New Years resolve

 

 

 

Dear bloggers, followers and friends, thank you for joining me over the past few months on this journey, I am now going to be continuing my posts on Facebook as the format suits me and my style better (I don’t want to create long personal posts, just the info is good enough for me!!)

If you would like to continue to share in my journey and recipes and muse upon my inspirational quotes (!) please “like” my facebook page at the following address:

https://www.facebook.com/sosweetsofine

I’m still hoping for change so please join me in quitting sugar, promoting good health and exploring social and corporate responsibility!

x

AMAZEBALLS: Prince Charming Truffles

These are quite literally the most amazing amaze-balls in the ENTIRE WORLD! They are the upper-class relative to the poor cousin nut ball. I almost didn’t want to post them as I want them all to myself! However, I cannot take the credit as my wonderful friend gave me the recipe, which actually wasn’t even the recipe, but is possibly even better than the recipe!!

I wanted to call them “holy crap balls” but that wouldn’t give the best impression… and they are actually fit for a royal shindig that Cinderella would attend. They are up there with actual Belgium chocolate ganache truffles. (or at least you can imagine they are the vegan version)

• 1c ground almonds/ almond flour
• 3/4c date puree (soaked blended dates)
• 1/2c Fairtrade Cocoa
• Flavour: 1tbsp orange essence + 1 tbsp cinnamon for these Christmassy ones 😉

Recipe note: the end yield was the smallest amount I’ve ever made as I ate it before I could roll it.

Check out the incredible Petit-Kitchen which inspired this recipe

Sugar{less} Puff

                          

How to make Puffed Amaranth! – your own cereal!!

The most important part turns out to be heating the pan enough- if you put the grain in when its not PIPING HOT, they will burn as it continues to heat up, rather than popping strait away. (pic one = fail and success)

• Heat a heavy bottomed pan
• Test its hotter than the Sun by dropping a bead of water in and if it evaporates instantly you’re good to go!
• Drop a tablespoon in at a time and stir as it pops

Add to your cereal, granola, porridge, nut balls, salads!

 

AMAZEBALLS: Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire!

 

If you’re a fan of chilli & chocolate, or black pepper on your strawberries (yes this is an actual thing, which my Dad has been doing for years!!) then give these little Fireballs a go!!

1/2 c goji berries (soaked); 1/2 c dates (soaked); 1/2 c brazils; 1/2 c cashews; 3 TBSP Fairtrade/ Organic cocoa; 1/4 tsp ginger; pinch cayenne; pinch chilli to taste (add as much to make it as hot as you like it!)

Blend, roll, consume. Breath fire like a dragon.

Unless we change where we are going, we may end up where we are headed

 

“Throwing money at a problem generally doesn’t work, But throwing money at a proven solution generally does”

Harriet Lamb, CEO of Fairtrade International

This month, the Australian government has committed to invest 4.5 million in developments with Fairtrade ANZ (Australia New Zealand). 87% of the worlds “small farms” are in Asia and the Pacific so this is a really exciting and promising step to support many more communities.

Fairtrade_Partnership

Fairtrade_ANZ

Bumblebees. They fly in practice, but not in theory

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

Albert Einstein

I’m surprised we get four years to be honest!

Chemical corporation Bayer has sued the European Commission to overturn a ban on the pesticides that are killing millions of bees around the world. This ban was won only a few months ago by a massive push from the public, so please sign the petition to stop this chemical from being legalised again:

SumOfUs

(it literally takes less than 10 seconds!)

Sugar Profile [3] Trade Aid

Trade Aid are really committed to their supply chain; the Fair Trade and Organic Standards are designed to support co-operatives and even out the impact of erratic and low prices on vulnerable and also small producers. Read more about them here:

Producers

I wish we could get Fair Trade tea/ coffee/ hot choc at work, but until then I bring my own. See if you can get your office to change their supply to trade aid for a few extra cents and a whole lot more sweet justice!

Staffroom

Sugar Profile [2] Ceres Organics

Different to a large corporate company who tries to tie an ethical line into their marketing, the heart and soul of CeresOrganics is about sustainability. From their story of small organic beginings, to their mission and vision for people, communities and health, even to their new eco building! Their intentions and goals are centred around “doing the right thing” (not, we’d like to if we could be bothered!)

The awesome part about their sourcing and procurement processes are the relational efforts they make to validate each supply line.

Since quitting sugar, I’m not doing a lot of baking, but needed to make some macarons (!) and the awesome thing about Ceres, is their presence in the supermarket! I just ground up their lovely golden sugar to make caster sugar for my organic sugar, fair trade ganache, free range egg Macarons!

Organic Cola

I

I don’t like Coca Cola, and haven’t really drunk it growing up. I remember my friend’s Mum putting one of their baby teeth in a cup of coke overnight and it went black! I also learned you can clean your toilet with it like you would with baking soda and vinegar.

At uni, my friends in “3D Design for Sustainability” did a project on saving water and we found out that so many communities worldwide are impacted negatively by the production of Coke. ie where water is harder to access and more expensive than coke, because it is being diverted to the factories. Also the harvesting of the sugar in their supply chain was high risk for child labour victims.

theGuardian | CokeFactsheet

And then I realised the other fizzy brands I chose, in order to avoid coke, were owned by the same company! So instead, I will support the awesome work of Phoenix and All Good’s Karma Cola instead.

KarmaCola | PhoenixOrganics

All beings are Equal in Dignity

How can Peace on Earth be found?…

…God gave each of us inherent worth and value; accept it in yourself, discover and encourage it in others and peace may just be possible.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu