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Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts

Strawberry Banana Freeze

 1.11.2012

I apologize there is no picture for this - the reason is because we ate it too fast! It was SOOO good, and I didn't want to waste a bite by stopping to snap some photos!

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas (un-peel before freezing)
1/2 bag organic strawberries
1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
5 drops liquid Stevia

Directions:


Blend in High Speed Blender until texture becomes a sorbet.  Use a narrow spatula to transfer sorbet to dessert cups and enjoy!

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Life is Short- Eat Dessert First!

 11.12.2011

My mother always told me, Life is Short, Eat Dessert First! My mother is a wise woman, perhaps even more wise than she even knows! Traditional notions of common sense tell us we are being "bad" if we eat dessert before dinner.  In fact, we often are told not to "spoil our dinner" by eating dessert before hand.

I don't mean to rock the boat for those of you conservative foodies out there; but it turns out, the opposite may be true!  In fact, if we elect to consume a fruity dessert post supper, we may have spoiled our dinner, literally, as our tasty dessert sits rotting on top our just eaten dinner like a inner-being compost.

The Beauty Detox Solution, by Kimberly Snyder, states that fruits should not be consumed post-meal. Why? Because fruit is digested and processed through our bodies at such a rapid pace - most fruit enters and leaves our bodies within 20-30 minutes! So when you think you are being healthy by opting for a fruit dessert instead of that cheesecake, you make want to think again.

Turns out, fruit, is digested nearly effortlessly by our amazing bodies if we consume it on an empty stomach.  Our bodies are able to digest and absorb the minerals and vitamins from raw fruit the best this way.  If, on the other hand, we have just consumed a meal full of starches, proteins and/or fats, that food will accumulate in our stomachs while our bodies begin to digest and break down the food to send it through our intestines.  This can take hours, depending on the food we just consumed.

Therefore, if we consume fruit AFTER dinner, or a meal, the fruit cannot bypass the other food that is still trying to be digested by our bodies and will ferment and basically ROT in our bellies, prohibiting us from obtaining the benefits of the fruits at all.  This is referred to by Kimberly, in her book The Beauty Detox Solution, as "sludge."

This sludge prevents our bodies from effectively digesting food - and the energy that is used to digest our food cannot then be energy that our bodies can use for other purposes.  In my interpretation of her book, the main premise is that more energy = more beauty.  In order to obtain maximum outwardly beauty, we need to consume not only the correct foods, we need to also pair the correct foods together and consume them in the right order (light foods such as fruits, should be consumed on their own (on an empty stomach or at least 20 minutes before you consume a meal or other food(s), then greens and non-starchy vegetables, then finally starches or proteins last) so as not to jam up our stomachs and digestive tracts with a big fermented rotten mess!

Makes perfect sense to me!
 


Shown above is a DELICIOUS creamy, frozen and smooth fruit sorbet I made with our Vita last night.  We ate it after dinner.  Oops... I guess I read the portion about fruit rotting in our stomachs a day late.  Oh well, life is about living, eating and learning right? Next time I make this sorbet I will eat it 20 minutes before dinner!

How to make the fruit Sorbet-

Blend together any variation of frozen fruit you feel like, I used:
Frozen blueberries
Frozen pineapple (I cut fresh pineapple and freeze it which makes for great addition to smoothies plus pineapple is good for digestion and supports weight loss in Type A bloods)
Frozen cranberries 
1 cup soy/almond/hempt milk
Blend on high until 4 little mounds form in the Vita.  Scoop and serve!

Note: You can try adding 2-3 ice cubes if you want the sorbet to be a bit "icier."  Enjoy - but remember to eat dessert first...fruity desserts, that is :)

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Salted Caramel Rum Cures the Blues

 10.29.2011




This cake is from a few weeks ago, and since I have been so behind in posting this month due to a variety of personal reasons, and not feeling so great, I am happy to finally be catching up and sharing this delicious recipe! This cake is made especially delightful because of the moist-ness and density of the cake, and the rich flavor of the frosting!


Brownie Cake
2 c. coconut flour
1 1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 c. raw agave nectar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
12 oz. butter (This is the only ingredient in the cake that I wish I could change, and am going to try out variations of using other substitutions soon)
2 cups Organic Almond Milk
1 tsp Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract
8 oz. apple sauce

Salted Caramel Rum Frosting

Ingredients for Salted Caramel Sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp. butter (I used a vegan butter substitute with no trans fats)
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons dark rum

Ingredients for Frosting base:
  • 1 package cream cheese, room temp
  • 1/3 cup butter, room temp (again, I used vegan butter substitute)
  • 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
How to:
First you want to make the Salted Caramel Sauce - Heat brown sugar, cream, butter, and salt over medium heat whisking until sugar is dissolved (not long, about 1 1/2 minutes).  Pour in rum and stir to combine.  Remove and cool.

