Cocoa Mocha Cashew Butter + Confessions of a Food Blogger

This healthy, yet indulgent nut butter is perfect for slathering on your morning toast, some whole grain crackers or even for adding into your morning smoothie! Whip up some cocoa mocha cashew butter and see for yourself!

It’s been awhile since I did a confessions post, and I felt like confessing some things about my life as a food blogger…so here we go!

Confessions of a(n Insecure) Food Blogger

Confession:

sometimes I have a hard time coming up with a couple of short lines about the recipe I’m describing without it sounding like a lame sales ad. (see above for example)

The truth is, it’s tricky to describe food in an intelligent way unless you are used to it. Even when you are used to it sometimes.

I used to watch Food Network Stars and literally cringe every time they had to take a bite of food and describe it without using words like “yummy” or “delicious.” And those words are exactly what come to mind when trying to describe foods that I love!

Confession:

sometimes recipes I try out totally flop. Or I break things in the process.

Like my poor poor tiny pink food processor. It really has seen better days. Apparently it’s not the best idea to use one of these little guys to whip up nut butter on the regular. It was actually smoking with each batch of cocoa mocha cashew butter I made at the Daddio’s house. Thankfully he wasn’t home at the time…

I’ve also broken numerous spatulas and even a wooden spoon yesterday when I was trying to stir something that was apparently too thick to be stirred. 

Confession:

I mess with my blog’s format way more than I should.

I really should just hire a designer when I want changes, but lately I’ve just been downloading plugin after plugin and moving widgets around to get things just the way I want them. (if you’re not a blogger, this probably means nothing to you. basically this means that I’m no good at editing code, so I use shortcuts that might not be the best.)

You may notice some new fonts around here and a new look to the homepage…what do you think?

Confession:

I have burned nuts more than once, so now I tend to buy ones that are already roasted. Did you know nuts should be roasted because there are properties in raw nuts that might hurt our digestive systems? (And no, I have no credible source for you today, but maybe I will address this in a future Did You Know Friday post.)

Confession:

sometimes I have this feeling that I’m not really good at what I do, no matter how many people tell me the opposite.

I mean I’m not a culinary expert (although I do consider myself a cookie connoisseur) and I don’t make things from scratch every meal. I don’t eat perfectly, nor do I exercise every day. I don’t even use my personal training certificate in an actual gym yet. So when posts get a lot of views, comments or pins…I don’t always feel quite worthy. Who am I to be writing about these topics?

This whole concept is actually called “imposter syndrome” (thank you Lifetime Fitness magazine for the article explaining how I feel on a regular basis).

It’s the concept that I don’t feel expert enough or good enough so when I do get a little credit, there’s this feeling that I will be “found out.” Or that everyone will realize that I’m really not that awesome.

Thanks to that article though, I’ve realized that these feelings are common…even Maya Angelou felt them!! And of course identifying a problem helps in the whole solution process. 🙂

I even noticed a video on Food Blogger Pro’s ebook video series called, “Expert Enough.” And I can’t wait to watch it because I think it will help me continue to conquer these feelings.

Confession:

I wasn’t going to share this recipe because although I like it, I wasn’t sure if everyone else would.

First of all, I used Splenda. Fake sugar. That’s all the Daddio had and I thought it needed a little something sweet. I thought of just eliminating it or renaming it “stevia” because that’s acceptable as a sugar substitute these days. But…why lie about it?

I was also hesitant to share it with you because I used something that everyone might not have on hand…Trader Joe’s Sugar, Chocolate & Coffee Bean Grinder. Checking online it’s actually discontinued. Womp womp.

I did find a homemade version for you though! 

[Tweet “Confessions of a food blogger. #bloggerlife #confessions”]

Cocoa Mocha Cashew Butter

Okay, so about this cashew butter. I made it at the Daddio’s because I really wanted something chocolate-y (and was out of peanut butter and too lazy to go to the store). I made it a second time because I had promised Katie I would bring some to Blend so she could try it. Of course we both totally forgot about it and I proceeded to eat the whole thing in about two days flat.

It’s delicious. And yummy. And all the other generic words you can think of about nut butter: creamy, nutty, savory, chocolate-y…wait that’s just this one because it has cocoa and coffee in it.

(PS did you know you could rate my recipes? if you’re on the desktop version, you’re able to rate them by clicking “write a review” under the stars in the recipe.)

[Tweet “I need to try this creamy dreamy cocoa mocha cashew butter! #recipe #nom”]

Confession:

Dave and I may be staying with our parents when we move back to Nebraska while we look for a house. Not only do I feel slightly like a kid, I am super bummed I won’t have access to all of my cooking and baking supplies. Hello frozen chicken and canned soups! (<-I know some of you just cringed at that. and others might have just given me a thumbs up.)

The last you guys heard anything about living arrangements, we were looking at a sweet apartment that I was drooling over because of all the natural lighting in the kitchen (like IN the actual kitchen—I think that’s pretty rare for an apartment). That apartment fell through though because of a price change (and a stark realization that we didn’t want to spend all of our income on rent).

Confession:

sometimes my posts are way too freaking long. I need to learn how to edit. Or just accept the fact that I am long-winded online.

So…I hope you enjoyed me being a little more vulnerable than usual.

I guess I do share feelings and thoughts in every single post (although sometimes I question if anyone ever reads the full length of my wordy posts), but it’s been awhile since I did an actual confessions post.

I also hope you don’t think I’m too crazy for all of these apprehensions, but I would understand if you did.

Tell me…

Do you have these kinds of apprehensions where you work? Any cooking or baking confessions for me?

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Photo Editing Using Picmonkey and Photography with Nikon D5300 and Tasty Food Photography