Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins 2.0
This is an updated version of a previous recipe, which dates back a year and a half ago, when we were still living in Argentina. As you’ve noticed, I haven’t been experimenting much in the kitchen. Partly because shortly after arriving here, I discovered this great gluten free flour mix, and partly because I just haven’t been baking all that much.
The muffins to the left look different because I sprinkled crushed nuts on top of some of them, and added the nut butter to others. The basic recipe is below.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Dove’s Farm Gluten Free white bread flour
1 cup Honey
3 Eggs
3/4 cup Homemade plain yogurt, unsweetened (if you go dairy-free, just use water or nut milk)
1/3 cup Peanut/Hazelnut/Almond butter, unsweetened
1/2 cup Olive oil
1/2 cup Mixed crushed nuts (peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, walnuts, etc. )
1/2 cup Mixed Seeds (flax, sesame, sunflower, etc.)
1/4 cup Cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/4 cup Cocoa nibs
2 t. Vanilla extract
1 t. Baking powder
1/2 t. Salt
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
Line muffin tins with paper liners, or use silicone liners (I’m still unclear as to how I feel about silicone baking ware, but for the moment I’m using it anyway).
In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together moist ingredients, except the nut butter. Slowly add the blend of dry ingredients to the moist, mixing lightly until just combined.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Drop a small spoonful of nut butter in the middle of each one, on top. Bake until a knife comes out clean, about 20 minutes. This recipe should make about 12 muffins, plus a bit extra. I usually fill two glass ramekins with the extra and bake them along with the muffins.
Enjoy!
Soul Food for Women
And yes, it’s yet another inspirational event here in the London area. If you’re in the area and are interested, consider trying this out as a way to stretch out of your comfort zone, shake up your social life or spice up your exercise plan.
Invitation to LAUNCH PARTY: SOUL FOOD FOR WOMEN
– RECEIVE AN INSPIRATIONAL NOVEL AS A GIFT –
“Soul Food for Women”, a new, women-only soulful social networking group will launch in Kingston on May 10th.
Founder Susanne Meis, said: “Life can feel like All Work and no Play as women tend to look after everybody else and put themselves last. Actively scheduling time to focus on female Wellbeing is absolutely vital.”
“The new Soul Food for Women group welcomes all women to meet in a beautiful space to nourish their Female Wellbeing through joyful & easy holistic Dance, friendly group chanting, shared laughter and inspiration. You will feel nurtured, inspired and uplifted – ready to take on the world again!”
The free Launch Party takes place at Market House, Market Place, Kingston from 8-10pm.
Register & receive inspirational gift novel at www.nia-in-surrey.com
Space limited. Register now!
The Abundant Thinking Programme
Are you transforming your beliefs about money? Here’s another great tip: I just heard about this event that’s centrally located at the St. Stevens Club near St. James Park in London, and wanted to let you know about it. It sounds amazing!
Attention: Coaches, Consultants and Solo Entrepreneurs
Have you ever wondered how some people seem to slipstream into success while you take the rocky road to getting by?
Always have “just enough” but don’t know where you are going wrong?
Do your dreams of success seem modest yet still remaintantalizingly out of arms reach?
Have you tried countless things to build your business but seem to curiously remain stuck and below your expectations?
Want to learn how to turn abundant thinking into here and now reality?
You may not be aware that your beliefs, issues and emotions around money could be sabotaging your business success. We all carry a weight of issues, expectations and even fears around the subject of money. Yet there are some powerful ways in which you can harness the laws of attraction which could enhance not just your business profile but show real financial increases.
The Awesome Elevation of Abundant Thinking event is a unique four-hour programme designed to unlock your potential for prosperity and to harness the money-magnetising energy that could currently be alluding you and your business.
Held at the St Stephen’s Club – 9am-1pm, on 2nd June 2011, you can expect to learn:
- Where the toxic thoughts lie as obstacles to financial success in your business and personal life
- How to re-orientate your thoughts to create new financial possibilities
- Design an Abundancy Programme you can implement that very day
- Create a follow on plan for ongoing financial freedom
- Learn the secrets to effortless abundance attraction
Click here to sign up.
