For lunch, I had some meatballs filled with spinach over salad greens, two carrots, a few kalamata olives, a tangerine, some steamed broccoli, and a few dried apricots (I really gotta cut this out. My digestive system is not so happy).I wound up having some coconut flakes as a snack, so I would not starve to death on the way home from work. For dinner I heated up some of that chocolate chili with frozen cauliflower, cilantro, and avocado. Can’t get enough! Too bad it’s a terrible photograph. At any rate, I’m feeling pretty good but as you can see, the snacks are creeping back in. I’m contemplating a full-on sugar detox when this is all over, which seems far less daunting than before.

• 4-5 medium to large apples
• 4 tsp ghee (or butter)
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tsp cocoa powder
• 4 tsp syrupy balsamic vinegar (we used espresso balsamic from a local shop)

Optional ingredients-

• 1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
• 12oz Coconut milk (or heavy cream)
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

To make the apples-

1. Peel and slice the apples as you would for an apple pie.
2. Mix the cinnamon and cocoa powder with a pinch a salt in a small bowl.
3. Melt the ghee in a pan over medium heat.
4. Add the apples to the pan and cook until softened. They should start to juice a little bit and make a nice syrup in the pan.
   

   Apples Softened in Ghee

5. Add the cinnamon cocoa powder mixture and mix with the apples.
6. Turn off the heat and add the balsamic. Mix until combined.
   

   Balsamic Chocolate Cinnamon Apples

7. Spoon into bowls. Optionally top with whipped cream and coconut flakes (below).

Optionally-

1. Pour the coconut milk or heavy cream into a bowl with the almond extract. Whip until light and fluffy.
2. Toast the coconut flakes in a pan over medium heat. Once lightly browned (watch closely- they will burn pretty fast) remove from the pan and toss with salt and cinnamon. (from The Clothes Make the Girl)

The Finished Product

For dinner, my brother Max and I battered (coconut flour and spices + egg) and fried a whole bunch of pork chops, and ate ‘em with a side of lemony green beans. This was great! Definitely filled me up (phew).

Tomorrow (unless it’s a snow day) I should be back to work, so I’m trying to pack up good filling meals for the day. And yet, I’m out of groceries and don’t know if I’ll make it to the store tomorrow! Oh dear… Well, I should be able to last on the proteins that are currently defrosting and my stash of frozen vegetables, but cauliflower and Brussels sprouts are gonna get old, fast.

Emergency backup stash:

• Canned salmon, tuna, and sardines
• Ground bison & beef
• Frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts
• Spaghetti & acorn squash
• Canned tomatoes
• Bison bone broth (currently slow-cooking!)
• Canned pumpkin
• Fresh beets
• Onions

Oh, it’s good to have that typed up. Now I feel like I actually have options. Pro-tip: Feeling stressed about an empty fridge? Inventory what you have in the pantry, freezer, and fridge, and chances are you have more than you thought.

Dear Readers,

Four recipes down, one more to go and then we will sadly say goodbye to the Hawaiian Series that brought to us all some sunshine during this cold, chilly winter time. If you have been reading about our previous dishes it’s time now to put on a pa’u skirt (the traditional Hawaiian skirt), warm up the oven and throw a wonderful Luau! But wait… you need one more dish to complete the menu, a great dessert to refresh the palate and end the night on a sweet note that will bring a smile on your face: Haupia.

Haupia is coconut pudding. There is no other flavor better than coconut that so well summarizes in a spoon-full the happiness and warmth of Summer. Anyone has at least one memory that coconut with its textured taste brings up to mind, whether from the childhood or from the most recent exotic trip.
In Hawaii Haupia is usually served as a gelatin dessert, however its pudding aspect before becoming firm made it popular as cake topping, particularly on wedding cakes. The Hawaiian local “Haupia pies” are the equivalent of our Western apple pies!
Haupia‘s dense consistency is due to the mixture of coconut milk with ground arrowroot starch (the Polynesian Arrowroot called pia), or cornstarch. Traditionally, nothing else was added, but nowadays sugar and salt are popular additional ingredients, which are then heated with the cornstarch and the coconut milk until smooth and thick. This packed-with-flavor dessert is to be served in very tiny portion, possibly small cubes to accompany a ti tea.