Frosting Base: In a separate bowl or mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until whipped/soft.  Add confectioner’s sugar and beat to combine. (Good luck not getting confectioner's sugar all over yourself and the counters! God speed).  Pour in 3 tablespoons of the salted caramel rum sauce that you left cooling, and beat to combine.  Use the remainder of the salted caramel rum sauce to swirl on top of your cake/cupcakes!

Below is a photo of an attempt to salvage my first batch of Salted Rum that for some reason I made WAY too thick.  Since it became sort of a batter-type texture, I thought I would try to bake it.
Not a good idea.  Although this mini cake may appear to the naked eye to be a tasty concoction, in reality, it tasted like, well...crap.  A word to the wise: Stick to the recipes, don't try to be a Chopped Chef wanna-be, and you'll be fine! xoxo

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Pioneer Crush

 10.11.2011

It's official.  I have a girl crush on Pioneer Woman.
Her and her Marlboro Man and her perfect Pear Crisp.  Bar-none, the woman has talent, and a sense of humor that I can respect.

How, exactly, did I stumble upon this fanciful farm girl?

I googled apple crisp.  Then I got up from the kitchen table and checked our fridge, which revealed 1 measly apple. 

So then I googled pear crisp, because pears we had! Alas, I clicked on this yummy country-delish recipe.  But of course, I had to try to make my own gluten-free version, using the most natural ingredients I could.

Literally, with my Macbook sitting prominently on the counter, step by step, I began following, chopping, and editing my own version of pear crisp.







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Get ready to Drool over this Chocolate Pie

 10.03.2011

Everyone wants to satisfy their sweet tooth without the guilt.   Well, guess what....you can have your pie and eat it too without a guilty conscience with this creamy chocolate silk pie! The pie filling is raw + vegan, and the crust is vegan and gluten free!


For the Pie Filling Recipe, click here.

I picked up a pre-made vegan/gluten free pie crust in the freezer section of Mother's Market.  It wasn't too expensive either, I think it was $3.99 or something.  Yes, you could go on and make your own pie crust from scratch, but let's be honest people, we have jobs, we have pressing deadlines and jam-packed schedules.   Give yourself a break and buy the dang crust, no one will know! The edges brown perfectly, and it it light and flaky and has no egregious ingredients!

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Dessert in the Desert

 9.19.2011

Here are some eye candy shots of the dessert buffet at the retreat I attended this weekend in Rancho Mirage.  Below the desserts is the desert resort, in all its peaceful glory and splendor!













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Chocolate Souffles

 9.10.2011






These were delicious - Gluten Free Chocolate Souffles - super easy to bake! Total time 25 minutes!
Will post recipe soon!

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S'More Erotica...Disclaimer: For True Sugar Lovers Only!

 8.25.2011

There's nothing wrong with fantasizing about dessert, right? Browsing foodie blogs in my not-so-spare time, I find myself yearning for the days of consuming mass amounts of ooey-gooey morsels such as the S'mores pudding served in a schooner I once enjoyed in my not-to-distant-past over lunch with friends at a side street cafe, Simmzy's in Manhattan Beach. 

This trip down memory lane inspired me to share s'more of my top 5 confectionary erotica: 

First, for a nearly identical S'Mores Pudding recipe (pictured above) from Annie's Eats click here



 Sunset Magazine's Grown-up S'mores Sandwiches starts off the tantalizing list.
 


 Baking Addiction's cupcakes knows how to tip me off the wagon...

 S'Mores Cupcake Ice Cream Sandwiches.

 Annie sure knows her S'Mores.  Recipe here.
For those of you wanting more than a cupcake, see Annie's Eat's S'Mores Cake Recipe here.












Bakerella give's Annie a run for her money with these S'Mores Cupcakes.

Whether my longing for all things saccharine is healthy or not, I consider my day dreams and Pavlovian salivary reaction to photos like this simply a stage in my grieving process since my recent separation from all things sugar.

The only thing that keeps me going is the genius invention of Stevia.  Thank GOD for that leaf!

















Check out 6 new S'mores recipes here!

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SUGAR Blues. (aka SAD)

 8.21.2011


Eating out for events with family, friends, and co-workers is the HARDEST time to stay true to a new health regime, even if you are eating gluten-free and sugar-free....the bottom line is, there is NEVER a good time to start any diet.  It's boring.  It's not fun.  It got me thinking, why do we enjoy things that are bad for us? It's the age-old question, the reason why the bad boy gets the chicks....why sneaking out late gives you a rush of adrenaline...but with food, food can be down right addicting, comforting, euphoric, and let's be real, chocolate does make you happy...why do you think aphrodisiac inducing cocoa confections earned cliche titles like "Better than Sex Chocolate Cake?" & "Death by Chocolate?"  The latter cliche concerns me, because of the not so subtle truth behind it.   


Check out these fun facts from Nutrition Diva while I attempt to convince myself sugar is the devil:
  • Sugar suppresses the immune system. When you eat a big dose of sugar, like a bottle of Coke or a candy bar, you temporarily tamp down your immune system’s ability to respond to challenges. The effect lasts for several hours, so if you eat sweets several times a day, your immune system may be perpetually operating at a distinct disadvantage. 
  • Sugar promotes inflammation. Inflammation, which is part of the immune response, is not always a bad thing. But eating sugar foods can fuel excessive, inappropriate inflammation that serves no useful purpose and actually promotes aging and disease. In my show on foods that fight inflammation, I pointed out that cutting back on sugary foods will help you avoid excess inflammation.
If you want to slow down the aging process, do what you can to naturallyenhance your body’s production of human growth hormone. Avoiding foods that are high in sugar is a good way to do that.
  • Sugar suppresses the release of human growth hormone.  You know those ads in in-flight magazines that show a super-buff guy, who, thanks to a radical anti-aging program, looks about 50 even though he’s approaching 70? He’s most likely injecting himself with human growth hormone. Of course, he’s alsowatching his diet, spending a couple of hours a day in the gym, and using lots of self-tanner, but there’s no doubt that the hormone shots have a lot to do with his physique. Although the effects can be dramatic, hormone treatments are expensive and risky, so I don’t personally recommend this course of action. But if you want to slow down the aging process, you definitely want to do what you can to naturally enhance your body’s production of human growth hormone. Avoiding foods that are high in sugar is a good way to do that. Exercising, going longer between meals, and avoiding undue stress also help.
  • Sugar promotes glycation.   Sugar molecules treat your body like a singles bar. Once they get into your bloodstream, they start looking around for things to hook up with, like attractive protein and fat molecules. The hook-up is known as “glycation” and like most hook-ups, the results aren’t pretty. These glycated molecules act like drunken sailors, careening around your body, breaking things and peeing where they shouldn’t. They produce toxic compounds called advanced glycation end products, or, AGEs. That is perhaps the most poetically-just acronym in biology, because AGEs essentially throw the aging process into fast-forward. And much of the damage done by AGEs is irreversible. If that doesn’t motivate you to walk away from the M&Ms, I don’t know what would.
  • Sugar raises insulin levels. An influx of sugar into your body will have a fairly predictable result: Your blood sugar levels will zoom up.  Shortly after, your pancreas will release a bunch of insulin to help clear sugar from your blood into your cells. As blood sugar levels go down, insulin levels return to normal. But when you eat a lot of sugar, you’re constantly calling for insulin, and that can backfire in a couple of ways. Over time, it takes more and more insulin to get the job done. Eventually, your pancreas may just stop responding to the call. Congratulations, you’re now an insulin-dependent diabetic. And along the way, exposing your cells and organs to chronically high insulin levels accelerates the aging process.
The main concern for me is the inflammation, while 99% of Americans, both adults and kids, struggle with other nasty effects of the crack-like drug.

Anyways, we went out to lunch at this lovely Italian Bistro in Claremont over the weekend, and check out what my hubby ate vs. what the "Pile High Stack of Arugula" I selected from the eating for Rabbit-Friendly Menu. The funny thing is, while I was salivating over the delicious bread, inhaling the warm savory pasta aromas floating through my nostrils from the plates on either side of me, I attempted to focus my attention on conversation and the great company; somehow I managed to chow my way through the mountainous leafy mound fairly decently, and actually became quite full.  An appetizer of caprese didn't hurt either.  The salad was arugala, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic dressing, Romano cheese, walnuts, cherry tomatoes and dried bing cherries.  I stayed away from the cherry tomatoes only because I had already eaten quite a few in the caprese salad appetizer and was kind of seeded out.
 
And the desserts....this is where I really start to shake.  As if the decadent dessert tray that was rolled past us the night before at the Angels game wasn't torturous enough....we all passed, after a birthday sunday surprise...and went to the In-laws house for dessert. 



This was an amazing pistachio ice cream cake on saltine crust - sweet with a little salty, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G - but not gluten free.  I gave in though, because I have never experience this green delight! Of course, my mother-in-law the angel that she is, thought of myself and my brother-in-laws girlfriend who is a Celiac, and provided us with Yummy Soy Chocolate Cherry ice-cream, of which I had TWO small bowls.  Ya, I know, I'm a work in progress...It's HARD to say NO! Even when it is for a good cause.....like your health! 



And of course delicious fruit tarts - I am not trying to tempt fellow GFree followers, but COME ON! This is the temptation we all face daily, I think it gets easier, but putting me in front of sweet treats is akin to puttin' an alcoholic in a BAR!



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So Delicious Coconut Almond Bars

 8.06.2011


Thought I would share a favorite dessert find...These little frozen bars contain 170 calories and are the perfect solution to a summer sweet-tooth!

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Who needs Gluten anyways? This Dessert Doesn't!!!

 8.02.2011



I LOVE to BAKE.  It makes me happy.
I love to eat baked goods even more. 


 

I altered the recipe and used the following ingredients: 

Pamela's Chocolate Brown Mix (with chocolate chunks!)

1 egg (organic)

1/2 cup water (for less dense, more cake-like brownies)

1/4 cup coconut oil (So good!) **heat the jar with warm water to liquify 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray pan with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (not Pam!)
Bake for 18-20 minutes!


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