TRIPLE GINGER TAHINI COOKIES - VEGAN AND GLUTEN FREE

TRIPLE GINGER TAHINI COOKIES - VEGAN AND GLUTEN FREE

By onegreenplanet.org - Jodi Kay

Ingredients

110g/1/3 cup, plus 1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons organic black strap molasses

3 tablespoons brown rice syrup

1/2 heaping tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Generous pinch flaky sea salt

5 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

90g/3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

50g/1/3 cup organic crystalized ginger (sulphite-free), chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F/175C.  Mix tahini, molasses, brown rice syrup, fresh ginger, salt, and coconut oil in a bowl until well combined.  Add in the ground ginger, buckwheat flour, baking powder, and crystallized ginger, and stir everything together. The dough should be soft and wet, but not sticky. If it’s completely un-workable, add another tablespoon or two of flour. If it seems dry, add a splash of hot water.  Roll the dough into balls. Then, with your hand, shape and flatten the dough to form a disc. Place each disc on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle a little organic turbinado or rapadura sugar on top if desired, or garnish with extra crystallized ginger.  Bake in the oven until just set, about 10-12 minutes then let cool completely before serving.

HOW WILLPOWER WORKS: THE SCIENCE OF DECISION FATIGUE AND HOW TO AVOID BAD DECISIONS

HOW WILLPOWER WORKS: THE SCIENCE OF DECISION FATIGUE AND HOW TO AVOID BAD DECISIONS

By lifehack.org - James Clear

Why do we make unhealthy and unproductive choices — even when we know we should do better?

If you ask most people, they will say that poor choices are a result of a “lack of willpower.”

But research from Columbia University is beginning to reveal that willpower doesn’t quite work that way.

In fact, you may be surprised just how much small daily decisions impact the willpower you have for important choices. And most importantly, it turns out there are simple choices you can make that will help you master your willpower and make better decisions on a more consistent basis.

Here’s the deal…

Why Some Criminals Don’t Get a Fair Hearing

In a research study published by the National Academy of Sciences, psychologists examined the factors that impact whether or not a judge approves a criminal for parole.

The researchers examined 1,112 judicial rulings over a 10-month period. All of the rulings were made by a parole board judge, whose job was to determine whether or not to allow the criminal to be released from prison on parole. (In some cases, the criminal was asking not for a release, but rather for a change in parole terms.)

Now, you might assume that the judges were influenced by factors like the type of crime committed or the particular laws that were broken.

But the researchers found exactly the opposite. The choices made by judges are impacted by all types of things that shouldn’t have an effect in the courtroom. Most notably, the time of day.

What the researchers found was that at the beginning of the day, a judge was likely to give a favorable ruling about 65 percent of the time. However, as the morning wore on and the judge became drained from making more and more decisions, the likelihood of a criminal getting a favorable ruling steadily dropped to zero.

READ MORE HERE

FLOURLESS DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE TO DIE FOR - VEGAN AND GLUTEN FREE

FLOURLESS DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE TO DIE FOR - VEGAN AND GLUTEN FREE

By onegreenplanet.org - Pauline Hanuise

SERVES 4-6

Cake:

100g/3.5 ounces dark chocolate (I used 90 percent)

105g/1/2 cup coconut oil

2 egg replacers (flax, chia, or commercial)

30g/1/4 cup cacao powder

90g/1/2 cup of your favourite sweetener (I used coconut sugar)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pinch sea salt

Frosting:

1 fresh banana

1/2 avocado

1 dash of your favourite plant-based milk

1 tablespoon hazelnut butter (or your favourite nut butter)

1 pinch cinnamon

1 pinch unrefined sea salt

Toppings:

Buckwheat groats, pumpkin seeds, desiccated coconut

To Make the Cake:

Preheat your oven on 392°F/200C and grease a 7-inch tin.  In a mixing bowl, gently melt your chocolate with your coconut oil, stir well.  In another bowl, whisk your egg replacers and add sugar, cinnamon, salt and cacao powder. Mix until well combined.  Add the egg mixture to the coconut oil/chocolate one and mix until consistent and well combined.  Pour the mixture in your tin and bake for about 20 minutes. Check regularly to make sure you don’t over cook it.

To Make the Frosting:

Blend all ingredients and spread on top of your cake once it’s cold.

WHY PEOPLE WHO DON'T FEAR TO EMBARRASS THEMSELVES ARE MORE CREATIVE

WHY PEOPLE WHO DON'T FEAR TO EMBARRASS THEMSELVES ARE MORE CREATIVE

By lifehack.org - David K William

Want to be more creative?

Creativity is within your reach if you can cultivate the proper habits. You need to cultivate proper habits because connecting the dots and thinking creatively is a process for all of us. It’s a long-term process rather than a single event. Those people who are more inclined to expose themselves to new ideas, people who don’t mind embarrassing themselves, get to improve upon their creativity. Those people who wrestle with creative ideas for years get to refine their ideas and reap the fruits of their labors.

In an excellent post about creative thinking, writer James Clear exposes the myth that is the “eureka” moment, the so-called “light bulb” moment or the “aha!” moment. He demonstrates that a single flash of genius isn’t really what it is made out to be by citing the most iconic eureka moment in the history of scientific storytelling: When Sir Isaac Newton saw an apple fall to the ground in 1666.