Enjoy Haupia at a party with friends or with a hot cup of tea while listening to the sound of pouring rain. No matter how cold it is outside, Summer is never too far with this coconut delicacy!

Ingredients:

2 cups coconut milk
1 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)
toasted coconut for topping (also optional)

Into a saucepan pour one cup of the coconut milk and combine it with sugar, cornstarch and vanilla. Turn on the heat on low and keep stirring until thickened. Add the rest of coconut milk with one cup of whole milk. Keep stirring. Pour into 8 inch square pan and chill until firm. Cut into squares and garnish with some toasted coconut.

~Enjoy!
Image from http://www.tastingkauai.com/haupia-hawaiian-coconut-pudding/

1/2 cup Coconut Milk / whole dairy milk / unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup Ground Flaxseeds

1/4 cup Dessicated coconut / coconut flakes

1/4 cup chopped walnuts / sunflower seeds

cinnamon to taste

1/4 cup strawberries / blueberries

Combine milk, ground flaxseeds, coconut, walnuts in microwaveable bowl for one minute. Serve topped with cinnamon and berries if desired.

The ground flax absorbs alot of moisture, so if using coconut milk you may need to add more milk depending on which consistency you prefer for your cereal. I used half a cup of coconut milk and it was a bit thick for my tastes, so I added a little more milk and cooked it for a bit longer. A good, quick, filling recipe.

Lunch was rushed prior to grocery shopping: two turkey dogs, some homemade coleslaw (with homemade mayo!!), mustard, and leftover mashed yams. Good enough.

I ate dinner early, around 4, not because I was hungry but because I wanted to eat. Bad idea #1 for the day. It was delicious, a Moroccan butternut beef stew I invented and will share the recipe shortly, I hope. It is quite good and easy – slow-cooked all day.

The afternoon was spent moving. I moved into the living room, the living room moved into the dining room, and my former “room” (more of a small alcove) is now empty. It was very tiring. I was stressed and my heart felt hungry. I’d been picking at my head badly all afternoon, and it was starting to bleed and hurt. I needed to do something with my hands, and settled on de-seeding a pomegranate. Wound up toasting some coconut flakes with cinnamon, combining that with about 1/4 of the pom arils, and eating a bora bora fireball to make it a bit more compliant (protein).

I found this broke the cycle of skin-picking most effectively, but I wanted to keep eating. I caved and had some cashews, mindless, mindless… Ah well. Tomorrow I will use non-food methods to stop this habit if it occurs, e.g. painting my nails or playing video games. I will beat this emotional eating/self-destructive dragon!

TMI warning – I have a feeling a lot of this is a result of so-called PMS, which I haven’t had for months since going off of birth control. My cycle is very, very messed up. Fingers crossed that my hormones are in the process of sorting themselves out presently.

http://realsustenance.com/breakfast-porridge-gluten-freepaleo-nutsoydairysugeregg-free/

I changed it up a little to suit my tastes (left some things out, different measurements, etc…)   Here is the picture of my tasty breakfast

But before I went, I whipped up a big three-egg omelet and filled it with sautéed Swiss chard leaves and stems, and ate it with a dollop of habanero salsa. Why didn’t I have some avocado with this…!?

After I walked home from getting my teeth cleaned, I was mysteriously hungry. After hemming and hawing over frozen bora bora fireballs and frozen veggies, I dug out a frozen container of not-tomato soup; it was puréed beets and carrots with coconut milk. Heated this up and tossed in some coconut flakes…

Now, this was delicious and all, but had the odd effect of awakening the mindless eating dragon in me. So, I ate a few handfuls of coconut flakes, and a handful or two of cashews. No good. I need to be more mindful and stick to my three meals. Probably needed even more veggies with breakfast, or perhaps some starch (I didn’t have my usual plantains today, after all).

