As I mentioned in my previous blog, I have been going through some pretty exciting major life changes recently. Naturally, the need to create a new path didn’t just happen over night, but in my case, it certainly made itself heard overnight. Or rather, I suddenly heard it overnight…and boy by the time I did hear it, it was SHOUTING!!

It actually happened one weekend in March on a visit to the UK. That weekend I had met up with my lovely friend Rosanna and met, for the first time, another delicious girlie, called Blanka. The lovely Rosanna is a fab and funky yoga teacher and the beautiful Blanka is a goddess of the raw kitchen.

I had no idea that this highly delicious weekend would so dramatically crank up the volume of my inner voice and launch me into a dynamic period of change (as well as the amazing energy of the girls, I swear Blanka’s raw chocolate cake had something to do with this…seriously!). But I easily sensed that the seed of an exciting project was about to germinate. You know that feeling, when something just clicks so nicely that it’s impossible to not turn ideas into action?

Since us three girls have a similar love of funky, healthy, energetic things, we decided to pool our knowledge and skills together to put on a rather delicious workshop to help and inspire other self-employed women to boost their energy, re-ignite their passion for their business, meet like-minded ladies and generally show them a good time.

And so our workshop ‘High Energy for Entrepreneurial Women’ was born. We are holding our first one in London on 27th November 2011 and would love, love, just love you to join us for a day of energizing yoga, delicious vibrant food (all raw!), inspiration for goal setting, a talk on energizing (raw) food plus tips on how to boost your energy.

We are ridiculously excited about this event. During my recent trip to the UK, I had a reminder of how fab these girls are by attending a couple of Rosanna’s yoga classes and sampling more of Blanka’s amazing food (raw vegan cheese and crackers, and raw banoffee pie lingers seductively in my taste bud memory).

Indeed, we are so excited about the possibility of you joining us, we are offering an early bird discount on the price of a ticket, so that you can save a yummy £40 to spend on other things. So scoot on over to this page and check out this event. Make sure you secure your place before Sunday 14th August 2011 to slurp up the special price!

In the meantime I shall do my very best to sample as many of Blanka’s desserts as possible, just to make sure that the perfect selection is made for you. Perhaps some more of that life-changing chocolate cake would be just the rocket fuel you need…

Share on Facebook

I discovered Nakd bars several years ago at a raw food / vegan festival in London. Immediately I fell for the taste, the cheeky packaging (declaring that the bars are “gleefully made in Wales’”) and the nice vibe I got from Natural Balance Foods, the company behind them.

Since discovering their new raw food bars this summer, I have I admit gotten a bit of a crush on this company. I totally love their cheeky little Raw Nakd Nudie bars, especially the Cocoa Orange which offers a perfect little hit of dates, nuts and cocoa (5%, not raw) and tastes truly delicious – and as you know by now, dear Reader, I am rather particular when it comes to my raw treats!.

Apart from the fact these these are yummy-licious raw bars, and are free from dairy, gluten and added sugar, I also love their size. The other bars they do are about twice the size, which is absolutely fine, but having these 35g bars is so very handy. If you are flagging and need a quick boost of energy then one of these bars will keep you going until your next meal. And if you have longer to wait, then eat two! Or three!…

I like to make sure I always have one or two of these in my bag to turn to either when I am hungry, or need a boost of energy, or am out and about and want a raw treat while other people are tucking into cakes and cookies.

So I have been enjoying these on planes, in cinemas (perfect with a carton of Coconut Water, a true treat!), walking down the street (I don’t usually like spoiling a perfectly good eating occasion by walking at the same time, but sometimes we busy girls need to eat on the run), in a park with a take-away peppermint tea, in the car, at my desk, on a walk in the woods…!

Apart from the lovely Cocoa Orange, you can enjoy these bars in the form of: Cashew Cookie, Ginger Bread, Pecan Pie. I think the names are so perfectly descriptive that I don’t think you need me make you drool onto your keyboard by going into too much detail; the best thing to do is try them for yourself.

You can find these cheeky little bars on line from Natural Balance Foods >>>

You can also find them in health food stores and other well stocked shops such as Goodstore >>> on Södermalm in Stockholm – perfect for enjoying in the park next door, or treat yourself to some coconut water (also from Goodstore) for a perfect cinema combo!

Share on Facebook

Oh, I am just crazy-bonkers about avocados. So rich and yummy, and incredibly versatile! I have heard some people state that they don’t eat avocados as they are high in calories and fat, and then they tuck in to a bag of crisps (chips)! Yes, for a fruit, they are rich in healthy fats and calories, but when you eat natural, raw, mono saturated fats, your body processes them in a very different way than the fats you will find in animal products or cooked, or processed food. Plus, they are full of goodness, and are a good source of vitamin E, potassium, B vitamins, vitamin K, beta-carotene, fiber and folic acid.

