start the week out right

Sometimes it's hard to know where to begin when you want to change the world. The problems are knotty and overwhelming. And can one person really do anything to help the oppressed?

In a word...YES! A resounding yes.. 

But that takes years, decades, right?

Not necessarily. Do you have 60 seconds?


Here's a link to Oxfam's "Women & Chocolate" campaign directed at the three biggest buyers of chocolate in the world - Nestle, Mars and Mondelez (Oreo's manufacturer). Happily, Nestle and Mars have already made commitments to look at their purchasing practices. Yeah! See how one person + one person + one person all add up together to one strong voice and that makes a difference.

Now you can lend your voice to convince Mondelez to stop oppressing women cocoa farmers. Can you think of a better way to start your week?

easy-as-pie dark chocolate dump cake

Gooey.
Chocolately.
Quick.
Easy.
Sugar free.
Oil free.
Gluten free.
Healthy.
Delicious.

Impossible to accomplish in just one recipe?

Not at all.

I've been experimenting with date paste and how to incorporate it into recipes to reduce or eliminate the need for added sugars, even unrefined sugars like maple syrup and agave nectar. Sugars suppress the immune system so cutting back on them, especially during cold & flu season, is one of my goals.

What I love about this recipe is that it takes just 5 ingredients for both the cake and the frosting.

There's only one thing that could make this cake sweeter: buying fair trade cocoa powder. 

 
Here's the harsh reality: Chocolate is a $2 billion industry. Want to guess how much the average cocoa farmer receives from these profits? Less than $2 per day - an annual income totaling less than $730. (See info from Oxfam here) That's my grocery bill, give or take a few dollars for one month!

Here's a harsher reality: It doesn't have to be this way. Anyone...you, me and every chocolate you know, can choose to buy chocolate only from companies that fairly compensate their workers for the cocoa they harvest. Look for the fair trade label and read about the company's practices on their labels and websites.

While fair trade chocolate costs more than slave chocolate, the cost not to do so is higher.

Here's one other free, fast way to further sweeten the deal: You can sign Oxfam's petition to tell Nestle, Mars and Mondelez (the three largest chocolate purchasers) to change their buying policies to make a positive difference in the lives of their farmers. Signing this petition takes less than one minute. Please consider doing so within the next 60 seconds.


And now, here's the recipe :):

Easy-as-Pie Dark Chocolate Dump Cake
3 c. date paste
3 c. almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
5 T fair trade* unsweetened cocoa powder + 3 T for icing
1 tsp baking soda
2 c flour (I used spelt, for gluten free option, I used brown rice flour)

1. In a medium saucepan combine date paste and non-dairy milk and warm over medium heat until the date paste breaks down and combines with the milk to make a smooth paste. A potato masher works best to help break up the paste.

2. Remove 2 cups of the date/milk mixture and set aside

3. Dump 5 T cocoa powder, baking soda and flour into the pot and stir to combine.

4. Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 11.5 baking dish and bake in a 275 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

5. While the cake is baking, make the icing by returning the 2 reserved cups of the date/milk mixture, add 3 T cocoa powder and stir to combine. If the icing needs thickening, stir over medium heat until the desired consistency for your icing is reached. Spread icing over cooled cake.

tea time and a must read

Growing up, drinking tea was a special treat and usually reserved for when we had guests. My sisters and I had special decorative tea cups from which we could sip our black-tea-that-was-mostly-milk.

I can't remember when we were deemed old enough to drink it straight up and on a regular basis. Certainly by the time I was 16 and we moved to English. Because you know the British love their tea time. And their cookies. We all gained at least 5 pounds that first month there. Eating cookies every night after dinner will do that to you. But I digress...

Before pregnancy, I drank mostly caffeinated tea - Earl Gray and Mango loose leaf were my favorites. Then I switched to decaf with my first pregnancy and never switched back to regular.

But all that changed when a friend prompted me to look into the decaffeination process. You can read about it here (it's not the must read I mentioned above). So now I'm developing a taste for herbal teas which are naturally caffeine-free. Particularly rooibos (pronounced "roy-boss).

And because tea is an industry where workers can be exploited, I've committed to buying fair trade teas.

Like this one.

I found this box and a vanilla almond flavor one at a discount grocery store where I shop. Naturally caffeine-free + fair trade = a gift from God.

And now for the must read. Put on a pot of herbal, fair trade tea, or another warm beverage of your choosing and pull up a chair. It's an article from the New York Times on how the packaged food industry manipulates their products to get us eating and buying more. Please consider reading it and passing it along to others whom you know and love.