I did a great thing for lunch. Took a serving (palm-sized portion or so) of ground chicken, 2/3 of a bag of frozen stir fry blend vegetables, and put them in a food storage container. In another small food storage container, I blended 1.5 tablespoons full of sunflower seed butter (these are estimated numbers), 1.5 tablespoons of coconut aminos, and a good squirt of lime juice. I packed these up and brought them to work. Dumped the meat and veg into a nice bowl, nuked ‘em until everything was hot, and then stirred in the sauce. And it was amazing. This is the way I should have been eating all along (sometimes. I do need variety, and you probably do too!)!

For dinner, I packed a bento box I hadn’t used in a while. One tier has roasted asparagus and two organic turkey dogs, and a bit of mustard. The other contains a hard-boiled egg, some olives, beet-carrot slaw (hence the overdose), and some mashed sweet potato. Had to take a break from the salad.

I’m feeling good, albeit a little tired today. However, I’ve been having a little trouble making myself get certain things done, such as sending out thank you cards and cleaning my room. It’s making me feel somewhat out of control. I’m looking forward to sitting myself down on Saturday and figuring out my priorities, or something like that. My life is in need of a bit of spring cleaning. There are other habits I’d like to begin cultivating, but for right now, my experiment is with food, and that comes first.

P.S. When I got home, more cashews. I might go play some DDR to give them a purpose…

The great thing about my kitchen now is that because we’ve lived here for about 6 months, we finally have a great stockpile of ingredients and spices. That means that when I get the urge to bake or cook, I often don’t have to go to the grocery store (this is great because a trip to the grocery store usually threatens to kill my cooking inspired mood!). Case in point: last night. I found this recipe for Carrot Coconut Bread with a Cream Cheese Glaze on Pinterest, and was delighted to discover that I had all of the necessary ingredients on my shelves. All I had to do was start cooking!

Credit for this recipe (I modified it a bit) goes to another food blog, easyeverydayeats.com. Check them out .

For this recipe, which makes two small 8×3 inch loaves, or one big 9×5 inch loaf, you will need:

1 1/4 cup shredded carrots

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1/2 cup melted butter, cooled (or vegetable oil, if you prefer)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 t vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then mix together all of the dry ingredients in one bowl – flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and coconut. Set that bowl aside.

Whisk together all of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl – eggs, butter (make sure it’s cooled after you melt it. Like I mentioned before, you can use vegetable oil if you want to be healthier. I went for the butter – go big or go home, right?), sour cream and vanilla. Then grate the carrots and stir them into the wet mixture.

Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture just until combined. Then pour your batter into lightly greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees F for about 55 minutes for a big loaf, and 35-40 minutes for smaller loaves.

When the loaves are lightly browned and look set, stick a tooth pick in the center. If it comes out clean, the bread is done! Cool for about 10 minutes on a rack, then remove loaves from the pans and put them back on the wire rack. If you want to speed up the cooling process, you can stick the loaves in the fridge for about ten minutes.

While the loaves are cooling, mix up your cream cheese glaze! For the glaze, you will need:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 T cream cheese (ideally it should be softened to make whisking easier, although I forgot to soften it and it still worked fine)

2 T milk

1/4 t vanilla (to be honest, I ran out of vanilla, so I didn’t put any vanilla into the glaze and it was still great!)

Whisk those ingredients together in a small bowl and spread on top of the loaves when they are still slightly warm to the touch. When they are hot, they will melt the glaze and it will roll off of the loaves. When they are slightly warm, they will absorb liquid better and the glaze will seep into the bread making it moist and sweet.

Store the loaves covered at room temperature! They are even better the second day. You could also freeze them if you want to save them for later.

If you’re a fan of nuts (I’m not), consider adding 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to this recipe. Zucchini would also be a welcome addition, as it pairs well with carrots and would make the bread super moist! If you want zucchini in your bread, add 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini and 3/4 cup of shredded carrots.

