Creating Magic in 2015, and Delicious End-of-Year Muffins!

I’m closing out 2014 in Northern England where I have come to spend time with Fozzy and stay on for a few weeks to work on my book and projects related to it. As a child, when I imagined the writer’s life I longed to live, it always included long getaways to foreign countries where I could spend hours writing without having to worry about much else. It astounds me that I’m living that dream all these years later.

I took the long, winding road to this reality. I mean, who goes to pharmacy school when they really want to be a writer? Yet, had I not taken that road, I would not have found my way to nutrition, a career I love and am so grateful for. Everything happens in it’s own time…

…Including my book. After laboring through a crappy first draft, I came to see that I had neither the experience nor time to organize my thoughts into the book I knew I wanted to write. So I found a professional collaborator and she is helping me structure it into the cohesive narrative I imagined, but couldn’t on my own convey. Through her, I have also found an agent and I am happy to report that come spring we’ll be shopping the proposal around to publishers. Fingers crossed it gets picked up and if so, I’ll be well on my way to fulfilling a lifelong dream. As much as I’d like to see this book become a huge success, it has been enormously gratifying to get this far with it and my life has been enriched because of it.

Long time readers of my blog know that rather than having New Year Resolutions, I prefer to come up with a theme and live each day of the year with that intention. Whether it be to experience a year of adventure or promising to cultivate healthy relationships to all aspects of my life, this theme-based approach helps to bring a measure of magic to the year and loads more fun. I mean, what approach to greater physical fitness sounds better to you: going to the gym three times a week or training to climb Annapurna Base Camp?

2015 will be a year of creativity for me. What that means is that I will approach every person and situation from a creative point of view. Rather than writing a book, I will create an experience for the reader. Instead of taking a meeting with a new client, I will intend to create a connection that inspires their motivation. I will create delicious recipes rather than just merely cook.

In this way, I will bring more joy and excitement to everything I do, even if it is just clearing clutter in order to create more space in my life.

I encourage you to come up with a theme of your own from which you can organize your intentions for 2015. Whether it’s to eat healthfully, gain greater physical fitness, quit smoking or run the marathon, see if you can find a word that defines the spirit with which you’d like to manifest your goal. And then see how you can apply that theme to all areas of your life in order to be able to look back on 2015 as a year lived with joy, intention and accomplishment.

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year! I hope everything you want for yourself, comes true for you!

Much love,
xox
B

PS: Don’t forget to have your 12 grapes at midnight for extra good luck every month of the coming year!

 Ginger Coconut Muffins

gingercoconutmuffins1 Enjoy these muffins New Year morning with a cup of tea and a notebook where you can sketch out the year ahead based on your theme for 2015. They are healthy and delicious and will not set you back on your health goals because they are made with the most wholesome ingredients, are grain free and low glycemic—Enjoy!

Ingredients

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Makes 12 muffins

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Allspice
  • 1/3 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened)
  • 2 tablespoons grated/minced fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
  • ½ cup coconut palm nectar
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup Lite coconut milk (from a can)

Directions

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  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Line cupcake tray with cupcake liners
  • Mix the first seven ingredients (all the dry ingredients up until and including the coconut flakes) in a mixing bowl and blend well, making sure you get all the clumps out so that powders are well blended.
  • Mix the next six ingredients, all the liquid ingredients, including the fresh ginger, in a larger mixing bowl and blend well.
  • Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and combine until well blended and a batter is made.
  • Spoon into cupcake liners until they are 2/3 full and bake for 25-30 minutes until done (Keep in mind that baking temp can vary oven to oven. I would start checking around 20 minutes in to see if they are cooked through. Mine took 27 minutes). Remove from muffin tray and transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool.