Brownies and Book Club
January 17, 2010
At our book club group on Friday night we had a moving and uplifting discussion on the book Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, and we enjoyed ‘healthy’ brownies, recipe at the end of this post
From the website, Half the Sky Movement, the description of the book and the movement associated with it is as follows,
“Half the Sky lays out an agenda for the world’s women and three major abuses: sex trafficking and forced prostitution; gender-based violence including honor killings and mass rape; maternal mortality, which needlessly claims one woman a minute. We know there are many worthy causes competing for attention in the world. We focus on this one because this kind of oppression feels transcendent – and so does the opportunity. Outsiders can truly make a difference.
So let us be clear up front: We hope to recruit you to join an incipient movement to emancipate women and fight global poverty by unlocking women’s power as economic catalysts. It is a process that transforms bubbly teenage girls from brothel slaves into successful businesswomen. You can help accelerate change if you’ll just open your heart and join in.”
At Book Club we we discussed a wonderful way to help women help themselves - through KIVA , their motto is Loans That Change Lives. KIVA works through Micro Finance Loans as explained on the website:
1) It all starts with our Field Partners, which are micro-finance institutions operating around the world. Our Field Partners approve and disburse a micro-loan to an entrepreneur in their community. They take a picture of the entrepreneur and write down the entrepreneur’s story.
2) The Field Partner uploads the entrepreneur’s profile to Kiva’s website. The profile, if it’s not in English, is translated by one of our hundreds of volunteer translators. After translation, the profile appears live on Kiva.org
3) Lenders like you browse the entrepreneurs’ profiles and choose someone to lend to, using PayPal or their credit cards.
When the authors of Half the Sky were on the Oprah Show in December 2009 they let us all know that when we empower a woman and she starts to support herself, she then supports the health, well-being and education of her family, therefor starting to break the cycle of violence and abuse against women, education is the key. Check out the Oprah website and the For All Women Registry to see many way you can help.
At Movement to Health our goal is to empower all women to live their Dharma, to let their light shine, we encourage you to find your individual path to your passion and to inspire, empower and uplift the global community of women with your strength – together we make a difference.
The brownie recipe below is from local cookbook author Shirley Plant, she inspires us all to enjoy delicious and healthy food. These were a huge hit on Friday night; totally guilt-free
Pseudo-Brownies (vegan, soy and gluten-free)
1 cup brown rice flour (if not gluten sensitive you can use whole wheat or spelt flour)
1/4 cup carob or cocoa powder
1 tsp heaping baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar – (I didn’t have this so I substituted 2 tsp lemon juice)
1 large organic apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 Tbsp honey (optional)
2 heaping tbsp ground flax mixed with 3/4 cup hot water, stir and let sit for a few minutes
In a food processor combine rasins, nuts and cut up apple, chop up really well
Add in honey and flax mixture and mix again
Add carob or cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and mix until well combined
If it seem dry add a drop or two of water
Place into an 8-inch square, greased, brownie pan, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes
1/2 cup cashew butter at room temperature
4 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp carob or cocoa powder
2 tbsp orange juice or 1-2 tbsp hot waterMix all ingredients until smooth. Add liquid slowly as you do not to make this icing too liquidy.
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