Tasty Tuesday: Fair Trade Chocolate & Almond Butter Cups

- Posted by to General Tasty Tuesday

It’s only recently that I learned of the raw food movement.  It’s not surprising that I am just learning about it, I’m usually late to learn about trends.  Though I have not jumped fully on the bandwagon of raw food I do support it and I find it intriguing.  The following fair trade recipe landed in my inbox a month or so ago and I’ve been meaning to make it ever since.  So I thought that I should try it for Tasty Tuesday.  It has a few fair trade ingredients and it seemed unusual in that it is raw but familiar at the same time.  It was very easy and I enjoyed the little snacks thoroughly!

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Ingredients – I used regular sized cupcake holders, making each snack larger!

    for the base

    • 3/4 cup raw almonds, ground into a meal
    • 1/4 cup rolled oats, ground into a flour
    • 2 tablespoons raw almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
    • 1.5 tablespoons coconut oil, warmed if necessary
    • 1.5 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or agave nectar)
    • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • pinch of fine grain sea salt, to taste

    for the topping

    • 3 tablespoons Fair Trade coconut oil
    • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or 2 tbsp agave nectar)
    • 2 tablespoons Fair Trade cocoa powder
    • pinch of fine grain sea salt, to taste

    Instructions

    • 1. Add almonds and oats into a high-speed blender (or food processor, which is what I used) and blend on high until a flour forms. Dump into a large bowl and break up any clumps with your fingers.
    • 2. Add the nut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup (or agave), cinnamon, vanilla, and salt into the bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined. The dough should be fairly sticky like cookie dough.
    • 3. Line a mini (or regular) muffin tin with paper liners or use a silicone muffin holder. Portion the dough into each muffin cup and press down until even and smooth.
    • 4. To make the chocolate sauce: Whisk together the coconut oil, sweetener, cocoa powder, and salt until no clumps remain. Spoon the sauce over top each of the cups, distributing evenly. Garnish cups with sliced almonds if desired.
    • 5. Place in the freezer in a flat area for 30-45 minutes, until firm. Pop out the cups & enjoy! Store leftovers in the freezer.

    A Weekend of Inspiration

    - Posted by to Fair Trade News General

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    Hi friends,

    I hope everyone has a great weekend planned! I’m excited to share with you how I spent last weekend—surrounded by motivating, inspiring people who are passionate about changing the world.

    I was given the opportunity to attend the Fourth Estate Leadership Summit here in Los Angeles put on by Invisible Children. The Summit was a gathering of high school and college students who learned skills that will help them make a difference in their own communities and around the world.

    I was there as an exhibitor with Headbands of Hope, a wonderful organization I’m proud to be a part of. You can check it in more detail here, but Headbands of Hope is an organization dedicated to finding a cure for children’s cancer. For every headband purchased, one is given to a girl with cancer and a dollar is donated to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fund life-saving cancer research.

    My favorite part of the Summit was the part I was there for: the Common Good Exchange!
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    The Summit was held at UCLA, and they had a beautiful outdoor area set up for the Exchange. Dozens of companies with a mission to fight poverty and promote justice for all were there selling ethically funded goods and merchandise with a cause. Here I am with the sweet little headbands!Friday 5As you can see, there were many attendees and many wonderful organizations represented.
    Friday 3A few of my faves:
    Friday 12{Sevenly! Have you checked them out? AWESOME organization!}

    Friday 2{This Bar Saves Lives–a great start-up that provides a packet of life-saving food to a child in need for every bar sold}

    And while I forgot to snap a photo of their gorgeous booth (shoot!) I did of course have to make a purchase, and it was from none other than our friends at 31 BITS.
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    What a beautiful bracelet, right?!

    The Common Good Exchange was so much fun and a great chance to learn about the other exhibitors’ missions. And the conference sessions were incredible. If you’re not familiar with Invisible Children, their mission is to bring an end to the Lord’s Resistance Army. The Lord’s Resistance Army has been killing civilians and abducting children in Africa for more than 20 years. You can read more about the devastating conflict here.

    The line-up of speakers included notable names such as the brand-new US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Power:
    Friday 8One of my favorite parts of the conference was getting to meet my new friend Callo, who was a Special Guest for the weekend. His family was personally affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army when its main presence was in Uganda, and he now fights with Invisible Children to put an end to the LRA atrocities.
    Friday 11It truly was a weekend to remember. It reminded me that while we may be passionate about different “causes,” at the heart of our mission as human beings is to love one another and to display the truth that all people matter.
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    Have a fab weekend!

