Goji Berries + Cacao Nibs = mmmmmmm

If you haven't tried goji berries or cacao nibs yet then i'm going to call a spade a spade and tell you to get out from under that rock you're living under.  These are delicious super foods that make just about EVERYTHING taste more amazing (especially when eaten together!), but also have incredible health benefits.  I blogged about goji's years back and all the benefits, even posted a goji snack bar recipe.  Cacao is what chocolate is made from, only it's not processed with dairy, sugar, and crap oils.  Being unrefined it's rich in magnesium, antioxidants, and is known as a longevity food - plus all the crap associated with chocolate (weight gain, cavaties, etc),  does not apply to cacao.

Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to enjoy gojis berries; simply open the bag and eat them.  They're great sprinkled over salads, oatmeal/porridges, in smoothies, and in snack bars.  Cacao on the other hand, since it's slightly bitter, can't be directly substituted for chocolate but can be made into chocolate.  I like to sprinkle cacao over buckwheat crispies (recipe below), in trail mix with gojis, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and mulberries (buy this pre-prepared, raw, and sprouted from Living Intentions now at Whole foods), and i love to toss cacao in smoothies.

my fave trail mix - living intentions keep everything raw and sprouted for max nutrient benefits!

Here are 2 recipes to get you using goji's and cacao and teach you how to make a raw cereal from gluten free buckwheat groats.

Buckwheat Crispies

Soak buckwheat overnight in water.  Rinse REALLY well the next day.  Buckwheat gives off a slime that needs to be completely rinsed off - this will take some extra rinsing loving care.

Toss the strained buckwheat in a bowl with a 1/4 cup of maple flavored agave syrup and a few good dashes of cinnamon.  Stir well to coat.

Lay the buckwheat out on teflex in your dehydrator - spreading thinly.  Set dehydrator to 145 for the first couple hours then drop to 115.  Allow up to 8 hours for drying, though they will most likely finish up before that.

Once dry, transfer to a glass jar to keep.  To serve, enjoy a small bowl of buckwheat with banana, gojis, cacao nibs, almond butter, and either almond milk or sun warrior vanilla-cinnamon milk (1 scoop sun warrior, cinnamon, and 6 ounces water blended)

Goji Cacao Superfood Smoothie

this is one of my favorite smoothies!

1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk

2 fistfuls of spinach

1/4 of a rip banana

1 spoonful of gojis

1 spoonful of cacao

1 Tbsp of chia

1/2 scoop vanilla almondilla vega protein

4 ice cubes

blended in Vita-Mix.