I lived in Denmark for 8 years and one of the things I miss about living there, among many other things are Danish Rum balls!!! Rum balls are  a truffle-like confection, flavored with chocolate and rum.

Danes are known for their pastry. And one of their oh so tasty, but oh so unhealthy treats are Rum Balls which are made out of leftover pastry, with added cacao and rum essence.

But there is an alternative, to this sinfully delicious treat. There is even a very good organic bakery in Copenhagen, which makes delicious and a little more healthy rum balls. Every time I wanted a treat I would go there.

And now, living in the states, every now and then I crave these delicious rum balls, so the other day I decided to experiment and try to see if I could make my own version. They turned out delicious! Just the way I wanted them.

Here is the Rum Ball recipe:

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3 cup dates
• 3 tbsp cacao
• 2 tbsp. coconut sugar (or other sweetener you like)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/3 cardamom
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. rum Essence
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut to roll the balls in

Pour all the ingredient into a food processor, and blend for couple of minutes… Form the dough into small balls and  then coat them by rolling them in shredded coconut.

Makes about 25 small rum balls.

Bon apetit!

Guacamole: 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium size ripe avocados
• 1 big ripe tomato
• 1/2 yellow onion (I use Vidalia onion)
• handful of cilantro / coriander
• 3 cloves garlic (or more, if you are a big garlic lover)
• 2 – 3  tbs cumin
• juice from 1 lemon
• salt and pepper

I like my guacamole chunky, so I don´t mush it together. I cut the avocado, and the rest of the ingredients into semi small pieces, mix it all together with crushed garlic and spices.

Bon appetit

Don´t you just love Sunday mornings?  There is something to be said for consciously making Sunday a day of rest regardless of your religious belief….our minds and bodies need a day off.  I really enjoy our Sunday mornings, we usually make a brunch. We usually have scrambled eggs or a veggie omelet. And we always make fresh vegetable/fruit juice to go with our eggs.

After watching the movie, “Fat ,Sick and Nearly Dead” (you should see it!!!) my husband went online and bought a juicer.  We make juice several times a week, and we love it.

This makes a perfect juice, so fresh and tasty and a perfect complement to eggs.

Do you have a Sunday morning tradition?

As you probably already know, I love smoothies! They are easy to make, they taste delicious, and keep me satisfied for hours!!!

Today after going for a long run, I needed a good energy boost. So I decided to make a green smoothie with spinach, just like Popeye the Sailor Man, who eats a can of spinach to produce bulging muscles, every time he needs energy to get out of  trouble.  Popeye is  actually quite smart. A recent study from Sweden shows that eating a bowl of spinach a day, makes your muscles profoundly more efficient.

The ingredients which make spinach a real power food are the nitrates, which are found abundantly in spinach. Nitrates make our mitochondria ( the “energy builder” of cells), more efficient. Plus spinach has many other good qualities. Spinach is an excellent source of beta-carotene, a powerful disease-fighting antioxidant, that has been shown, to fight heart disease and cancer as well. It is also rich in calcium, iron and other phytochemicals.

Popeye’s Super Spinach Smoothie:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup almond milk (or any other kind of milk)
• 1 apple
• 2 tbs. pea protein
• ½ medium size avocado
• ½ tbs chia seeds
• 2 dates
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 1 – 2 handfulls of fresh spinach
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 4 ice cubes

Mix in a blender until smooth and enjoy!

I drank mine in our back yard! So peaceful and nice.

What do you eat/drink after your workout?

I really enjoy running, however that was not the case when I was so overweight, just the thought of walking a long distance would make me groan.

I just finished a 7.5 K run and I feel so alive and refreshed right now.  Nothing in the world could bother me.  So right now I have what is called the “runners high”. Do you know what causes runners high? Well For decades, endorphins have hogged the credit for producing “runner’s high,” that fleeting sense of euphoria and calm that many people experienc after an intense workout. You often hear people say “ah, my endorphins are kicking in”. But it is actually not endorphins that cause this feeling of bliss.

It is actually something else that is very interesting.

It has been shown that it is actually, a release of  endocannabinoids that cause runners high. A recent study shows that runners high is due to the exercise-induced activation of endogenous cannabinoids – lipids whose actions in the body resemble those of the active constituent of  marijuana or cannabis. Endocannabinoids (or the body’s own marijuana like compounds) ease pain, cause pleasure, and create a desire for yet more exercise.  In fact, exercise is just as if not more effective for depression than medication.

Even more reason to get the running shoes on, go out and run! It truly will bring bliss to your day!

Who doesn´t like a little sweet treat during the weekend? I know I do. Realize you can eat healthy and still satisfy your sweet tooth

Here is a great healthy recipe you can make this weekend. It´s a very rich and savory raw chocolate nut cake. I love making raw cakes. I am not a raw foodist, but I try to eat raw and fresh as much as I possibly can.  And with raw cakes, it´s so easy. So usually when I make treats, I make them raw.  Raw treats are both more nutritious and take less preparation time. Win win!

Here is a delicious raw cake that you can enjoy guilt free this weekend.

