Lavender Honey Lemonade // Raw Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

Being a southern california native, winter does not equal cold in my vocabulary. So when it reached almost 80 degrees last week in the middle of December, it seemed all too reasonable to whip up a batch of lemonade so often left for warmer months. We've been experimenting with cleaner eating (no sugar, dairy, wheat, etc.) here in our hive, and since Oscar and I both have a sweet tooth to boot, I've been looking for healthy substitutes to replace our overly-processed "treats". Being major chocolate lovers, I was ecstatic to find out that before adding all the white sugar and milk, chocolate is actually good for you. Really good for you! Raw cacao is full of antioxidants, magnesium, calcium, and essential, heart-healthy fat. It also promotes healthy digestion, circulation, and can enhance mental and physical clarity. Honestly, if I would have known it was so easy to make, I would have started years ago! Lemon is a timeless refresher, cleanser, and detoxifier, while lavender holds the spotlight for being one of the most calming, soothing scents in the world. Add the perfect balance of honey sweetness, and you are in for a serious treat. The following recipes are simple, quick, and sure to please everyone, without the added heaviness of refined sugar and dairy. Plus, the taste is out of this world! Please enjoy and we hope you're having a wonderful season of winter love. 

Lavender Honey Lemonade

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup raw honey (can add more or less depending on sweetness preference)
• 1 cup water (for the lavender)
• 1 cup lemon juice (from 4-6 lemons)
• 3 or 4 cups of water (for diluting)
• 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Directions:

1. Bring 1 cup of water to boil, remove from heat and add lavender. Use a reusable tea steeper if available. Cover and allow to steep for 10 minutes.
2. Juice 4-6 lemons. 
3. Strain lavender flowers (if a tea steeper was not used) and stir in honey to the hot lavender water.
4. Combine the juice and the lavender-honey water with 3-4 cups of cold water, depending on desired strength. Refrigerate for a few hours for the best taste.
5. Serve with ice and lemon slices.

Raw Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar/maple syrup (use 4 tablespoons for a sweeter chocolate)
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional - gives more of a "Reese's" taste, if that's your thing!)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Combine cacao powder and choice of syrup in a mixing bowl.
2. Melt coconut oil over VERY low heat and add to cacao powder and syrup immediately after all pieces have melted, whisk together until smooth.
3. Fill 12 muffin tins with liners and portion a small spoonful of the chocolate into each, spread it out so it covers the bottom and a little bit of the sides. This will be the bottom layer of your cup. If chocolate is too thick to spread, whisk in a bit more melted coconut oil.
4. Allow to harden in freezer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Mix almond butter, nutritional yeast (if desired), vanilla extract and salt. Once the bottom layer of chocolate has hardened, remove from freezer and add a small spoonful of the almond butter mix, then use a spoon to cover with another layer of chocolate. Return to freezer for 10-15 then enjoy! 
6. Store in freezer for best taste! These babies melt fast. 

Depending on how thick or thin you want your cups, you may need to make another batch of chocolate. These portions would work well for a thin cup, which I would recommend. I made ours pretty thick and it was almost too much to handle! 

If we don't post again in 2013, we look forward to seeing you again next year! Lots of love and hugs from our hive to yours. May this new year be full of magic and wonder for all!

The Sling Diaries, Vol. IV // Everything Shines: Culture

Hello and happy Thursday! I'm so excited to announce that I was chosen to participate in volume IV of Sakura Bloom's The Sling Diaries: Everything Shines. For the next six months, CJeanPhotography will be photo-documenting our babywearing adventures and I will be writing on a monthly assigned theme, all of which will be posted here on our blog! You can also follow my posts and all the other mamas and papas participating here, and read my application entry here. Make it a great day and I hope you enjoy my first post!