I usually eat about 2 avocados a day. We are all different, and some people may not feel energetic after so many, but (so far) I feel great from it, and love the different ways I get to use them:

In smoothies to make them rich and filling
In Life-Loving desserts (like the ones in my e-book)
On (raw) crackers or bread (with a little sprinkle of salt) instead of butter or cheese
In sushi or nori rolls
In a fruit salad
On it’s own with a little lemon juice
In salads to add richness and substance
In dips and dressings
On pizza, instead of cheese

Having avocados around really helps me keep to a high-raw lifestyle. If I don’t have something ’substantial’ in the fridge such as a raw pate, or nut cheese (and if I can’t be bothered to make one) then an avocado will really boost my meal in both the satisfying and the taste department!

Recently, I heard Kate Magic mention using cacao in guacamole, and in a shot I was in the kitchen fondling my lovely avocados to find a ripe candidate for surely such a perfect combination. I like her idea to not just use cacao in sweet foods, so that you can have the cacao goodness, taste and – let’s be honest – hit, without having a dessert, if you are not in the mood for one (yes, even I don’t always want a dessert!)

So, dear Reader, I share with you today a recipe for Cacaomole, and one for Guacamole.

I have split the recipe up here so if you don’t think you will fancy the cacao-spiked version, then you can enjoy the calmer version (also known as Guacamole) just as much.

Also, if you want to keep things simple, in both time, ingredients and effort you can eat this as it is. But I have also added a list of delicious extras that you can add to really boost this dish, in terms of taste, texture, and nutrition.

And finally, for those of you with access to superfood powders, there is a little suggestion of what you can add to this dish to add an extra whooosh!

Guaca/Cacaomole!
Serves one, maybe two, depending on if you are as greedy as we are!

Guacamole – Basic recipe:

1 large avocado
1 small clove garlic, crushed
¾ tablespoon lemon or lime juice, or to taste
salt and black pepper, to taste

Very yummy additions:

I add all of these, but feel to pick and choose and will!

1 small tomato, diced
Sprig of parsley or coriander, chopped
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds – mineral and protein rich with a yummy crunch!
2 sun-dried tomatoes (soaked in water, if not stored in oil), chopped
fresh or dried chili, to taste
4 olives, stones removed, and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed (or ½ teaspoon ground coriander)

Make mine a Cacaomole!

Add 1.5 teaspoons cacao powder

Superlove, me baby!

For a super-dooper nutritional boost, add any, or all of the following, which you will find in on-line raw food shops such as Råvarubutiken (Scandinavia).

½ teaspoon purple corn – high in antioxidants
½ teaspoon reishi mushroom powder – great for the immune system
1 tablespoon goji berries – high in vitamin c, contains B vitamins, and all of the essential amino acids
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes – high in B vitamins, also adds yummy savoury taste. (Not raw. Folks in Sweden can buy this online from Goodstore or at their store in Stockholm.)

How to make it

Mash the avocado with a fork, and stir in the remaining ingredients. If you are making a large batch of this, you can whizz up the avocados in a food processor, but stir in the extras by hand to maintain the contrast in texture.

Divine served in a nori roll with strips of cucumber, carrot, red bell pepper, apple and some green leaves and sprouts e.g. alfalfa or sunflower sprouts.

Or, you can serve as a dip with yummy raw veggies.

And, of course, you can serve with Mexican food!

** note, if your avocados are the not the best, and are a little pale and watery, you may want to add 1 teaspoon olive oil, to add a little richness. If using cacao, then ½ teaspoon agave syrup will help your naughty avocado regain a sense of roundness!

Did you enjoy this article and recipe? Sign up to receive email notifications of new articles that I publish!

Feel free to share this article with others. Please just remember to include the following credit: © 2010 Johanna Best www.miss-best.com

Share on Facebook

I didn’t intend to write again about desserts this week. I don’t want you to think that I am force-feeding you yummy desserts and plugging my e-book at any occasion. However, this weekend, Christoffer and I managed to achieve something that has been bugging me for a long time, and I just wanted to share it with you, as I know I am not alone on this!

