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Lemon Pudding Parfait

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Lemon Pudding Parfait anyone? Protein rich and paleo! Top with some chilled whipped cream for some not so paleo but oh so delicious goodness!

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Ingredients

  • 12 egg yolks
  • ¼ cup agave nectar or honey
  • pinch celtic sea salt
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • ½ cup heavy cream or use a can of whipped cream to top the pudding – this will give a little extra sweetener (if you so desire) and is a little time saver! You could also drizzle with some coconut milk for a great dairy free option.

Directions

  • Place egg yolks, agave, and salt in a medium sauce pan
  • While heating over very low flame, whip with a hand blender for 6-8 minutes, then whip in lemon juice
  • Chill for a half an hour
  • If pudding separates, whip with hand blender for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy again
  • Whip cream in a separate bowl
  • Serve in small glasses, alternating layers of pudding and whipped cream
  • Garnish with berries

Serves 4

Thanks Elana’s Pantry! http://elanaspantry.com/lemon-pudding-parfait/

dit-elle-Esther

Fresh Squeezed Sparkling Orange Juice

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This was our Easter brunch drink, super simple, super yummy. The kids LOVE to help squeeze oranges on our little juicer, so you can make this into a fun kid activity and show them where juice comes from! 🙂

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Ingredients

  • Oranges
  • Sparkling water
  • Fresh rosemary, thyme or mint for garnish

Directions

  • Juice oranges and pour in glasses
  • Top with a splash of sparkling water
  • Garnish with fresh herbs
  • Serve!

dit-elle-Esther

Basil Lime Fruit Salad

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This recipe takes your standard fruit salad and adds a savory undertone and some garden party elegance! 🙂 With whipped cream or coconut milk – it is pure deliciousness! I served this for my Easter brunch and made the syrup days in advance – you can clean and cut the fruit a day in advance, refrigerate separately and toss to serve!

The original recipe called for a 1/2 cup of sugar in the syrup but I generally don’t add sweeteners to fruit. I did add one tablespoon of agave syrup however to balance out the lime and basil. There’s definitely some flexibility here so go ahead and taste your way to the perfect syrup. 🙂

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Ingredients

Syrup

  • 1 Tbsp agave syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup packed basil leaves
  • 1 Tbsp grated lime rind

Fruit

  • You can really use whatever fruit your heart and tummy desires including but not limited to –
  • Cubed pineapple (about one medium)
  • Quartered strawberries (about 1lb)
  • Cubed peeled mango (1 or 2)
  • 4 kiwifruit, peeled, halved and sliced
  • Grapes, apples, pears, oranges..

Directions

  • Combine agave and water and bring to a boil.
  • Remove from heat and stir in basil and lime rind
  • Cool and strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard solids.
  • Combine cleaned and chopped fruit and drizzle with syrup right before serving
  • Toss gently
  • Garnish with whipped cream, coconut milk and a mint leaf! 🙂

dit-elle-Esther

Raw “Tapioca” Pudding

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Blog chia tapioca pudding

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (raw) cashews
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • pinch celtic sea salt
  • ¼ cup chia seeds
  1. Place the cashews and water in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth
  2. Blend in the agave, vanilla, almond extract and salt
  3. Place the chia seeds in a large mason jar (½ gallon size), pour the cashew mixture into the jar and shake well (very well!) – or just whisk well in a bowl.
  4. Place in the refrigerator overnight
  5. Serve

Serves 4

Thanks Elana’s Pantry!

dit-elle-Esther

Apricot Coconut Chocolate Bonbons

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These bonbons or ‘candy’ balls are very simple to make. Apricot, coconut, orange zest yumminess – AND – you can dip them in chocolate for even more flavorful goodness. Every evening I ask the kids to choose an activity that we do together after dinner. Playtime, go for a walk, do arts and crafts, or do a cooking project.. Last night they chose cooking project! I let them measure, sample, and then we mix everything up, and they helped make these balls. Blog apricot coconut bonbons-1 Blog apricot coconut bonbons-2 Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups unsulfured dried apricots
  • 1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil, melted if solid

Raw chocolate

  • 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, melted if solid
  • 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (or regular cocoa)
  • 1 tablespoons pure maple or coconut syrup
  • pinch fine sea salt

Directions

  • Place apricots, coconut, zest and coconut oil into a food processor and pulse until a rough paste forms.
  • Shape mixture into balls and place ‘bites’ onto a plate and pop in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up
  • Combine raw chocolate ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Remove bites from the freezer and one at a time, quickly dip half into the raw chocolate mixture. It will set instantly. Eat straight away or store in the fridge or freezer in a airtight container.

Source: Thanks MyDarlingLemonThyme for the inspiration! dit-elle-Esther

Strawberry Coconut Bonbons (nut free)

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I recently posted the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bonbons and the Raspberry Coconut Bonbons. Both were big hits, but I wanted to make a nut-free variation of those super yummy bonbons. Because these don’t have the cashew nut as a base, and more water, they freeze harder. Simply remove from freezer a while before serving and let them soften a bit.

You can use strawberries, raspberries or another berry or fruit as desired. Adding a small chunk of cooked beet adds a great deeper pink color but does not taint the taste! I promise.. tried and tested and kid approved!

