Whole Food Honey-Sweetened Chocolate Goodness

Chocolate is tricky when you're eating no processed sugars.  I was a really good girl when I was following the GAPS diet.  I thought that meant deprivation.  So I did not partake of chocolate for more than a year, since I couldn't find any that tasted good and used whole food ingredients.  My amazing friend Angelica Orr helped me see that life can be both delicious and healthy. She brought me this amazing hot fudge, as well as the PB chocolate cups, and I was inspired.  We found hot chocolate (and the cake that's on another post) with the help of my dear friend Nicole R, who adapted her daughter's birthday party treats to accommodate my little girls (I love you Nicole!).  The ice cream recipe was inspired by three I found online (after we had a lot of raw milk and needed help using it for a while).  Thanks ladies!   Happy healthy chocolate eating.  :)

Whole Food Hot Fudge

THANK YOU Angelica Orr!

1/3 c. coconut oil
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/3 c. raw honey
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. milk or almond milk
1/4 tsp. sea salt

In a small sauce pan, heat ingredients on medium-low until everything is melted together, whisking constantly.  Store leftovers in fridge.

Honey Chocolate Ice Cream

1 c. honey

3/4 c. cocoa powder

1/3 c. butter

1 pinch sea salt

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1 1/3 c. cream (raw milk cream is perfect)

2 2/3 c. whole milk (raw milk is divine)

Combine honey and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan; stir to incorporate

Add the butter, burn the heat to low on the pan, continually stir to combine

Turn off the heat once most of the butter has melted and continue stirring until the butter is fully incorporated.

Add the cream a little at a time, stirring after each addition, to fully incorporate the chocolate sauce

Add the milk, stir to combine.  Add salt and vanilla.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours

Follow instructions on your ice cream maker.

Honey Sweetened Hot Chocolate

Adapted from "Recipes to Nourish"

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1 Tbsp. raw honey

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

In a sauce pan, heat milk on medium low heat until warmed through

In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, honey and extract until you make a sauce (like for the chocolate ice cream)

Stir the syrup into the warmed milk and enjoy.

Makes 1 serving

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix 

Just 3 ingredients!  You can make this ahead and just add warm milk when you are ready)  SO DELICIOUS!

http://deliciouslyorganic.net/homemade-hot-cocoa-chocolate-mix/

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups

THANK YOU Angelica Orr!

1/2 c. coconut oil

1/2 c. natural peanut or almond butter

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/3 c. raw honey

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat just until melted together.  Use mini muffin pans and paper liners, fill cups 3/4 full.  Makes 24.  Store in the fridge.

Incredible Whole-Food Chocolate CAKE!

Since we began our whole food journey two years ago, I've been looking for a really good cake recipe.  Each birthday celebration would come and go with sad imitations, and my children were very good-natured about it.  But coconut flour recipes I'd used in the past never really got the texture right.  I consigned myself to this new texture, and moved on.  Until...my friend Nicole invited us over for a birthday party and served this delightful cake.  I was in love.  My birthday is coming, so I thought I'd post it in celebration.  My 12 year old is now in charge of cake-making, and I love that he can!  This recipe is based on this post: http://paleospirit.com/2012/paleo-chocolate-birthday-cake-coconut-honey-frosting/

We love to use raw milk and cream in our recipes, and I don't drink coffee, and we prefer honey...so I modified some things.  Here it is!

Amazing Chocolate Cake (Grain-Free/GF, honey-sweetened with DF option)
(makes two 9-inch cakes)
1 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. sea salt
9 eggs
3/4 c. coconut oil/butter/ghee, melted (plus some for greasing pans)
1 c. honey
3/4 c. raw milk (or water for DF)
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
parchment paper (to line cake pans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease cake pans and line with parchment paper
Sift coconut flour into small mixing bowl
Add cocoa, baking soda and salt to coconut flour and mix until combined
Put your whisk attachment on your Bosch/KitchenAid
Whisk the eggs in your mixer
Add the melted oil (or butter/ghee), honey, milk (or water) and vanilla to the eggs
Continue to mix until combined
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
Mix on low until completely combined
Scrape the batter into the two cake pans
Spread out the batter so it is relatively smooth
Bake for 30 minutes, inserted toothpick will come out clean when baked through
Cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes
Loosen the cake from the pan and allow to cool completely.
Frost and enjoy!!

Gluten Free Crust (not grain free)

GF Pie Crust

There are lots of great tutorials online about making pie crusts, so if you need help, find a good one on YouTube.  This is just the ingredients and basic instructions.