It bothers me that on special occasions – times when we celebrate ourselves, such as birthdays, or other events such as Christmas, or family get-togethers – we often ‘treat’ ourselves to unhealthy food and drink. Many people – me included – find it manageable to make wise and yummy eating choices all throughout the year, but on the days that should be extra special, we indulge in sugar, refined flour, alcohol, etc etc. The result is that we get (probably) a great tasting meal, or cake, but end up feeling pretty crappy from it. Not just physically, but mentally too, from the guilt and disappointment that we ’slipped up’ and ate the foods we made a commitment to avoid.

There can be many reasons for this. Maybe, on just that one day you don’t want to have to bother about what you should, and shouldn’t, be eating. Perhaps you go out for a meal, and just want a nice time and don’t want to have to worry about eating healthy food. Or perhaps someone has been kind enough to bake, or buy, you a birthday cake, and you don’t want to offend them by refusing their sweet gift.

On one hand, I believe that on the odd occasion, it’s better to just accept the situation, and promise yourself to get back to the good, healthy food straight away, rather than getting yourself into a state about it. But, on the other hand, I believe that on occasions, such as birthdays, we should be extra careful about celebrating life. Why on our one extra special day of the year, should we aggravate a physical condition we may have by eating ‘naughty’ food, or come away from the celebrations feeling ‘blurgh’ and devoid of energy?

One of the reasons I have, in the past, not stuck to Life-Loving Food on birthdays, is a lack of a good replacement for a yummy, easy, cake. I will always eat 100% vegan food, but I have eaten refined flour, refined sugar and rather sickly cakes on my birthday. And although they tasted good, they left me rather less Life-Loving than normal!

Until Now! Friday was Christoffer’s birthday, and I made him the Chocolate Torte from my e-book. I knew that he loves this dessert, and that it was even better than the cooked, refined versions that I have made for his special day in the past, so was confident he wouldn’t feel at all under celebrated on his special day.

We actually took some cake with us to eat at the Japanese Spa Hotel we stayed at for his birthday, and enjoyed it with some Sencha Tea, overlooking a snowy view of the archipelago. I served it with the Raspberry Sauce from the e-book, fresh fruit and some soya cream. Raw nut cream would have also worked, but I was really pushed for time, even though nut cream is super quick to make.

These collection of recipes that I have created, have meant so much to our lives. Desserts and cakes were a real weak spot in our healthy eating lifestyle, and I now really feel completely capable of coming up with the sweet goods on any occasion. And to have Christoffer on board and preferring these desserts to cooked, refined versions is fantastic! One small step for (a) man…one giant leap for mankind. Perhaps this e-book really is ‘life changing’, as one person described it!

To find out more about this collection of recipes visit:
www.miss-best.com/LLLD.html

Share on Facebook

I don’t usually blog twice in one week, but I just had to share this with you. Yesterday, Christoffer and I received a little parcel in the post. Inside was a very pretty heart shaped box. Nestled inside this box were some beautiful, Life-Loving Chocolate Truffles.

Christoffer’s mum, Mirjam, had made these gorgeous, chocolatey balls of heaven from a recipe included in my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts‘, and sent them to us as a Valentine’s present.

Oh, I was so excited when I saw what it was, that I nearly wet myself! Even without the box, it is a true treat to receive Life-Loving Chocolate Truffles, that not only taste heavenly, but are also free from nasties like refined sugar, dairy products, eggs and additives! Presenting them in such gorgeous packaging is like adding, well, a little bit of heaven on top of heaven.

We tasted one each after lunch today, and they taste just perfect! I am very happy that the recipe works so well! Ahh, I feel so honoured to receive such a gift. It feels like I have blown a little kiss out into the world, and that Mirjam has caught it, added her own creative love, and then blown it right back at us.

The trick now, is for me not to nibble away at those little truffles before tomorrow. Although, if I did, I could make some more and sneak them into the box before Christoffer notices. I do have the recipe, after all!

Happy Valentine’s to you!

Oh, and don’t forget that the 20% discount off my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts: 43 delicious, but secretly healthy, recipes to make you smile’ runs out at 9am (GMT) on Monday 15th February. I am very happy to see that people have been using the discount code to treat themselves to these Life-Loving recipes. I hope lots and lots of people are enjoying tasty desserts from my e-book this weekend.

Remember to quote ‘Love20‘ at the checkout to pick up a copy for just $10.20 (excl. VAT for EU residents) or £7.99 (incl VAT). You can read more about the e-book and order it here >>

And if you want a little chocolate teaser, then take a look at this recipe for Chocolate Chip Ice Dream that I posted last week. This frozen desserts also appears in my e-book. Not only will it make a lovely dessert on any day, but with Pancake Day coming up on Tuesday, I can certainly recommend you whipping up some of this to smother on your pancakes. Oh, I have some lovely pancake recipes in the e-book too. Aren’t I just so thoughtful?!

