Coconut Mango Vegan Ice Cream/Sorbet

A friend of mine was sharing a simple vegan ice cream recipe made of nut milk, salt, cinnamon and maple syrup. Sounded delicious, but I happen to have coconut milk and mango, so thought I'd try a different recipe. I did a search for home made coconut milk ice cream and found a few recipes:

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2012/07/homemade-coconut-milk-ice-cream-recipes.html
http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/dairy-free-desserts/basic-vanilla-coconut-ice-cream-vegan-soy-free-gluten-free
http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/dairy-free-desserts/basic-vanilla-coconut-ice-cream-vegan-soy-free-gluten-free
http://alltheveganthings.com/post/19540741466/vegan-coconut-ice-cream#.UE2DQI1mRj4


of course one could always just buy one of these:
http://www.sodeliciousdairyfree.com/products/coconut-milk-ice-creams?gclid=CMWK5POpqrICFYJOTAodpE0AhA
http://coconutbliss.com/
http://www.nadamoo.com/
and we've done that, but I figured I would like to try my hand at making some from scratch. After all, I have a delicious mango and some coconut milk, why not?

Here's my first attempt at a recipe. If I tweak it, I'll let you know:

1 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
1 mango (minus rind and pit)
1 dash of sea salt
1/8 cup coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

I don't have a machine, so here's what I'm doing:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/

Put a shallow metal pan in the freezer the night before, mix ingredients well, taste to make sure the flavor is what you want and adjust as necessary, chill over an ice bath, then pour into the frozen pan and stir. You can put it in the freezer about 10 minutes afterwards to firm it up if you want. The above link has much more detailed instructions and reasoning.

No Bake Coconut Chocolate Bars

I have a thing for chocolate, and recently I had gotten some coconut oil to try out in various methods of cooking. One thing I had heard you could do with it, is mix in cocoa and a bit of sugar to have a chocolate bar. Here's the recipe I used, and it turned out delicious.

3 Tablespoons coconut oil (solid at room temperature)
3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
.25 cup of shredded coconut
plus 1 tablespoon shredded coconut to sprinkle over top

Made 8 servings about 1 inch square

Mix 3 Tablespoons coconut oil with 3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon brown sugar until smooth. Add a quarter cup of shredded coconut and mix well. Pour into shallow air tight container and spread across the bottom. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon shredded coconut on top and freeze. Easy-peasy!

We enjoyed these and they were ready about 20 minutes after putting them in the freezer. After that we moved them into the fridge, where they remained in good condition but didn't last long because we ate them up pretty fast.

A healthy take on chocolate cake

Tonight Patch made me vegan chocolate cupcakes with whole wheat flour. They were different but yummy and check out how pretty with peaches grown on the tree in our backyard right there on top like a birthday crown.

She wasn't happy with the recipe and tweaked it a bit to get the final result i tasted. Which was yummy. If you live near us and want to taste some, please let me know. I can't eat 2 dozen even with their help! And even tho they are healthier than normal cup cakes they are still full of carbs of course. She isn't home right now, so I will post the recipe later.

EDIT: This morning we put peanut butter on one. So good!
What are your favorite healthy recipes for chocolate cake?

Eggless, Gluten Free Baking (Low Carb)

Recently I have been trying to find recipes to add zucchini to, and this has lead me to some interesting experiments with eggless, low carb recipes which turn out to be accidentally gluten free. Perhaps eggless recipes need a cook book of their own. 


Since low carb is helpful to regulating my blood glucose, I have been trying to add more low carb recipes to my routine, as well as more vegetables. I don't count vegetables (especially the green ones) as carbs. But we're not here for a discussion about blood glucose, we are here for yum-ness! Or at least I am. I'll leave the diabetes lectures to the nurses and dietitians.


These recipes both turned out delicious, but it was the first time I tried either and I had to replace quite a few ingredients due to allergies. There are a few things I learned and things I plan to try out next time. The Almond Blueberry Pancake recipe does not currently have zucchini because Patch is not a big fan.  That said, she did love the Zucchini Brownies. They are going fast! You can make these without the xantham gum if you don't have any; I will be making a post entirely on xantham gum in the near future. Buying some is well worth your while if you plan to cook eggless and/or gluten free recipes, especially baking.


Some things I've learned along the way:
Brownies are pretty amazing no matter what you make them with
Zucchini, when cooked, actually helps create a flour like texture, especially if finely grated
Replacing eggs in recipes is tricky, but a little xantham gum goes a long way and replaces the stickiness of gluten in a recipe as well. 
Apple sauce may sweeten your recipe as well as replacing eggs and/or fat
Don't forget you may be adding liquid in some cases
< span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The more eggs a recipe requires, the more difficult it is to replace them, and the more likely the recipe will be too watery.
Just adding flour may not be able to save some recipes,  but give it a shot in small amounts>
Gluten Free flours vary widely and even within the same type (almond flour for example) can vary in moisture content, texture, etc. This can be taken as a fun adventure, or an irritation. I choose the first but feel free to ignore my reality and substitute your own. 


