart!

Good morning! I hope everyone is feeling well and rested and that your heart is warm, radiant and shining bright!

Yesterday turned out a little different then I expected. I was supposed to go to my person training session in the afternoon but ended up having a terrible headache, so I called Gorden to cancel. I thought some fresh air might help so I went on a long, beautiful walk with Woody and Kona around the neighborhood. It was sunny and bright and I kept seeing and smelling signs of spring everywhere! It made me feel vibrant inside and excited for change and growth. Inspired by the season, Woody and I found ourselves in a conversation about our plans for the future and what we would like to manifest for ourselves and each other in the years to come. It's a dream of Woody's to eventually buy some land and build a house and become as self-sufficient as we possibly can, by growing all our own food and such. So, we began talking about saving more money and seeing what we can do to try and create what we want in life. It was a beautiful, eye-opening conversation and it left me feeling excited and inspired. :-) 

I was reading blogs yesterday and discovered that a lot of people are giving up sugar and sweets for Lent. I'm not religious so Lent is not significant to me, but I have been wanting to do a cleanse and cut sugar out of my diet for a while. I'm already not drinking alcohol for a month and I've been avoiding dairy and gluten for the most part. The hardest thing to let go of has been sugar. So, I'm deciding to let it go...NOW! And since other people are doing the same, I was thinking that I could tap into the support and send my support out there as well. I haven't decided how strict I want to be with myself yet. I still plan to eat fruit and maybe products that have a tiny bit of sugar in them. I just mainly want to avoid cookies, cakes, desserts, etc. It seems like a great way to enter into spring, with a cleansed body and a renewed outlook on life. I sense change coming! 

I wish that I had made the decision to give up sugar before making these yesterday! Then I wouldn't have made them and they wouldn't be in the house tempting me and challenging me. Oh well, they were mostly for Woody anyway. They're his favorite :-) 

Woody's Favorite Peanut Butter Cups

For the peanut butter filling:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used gluten-free)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

For the chocolate topping:

• 1/2 coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut butter
• 1 cup cacao powder
• 1/4 + 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

First, I melted the coconut oil, peanut butter and maple syrup in a pan over low heat. Then I added the graham cracker crumbs. 

Once everything was all nice and melty and combined, I filled a muffin tin with liners and poured the peanut butter mixture in filling the liners about half way up. 

I put those in the freezer to set for several minutes while I got started on the chocolate filling. In a double boiler over medium heat, I melted the coconut oil and coconut butter. Then added the cacao powder, maple syrup and vanilla extract. 

I removed the peanut butter cups from the freezer once they were set and began to cover each of them with a heaping tablespoon of the chocolate. 

Then I placed them in the refrigerator for about an hour or two. It's hard to not want to devour them right away. These are seriously one of the best things I've ever tasted. I adapted this recipe from one of Alicia Silverstone's recipes in The Kind Diet Cookbook. I make quite a few changes to the recipe though. She uses chocolate chips for the chocolate part (which I've done before) but I like to make my own chocolate better. Woody likes it better too. It was his request! :-) 

I ate one of these delicious things after dinner last night. Then after I decided I was going to give up sugar...I ate another one. 

And then, since I'm a crazy person and wanted more sweets, I made a grilled chocolate hazelnut butter and bilberry jam sandwich on Udi's gluten-free bread. 

I then entered into a sugar coma and could barely keep my eyes open. And now I think I'm experiencing a sugar hangover :-) So, I'm going to eat a healthy breakfast of eggs, kale and toast. Then go to yoga a little later. Then proceed with my sugar-free journey which I know is going to be a rocky ride, but will be so worth it! Hello healthy body and mind! Hello SPRING! 

A question: What does spring inspire in you? :-)