Category Archives: Dairy and Soy Free

Medjul Date Caramel Sauce

I’ve seen/heard about people making caramel sauce out of dates, and have been wanting to try it out. I finally did last week, and YUM!! No refined sugar, just a few ingredients, and super easy. Pretty much a win in my book! Oh, and it’s yummy!Ingredients

8-10 Medjul Dates (pitted)
1/4-1/3 cup Almond Mild (or milk of your choice) Amount depends on the consistency you want and how many dates you used.
1/2 a vanilla bean (inside scraped out). Could also use pure vanilla extract
A few grinds of sea salt

Directions

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender or Cuisinart and blend until creamy. You’ll need to scrape the sides a few times. I started out in a Vitamix, but I don’t think I was making enough so it didn’t blend well. I dumped everything in my Cuisinart and it turned out great!

Maya loved helping me pit all the dates, and of course hitting the pulse button 😉You can dip apples in this, spread on toast, or put over ice cream (or banana ice cream!), or put dollops into a cake (THAT is coming on Wednesday-so good!!!)

Enjoy!

Mango Avocado Chicken Salad

Cherry Garcia Smoothie

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I was inspired by Lauren’s recent Healthy Cherry Garcia recipe and decided to make a super easy smoothie version. You really can’t go wrong with frozen cherries, chocolate and coconut milk or other milk base.

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup frozen cherries
1/2 oz or large chunk of chocolate
1 Tbsp chocolate icecream or 1 tsp other sweetener like agave

Directions

Blend all ingredients together until smooth
Top with some chopped chocolate or chocolate covered almonds

Costco’s Garlic Pepper Pacific Cod with Mango and Avocado Salsa

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I seriously could eat this salsa on everything! And…when mangos are in season, we do haha.

I cheated and used Costco’s already marinated cod. Didn’t feel guilty about it at all, because it’s so yummy! You could easily grill up any kind of fish with a little oil of choice, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste!Ingredients (for Salsa)

2 Mangos cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
1 1/2 medium avocados
20 Cherry tomatoes diced
1/4 cup Walla Walla sweet onions diced
Juice from 1/2 a lime
5 leaves of fresh Basil diced
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
As many filets as you need.

Directions

Cut everything up and toss in a bowl!
Or….if you are short on time, toss everything into a Cuisinart and pulse a few times.
Bake fish according to directions and top with salsa. EASY PEASEY!!

Enjoy!

Insalata di Arance (Orange Salad)

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I would never have thought of these ingredients being perfectly complimentary and surprisingly delightful! Sweet tangy oranges, the subtle flavor of fennel, salty olives, a handful of parsley.. so good!

Ingredients

4 oranges, peeled, sliced in bite size pieces
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Dried red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
Pinch of salt
1 handful kalamata olives (or pitted black olives)
1 handful fresh parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Mix together oil, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes and salt.
Toss with oranges, fennel, onions.
Sprinkle with olives and chopped parsley.
Serve and enjoy or make ahead of time and let marinade overnight

Thanks PCC Natural Markets for the inspiration. I modified the recipe slightly from the original here.

Healthy Cherry Garcia

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I love anything cherry flavored. Growing up, I always requested cherry chip cake with cherry icing. Everyone in my family groaned, and thus said I only requested it so I could eat the whole thing. While, somewhat true… I mean what kid doesn’t want the whole cake to themselves?? I really did (ok, do…if I let myself make it, which I can’t…) love it!! I’ve come across other die hard cherry chip lovers in my adulthood. Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it!!! 🙂

Anywho! I also love Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia! YUM. I’ve been dying to try to make a healthier version. I succeeded a while back, but was rushed and took horrible pictures.

This week had been hard on both Maya and myself with us both being sick. She’d been abnormally bipolar. We’d been stuck in the house without school or other activities we usually do during the week. I’d been sick too and sleep deprived due to her being sick, so we were both a little stir crazy. All in all…not a good combination. SO…a treat was in order for us both!!

