Healthy Vegan Caramel Slice

I've never seen myself as a particularly outgoing or even social creature really. It's not that I'm overly shy or anything, it's more of an active choice I've made to keep a smaller circle of close friends rather than being surrounded by a whole bunch of people whom I barely know at all. (Of course some people manage to have six hundred besties at once but needless to say, I'm not one of them. How do they even?) But thanks to Instagram I've had the opportunity to connect with and befriend so many amazing, inspiring and crazy talented girls from all over the world! How this little story relates to the raw caramel slice? Well this recipe would have never seen the light of day had it not been for one of these Instagram girls and her #twistmytreat competition.

 Who she is? Well the one and only EatLikeEloise of course! This slice was 100% inspired by hers and guess what? If you want in on this fabulous competition where you can win Loving Earth chocolates, all you have to do is reinvent or put a twist on Eloise's caramel slice! I'd do anything for chocolate hehe. Also, this is positively the best competition I've ever participated in. Look at that oozy caramel. Just look at it and tell me you don't agree.

One more thing before we get to the recipe: it looks longer and more complicated than it actually is! Mostly because I've included two different ways to make the chocolate layer. I was way too eager to get to taste this to bother making my own chocolate but if you want to keep this recipe raw, I highly recommend you spend those extra five minutes on this!

Base:

- 7 dates (around 80 g)

- 1/4 cup oat flour (30 g)

- 1 tbsp tahini (20 g)

Caramel layer:

- 10 fresh/soft dates (110 g)

- 2 heaped tbsp all natural peanut butter

- 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

- 1 tbsp lucuma powder

Chocolate layer raw version:

- 1 tbsp melted coconut oil or cacao butter

- 1 tbsp cacao powder

- 1 tbsp liquid sweetener of choice

Chocolate layer non-raw version:

- 2 oz. (56 g) vegan dark chocolate (preferably refined sugar-free)

How to:

1. Blend all the ingredients for the base in a food processor until you're left with a ball of raw 'cookie' dough. Add more oat flour if the dough is too sticky and more dates or tahini if it's too dry. (This depends a lot on how moist the dates are!)
2. Press it out into a small rectangle to about 1/4-inch or 5 mm thickness on a non-stick baking sheet. Set aside.
3. Peel and pit the dates for the caramel layer. This is easier if they have been soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes or if you're using really soft ones. 
4. Place all the ingredients for the caramel layer in a small bowl and blend with a hand blender until smooth. (This step could be done using a food processor but I prefer the hand blender.)
5. Spoon the caramel on top of the base and level it with a spatula. Place in the freezer to set for at least one hour.
Raw version: 
6. When the caramel and base have set, make your own raw chocolate by mixing equal quantities coconut oil, cacao powder and sweetener in a bowl until combined. Wait until it's not super runny, then spread an even chocolate layer on top of the caramel. This will hopefully set immediately as the caramel is frozen so go ahead and cut as many slices as you want before placing them in an airtight container to store in the freezer or fridge if you prefer a gooey caramel.
Non-raw version:
6. If you're a lazy ass like me, then melt your (store-bought) chocolate over a hot water bath and spread it out on top of the frozen caramel base. It can be a bit trickier to cut neat squares this way (as is shown by the cracks on mine) but they're just as delicious, I promise. Store in the fridge for gooey caramel and the freezer if you want it solid.

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... the KFC Double Down Dog!!

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Creamy Chocolate Oats

Finally got this recipe up on the blog! A lot of you have asked how I make my everyday chocolate oats (literally every single day) and now the wait is over. It's not a revolutionising recipe or anything, just a simple but dangerously delicious and addictive one. Once you're stuck with one breakfast, it's hard to make a change. And let me tell you, I have been stuck with these oats for quite some time now. Hopefully you guys have more will power and determination than I have... 

Topped with banana slices, a peanut butter sauce and raw cacao nibs

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup oats 

- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

- 1/4 cup water

- 3 fresh dates (30-35 g)

- 1 heaped tbsp cacao or cocoa powder (or a tiny bit less if you find the taste too strong or bitter)

- salt to taste

How to:

1. In a small pot over low heat, bring the oats, almond milk, water and salt to the boil and let simmer. Stir often so the oats don't stick to the bottom.
2. As the oats are cooking, prepare your date paste. Peel and pit the dates, this is easier if you have really fresh, gooey dates or have soaked the dates in hot water for about 10 minutes beforehand.
3. Place the peeled dates in an itty bitty bowl or glass and mash them with a splash of water until smooth. (I like to use a shot glass for this!)
4. Transfer the date paste into the pot and stir until it's been well incorporated into the oats. 
5. Add the cocoa powder and stir again.
6. Let simmer until you have reached desired consistency, then spoon up in a bowl, add toppings of your choice and serve immediately!