So there you have it – quick, easy and delicious! The most annoying part of this is shredding the carrots, but try shredding them with a peeler. You’ll get long, thin strips of carrot that you can chop into smaller pieces with a knife. My boyfriend Sean came over right after I finished baking. He had just finished his daily MCAT studying and looked so miserable that I ended up sending him home to his roommate with the second small loaf. It was gone soon after he walked in the door of his apartment.

Lots of love,

Jenni

Here’s a little trivia question for you.  Are chopsticks used in Thailand?  Well, they used to be, a long time ago.  But modern-day Thai people don’t use chopsticks anymore.  Chopsticks were used up until the time that King Rama V visited Europe and noticed people eating with utensils. Since that time chopsticks were no longer used in Thailand (unless while eating at a Chinese restaurant). What’s more, Thai people primarily eat with spoons. They really only use forks to help ladle the food onto the spoons. So why are chopsticks in the picture, you ask?  Because they look cool.  I apologize for being “culinarily incorrect”

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 red chile, seeded and thinly sliced

• Dressing
• 1/2 cup canned coconut cream
• 2 teaspoons chile paste (preferably roasted)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar

• Garnish
• 2 tablespoons French fried onions
• 3 tablespoons roasted peanuts, crushed

Bring a small saucepan filled with water to a boil.  Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt along with the chicken and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer the chicken until it is cooked through, about 12 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan, discarding the liquid, allow it to cool and then cut it into 1/4 inch cubes.  Set aside.

Bring another saucepan filled with water to a boil and add 1/2 tablespoon salt.  Add the green beans and blanch them for about 1 minute until barely tender and still crisp.  Immediately drain the liquid and let the beans cool under cold running water.  Cut the beans into 1/4 inch pieces and set aside.

In a dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the coconut flakes, stirring to prevent burning, until light golden brown, 1-2 minutes.  Set aside.

To make the dressing combine all the dressing ingredients and stir until the sugar dissolves.

Place the chicken and beans in a large bowl and add the dressing.  Toss to mix and thoroughly coat the chicken and beans.  Add the toasted coconut, French fried onions, and peanuts and toss again until combined.

Serve hot or cold as a light meal with a carb of your choice or as a side.

Serves 4

You’re sure to love these buttery cookies made with butterscotch chips and sweet flaky coconut.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy them with a glass of milk.  You deserve it.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened dried coconut flakes
• 1 1/2 butterscotch chips

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a small bowl.

In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on high speed until pale yellow and fluffy.  Add the white and brown sugars and continue beating until the grittiness is gone when the mixture is rubbed between your finger and thumb.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until blended.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and, using a wooden spoon, stir until just blended.  Do not over-stir.  Add the coconut and butterscotch chips, stirring just until blended.

Prepare a baking sheet.

Using a rounded tablespoon, drop the dough onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.  Let the cookies cool briefly on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Adapted from Marie Simmons’ “Butterscotch Coconut Cookies”.

Ingredients:

2 cups organic cane sugar
4 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 stick vegan buttery spread
1/2 cup almond milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
(optional) kosher salt

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk to a rolling boil and cook 1 minute. Add peanut butter, and stir until melted.
2. Remove from heat, and add vanilla, coconut, and oats.
3. Let mixture set in a warm place for a couple of minutes until oats swell.
4. Fold in almonds. Drop by the teaspoon onto wax paper or parchment paper and let set until cool. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

“Yummy goodness” — Shelley

Healthified No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

stevia drops, to taste
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup chopped almonds
(optional) organic powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Melt almond butter in glass bowl in microwave for 1 minute. Stir in cocoa and stevia. Heat milk for 30 seconds, and add to mixture. Stir in almond extract.
2. Add coconut and oats.
3. Let mixture set in a warm place for a couple of minutes until oats swell.
4. Fold in almonds. Drop by the teaspoon onto wax paper or parchment paper and let set until cool. Dust with powdered sugar.

Further details unnecessary.  I’m just ready to move on to utilizing my tough lesson.  I stocked up on food and made three dishes.  This was dessert:

Those are coconut flakes on top.  I added two new ingredients: chia seeds and soy flour.  What is the healthy version of your guilty pleasure?