Ingredients:

1 & 1/4 cups Namaste GF Organic Perfect Flour Blend (or your fave GF flour)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/3 cup butter

1/4 ice water

Combine flour and sea salt in a medium bowl.

"Cut-in" butter with forks or whisk.  Keep cutting until butter is pea-sized.

Add water 1-2 tablespoons at at time. Use your fingers to get the flour wet (gently).  You're not mixing!  Mix gently until it's all evenly mixed.  You want to make the dough barely wet enough to form into a ball.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface, until about 1/8 inch thick.  Gently lift your crust onto your pie plate and follow pie directions (if you need to precook the pie crust, go for it).

Fill with yummy pie filling and enjoy!!

More GF, Honey-Sweetened Yummy Pies!!

It's Thanksgiving time, which means yummy pies on the table.  We struggled our first two years eating GAPS to find dessert recipes that we could eat.  It was a depressing first Thanksgiving.  Then my amazing friend Erica Miller shared her pies with us, and was kind enough to share her recipes.  She created a GF/DF/Honey-Sweetened Cream Pie recipe that is versatile and tasty.  We can now eat some grains, and we eat raw dairy, so we have modified the recipe a bit.  You will see our notes in parentheses.

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Cream Pie 

(Gluten-Free, Grain-Free + Dairy-Free option)

THANKS ERICA MILLER!!

Crust
2 cups blanched almond flour
2 Tbsp. coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil (or butter), melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling
2 Tbsp. water
2 & 3/4 tsp. unflavored gelatin (1 envelope)
2 & 1/2 cups coconut milk (we use raw milk)
3/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 egg yolks
1 & 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For crust, combine ingredients and press into a 9 inch pie pan.  Bake for 12 minutes at 350. Erica found that the crust was really thick, she doubled the recipe and made 3 crusts with it).

For the filling, in a small bowl shake the gelatin over the 2 Tbsp of water and set aside.

In a medium saucepan heat coconut milk (or raw whole milk) and cocoa powder.  Combine egg yolks, honey and salt in a separate bowl.  Temper the eggs by adding half of the heated coconut milk to the egg yolk mixture, whisking continuously.

Return mixture to the saucepan and cook for 6 minutes, stirring frequently.  Do not allow to boil (eggs will curdle and get chunky--but it is still salvagable).

Whisk in the gelatin and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring to ensure the gelatin is dissolved completely.  Mixture is just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Add vanilla.  Pour the mixture through a mesh sieve (to catch any bits that curdled or didn't dissolve well) into the pie pan (we have skipped this step before when we know we didn't curdle the mixture).  Let stand at room temperature until cool then refrigerate.

Variations:
Chocolate Mint...add 10 drops peppermint essential oil to the crust mix.  Add 5 drops to the filling at the same time you add vanilla.

Banana Cream...omit the cocoa powder from the crust and decrease oil to 2 Tablespoons.  Omit the cocoa powder from the filling and decrease honey to 1/2 cup.  Cut some banana pieces into the pie crust before pouring the filling.  Top with more banana slices just before serving.

Homemade, GF Whole-Food Cream of Chicken Soup!

I love casseroles.  I have loved them since I learned to cook...because they're easy to throw together, they usually involve a Crock-Pot (saving me lots of time), and they are delicious.  Since we made the switch to whole foods, I have missed my easy casseroles.  As we reintroduced raw milk, I've been looking for ways to liven up our menu.  My sweet Mama sent me a casserole Crock Pot for Easter, and I was determined to use it.  So I perused the recipes and was very sad to see that we couldn't eat most of them...because Cream of Chicken soup from the can is not something we can eat.  As I mourned the recipes, I began to wonder...why is it called Cream of Chicken Soup?  Does that mean it's just cream and broth?  Hmmm....and the answer is YES!

For the yummiest, healthiest Cream of Chicken you've ever tasted...check out this recipe!

Whole-Food Cream of Chicken Soup!
1/2 cup Arrowroot powder
8 cups Homemade Chicken Broth or Stock (NO POWDER OR CANS!)
2 Tbsp Sea Salt (less if your broth is salted)
1/2 Raw Cow's Milk Cream

Whisk arrowroot powder and 1 cup chicken broth until smooth and no longer lumpy.
Add remaining broth and salt to the arrowroot mixture.
Cook over medium high, keep whisking until mixture begins to boil, continue whisking until mixture is clear.
Remove from heat, whisk in cream.
Substitute for canned Cream of Chicken in any recipe.  Remember that the canned stuff has to be thinned by milk or water (since it's concentrated), so when substituting, take that in to account.
My kids said it tastes as good as gravy!

Freezes beautifully.

Happy Casseroles Whole-Food Style!!

