my nourished vibes

  i rely on honey alot. like alot. i kicked refined white sugar out of my life a decade ago, so just about every baked good i make around here is sweetened with honey. duh. ok, so no baked goods for a month while on whole30? we can do that!  but... no honey in our smoothies?  no honey in chia pudding?  no honey for homemade granola? (breaking out in nervous hives) << exactly why i avoided doing whole30 for so long > > this aspect of the detox was what worried me the most. but i found this handy little jar of date paste to be the perfect sweetener in time of need for multiple dishes. and i have to admit, i liked the full bodied flavor so much, im gonna make this a regular at our house! date paste 1 c dates water *place the dates in a bowl and pour in enough water to cover them. let them soak and soften for one hour. *drain dates and place in blender. *blend on high, adding just enough water to keep the mixture moving. *store

chia pudding 2 c  coconut milk 1/3 c chia seeds  *pour milk into jar. add chia seeds. *stir well with  a fork. shake and stir every 20 minutes for the first hour to ensure each seed gets to expand. *the seeds will expand and create a thick gel-like pudding in about two hours. *store in the fridge.

  assuming you started your whole30 journey at my first weekly meal plan.... welcome to whole30!!! you got this! so, lets start out with the easiest recipe. we drink coconut milk at our house on a regular basis. to by pass all the chemicals, thickeners, sugars and strange additives, we avoid the coconut milk sold in the cold case near the dairy milk. that stuff scares me! its a little extra work to make your coconut milk this way, but it actually tastes much better too, making the extra step completely worth it! you could always use it directly out of the can, but its so thick it would be a little strange poured over cereal. youll use this recipe in multiple ways over the next 30 days. it adds the perfect cream factor to whole30 chia pudding . its the base for nourishing hot cocoa and smoothies. (yes i know we "cheated" on that one.) and its life changing in a bowl of whole30 cereal ... to make it whole30 approved, instead of sweetening it with