I love when a single ingredient transforms a dish. On our trip to San Diego last month, I ordered a fruit salad containing simple ingredients: apple, strawberries, banana, dried cranberries, and a sprinkling of DRIED COCONUT!
That last ingredient made all the difference.
I gobbled it up and couldn’t wait to make it at home.
An easy, tasty fruit salad that feels truly decadent. I love a healthy dessert.
Our family has been enjoying two new(ish) gluten-free products:
Jovial Rice Pasta truly tastes better, much better, than the competition and comes in a variety of shapes. (I particularly like their capellini that cooks in seven minutes flat.) In addition to being organic, whole grain, and incredibly tasty (I honestly feel this is the best gluten-free pasta on the market!), I love that the inner bag of their packaging is compostable:
How cool is that?! Eco-groovy and tasty, you can’t go wrong with this pasta.
FYI: If you get hooked on the Jovial pasta and, like us, exclusively eat it, then know that Jovial pasta is much more affordable at Amazon
The other product we recently found and adore are WholeVine Gluten-Free Cookies made right here in Sonoma County. While I feel that totting health benefits from grape-extracts in the cookies may be a bit gimmicky, their product is first rate. David and I both enjoyed this batch of 2-Chocolate Chips cookies.
If you don’t live in Sonoma county (where they’re available at a growing number of stores), you can order from them directly at their website. I’m excited to try their other flavors… not that I should be eating sugar or anything. Whoops!
p.s. You don’t have to exclusively eat gluten-free to enjoy these products! My husband particularly likes these cookies and he’s a hard sale on any cookies. Bon appétit!
This chocolate pudding tastes decadent, but is actually quite healthy! You’ll never guess what’s in it…
… chia seeds!
I’ve heard for years that chia seeds are good for you — they’re rich in omega-3 fatty acids and once soaked in water they can help with hydration. While David drinks a cup full every morning, I have never been able to get past their texture… until now!
David added his own spin to this chia seeds chocolate pudding recipe I found on Pinterest, adding a banana to the mix and blending the chia mixture in the Vitamix to create a smooth texture.
Here’s how to make this rich tasting, yet healthy dessert:
In a medium sized bowl, add 1/4 cup chia seeds, 3/4 cup milk, 1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder, and a splash of vanilla extract (optional):
Thoroughly stir the mixture, then allow it to sit for at least 10 minutes so the chia seeds can absorb the chocolate milk. Look how it thickens during that time:
Add this mixture to your blender with a banana, sweetener of your choice (we used 2 tablespoons of maple syrup since our banana was barely ripe), and enough milk to thin the mixture so it moves freely in your blender (we used about 1/2 a cup):
Blend on high until smooth:
Serve and enjoy!
Yum!
We hope you have a wonderful day full of love! In our house, we’re appreciating friends, family, and good food today!
Yes, I anticipate there will be chocolate involved.
To make these gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies, we dressed up this fabulous healthy cookie recipe (pin) (containing no gluten, processed sugar, butter or egg) with dark chocolate chips and baked it in a heart shaped silicone pan
We doubled the amount of almond flour (by grinding whole almonds in 15 second increments in our Vitamix blender) to add a bit more protein to offset the added sugar in the chocolate chips.
Indulgent, but not too indulgent…
Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup of almond meal
1 cup dried fruit (we used 3/4 cup raisins and 1/4 cup dried cranberries)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 oz chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are using a baking sheet, line it with parchment paper; otherwise, grab your silicone baking mold and place it within an easy reach.
In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, and almond meal. Add salt, cinnamon, and allspice and stir until evenly mixed. Add dried fruit and stir until well combined, checking to ensure that the dried fruit does not stick together in big clumps.
In another bowl, mash bananas with the back of a fork, then add canola oil and vanilla extract; thoroughly mix. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then add the chocolate chips and thoroughly combine.
Press the batter into the silicone mold or place spoonfuls of batter on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool and then enjoy!
Have any left over? Save them for the next morning. We really like eating these cookies for breakfast! They taste better and are more healthy than grabbing a granola bar on your way out the door.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’m always on the lookout for fast, healthy breakfast recipes. This Breakfast Banana Split takes less than five minutes to make and leaves me feeling full all morning. Plus it sounds like a treat even though it contains only healthy ingredients: cottage cheese, banana, nuts, and jam.
Breakfast Banana Split
Adapted from Clean Eating – since it’s not available on their website, I thought I would post it here for us all to share and enjoy.
Serves 1.
Ingredients:
1 banana
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 tbsp all-fruit jam
1/4 cup roasted, sliced almonds or nut of your choice
Peel and cut banana in half lengthwise. Place banana halves in a shallow dish or bowl. Place cottage cheese over the center of the banana and top with jam, nuts and (optional!) a pinch of salt. Serve and enjoy!