Ah, to be young and uninhibited. This is my little brother.

Saturday. My first Whole30 day without having to go to work! That means, time to cook up a whole bunch of recipes! I made more sushi, sunflower seed butter, Well Fed‘s Pad Thai, and a bowl of soup just for me. I seldom just make one bowl of soup but this one took about five minutes and was wonderful.

More important, though, is that I cook up some staples for the week. Here’s the things I need to do to be ready for Whole30 week 2!

1. Chop, rinse, and spin romaine hearts
2. Chop and sauté broccoli
3. Roast yams and sweet potato
4. Roast kabocha squash
5. Cook up ground pork, chicken, and sandwich steaks
6. Make root vegetable slaw

Lots of recipes coming your way, but for now, here’s what I ate today. Spoilers: it was a lot.

Breakfast (7:00am): Three bora bora fireballs, mixed greens, carrots, cucumber, and some incredible fried plantains. Recipe coming up…heh.

I’ve almost finished eating all of these! …But there are more in the freezer.

So much better than my previous plantain-frying method.

Lunch 1 (10:30am): I was super hungry and had to go out, so I tossed some ground beef, tomato sauce, and frozen Brussels sprouts together. Not half bad…

Note to self: microwave the brussels sprouts prior to warming up the sauce and meat. Otherwise you will have sprouts with cold middles.

Lunch 2 (12:30pm): Nibbles of sunflower seed butter, veggies, and eventually – pad Thai! With steak. Which was kinda weird. Oh well! Recipe is HIGHLY APPROVED.

Seriously, make this. Recipe from here.

(Post workout?) Snack (3:00pm): Handful of coconut flakes, small handful of cashews. Today was a snacky day. Weekends are bad for that.

Dinner (6:00pm): Mushroom soup for one. Recipe incoming! Basically, sauté thinly sliced onions, a clove of garlic and mushrooms in coconut oil in a small saucepan, then pour 1.5-2 cups of chicken broth and a dash of coconut aminos on top. Simmer for a few minutes and eat! Mmm, umami.

So good and so easy.

Simply satisfying.  This weekend hasn’t exactly been restful, what with babysitting and having to work all day tomorrow. Ah well, I’ll do my best. All I need to prep tomorrow for the week is a bunch of meat, as the veggies are done! I might post about it tomorrow when it’s all done. Thanks for checking in!

Breakfast: ALL THE GREENS.

Something’s missing…

Just kidding… I also had some eggs and salsa. This was red kale sautéed in ghee with about half a head of garlic (my throat is a bit scratchy; trying to avoid getting sick…), frozen broccoli, two omega 3 eggs, and a bit of peach salsa. Yum!

GREAT breakfast!

Lunch: Two meatballs, a few sweet potato wedges, 2/3 cup frozen veg (topped with a drizzle of ghee), spaghetti squash, tomato sauce. I put it all in the microwave at work, and then mixed all the veggies together. I was a bit hungry after this…

Frozen veg: meal-saver.

Snack: One handful coconut flakes. Much better!

Dinner: Spring greens, raw mushrooms, steak, hard-boiled egg, avocado, carrots, cucumber, sugar snap peas, drizzle of lemon-infused olive oil.

This took me like 20 minutes to eat.

When it was time to eat, I tossed all this together and… ate it standing outside in the freezing cold at the bus station while listening to a podcast.

But it was incredibly tasty so all was well! I’m feeling great so far. No sugar cravings whatsoever, miraculously. Tomorrow morning I’m going to try a new workout routine. We will see how that goes!

Serves 4

• 4 bananas, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 4 tbsp raw walnuts (or pecans)
• 1 tbsp coconut flakes
• 4 cups almond milk
• Pinch cinnamon
• Splash of agave, optional

Per Bowl:
Place banana slices, nuts and coconut flakes in a bowl.
Pour in almond milk, top with a pinch of cinnamon and splash of agave sweetener.
Repeat per bowl and serve.

