March is here and people are getting colds left, right, and center! For the body’s natural defenses to work smoothly and make sure you’re not next to get sick, your immune system has to be working properly. Choosing foods rich in the right vitamins and nutrients will help keep your immune system strong and you healthy!
Throughout the month of March we will feature easy to make recipes, which are aimed at boosting your IMMUNITY. As always, we’d love to hear from you about what types of recipes you’d like to see next!
Our first recipe of the month are mint cacao bliss balls! To understand why we would select a chocolate recipe as our first recipe, it is important to first understand the difference between cacao and cocoa. Although both start from the same place (the beans from the cacao tree’s seed pods), the process they undergo means they have very different benefits to offer. Cacao, which is very minimally processed at low temperatures, is full of nutrients like magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, copper, and manganese. Some of the known health benefits are protecting your heart, lowering your insulin, as well as other antioxidant effects, which protect your cells from damage. Cocoa, on the other hand, is heated to much higher temperatures where sugars and other sweeteners are usually added. The heating process means that some of the more powerful antioxidant effects and health benefits are lost as compared to cacao*.
When you make your food from scratch, you can decide what ingredients you’re feeding your body! So while these mint cacao bliss balls might look like naughty treats, the ingredients have been very carefully selected to boost your immunity and fill you up with the good stuff. Wishing you all a very healthy, happy March!
Mint Cacao Bliss Balls (makes approx. 30 balls)
30 – 45 minutes (including time to roll the balls)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup cashews from the Fruitful Day Box
- ½ cup desiccated coconut
- ½ cup cacao powder
- pinch salt
- drop of mint extract
- 1 cup dates
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
METHOD
- Roast cashews for 10 minutes on a baking tray at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes or until browned. (This step isn’t necessary, however, roasting the nuts does improve the flavour).
- Combine all dry ingredients; cashews, coconut, cacao powder and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly chopped.
- Add wet ingredients; dates, coconut oil, peanut butter and mint extract and process until a dough forms.
- Remove from the food processor and roll into balls. Store in the fridge.
*Source: https://blog.paleohacks.com/cacao-vs-cocoa/