Effortless Energy Experience
I just heard about this event near Epping Forest, and wanted to let you know about it, in case any readers are from that area. It sounds amazing, and I hope it will be run again in the future, because I can’t make this date. Enjoy!
Do you feel like you’re running on empty and need time out to recharge your batteries?
Do you have good intentions to look after yourself only to find they get lost in the midst of demands on your time and attention?
If you are wondering whether there’s another way…
Then join us for the Effortless Energy Experience!
During this one-day workshop you will experience
- Simple techniques to relieve stress and tension
- The enormous benefits of taking time out for yourself (and how not to feel guilty about it!)
- The limitless reservoir of energy available to you
- A special resource within you which makes life effortless and easy
- How to do less and be more
What: The Effortless Energy Experience
When: Sunday, May 22, 2011 10:00 AM
Price: GBP55.00 per person
Where: Oriental Therapies
98a Hermon Hill E18 1QB
London
07855 357167
We are delighted to offer this workshop in a unique location near Epping Forest (only 20 minutes from Liverpool Street Station by Tube). Oriental Therapies provides an exceptional environment, combining workshop venue with idyllic Oriental Garden.
Nourishing our energy involves nourishing our tummies! Wellbeing is enhanced by nutritious, high energy food that tantalises the tastebuds and satisfies the senses. During the day you will enjoy a Mediterranean-inspired organic lunch provided by Bite Entertainment.
We are offering an exceptional package including energy-enhancing workshop, delicious food and drinks in stunning surroundings for an investment of only £75. A whole day of energising bliss – just for you!
Early Bird Offer – book before 30th April and pay only £55!
For more details see www.effortlessenergy.co.uk/experience
Relaxation for Business Success
Hello all! As you can see, I’m still sharing sporadically here. I just heard about this event in Richmond, and wanted to let you know about it, in case any readers are from that area. It sounds amazing. Enjoy!
What does relaxation have to do with running your business?
Everything!
The benefits of relaxation to you and your business are huge. Relaxation has been proven to lower blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, improve energy levels and give an overall sense of wellbeing. It means you’ll be healthier, work more productively, and be able to cope with the busy pace of business life a lot better.
But do you know how to relax effectively? This practical workshop will show you:
- How not learning to relax could seriously damage your health
- The top 3 mistakes people make when trying to relax
- Different relaxation exercises you can fit into your day easily
Please wear comfortable clothes and feel free to bring a yoga mat, or something similar.
When: 27th April, 8pm to 10pm
Where: The Dysart Arms, Petersham Road, Richmond, TW10 7AA.
Price: £12.75 when booked in advance or £18 on the door
Please note that this is a women-only event, as it is one of Kingston & Richmond Women’s Network’s meetings.
To book go to: www.kingstonwomensnetwork.co.uk
For more information, contact Anne Williams on 0208 546 2122 or e-mail anne@transforming-health.co.uk
Garbage Warrior
This documentary has been on our list since last year (like many others we’ve been watching lately), and we just got around to seeing it. Garbage Warrior is the story of an innovative New Mexico architect and his struggles with local authorities to build a sustainable housing development, designed with thermal mass and energy-independent homes he calls “Earthships.”
For 30 years Michael Reynolds and his green team have devoted their time to building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities, gradually improving on previous designs and adding new aspects to homes that have been designed to maintain a comfortable room temperature with snow and -30°F temperatures outside. Some homes were shown with full gardens inside them, including tropical banana tress.
After years of development, these experimental homes create conflict between Reynolds and the local and state authorities, and the architect lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site to allow his team to continue their development. In the process, he is forced to give up his architecture license.
As the battle wages on, natural disasters strike around the world, leaving communities in India and Mexico devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his team travel to these countries to use their skills to benefit those who need it most, building sustainable housing in places where many of the locals have lost their homes.
