raw chocolate hearts

Love. Ok, I know this isn't Valentine's Day... or Easter... or Christmas, but somehow today's blog post features a very yummy raw vegan dessert recipe of raw chocolate hearts with goji berries. Just because I love the fact that I can make superfood chocolate with only six simple ingredients in my very own kitchen!

So, while we are on the topic of chocolate... and hearts... I thought I'd share a personal revelation about that four-letter word, l-o-v-e. In the Bible, Jesus says that the first and greatest commandment is this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37, NIV). In other words, I am to love God with everything that I am, with the fullness of who I am. Then Jesus says that the second commandment is: "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). Wrapped up in the second commandment is an assumption, a directive, and a word of wisdom, that yes, I am to love myself.

My life is a balancing act of these two commandments. Love God, love others. And yet, the second is impossible if I do not know how to love myself. These two commandments fulfil the deepest longings of human beings, which is to be in communion, to be in relationship, to be unconditionally loved. 

But how do I know what it is to love someone else if I am not shown and I do not practice? I must be shown by God how to love. And, love must take action. For example, in my life loving myself takes action in the form of self-care. I nourish my body with a vegan diet, I guard my heart against toxic relationships and I speak words of life and affirmation over myself. What then will happen when others come in contact with me? I will share the food I use to nourish my body with them, I will set boundaries to protect their heart and I will use my words to uplift and encourage them. How can I do this? I am loving them as I love myself. 

Start loving yourself today.

raw chocolate hearts

1/2 cup raw cacao butter, grated

1/2 cup raw cacao powder, sifted

2 Tbs coconut nectar (substitute: raw honey, yacon syrup, pure maple syrup)

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

Pinch of sea salt

Goji berries, to decorate

Melt the grated cacao butter in a dehydrator, or alternatively, in an oven on the lowest setting with the door slightly ajar. Once melted, whisk in the raw cacao powder, coconut nectar, vanilla seeds and sea salt. Fill a silicone heart mould with half a dozen goji berries in each heart and then fill with the chocolate mixture. Place the mould in the freezer for several hours or until the chocolate sets hard. Remove the chocolate hearts from the mould to eat, to share, to devour! Note: you can use any shape of mould you like for this recipe.