Share on Facebook

This morning I have been outside clearing snow off the driveway while our dog and her doggie friend scoot around the garden, playing, and sticking their heads in the deep, white fluff.

When I came in, I made myself a cup of peppermint tea and took two large Chocolate Crisp Truffles from the fridge. I sat myself at my computer to answer some of the very kind messages I have received following the launch of my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’. I lifted one of the coconut and dark chocolate enveloped truffles to my mouth, and gently bit through the bitter sweet crispy shell into the sweet, mellow and chewy center.

I smiled. I smiled again. I thought of Christoffer, who has taken a box of them with him to work today; and I thought of the lovely people who have already bought the book, knowing what delights are in store for them when they try out the recipes.

Since it is soon the weekend, my thoughts turned to plans for the next two days. I decided that, tomorrow, I will treat myself to a new film on DVD, and cosy on up by the fire with a heavenly treat. Being a bit of a frozen dessert freak, I will make my divine Chocolate Chip Ice Dream for the occasion. I am going to freeze the bananas today, so they will be ready for whenever I decide to make it tomorrow. Then, in about five minutes, I will have a amazing, low-fat, quick and easy frozen dessert to indulge in while watching my new film.

‘Oh, Miss Best, you tease us!’, I hear you cry. Fear not, dear, and faithful but curious Reader. Today, I am actually going to reveal this recipe from my e-book, in the hope that you too can delight in how heavenly, yet ridiculously simple, and annoyingly healthy this dessert is!

So, here comes the recipe. If you have any tips on what film to buy this weekend, please do leave them as a comment below. Or indeed, if you have any other comments to make, I am always excited to read them!

If you are interested in the recipe for the scrummy Chocolate Crisp Truffles, plus more insanely good, and secretly healthy desserts, please take a look at what my e-book has to offer >>

Chocolate Chip Ice Dream
Taken from ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’, by Johanna Best

Serves 2

6 frozen bananas (peel, slice and freeze for at least 12 hours)
2-4 tablespoons cocoa powder (depending on how chocolatey you like it!)
Small pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla powder / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
2 tablespoons cacao nibs or chopped dairy-free chocolate

Allow the bananas to stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften slightly. Blend them together in a food processor with the cocoa powder, salt and vanilla to make a soft and smooth ‘ice cream’. This may take a couple of minutes, and you will need to stop the food processor a couple of times to scrape down the sides. Stir in the cacao nibs or chocolate chips, and serve immediately.

Passionate Chocolate Ice Dream – stir in the flesh from 2 passion fruit before serving for a sexy twist.

Did you enjoy this article and recipe? Sign up to receive email notifications of new articles that I publish!

Feel free to share this article with others. Please just remember to include the following credit: © 2010 Johanna Best www.miss-best.com

Share on Facebook

Oh do forgive me, dear reader, for not posting a blog last week. I have just returned from my sister’s beautiful vegan wedding in the UK and had meant to use the long outward journey to write a blog for last Friday, but alas, it did not materialize! Because I don’t do much traveling these days I was so enjoying the time to just reflect, watch the changing scenery, and wonder what the clouds beneath me would taste like if I were to suck them up through a pink curly straw, that I forgot to put pen to paper.

Although I produced no blog post on that journey, I did have a nice food journey that I wanted to share with you. I managed to arrive at my dear sister’s after a 13 hour journey feeling tired but not at all icky or fatigued, as I have done before when I have snacked on sandwiches, crisps (chips), sweets and chocolate bars along the way.

For the journey I had prepared a salad for the plane which I enjoyed with some raw crackers and an avocado, and I brought with me a super-food laced green smoothie to enjoy before I went through security and would therefore be confiscated of any ‘dangerous’ drinks that could be used to terrorize my fellow passengers (though I do wish that someone had confiscated the greasy and smelly portion of fish & chips that my fellow passenger was scoffing on the train from the airport!!)

At the coach station in Stockholm (City Terminalen) I spied a juice bar and treated myself to a fresh carrot and orange juice with extra ginger to ward off any cold my fellow passengers may be carrying. It turns out that one fellow coach passenger was proudly shouting down his mobile that he had just been to hospital to test for swine flu which left me wondering why on earth people think that it’s some kind of status thing to be sick!? Well, perhaps swine flu gets you more sympathy than a little sniffle!

