Paleo Brownie Power Balls

Paleo Brownie Power Balls

I started making these Paleo Brownie Power Balls for my co-workers and it soon became a weekly tradition. They were a huge hit when I first brought them in and I have perfected the recipe and put my own little spin on it.
The only downfall is that they are so good that no matter how much you make, there are never any left over for the next day :( But I guess that's every chef's best compliment :)

Another great recipe for Paleo desserts is Paleo Banana-Coconut Cookies.

Please put your own spin on the recipe and let me know what you did! I always love to try new creations.

Paleo Brownie Power Balls

1 1/2 cup walnuts

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cup pitted medjool dates

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1/4 cup egg whites

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

In food processor add walnuts and cocoa powder. Process these until they are coarsely mixed, but you don't want to over process because then the walnuts will start to become like a butter. Add dates, vanilla and cinnamon. Process until everything is mixed together in a big clump. Add egg whites to soften everything. 

Remove mixture and put into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl put coconut flakes. Measure out a tablespoon of the mixture and make them into bit sized balls by rolling them in your hands. Then dip these balls into the coconut flakes. 

**sometimes I like to dip my balls into other ingredients like hemp hearts, ground flax, and cocoa powder**

Place all of your balls into a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Put in freezer for at least two hours, and then you're ready to enjoy!

I love to keep my balls in the freezer because I love the frozen hard texture, but some people prefer to store them in the fridge. They will last up to a month in the freezer, and about a week in the fridge. 

The amazing thing about these bite sized balls is that they are SO satisfying, they taste like they have chocolate in them, and they have protein as well. Great as breakfast, pre-workout snack, and that perfect guilt-free pleasure. 

Prep Time: 15 min

Cooking Time: 0 min

Yields: 30 balls

Daily Skincare Routine for Beautiful Healthy Looking Skin (Photos)

 Skincare has always been a big part of my life. I know it's funny to say, but it's true. Growing up my mom introduced me to the Clinique 3-Step Skincare System when I was in grade 7. She said that I need to take care of my skin, it's the first thing people see.

I couldn't agree more.

Take a look at my daily skincare routine. It will make your skin beautiful, healthy, and radiant. Either try the whole thing or take pieces here and there. Enjoy!

I believe in skincare the same way a dentist believes in brushing and flossing twice a day. Your skincare routine is also done twice a day. And I promise, it will only take 5 minutes to make your skin the most beautiful that it can be.

My skin type is combination oily. I breakout every now and then but my skin never feels dry. My major skin concerns are discoloration and dullness and preventing aging. I do not have any sensitivities.

Here is my skincare story:

1. Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm - $35.00 CA

2. Philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser - $52.00 CA

3. Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Balancing Softener Enriched - $64.00 CA

4. Shiseido The Makeup Facial Cotton - $11.00 CA

5. Chanel Le Jour - $90.00 CA

6. Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Corrector - $59.00 CA

7. Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum - $96.00 CA

8. Chanel CC Cream - $59.00 CA

Here is my makeup story:

1. NYX concealer wand (in lavender CW11) - $5.00 CA

2. Clinique Even Better Compact Makeup (in golden neutral 8) - $36.00 CA

3. Chanel Powder Blush (in reflex) - $48.00 CA

4. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Powder Bronzer (in medium 02) - $40.00 CA

5. Estee Lauder Double Powder Makeup (in ivory beige 3N1) - $44.00 CA

6. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (in ethereal light) - $52.00 CA

7. Chanel Ecriture de Chanel Eyeliner (in noir 10) - $42.00 CA

8. Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara (in black) - $23.00 CA

9. Chanel Sculpting Eyebrow Pencil (in brun naturel) - $30.00 CA

10. Makeup Forever Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick (in copper pink N9) - $23.00

I know this looks like a lot, but promise it's not!

The Only Thing That's Predictable About Life is That It's Unpredictable

The tough thing about life is accepting its unpredictability. 

Sometimes your house may be near a forest fire or maybe your wife is paralyzed  in a car crash or maybe your dog dies from heatstroke or maybe you find a lump and it's cancer. All of these things happen every single day. 

But for the most part they don't happen to us. 

Until they do. 

So what do you do until then? 

Every plan and goal you have will literally have to be put on hold when your life is in jeopardy. The big kitchen renovation you're doing or the dream to open up your own brewery or the Masters program that you've been working towards.

They just all lose any priority. I guess that's what people call "the important things in life". 

Well I mean the only really important thing is your health. 

Because without it you can't do all those things. You're either dead and can't do them or you're physically, mentally and emotionally unable to do them. 

So that's kind of depressing. 

But it's not! 

You just really have to do whatever you want to do. 

Do what makes you happy and don't apologize for it. 

If you want to take a thousand selfies then do it! 

If you want to watch hours of reality TV then do it! 