Chocolate Nut Cake:

• 10 dates
• 4 tbs. cacao powder
• 6 tbs. coconut butter (or coconut oil works too)
• 4 tbs. peanut butter
• 2 – 3 tbs. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Put all in a food processer and blend until smooth. Pure in a small cake form.  I used a 4 in (10 cm) cake form. Put the cake in the freezer for 30 min, where you can keep it until you want to eat it.

Enjoy this treat in the afternoon, with a good cup of coffee!!!

Bon appetite!

What is your favorite weekend sweet treat?

Your home is not the only thing that needs a spring cleaning. How about spring-cleaning your diet to increase your vitality?

Here are my 3 tips you can use to spring clean your diet:

1. Switch from soda to sparkling water: One of the easiest ways to clean up your diet is to ditch the soda.  Diet soda is worse than regular soda, although both are bad. You can buy sparkling water with flavor, or even just add your own flavor to it. You can add lemon, lime, fresh mint or raspberries. My husband likes on occasion rood beer flavor in his water as a treat.  We buy a root beer flavored stevia sweetener.  It will satisfy any fizzy drink urge just as much as soda.

2. Ditch the bread and add in some fresh vegetables. Now is the time to experiment and try new vegetables to expand your palette.  Spring brings all the fresh, exciting, colorful healthy vegetables which are filled with phytochemicals that fight disease and help you look younger. Go to your local farmers market, and explore, buy something you have never tried before! Have fun with it.

3. Drop the unhealthy deep-fried potato chips, and go nuts with  some healthy nuts instead. A recent Danish study showed that an amino acid in nuts, arginine,  can help fight diabetes and obesity. You can even get salted nuts, or tamari nuts. They will fill you more up then chips and still satisfy your salty crunchy cravings.  Plus you will be more satisfied, and your waistline will look better!

Do you spring-clean your home?

Do you have any other traditions when spring comes?

It was such a wonderful weather this weekend that I just had to eat dinner outside. And I had an urge for something really tasty such as a fresh summer salad!

I came up with this fresh dill salad to go with my baked wild salmon. Dill always reminds me of sommer. I love the smell of a big bunch of fresh dill. Fresh herbs do so much for salads. And for this salad it does wonders! It is the perfect salad to go with the salmon, so fresh, sweet and tasty.

And dill is not only tasty, it is also a healing herb with many health benefits. In fact, dill was used by Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician to treat the wounds of soldiers in ancient Rome. He also created a recipe for dill mouthwash, as dill has antibiotic and anti inflammatory properties. It’s a good source of calcium, manganese and iron and it also contains flavonoids, known for their antioxidant properties. So go get your dill, and spice up your salad!

Dill salad:

Ingredients

• 1 small cabbage
• 2 red peppers
• ½ red onion
• 1 bunch of dill
• 2-3 tbs. of organic mayonnaise 
• salt and pepper to taste

It is best to make it at least an hour before serving so the mayonnaise, salt and pepper can flavor the veggies even more!

Bon appetite!

What is your favorite kind of salad?

You will notice that I use coconut oil in this recipe. As with many oils, there is a big confusion about coconut oil. Many people are afraid of using it, because it has the “bad fat,” i.e., saturated fat. But, differing from other highly saturated fats, coconut oil is mostly made up of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs).  Why is that important?  Well let me explain. Fats are classified as short-, medium- or long-chain based on the number of carbon molecules they contain. Nearly two-thirds of the saturated fat in coconut oil consists of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs).

Long-chain fatty acids must be emulsified by bile salts in the small intestine before they can be absorbed into our body. Short- and medium-chain fatty acids, such as those in coconut oil, are absorbed directly through the portal vein to the liver, where they are immediately available as energy to the body.

So, in other words, most of the saturated fat in coconut oil is very easily digested and converted into quick energy. And therefor less likely to cause weight gain because they are immediately used by the body and have less opportunity to be stored.

Coconut oil has a lot of other good qualities:  It has antibacterial properties, It is rich in tocotrienols (vitamin E, witch is an antioxidant), and because of the high amounts of saturated fat, it is stable for cooking. So it is a great choice, if you want to cook with oil. You can also use it as a body lotion on your body, (it smells wonderfully) or even to clean make up of your face!

But now let´s eat it! You can easily enjoy this delicious healthy Chocolate-Coconut Chia Seed treat

Chocolate pudding:

Serves 1 – 2, depending on how hungry you are

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup chia seed
• ½ cup coconut milk
• 2 tbs. liquid coconut oil
• 3 tbs. cacao powder (I use RAW organic)
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. vanilla powder (best for flavor) or extract
• 1 tbs. Maple syrup
• Pinch of salt

Melt the coconut oil by placing it in a glass then into a bowl of hot water.

Put Chia seeds, coconut milk, maple syrup and coconut oil in a bowl and mix it together. Let it sit for 15 -30 min. then add the rest of the ingredients, mix and enjoy! If it turns out to thick for your taste, you can always just add more liquid to it, and wait 10 more minutes.

Tastes great with fresh berries!

Bon appetite!