yes, i know it is not actual friday and that is is definitely not happy hour. 

i'll spare you the gory details of my last couple days, but basically friday i had the blog all queued up and ready to go and then my computer froze. and friday at three was the last time i had free time. 

but none of that matters now. the only thing that matters is that today, i get to be with family, eat a ton of food and there is no work to be done! 

after a bustling holiday season, i just want to enjoy a cocktail and relax. so here is an EASY cocktail with a very festive feel. 

cranberry mint cooler
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 4-5 hours (as long as it takes ice to freeze)
active time: 1 minute
ingredients: 6 oz your favorite white wine. .25 cup club soda. sphere or regular ice mold. 10 cranberries. 10 small mint leaves. mint sprig for garnish

start by creating your ice. in your mold, add the mint and cranberries. top with water and set to freeze. 

when you are ready to indulge, add one sphere or a few of your cranberry ice cubes to your glass. 

top with white wine.

add club soda as desired and enjoy. 

garnish with mint and serve.

merry christmas, a

cranberry mint cooler
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 4-5 hours (as long as it takes ice to freeze)
active time: 1 minute
ingredients: 6 oz your favorite white wine. .25 cup club soda. sphere or regular ice mold. 10 cranberries. 10 small mint leaves. mint sprig for garnish
start by creating your ice. in your mold, add the mint and cranberries. top with water and set to freeze.
when you are ready to indulge, add one sphere or a few of your cranberry ice cubes to your glass. top with white wine.add club soda as desired. garnish with mint sprig. 

it's no secret that i'm more of an everything in moderation type of cook and less of a healthy, animal free, gluten free, paleo, atkins, juice cleanse kind of cook. 

i mean, do you. but i never met a carb i didn't like, beef gives me life (literally & figuratively) and i can't go more than a few hours with out solid food.
but now that i'm teaching yoga pretty regularly, i'm definitely becoming more sensitive to the food needs of others. 

my good friends and yoga teachers recently relocated and relaunched their studio and this weekend they celebrated with a fabulous wellness fair serving their clients and community. i did a little food drop off for the event since i wasn't able to attend for long, and these tasty, energizing treats were the bell of the ball. 

tropical chocolate bites
serves: 25ish bites (depending on how big you cut them or how tall you make them)
prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 10 minutes
cool time: 4 hours - over night
ingredients: 12 oz semi sweet chocolate morsels. 12 oz bittersweet chocolate morsels. 1 cup roasted nuts (i used almonds, brazil nuts, cashews), chopped. .25 c dried mango, chopped. .25 c raisins, chopped. .25 c dried cranberries, chopped. .25 c shredded coconut. 3 tbs sunflower seeds. 3 tbs chia seeds. wax or parchment paper. 

pour all the morsels in a glass or stainless steel bowl. fill a large pot with water and place the bowl of chocolate over the pot to create a double boiler. a double boiler is used so you do not burn the chocolate and it melts smooth. bring the water to a boil and allow the chocolate to melt, stirring every few minutes. this should take about 10 minutes.

when the chocolate has melted, pour in the sunflower seeds, chia seeds, nuts, raisins, cranberries, half the coconut and half of the mango. stir till the mixture is well combined. 

lay out the wax or parchment paper on either a rimmed baking sheet or square baking pan. spread the chocolate out evenly. top with remaining coconut and mango and allow to cool in the refrigerator for four hours or over night. 

remove the chocolate from the paper and slice it into equal bite size pieces. serve cool or at room temp. 

xo, a

tropical chocolate bites
serves: 25ish bites (depending on how big you cut them or how tall you make them)
prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 10 minutes
cool time: 4 hours - over night
ingredients: 12 oz semi sweet chocolate morsels. 12 oz bittersweet chocolate morsels. 1 cup roasted nuts (i used almonds, brazil nuts, cashews), chopped. .25 c dried mango, chopped. .25 c raisins, chopped. .25 c dried cranberries, chopped. .25 c shredded coconut. 3 tbs sunflower seeds. 3 tbs chia seeds. wax or parchment paper. 
pour all the morsels in a glass or stainless steel bowl. fill a large pot with water and place the bowl of chocolate over the pot to create a double boiler. a double boiler is used so you do not burn the chocolate and it melts smooth. bring the water to a boil and allow the chocolate to melt, stirring every few minutes. this should take about 10 minutes.
when the chocolate has melted, pour in the sunflower seeds, chia seeds, nuts, raisins, cranberries, half the coconut and half of the mango. stir till the mixture is well combined. 
lay out the wax or parchment paper on either a rimmed baking sheet or square baking pan. spread the chocolate out evenly. top with remaining coconut and mango and allow to cool in the refrigerator for four hours or over night. 
remove the chocolate from the paper and slice it into equal bite size pieces. serve cool or at room temp.