Vegan Truffles!

 Makes 16 truffles

                                                                               1 cup or 4 oz 100% unsweetened chocolate                                                                                                            1 tsp vanilla

1 pinch sea salt (very tiny pinch)

½ cup unsweetened organic soymilk

4 tablespoons coconut butter – Artisana brand recommended

6 tablespoons agave nectar light or dark or coconut syrup or 5 tablespoons rice syrup and 3 drops stevia.

1 tablespoon brown rice syrup

Melt chocolate with pinch of salt in double broiler on medium low heat.  Use a whisk to stir frequently. Do not let burn.

 In a mixing bowl, whisk together agave, vanilla, soymilk, and coconut butter. Coconut butter will be solid, so warm on stove for a few minutes until melted. If you microwave it, it will break down the beneficial nutrients of the coconut butter. Gently whisk wet ingredients into the melting chocolate. Turn off heat. Stir until smooth.

If you want to make 2 different flavors of truffles, pour ½ of melted chocolate into one bowl and other ½ into another. Stir in extracts to flavor the chocolate.

Let refridgerate for 1-3 hours. Chocolate needs to be firm enough to roll into a ball without melting and sticking to your hands.

Form chocolate into 1 tablespoon sized balls. You may roll them in chopped nuts, cocoa, coconut flakes, or dried fruit. Let set up in fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

New Tai Chi Class!

I am so proud to announce that Erik will be doing a tai chi class at Creating Balance on Bradley Drive in Mountain Home on Tuesday nights starting July 10th. Erik has studied and practiced Tai Chi since he was a teen with many wonderful teachers. Erik has studied under many well known teacher for over 15 years, and I am really excited to be joining him in this upcoming class!  I had the pleasure of taking  classes with Erik from Teacher Li Junfeng in Austin, Texas. https://aoma.edu/community-classes/master-li-junfeng/

And, Master Yang, Jwing-Ming, when he was in Memphis, TN.  http://www.ymaaboston.com/about/master

The thing that I really liked about both of these teachers is that they were both so gentle and nice. I remember Teacher Li always smiling and he loved a good joke. I was a student of his when I became pregnant with Cora. He would always tell me, "Lindsey, you don't jump here." I practiced under his guidance for 41 Mondays in a row of my 42 weeks of pregnancy and on the 42nd Monday, Cora was born!  I always felt like I was in good hands in his class. Of course, Erik was a total teacher's pet! He was often asked to demonstrate parts of the set for the class. When Cora was born, she was always welcome in class, and he always loved to hold her. Often, we would meet for dinners and lunches with the whole class. We were a big Tai Chi family!

This is what we envision for the class here in Mountain Home. We want everyone to feel comfortable and welcome in the class. We want to make new friends, and make some happy times! Tai Chi can be relaxing and strengthen muscles and improve balance all at the same time. Class will be open to everyone from beginner to advanced students.

The classes will be on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 to 7:20 Starting July 10th until September 11th. It will be INSIDE, so it is the perfect way to get some exercise during the hottest time of the year!  Class will be a combination class focusing on balance, tai chi walking, breathing, and Yang Style 24 competition form.

Tuition: 12 Classes for $115. That is less than $10/class. Please, register by July 1st. Call 870-421-4368 for more details.

Local food served up Southern style...

Yum! We had an awesome dinner! Cora helped so much and....as a result...ate it ALL GONE! Which is not what I would have expected if she had not had such a big part in preparing it! She washed the Crossroads Garden's new potatoes, helped make the Cajun walnut cakes (she formed her own cakes too), and she mixed the coleslaw up! She learned about where the food came from, and how to cook it. She also learned about dill as we made the dill sauce for the cakes.

We had....
Roasted LOCAL broccoli, LOCAL baked new potatoes, Local napa cabbage and carrot slaw, and Cajun Walnut cakes with LOCAL fresh dill sauce. The walnut cakes were an experiment that turned out wonderful! yay!

Cajun Walnut Cakes (makes 6-8  1-1 1/2" cakes)

1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon flax meal with 1 tablespoon water
1 tsp gumbo file (I know! It's not how file is traditionally used, but it worked!)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh parsley

Add all ingredients to a food processor, and process into a dough. Form into cakes, and pan fry!

Good Morning Mountain Home's Farmer's Market!

Or, I guess, it's the Baxter county Market. Either way, I found some AWESOME greens! And, at a GREAT PRICE!!! No, seriously, I should have told the farmer he was under selling himself! I bought over 3 pounds of broccoli for.....$2.00. It's LOCAL, and all natural. (it's organic, but he can't say that for 'legal' reasons, sheesh.) AND, a HUGE head of Romaine lettuce....for $1.00

I also got a pound of asparagus....it was $5.00 but, I couldn't resist. It's was just shining yumminess at me!

