*Adapted from The Plant Power Way. Makes 10-12 coookies
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1 cup organic natural crunchy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups of coconut sugar (or swap for 1 1/4 cup of organic sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 bar of vegan dark chocolate or vegan dark chocolate chips
Coconut oil or avocado oil for greasing the pan
optional 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a cookie sheet with oil. To make a flaxseed egg, mix the flaxseed with about 1/4 cup of filtered water and let it stand few minutes. Then whisk until it has an egg-like texture, adding a little water if necessary.
In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter and sugar, flaxseed “egg,” and vanilla. Roll small balls of of the mixture with your hands and place them apart on the baking sheet. Press flat using a fork to make a lined pattern on the cookies. Press one square of dark chocolate in the center of each cookie or press a divot with your finger and add chocolate chips. Optional sprinkle of salt on top.
Bake, until golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. They will look and feel uncooked until you let them cool a few minutes. After a few minutes, transfer to a plate with a spatula and eat warm.
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My relationship with food was never a great one when I was younger and I have made peace with the fact that it isn't my fault. It isn't any of our faults.
I grew up in a health conscious household, but it wasn't until I had to start making food choices of my own as a teenager, that I realized how lost I was. We are living in a culture that devours processed snacks, hot dogs, and ice cream by the minute- and treated like an outsider if you don't join in on the chaos. If you have ever been to an American beach in the summer or an American sporting event, or have even looked at the lunch in a school cafeteria, your food choices are extremely limited to junk.
It's the American way.
And even then, we are trained that the "healthy" options are things like string cheese and deli meat.
Meanwhile our healthcare costs are skyrocketing while the pharmaceutical industry keeps cashing checks.
So where do we begin? How do we do "better"?
It's not by eating salads and broccoli all day everyday (although that would be amazing).
Because that type of dieting isn't fun, and it doesn't last.
"Once we become disciplined, we are no longer free. " Something I heard Deepak Chopra say this week. I feel that, immensely, when it comes to nutrition and eating habits. That is why I am inspired to teach others, especially moms, how to put more plants on their plates, without the sacrifice and stress of diet culture. Without the restrictions and "quick fixes" that leave us right back to where we started.
When we eat plant-focused we can eat all the things we love: the pizza, the burgers, the cookies, the cake. All we have to do is just re-learn how to make good tasting nutritious food. Sprouted whole wheat pizza dough loaded with veggies and dairy-free mozzarella. Spicy black bean burgers on sprouted whole grain buns. Cakes and cookies made without dairy or refined sugar and instead flax, chia, and nut products.
I cannot tell you how free-ing it is to be eating food all the time, all day long, that I never have to feel guilty about. That never makes me feel bloated or lethargic. I can eat as much as I want, constantly. Eating mostly plant based feels like the opposite of a diet trend. When you know you are putting good ingredients in your body, the calorie restriction and nagging questions in your mind just disappear. You are free to just enjoy.
As someone in the past that was always trying to "burn it off" at the gym, I cannot tell you the immense happiness that eating this way brings me, especially as a busy mom.
Protein-packed peanuts, un-refined coconut sugar, and omega packed flax seeds. Probably better than most protein bars out there these days. Food full of satiating nutrition that gives me energy- something I desperately need as a mom of two boys.
Eat as much as you want, until you are full, share the treats with your kids and family, and watch your body feel lighter and your mind let go as you release it from all the years and stress of diet culture.