A HEALTHY MORNING WITH ME.

         A healthy Morning Routine in the life of  Grace.

Every morning after waking up from the sound of my annoying alarm, I drink a cup of water and try my best to be grateful and thankful always, through prayers and connecting with my creator by listening and reading his word (THE BIBLE).
This is a great way to start the day, to be relaxed and thankful and clear my mind, a time to motivate myself and prepare for the world.

Then I go to the kitchen, boil water and make a detox drink; sometimes lemon and honey or just lemon. Detox drinks help aids weight loss, reduce inflammation, promote healthy skin, boost energy, detoxify and cleanse the body.

Recently I started morning meditation and it has been amazing. I just sit in bed, close my eyes and breath deeply in and out, connecting with my body for about 10 minutes, listening to a meditation audio. This is an amazing way to calm the body, giving it the chance to think more positively, feeling more relaxed.

I go through my to-do list and also set a target for the day: but I don't do this often.

It's time to appreciate myself and embrace me and my body, time to get some self -love in, so I just look into the mirror and look more careful like I am looking at someone else and I compliment myself. If you think of it, we are always quick to complimenting and judging other people but don't seem to do that to yourself, so taking a minute to do that in the morning will change your day. You wouldn't know until you try. I have realised I don't get upset easily these days and most times I take my time to think about the situation before reacting.

Then I play music to awaken my soul and I try to move around and get my workout done, for about 30 mins - 40 mins, just this holiday.

I then make breakfast and cook for the family. Today, I had a smoothie for breakfast and made pounded yam and gbegiri for the family as they love their solid, so I decided to make it for them during the day or morning time when they more active, even though its heavy but it's not bad for breakfast, compare to dinner and then going to sleep: not too healthy.

I then freshen up, brush my teeth and moisturise my skin. It's holiday and today I just took some time to chill and catch up with TV program, errands and other necessary things.

It is healthy to live a healthy life because you get the benefit after all; long life, lower risk of diseases, weight loss, maintaining weight, glowing skin and a lot more benefit.

Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas fitbae.

Brownie

Raw Brownie 

 

This brownie is suitable for everyone, including vegan. It is healthy and requires no baking. This recipe was a practical and I didn't take note of the measurement but trust me, you don't even need to measure it to get it right, that is how easy it is, you just need to follow step by step to achieve the right texture. This brownie is in three layers and below are the ingredients you'll be needing for each layers. For my recipe, I used about 1/4 of 250 g of cocoa powder and 30 dates and in total made about 7 portion. Probably could have made eight but the mixture was to yum, I keep dipping in.

The process is simple but I have written a lot so you get the right texture, because I don't have an exact measurement yet.

Ingredients

Layer 1 (Thick Cocoa Mixture) 
Cocoa dough
-Mixing Bowl and wooden spoon
-Cocoa Powder
-Honey( to sweeten)
-Oat( about 2 tbsp)
-Crushed Almond (add crunchy texture)
-Dried grape (Sultanas); to sweeten and more gooey texture.

Layer 2 (Gooey dates and Sultanas Mixture)
Sweet & gooey 
-Food processor
-Dates
-Almonds
-Dried grape(Sultanas)
-Milk to blend)

Layer 3 (Runny Cocoa Mixture)

Chocolate glaze
-Mixing bowl and wooden spoon
-Cocoa powder
-Honey
-Semi skimmed milk


HOW TO
Layer 1
Step 1:In a mixing bowl firstly pour in about 4 tablespoon of cocoa powder and  a 1 teaspoon or 1/2 tablespoon of milk(try to use milk with less fat)  and mix well with the wooden spoon till smooth, then add honey to taste (you can gradually add the honey and taste the mixture) as cocoa powder is not sweet on its own. (be carefully not to add to many honey and milk). The cocoa mixture should be a little thick, enough for you to hold in your hand.

Step 2:Then in a blender, blend about 1 tablespoon of oat, about 10 almonds and 1 teaspoon of sultanas. If you don't have a blender just chop the sultanas and almond with knife and use the oat like that or use ready blended oat.

Step 3: Add the dry blended mixture from step 2 into step 1 mixture and mix. Don't work if its too thick, you can gradually add tiny bit of milk to loosen the texture. The final texture should be like a dough texture( it shouldn't be sticky, but gooey and soft, that u can mold it in your hand and press into it), You can't go wrong with it,but be sure not to add too much liquid as this will require you using a lot of cocoa to get it back to the thick texture we want.

Step 4: In  cupcake paper, divide the cocoa dough into them (about 1 tablespoon full is on for each cupcakes) or you can spread the mixture on a tray lined with silver foil or cling film. (but i used cupcakes paper). Now the next step.

Layer 2
Step 1: Put enough dates, sultanas and almond into a food processor and blend. Gradually add a little bit of milk to bring the mixture together. (Just a little) and food processor work best for this process.You can use blender but it takes awhile. I tried using blender but switch to food processor and was easier and required less liquid.
Step 2: The mixture should be gooey and stuck together and press able too. Take about tablespoon of the mixture and put on layer 1 in the cupcake paper and press it down to cover the first layer or just pour the mixture on the first layer on your tray and spread it out with a spatula or your hand.(you might need to wet you palm a bit so they don't stick to the mixture as you press down on it)

Layer 3
Step 1: In a bowl add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and mix with about 2 tablespoon of milk till smooth and then add more milk to give it more of a liquid texture.( It should be runny as it is a glaze to pour over the second layer.

Final step: After pouring the glaze on the layer and spreading it evenly on the surface, its ready. You can have your no bake brownie like that or put it in the oven (with no heat) overnight, before storage. This is to dry it out so it have a more better texture and last longer. (see the different yourself)

Storage: Store in a container and put inside the cupboard. If you made yours on the try, cut it into smaller portion and put in container and store.

Note: Tablespoon is (tbsp) and Teaspoon is (tsp); the smaller one.