By page 7 of The Mindful Vegan I was captivated. Not a cookbook, but a book on mindfulness. Teaching you to embrace a mindful meditation practice and taking that mindfulness into your daily activities from walking to brushing your teeth. Living in the moment, the now, just being and embodying conscious awareness in all aspects of life. The book provides insight to mindfulness, being a mindful vegan, cultivating a peaceful mindset that is loving and compassionate, open and free. It invites you to join on a 30 day journey with daily meditation practices, techniques, tips, discussions pre and post meditation for reflection with beautiful soulful quotes along the journey.
"Mindfulness practice reaches beyond your plate to positively impact every aspect of your life. It goes under the surface of that which troubles you, giving you a simple solution for many of life's ups and downs by revolutionizing and rewiring your reactivity to them, thus shifting your inner landscape." - Lani Muelrath
I personally practice meditation daily and in doing so I have literally been rewriting and rewiring my internal landscape. I still have life's struggles but I have an opportunity to react differently, breathe through them, take a mindful moment before responding. Do I fail? Sometimes miserably. And then, I inquire, and do my best to keep growing. I also practice yoga, a moving meditation, am trained in structural integration, a slow form of body work. It is as if life said "slow down, just be." When I met my husband we were both reading The Power of Now so this book is more than perfect for me, and truly everyone, vegan or not! If less stress, more acceptance of yourself and others, more love, freedom, compassion, a space to grow and change are all desirable then I think you'd like this book.
In the very back, at the end of the 30 day journey are some tantalizing recipes. While all truly sounded enticing, I couldn't help but make the Chocolate Mousse. I was enticed by her new method of steaming the tofu before processing it to remove the beany flavor. I thought that was so interesting and smart! It smells heavenly, uses healthy plant-based ingredients and is puffy as a cloud, creamy, soft, and perfect vegan mousse in texture, consistency and best of all taste. It's delightful, airy, whipped! We had a little raspberry chia jam with ours and ooh my, we savored each and every single bite. Give it a try, she's graciously shared it with all of you.
Chocolate Mousse from The Mindful Vegan by Lani Muelrath (BenBella Books, 2017)
8 servings
I’ve come across several recipes for vegan chocolate mousse, but every one of them I’ve found too sweet or used large quantities of candy in the form of melted chocolate chips. Left to my own devices, I’ve come up with what I think you will agree is the perfect chocolate mousse.
8 dried dates
2 (12.3-ounce) packages of Mori-Nu Silken Firm Organic Tofu (see note)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup cacao powder
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 tablespoon triple sec (optional)
1 tablespoon crème de cacao (optional)
1. Cover the dates with ½ cup of hot water and let sit for an hour or overnight.
2. Steam the tofu over boiling water (use a steam rack as you would for vegetables) for 10 minutes. Let cool.
3. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until creamy.
4. Pour into individual dessert cups and chill for several hours before serving.
Note: The secret to making desserts or cream sauces using tofu, I’ve discovered after much experimentation, is to cook the tofu first. This extracts any beany taste, and you’d never know that there is tofu in the recipe. I simply place blocks of tofu in a steam basket in a pan on the stove and steam them for about 10 minutes. This recipe also makes a fine chocolate mousse pie— just pour the mousse as prepared above into a prepared pie shell and chill.
8 servings
I’ve come across several recipes for vegan chocolate mousse, but every one of them I’ve found too sweet or used large quantities of candy in the form of melted chocolate chips. Left to my own devices, I’ve come up with what I think you will agree is the perfect chocolate mousse.
8 dried dates
2 (12.3-ounce) packages of Mori-Nu Silken Firm Organic Tofu (see note)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup cacao powder
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 tablespoon triple sec (optional)
1 tablespoon crème de cacao (optional)
1. Cover the dates with ½ cup of hot water and let sit for an hour or overnight.
2. Steam the tofu over boiling water (use a steam rack as you would for vegetables) for 10 minutes. Let cool.
3. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until creamy.
4. Pour into individual dessert cups and chill for several hours before serving.
Note: The secret to making desserts or cream sauces using tofu, I’ve discovered after much experimentation, is to cook the tofu first. This extracts any beany taste, and you’d never know that there is tofu in the recipe. I simply place blocks of tofu in a steam basket in a pan on the stove and steam them for about 10 minutes. This recipe also makes a fine chocolate mousse pie— just pour the mousse as prepared above into a prepared pie shell and chill.
GIVEAWAY TIME!
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TO ENTER:
With love,
Christa
Looking for a great gift? Sign up for my #BenBellaVegan #sponsored giveaway!!
GO TO INSTAGRAM TO READ ALL ABOUT IT
TO ENTER:
- Like THIS photo follow @artisticvegan77, @lani.muelrath, @benbellavegan
- Tag 2 Friends that would love this book OR comment!
- For a bonus entry repost this picture and tag #AVgiveaway1
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With love,
Christa
PS - I was fortunate to have Lani feature these photos on her website! Check it out here! Mindful, thoughtful!! 😍 😘
