The Book Tour Stops Here: "The 3-Day Reset" by Pooja Mottl with Raspberry Chocolate Truffles From the Book

About a month ago I posted a teaser for a new healthy living book, The 3-Day Reset: Restore Your Cravings for Healthy Foods in Three Easy, Empowering Days by Pooja Mottl. (You can find the teaser post with excerpts from the book here.) Nutrition and healthy eating are a passion of mine and I like the author's focus on replacing less healthy and quality foods with what she refers to as WAMPs (Whole And Minimally Processed Foods). in 3-day "resets" to adjust the taste buds and get the body accustomed to new foods in a 'doable' time frame. 

Although in general I eat pretty healthy and don't find myself 'addicted' to any processed foods--like everyone, I do get cravings from time to time. I am fond of chocolate and do indulge in a few coffeehouse beverages a week so for my stop on this TLC Book Tour, I read through the book, followed many of the tips and ideas for the chocolate and beverage resets, and road-tested a few different recipes that caught my eye.

Publisher's Blurb:

"Eating healthy can be a struggle. It’s hard to choose broccoli and brown rice instead of hot, cheesy pizza. And diets often ask you to cut out different foods all at once, leaving you feeling deprived.


In The 3-Day Reset, Pooja Mottl outlines 10 simple ways you can change your cravings and start eating whole, healthy, delicious foods—three days at a time. Each reset takes only 72 hours to complete, which means you’ll be able to stay focused on healthy eating from start to finish.

Accessible, fun, engaging, and packed with over 30 delicious recipes, pantry makeover lists, shopping guides, tidbits on food history, and other smart tools, The 3-Day Reset will set you on the course to healthy eating… and help you stay there for good."

Overall, I like this book as I think it delivers on its premise--being aware of the quality of the food that you eat and offering relatively simple ways to eat better for your health and wellness. The 3-Day resets aren't threatening and while not necessarily enough time to form new habits, they are enough to give a taste (pun intended) of healthy eating that can inspire someone to keep going. There are 10 different resets: sugar, salt, wheat, chocolate, yogurt, chicken, salad, beverages, take-out food and breakfast so the reader can pick and choose the ones that pertain to them and/or complete one before moving on to the next to reset their diet over time. There is good background information and data on healthy eating and the 'whys' behind the resets and it is given in easy terms and a colorful format that keep it from being too clinical or boring. The recipes are generally easy to follow and I really liked three out of the four recipes I tried. If this is someone's first exposure to healthy cooking and eating, some ingredients may be unfamiliar and daunting, and some a bit expensive to buy at once. A few more tips on eating healthy and buying WAMPs on a budget could have been helpful. I also would have liked to see a few more recipes added to some of the broader resets (sugar, salt, wheat) to give more variety to the 3 days. Still, if you are interested in better health and improving your food choices without too much pain, The 3-Day Reset is a great resource to get started. 

Author Notes:  Pooja Mottl is a professionally trained Natural Foods Chef, Healthy Eating Coach, and Healthy Living Expert whose work has captivated audiences from Good Morning America to the Huffington Post. She is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, a world-renowned institution for pairing culinary training with health promoting food. Pooja also holds a certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from Cornell University and is an NSCA-CPT certified personal trainer. Pooja advises private clients on healthy eating and has taught cooking classes at Whole Foods Market. She regularly blogs for the Huffington Post and Gaiam.com. Pooja has appeared on Good Morning America, WGN TV, Martha Stewart Radio, Style.com, the Green Festival, HuffPost Live, and a variety of additional media outlets.

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As part of reviewing the book, I tried four different recipes: Dreamy Green Strawberry Almond Smoothie (Wheat Reset), (Virgin) No Sugar Blackberry Lime Rickey (Beverage Reset), Strawberry Chocolate Mousse (Sugar Reset), and the Raspberry Chocolate Truffles (Chocolate Reset) that I am sharing below. Still to be tried are the Chinese Peanut Noodles (Take-Out Reset), Banana-Cinnamon Rice Cereal (Wheat Reset), Two Bean Tuscan Soup (Salt Reset), Tofu Curry Scramble (Breakfast Reset).

Doesn't it all look fresh and healthy?! 

My thoughts on each recipe tried:

• Dreamy Green Strawberry Almond Smoothie: A good green (from spinach) smoothie, thick and creamy with the perfect level of sweetness from the dates. The recipe called for 5 frozen strawberries, next time I'll add a few more so the berry flavor is more prominent than the banana and it will move up to great.

• No Sugar Blackberry Lime Rickey: I love blackberries, basil and lime so the combination of the three was really delicious and refreshing. (Plus I love any excuse to bring out my wooden "muddler" and pulverize herbs and fruit.) The recipe did say to strain the mixture but I like the mojito-feel of leaving the muddled goodies in the bottom. I even added a few extra frozen blackberries along with the ice cubes. (Speaking of mojitos--it would also be fabulous with some rum.) ;-)

• Strawberry Chocolate Mousse: I knew I would like this recipe, I wanted badly to like this recipe but unfortunately, it just didn't do it for me. I felt like the combo of ripe strawberries, cacao, avocado, coconut milk and whole cane sugar that sounded great on paper just wasn't 'enough' of anything for me--not creamy enough, not rich enough, not chocolaty enough, not enough strawberry flavor. It wasn't terrible but it didn't wow me. I ended up loading a plate up with fresh fruit and using it as more of a dip than a pudding. 

• The cacao and berry pairing worked much better in the yummy little Raspberry Chocolate Truffles, a fun little bite reminiscent of a Lara Bar. To me they were rich, nutty and had a burst of fruity raspberry flavor at the end. They also felt a bit decadent and isn't that what you want when you are swapping out food choices for something better for your body?! ;-) 

Pooja says, "Two ancient ingredients--cacao and dates--make this WAMP recipe perfect for vital living. Combined with ripe raspberries, these truffles are the perfect companion to a hot cup of coffee or tea."

Raspberry Chocolate Truffles
Reprinted from The 3-Day Reset by Pooja Mottl
(Makes about 16-20 truffles)

1 cup raw pecans
1 cup Medjool or Deglet Noor dates, seeds removed, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp unsweetened cacao powder (raw if possible) + extra for dusting truffles
2 Tbsp cacao nibs
1/4 cup fresh raspberries

Pour a small amount of cacao powder onto a sheet or large plate for coating and dusting the truffles.

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender, and blend until ingredients are fully incorporated and pecans and dates are chopped into small bits. Be careful not to overblend. If the mixture looks too dry, add a couple of extra raspberries.

Scoop out the truffle mixture using a tablespoon. Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoons at a time, forming each into a ball with your hands. Transfer balls to dusting plate and coat thoroughly, then tap the truffle to remove any excess powder.

Enjoy immediately with tea or coffee or chill in the refrigerator for an hour or more. Truffles will last in the fridge for several days. 

Notes/Results:  In addition to having good flavor and being a satisfying bite, these little truffles go together quickly and easily. I actually had everything on hand but the raspberries to make them, which made it even easier to put them together. My mixture was a bit dry with the 1/4 cup raspberries, so I actually put in about 1/3 cup total. They were then very moist and the raspberry flavor popped. Definitely something I will be making again and I have it in my mind to try some blueberry ones next. 

Note: A review copy of "The 3-Day Reset" was provided by the publisher and TLC Book Tours in return for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review and as always my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of the TLC Book Tour Release Week Teasers and Reviews here.