    XO,
    Casey

    Chicago is My Kind of (Fair Trade) Town!

    - Posted by to General

    The Chicago Cubs were beloved by my older brother and since I adored my older bother as a little girl (and as it turns out I still like him quite a lot now) I loved the Cubs too! As a teen living in Ohio I convinced my parents to take a friend and me to Chicago to see them play.  I fell in love with Wrigley Field and I fell in love with Chicago.  A few years later I left Ohio to attend college at Loyola University Chicago.

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    Declan and me at Loyola University Chicago’s North Shore Campus where I spent four truly happy years!

    It was at Loyola that I first learned of fair trade in the late ’90s and it was to Loyola that I returned this past weekend with my toddler son to see many dear college friends and to meet their many wonderful children.

    While in Chicago I of course thought about fair trade, because let’s be honest I think about it a lot, and because until recently Chicago was the second largest Fair Trade Town in the wold.  It was second only to London and has recently been out paced by Toronto.  Consequently fair trade is present in the city.

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    Declan and his little friend Lauren, the daughter of one of my first and dearest friends from college, admiring the L going by while they wait for dinner at the Heartland Cafe.

    One of my favorite places to get fair trade items in Chicago is very near the North Shore Campus of Loyola at a place called the Heartland Cafe. The Heartland Cafe has the best cornbread and the best vegetarian food around and every time I visit the city I eat there.  They sell fair trade coffee and teas on the menu and in their little store.  And they had fair trade candy, chocolate, iced tea and they try to use fair trade ingredients in their dishes whenever possible.  Who wouldn’t love it!

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    Chicago has many other opportunities to buy fair trade and for that I am so happy.  But the Heartland Cafe brings back so many happy memories of meals shared with friends and family over the years that I a still believe that the best place to buy fair trade in Chicago is at the Heartland Cafe! If you fid yourself in Chicago any time soon I suggest taking the Red Line on the L north to the Morris stop and sharing cornbread, the Heartland Burrito and a cup of fair trade coffee with a friend; it’s totally worth it!

    Have a wonderful day – Dawn

    Wedding Wednesday: Seven Hopes United vs. Crate & Barrel

    - Posted by to General Wedding Wednesday

    For this week’s Wedding Wednesday post I would like to share ethically made versions of products that I like from a popular wedding registry store. Today, I’m comparing Seven Hopes United’s beautiful items to items from Crate and Barrel. Below are several items that are recommended for a wedding registry; Left: all products from Seven Hopes United, Right: all products from Crate and Barrel.

    Enjoy! Dawn

    Decorative Bowls

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    Love Bowl 

    Picture Frames

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    Aluminum Picture Frame – Spring

    Vases

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    Paulino Bud Vase 

    Cutting Boards

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    Custom Engraved Wood Cutting Boards 

     

     

    Fair Trade Baskets! {Product Spotlight}

    - Posted by to Fashion Product Spotlight

    Basket 7If you’re anything like me, you have loads of stuff sitting around your house. Stuff that would be useful right next to you when you need it—such as warm blankets on chilly nights. However, I often keep warm blankets thrown in the closet so as to keep my house as tidy as possible. Same goes for TV remotes (which we have about 18 of, and I don’t know how to work any of them), etc.

    So, how about purchasing a lovely variety of our Seven Hopes hand-woven baskets instead? In all sizes and colors, these gorgeous catch-alls will hold magazines, pet toys, towels, and more. We even have a beautiful selection of baskets made especially to hold your laundry. Now there’s a chore that could use a little color and fun infused into it, right? A brightly colored hamper can only help that situation!

    See my favorites, below, then head to the “For the Home” section of our Website to start shopping!
    Basket Collage

    About the origins of some of these stunning baskets:

    {Wolof women in Senegal, West Africa, weave the beautifully simple traditional African baskets from a local grass called njodax and plastic strips used to make bazin mats. Weaving fair trade baskets provides an important source of income for Wolof families in this part of Senegal.}

    {Some of the featured baskets are handwoven by artisans in the Bolgatanga region of Ghana. Each bolga basket is beautiful and unique, designed with a sturdy handle and a thick base, perfect for use at your local farmers market or on a picnic. A great fair trade gift that gives back to the artisans who created it.}

    Check out each individual basket in the shopping section of the Website to learn more!

    XO,

    Casey