Raw Breakfast Cereal – Version 1

Here is the recipe of no- bake Oats and Chocolate Cookies. It is C³ i.e. creamy, crunchy and chocolaty. There is great contrast of chocolaty creamy mixture of cocoa powder, sugar, milk and unsalted butter with crunchy oats and coconut flakes. Let’s go with the recipe-

Oats and Chocolate Cookies

Recipe

Time Taken- 20min

Servings/Yield- 10-12 cookies

Category- Dessert

Ingredients

Cocoa Powder- ¼ cup

Icing Sugar- 1 cup

Unsalted butter- ½ cup

Milk- ½ cup

Oats- 1 cup

Dry Coconut flakes- ½ cup

Vanilla essence- 1 tsp

Steps to Follow-

1. Mix Cocoa powder, icing sugar, ¼ cup of butter and milk in a deep pan.
2. Boil this mixture stirring regularly on low flame. Boil hard for 1-2 min to make this mixture creamy.
3. Now cook closed for ½ a min on low flame again.
4. Remove lid and again stir regularly until mixture thickens, doesn’t stick to bottom and sides and on stirring it gives a binding mix.
5. Turn off flame. Add 1/4th cup of left butter( to make mixture more creamy), oats, coconut flakes & vanilla essence and mix.
6. Stand this mix for 10 min with occasional stirring so that oats properly absorb the chocolaty syrup into them.
7. Take out on a waxed paper or butter rubbed aluminum tray. When mixture acquires a hand bearing temp, roll them into balls or cut into cubes.
8. Serve garnished with sprinkled icing sugar.

Try these oats and chocolate cookies and get them ready to serve the Santa in Christmas feast. May this Christmas be the merry one for you all!

Christmas Spice Kabocha Balls!!

These are tasty little things! With or without the coconut flakes! And very substantial tasting- a dense cookie ball texture. I tried rolling the cookies in erythritol but it didn’t really work. So if you wanted a traditional rolled sugar cookie texture, you might want to use real sugar, brown sugar or etc.

Christmas Spice Kabocha Balls

Ingredients:

400 g kabocha squash, cooked, (or sweet potato or other winter squash or pumpkin)
1 cup egg whites
72 g coconut flour
1 tbsp stevia glycerite (or 1/3 c sugar or substitute)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla
for rolling:
erythritol (or sugar)
coconut flakes

Method:

1. Blend all ingredients in food processor or with beaters until blended, starting with wet and adding in dry.
2. Put dough in fridge/ freezer til cold and shapeable.
3. Preheat oven to 350 when dough is cold.
4. Roll into balls and roll in erythritol or coconut flakes.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until done.

Serves 4- I made about 11 balls for one serving! Pretty good for just over 100 calories!

Are you excited for Christmas? This will be my second in Korea- how about you?

Shared on Gluten Free Fridays

Lemon & Ricotta Cheesecake Breakfast Parfait
This makes 2 small servings or 1 large and some leftovers!

1 tbspn LSA or ground flaxseed
1 tbspn shredded coconut
2 tbspn natural yoghurt
50g ricotta
120g coconut water (or milk of choice)
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 tbspn grated lemon rind (less if you are not quite the lemon addict)
1 tbspn lemon juice
1 dsrt spoon macca powder (optional)

Topping: coconut flakes, CoYo or yoghurt, grated lemon rind (optional)

Throw all of the above in a high powered blender for a minute or two. I needed to stop midway and scrape down the sides – it is really thick. If you need to add more liquid to get it moving do so, it will thicken up with the chia anyway. Leave it for a few minutes to let the chia soften and thicken up. Scoop into a bowl and top with some more natural yoghurt or in my case, CoYo.  Sprinkle with coconut flakes and extra lemon rind. Grab a spoon and dig in!

Alright, so I’ve been baking banana bread and experimenting with different variations for years and this one might be my new fave! Almonds, shredded coconut and bananas…could it go wrong? Well, I’m sure I could’ve messed it up somehow, but I didn’t!

I went with using all whole wheat pastry flour, used a sugar substitute and replaced butter with coconut oil. It’s a healthier variation but does not taste “healthy.”

