The practice of gratitude everyday

Gratitude is just one of the many latest self-development buzz words, but the practice of being thankful for even the most simplest of things in our lives is something that barely enters our conscious minds day to day. It's far easier to complain and moan about what isn't right in life, then to stop in random moments and acknowledge just how perfect things actually are, that we are where we are meant to be - and to give thanks for even the smallest of gifts. Like rain after a spell of dry weather, a smile from a stranger that lifts your spirits after a hard day, or the guy who replaced the inner tube on my bike tyre the other day and didn't charge me for it.

I have spent a fair portion of this year searching within myself about what it is to be happy and how I can project it and also attract it into my life. I'm not perfect at it by any means but what I have learned along the way is that the simplest path to a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment in life is to be thankful for what you have and not focused on what you don't. Wayne Dyer the late self-help guru said "You become what you think about all day long", thinking about what you don't want leads to more of receiving the same. And so for me it has become the realization that I will find whatever it is I choose to look for. If I want happiness I have to look for it in my life.

I began a daily gratitude writing ritual where every day I would journal 5 things that day I was thankful for. It allowed me to really see that even in the most mundane aspects of life there is something of good that can be garnered - if you choose to look. My gratitude journal has really served to highlight that I have a good life. I recently got inspired to take my gratitude journal further when I listened to Hayley Bartholomew's talk 365 grateful. Similarly, she was in a space in time where she wasn't really happy and didn't quite know why. Through the practice of taking a photo every day of things that she was grateful for helped her to re-design how she viewed her life. The simple message is it's not so much what you see when you peer through the looking glass - but how you see it. As 2017 draws to a close, I feel today is as good a day as any for me to begin my own photographic gratitude journey and reflect on what my life means to me. Shall we begin?

Raw Snickers Cake

I love cooking, I don't however enjoy baking and quite frankly I suck at it. I once tried to make pavlova and I am positive the egg white discs could have been used at Olympic level discus throwing. Raw is more my thing. Moreover raw, and refined sugar, dairy and wheat free. Like this snickers cake which actually used hazelnuts and not peanuts. I doubled the recipe below to make a super decadent and LARGE cake for a dinner that we divided with a ruler at the end of the night to ensure fairness to all. If you like me double the recipe for maximum WOW factor use one of the high 30cm loose base tins as the ingredients will take the cake right to the top (this includes taking the base right to the top of the tin).

BASE INGREDIENTS: 155g cashew nuts, 60g shredded coconut, 2 tbsp cacao powder, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 3 tbsp coconut oil melted, 1 tsp vanilla extract, pinch salt

SNICKERS FILLING: 240g macadamia nuts soaked for 2 hours then drained, 250ml almond or coconut milk, 125ml coconut oil melted, 12 medjool dates pitted, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 70g hazelnuts toasted and lightly crushed, 50g cacao powder, pinch salt

TOPPING: 125ml coconut oil melted, 3 tbsp cacao powder, 75g almond butter (or nut butter of your choice), 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 60g hazelnuts toasted and lightly crushed, cacao nibs or grated dark chocolate to serve.

Step 3 (I need to find more photos!!)

METHOD:
1. Line your baking tin with baking paper (both base and rim).

2. Place all BASE ingredients in food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Press this into the base (and if doubling ingredients) all the way up to the rim of the cake tin, making sure the layer is even. Freeze for 10-15 minutes.

3. For the filling pulse the macadamia nuts, milk, coconut oil, dates and vanilla in food processor to a fine paste. Pour half of this into the base, and spread the hazelnuts over the top - re-freezing the mixture for 20 minutes.

4. With the remaining BASE filling, add the cacao and pulse again. Remove the tin from freezer and pour this layer over the base and hazelnut layer. Return to freezer to set.

5. For the TOPPING place the coconut oil, cacao, nut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt in food processor and pulse until it's smooth and creamy.

6. Remove the cake from the freezer and pour the chocolate topping over the top of the cake in one layer. Scatter the top with the hazelnuts and cacao nibs or grate dark chocolate over the top. Chill in fridge or freezer until read to serve.

7. Remove from freezer 20-30 minutes before you serve, and from fridge around 10 minutes.

This keeps really well in freezer for at least 1 month. Probably best to cut into slices at the time you are serving it before re-freezing though as it's awfully hard to cut frozen.