Adding zucchini to recipes can add moisture. Try pressing them against a paper towel lined strainer to get rid of some of the water before adding them to a recipe or you may end up with a batch so watery it won't cook properly at all. This happened to me the first time I attempted zucchini pancakes, major fail. I will be trying them again in the future as well as sweet potato pancakes and a combination. When I get them perfected, I will share them here.

The following recipes were delicious and everyone who tried them is either lying to me or they liked them too. 

Zucchini Brownies
A friend recommended Fast Paleo Zucchini Brownies but they have some things I'm allergic to so I altered the recipe slightly. They smell delicious when baking and were no disappointment! We ate all but one before remembering to photograph them. Photo coming soon. These were a bit more oily than I'd prefer, and I didn't cook them quite enough, so those in the middle tasted a bit more like zucchini than those on the outer edges which people did not guess contained zucchini. The middle however, was moist and delicious. Next time I might add 5 minutes to the baking time.

Minutes to Prepare: 20

Minutes to Cook: 30- 45

Number of Servings: 16

Tips

If you do not have a small whisk you can use a fork to mix the xanthum gum and apple sauce. This is the egg replacer. If you want, you can put a dark chocolate chip in the center of each right after they come out of the oven. I was told to wait to cut these after they cool, but they cut just fine for me right out of the oven.

Ingredients

Almond Butter, 1 cup
Zucchini, 1.5 cup, grated 

Maple Syrup, .33 cup
Almond Extract, 1 teaspoon
Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon, ground, 1 teaspoon
Allspice, .5 teaspoon
Dark Chocolate Chips, 1 cup

Directions

Preheat oven to 350


Using a small whisk, mix 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce with 1/4 teaspoon xantham gum. Add all other ingredients and mix together.


Pour batter into a 9x9 greased brownie pan


bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until you can prick it with a toothpick and it comes out clean






Serving Size: makes 16 brownies 2.25 inches square

Almond Blueberry Pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup almond flour  1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

Other Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 3/4 cup blueberries
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut milk 
• 1 Tablespoon 100% Maple Syrup (or your other favorite liquid sweetener)

In addition:

2 tablespoons butter or oil for frying pan

Directions:Place non stick frying pan on medium-low heat.

Once well blended, mix in all other ingredients. (except  the milk & butter)

Add milk slowly until the consistency is that you would normally expect for pancakes

Lightly coat frying pan with butter (or oil if you prefer)

Spoon onto warm, buttered pan and cook slowly until underside is brown, flip and cook until both sides are nicely browned.
The tops of the pancakes will not bubble like normal pancakes, but may start to appear slightly cooked around the time they are ready to be flilpped.

Recipe makes approximately 12 small pancakes or 24 "silver dollar" pancakes

Tips:

• Be patient. If you cook slowly  as they cook the batter will puff up around the blueberries
• Almond flour is really almond meal and the pancakes made with them can be grainy
• For softer less grainy pancakes, try adding 1/2 a cup of rice flour (tapioca or brown rice) it will raise the carb count, so if that's a concern try a 1/2 cup sweet potato flour (changes flavor)
• For puffier pancakes, you can use sparkling water or mix some xantham gum or guar gum into the mix. I find mixing it into the flour before adding wet ingredients helpful. I don't like sparkling water because carbonation seems to trigger my migraines, so I tend to use xantham gum but more on that later.

Smoothies not dead?

When I was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this week I thought smoothies were a bygone pleasure. And since spring is very short here and summer is starting in Laveen, I was looking forward to some creative smoothies. Then I noticed that my sparkpeople.com menu was recommending an orange smoothie. I altered it a bit, but it's pretty yummy. A bit tart, a bit sweet. I think the amount of sweet depends greatly on the sweetness of the fruit you use.

Here's the recipe they recommended:
1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
6 oz orange juice
2 tablespoons 1/2 and 1/2

Here's the recipe I used:
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (not vanilla, i'm allergic to that plus it usually means more sugar in the yogurt)
1/2 cup orange juice (another thing I thought I couldn't have now)
3 tablespoons almond milk (plain, unsweetened)
5 medium strawberries (these would give a great texture and more sweetness if frozen, but I believe that also might alter it's healthfulness so didn't use frozen ones)

Let me know what you come up with. Smoothies are very personal and unique. I used to LOVE strawberry banana smoothies, sometimes with a bit of peanut butter. But when I found out bananas were one of the foods causing my hives I quit eating those immediately. I still miss the flavor, but there are plenty of other smoothie flavors to be enjoyed, so I look forward to trying some of them out this summer.

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you know, I'm allergic to eggs and vanilla, making cookie baking a challenge. Today we made eggless, Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies. Basically we replaced the vanilla with almond extract, and the eggs with a Xanthum Gum/water mix.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup baking sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1/2 cup water
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Dark are great too and then you can get away with less of them)


Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

Make Egg Replacement:
Put 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 teaspoon of xanthum gum in a small Tupperware container and shake.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and almond extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add egg replacement, beating well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

* May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks.


