dirty blondies 👱‍♀️

Welcome to those who were just scanning the web and serendipitously landed on my humble site 👋 whether you are in a rut and don’t know what to make; are in that loop of “sooo, what do you want to eat tonight?”; or have fallen into the infinite black hole of saved recipes from social media (the internet is truly ultimate purveyor of maximalist TL;DR content overwhelm 😵‍💫🫠🤭). I hope you enjoy — it brings me great joy to sprinkle any ease into your life — cheers to your good health, good love & good fortune!

And per my usual caveat, I do not claim to be a doctor or a chef. I do not dream of being a fancy food blogger. I’m just a gal who enjoys living and eating for optimum well-being. I like to creatively alter, and occasionally create, recipes to make them as balanced as possible, in both taste and health. I’ve come to learn soul-food and body-fueling food are both real and equally important, hence the critical importance and beauty of mind-body-soul eating! ✨ I typically like to begin with a key ingredient or two that I’m hoping to work with, search for a preexisting recipe as a guide, then play with measurements and make swaps to level up nutrient density. Consider this a destination for healthy recipe inspiration, where you’ll never have to scroll through any continuously re-populating ads. One of my primary goals is to add a little simplicity in places I’ve found murky.

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I was admittedly on a bit of a sweets kick as we were wrapping out the long PNW winter/spring…and I imagine I haven’t been alone! A lot of us can use a little extra somethin’ somethin’ when that sun isn’t shining and why not make it nutrient dense and add a little yin to that yang. It’s all about balance.

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite new inventions to date — DIRTY BLONDIES! Aka brownies X blondies, but better and sexier than you’ve ever experienced. 

See the recipe below for a super simple, and dare I say nutritious, treat as follows:

INGREDIENTS
1 c grass-fed unsalted butter or organic virgin coconut oil
1 c coconut sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 large free range eggs, at room temperature 
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 c oat flour
3/4 c coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
2 tsp of Moon Juice Sex Dust® (or 1 tsp of organic maca powder + 1 tsp of organic cacao powder + 1/2 tsp organic ground cinnamon)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9x9 pan with with butter or coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix melted butter or oil and sugar. 
3. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk vigorously until smooth.
4. Add flour, baking powder, salt and Sex Dust® (or alt spice mix) and stir until well incorporated.
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth out.
6. Place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes until edges are golden and toothpick comes out mostly clean…I prefer them on the softer side 😉
7. Allow to cool completely, then cut into squares and enjoy!

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As with everything I make, I love to know the ingredients will fuel not only a beautiful plate, but a beautiful feeling inside. I will again caveat, I’m not a nutritionist, but as holistic health coach, here’s some functional food for thought:

SEX DUST®
What I love about this blend from Moon Juice® is that it’s not really just about libido and being a sex goddess — though more power to you if that’s what you want to focus on, sex is a key pillar of health! What I think makes this this powder so magical is that its nutrient focus is really on BALANCE and ENERGY! Which then of course also corresponds to a healthy libido and we all want that gusto for life. As per Moon Juice®, “Sex Dust® is a stimulating blend of adaptogens and herbs that target stress to support healthy hormonal balance, libido, and creative energy.* Informed by Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, this Moon Dust® combines Shatavari, Shilajit, Epimedium, Schisandra, Cacao, and Maca.” The reason I suggest the abbreviated alternative blend (in the event you don’t have this fabulous Moon Juice® power on hand) is because cacao has been shown to stimulates endorphin release, maca is known to support mood, energy, and healthy sexual function and cinnamon is a low-key powerhouse that not only adds sweetness, but is also an aphrodisiac and can lower blood sugar to keep us in balance. BOOM! Magic.

(HOMEMADE/WHOLE INGREDIENT) DESSERT
Yes, enjoying dessert is good for you health! And allow me to share my top 3 reasons for why I strongly believe this…
1. MENTAL HEALTH
2. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
3. ENERGY

The more we restrict ourselves, the more we’re going to crave what we’re restricting ourselves from — which in turn, may not be good for our mental health or weight weight management. For instance, if we’re thinking of how much we want some chocolate (or even our favorite salty snack if we’re less of a sweets person), but then deprive ourselves of this, there is a much greater probability we will binge on some at some point in the near future and/or even justify eating less healthful food throughout our day since we did were so “good” at avoiding the deemed gluttonous item when we wanted it. There are many unhealthy cycles we can develop, it’s most ideal to listen to our bodies and eat intuitively.

On top of this, dieting that involves sudden decreases to our intake of carbohydrates and sugar deprives our bodies of the necessary glucose needed for energy. This can lead to us feeling sluggishness, experience mental fog and distraction, as well as potentially feel depressed! The mind body connection is ever present.

There’s no reason to not enjoy dessert in moderation — life is meant to be sweet! When we take a bite out of our favorite desserts and our moods instantly level up, it’s due to the fact that foods with naturally high percentages of carbohydrates help the brain and body to produce chemicals (including serotonin) that contribute to overall emotional well being. The benefits of enjoying dessert simply outweighs the negative impact.

***important to note, as always, quality is essential — even with snack mixes…always shop organic when possible.