When I landed at Stansted I had some time to enjoy before my train departed and was very happy to find another juice bar where I refreshed myself with a wheatgrass juice shot and then a large beetroot, carrot, apple and extra ginger juice. The combination was balancing and hydrating and left me all zingy for the next leg of my journey, which was long, not particularly noteworthy and on which I truly enjoyed a large slab of raw chocolate cake that I had spiked with goodies like camu camu to keep the immune boosted.

And as a bonus – and this is a big achievement for Miss Best – I managed to have all this brightly coloured food and drink without spilling any of it down my new white coat!

On my journey home I didn’t pack anything to eat. I was thinking of foraging for a vegan sandwich at the train station but although I did find one it didn’t really take my fancy, and since I had a little time to spare I was able to venture into a food shop to look for something more interesting. I came away with 2 prepared fruit salads, a bag of washed salad and 3 mini pots of houmous .

I was jolly grateful for this light fresh food (apart from the houmous that made me feel a bit blurgh) especially since I had been enjoying plenty of vegan wedding cupcakes, and other cooked goodies during my stay.

The highlight though was a raw chocolate bar I had found in a health food store in Ross-on-Wye which totally rocked and was a nice treat for such a long journey. MULU silk is so smooth and silky and chunky and is definitely one of the best raw chocolate bars I have tried! MULU is made with unsprayed raw ingredients and is free from refined sugar, dairy and soya. Visit the MULU site here >>

I was jolly impressed with myself as usually when I go back ‘home’ to the UK I can’t help but fill up on all the ‘yummy’ foods they don’t have in Sweden. Those foods tend to be junky and I usually end up eating copious amounts of crisps (chips) and things but it just didn’t appeal to me this time. Maybe it was because I gave myself the green light and ate freely from the amazing vegan buffet at the wedding (plus the following 2 days of left-overs). I feel that – within reason – by not telling myself I mustn’t eat something I am more likely to get back to high raw after a little indulgence. It seems that my inner self has nothing to rebel against then! Besides after munching on vegan quiches and pasta salad for a few days, my body was grateful to get back to my usual Miss Best food!

Here is a quick list of the foods I enjoyed to boost my raw intake during my holiday:

Raw crackers – great when traveling and also to eat at your host’s instead of bread
Buckwheaties – sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat to have at breakfast with fruit, nuts, seeds and nut milk or non-dairy milk.
Green powder – I mixed up some spirulina, barleygrass powder, maca, purple corn and camu camu to either stir into smoothies or just water/juice if there were no smoothie opportunities.
Raw chocolate or raw chocolate cake – great to treat yourself and keep you off the sugar filled versions along your travels.
I also made a point of ordering a salad for a starter when we ate out. That way I layered myself with raw goodies before sampling the exciting cooked vegan dishes I was presented with.
I also kept my peepers peeled for fresh veggie juices at juice bars, or veggie cafes. Yay, liquid salad!

Share on Facebook

As I have mentioned before, I love Booja Booja truffles. I also love inspiring companies that break the mold and operate in an authentic and responsible way.

I thought I would share this beauty with you:

“The Booja Booja company exists to nurture intimacy, balance, well-being, love, ecstasy and humour in the world through all avenues available.” – the Booja Booja Business Purpose

What’s your business/life purpose?

Share on Facebook

Have you ever tried a Booja Booja truffle? I already had a bit of a crush on Mr Booja Booja for bringing us amazing and decadent dairy-free truffles but now that he has brought us raw truffles I am positively head-over-heels. Seriously – wow these are amazing. The raw truffles come in two varieties: Raspberry and ‘Plain’. Both are so incredibly good.

These little babies are sweetened with agave syrup instead of sugar, which I am so happy about since I avoid regular refined sugar. Agave has a lower GI, and is much easier on the blood sugar levels. Other ingredients include raw cacao (which is just exploding with antioxidants) and raw coconut butter. Whip these together and you get sublime melt-in-the-mouth cubes of lurve to get all excited about.

It’s the kind of thing that you want to lock yourself away from other people when eating, nibble off the outer coating and then lick and suck away at the soft chocolate inside…which should probably be x-rated…but since it harms no one (not even the cacao farmers since it is fair trade) I think one can be quite forgiven. Even on a Sunday.

In fact I was so loved-up from one secret Booj-session, as I like to call them, that I sent a little mail of appreciation to Mr B himself. It went something like this:

“Dear Mr Booja Booja

I am in love with your raw truffles.

It is amazing how much you can pleasure a girl with such a small packet…

Miss Best x “

I think everyone needs to be shown appreciation so that they know that they are putting out good things in to the world. Don’t be shy…even highly successful people are boosted from hearing the positive outcomes of offering their gifts to the world!

Share on Facebook