There comes that moment every night when the madness has passed. Pj’s are on, teeth are minty, fresh and clean. Head’s on pillows with the days adventures playing out whilst another day draws to a close.
It sounds idillyic, doesn’t it?
In reality, you slump down onto the sofa, feeling like you have done 10 rounds with Conor McGregor (well either that or you drank the entire contents of a bottle of Proper no 12 Irish whiskey the previous night – but either way McGregor is to blame). You have wrestled pyjamas on a hyperactive toddler, made a Sugar Loaf sized mountain of ham sarnie’s, brushed and checked 80 little teeth (I have 4 kids…..there may be a few missing….but cut me some slack here….I was not in a position to count them).
Times like these call for some small sort of indulgence. Guilt free indulgence is even better. There’s enough parenting associated guilt in our lives……no room for treat remorse here thank you very much. This is survival plain & simple.
I a big believer in balance. Not a Yurchenko-style vault kinda’ balance but rather a keep it clean but not hungry or unsatisfied mid-week kinda’ balance. What about weekends I hear you say? Just do you best and enjoy cutting yourself a little slack.
This hot chocolate recipe is a favourite of mine. It’s dairy free (for those of you who need to avoid dairy), it’s free from refined sugar, the raw cacao provides some extra nutrients to compliment the fats, vitamin E, minerals such as magnesium and zinc aswell as being super tasty!!!!
So here it is in all it’s balanced glory.
Method:
Ingredients:
For Nut Milk
1 cup Cashew nuts
3 cups water
For 2 Mugs hot Chocolate
400ml cashew nut milk
2-3 dates or 1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp Cacao (or Cocoa if that is what you have)
Pinch sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
To make the cashew nut milk, rinse the cashews and add to your blender with 3 cups of fresh water. Blend until smooth. You can store this is a jar/sealed container for 5 days in the fridge. It will separate but just give it a shake.
Pour out 2 servings of cashew nut milk (roughly 350ml in total)
If using dates, place them and the cashew nut milk in your blender and blend until smooth.
Add the rest of the ingredients and blitz.
Heat gently on pan and serve in 2 mugs.
If using maple syrup, add it and the rest of the ingredients to a pan. Whisk until smooth.
Heat gently until warm and serve in 2 mugs.
Enjoy whilst warm and feeling slightly smug.
Your’s getting ready to deck the halls with bough of holly,
Cli xx
