Mint Cacao Lover

Mint... Chocolate.... and Spinach????

So, a few weeks back, my friend Casi took me to a super awesome place called Roots Juice. I have only been that one time, but since then I have been OBSESSIVELY dreaming about the smoothie I had!!! So, I set out to re-make it. This smoothie is perfect because it combines so many DELICIOUS ingredients with spinach, which to a faster trying to get more nutrients into my diet than my stomach can handle, is a true blessing. The added bonus is that the mint in this drink is great for settling your stomach. This is perfect when you chow down a huge meal after a day of fasting.  You get a dessert, stomach settler and nutrient packed drink all in one!!!

Now, since this recipe calls for spinach and mint, which some blenders may not be able to chop up as well as my Vitamix, I recommend adding those first to the liquid and blending them for a few minutes until almost disappeared and then blending in the rest. This should help prevent you from getting a weird texture out of it.

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Mint Cacao Lover

1 to 1.5 cups Organic Almond Milk
2 cups Organic Spinach, fresh with stems
1/2 cup Mint leaves, fresh
.5 to 1 T Spirulina
1 Banana, medium, peeled
1/2 Avocado, medium, peeled
3 Medjool Dates
1/4 cup Cacao Nibs
1/2 cup Ice

Place ingredients in blender in order listed above. Blend to a yummy goodness! (If you have a Vitamix, blend on "Frozen Dessert" setting).  Happy Blending!

mint chocolatey goodness,

<3 T

My inner yogi...

So to jump start my new life as an official certified yogi, I decided to host a women's only workshop. 

Sounds simple enough, right? Wow, I can't begin to tell you how many little things pop up that could have thrown me for a loop. You know what though? Old Tania would have had meltdowns to a sympathetic husband, new Tania is embracing her inner-yogi and going with it. And guess what... I LOVE IT! 

I knew embarking on this yoga journey would be awesome for my soul, but it is doing wonders on my family as well! Better relationship with the hubs-man, happier days with the munchkin and more respect for myself doesn't hurt either! :)

So, as a way to reflect the new me in my everyday life, while still being able to participate in my long-time love of baking, I am now on a journey to redo all my favorite recipes. Thanks to an awesome fellow yogi in my training class I learned that you can substitute 1/4 cup mashed bananas for every whole egg in recipes. SAY WHAT?!?!?!? I tried it out on this awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe I found on Pinterest.

[photo compliments of The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie]

MAN! Not only do I like how bananas taste, I LOVE how chocolate chip cookies taste. So, when you put those two together... well hubs ate 7 cookies in less than 5 minutes if that says anything! Added bonus!!! You can eat the cookie dough to your hearts content! Nasty egg related sicknesses be-gone!! 

Try out the recipe with the mashed bananas OR try the technique in your own fave dessert and let me know how it turns out. Better yet share the recipe and some pics! ;)

Cookie dough smiley faces,

T <3