Monday, July 23, 2012

Tonight is a GREAT night for... what?


Hello Hello and Happy Monday!


Not sure what the weather is like where you are, but here in Vancouver, it is grey, drizzly, cold (well, compared to what it has been lately!), and... I love it!

Reminds me of Edinburgh or London- I had the pleasure of exploring both places in the pouring rain. Sometimes while wearing a backpack as big as me.

Anyway, extreme CouchSurfing days are behind me, as far as I can tell, and I am taking much pleasure in a bit of comfort here and then, in familiar surroundings.

Such as...





hot chocolate. Sugar & Spice Hot Chocolate, to be exact.

Let's face it- the night can always get better, and here is the perfect recipe!

Zimt Sugar & Spice Hot Chocolate


serves 2


2 C      hemp or almond mylk (I made hemp mylk by blending about 2 cups of purified water with 1/4  
            cup hemp seeds- tastes a bit peanut-buttery to be honest. Try it with coconut milk!)
2 T       maple syrup

1 - 2     Sugar & Spice bar(s) - if you use 2, it will be a seriously rich treat. Yum!



....hemp seeds
In your Vitamix...

combine water... 

1-2 bars of Sugar & Spice
Canadian Liquid Gold....
-----


Ta da! 

Somebody is tired- but that's ok!

For one...

And two!


Method A:

Have you got a high speed blender, like a Vitamix? No better time to use it than now! Combine all ingredients on high until they warm up- should take about 2 minutes.

Method B: 

I haven't tried this one, but here's an alternative for those who don't have current access to such culinary luxuries.
Heat up hemp or almond mylk in a small pan, add your maple syrup, and whisk. Break up one Sugar & Spice bar and let it melt in! Whisk it up to emulsify.


Pour into two nice mugs and share with somebody special! (Somebody special can include you- you're special).

Enjoy!!!

Here's a Zimt update:


Expansion, I think... is going to go like this:

Organic Certification (check!)
New packaging.... soon! My designer sent me lots of beautiful proofs.
Approach distributor with finished product
... bring Zimt to the world!!!!

How does that all sound?

Happy Tuesday Eve,


emma




Saturday, July 21, 2012

Today is a GREAT day for... what?

Hello!


Can you guess? I will give you a hint: the sun is shining, I would imagine it to be pretty warm out (leaving the office soon!), and... you have taste buds.

Any ideas?

Oh, another hint: apparently, we all scream for it.

Eis! ...

Whoops! Wrong continent!

Ice Cream! Or, should I type, Ice Kream*

*note: The term "kream" is used to denote the ethical, animal-friendly, vegan version of dairy "cream".  



But just because I am particular, I required some chocolate chip cookie dough ice kream. 

Good thing I made these this morning: 

Zimt Chip Cookies! 

They are pretty phenomenal- especially for raw, nut-free cookies! 

Here's the recipe I used:

Zimt Chip Cookies      raw, vegan, nut-free cookies

Makes 12 

buckwheat groats                 66 g            (about 0.375 of a cup, you can also just use regular oats)
coconut flakes                      86 g            (about 0.875 of a cup)
vanilla bean or extract          1/2 tsp

dates                                     40 g            (about 2, pitted, if you use the fatty medjools)
coconut oil                           22 g             (about 2 Tablespoons)
maple syrup                         22 g             (about 2 Tablespoons)
Zimt Chocolat 67% Bar       1

First things first- grind up the buckwheat groats in your food processor, or magical Vitamix. Then grind up the coconut flakes, with the buckwheat groats. They will make a coarse flour.  Add your vanilla and pulse.

Add your pitted dates to that mixture and pulse until they are pretty pulverized. Then add your coconut oil and pulverize again.

Add that mix to a mixing bowl and chop up your Zimt 67% bar. Add that to the mix, and stir.... it should look something like this: 


Now you are ready to form the cookies! Form any size you would like- try making an enormous one- I bet it will taste better than smaller versions. But regular cookie size wise, this recipe will make about 12.

If you would like, you can stop there- good job! You have healthy, diabetic friendly, tasty cookies, made with lovely Zimt chocolate. 

If you want to take things to the next level...

 Zimt Chip Cookie Dough Ice Kream 

Makes 1 Serving

2 frozen bananas
1 splash of hemp milk    (did you notice the spelling?! Same idea as the "kream"!)
pinch vanilla bean powder (optional, but great)
2 Zimt Chip Cookies 

Place in your Vitamix or food processor frozen bananas (broken into chunks about 1 inch long), hemp or other non-dairy milk, and vanilla bean. 

Whip! 

Until they look like this:


View from the top- so kreamy!

Put that mixture into your favourite Frog Mascot green bowl, and break up your Zimt Chip Cookies to sprinkle on that. 


Sprinkle and mix together the two... and you will get this:


a spoon, laptop with pink keyboard protector, Frog Mascot, and Zimt Chip Cookie Dough Ice Kream. 


Enjoy! 

Other Zimt news- (you asked!)

Head on over to Fairy Cakes on 20th and Fraser for some extra special Zimt treats! Every week, there will be something new, such as cinnamon coconut chocolate disks, fig heart disks, and banana creme crunch bites. Yumyum! 

New packaging will be happening within the next 3 weeks, too! Then it is time to approach a distributor to see how badly they want to make sure my product gets to everybody in the country. I am excited! I will really need to up production, but that should be fine- I have resources =) 

Also, please be sure to check out www.zimt.ca - I have been working hard on the site to make it beautiful. You may notice some fancy new logos on the homepage... such as the organic certification approved logos. How satisfying. Okay, I can retire now.

Enjoy your Saturday! 

Peace and blessings,

Emma