Sorry about the delay in posting but I have some good news. Exams are done, I repeat, exams are done! Isn’t that just the best feeling?

After my exam, I came home to Mark, who had a sandwich and coffee ready for me, hooray! Also the cookbooks I ordered, My New Roots: Inspired Plant-Based Recipes for Every Season and The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share had arrived, double hooray! Unfortunately, all I wanted to do was sleep. My brain needed a little R&R.

The next day, I couldn’t shake these feelings of anxiety and guilt. I paced around my kitchen and checked my calendar to make sure I wasn’t missing an appointment but I did not have anything planned. I puttered around the house, sorted laundry and scrubbed the tub but I still felt anxious, almost sick to my stomach. I texted my friend Kristen telling her I was really living it up on my first day off school and told her I thought I was coming down with something. She explained that the anxiety I felt was brought on by not studying for class. She said my brain is in the routine of worrying about studying and when I am not hitting the books, my brain is in panic mode.

I wandered around my apartment, disoriented by not knowing what to do and far too distracted to actually sit down and do anything productive. I put on my jacket, laced up my shoes and headed out of the door. I went for a long walk, something I haven’t done in months since it has been so cold out. The cool air, the empty streets, my music coming through my headphones and the steady pace of my legs helped me clear my head and left me feeling refreshed.

I know I have a hard time relaxing; to truly enjoy doing nothing productive except maybe read a non-food related book or to drink a cup of coffee without looking at my phone. My mind tends to race when I “try” to relax, I feel like I should be doing laundry, cleaning, editing my photos or literally anything on my to-do list for that day but I need the time to unplug. Mark can clear his mind and relax so quickly while my mind is like a live wire, whipping around and shooting sparks in all directions. I asked him for some advice and he told me to just concentrate on my breathing, thinking of nothing else but the air travelling in and out of my lungs. Telling me to “not think of anything” seems to trigger my brain into thinking of EVERYTHING like remembering that time I embarrassed myself at that party when I was 21, running through my recipe checklist and the groceries I need to get for them and anything else that comes to mind. Mark, being the nice boyfriend that he is, let me use his Mala beads to help me concentrate on nothing. I placed the sandalwood beads in my hand, counted them all along its string and concentrated on my breathing. It honestly helped with my fidgety hands and busy mind. Everyone’s method to relax is different and I strongly urge you to find out your own, whether it is running, yoga, meditating, walking or reading a book, find it! I thanked Mark for his help by making him this pudding.

What do you do to relax? Leave comments below with your suggestions.

This recipe is vegan, gluten-free and tree-nut free. The FDA classifies coconut as a nut, even though it is technically a fruit. This recipe is adapted from Oh She Glows: {Almost} Instant Chocolate Chia Pudding. Not crazy about chocolate? Check out my Raspberry-Lemon Chia Seed Pudding.

*Disclaimer:  I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program which means I do earn a small commission on the affiliated links.* Something I am trying out and if it works out, great  but if not I will take it down. 

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Yum

Coconut-Chai Chocolate Pudding

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Serving Size: 1-2

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup chia seeds
• 3-4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of ground cardamom

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients to a high power blender and blend until completely smooth. At this point, the pudding may be warmed. Transfer to a serving bowl or cup, cover and refrigerate until the pudding is set and cool. Top with coconut, mulberries, granola or fresh fruit.

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I decided to go to the doctors, something I do once a year as a standard checkup but very rarely go for anything else. The first doctor I went to tested my iron and B12 levels since it was common for vegans to be low in those essential vitamins and minerals. Nope everything was good in that department. The next time I had a dizzy/hallucination episode I went to the emergency room since I couldn’t stand up without assistance. Samples were taken and this doctor told me that nothing was wrong with me but gave me gout medication and referred me to a neurologist. I said I had no symptoms of gout since I am not an alcoholic nor eat a lot of meat but he was insistent since the lining of my stomach was inflamed. (At the time I knew very little about inflammation.)

 Next up, neurologist.

He referred me to get two tests done: an EEG and an MRI. The EEG was strange since they flash an insanely bright light repeatedly in your face for an hour. Felt like a PG-rated Clockwork Orange experience. The MRI was just boring since you have to lay there absolutely perfectly still for 2 hours encased in a noisy dark tube. The nurse placed a towel over my face and immediately upon beginning the test I needed to scratch my nose.

