Fudgy Avocado Brownies (GF, dairy free)

I LOVE avocados.  I always try to have avocados in our home.  My dream one day, is to be able to have an avocado tree in my backyard.  Wouldn't that be something? :)  For breakfast, I enjoy spreading a half of an avocado on a piece of toast with a sprinkle of salt.  It's delicious and I feel good about eating it. For lunch, I would throw it on a salad or in a sandwich.  The smoothness of avocados make it a perfect substitute for butter in any baking recipe.  And it pairs well with chocolate.  What more could you ask for?  First, you will need a ripe, tender avocado.

I made these brownies for a friend that will be coming over tonight that is trying to eat clean.  It's tough to make completely clean desserts…but these come pretty close.  I'm hoping that she will enjoy them and that they will satisfy her chocolate craving and sweet tooth, all in one bite.  I hope these do the same for you!

Ingredients:

1 Ripe Avocado

5 oz. of dairy free, soy free, nut free Chocolate Chips (or regular chips if you eat dairy)

2 Eggs

1 Cup of cocoa

1/3 cup of turbinado raw can sugar

1 tspn Vanilla

dash of salt

1 tbsp of Almond/Cashew/Soy milk or Cow's milk if you prefer

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven for 350 degrees.  Grease a 8x8 brownie pan and set aside for later.

2.  In a food processor, mix your avocado, egg, vanilla and choice of milk until smooth.

I used my Nutribullet for this and it worked great!

3.  Melt 100g of your choice of chocolate chips and mix into the avocado mixture.  I melt mine in the microwave for short increments and stir.  You can also use a double broiler.

This is the brand I like to use for dairy, nut and soy free chocolate chips!

Texture should be similar to a pudding.

4.  Transfer chocolate avocado mixture to a bowl and add the cocoa, salt and baking soda.  Mix until thick.  I also added another 1/3 cup of chocolate chips to the batter.

Turbinado sugar is less processed than white granulated sugar.

Extra chips for good luck ;).

5.  Spread the batter into your greased brownie pan.  Bake for 22-25 minutes.  A toothpick will come out clean when done.

Sprinkled some extra chocolate chips on top!

6.  Cool pan and transfer to the fridge until ready to serve!  ENJOY! :D

How rich and decadent!

Recipe adapted from: http://www.southerninlaw.com/2014/04/grain-free-healthy-fudgy-avocado-brownies-recipe.html

Cashew Milk Horchata Brown Rice Pudding (GF)

Hi my Beloved Followers!  I am back!!  It has been a busy 4 months…hence I haven't posted a new recipe or blog since then!  With what have I been busy with you, you ask?  Let me share a few photos… :)

Meet our Mr. Panda!  Here is his first day with us at 7 weeks (3 lbs).  He is a Bernedoodle (half Bernese Mountain dog/half Standard Poodle).

A few months later…. he grew… 

And grew...

And now, he is 6 months old! (54 lbs.)

And now that he is old enough, I have my life back!  Those months were filled with a lot of cleaning, training, playing, walking, feeding…etc.  But now, he's napping like a big boy.  So it's back to the kitchen for me!

I just wanted to let you know that I didn't forget about you and this blog!  I did cook a lot throughout the 4 months, but never had enough time to take pictures and post.  But I am back and I promise to get back into my routine with posting regularly again.  Which brings me to today's recipe!

I have been wanting to make rice pudding now for at least a few weeks.  It's one of my mom's favorite desserts.  Something about the different textures of the chewy rice and the soft, creamy pudding make me drool.  And as the weather here in Chicago is "warming up" (it's currently 45 degrees)… I'm looking for some nice picnic desserts, and I found a winner!

This rice pudding is made with brown rice (healthier than the white rice) and since I'm mildly lactose intolerant, I decided to use cashew milk that I had onhand.  Since brown rice has a nutty taste to it, I figured that the cashew milk would only deepen those nutty undertones.  By the way, if you haven't tried cashew milk, I HIGHLY recommend it!  It's a nice change from almond milk and I enjoy putting it in my coffee.  It's a bit creamier than almond milk and has a nice light cashew flavor to it.  All of these delicious flavors combined with the rice reminds me of Horchata (a Common Mexican rice drink).  And I LOVE me some Horchata :D.  I hope you enjoy this new, healthier twist on a classic dessert!

