Chocolate in Aruba & Chocolate Brownie Protein Oats

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TGIF is what most of you are saying, right! Well, I hope you’ve had a great week and that you’ve got lots of fun, mellow things planned for the weekend. Is anyone actually going to be braving the stores for some Christmas Shopping? As I mentioned yesterday, we don’t do gifts anymore, so I don’t have to fight for parking spaces or worse yet, fight for merchandise like sometimes happens on those Day After Thanksgiving Day sales when people get trampled over electronics or sweaters on sale!

Anyway though, I am really glad you enjoyed Alison’s post on her Weight Loss Success Story from yesterday.  She is just an amazing woman and I love her so! Thanks again, Alison for sharing your lovely and inspiring story!

But moving on to what I really want to talk about today: Chocolate in Aruba!! You know how much I love my chocolate.

From Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowball in white dish

 

Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowball  mixture in container with portion taken out
Raw Vegan Chocolate Donut Holes on white plate

And Raw Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Donut HolesAnother 5 Minute Recipe!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Donut Holes up close on plate

To My Raw Vegan PB Cups
Thanks, Heather, for mentioning these yesterday.  So glad you got in on a little messy chocolate action of your own!

Hand holding one Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cup on paper liner
Two Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups stacked on top of one another

To My Vegan Guiltless & Fast Vanilla Hot Cocoa

Vegan Guiltless & Fast Vanilla Hot Cocoa in brown mug

It’s pretty hot here so Hot Cocoa isn’t on my mind, but of course, chocolate always is.  So I whipped up:
Raw Vegan Overnight “Chocolate Brownie” Protein Oats
1/3 c dry oats
1 ripe & well mashed banana
1 heaping scoop of the Chocolate Sun Warrior Protein Powder (something that I did bring with me)

Some of the ingredients to make Raw Vegan Overnight Chocolate Brownie Protein Oats

1 Tbsp Agave
Pinch of stevia (omit, reduce, or increase sweeteners to your taste)

Mix all ingredients (I use a little tupperware with a lid) together, Refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours…

Brownie Oats mixed up in clear container
Close up of Chocolate Brownie Protein Oats in container

...and Enjoy! (Pics taken 12 hours later.)

Refrigerated Raw Vegan Overnight Chocolate Brownie Protein Oats in clear container

It tastes like an oatmeal-inspired chocolate brownie to me!  Thick, fudgey, and delish!

Fudge like consistency of Overnight Chocolate Brownie Protein Oats

And even though it’s hot and hot cocoa doesn’t come to mind, hot coffee still does.  Did you catch the fact that I brought my own coffee pot with me to Aruba? And I also brought some Vanilla Stevia dropsPerfect in the ‘joe!

Hand holding NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia Drops

Now for more chocolate….
Some Chocolate Bar Finds!
White Chocolate

Verkade White Chocolate Bar

Note the Fair Trade Label. Cool!

FairTrade label on chocolate bar

And then this Dark Swiss Bittersweet Bar

Lindt Dark Swiss Bittersweet Bar

And the Stats if you’re Interested

Nutrition facts on back of Dark Swiss Bittersweet Bar

And then this Cappuccino BarA Chocolate and Coffee Lover’s Dream Bar!!!! (it’s not vegan though)

Verkade Cappuccino Chocolate Bar

That Fair Trade Symbol again.

FairTrade symbol on back of chocolate bar

The white chocolate is the perfect compliment to the dark chocolate, which has a lovely coffee flavor according to Scott.

Opened up Dark Cappuccino Bar showing layers of chocolate

Yeah, it looks pretty good, I’d say.

Layers of chocolate on Cappuccino bar

And these Dark Chocolate with White Nougat

Box of Marandi Dark Chocolate with White Nougat

…with Peanut Chunks inside the white Nougat.  If Milky Way Dark were flecked with Peanut Chunks in the Nougat but with the caliber of Godiva or Sees’s Candies Chocolate, that’s what this is like.  For 2 America dollars for 18 pieces.  Score!

Up close of label of Nougat

Ok so I confess I haven’t only been eating chocolate.  There’s been plenty of kale, cukes, brock, and cauli in my life.

Kale and vegetable salad with Slaw Dressing

With the Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing I gave the recipe for here.

Up close of Kale and Vegetable Salad with Slaw Dressing

And Brown Rice, and A Garden Salad dressed with my homemade CreamyVegan Cesar-Inspired Tahini Dressing

Brown Rice with Garden Salad topped with Slaw Dressing on patterned plate

And there’s been Fruit.
Grapefruit

Half a slice of grapefruit

Fresh Mangos

Sliced fresh mango

And Grapes, Apples, and Pears which I didn’t bother to upload.  Uploading here is like the Pony Express: Slow!

But for more Chocolate now…
There’s been some damage done to a batch of Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs that I whipped up here. I omitted the coconut oil and just used maple as the liquid and things turned out just fine. 5 Minutes and sooo good!

Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowball mixture in clear container
Close up of Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowball mixture

And there was a dark chocolate-colored wooden statue that a friend of ours down here gave us.  (Sorry bout the dark pics, the lighting is quite horrendous indoors here)

Dark chocolate-colored wooden statue on table

She’s the perfect drishti (gazing point) for my yoga practice!

Close up of dark chocolate-colored wooden statue

Yoga Today is Skylar’s Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Savasana)

Young girl doing Downward Dog yoga pose

Ahh, inner peace.

Smiling young girl crouching on ground

Tips of the Day:

RodeyGirl is Having a Tea Give Away
Danica AND Brandi have Knock Knock goods!
April’s giveaway!
Iowa Girl has a Give Away!

What’s the food you never get sick of? I know Katie and I share a love of chocolate.  Although she mentioned she actually OD’ed on it.  And another person I know loves his chocolate. He’s got a stash to rival mine. I love chocolate, too…always. And coffee.

Seriously though, like Holly mentioned in this post, I crave green, raw, fresh veggies, some fruit, but just wholesome greenery and lots of it!!! Of course I love my desserts, but I find that when my diet is well-balanced and rounded out with enough veggies, fruits, and I am getting all those trace nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, I crave desserts less. So what food(s) or beverages do you never tire of?

Or, tell me about your weekend plans?  Shopping?  Packing for a holiday trip to see family members?  Whatcha up to?

Stay Tuned For Week in Review Highlights Post, More Great Guest Posts, and Another Give Away Announcement…

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. When you commented on my blog and mentioned this recipe, naturally I had to dig through your archives and check it out ;) It’s truly incredible how much your photography has developed and improved since then. I’m impressed. Your beautiful photos (not to mention the delectable recipes) is one of the reasons your blog is as successful as it is :) This recipe looks like something I would make. I’ll have to try it!