Statins unequivocally associated with lower levels of testosterone

This study was published in Endokrynologia Polska 2014;65(6):464-8

 

Study title and authors:

Treatment with statins and testosterone levels in men.

Mędraś M, Kubicka E, Jóźkow P, Słowińska-Lisowska M, Trzmiel-Bira A, Filus A.

Department of Biological Principles of Sport, University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland. eliza.kubicka@gmail.com.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25554614

The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the use of statins is associated with the concentration of sex hormones. The study included 237 men, average age 58 years.

the study found:
(a) The total testosterone levels of men taking statins was 9% lower than men not taking statins.
(b) The free testosterone levels of men taking statins was 18% lower than men not taking statins.
(c) The calculated free testosterone levels of men taking statins was 11% lower than men not taking statins.
(d) The bioavailable testosterone levels of men taking statins was 19% lower than men not taking statins.

Medras concluded: "Our study unequivocally confirms that the use of statins is associated with lower levels of: total testosterone, free testosterone, calculated free testosterone and bioavailable testosterone".

Is Meat Unhealthy? Part VII

Looking at individual diseases is informative, but it can cause us to become myopic, making broad health-related decisions based on narrow information.  It can cause us to miss the forest for the trees.  In this case, the "trees" are individual diseases and the "forest" is total mortality: the overall risk of dying from any cause.  Does eating meat increase total mortality, shortening our lifespans?

Non-industrial cultures

Traditionally-living cultures such as hunter-gatherers and non-industrial agriculturalists are not the best way to answer this question, because their mean lifespans tend to be short regardless of diet.  This is due to ~30 percent infant mortality, which drags down the average, as well as a high risk of death in adulthood from infectious disease, accidents, and homicide/warfare.  It can also be difficult to accurately measure the age of such people, although there are reasonably good methods available.

However, there are semi-industrialized cultures that can help us answer this question, because they feature a somewhat traditional diet and lifestyle, combined with modern medicine and the rule of law.  The so-called Blue Zones, areas of exceptional health and longevity, fall into this category.  These include Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Icaria, Greece.

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Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... barbecue ribs!!

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Pinwheel Cookies

Pinwheel Cookies

- 1/2 cup whole wheat spelt flour (65g)

- 1/3 cup almond flour (50g)

- 2/3 cup oat flour (87 g)

- 1 chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water)

- 3 tbsp melted coconut oil (42 g)

For the chocolate dough:

- 1 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder

- 2 tbsp date syrup or any other dark syrup of your choice (40 g)

For the vanilla dough:

- 1 generous pinch pure vanilla powder (could sub for 1 tsp vanilla extract)

- 2 tbsp brown rice syrup or any other light syrup of your choice* (40 g)

How to:
1. Make the flour blend by mixing all the flours together with a fork. If you have to make flour of your oats and/or almonds, place the oats, almonds and spelt flour in a food processor and process until you get a well-ground flour.
2. Divide the flour mix into two different bowls. Transfer about 1/2 tbsp of flour from one bowl to the other. To this bowl, add the vanilla powder and to the other bowl (the one with less flour in it), add the cacao or cocoa powder and mix well.
3. Make your chia egg by mixing/whisking the ground chia seeds with 3 tbsp of water. This will swell pretty quickly if you're using ground chia seeds but if not, let the seeds swell for a couple of minutes before proceeding.
4. Melt the coconut oil and pour half of it into the chocolate bowl and the other half into the vanilla bowl. This is much easier if you have access to a kitchen scale so that you can tell when half of it has gone in. Also add chia egg into two and add one half into each bowl.
5. To the chocolate bowl, add the date syrup and stir until you have a thick dough. Repeat with the vanilla bowl but add brown rice syrup instead. *Note: Since brown rice syrup isn't as sweet as other syrups, you may want to add 1/2 tbsp of coconut sugar as well but that is completely up to you.
6. Wrap the doughs in cling film and chill for about 20 minutes in the fridge or until they're fairly firm.
7. Make one rectangle out of each dough by rolling it out with a rolling pin to 1/8-inch thickness. Put one on top of the other and roll lengthwise to create the swirl. Once again wrap the dough in cling film (reuse the old ones!) and place is in the freezer for about ten minutes.
8. Remove the dough from the freezer and slice into separate cookies (1/4-inch thick). At this stage I like to press down on the cookies using the bottom of a glass to flatten them out a little.
9. Bake in the oven (175C) for 18-20 minutes and let cool completely. Store in a cookie jar!