So, the good news is IT'S FARMER'S MARKET TIME!!!! The bad news is....I bought the last of the broccoli! But, look for it again on Saturday! Along with some of the Farmer's Market All Stars like Crossroads Gardens and Jersey Knolls Farms!

What will I do with all this broccoli?

A simple and colorful dinner worth sharing...

Tonight we had 'Garden Hand Rolls' inspired by Koriente a Korean restaurant in Austin, Texas. Anyone can make this! All you need is.....

Full color spectrum of vegetables such as:
Red Cabbage
Red Bell Pepper
Yellow Bell pepper
 Avocado
Cucumber
Carrots

and, homemade hummus. Tonight we had chipotle hummus!

Cut the vegetables into thin matchsticks, and assemble on a plate.
Next, take one package of nori sheets and cut each sheet into 4 squares.

Make a simple dipping sauce of equal parts shoyu, lime or lemon juice, and water.

Serve! You eat these by taking one of the small squares of nori and adding a spoon of hummus, a couple of carrot sticks, a few bell peppers, some shredded cabbage, and a slice of avocado. Hold it like a taco, and dip in the shoyu/citrus dip. You will be surprised at how tasty and satisfying these are. Not to mention, you are eating all the colors of the rainbow!

If you're kid is weird enough...they will love them too!

Spring is the season of the LIVER! Do ya feel it?

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine and the 5 element theory, Spring is the season of the liver and gallbladder. See figure. Now, yes, I see that it looks like a star with a circle around it, but don't worry Each element has a color too. Spring is Green! You could figure that one out, huh? Each season also has an emotion, as well. Any guesses? Answer: frustration and anger! Really? Dang, that doesn't sound very fun. But, don't worry. Once you associate that emotion with you liver, and know that in spring your liver is trying to cleanse itself, you can start to help it and let go of some toxins and anger and allow your body to change. So, here's some spring time tips:

Eat more GREENS! Eat a blanched salad and/or a raw salad everyday and you WILL start to see a difference in your body. If it's hard at first, don't worry. You will start to crave your greens. Squeeze some lemon juice or make a tangy, oil free vinegarette for a sour taste! Sour is the FLAVOR of spring! The greens combined with the sour flavors will help your liver cleanse.

Do some side stretches. Your liver meridian (which is kind of like a dotted line that connects all of your acupuncture points) runs along your side. Stretching your sides will help move your Qi (chi) and break up some stagnation. Try it! See if you start yawning! If so, you are moving some liver Qi stagnation, and you will feel better immediately.

Deal with some unresolved anger. This is hard. But look at it this way, it's spring and it wants to come out anyway! So instead of having an episode of major road rage, dig deep and find a HEALTHY way to cope with your anger and get it worked out. Kind of like an emotional cleanse.

Get your hands dirty. It's time to come out of the house and reconnect with the dirt! Plant some plants! Anything, even just a few flowers.

Last, if you have been putting off starting your 'lifestyle' make over...start. Now. There's a lot of new and fresh energy out there this time of year. Grab it! Need help? Ask! You can always call us, and schedule an appointment. Coming to our office is life changing for most people. We will work you up and down, and send you home with homework. Ready? Set? Go!!!!

www.ozarkacupuncture.com

Gumbo z'Herbes already is vegan!

Yay! 'Green Gumbo' already is vegan, and VERY satisfying with its super rich texture and flavors. It's a great way to get some awesome greens in too. I made a pot today, and my tummy has that wonderful warm, happy feeling now. Here's a recipe! Enjoy!

Make a roux! Using about 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 1/4 cup of flour in a cast iron dutch oven. Heat the pot on medium low and whisk constantly until the roux starts to smell toasty and turns a very light peanut butter color.

1 sweet onion, diced

3 ribs of celery, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Add diced 'trinity' and garlic to the roux and saute until veggies start to sweat and become slightly tender.

3 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon paprika

dash of white pepper

salt

Add spices and salt.

Clean and chop 1 bunch of greens. I used some mixed kale today and it works out awesome. You can use collards, carrot greens, and parsley too. Toss em in the pot!

Add 3 cups of vegetable broth, and a tablespoon of apple cidar vinegar. Stir well and allow to simmer until all veggies are tender.

Add 1 tablespoon of file powder, and serve with rice. *Hot sauce it and add sweet pickled peppers as a garnish with some scallions! Wooooweee!