Ingredients:

2 cups Brown rice (cooked)

2 cups Unsweetened Cashew Milk (Almond milk or cow's milk would also work)

1/3 cup of Sugar

Dash of Salt

1/2 tspn Cinnamon

1/4 tspn Nutmeg 

1 egg Yolk

1 tspn Vanilla Extract

1 tbs of Butter (may omit to make dessert dairy free)

Raisins (optional)

Directions:

1.  Pour cashew milk, sugar, cooked rice and a dash of salt into a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes until mixture is thick.

These frozen brown rice packs are great!  I buy these at Trader Joe's.  You just pop them in the microwave for 2.5 minutes and you have 2 cups of fully cooked brown rice!

2.  Once mixture thickens, change heat to low.  Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg.  

3.  In a small bowl, mix 1 egg yolk with Vanilla.  Temper egg mixture by added a spoonful of the hot rice pudding mixture and stir continuously to prevent scrambling of the egg.  

I used my Vanilla from Mexico.  Very tasty!

4.   Turn off heat.  Add egg mixture to rice pudding and stir continuously to prevent scrambling.  Add butter until melted.  

Butter may be omitted for a dairy-free version.  

5.  Pour rice pudding to desired serving bowls. Allow rice pudding to set for at least 30 minutes, the pudding will thicken.  Enjoy it warm or cold!  Add raisins if you desire!  

Lentil & Barley soup

This weather is really playing tricks on me.  One minute I want to curl up with a big bowl of stew for dinner and the next, I think it's perfect weather for an outside BBQ!  Right now it's 70 degrees with clear blue skies and the sun has never looked brighter.  It would be a great day to enjoy a BBQ, but I had already had my heart set on making a lentil & barley soup!  

I have never made anything that has required either lentils or barley, but I know they are super hearty and nutritious.  This soup was the most colorful concoction that I have made thus far in my kitchen!  I took a double take on my camera screen because the colors were just so bold and beautiful.  

My husband, Jon and I have been meeting with a nutritionist who has been helping us get a jump start on our goals to eat healthy and have more energy.  We attend a gym club called Monkey Bar Gym that is in the same realm of "Cross fit".  High intensity weight training and circuits.  It was definitely Jon's idea to join in the first place, but I have really come to enjoy the people and the workouts.  A part of the gym's practice is to consume a plant-based diet, which has never even been in our vocabulary.  It's not what you think, we are no where near becoming vegans or vegetarians!  We strive to eat 80% or more plant foods and try to stay away from processed food products.  It's been quite a learning curve, but doing it as a couple, has really helped.  We're learning how to read nutrition labels, cook without oils and how to better fuel our bodies.  

This soup fits into most of those categories, although I did add a handful of shredded chicken for added flavor, and also because we're still weaning ourselves off eating meat at every meal.  We try to only eat meat at dinner.  I love soups and stews because you can really add anything you want.  The combinations are endless.  And who doesn't love a bowl of hot soup on a 70 degree sunny day? :)  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 chopped white onion

1 cup chopped organic carrots (or you can use baby carrots)

3/4 cup lentils

3/4 cup pearled barley

1 can diced tomatoes

2 zucchinis diced

1 cup chopped frozen baby kale

4 cups organic vegetable broth (low sodium)

2 cups water

Optional: Handful of shredded chicken (I like to keep a bag of shredded rotisserie chicken in the fridge, to add protein to salads or for instances like this).

salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste

Directions:

1.   Layer zucchini, onions, carrots, kale and tomatoes on bottom of slow cooker.

2.  Season veggies with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

3.  Pour lentils and barley over the vegetables.  Add vegetable broth and water to the pot.  Stir together.

I added another cup while it was cooking.  The lentils and barley absorb a lot of water.

4.  Add shredded chicken if you would like.

5.  Set slow cooker on high for 4-5 hours.  The longer the setting, the thicker the soup will be.

Got milk? Nope.