When you think of Isaac Newton, you probably imaging he was born a genius. But, he wasn’t. When Newton was young, he did so poorly in grade school that his teachers gave up on improving his grades. And yet he grew up to become the greatest English mathematician of his generation. How did he do it? He kept improving himself throughout his life despite any ridicule and disapproval he faced. 

Concerning Newton’s most famous work on gravitation, Clear writes:

“In 1666, one of the most influential scientists in history was strolling through a garden when he was struck with a flash of creative brilliance that would change the world.

While standing under the shade of an apple tree, Sir Isaac Newton saw an apple fall to the ground. ‘Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,’ Newton wondered. ‘Why should it not go sideways, or upwards, but constantly to the earth’s center? Assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. There must be a drawing power in matter.’

And thus, the concept of gravity was born.”

However, what people fail to realize, Clear continues, is that Newton worked on his ideas about gravity for nearly twenty years. It wasn’t until 1687 that he consolidated his brilliant thoughts and published his groundbreaking book, The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.

“The falling apple was merely the beginning of a train of thought that continued for decades,” Clear points out.

READ MORE HERE

CHEWY PLAINTAIN SESAME COOKIES - VEGAN

CHEWY PLANTAIN SESAME COOKIES

By onegreenplanet.org - Nikki and Zuzana

INGREDIENTS

120G/1 cup spelt flour

1 ripe plantain, cut into chunks

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

57g/1/4 cup tahini

200g/1 cup soft dates, pitted

50g/1/3 cup sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F/175C.  Combine the flour and sea salt in a large mixing bowl.  In a food processor combine tahini, plantain chunks, and dates.  Process until you achieve a smooth texture, like liquid dough.  Once achieved mix the wet dough with your dry ingredients.  It’s time to play – the mixture will be thick and sticky, so dip your hands in a cold water as needed. You could also place dough into the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm it up a bit.  Roll mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls between the palms of your hands, and then roll it in the sesame seeds so that it’s well coated.  Press the dough ball onto a parchment lined baking sheet, using fork to flatten it.  Repeat with all the dough, and then bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. 

WHY YOU SHOULDN'T TRUST CALORIE COUNTS

WHY YOU SHOULDN'T TRUST CALORIE COUNTS

By greatist.com - Emily Shoemaker

Yes, it’s possible to lose weight eating only Twinkies, provided that your calories in are less than your calories out. And it’s that logic that leads many people to conclude that calories are simple math. Even astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted, "A weight-loss book by physicists would be one sentence long: 'Consume calories at a lower rate than your body burns them.'" Trouble is, things are not that straightforward.

CALORIES IN

Calorie counts are everywhere these days, from fast food menus to fitness trackers. You might even be able to rattle off the calories in a cup of spinach. But what exactly is a calorie?

In short, it’s a measurement of energy; the “calories” seen on nutrition labels describes the amount of energy needed to heat up a gram of water by one degree Celsius. But the energy in the cranberry muffin you just ate doesn’t go to heating up water; instead, it provides fuel for a number of processes in the body, including staying alive and breathing. So figuring out how many calories are in that muffin is a bit more complicated.

How Calories Are Measured

To determine the total energy content of a food, scientists use a fancy-pants piece of scientific equipment known as a bomb calorimeter. Into this device goes our muffin, which gets completely incinerated. During that muffin-burning process, the bomb calorimeter measures the heat produced. This number represents the total amount of energy—or what is known as the “gross energy”—of the muffin.

READ MORE HERE

MAPLE BUCKWHEAT CREPES WITH SPICED APPLE CHESTNUT RELISH

MAPLE BUCKWHEAT CREPES WITH SPICED APPLE CHESTNUT RELISH

By onegreenplanet.org - Jodi Kay

Crêpes:

150g/1 1/4 cup buckwheat flour

60g/1/2 cup rice flour

Pinch sea salt

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

600ml/2 1/2 cups nut milk

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil, plus extra for the pan

Relish:

110g/3/4 cup roasted chestnuts, peeled and roughly chopped

3 small organic apples, roughly chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, nutmeg + cloves

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

65g/1/3 cup golden raisins

Water, as needed

Preheat oven to 350°F/175C.  Using a sharp or serrated knife, make an incision through each chestnut shell, just into the flesh of the nut, and work your way around half its circumference. Make an incision the same length but in the opposite direction to make an X. Repeat for all nuts.  Place on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the outer shell starts to peel away from the center of the X. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. While the chestnuts are still warm, remove and discard each shell and the papery skin with a small knife or just your fingers. Roughly chop the nuts and set aside.  Cut the apples into small cubes. Place apples in a small saucepan with 1/4 cup of water and add the spices. Bring to a simmer and cook down until the apples are soft and tender and starting to fall apart, add more water if need. Stir in chestnuts and golden raisins to warm through, then remove from heat and stir in apple cider vinegar. Set aside.  Place all crêpe ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and brush with a little coconut oil. Pour in about 1/4 cup of crêpe batter and swirl to evenly distribute. Cook for 45 seconds to a minute or until the batter bubbles and is just set in the middle, then run a spatula around the edges and flip, cooking on the other side for 30 seconds to a minute or until golden brown. Serve immediately or place on a baking sheet in a warm oven until ready to serve. Repeat with remaining batter.  Serve crêpes with warm apple relish, a few fresh apple slices and a good drizzle of maple syrup.