Pi Day!!

Thank you Archimedes for Pi.  And thanks to all of the amazing healthy-eating pioneers who created recipes that my family can enjoy today!  My baking-loving son and I were so glad to whip up some yummy pies today in honor of Archimedes.  These recipes are honey-sweetened, GF, and have DF options.  We add the dairy back in, since we love raw milk and have it aplenty.  Happy Easter and Happy Pi Day!

Here are the links to my favorite recipes:

Grain-Free Pumpkin Pie Recipe (I use the filling from this recipe in the crust I have below)
http://www.mommypotamus.com/pumpkin-pie-recipe-gluten-free-paleo/

We have a dairy cow, and so have a lot of raw milk products available to us, so we substitute homemade evaporated milk in place of the coconut milk in the filling.

To make Evaporated Milk from Fresh Milk:
Simmer 2.25 cups fresh milk down until it reduces to 1 cup.  Voila!  Evaporated Milk!  Who knew it was so easy?!  And it tastes way better than the canned stuff.

I prefer this GF Pie Crust:  http://thecoconutmama.com/coconut-flour-pie-crust/

This is a nice Apple Pie sweetened with honey:
http://myhoneypie66.blogspot.com/2012/06/grandmas-apple-pie.html
I imagine you could sub coconut oil for the butter if you are DF.
UPDATE 11/23/16:
I now add 1/8 cup of coconut sugar to the pie filling, just the honey isn't sweet enough for me. :)

My happy helper

 Apple Pie

Chocolate Mint Pie (I'm working to get permission to post this recipe)

"Chicken Chili" aka Lentil Stew with Chicken (GAPS Legal)  NEW CROCK POT INSTRUCTIONS

My kids think they hate lentils.  As a result, any recipe with the word "lentil" in it is automatically rejected.  Lentils are super high in protein and fiber, are inexpensive, and fill our tummies.  So I began a crusade to integrate lentils into our diet.  This recipe went off without a hitch...and they loved it!  So I renamed it "Chicken Chili" and told them I used "mini beans" to make it.  They thought the idea of mini beans was so cool.  I'm still not sure when I'm going to tell them that mini-beans are actually lentils. :)  My kids devoured it with a slice of natural yeast wheat bread (they were wiping their bowls with the bread).

There are now TWO ways to make this meal.  You can plan ahead and finish the recipe in less than 45 minutes, or you can put it all in the crockpot and let it cook all day. Either way, it's delicious!  The Conventional Directions takes a bit of planning (soaking the lentils for 24 hours), but not a lot of babysitting.  The Crock Pot instructions are super simple, and you can add POTATOES to stretch the meal and make it even more delicious.  I've adapted this recipe from "Internal Bliss" cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
2 cups lentils, soaked for 24 hours and drained
1 qt+ meat stock (2 quarts for Crock Pot recipe)
1-2 lbs chicken (or pork or beef), grilled or roasted and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
Pepper to taste
OPTIONAL: 2 cups greens (kale, collard, spinach)

Stove Top Directions:
One day before you plan to cook the chili, rinse and soak lentils (measure 2 cups dry lentils, rinse and remove any stones, add 6 cups water, cover and let sit for 24 hours).

After the soaking is complete, drain the lentils and rinse in a colander.  In large pan, heat the butter on the stove over medium heat.  Add the onions and saute until soft.  Add garlic, cumin and paprika, and saute for 5 minutes.

Add lentils (and optional greens) and salt/pepper to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.  Add stock and bring to boil.  Simmer 30+ minutes, until lentils are tender.  Top each serving with chopped chicken (or other meat) and enjoy.  Great with shredded cheese on top, or a side of avocado/guacamole.

Crock Pot Directions:
Rinse lentils and remove any stones.  Add 2 quarts meat stock to the crock pot.  Add rinsed lentils.

In large pan, heat the butter on the stove over medium heat.  Add the onions and saute until soft.  Add garlic, cumin and paprika, and saute for 5 minutes.  Add sauteed mixture to the Crock Pot.  Add salt and pepper.  If desired, add new potatoes on top of mixture (size no bigger than a silver dollar...we used the ones from our garden that we dug too early, or that didn't grow to full size).  The potatoes are FABULOUS...they soak up all of the delicious flavor of the soup.  If you don't have new potatoes, large cut up potatoes may fall apart when cooking, but would still taste good.

Place lid on Crock Pot and turn on High for 3-4 hours or Low for 7-8 hours.

Optional: top each serving with meat or cheese (or both). (If you like spicy, you can add Cayenne Pepper to taste), great with guacamole or avocado. Serve and enjoy!