Asian Turkey Slaw

This was such a great lunch. And, I get the slaw mix from the Co-op by my house, so I didn't have to do all of the work of shredding carrots and many cabbage varieties. I ate it with chop sticks and it made lunch more interesting.

1 1/2 cups shredded cole slaw mix

1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 lb nitrite-free deli turkey breast, diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup Asian Dressing

1/2 avocado, diced

1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

In a large bowl, combine slaw mix, scallions, and cilantro. Add Asian dressing and mix together. Top with avocado and sesame seeds. 

ASIAN DRESSING (for one)

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp tamari soy sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together. Whisk together until oil and vinegar is combined.

Strawberry Cheesecake Pie

This is a simple Cheesecake Pie that reminds you of cheesecake, but the ease of making a pie. It made me nervous to not put it in a springform pan. 

So, here's the recipe (plus a picture)

Strawberry Cheesecake Pie

Make 1 Almond Crust

1 1/4 cup finely ground almonds

4 Tbs butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the almonds and melted butter and press onto a bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 12-15 minutes; cool thoroughly.

2 Cups frozen strawberries

1/4 tsp Stevita stevia

16 oz (2 packages cream cheese), room temperature

2 tsp Stevita stevia

1 Egg, room temperature

1/4 cup full fat ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp almond extract

Whipped cream to top when served

Turn the oven to 325 degrees. Place the strawberries on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes until the strawberries are soft and reduced in size. Place berries in a bowl and mash. Cool completely. 

In a separate bowl, Add cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer until cream, about 2 minutes. Add the stevia and egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the ricotta cheese. Beat on medium high until completely blended and smooth.

Add the strawberries to the cream cheese mixture and mix completely. Put this mixture on top of the almond crust.

Bake 1 hour and cool the cheesecake for at least 3 hours or overnight for best results. Top with a dollop of cream cheese and serve. 

Enjoy!

Delicious Chocolate Cake

I just finished a piece of this delicious chocolate cake. And, I have to say that it is TO DIE for!! The texture is very close to wheat and sugar chocolate cake. It isn't quite as thick, but, I guess you can have 2 pieces then! My all time favorite cake is white cake with white frosting... but that might be a stretch to try and make that healthy. Maybe I could only make it 3/4 healthy and use some classic ingredients for the frosting. (Because we all know that white sheet cake frosting makes the cake!!) That's for another kitchen day of experimentation! 

This cake is SO easy to make. You don't have to get anything special to make this. But it does have a really interesting ingredient... a can of black beans. It sounded really crazy when I read it also, but I've tasted it, and I have to say it's pretty good :)

Here's the recipe. Once again... I found the original recipe idea from Lauren at Healthy Indulgences.

Almost Guilty Chocolate Cake

1- 15 oz can of unseasoned black beans

5 large eggs

1Tbs vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

2.5 tsp Stevita stevia

6 tbs organic butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbs water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter 2 9" cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. 

Drain and rinse the black beans. Make sure there is no extra water in the beans. In a blender, place beans, 3 eggs, vanilla, almond, salt and Stevia. Blend on high until beans are completely combined. There will be some bean skins, but no lumps. In a separate bowl, add cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate large bowl, beat the 2 eggs. Pour bean mixture into eggs and slowly add the cocoa powder mixture. Beat on high for a minute and add one tablespoon water. 

Pour half of the batter into each cake pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. The cake is done when a the top is firm and the edges are starting to pull away from the pan. A toothpick will come out clean. 

When the cake is cool, remove it from the pan and wrap it in plastic wrap overnight. This will prevent it from being bitter because of the black beans. 

Frost and Serve.

Chocolate Whipped- Cream Frosting

1/2 cup organic butter, softened

2 tsp Stevita stevia

5 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp cream

1 fresh organic egg yolk

1/2 cup whipping cream (whipped) with stevia added to taste

Cream the butter and stevia in a bowl. Slowly add cocoa powder. Beat in half and half and egg yolk. Fold in the whipped cream until combined.

Put one layer of the cake down on a platter and frost with 1/3 of the frosting. Gently place the second layer of the cake on top and use the rest of the frosting to finish off the cake.

Enjoy!!

Coming Soon...

I have had 2 layers of healthy chocolate cake (unfrosted) sitting wrapped up on my counter for a day. I have been so busy planning an event for school I haven't had time to whip up the healthy chocolate frosting to make the cake complete. But, when I was making it I had to taste the batter. Usually grain free cooking has very bitter and, for lack of a better word, interesting tastes to the uncooked batter. But this cake actually tasted like chocolate cake batter. 

I haven't tasted the finished product, but in the next few days I will frost the cake and post it here. I am so excited for a BIG piece of healthy chocolate cake!!

