Chocolate Avocado Pudding

 

I want you to listen closely as you look at this picture and tell me if you hear angels singing?  Do you hear them?  I do!!  This is one of those recipes that, I think, is angelically good.  I had seen similar recipes for avocado pudding and read the rave reviews, but was optimistically skeptical.  I anticipated a somewhat passable pudding that you could be proud of nutritionally and learn to think of as a good processed free pudding alternative.  I had read a few reviews that people hated it so I didn't want to expect too much.  Boy were they wrong, it was terrific!  I'm not sure why someone wouldn't like it.  I changed my version a bit to fit my tastes and guidelines and also to make it deliciously simple.  I hope this doesn't disappoint.  It's one of our new family favorites!

2 avocados

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup honey

1/8 tsp. salt

Put everything in a food processor (I used my mini) and turn it on!  That's it, so simple.  The kids loved it and the first thing my husband said was it tastes like creamy chocolate frosting.  Guess what's going to be on our next cake?  You can eat this immediately or store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  This makes about 4 small servings, but you could easily double it to make more.

Chicken and Vegetable Gnocchi Soup

I love soup!  It always feels like comfort food to me.  My new favorite thing is to eat at our backyard picnic table with the kids running around in the grass and enjoy the nice weather after the long winter.  This soup was what we had for dinner last night in our backyard and it felt like nature and my taste buds were giving me a big hug!

I first got this recipe from my friend Jeni.  I've since altered it to make it completely processed free and increased the veggies.  I kind of like to think of it more like a vegetable soup with a little chicken rather than the reverse.  I used a packaged gnocchi to make this fast and easy, but you can make them yourself with whole wheat flour or brown rice flour as a substitution for refined white flour.  Either way, it's delicious!

1 chicken breast, diced

1 Tbsp. coconut oil

4 Tbsp. butter

1/2 to 1 cup diced celery

1 onion diced or pureed

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 Tbsp. whole wheat flour/brown rice flour

1 quart half and half

2 carrots finely shredded

1 zucchini shredded

2 containers of chicken broth (14 oz. size) or one 26 oz. container

1 package gnocchi (whole wheat or gluten free made with rice flour)

1 cup fresh spinach, chopped finely

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. parsley

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

In a large pot, cook the chicken in the coconut oil.  Remove it from the pot and set aside.  Add the butter, onion, celery, and garlic to the pot and sauté over medium heat until translucent.  Stir in the flour and cook for one minute before adding the half and half.  Cook the gnocchi and set aside. Add the carrots and zucchini as well as the chicken back into the pot and let it thicken.  Pour in the chicken broth and allow to thicken again.  Add the gnocchi, spinach and seasonings and heat through.  Take a final taste before serving to check the seasoning.

Feel free to add any other leftover veggies to this soup, it will only make it better!  This can also become a vegetarian soup if you leave out the chicken and substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth.  This pairs nicely with some clean biscuits (here's mine) and/or a nice salad. 

Peanut Butter Frosting

 

This recipe was inspired by my husband.  He LOVES the combo of peanut butter and chocolate.  For his birthday, I decided I had to come up with a peanut butter frosting to top my clean chocolate cake.  Of course I didn't want to use any refined sugar seeing as I wanted it to be processed free, so this is not as "fluffy" as other frostings.  But it does hold it's shape enough that I think you could even pipe with it.  Let me tell you what a big hit this was.  My husband said this was his favorite cake ever!  I have to agree it was super delicious.  We have since made this again and I swear it was even better than I remembered the first time.  I think this has become my husband's official birthday cake!

3/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter (just peanuts and salt)

3/4 cup coconut sugar

4 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

In a medium size bowl, heat the peanut butter in the microwave for one minute.  Stir in the coconut sugar and heat for another minute.  You are looking for the peanut butter and coconut sugar to really combine and soften.  Add the butter and vanilla and beat with a mixer until it's smooth.  This should be firm enough, but if it's not, you can sprinkle in a small amount of spelt or whole wheat flour and mix again.  This can now be spread on a cooled cake or piped.  If your coconut sugar is not very fine, measure it first, then put it in a food processor or spice grinder and pulse to get a nice fine texture.  Store the leftover cake with frosting in the refrigerator - if you have any!

