Paleo Coconut Chocolates

By popular demand, Coconut Chocolates or Paleo "Bounty Bars" as I like to call them!
Really easy to make and a lovely treat for Halloween or any other occasion meriting a treat, they are delicious and moreish and one or two is just enough to satisfy a craving!

Obviously these don't taste as sweet as a normal chocolate. However if you are partial to some high cocoa content chocolate (eg 85%) this is up your street!


Ingredients
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup coconut oil (& a little for greasing)
6tbsp of honey
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract


Grease a silicone ice tray with coconut oil to reduce sticking.

For the filling:
Blend 2 tbsp honey with the shredded coconut until a dough forms. If the shredded coconut is too dry add a little water and blend until moist enough to form into balls. Set aside.

For the chocolate:
Place 4 tbsp honey, the cocoa powder, coconut oil and vanilla over a medium heat and stir until honey is melted and all ingredients combined.

Half fill the silicone ice cube with the chocolate mixture. Place a ball of the filling in each compartment. Fill the remaining half of the silicone with the chocolate. Make sure to fill each chocolate right to the brim.

Place in the fridge for at least an hour. Overnight is best. Enjoy!


Original recipe available Kate Evan Scotts book "The Paleo Kid's Halloween" here.
Check it out for great Halloween party ideas!

Easy Roast Butternut Squash Soup

This is the easiest way to make squash soup. It requires minimal effort but yields delicious but hearty soup.



Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash
1 litre of homemade chicken broth or vegetable stock
1/2 cup water
1 x clove garlic
1 medium onion
2 tsp sage
Sea Salt & Ground pepper to taste


Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C
Slice butternut squash in half length ways (along the longest part of the squash)
Scoop out the seeds and discard.
Place the squash on a baking sheet and season on the flesh side with sage, salt and pepper.
Turn it over skin side down and pour the 1/2 cup water into the tray, this will act as a steam to cook the squash quicker.
Add the onion, sliced, and the clove, chopped.
Place tray in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the squash and other vegetables are tender and beginning to brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Using a spoon, scoop the contents of the squash out and place in a saucepan. Remove the garlic and onion from the pan and add to the saucepan with the squash.
Add the stock bit by bit and blend with a hand held blender according to desired consistency (add less stock if you desire thicker soup)

How To Make Nutritional Therapy A Career For You!

I get asked a-lot on my facebook page for information on the course I am studying. 

I am almost finished my third and final year of a Naturopathic Nutrition Diploma course with the College of Naturopathic Medicine,(CNM) Dublin. 

Naturopathic Nutrition,in CNM's words "stresses the use of whole and organic foods as medicine - an integral concept of healing in many indigenous societies. Today, we see that a return to chemical-free foods, along with other dietary measures, is an effective answer to many health complaints and common conditions". 

It is an excellent course and very comprehensive, based on up to date scientific evidence and research based findings. It provides the platform for graduates to open their own clinical practice to help clients over come illness through food and nutrition. 

The first year of three focuses on biomedicine and gives students an incite into the human body and how each of the systems function. It is very interesting and very necessary if you are to understand the impact of nutrition on the body. If you are already working in the health industry or have already studied biomedicine you may be exempt from this particular year. 

Second and third years are based on nutrition studies and focuses on topics such as firstly the building blocks of nutrition eg micro and macro nutrients, types of diets, detoxification and then nutrition for disease processes. 

As well as the academic side of things years 2 and 3 also focus on clinical theory and clinical practice. The in-class clinical observations are extremely informative and involve observing actual clinical cases. This is key to gaining experience for our own clinical practices and total clinical hours are 200 over the final 2 years. 

I absolutely love the course. If you have a passion for nutrition and want to inform and help people overcome illness through nutrition I would strongly urge you to do it. 

I started this blog in 2011 as a little incentive to stick to Paleo. What it triggered in me was a realization that this is what I love and what I want to do with my life - teach people to realise that what we put into our mouths has SUCH an impact on how we feel and how healthy are bodies and minds are. 

If you feel the same way and are looking for a change of career I recommend you check out their website here

They have courses on offer in Dublin, Cork and Galway. They also have a base in the UK for those of you who wish to study over there. 

It is fully accredited with the Irish Association of Nutritional Therapy. 

I hope this helps! 

Denise