If you want to adopt 5 kittens do it! 

If you want to start every morning with an expensive latte then do it!

My perspective is that if you're not hurting anyone else then do it. And pay no attention to what other people say. Do it and don't stop doing it. Because one day you won't be able to anymore. 

Love hard

Live hard

Laugh hard 

Xoxo

Azin

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

The more and more you live your life, the more and more you realize how precious it is. We want to live our lives to the fullest because it can be so easily taken away. So do you live your life more aggressively because what have you got to lose, or do you try to be as safe as you can because you'd rather not take the risk?

I like to think that I live my life the way I want to live it. I have the job that I want to have, I eat the foods that I want to eat, and I spend my time with people that I want to be with. I would say yes, I am the ruler of my life.

But then I meet someone who completely blows me out of the water. I have a friend. His name is Yashar. He is that guy who has completely taken over the direction of his life. He is that guy who quit his job to pursue his passion. And now he is literally doing what he loves. He has Yummus, Chinatown Experiment, Midtown Experiment, and I'm sure so many other projects that I don't even know about.

I imagine that it must have been so hard to make a change like this. Not only to make the initial decision, but to follow through with it and really go for it. I'm sure it was really hard, and I bet it still is. But wow, what a feeling it must be to create something and make it yours.

I admire and am motivated by people like Yashar. Although I don't really see myself following his path, it still makes me reflect on the decisions that I make.

It reminds me of a South Park episode. When Cartman is on Maury Povich and he says "Whateva, I do what I want!!"

Well hell yeah. It's literally your life. We each get a life. So make sure it's actually yours.

Warning! Don't Take Tylenol When You Have a Hangover.

One of the most distinct memories that I have of nursing school is some advice that my instructor gave me on our first day. She said:

“If there’s one thing that you take away from this program let it be this. Do not take Tylenol when you have a hangover."

So the reason is that when you drink alcohol your liver becomes very irritated and inflamed because it has to process all of that alcohol. And when you wake up in the morning your liver is under a lot of stress, so the last thing you want to do is give it more stress by taking Tylenol. 

Tylenol is metabolized by the liver. 

Advil is metabolized by the kidneys.

But how can I deal with my headache? Well here's the thing. You can take Advil because it does not get processed by your liver.

Unfortunately this information isn't common knowledge. I'm sure we can all admit that we tend to drink more than a couple glasses of wine. Over your lifetime this adds up to a lot of liver damage and can take years off your life. So this is a simple way to give your body a fighting chance.

Make the switch. Get rid, hide, give away, or just ban Tylenol from entering your house.

The recipe below was given to me from my dear friends Stephanie and Rick. Always on the cutting edge of hangover technology.

Hangover Smoothie

Ingredients

2 Bananas

1 apple

1/2 lemon

1 bunch kale

1 cup coconut water

4 liquid Advil gelcaps

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend. Enjoy. Take a nap.

Bee Hives and Skyscrapers. Are They Really That Different?

Driving out of downtown tonight I looked back at the city-line and noticed something that I've never noticed before. We are like bees! 

For the first time ever our skyscrapers reminded me of bee hives. They are just shaped a bit different. A human hive is made of concrete whereas a bee hive is made of natural material. But in essence they are the same thing. 

So how else are we like bees? Well we have the same hierarchy as well. Every hive has worker bees and a queen bee. For example, a bus driver is definitely a worker bee. He transports other workers around. He is very busy. A teacher is also a worker bee. They show younger workers how to become good worker bees when they grow up. Yoga instructors are also worker bees. They guide other worker bees to become better at calming down their queen bee. 

And then you have queen bees. Well we all know that each family or couple or even individual person has a queen bee. All the workers try to provide a safe life for this queen. They try to protect him or her. When the queen bee is happy then all the workers are happy. But when the queen be is upset we all feel the consequences. 

I consider myself the queen bee for my little hive. But I guess I am also the worker bee. At different times I have to work really hard and get things done so that I can please the queen side of myself. So obviously during the week I am a worker bee. I go to work, go to yoga, write, and create new possibilities. And then on the weekend I get to be a queen bee and reek all of the benefits that my worker self has done. 

We seem to think that humans are very complex and the most intelligent species out there. But then you see how similar we are to other animals and species. It is very grounding to feel this connection. We are all just trying to survive and build a bee hive for our queen bee to love.

I love my bee hive and my worker side and my queen side. xoxo.

Nobody Said It Would Be Easy, But Some Things Make It a Little Easier.

It's possible that my mind is completely all over the place, and it's also possible that my life is all over the place. It seems like as soon as I have something figured out, something else completely falls out of place. Don't get me wrong. My life is far from "hard" in the typical sense, but how you perceive your life is totally subjective. And lately, mine feels "hard".