The anticipation...

And thanks to Healthy Indulgences for inspiring me with the recipe!

 

Tiramisu

One of my favorite desserts EVER is Tiramisu. When I'm grocery shopping or at a restaurant I am always tempted by tiramisu. I decided that I could probably make my own, and make it really healthy at that! I even made my own grain-free soft lady fingers. There are times where my baking doesn't turn out the first time, but this was a first time success!! 

I made this for a girl's dinner night, and they all loved it! I hope you enjoy it too... it is so luscious! Just beware because you will want to eat the whole pan of this because it's so good!

LADY FINGERS

5 Eggs, preferably room temperature

1 tsp Stevita stevia

1/2 scant cup coconut flour

1/2 scant cup almond flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter a cookie sheet.

Beat yolk with an electric mixer on high until they are pale yellow and about double the volume. Add 1 tsp stevia and mix until combined. Slowly add the flour and mix together. The batter will be very thick and sticky.

Beat egg whites (with cleaned beaters) until the whites hold stiff peaks. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the batter and mix with the electric mixer. The batter should become less stiff. Then fold in the remaining egg whites gently until thoroughly combined and even color.

Spoon into quart sized zip-lock bag and cut off one of the corners. It is going to be used as a pastry bag. 

Pipe small lines of lady fingers (about 1 1/2- 2 inches long) on the baking sheet so they almost touch. 

Bake about 14-16 minutes. They should be golden and dry, but springy when touched. Cool completely before use. Should make 40-50 ladyfingers

TIRAMISU

About 40 ladyfingers

2 shots espresso

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 tsp Stevita stevia

15 oz full-fat ricotta cheese

2 tsp Stevita stevia (or more to taste)

Cocoa powder, for dusting

Shavings of unsweetened dark chocolate

Mix and chill 2 shots espresso with 1/2 cup water. In a small bowl whip up the 1 cup of whipping cream with an electric mixer on high. Add 1/4 tsp Stevita stevia. In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese with 2 tsp stevia. Mix with an electric mixer until combined. Fold the whipped cream into the ricotta mixture.

Put 1/2 (about 20) ladyfingers into the espresso and water mixture and let them soak, about 2 minutes. Line them on the bottom of a serving dish. Cover the lady fingers with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Dust with cocoa. Take the second half of the lady fingers and soak in the espresso for about 2 minutes. Place the lady fingers on top of the cocoa. Spread the remaining ricotta cheese mixture on top of the lady fingers. Dust with cocoa and add the chocolate shavings on top for a beautiful presentation.

Enjoy!!

Carmel Rolls

I love making healthy sugar-free/ grain-free breakfast items or desserts. That way I can have the foods I want and know that they are still healthy to my body. 

I found base for this recipe on a blog and completely made it my own. I am still working with the recipe, so any tips or comments would be fantastic!

CARMEL ROLLS

1 Large very ripe banana, mashed

6 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup melted butter

2 Tbs Honey (optional)

1/2 tsp Stevita stevia

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp. salt

 

Ingredients for topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 tsp Stevita stevia

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. coconut flour

 

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin with butter or Coconut oil.

Mix all ingredients for buns with an electric mixer. Pour into a well-greased muffin tin.

Mix all topping ingredients

 with a fork. Crumble on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through. Cool for about two minutes then immediately remove from muffin tin to a wire rack to finish cooling. You will have to

 scrape the topping back onto buns as you remove them, but the topping will set-up as they cool. 

Faux Chocolate Mouse

Here is one of my favorite treat recipes. I absolutely love chocolate and yogurt so I decided to put the recipes together to make a great sugar-free treat. One thing about the yogurt... to make this delicious and get the thick mouse consistency, you must use full-fat Greek yogurt. And the fat in the yogurt is good, healthy, digestible fat good for your cells and your body. I add a hearty spoonful of whipped cream to the top because I am in love with cream. I don't think a day goes by that I do not have cream in one way or another. I make my own whipped cream and sweeten it with a little whipped cream. I swear, nobody can tell that it wasn't made with powdered sugar. 

Here's the recipe. 

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

1/8 tsp Stevita Stevia

1/2- 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Large Dollop of Whipped Cream (sweetened with stevia)

Chocolate Shavings from unsweetened chocolate or 85% Dark Chocolate

Mix the Yogurt, stevia and cocoa powder together until combined. Add the whipped cream and top with chocolate shavings. 

I use a microplane to shave my chocolate and it gets nice and fine. A perfect top to the dessert. And I love serving things on fun plates, bowls, or fancy glasses. A martini glass works just perfectly for this dessert.

Enjoy!!