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup coconut cream (full fat, unsweetened, comes in cans)
  • 1 cup raspberries or other berry
  • 1-2 Tbsp agave syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

  • Blend everything on high for about a minute, or until really smooth.
  • Pour into silicone muffin trays (oiled with a little coconut oil), or regular metal trays lined with paper cases. Freeze to set for at least 30 minutes.
  • Remove patties from the molds and place into container and return to freezer.
  • They will keep in a covered container in the freezer for 2-3 weeks.

dit-elle-Esther

Raspberry Coconut Bonbons

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Love the Dark Chocolate Covered Mint Ice Cream Hearts I posted on Tuesday? So did I! 🙂 But my kids were not too keen on the mint flavor and I don’t give them dark chocolate.. intentionally. 😉 So we made this into a fun kid project where they did the scooping and pouring and I did the blending. Both kids participated and were both very engaged in the process of measuring, stirring and “organizing” ingredients. I dipped half of the batch in chocolate for the grown-ups and left half as is for the kids. Happy kids, happy mommy! Blog paleo ice cream bon bons-5 Blog paleo ice cream bon bons-4 Blog paleo ice cream bon bons-3 Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cashew nuts/pieces, soaked overnight in cold water
  • 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 cup raspberries
  • 1-2 Tbsp agave syrup
  • 2 tablespoons coconut milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup dark chocolate + 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted, to coat (optional)

Directions

  • Drain and rinse soaked cashews and add to a blender along with all the other ingredients, except the chocolate. Blend on high for about a minute, or until really smooth.
  • Pour into silicone muffin trays (oiled with a little coconut oil), or regular metal trays lined with paper cases. Freeze to set for at least 30 minutes.
  • Remove patties from the molds and place back into the freezer on a tray while melt the chocolate.
  • Dip patties in melted chocolate, covering thoroughly and place on a sheet of parchment paper.
  • Once they’ve all been covered, return the lot to the freezer for 5 minutes or more to set. They will keep in a covered container in the freezer for 2-3 weeks.

dit-elle-Esther

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bonbons

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I made these for Valentine’s day, but let’s just say we had a classic “case of the missing Ice cream bonbons” so I had to make some more batches for photos! No complaints there! 🙂 These would be awesome for St. Patrick’s Day!

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cashew nuts/pieces, soaked overnight in cold water
  • 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup agave or maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons milk (rice, almond, coconut)
  • a big handful fresh peppermint leaves (approx 1 cup loosely packed)
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon natural peppermint extract, to taste
  • 1 cup dark chocolate + 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted, to coat

Directions

  • Drain and rinse soaked cashews and add to a blender along with all the other ingredients, except the chocolate. Blend on high for about a minute, or until really smooth with just little flecks of green throughout.
  • Pour into silicone muffin trays (oiled with a little coconut oil), or regular metal trays lined with paper cases. Freeze to set for at least 30 minutes.
  • Remove patties from the moulds and place back into the freezer on a tray while melt the chocolate.
  • Dip patties in melted chocolate, covering thoroughly and place on a sheet of parchment paper.
  • Once they’ve all been covered, return the lot to the freezer for 5 minutes or more to set. They will keep in a covered container in the freezer for 2-3 weeks.

Thanks for the inspiration MyDarlingLemonThyme.com

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Chocolate Pudding with Almond Date Topping

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If you’ve been following our blog for a while you know that we are big fans of avocado! This recipe takes avocado, some cocoa, a little sweetener, a splash of coconut milk and vanilla – and makes a lovely silky chocolate pudding.

It is similar to the Paleo Chocolate Pudding I made a while ago, but the recipe below is quicker and a nice variation! I discovered it sort of by accident – as luck would have it – while trying to make a Paleo Chocolate Pie.. turned to soup.. turned to pudding!

Blog paleo avocado chocolate pudding

Ingredients for the Topping

  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 4-5 dates, pitted

Ingredients for Filling

  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 2-4 tbsp. cocoa (depending on how dark you like it)
  • 1-2 Tbsp agave syrup (or you could use maple or honey)
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk (adjust for consistency)
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions

  • In food processor, pulse almond meal and dates until crumbs form
  • For filling – combine all ingredients and blend with an inversion blender until smooth
  • Layer filling and topping in individual serving dishes

Enjoy!

dit-elle-Esther

Spinach, Bacon and Artichoke Dip

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It feels like I’ve been on this Artichoke Dip frenzy now that I look back at our recipes, but then I guess we’ve also been doing this blog for a while! 🙂 Over the holidays I discovered Hot Artichoke and Crab Dip, then I was looking for a very simple baked dip and discovered the awesome Warm Artichoke Dip with only FOUR ingredients, then finally with some tweaking and consulting of multiple recipes, discovered this excellent Spinach, Bacon and Artichoke Dip that I’m posting today.

This recipe is very similar to my Spinach Artichoke Dip with Bacon, with one key difference being that this one calls for sour cream and the other one calls for mayo, and this one uses a mix of cheeses. This recipe has more veggies and less dairy that many similar dip recipes that you’ll find out there, but that’s the way I like it. And you know, with ingredients like cheese, artichoke, spinach, and BACON.. well.. you can’t really go wrong! Enjoy whatever variation you decide on or come up with. 🙂

Blog spinach bacon dip

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese + more for topping
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese + more for topping
  • 5 bacon strips, cooked and chopped (an easy way to cook bacon is to microwave between paper towels until crispy)
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 (14oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  • 1 (8oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 (10oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
  • Serve with fresh cut veggies or tortilla chips

Directions

  • Heat oven to 350*
  • Combine mozzarella, sour cream, Parmesan and next 6 ingredients (through spinach) in a large bowl and stir until well blended
  • Spoon mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese
  • Bake at 350* for ~30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown
  • Serve warm

Super Mom Tip: this freezes well! Put in individual containers and let thaw in fridge a day ahead of use. 🙂

dit-elle-Esther