Here’s the recipe as I made it, but I encourage you to experiment as well!

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. zero-cal baking sweetener
3 tbls. coconut oil (in liquid state)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
4 very ripe bananas
1/3 c. shredded coconut
1/3 c. sliced almonds + 1 tbls. for topping

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 5X9 loaf pan.
• Mash bananas in large mixing bowl. Add sugar and combine thoroughly. Next add oil, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, salt and slightly beaten egg.
• Incorporate flour in batches.
• Fold in coconut flakes and sliced almonds.
• Pour batter into pan. Top with some extra almonds to make it pretty and bake for 50-60 minutes or until butter knife inserted in center comes out clean.

All in all, I got a thumbs up from the boyfriend and I sent him off to his guitar lesson with a slice for his instructor and got good reviews there! I think the next loaf I’ll try using almond extract in place of vanilla! Why didn’t I think of that the first round?!

Would love to hear about your experience if you follow this or any of your variations to the recipe!

No much of preparation, mix the coconut with the dulce de leche and leave it in the fridge for half an hour until it has became a well combined mix

Cut with the help of a spoon a round bit and flat it with your finger, place an almond on the center and form round little balls

this amount of ingredients made 30 balls

Let them cool in the fridge for an hour so that they won’t fall apart when you deep them in the melted chocolate.
Careful, with the help of two forks deep them in chocolate and let them freeze normally, it’s winter!

Enjoy them!

I’ve never been a fan.

2 cans pineapple chunks, drained
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
2 jars maraschino cherries, drained
1 can coconut flakes
1/2 bag mini marshmallows
4 oz. sour cream
16 oz. Cool Whip

Combine sour cream and Cool Whip. Fold in all other ingredients. Chill covered for at least 2 hours.

There’s the time on the oven when I finished all the baking, 5:32am. I still had to make frosting, put together the cake boxes, put them all in and put everything away.

Made a batch of my whipped cream cheese frosting to frost the 24 coconut cupcakes and the 12 maple cupcakes and still had a lot leftover. I added around 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup to the remaining frosting for the maple cupcakes.

I had ordered some 10″ cake boxes online and was able to use then for this order to transport. I was able to fit 16 per box.

I added the frosting and dipped them in coconut flakes to make them look like snow balls, they came out very cute.

Used one of my cream cheese recipes and veganized it with vegan cream cheese and vegan butter.

Clockwise (the first picture is my aunt’s villa at the resort, the second is the view from my her villa, the third is the party space and the last is the Christmas tree in the lobby).

The cupcakes were presented on a cupcake tower on the gifts table.

The recipe for the coconut cupcakes is originally for a 9″ cake, I was able to get 24 cupcakes. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup water, I instead added 1/4 cup coconut milk.

Coconut cupcakes recipe

Maple Cupcakes
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon imitation maple flavoring
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350°F.
To prepare cupcakes, beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine milk and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Adapted from myrecipes.com

Vegan Pumpkin Banana Cupcakes
(Originally for bread (4 mini loaves or 2 big loaves)
• 1- 15 oz. Can Organic Pure Pumpkin
• 1/2 C. Very Ripe Banana (used 2 medium)
• 1 C. Turbinado Sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Ground Flaxseed
• 6 Tbsp. Warm Water
• 1/4 C. coconut oil (used safflower oil)
• 1 Tbsp. Molasses
• 1 tsp. vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 C. Whole Wheat flour
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. pumpkin Pie Spice (used ground nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp. Salt (used Himalayan salt)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine flaxseed and water, leave it for at least 5 minutes. In a bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. In a separate bowl combine the mashed banana, molasses, can of pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla extract and the flaxseed mix and mix with a mixer. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. I added some almond milk since they were going to be cupcakes and not bread. Spoon into lined muffin cups and bake for 35-40 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.

Adapted from veganyackattack.com

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8oz) package of vegan cream cheese (like Toffutti)

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, softened (Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the cream cheese, butter, syrup and vanilla in a bowl: beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with nuts if desired. Store in fridge. Makes for 1 1/2 dozen.