If you suffer from migraine headaches, vertigo or Meniere's Disease, chocolate might be an off-limits trigger food. So what's a chocolate lover to do for a sweet treat that won't send you spinning? Make Nutella Not-ella carob butter, a creamy, decadent treat made with carob powder that won't provoke an attack. Tastes like Nutella. The author of The Migraine Relief Plan, my friend Stephanie Weaver, calls it Not-ella. It's nothing short of sensational and a healthy treat for everyone. Make some!
Creamy Nutella Not-ella Carob Butter
We stood at the kitchen counter dipping apple slices into the dark chocolaty goodness as an after lunch treat. I just whipped up my first batch of Not-ella. This is bound to become a new staple in my refrigerator. The recipe is so simple yet so delicious.
Toasted sunflower seeds, hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds), coconut oil, stevia and carob powder. That's it. While is doesn't taste exactly like Nutella, it's close enough and a whole lot healthier.
Read a Nutella label and you'll find the first ingredient listed is sugar, plus milk products, hazelnuts, sodium, soy lecithin and artificial flavor. Umm, 21 grams of sugar in two tablespoons? No thanks. And other ingredients that cause many folks a lot of issues. Why not make something better for you and your family?
Find the recipe below, but first, a little about this terrific new book: The Migraine Relief Plan. Whether you suffer from migraine or love someone who does, it's a must-have guide for migraine patients and their families.
The Migraine Relief Plan
It was last year in the middle of a howling Denver blizzard that Stephanie and I sat down to talk about her migraine journey and her new book, The Migraine Relief Plan from Agate Publishing. We'd met years prior at a food blogging workshop and became friends. While I have many friends who suffer from migraine attacks, I never really understood how terrible it was until we talked.
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After she was diagnosed, Stephanie bought every book she could find searching for answers on how to manage this debilitating condition that effects so many. One in four American households includes a migraine sufferer, and migraine attacks cost employers a staggering 113 million lost workdays every year. Most current migraine treatment protocols focus on prescription medication and injections, which often carry side effects and a hefty price tag.
With a Master of Public Health in Nutrition Education and certification as a health and wellness coach, Stephanie well understood the power that nutrition and lifestyle play in a healthy life. Utilizing the latest research and extensive testing, Stephanie used herself as a guinea pig and developed a highly successful plan to reduce her migraine severity and frequency. Thankfully for migraine sufferers, she turned all of this into her book, The Migraine Relief Plan.
How The Migraine Relief Plan Can Help You
The Migraine Relief Plan is thorough, well thought out, and well written. Stephanie provides step-by-step instructions for individuals to transition to a healthier lifestyle and reduce their head pain. The first half of the Plan is divided into eight weeks, each of which outlines one assignment and provides tips on how to slowly transition to trigger-free meals and set the stage for success. The second half of the Plan is divided into 4 months, each of which provides assignments and information that help readers maintain the Plan. By Month 6, readers should be living trigger free.
How to Make This Work
Stephanie gently guides on how to change your mindset, how to set up your environment to succeed, and how to clean out your fridge, plus a detailed list of optimal foods, what not to eat, and why. She advises on how to survive eating out and even planning to fail, because in real life, stuff happens. The book includes self-care tips section, such as detoxing, sleep and movement, all to support your healing journey. Stephanie's plan helps you adapt if you eat a specific diet, such as vegan, vegetarian, or ancestral.
Best of all, Stephanie developed 75 delicious, easy recipes that eliminate the trigger foods and give you confidence that you can not only do this but enjoy it, along with a 14-day meal plan. As a recipe developer and writer, I really appreciate her well-written head notes providing readers with extra tips and information, as well as cook's notes, nutritional information and a budget note.
If you suffer from migraine attacks, vertigo or Meniere's Disease, this book will be an invaluable guide. If you live with someone who is a sufferer, reading it will help you understand how to support them in their journey.
📖 Recipe
Nutella Not-ella Carob Butter
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds (230 grams)
- 1 cup hemp hearts (160 grams)
- Stevia to equal 8 teaspoons sugar
- ½ cup carob powder (50 grams)
- ¼ cup coconut oil (60 ml)
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Put the sunflower seeds on baking sheets lined with fresh parchment paper
- Toast the sunflower seeds for 10 minutes, then stir and return to the oven. Turn off the oven and toast the seeds another 5 to 10 minutes. You want them just golden brown but not dark brown or burnt. Taste a few if you aren’t sure.
- Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the toasted seeds cool for 15 minutes.
- Put the toasted seeds in a food processor fitted with the S-blade or a high-speed blender and blend into a fine powder, about 1 minute.
- Add the hemp hearts and stevia and blend for about 4 more minutes, stopping every minute to scrape down the sides. Eventually it will form a ball and become nut butter. Use the tamper if you have a Vitamix.
- In a separate bowl, blend the carob powder with the oil, then add the mixture to the nut butter. (If you add the carob powder and oil directly to a food processor, you will have a powdery carob explosion that is not fun to clean up.) Continue blending until you get the smooth consistency you want.
- Serve right away or transfer to a glass jar and store in the refrigerator. It will be spreadable when refrigerated, and just a little thicker than Nutella at room temperature. Eat within a month.
Notes
Nutrition
Reprinted with permission from The Migraine Relief Plan, copyright 2016 Stephanie Weaver. Published by Surrey Books, an imprint of Agate Publishing, Inc. Recipe photography copyright 2016 by Laura Bashar.
Denise says
Amazing! Great review! And great recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Stephanie Weaver, MPH, CWHC says
Sally, thank you so much for your beautifully thoughtful review! I appreciate you so much. And yes, that was one crazy blizzard in Denver!
Sally Cameron says
You bet Steph! Your book is fantastic and its going to help so many people! Yeah, that was one heck of a blizzard. Being from So Cal, it was amazing to see so much snow all at once.