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26: Ralph’s Favorite Herbal Snack Recipe
By Drs. Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis MH's ND's
I love chocolate. I even like carob, but I don’t like refined sugar and the feeling is mutual because it doesn’t like me. That’s probably because of the nasty things I say about it, calling refined sugar a poison and a drug! I also don’t like cow dairy and amazingly enough it doesn’t seem to like me either.
Since most chocolate candies are made with dairy and sugar that’s a problem. I think adding sugar and dairy to chocolate is a bit like how Mark Twain described golf as “A good walk spoiled”. The ancient Meso-Americans who first cultivated the cacao (cocoa) plant didn’t add sugar and dairy. They drank chocolate as a beverage prized for its spiritual qualities. That sounds good to me. Chocolate is a wonderful source of magnesium and essential fatty acids as well as some alkaloids that are unique to the cocoa plant. The most powerful herbs are high in alkaloids. If you don’t like chocolate you can substitute carob powder for cocoa in the recipe.
I also love trees and tree nuts. You are what you eat and if you want to be tall, strong, tough and graceful then eat things that come from trees, because those qualities pretty much describe trees. Peanuts are not tree nuts. Almonds are the only alkaline nuts and almond butter is vastly superior to peanut. Almonds are relatively low in fat, tasty and nutritious. Spend the extra for the organic almond butter because they are a widely sprayed tree.
I sometimes use hazelnut butter, also know as filberts, or macadamia, as a matter of taste. They are also very nutritious and they combine beautifully with other flavors, while almonds tend to blend a little too well.
A little sweetness is nice so I use Stevia, which is not a sugar but an herb. It’s quite nutritious and helpful for balancing the body’s blood sugar levels and it doesn’t promote the growth of yeast, bacteria and so on the way sugar does. Stevia from NSP doesn’t have the licorice aftertaste commonly found with lower quality Stevia products. I add NSP’s finely ground Coral Calcium Powder to the formula because we always need more calcium and minerals are the foundation of good health.
I add Maca for both taste and benefits. While Maca is well-known as a libido enhancer, it is also a major adrenal tonic. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t need to feed their adrenals every day. Maca is also very tasty but you can blend in any herb that is basically palatable. I’ll sometimes add a capsule of Magnesium Combination when I’m using four scoops of Coral Calcium. People crave chocolate for the magnesium and essential fatty acids. When I add that much extra calcium, I like to add a pinch more magnesium to balance it out. I like the taste of coconut and fortunately studies have shown that it has many wonderful qualities, especially against yeast and fungus. Along with the Maca it adds some nice fiber.
You know why I add chocolate. Nutritious foods taste better than nutritionally deficient foods. The complex flavors, the depth and range of tastes exist because of the greater quantity and diversity of nutrients in the form of the minerals, vitamins, amino acids and fatty acids that compose the proteins, fats, natural sugars, alkaloids and mineral salts that create flavor.
Doctors once claimed you could get all of your nutritional needs through your food. That’s true, if you spend a major portion of your time creating meals from wonderful ingredients including an abundance of herbs, fruits and vegetables from mineral-rich organic soils, together with animal products from herds raised on those kinds of foods. However, for the other 99+% of the population who makes due with heavily sprayed, genetically modified, commercially produced foods grown in mineral free soil, if they want a reasonable level of health, they better supplement like crazy. This spread is a supplement in a jar.
The other place this spread is helpful is to control your weight, because to do that you need to have a good form of tasty, nutritious fat handy. Your body knows that it has had enough to eat when the liver senses that it has had enough good fat. A couple of spoonfuls of this recipe leaves you feeling very satisfied on several levels. It can be a great help in weight loss since it provides that physical and emotional satisfaction in a very nutritious package.
8 Ounces of Roasted Hazelnut (Filbert) Butter (or almond or macadamia butter)
2 Scoops of NSP Stevia Powder or more if you like it sweeter.
2 to 4 Scoops of Coral Calcium Powder depending upon how thick you want the spread to be. The Contents of:
8 Capsules of Maca or You can substitute other palatable herbs.
Some suggestions are Sarsaparilla, as a hormonal tonic for men and women, Super Algae for energy, Pau d’Arco, as a blood tonic and immune strengthener, Slippery Elm Bark, for intestinal soothing, which also acts as a good thickener. It’s amazing what chocolate will combine well with!
1 Capsule of Magnesium Combination (optional)
4 Rounded Tablespoons of Shredded unsweetened Coconut 2 Rounded Tablespoons of pure Unsweetened Cocoa Powder or 2 Rounded Tablespoons of Carob Powder
Vanilla to taste
Put everything into a big bowl, mix well with a wooden spoon or paddle and then transfer to a larger jar and refrigerate. This spread goes great on toast or eaten by the spoonful when you need something tasty and sweet. A tablespoon is about 120 very nutritious and tasty calories. Enjoy!
Copyright © 2004 by Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis. This information is intended for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or prescribe and is not a substitute for qualified health care. If you have a health challenge we suggest that you consult a qualified health care professional to guide you.