Director Oliver Hodge says, “I met Mike Reynolds in May 2003, when he and his crew arrived in the UK on a two-week visit to build a prototype Earthship house in my home town, Brighton. I was inspired by Mike’s apocalyptic view of the future, and by the urgent means by which he and his crew were preparing for it.”
This is an inspiring movie about a visionary with creative solutions. I highly recommend it! We need more homes like these.
The World According to Monsanto
The World According to Monsanto is a 2008 documentary film directed by Marie-Monique Robin that was originally released in French as Le monde selon Monsanto. The film is based on her three-year investigation into Monsanto’s practices worldwide.
The first thing you’ll learn is that Monsanto is about more than GMO seed, as if that weren’t enough. They’re also the company that produced Agent Orange and is currently producing the bovine growth hormone used in US agriculture. After having seen Dirt! The Movie just a few days before this one, I was especially horrified with the details of Monsanto’s products and practices. And speaking of Dirt!, you’ll recognize Vandana Shiva from that documentary.
And it’s amazing the influence Monsanto has with the US government, where Monsanto often got its way in the White House by exerting influence over policymakers via the “revolving door”.
Watch the full documentary and find others at Top Documentary Films.
King Corn
Yes, another documentary! When I see a good thing, I immediately want to share it here.
I can’t remember where I heard of this movie, but it had been on my list since last year. King Corn documents two friends who move from Boston to Iowa to grow an acre of corn. In the process of determining where their crop will end up once it’s harvested, they learn all about the increasing use of corn in the US food system.
If you’ve read much on food these days (think Food, Inc. or Michael Pollen, who’s interviewed in the film), you probably have an idea of the role corn plays in US food. Still, this movie focuses just on corn, and it was really interesting to me, despite already having an idea of where all the corn goes in the US (basically, everywhere). Almost everything Americans eat contains corn: high fructose corn syrup, corn-fed meat, and corn-based processed foods are the staples of the modern diet.
If you see this just after Dirt! The Movie, as I did, you’ll be horrified by everything they spray on their crop: ammonia fertilizer and herbicide (they’re using GMO corn that’s resistant, more on that in tomorrow’s post). And that’s how it’s done these days on US monoculture farms.
If you’re interested in other documentaries, director and Producer Aaron Woolf directed Greener Grass: Cuba, Baseball, and The United States, a WNET-ITVS co-production that won a Rockie Award and aired on PBS. In 2003, Aaron directed Dying to Leave: The Global Face of Human Trafficking and Smuggling, which won a Logie Award and aired on the PBS series Wide Angle.
Dirt! The Movie
I will never forget a college horticulture professor (yes, before I was an English major, I was an ornamental horticulture major) nagging us not to use the word dirt: “Dirt is what gets under your nails,” he would always say. The proper word is soil. So despite the fact that I was just a little uncomfortable with the title, I loved the documentary, which was inspired by the book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan and explores the relationship between humans and soil.
This documentary is just as important to see as Flow. Most people just don’t realize what we humans are doing to the soil (or the water), which the movie rightly calls the “skin of the Earth.”
Check out the official movie website for more info. Enjoy!
Composting made easy
Remember my quest for finding the perfect compost bin in Argentina? I never really found the perfect one. The bin I designed and had built by a carpenter never produced compost, and I honestly think it should have considering the time it had been digesting kitchen waste.
Here, our county offers government subsidized compost bins for just £5. And if you buy more than one, the second is half price. Each household can purchase up to four. Wouldn’t it be amazing if all local governments made it so easy for people to compost?
They also offer a special worm compost bin for £50, which is quite pricey for a wormery, though it’s supposedly suitable for smaller households. All bins are supplied by evengreener.com, which also offers a worm café for larger households. I just had to add the last two options because you know I love worms.
Now, if only we had a yard…or something larger than our two balconies! Though, maybe the smaller wormery could fit…
