popcorn and beans together at last… PLUS how to relax when you have a toddler
The words relaxing and toddler don’t really go together. Usually, I relax when I sleep. Even when Misty is napping, I run around like a crazy woman, cleaning the house/trying to blog/washing/dusting/cooking/trying to tire out Boosty playing fetch/weeding the garden – you know how it goes. I am Lou the mini tornado, trying to do a million things at once, but not really achieving anything.
You definitely get pretty good at multi-taking though. Eating lunch while sewing…throwing the ball over the fence to Boosty while I clean out the car….singing and dancing with Misty while peeling carrots…. delivering the clean washing to each room via “driving” Misty around in his little car. Yip, it’s a busy little household.
Basically, my “recipe” for a little relaxing involves a bath and the above bowl. When I need a little “time out” (which involves Misty) we run a bath with some lovely smelling oils (lavender and patchouli because, yes, I am a grandmother-hippie) …. grab about 1/2C oats, 1T raw honey and 1t coconut oil. Mix this concoction with a little hot water and you have the most lovely face/body scrub ever. Smear it on your face, and leave it there whilst you enjoy your luxuriously relaxing bath (read: Misty jumping up and down in the bath, splashing and throwing toys at me) Misty thinks this is delicious – I’m not admitting to it (who am I kidding?) but this could almost qualify as breakfast. Anyway, it keeps Misty entertained, and if I close my eyes and imagine really really hard, it is almost like a spa treatment (Ha.)
For now, though, it’s back to “bean sludge.” I know I have been really hammering out these weird bean recipes…. but I promise I’ll give you a break after this one. This recipe is for those who are a little unsure about the “sweet bean” phenomenon. You will most likely proclaim me to be off the hook loopy, but I’m OK with that: beans, popcorn, chocolate. I’ve also endeavoured to make this dried fruit AND nut free, as there tends to be somewhat of an overkill of these ingredients in a lot of vegan/no bake cooking. I for one LOVE dried fruit/nuts, but I thought I would try leaving them out for once.
Fudgey Chocolate Popcorn Bites/ Balls/Bars (No Bake)
(Vegan, gluten/wheat/soy/nut/refined sugar free)
- 5C plain air popped pop corn
- 3T unsweetened protein powder (I used vanilla)
- 4T coconut butter*
- 3/4C pinto “bean sludge”
- 1/4t sea salt
- 1t lemon juice
- 3T raw cacao powder (if you use plain cocoa powder, increase this amount as cacao is stronger)
- 3T + 1t granulated sweetener (xylitol/coconut sugar/rapadura/raw sugar etc – OR 20 drops of stevia liquid) Increase this is you have a super-sweet tooth.
- Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor until a soft, crumbly “dough” forms.
- Squeeze tablespoons of the mixture in the palm of your hand, form into little balls or cookie shapes…. alternatively turn out the dough onto a sheet of baking paper, place another sheet on top, and roll out flat. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour, cut into bars.
- Store in the fridge.
*You can sub 2T nut butter and 2T coconut oil here if you wish.
Not the most attractive looking things in the history of the world, but I don’t care as long as they taste good.
We’ve gone a little crazy over popcorn in sweet treats in this household – Viper has even given up his milk-sweetie-chocolatety-sugary treats in favour of popcorn balls (!) That’s a win for me.
The bean sludge doesn’t add any “beanie” taste (Viper couldn’t tell that these had beans in them) – it just acts as the “glue” that sticks the whole lot together. In combination with the coconut butter, a rich, fudgey texture is created… which is really addictive.
