Chocolate Turtles

I love how shiny the chocolate is!
(I set it on top of my organizer, so ignore the sorry background!)

Here is another recipe from Stephanie Tourles’ book, Raw Energy. This is a reworking of a classic chocolate treat, turtles, which combines chocolate, caramel and nuts. People have reworked turtles, but never like this! I have successfully enjoyed this treat and didn’t feel guilty one bit. Now that’s what I’m talking about! Have a sweet treat, don’t deprive yourself, and don’t feel bad about it either!


To demonstrate how much better this recipe is in terms of ingredients, I thought I’d compare it to a recipe for regular chocolate turtles. I went to http://www.cooks.com/ because it had an actual recipe for chocolate turtles. Other places had recipes for chocolate turtle pie, cheesecake, brownies. Not exactly what I was looking for. (Did I mention people had reworked the turtle recipe? Wow!) Anyway, I found a recipe that seemed simple and was the classic chocolate turtle treat with nuts, caramel and chocolate. You can click here to go to the recipe I found, but the ingredient list includes caramels, evaporated milk, pecans, butter, chocolate chips and vegetable oil.

The caramels are cooked butter and sugar, the evaporated milk is processed, cooked and canned, the pecans are, well, pecans, the butter is probably pasteurized, and the chocolate chips are full of sugar and processed chocolate. And, most likely the vegetable oil is probably soy, which I choose to avoid. (To find out why, see this post.)

Now, compare all those processed, sugary ingredients with the ingredients for Ms. Tourles’ turtles: raw almond butter, raw cocoa (cacao) powder, raw agave nectar, raw pecan halves. Four ingredients with no butter and no extra sugar. Granted, there’s no caramel substitute. But, believe me, once you try it, you won’t care that there’s no caramel. If you like chocolate and nuts, you’ll love this version. And, it is so easy!

Basically, the recipe is equal parts almond butter and cocoa powder, with half the amount of agave nectar. For example, if you use ½ cup almond butter, you’ll use ½ cup cocoa powder and ¼ cup agave nectar. Put these three ingredients in a bowl and slowly stir together. You have to go slow because the cocoa powder is so loose and light. Eventually, you’ll see it mixing and becoming a dark chocolate mass. Once it is all incorporated, pinch off small pieces and roll them into balls, placing the balls on wax paper. Gently press your chosen nut, whether that is classic pecans or what-I-have-on-hand almonds, onto the top of each ball. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Ms. Tourles recommends an 8-inch pan, but I just lined a large rectangular tupperware with wax paper. This was very convenient for covering, chilling and storing. Ms. Tourles also says she likes to store them in the freezer (for up to 3 months), where they “become quite firm but still chewy”. Mine were a little too hard when coming out of the freezer, so I prefer to keep them in the fridge, where they can be stored in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 weeks.

So, I’ve included a picture of my almond-topped turtles. I love how easy this recipe is, and they really are delicious. The almond butter gives you good fats, and if you make it yourself, you know there are no preservatives or additives. The agave nectar is a wonderful sweetener that won’t give you a sugar rush or crash later. And, of course, the almonds are full of fiber, good fats, protein and all kinds of good stuff. The cacao powder – well, that’s up for some debate. I suppose chocolate is still chocolate. But, I for one am happy to have a yummy alternative to a chocolate treat loaded with sugar and butter.

Best Breakfast Ever!

Boxed cereals are convenient, quick and easy. Just open the box, pour some cereal in a bowl, add some milk, grab a spoon and you are ready to eat. They are also usually filled with preservatives and additives and other chemicals that I probably cannot pronounce. And, they are processed and cooked. I want none of those things for my first, most important meal of the day.

I want a morning cereal routine that is almost as quick and easy, and much more nutritious! And, with this breakfast, I have all that and more. It only takes a few minutes to prepare. It fills me up without making me feel heavy, and holds me over for hours – well into the lunchtime hour. So I have a very productive morning because I’m not stopping every two hours to have a snack or get more coffee or tea.

(Seriously, before I started eating more raw, I would have hot tea or coffee at 8am, stop to eat breakfast at 9 or 9:30, at 10:30 or 11am I was thinking about lunch and what to do, where to go. Then, at about 2:30 or 3pm, I would be hungry for a snack unless I ate a gi-normous amount at lunch, then I would be tired and wanting an afternoon nap. Either way, I would probably snack, then want dinner at 6pm. I was always hungry and always thinking about food.)

This breakfast is simple: about 10 germinated* almonds, a handful of raisins, another handful or so of whole oats, and about 4 tablespoons yogurt and/or milk. Each morning, I add a different fruit, one half each for Hubby and me. Sometimes, we go with an apple or banana (always a good standard), but lately, the nectarines and mangoes have been excellent at our grocery store. Part of the reason we have not become tired of having the same thing every morning is because of the different fruit we add to it. The other part is because we feel great after eating it!

All stirred up with nectarine

Adding Mango on another morning

Obviously with the addition of the yogurt and milk, this is not a 100% raw breakfast (or afternoon snack, or lunch – we’ve had it as both). But, my blog is not a 100% raw blog. If you were to purchase unpasteurized milk or yogurt made from unpasteurized milk, this may be 100% raw. I have to research whole oats. I have eaten oats labeled as “raw” before, and I don’t notice any difference between those and the whole oats I use. But, Carol Alt says in her books, “If it doesn’t say raw, it’s not raw.” The oats I buy do not say raw so I’m not sure if they are or not. But, whole oats do provide fiber and complex carbohydrates, which are both great for our systems.

*A note about germinating: It is very easy! Germinating nuts and seeds releases the nutrients inside those awesome nuts and seeds so they are more biologically available to us. Each specific nut and seed has a different germinating time, so I would direct you to Carol Alt’s books for more info on that. This is what I do for almonds:

(Two cups of almonds lasts me for this breakfast for about two weeks, for the two of us.) Rinse the 2 cups of almonds twice or so

Pour them into a glass bowl or other glass container

Pour purified water over them enough to cover all the almonds and have about a ½ inch of water above them

(Note I use filtered water, but others use distilled water – do what works for you)

Let the almonds soak for 8 to 12 hours on the counter, just at room temperature

(Note that I have set them to soak before work in the morning – then when I’m done with my workday, they are ready to put away – and also before going to bed at night – then when I wake up the next morning, they are ready to use)

Pour the water out and rinse them a few times again

The almonds are germinated and ready to use! I store mine in a container in the fridge and they last for the whole 2 weeks. They may last longer, but I usually run out by then.

You’ll find the almonds are sweeter and more flavorful after germinating, and of course, a little softer. Hubby says they taste reminiscent of coconut.

So, that’s how we do breakfast. We’ve given up the boxed cereals and cooked oatmeal and feel so much better for it!

Enjoy!