Strawberry Lemonade Slushies

 

When we first started taking our kids to movies, we would buy lots of popcorn and frozen slushies to get them through the entire movie.  Yes, we used food as both a pacifier and a babysitter so we could enjoy the movies too.  I shudder at the thought of all the junk they consumed in one sitting.  I could never bring myself to do that again now that I've learned so much.  Movies in the theatre now include air popped popcorn made at home, and a bottle of water.  But what's even better is our movie nights at home!  We make these processed free strawberry lemonade slushies and the kids go wild.  These have the same consistencies as those red and blue frozen drinks at the theatre, but NO added sugar.  Lemons and strawberries - doesn't get too much better when this is what your kids are considering a super treat. 

Zest of one lemon (optional for more lemon flavor)

juice of 4 lemons

1 1/2 tsp. liquid stevia

1 cup water

3 cups ice

2 cups (heaping) frozen strawberries

Pour everything into a high powered blender and hold on tight!  This may take 1 to 2 minutes to completely pulverize the ice and strawberries.  I have had to play with this recipe several times to get the right proportions for what my family likes.  None of us like overly sweet lemonade, so if this is too sour, I suggest adding more strawberries rather than more stevia.  The liquid stevia is so strong that when you add too much, it seems to be all you taste.  You also might make minor adjustments if you have really juicy lemons or tiny ones.  If you don't like stevia, you could always use honey in a larger proportion, but I like the fact that stevia is 0 calories and has no effect on blood sugar.  Hope this makes for a fun movie night at your house too!

Kalua Pork

I spent an entire summer on the island of Oahu in my early twenties.  Let me just say, after experiencing the beauty, the food, and the warm people of Hawaii, you will want to be Hawaiian!  Kalua pork was one of my favorite dishes to eat with friends.  It's traditionally cooked in a pit in the ground, but since I'm not a huge fan of altering my yard that much, this recipe gets a friendly substitution of the slow cooker.  I also love that this version has only three ingredients!  Don't be surprised when this processed free dish has you doing the hula.

4 to 6 lbs. pork roast (pork loin, shoulder, etc.)

1 Tbsp. liquid smoke

2 - 3 tsp. salt (Hawaiian or smoked if you can get it)

Score the roast and place it in the slow cooker.  Rub it with the salt and pour in the liquid smoke.  Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.  When it's done, pull it out of the slow cooker and shred it.  Add it back into the slow cooker with all the juices and stir it all together.  Now it's ready to serve. 

This is so versatile.  Serve with brown rice, make into kalua pork sliders with some homemade BBQ sauce, add it to salads, use it for pork tacos... the possibilities are endless.  This will make a good amount, so play with this tasty treat while you plan a trip to the islands!

Green Curry Chicken

This recipe has got to be one of the most requested by my husband ever!  I have to admit that I love it too, but it feels amazing when someone else loves a dish you make.  You feel kind of like a little gourmet chef in your own home.  This dinner offers the delicious flavors of Thai food, and I have to say, it tastes just like a dish that we used to order from a favorite restaurant of ours.  Who knew it could be so delicious, easy, and processed free! 

3 chicken breasts cut into small thin strips

1 to 3 Tbsp. green curry paste (less = mild, more = spicy)

1 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 can bamboo shoots

3/4 cup frozen peas

In a large pan, brown the chicken in a little bit of coconut oil.  Make sure to season with salt and pepper.  Once it's cooked, make a space in the middle to sauté the curry paste mixture.  Add the curry paste, fish sauce, coconut milk, and chicken broth.  Stir until the sauce has combined then add the bamboo shoots.  Allow the sauce and chicken to simmer for 15 minutes to concentrate the flavors and thicken.  In the last few minutes, add the frozen peas to warm them through.  Serve with brown rice.

You may want left overs because this tastes just as good if not better the next day.  Feel free to add some cooked potatoes and garnish with shaved cucumber.  Now all I need to do is finish the dinner with some coconut ice cream with chopped peanuts and we have a complete date night at home!

*Note: If you are trying to go grain free, this is delicious on it's own or over quinoa instead of rice.

Fruit and Nut Bar

This is my new favorite grab and go item.  It's Kit's Organic fruit and nut bar by Clif.  The chocolate almond coconut flavor and the fact that there is no refined sugar is what gets me!  Every item is organic and just listen to the ingredient line up: dates, unsweetened chocolate, coconut, coconut oil and sea salt.  That's it!  I love that it's easy to throw in my purse and walk out the door, and better yet, my kids really like them and think they are getting a real treat.  Give these a try - they might just be a new favorite of yours too.