I guess my parents were right. I remember in high school when I was studying for Provincial Exams, my mom told me "Azin, life is not easy". But I thought of course you're saying that mom, you had to immigrate to Canada in your twenties from a third world country?! How can you even know what I'm going through. And honestly, saying that out loud sounds absolutely ridiculous.

How can I think my life is hard? How is it not easy? I've had everything I ever needed to build a great life for myself. So what gives?

I feel like I've had a huge focus for the past several years on my career and opportunities to create something for myself. I am doing the job that I've always wanted to do. And I am starting a project that I am really passionate about. I have so many ideas going on in my head that sometimes it's hard just to fall asleep at night. I've started to write things down because it helps me release the ideas and fall asleep. I can't really talk about the ideas because some of them are secrets, but lets just say I have a lot more work to do.

So my professional life is well developed, but what about my personal life? I feel kind of behind in that area. Like my brain has big juicy neurons for my work, but my neurons are small and pathetic in other senses. Poor little brain.

But it's okay. Because my mom warned me that life wouldn't be easy. So that's why I do things that make it a little bit easier.

1. Coffee

I am completely absolutely hands down addicted to coffee. It's the reason I get out of bed in the morning and the reason I go to bed at night. And if it gives me this much joy and pleasure, then I sure as hell don't feel bad about it.

2. Food

There are some foods that make me so happy that I'm gitty. These foods include cashews, almonds, bacon, pork belly, grilled onions, dried figs and eggs. Once again, if a food can give me so much pleasure, then so be it. Get in my belly you delicious perfect little cashews.

3. Love

For me love is big. I love my friends. I love my family. I love my mom so much it's weird. She doesn't know how obsessed I am with her. I want to be her so bad. I love my apartment. I love my roommate. She also doesn't know how much I love her. It would weird her out. I love running. I love walking. I love scarves. I love being hot. I love saunas. I love massages. I love foot massages. I love my hair. I love doing my makeup. I love facials. I love moisturizers. And god I love oils.

So really. What I love is what I love. And they just make it a little bit easier. And I love them for that.

Mom, you told me that life isn't easy. But you never told me I could make it easier by finding things that I love, and doing them when life is tough. But I still love you, even though you probably could have mentioned that ;)


Love.
Me.

Are women too independent?

As I lay here in my bed waiting for the melatonin to kick in, I think to myself: Do I love myself too much?

I mean really, I am my own best friend, I can depend on myself, I respect myself, I am true to myself, and I am honest with  myself. And you can be damned sure that I'm going to have a good time. I'm a catch!

So why haven't I shared myself with someone else? Am I too selfish? Am I scared? What's with the hesitation?

The more I think about it the more confident I am with the answer to this question. I have become too independent. My life revolves around myself and I do a really good job with it. I've also picked up around the house handyman skills. I can unclog my own sink! Why would I need a man? Except to cuddle me at night. That is one thing that my teddy bear can't do.

But I have come up with a temporary solution. I pile all of my pillows on top of myself, and when I'm falling asleep it almost feels like I'm being cuddled.

I guess the best thing that I can do is acknowledge the fact that I love myself, I am my own best friend, and I am very happy with my life, but now it's time to let someone else in.

But who...

Winter Skincare Essentials

Winter can be a really hard time for your frozen fingers and toes, and especially your skin. Skin can feel dry and appear dull during these cold months.

Just follow these four simple steps to get your healthy glowing skin back. These skin care tips are important all year long, but especially important during winter. 

And if you're thinking that you don't have time, then don't even worry. Because these will take up less than 5 minutes a day. 

Happy winter!

1. Shiseido - Pureness Balancing Softener Alcohol-Free

This product will sweep away the dead skin that's lying on your skins surface. Not only will your skin feel smoother, but it will appear more bright and radiant.  Dead skin on the surface does not reflect light, and when you sweep it away, your skin underneath will appear glowing and radiant!

Retails $29.00

     2.  Clinique - Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief

This moisturizer is like a glass of water for your skin. It provides instant hydration and absorbs very quickly so you won't get a sticky feeling leftover. Cold weather makes your skin feel more dry, so this can be used as a daily moisturizer or for days that are especially crispy and cold. Don't start winter without this!

Retails $44.00

     3.  Clinique - Turnaround Instant Facial

To complement your daily exfoliation, it's great to give your skin an exfoliation boost at least twice a week. This exfoliating mask by Clinique provides a type of micro-dermabrasion scrub and also gives a strong level of chemical exfoliation. It will literally leave your skin sparkling. I like to do this on Friday nights and also mid-week. 

Retails $45.00

      4.  Water

Hydration for your body is really important to keep your skin healthy and moist. Figure out a way that works best for you to get your daily water intake. I like to get a glass of room temperature water in as soon as I wake up, and I prefer to drink herbal tea throughout the day. 

Use these winter skin care tips to keep your skin soft and smooth all winter long!