I'm not sure when I started becoming lactose intolerant.  I used to LOVE milk.  My mom only bottle fed us with cow's milk as infants.  And as a kid,  I would drink it plain, with Nesquick chocolate or strawberry powder, pour it over sugary kid's cereals, and dunk my oreos in it.  Plus I would drink it at almost every meal.  It was my favorite drink.  I even posed for a Got Milk ad when I was in 8th grade!  I tried finding the ad to post, but I can't find it at the moment.  It seemed pretty sudden when I couldn't tolerate milk anymore and then slowly the other dairy items I loved, like ice cream went out the window too.  It was a sad day.  Every now and then I can eat ice cream if I have a Lactaid handy…but what's the fun in that? :P

Enter Almond milk.  It has been a life changer.  I never even knew almond milk existed.  How could milk come from almonds?  I couldn't fathom the process of squeezing any liquid out of a nut…you mine as well tell me to squeeze a rock so I can get a drink of water from it!  But then I came across a site that taught you how to make your own at home!  And it is really is quite simple.  A little time consuming if you don't invest in a cheese cloth (I didn't), but I think I will purchase one next time to make this process a bit easier.  We go through at least 1-2 cartons of Almond milk a week.  I typically buy the Almond Breeze brand, Almond coconut milk blend.  It's delicious!  And it's only 45 calories per a cup.  You can't beat that!  

I did really enjoy this homemade almond milk.  It turned out very creamy.  And I like that I know exactly what went into it.  Almonds and water.  But it is easier and probably cheaper to just buy it off the shelf.  If I had the time, I would make this again!  If you're curious like me and want to make a healthier version of this tasty milk, try this recipe, you won't regret it!

Ingredients

1 cup almonds

2 cups water

blender

strainer

cheese cloth

optional:  sweeteners, coconut milk, other natural flavorings

Directions:

1.  Soak almonds in a bowl of water (enough to cover every almond) for 24-48hrs.  (the longer, the more creamy).

2.  Rinse almonds with fresh, cold water.

3.  Place almonds and 2 cups of fresh water into a blender.  Blend for 3-4 minutes.  Liquid will turn instantly white.

4.  Strain milk to removed almond meal, and remove as much liquid as possible.

5.  Strain liquid again with a cheese cloth to ensure full removal of almond meal.  

6.  Next place almond meal in cheese cloth and squeeze all the liquid out.  Keep Almond meal for future baking (if so you can bake it in the oven to remove excess liquid and freeze).

7.  Refrigerate almond milk as soon as possible.  Because it is not pasteurized, it will expire in 2 days.  

Vanilla Sugared Apple Chips

I was at the store the other day and waiting in line I grabbed a bag of organic apple chips.  It was an impulse buy…but I figured if I wanted to satisfy my snack craving, I mine as well do it healthily.  Even though the only ingredients were organic fuji apples and cane sugar, they still had this "factory" taste to them.  Maybe it was the sealed bag it came in… But I digress.  It made me want to try making my own apple chips.  I don't have a dehydrator but at a low enough temperature in the oven, you can dehydrate anything.

I used Gala apples for added natural sweetness.  Granny smiths would work well if you like your apple chips tart.  I also added a sprinkle of Vanilla Sugar.  I just happened to have this on hand.  If you are looking for flavored sugars, I know that Spice House in Old Town (a great Chicago neighborhood) has a nice variety.  This particular sugar is from the French Chocolatier Jean Philippe.  It's smells amazing.  It's basically vanilla infused sugar with bits of vanilla bean.  I wanted to try out something different than the normal cinnamon and sugar.  Although, that would be tasty too!

Also, I hate using the mandolin.  In fact we got one months ago and I threw it out because I was so terrified that we were going to lose a finger slicing cucumbers that I couldn't stand to have in the house.  But really to get these apple slices evenly thin, you need a mandolin.  So I gathered up my courage and bought a new one.  A much simpler model that I felt that I could control better.  Success!  I was able to cut very, thin, even slices of apples.  The thinner the more crispy they will be.  I love to eat things with a crunch.  If you prefer your apple chips more on the chewy side, you can cut them thicker and bake them less, in which case you can just use a knife, very carefully.

These made my day.  There was a dark and cloudy thunderstorm that rolled through this afternoon and it was the perfect stay at home project while folding the laundry.  I imagine these will be a staple in the fall for us.  Hope you will enjoy this healthy snack!

Ingredients:

2 large apples (of your choice, I used Gala apples)

Vanilla sugar (or cinnamon/sugar blend)

Directions:

1.   Pre-heat oven to 225 degrees.

2.  Wash apples and cut off the top of the apple. (I cut my apples horizontally).

3..  Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut apple into very thin slices.

4.  Place apples in a single-layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

5.  Sprinkle Vanilla sugar on every apple slice.  

6.  Bake for 1 hour.  After 1 hour, pull each apple slice from the parchment paper and bake another 1 hour until no moisture remains.

7.  Cool for 15 minutes, at this time, the chips will become even more crispy in texture.  Enjoy with a cup of tea!