If you want the cookies to be thinner and crispier, heat the dough slightly before cooking i.e. leave the cookie tray on top of the stove for a minute after scooping out the cookie dough and before cooking

These are NOT vegan, they are made with butter however if you use a butter replacement and dark chocolate, you should be good to go for yummy vegan cookies.

These would also be good with nuts added, but we prefer the texture without, and the almond extract still gives you a delicious nutty flavor! I will take pictures and add them to the post tomorrow.

You may ask how does eating chocolate chip cookies help you be healthier? Well honestly if I didn't eat the eggless ones we make occasionally at home I would "cheat" and eat the kind others serve. But knowing that I can make my own and not get hives, I am not tempted to eat them elsewhere. I still have to limit how many I eat or I will regain that weight I've lost. Tonight we did over indulge. Once in a while, that is fine. Tomorrow we'll eat a nice big salad and balance things out a little ;)

Post tonsilectomy eats

I've been keeping track of my food and liquid intake since getting my tonsils and lower part of my uvula out monday morning. Doing this at the request of a doctor, so I am being very specific. only the cool liquids are currently not making throat pain worse. And i have found drinking plenty of ice water reduces the pain. So I'm consistantly drinking sips of iced or cooled water or chewing ice chips throughout my day and night whenever I'm not sleeping or typing. Some of the results have been tasty and I may post some specific recipes as I get them perfected. My main concern has been how to get enough protein and not overload on sugar while primarily eating liquid and soft cool foods. Suggestions are welcome! In the mean time, here's the list:

Monday sept 13th - (between noon and 11:30PM)
20 oz water * 4
20 oz ice chips * 2
8 oz beef broth
8 oz lactaid
8 oz vanilla nonfat sugsar free yogurt
8 oz lowfat strawberry yoplait
1 berry popsicle
10 oz creamy potatoe soup broth
8 oz apple juice
8 oz grape juice

Tuesday Sept 14th -
Early AM:
20 oz water
8 oz lowfat strawberry yoplait
20 oz ice chip
8 oz apple juice (mixed with water gradually)
Breakfast:
20 oz water
20 oz ice chips
8 oz lowfat peach yogurt
8 oz apple sauce
Snack:
16 oz creamy sweet potatoe broth
16 oz freshly juiced apple, celery and pear
20 oz ice water
Lunch:
20 oz ice water
4 oz nonfat sugar free yogurt + 4 oz coconut milk + 3/4 scoop whey protein
4 oz creamy sweet potatoe broth + 4 oz apple/pear/celery juice + 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Dinner:
40 oz water
16 oz ice chips
2 servings instant mashed tatoes extra creamy
8 oz lowfat milk
20 oz water
4 oz greek yogurt (plain, lowfat, low sugar)
1 tblspn berry antioxidents
1 tblspn honey
2nd Dinner:
1 cup blended, cooked black beans
with 1 tablespoon chedderella
20 oz water * 3
4 oz vanilla gelato

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Berry Pavlova with Sorbet

Recently a couple of dear friends stopped by to prepare and eat food that tastes good and is relatively healthy.  I say relatively, because it depends on how you define healthy food. The entire meal included cheesy treats, potatoes and squash with lime, and kale salad. 2 hours later, we all shared Pavlova. An entirely gluten free meal which included grains, vegetables, fruits, protein, fats, and starch. Yes, we included desserts in the picture of a healthy meal. Desserts are fine in small amounts, but I definitely gained weight this week trying out so many different gluten-free junk foods and desserts. So I'm back on my weight watchers plan, keeping my food journal which I didn't keep up with last week. I did plug the Pavlova in, and and for one serving of this minus the sorbet it is only 3 points. Not bad for a dessert! We did have 2 scoops of Roman Rasberry Sorbet on the side. We will be eating this again soon as a nice summer treat.

Anyway, with no further ado, let me share this delicious dessert from the joyofbaking.com:

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups light aresol whipped cream
1/2 cup rasberries
1/2 cup blackberries

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (130 C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a 7 inch circle on the paper.

In a bowl whisk egg whites until they hold soft peaks (medium high with your beater's whisk attachment)
start slowly adding the sugar (a tablespoon at a time) and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. (test ot see if the sugar is fully dissolved, so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers) Sprinkle the vigegar and cornstarch over the top of the meringue and fold in with a ruber spatula.

Gently spread the meringue inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper, smoothing the edges, amking sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher than the center. (You want a slight well in the center of the meringue to place the whipped cream and fruit after it's baked)

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the outside is dray and takes on a very pale cream color. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar, and let the meringue cool in the oven. When completely cooled, the meringue will feel firm to the touch if gently pressed, but outside will crack a bit, and you will see the inside is still soft and marshmallowy)

The cooled meringue can be made and then stored in a cool dry place in an airtight container for a few days.

Just before serving gently place the meringue on a serving plate. mound soft whipped cream in the center of the meringue. Add berries on top of the whipped cream, and chow down! Serves 6 to 8

Seriously, if you want a dessert, try this. WE ALL LOVED IT!