Thankfully both tests came back negative but the symptoms still persisted. I was telling my Herbalist friend about my frustrations and he recommended me to his Naturopathic doctor. I felt a hit of panic of turning into a hippy (I could envision all my friends rolling their eyes at me) but I had done everything else without success so I made an appointment.

I am so glad I did. My N.D. made me fill out an 11-page diagnostic profile prior to my appointment checking off boxes of all the symptoms I was experiencing. The appointment was two hours long, much more time than I had ever been with a regular physician and we reviewed every ache and pain. After some testing, it turns out my body is on fire and my adrenal glands aren’t working as much as they could be.

Inflammation is the cause of my current dilemmas. My blood is too acidic and my gut floral had been ruined by my former addictions of diet drinks, smoking and caffeine pills. When I eat almost anything my stomach goes from normal to 6 months pregnant. Because of this symptom, my N.D. suggested I might have an ongoing food allergy that is causing my organs (brain included) to become inflamed. She suggested an elimination diet so I can determine if I had a food allergy.

Common food allergies include: gluten, eggs, dairy, soy and sulphites. Thankfully I don’t eat half of those things so they were easy to cross off the list but the others were a hard hit. After reading my food journal she decided I should eliminate gluten first since I seem to eat a lot more of it than I thought. One particularly embarrassing entry was a day where I ate nothing but a bagel with peanut butter and a slice of vegan pizza.

This was tragic news to me since gluten is my favourite food! Ok not really but I love things made with gluten, crusty bread especially. So for the next 6 weeks (including Christmas) Sprouts & Chocolate will be going gluten-free! If I turn into a raging monster please forgive me. 

I thought I would start with dessert since I was worried about not being able to enjoy some of my favs but this crisp is just as delicious as any that uses regular flour or butter in their topping. Lucky for me, my favourite ice cream is also gluten-free which is a perfect topping for this Chai-spiced Fall favourite, though now it is looking like Winter here is Toronto. 

Have any readers had symptoms that were unexplained by a normal physician to find out later that it was a food allergy?

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This recipe happened on a very defeating day: I came home from school all doom and gloom with upcoming exams, it was raining when I wanted there to be sun (in July!) and I just pulled my third batch of popsicles out of the freezer with no luck in making my perfect rich creamy fudgesicles. I made myself a cup of chai tea, studied a bit but my mind was still on my failed recipe. I Googled some other vegan fudgesicle recipes and a lot of them called for coconut milk. Duh! What was I thinking not using it?! All my fudgsicles previous to trying the coconut were too icy and not creamy enough. Once the creaminess was taken care, I turned to changing the flavour. I had previously made banana-chocolate, chocolate-peanut butter and avocado-chocolate and while all tasted good I wanted a unique flavour. I love the spicy-sweetness of chai and thought chai-chocolate would be a great combination with the coconut. Fourth time is a charm and these ones were perfectly spiced and creamy.

Going vegan doesn’t mean giving up your favourites and I do admit to being quite hesitant to make the switch almost entirely based on the fact that I did not want to give up chocolate. I had tried many vegan chocolate baked goods and candies but they weren’t as decadent as I wanted. Thankfully, I stumbled upon Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy-Free Desserts by Fran Costigan and after flipping through just one chapter I quickly made my way to the check out line of the book store. This book contains eleven chapters dedicated to your favourite dessert from Truffles to Cookies, Bars and Little Bites to Cakes and for those who are a little more experienced in the kitchen: Master Recipes.

The beautiful photos will have you drooling and the recipes have simple ingredients that aren’t hard too find (I found a lot of them at Bulk Barn). Costigan has made her cookbook easy and fun to read and understands us chocolate lovers. She wanted to ensure that her recipes were in fact chocolately, decadent and craved by all, vegans and non-vegans alike. How could you not swoon over Magic Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Pecan Pie or Brooklyn Blackout Cake? Just to name a few! And for those in your life that may not love chocolate as much as you do (Mark who prefers vanilla?? Crazy) there are a few recipes in there that are chocolate-free. So why all this talk about this heavenly chocolate cookbook? Because Sprouts & Chocolate is giving away a copy of Vegan Chocolate!!

Entering is easy, just check the Rafflecopter box for ways to enter. The giveaway contest will begin today (Aug 1) and last date to enter will be Aug 14, 2014 at midnight (Eastern Standard Time). The giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the US. Good luck to those who enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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