Thankfully, I still had most of the ingredients on hand to try the recipe again! And…I do believe it was even better than the first attempt!Ingredients (serves 4-Maya and I shared the above…it’s a pretty large serving ;))

2 Frozen Bananas (cut into 2-3 inch pieces prior to freezing)
1 cup frozen cherries
1/3 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
Half of a vanilla bean (slice open and scrape inside out)
Garnish with dark chocolate chips, dried cherries, and unsweetened coconut (optional)

Directions

Put frozen bananas, frozen cherries, almond milk, and inside of vanilla bean in a Cuisinart, or blender and pulse until it looks like this (you might have to stop and stir occasionally. Also, might need to add more Almond Milk depending on the size of your bananas.Maya loves to push the pulse button 🙂 She also likes to get in the way and try eat whatever I’m photographing 🙂 Garnish with the dark chocolate, dried cherries, and unsweetened coconut (although, omit this if you are strict on certain diets). Enjoy! We did 😉

Marzipan

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Marzipan is a totally delicious treat with Scandinavian roots. In it’s most simple form – it’s ground almonds and honey. You work the two ingredients together into a sticky dough and then make balls or a loaf that you cut into slices. I remember as a kid making marzipan.. I don’t think you could get almond meal/flour in the stores where we lived in Norway so this was quite the cooking project.. First you had to blanche, dry and grind almonds (or just grind them with skins intact) with a hand held grinder until you had a fine almond meal. Then you would work in the honey. The best part was making shapes with mini cookie cutters. We would often make marzipan for Easter. We would roll the dough into small egg shapes and dip them in chocolate. After they were dry we wrapped them in tinfoil and hid them outside for our Easter egg hunt!

You can definitely make the honey/almond version, but the recipe below is a total winner. You use almond meal (yes, from a bag! :)), powdered sugar, egg whites, almond essence and the secret ingredient – rose water! Totally delicious and tastes like marzipan from a gourmet candy shop in Europe. I’ve made about 5 batches in the last few months but they kept disappearing (house elves?). I finally got a chance to dip them in chocolate and take some pictures! 🙂

Have fun, unleash the creativity and enjoy!

Ingredients

1½ cups almond flour/meal
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3/4 teaspoon quality food grade rose water (it is strong!)
1 egg white (this is a few tablespoons and I used pasteurized egg whites from a carton)

Instructions

Place the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined and any lumps are broken up. Add the almond extract, rose water and egg white and process until a thick dough is formed. If the mass is still too wet and sticky, add more powdered sugar and ground almonds. Keep in mind that it will become firmer after it’s been refrigerated.
Turn the almond marzipan out onto a work surface and knead it a few times. Form it into a log, wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
This will keep for at least a month in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Bring to room temperature before using in any recipe.
Makes about 12 ounces of marzipan or almond paste

I modified this from the original – thanks for the inspiration Daringgourmet.com

Chocolate Chia Pudding

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This is a basic and yummy chocolate chia pudding! I eat it for breakfast, or as a power snack. What’s the big deal about chia? Is it just a fad? Well, 2013 definitely seemed to be “year of the chia” but it’s stuck around. Chia seeds are supposed to be rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and packed with vitamins and minerals. They can be eaten raw or soaked (they absorb ~12 times weight in liquid when soaked) and are an easy add to smoothies, energy bars, yogurt, and more.

I made another pudding with chia seeds recently, the Raw “Tapioca” Pudding. That recipe called for cashews and was very yummy, but this one is nut free. You can adjust the amount of sweetness to taste. Lauren also made a Chia Pudding with Blackberries and Honey and that is another great staple recipe.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk, blended
1/2 cup water
¼ cup chia seeds
2 tablespoon cacao powder
1 Tbsp agave, maple syrup or honey
sprinkle of celtic sea salt

Instructions

Combine blended coconut milk, water, and chia seeds in a jar and shake well
Add cacao powder, stevia, and salt and shake well
Refrigerate overnight to let chia seeds soften and absorb liquid
Serve and enjoy! 🙂

Inspired and slightly modified from the original. Thanks Elana’s Pantry!

Paleo Cinnamon Coffee Cake

1 Reply

Paleo coffee cake? This is gluten and grain free and made with high protein almond meal. It turned out fluffy and perfect and the kids loved it as well. I am working on a version with apples that I will post later. 🙂

The flowers shown are from my Dogwood tree. Not edible, but they are a gorgeous rosy pink.

Ingredients

Cake

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup honey or maple syrup
3 large eggs

Topping

¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup coconut sugar (or maple syrup again works great)
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
½ cup sliced almonds (optional)

Directions

Grease a 9-inch round baking dish with coconut oil and dust with almond flour
In a food processor , combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda
Pulse in coconut oil, honey, and eggs
Spread the batter into prepared baking dish
To make topping, combine coconut oil, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and sliced almonds in a bowl
Brush topping over cake batter
Bake at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes
Cool and serve

Thanks and inspired by Elana’s Pantry

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