Love and hugs,

Ashley

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I have been fascinated by the subject of culture since I was a child. My parents are very strong in their Christian faith and during my youth I was encouraged to involve myself in a variety of work that helped to serve others and to spread the message of love and hope around the world. Before I reached eighteen years of age, I had experienced a taste of life from over a dozen countries, each distinguished by their own unique cultural beauty, practices, and beliefs. From South Africa to Panama, Thailand to Honduras, each place I went brought me closer to the realization that traveling was my teacher. School quickly became a rite of passage to get through, and I understood that what was really valuable for my education was to learn as much as possible from the world around me, expanding my knowledge and understanding of life through the inviting of different cultures and ideas in. Witnessing such powerfully radical differences between people groups across the planet brought me to the personal conclusion that no one worldview or way of expression can possibly work for everyone, and that if peace and harmony are to rule this planet, we must be able to unite the common threads that tie us together as a whole.

With all the influence of my upbringing it makes sense to me that I would manifest a romantic relationship with someone from another country, so I really shouldn't be surprised that Luna's dad is from Mexico and was only living in the US for two years when we met, but the idea still makes me giddy every day! Oscar has been the most amazing person to create life with and I am so grateful for his perspective and for the experience of starting a family with him. I'm also grateful for what it means for us that he is not from this country. (Going beyond the obvious language differences between our families and all the other fun stuff that comes when cultures cross!) We have explored this idea a lot together and deeply believe that humanity is evolving in a way where there is hope to see borders disappear and countries merge, sharing space on earth in respect, peace and harmony. I know some may say this idea seems farfetched, especially when you watch the news and see the types of conflicts there are between territories and land. But when I look at my little family that has crossed cultural barriers so beautifully, I see a small representation of what the future could hold, and I am encouraged by the lessons I learned through my travels as a child.

From the most remote village in Namibia, to the bustling city streets of London, I discovered the common thread tying us all together as humanity is the desire to experience love. To know and to be love, to give and to receive love. And if we could all focus our attention on magnifying that common denominator of love, we truly believe the world could become a different, better place. So instead of raising Luna as Mexican, American, Christian, or Catholic, we are choosing to bring her up in the culture of Love. A culture that redefines culture, that operates on the principles of acceptance and understanding, that gathers tradition from all walks of life and honors the beauty of each. A culture always working towards a united people and planet, richly flowing in the unique expression of every individual thread of color, weaving together a new collective tapestry of the human race.

I'm wearing a Sakura Bloom simple linen sling in Lavender. All photos by CJeanPhotography.

Mountain Hive

     

Hello and happy December! I'm writing this from our cozy new home in the mountains, and really, I couldn't be more thrilled or happy to share that news!! Oscar and I had been waiting and looking for the perfect place to move to for quite awhile, and one thing we really were hoping for the most was to move away from the city and closer to nature. Our prayers were answered at the end of October when we found an adorable one bedroom guest house, nestled in the mountains of Alpine, California, in the Cleveland National Forest, on acres of open land. We are having so much fun discovering our new town! Adorable antique shops, cafes, feed stores, parks and lots of small town local vibes are just a few of the things we have been loving about this place.

It's really a great living situation, not only for us, but for the family that lives in the main house. They have a lot of projects (chickens, bees, a small orchard and garden, etc.) that aren't receiving the time or attention needed to be sustainable, and we are wanting to eventually have a small scale farm but are building the funds it will require to do so, and this gives us the chance to do a lot of what we already want to do without investing our own funds. It's a win-win situation for everyone! It really has been such a nurturing past month for us. Connecting with nature, the sunsets and stars (which look AMAZING from our deck), and giving attention to certain parts of our souls that had been lost within the density of city life. We already feel so much more grounded and feel ourselves tuning in to nature's rhythms. We can't wait to see what living in the country does to our spirits as we detox from the city and submerge ourselves in the stillness and silence that comes from mountain life! 

Moving out here has been exactly what we thought it would be and is only bringing us more blessings than we had imagined. It is so amazingly beautiful out here! We are looking forward to really exploring this new space and for all the creative energy that is already starting to flow through so freely. Can't wait to see what projects and visions are born from here! Thank you for enjoying the journey with us and we hope you are keeping the love, peace and gratitude in your hearts during this often hectic season. We send warm hugs from our Hive to yours!

Love,

Ashley, Oscar, Luna & Francois