Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs (Vegan) + Healthier Easter Candy Options

The Easter bunny is coming with a basket of goodies for your kids, but the question is, "are they harming your body?"  Most of the regular ones found on shelves at the grocery store have preservatives and unnatural ingredients. These Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs could be a healthier alternative to Reese's Eggs.  These don't taste exactly like the "real" thing, but they are scrumptious and tasty anyways.  The texture is unique in the way that the peanut butter inside sinks into your teeth.  I usually stick with other nut butters for many reasons, but on rare occasions I will make my own chocolate peanut butter cups or eggs.  

I know that most Easter candy is full of gross ingredients that we don't want in our bodies.  The candy I am listing below has quite a bit of sugar (at least it's organic and not bleached).  If your kids are desperate for candy and you want them to have have a fun Easter egg hunt, buying some of these candies would be a much, much better option.

• Gluten Free Organic Gummy Worms
• Organic Jelly Beans
• Organic Fruit Bears
• Organic Pomegranate and Nectarine Hard Candy
• Organic Fruit Rope
• These Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs of coarse (they will melt if your keep them out too long though)

If you don't want your kids to have too much candy, you could always stuff small, little dollar toys inside the eggs.  There is other good options for organic candy, but these are some the best ones I found that aren't too pricey.  Anything that is organic doesn't always mean healthy, so be aware of that.  Try to avoid these ingredients even if the are organic: soy, corn, canola oil, which is mostly an unreal plant that was invented, because it's made up of a rancid oil called "rapeseed oil".  Bugs won't even lay a finger on the rapeseed plant because it is highly toxic.  Also, peanuts for the most part (ha, ha, I know it's ironic that the recipe below is chocolate peanut butter eggs).  I will occasionally eat organic peanut butter, but I rarely do because it's  hard to digest and might contain GMO's.  Wheat is another popular food Americans consume and is one that should be avoided (there may be special kinds out there, but probably 95% isn't good, because most has been hybridized and contaminated with different proteins that can cause irritations in the gut).  I heard that this brand is a great gluten free alternative to bread, even though it does have some corn starch.  Ok, so I guess eating some of these foods like peanuts or the others once in a great while is alright if they are organic--choose top quality if you can.  Most of those commercial crops are heavily sprayed with pesticides and injected with GMO's. 

An uncontrollable hunger for these babies struck me in the kitchen as I was thinking about Easter candy.  I haven't had Peanut Butter for around a year and my stomach was begging me to make my own healthier version.  If you were wondering what I eat when I cheat, it would be these.  Eating these is the probably the most cheating I do once in a great while.  If any of you were we wondering what food preference I live by, I don't have one other than this, "a natural foods lover"--by heart.  I eat plant-based foods because I love them with a passion!  I don't label myself by anything other than that; labeling yourself could turn into your worst enemy, because if do fall loose, than you might beat yourself up.  I am mostly vegetarian, but not all the way, because I eat this krill oil supplement, and if I have the chance to eat a clean piece of Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon or some other kind of meat, I will.  I feel better when I don't eat meat, because my body usually rejects it.  I do believe you should what feels best for you: raw, vegetarian, paleo, or whatever your body is in harmony with.

A lip-smacking, delicious Easter to all,
                                                           Melanie

I almost forgot the food letter of the day: B.

Bananas are a food that monkeys and gorillas like, and people like us too!  A banana is one the most popular fruits in the market.  When you need to rescue your digestive tract with some fresh enzyme power, eat a speckled, ripe banana.  Bananas do have a fair amount of sugar, and it used to be too much for me because I felt like it raised my insulin levels a million miles an hour!  So if you have the same problem, spreading an alkaline nut/seed butter on top (like almond or pumpkin seed butter) with a dash of sea salt and a few sprinkles of cacao nibs can be even more satisfying.  Bananas are a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good source of manganese.  This tropical fruit is known as a good energy booster and a elimination food.  Bananas can help improve stomach ulcers, eyesight, and build better bones.  If you are looking for a superior food for good digestion, a banana, papayas, or pineapples would be a excellent food to eat since they naturally carry enzymes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs (Vegan)

The Peanut Butter (Inside)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup organic unsalted peanut butter
• 3 tbsps coconut nectar
• 1/4 cup coconut butter
• 2 tbsps almond flour
• 1/8 tsp sea salt

Directions:

In a food processor, blend the peanut butter if it's not super smooth and creamy.  Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.  Shape the peanut butter mixture into eggs.

Chocolate Coat

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cashew butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup coconut butter
• 1 1/2-2 tbsps coconut nectar
• 2 tbsps cacao powder

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a food processor, blend all of the ingredients until smooth.  

2. With gloves on, take each peanut butter egg and dip the tops in the chocolate and place them unto the baking sheet and plop them into the freezer for 15 minutes.

3. Take the chocolate eggs out of the freezer and do the same thing to the other side and place them back into the freezer for another 10-15 minutes.  (There will probably be extra chocolate sauce).  Eat these peanut butter eggs right out of the freezer, or you can leave them out for 10 minutes and eat them immediately and then place them in the fridge.  I personally think that leaving them out for 10 minutes makes a soft, irresistible texture.  Enjoy these as a fun, healthier treat for Easter.

• This recipe makes 12 large Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs