Chocolate Coconut "Larabars"

Chocolate Coconut "Larabars"

Put these items in a food processor and mix until they form a ball.  Set the ball aside in a bowl.

1 cup pitted dates, chopped

1 cup dried fruit (figs, raisins, etc.)*

1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

pinch salt

Now put these items in the food processor and mix until the consistency is like coarse flour.  Add the ball back in by pinching pieces of it off and adding them into the food processor bowl.  Then add the coconut oil and water by drizzling over the bowl evenly.  Process until the dough becomes a ball again, or close to it.

1 1/3 cups soaked and dehydrated nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, etc.)**

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cocoa powder

2 tablespoons coconut oil (to desired consistency)

2 tablespoons filtered water (to desired consistency)

Press into a 8x8 glass pan, then cut into bars and serve immediately.  You can also store them in an airtight container at room temperature.

*I used dried figs

**I used equal parts hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts

This post is a part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet, and Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.  (And Fat Tuesdays at Real Food Forager!)

Onion, Pepper, Broccoli, and Herb Fritatta

photo credit: http://www.comfytummy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/breakfast-pie-1.jpg

Onion, Pepper, Broccoli, and Herb Fritatta

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Chop all the vegetables and heat up a cast iron skillet to medium heat.  Grease a glass pie plate with butter or palm shortening or coconut oil and set aside.  Now saute these items together, until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.


2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Pour the cooked vegetables into the prepared pie plate.  Add all these items to the cast iron pan next, and saute until broccoli is bright green and tender, about 8 minutes.

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Pour this batch of cooked vegetables into the prepared pie plate as well.  Spread around evenly.  Then combine these items in a separate bowl:

8 eggs, whisked
1 cup shredded cheddar
salt and pepper to taste

And pour the egg mixture over the vegetables in the pie plate, making sure they are all covered and with egg (for the most part).

Add more salt, pepper, thyme and basil to taste on top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

How Do I Start GAPS?

I've had a lot of people ask me about how to get started on GAPS now that I have been at it myself for 5 1/2 months. Whoa! That's a long time! Anyways, I wrote an email to my friend, and it turned into this post. Hopefully you will find the links and structure inspiring so that you might take GAPS on for yourself.

GAPS Introduction and How-To

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to staaart! Okay, so first of all here's the basic overview of the diet: GAPS Diet Overview. Now you know where you're going, and it's time to prepare prior to starting Intro Diet:

• buy GAPS books:
• do NOT buy Gut and Psychology Syndrome unless you can afford it no problem and you would like to read it; it's not essential, it's haphazardly written, but it's also very interesting in a rambling kind of way!
• DO buy GAPS Guide by Baden Lashkov, which is much more clearly written, shorter and cheaper :)
• DO buy Internal Bliss, which is a spiral-bound book full of GAPS recipes
• you can buy any or all of these books here more easily (and cheaper!) than on Amazon (which I linked to for review purposes, not price/ease): List of GAPS Books
• buy cod liver oil: Green Pastures Cod Liver Oil
• buy probiotics:
• Bio-Kult is recommended and it really IS awesome; you can buy it here: Bio-Kult Probiotics
• I would recommend buying in bulk since it goes from $42/bottle to $37/bottle.
• The next best probiotic I have found is the Garden of Life Vitamin Code Raw Probiotics (it says 85 billion live cultures on the bottle), and it's a little cheaper: Garden of Life RAW Probiotics - Women
• find bones/meat using this link: Eat Wild Directory or this link: Grassfed Beef Directory
• find grass-fed beef, lamb (if stuck, Whole Foods has them, but they are pricey)
• find pastured chickens (Whole Foods has a decent price on pastured chickens: the Mary's Air Chilled Pastured chickens; buy in a "box" and they will give you 10% off)
• find wild seafood (this is easy to find, but harder to find with bones; try Asian markets)
• make bone broth ahead of time, store in freezer (make sure to store in large glass jars or safe plastic like polypropylene)
• recipes for broth, beef, chicken, fish (including quick fish stock): Broth is Beautiful
• buy/make sauerkraut, pickles, other fermented veggies
• Bubbie's brand is made the old-fashioned way with salt, which means it's raw, probiotic, and needs to be refrigerated; I get mine through my monthly order at Azure Standard: Azure Standard
• how to make sauerkraut: Old-Fashioned Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut
• how to make kimchi: Kimchi: Korean Sauerkraut
• how to make lots of sauerkraut juice: Is Sauerkraut Juice The New Gatorade?
• how to make dilly carrot sticks: Lacto-Fermented Dilly Carrot Sticks
• how to make pickles: Lacto-Fermented Dill Pickles OR Sour Pickles
• how to make Moroccan preserved lemons: Morrocan Preserved Lemons
• find good local eggs: How To Buy Eggs
• ask if their chickens eat soy, you do NOT want soy in the feed
• ask if their chickens eat bugs outside in the sun, since this produces dark yolks full of vitamin D and other nutrients
• you may pay $5/dozen at farmer's markets, but people with backyard chickens tend to charge around $3/dozen, so keep your ears open for those opportunities
• find raw dairy: Where To Get Real Milk
• how to make raw milk yogurt:
• buy some store whole milk organic yogurt and put 1-2 tablespoons in a quart mason jar and fill with raw milk, stir, cover with a cloth, and let sit at room temperature (around 85 degrees) for at least 24 hours; then you have yogurt!
• OR you can make your own starter and then make raw milk yogurt from that; here's a how-to: GAPS Yogurt OR Homemade Yogurt
• OR you can simply buy and use Strauss, Humboldt or Trader Joe's yogurts; make sure they are whole milk, organic, plain, and have a long list of different strains of bacteria in them (the longer the list the better!)
• how to make sour cream:
• recipe:
• OR buy Daisy brand or any other sour cream that has only the ingredients: cream, milk, culture, salt (no skim milk, no milk powder, no thickeners)
• how to make whey (from raw milk, yogurt, etc.): How To Make Whey
• how to make ghee: How To Make Ghee
• use Kerrygold or Humboldt butter (they are grass-fed), or other grass-fed butters you might find in your area
• find raw cheese:
• there are raw, grass-fed cheeses on Azure Standard
• Rumiano is a grass-fed brand
• Tillamook is grass-fed MOST of the time if you are in a bind (it's also not raw)
• Organic Valley is raw, but I don't know if they are grass-fed
• Trader Joe's carries some grass-fed cheeses
• soak and dehydrate nuts for later in Intro Diet
• How to soak: Soaking Nuts
• then dehydrate out in the sun or in a dehydrator until crisp again
• to use as "flour" just grind up in a food processor
• find coconut flour, coconut oil, coconut shreds (unsweetened): all available at Azure Standard
• virgin coconut oil tastes and smells like coconut, whereas the expeller-pressed kind has no flavor or taste
• coconut flour is VERY handy for making treats, but has a lot of fiber so eat carefully
• coconut shreds are tasty and filling, plus you can add them to yogurt bowls and things like that
• make water kefir, milk kefir, or kombucha (all are allowed):
• how to make water kefir: Homemade Soda Pop With Kefir Grains
• how to make coconut water kefir: How To Make Young Coconut Water Kefir
• how to make milk kefir: How To Make Milk Kefir
• how to make kombucha: How To Make Kombucha
• where to buy water kefir grains, milk kefir grains and kombucha mushrooms: Cultures For Health

Okay, now you're ready to start.  You should have a fridge/freezer full of stock, yogurt, sauerkraut, whey, eggs, veggies, grass-fed meats, ghee and such (eventually in stage 6 of Intro Diet you can add nuts and fruit)
Below is a Google doc with all my recipes in it, both for Intro Diet and Full GAPS Diet.  It's a work in progress because I haven't transferred all the recipes over, plus I'm always finding new ones.  Feel free to check it out, and add more links in comments if you have them!

• List of GAPS Recipes

Also, I have two additional Google docs that go into more depth with real food and candida, both of which are very helpful:

• Real Food Basics: An Overview
• Candida, Sugar and Detoxing

I hope this helps (and doesn't overwhelm!) you as you get started.  I'm so excited to help you transition into this!

Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (GAPS, grain-free)

I saw this recipe on Grain-Free Foodies and was inspired to make a chocolate-peanut butter version for my GAPS dessert quota.  They came out so beautifully!  I would even make these for company, kind of like the Lemon Curd Bars that even "regular" people like.  I tend to worry about my taste buds these days, since having been on GAPS and real food for so long I don't need as much sweetener in my desserts.  But really, these brownies are good enough for anyone to like, even if they aren't a fellow GAPSter.

Chocolate-Frosted Peanut Butter Brownies

2 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup raw honey
4 eggs
3/4 tsp. baking soda--optional, do not use if on GAPS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine all ingredients together with a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, until the batter is well-mixed, glossy and slightly stiff.  However, do not beat too long!  If it's too stiff, then the brownies will be tough.
2.  Butter a 10x15 glass pyrex pan very generously.  Pour batter into the pan, spreading out with a spatula.  If this doesn't work, get your fingers wet with water and press into an even layer.
3.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and set in the middle.
4.  Let cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks grass-fed butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup raw honey

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp. vanilla

1.  Put butter and honey into a bowl on your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk at a high speed for 3-5 minutes until well-combined and light colored.  Turn mixer off and add cocoa powder and vanilla.  Start mixer slow until combined, then whisk on high for another 3-5 minutes.  Turn off, scrape down the sides of the bowl and combine by hand.  

2.  Chill entire bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Remove and whisk once more for 3-5 minutes.  Use to frost immediately.  Store leftover frosting in the fridge.

GAPS Chocolate Nut Bars and Coconut Lemon Bars

Oh boy are these good!  I based them off the wrapper of the Chocolate Coconut Chew Larabar I ate earlier yesterday, using this recipe as a template from Wardeh over at GNOWFGLINS.  I made a double batch and pressed them into a 9x13 pan and they fit perfectly.

These bars are great because they are high in protein, the only sugars are from the dried fruit, and they are made with organic items.   The nuts called for have been soaked in salty water and dehydrated to reduce enzyme inhibitors.  This is also a raw and GAPS friendly recipe, not to mention portable and relatively easy to make in bulk.  I haven't priced it out, but I am also pretty sure that my homemade bars are cheaper than the individual price of a Larabar at $1.29 at Trader Joe's and $1.49 at Whole Foods.  But that's not to say that they aren't worth it, because I am known to buy a box of 12 bars at Whole Foods upon occasion!

Chocolate Nut Bars

1 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup dried figs

1/2 cup raisins

3 T cocoa powder

large pinch of coarse sea salt

3/4 cup soaked and dehydrated almonds

3/4 cup soaked and dehydrated walnuts

scant 1/4 cup cocoa powder

scant 1/4 cup shredded coconut

approx. 2 T. expeller-pressed coconut oil

approx. 2 T. filtered water

1.  Put dates, figs, raisins, 3 T cocoa powder and salt into a food processor and process until it turns into a paste and forms a ball.  It should take a few minutes, and may require you to hold your food processor down firmly for the first minute or so!

2.  Remove ball of paste and set aside in a bowl.  Add almonds and walnuts to the food processor and process until a fine nut meal forms (don't go too long or you will have almond-walnut butter).  

3.  Turn off and add the ball of fruit paste back in, pinching into smaller pieces to ease the mixing process.  Add remaining cocoa powder and coconut and process until 

it makes a dry paste that you can press into a glass pan.  If needed, add a little coconut oil and water to moisten, about 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Coconut Lemon Bars

1 cup dates

1/2 cup dried figs

1/2 cup raisins

2 T. shredded coconut

large pinch of sea salt

3/4 cup soaked and dehydrated almonds

3/4 cup soaked and dehydrated walnuts

scant 1/2 cup cocoa powder

juice of 3 lemons

approx. 2 T. expeller-pressed coconut oil

approx. 2 T. filtered water

1.  Put dates, figs, raisins, 3 T. shredded coconut and salt into a food processor and process until it turns into a paste and forms a ball.  It should take a few minutes, and may require you to hold your food processor down firmly for the first minute or so!

2.  Remove ball of paste and set aside in a bowl.  Add almonds and walnuts to the food processor and process until a fine nut meal forms (don't go too long or you will have almond-walnut butter).  

3.  Turn off and add the ball of fruit paste back in, pinching into smaller pieces to ease the mixing process.  Add remaining shredded coconut and lemon juice and process until it makes a dry paste that you can press into a glass pan.  If needed, add a little coconut oil and water to moisten, about 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (w/ Chocolate Mint and Chocolate Orange options)

Basic Chocolate Buttercream
1 cup softened grass-fed butter
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla

Mint Chocolate Variation:
add 1 tsp. mint extract


Orange Chocolate Variation:
add 1 tsp. orange extract

Parmesan-Crusted Grilled Cheese Sammies

We all know how to make a basic grilled cheese sandwich, bread plus cheese plus butter grilled in a pan.  But wow are these fancified grilled sammies yummy!  Hat tip to my sister, who makes the best crispy parmesan creations ever :)

Parmesan-Crusted Grilled Cheese Sammies

from T-Nee, my sister

2 slices of sprouted whole grain bread, like at Trader Joe's (they have several kinds--I buy the organic kind with no soy on the ingredient list)

slices of raw cheddar cheese

grass-fed butter, like Kerrygold

parmesan cheese, grated with a microplane

garlic powder

dried oregano

dried basil

1. Heat an empty cast iron skillet on medium heat while you get your sandwich ready.

2. Butter a thick layer on to each piece of bread (remember that you need the fats to digest the grains!).  Sprinkle with parmesan and press to make it stick well.  Sprinkle with a little garlic powder, oregano and basil.  Then build the sandwich carefully in the pan with the cheddar in the middle.  

3. Lower the heat to low, and cover pan with a lid.  Grill until the parmesan is browned and crispy, and the cheddar is melting.  Then flip and grill the other side to match.  Serve with tomato soup, or in my case tonight: roasted red-pepper and tomato soup from, you guessed it, Trader Joe's!

Almond Roca (sugar-free, honey-sweetened)

Ever since the holidays we have been enjoying little bites of almond roca for an occasional sweet treat.  This candy is very easy to make.  Simple directions and a short list of ingredients make for an elegant dessert with a crunch.  I make it plain, but you can melt chocolate and drizzle it on top for a more decadent version.

When I use them, I soak raw nuts and seeds in a salty brine for a day, then dehydrate them a low temperature to improve digestibility.  The soaking removes enzyme inhibitors, which interfere with your body's ability to utilize the enzymes present in these raw morsels.  Then the dehydrating returns them to their crispy state, but doesn't kill the enzymes that are now available for absorption in the body.  It is still better to soak nuts and seeds even if you plan to roast them.  The enzymes will die, but at least the enzyme inhibitors are neutralized.

Almond Roca

1 1/2 cups butter

1 cup honey

1 cup chopped almonds

1. Melt butter gently in a saucepan.  Add honey while the butter melts, stirring constantly until nicely combined.  

2. Using a candy thermometer, heat the mixture over medium-high heat until it reaches the "soft-crack stage" or the "hard-crack stage".  Use "soft-crack" for a softer candy that bends, but then cracks into pieces when broken apart.  Use "hard-crack" for a harder candy that is stiff, and doesn't bend when broken into pieces.

3. After the mixture reaches the desired temperature, stir in the chopped almonds until combined.  Then immediately spread onto a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper, or that has been buttered to cool.  Let cool for 45 minutes or so.  Transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely.

 4.  When you put your hand on the candy and cannot feel any more heat radiating from it, remove from the refrigerator to break into pieces.  Remove the pan and paper.  Break into any size you like.

5.  You can store the candy at room temperature, but it does get a bit sticky and the pieces hold on to each other.  I kept ours in the fridge until they were mostly gone, then started keeping the remainder in the cupboard.  Either way I prefer to eat them at room temperature, so if you store in the refrigerator, remove about 20 minutes before you want to eat it.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

(Quick) Tomato Basil Soup with Parmesan Curls

I love tomato soup. Of course, I grew up getting mine out of a can. Canned soup generally contains monosodium glutamate (MSG), vegetable oils like cottonseed, soybean, canola, safflower or sunflower (which are usually cheap, rancid byproducts of Big Ag), high fructose corn syrup, citric acid (another kind of MSG), autolyzed yeast (yet another kind of MSG), cheap iodized salt, wheat flour (which is white flour, probably "enriched" which really means "devoid of nutritional value"). But now that I know about the ingredients in canned soup, I am happy to make my own.  Since I am in the habit of making my own stocks, I can usually throw a soup together in a few minutes.

I usually follow a basic Tomato Cream Soup recipe from Kim Knoch at The Nourishing Cook. She says you can throw it all together in 3 minutes, and she's right.  I usually double her recipe since I have the large cans of diced tomatoes.

I DO use canned tomatoes, which are not ideal due to BPA in the linings of most canned foods.  Eden Organic is the only canned food manufacturer in the States using BPA-free cans, but even they are unable to use those BPA-free cans for tomatoes.  The FDA won't allow it, due to their acidity.

But until I learn how to can, and how to find the time to do it, I am calling compromise on this one.  Maybe once tomatoes are in season here, I will dice them up for fresh tomato soup.

Tomato Cream Soup

28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, or tomato sauce

4 cups homemade chicken stock

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 cup cream

1 cup whole milk

sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Add all ingredients to a soup pot, blending with a stick blender to desired consistency (if you used diced tomatoes).  Heat through and serve.

After I had made this basic recipe a few times, which is perfect for a cold day or for dipping grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, I wanted to make something a little different.

Tomato Basil Cream Soup with Parmesan Curls

14 ounce can of diced tomatoes

14 ounce can tomato sauce

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 cup cream

1 cup whole milk

sea salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

2-3 tablespoons dried basil (or a handful of chopped fresh basil)

parmesan cheese curls, cut with a knife or cheese slicer

1. Combine all ingredients except cheese curls into a large soup pot.  Heat through, blending with a stick blender to your desired consistency.  Serve in bowls with cheese curls floating on top, and with sourdough toasts and grass-fed butter or homemade crackers.

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop)

Cheese and Vegetable Chowder

This soup is so lovely.  The vegetables are the star, but the nutrition is boosted by all the homemade stock, cream and cheese in the background.  This is perfect for our family, since we are fighting off the sniffles.  My E and M slurped their bowls up with gusto tonight before going to bed a little earlier than usual.  I hope they heal a little as they sleep.  

Read about how the healing properties of homemade bone broth here.  I had a lot of stock on hand from Thanksgiving when I made turkey stock.  After making a double recipe of this soup, I still have two large containers of stock left in my fridge!  

(I will probably make tomato cream soup later this week, and I will post the recipe when I do.  Plus, I have another turkey I need to roast soon, so I'll have even more stock to make nourishing soups with.  This is very important at this time of year when our immune systems can take a beating, and we don't get as many vitamins from the sun.) 

Cheese and Vegetable Chowder

4-6 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large leek, split lengthwise and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

6 T. sprouted whole grain flour

5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

3 carrots, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 turnip, peeled and finely diced

several large broccoli florets, chopped

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/8 tsp. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1½ cups raw cream or half-and-half

10½ oz. mature raw Cheddar cheese, grated

fresh chopped parsley, to sprinkle on top

salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a large heavy-based saucepan or stockpot over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and leek. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables start to soften.  Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 more minutes, taking care it doesn't burn.
2. Stir the flour into the vegetables and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Add a little of the stock and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pan to mix in the flour. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and slowly stir in the rest of the stock.
3. Add the carrots, celery, turnip, broccoli, thyme and bay leaf. Reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the bay leaf and the thyme branches.
4. Add the cheese a few handfuls at a time, stirring constantly for about a minute after each addition, to make sure it is completely melted. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning, adding salt if needed, and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream until warmed through.  Ladle immediately into warm bowls, sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve.  

Candy-Making and Cookie-Baking Extravaganza 2010

So I've been making quite a bit of progress on my Candy-Making and Cookie-Baking Extravaganza 2010!  I've also taken a lot of my favorite recipes and morphed them into my favorite versions.  Now they can truly be called k's.  So far I have made these items:
Peanut Butter Cups
Almond Joy cups
Coconut Citrus Fudge
Homemade Eggnog (in a blender)
Maple Shortbread and Classic Shortbread

And I've made these:
Cinnamon and Vanilla Nuts (I used pecans and cashews, gonna try walnuts and almonds later today or tomorrow)
Lemon Curd Bars (we have SO MANY lemons from Ryan's parents' house)

And of course we will be having some lovely breakfasts, like:
Baked Oatmeal with Dried Fruit, Yogurt and Maple Syrup
Crepes with Berries and Cream
Blueberry Buckle (recipe coming soon!)

And back to the treats again.  There are so many other recipes I want to try this week, like:
Almond Roca
Traditional Fudge
Caramel Corn
Bûche de Noël
Sugar Plums
Buckwheat Sourdoughnuts
Molasses & Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls
Sprouted Grain Doughnuts with Coconut Vanilla Glaze
Maple Sugar Candied Nuts

Homemade Eggnog

As a child, I never liked eggnog.  We would buy eggnog in a carton from the grocery store, but it was too thick and sweet for my liking.  Now I know, from reading eggnog labels the last couple of years, that I probably didn't like the flavors of high fructose corn syrup and thickeners in store-bought eggnog.  

A few years ago I tried Silknog, an eggnog-flavored soy milk.  It's thinner but still has that nice holiday flavor.  We drank it for a couple of years during the holidays, but in the last year I have learned about many problems surrounding soy.  Soy has a very high phytic acid content, and should only be consumed in moderation and properly fermented.  Good sources of fermented soy include natto, naturally fermented soy sauce, and fermented miso.

This year I have been missing my thinner, eggnog drink.  So I started looking around for a real food version of eggnog using raw milk and cream, raw egg yolks (but no raw egg whites, they have enzyme inhibitors!), wholesome sweeteners like maple syrup and raw honey, and as my friend likes to call them "Christmas spices".  Using this recipe as inspiration, I upped the cream and yolks and made delicious eggnog in my blender!  How easy was it? VERY.

You place all the ingredients in a blender, blend them up, and then pour and serve.  If you have seen the way classic eggnog is made, then you'll be impressed with this method.  In the original recipes you are supposed to separate eggs, whip the whites, whip the cream, fold them in at different times, and so on.  I don't have time to mess with that!  And I don't want to eat the raw white anyway.

So enjoy this quick recipe.  It makes delicious, healthy, homemade eggnog that has that not-too-thick texture.  Even R liked it!  And as R would say: "You can really taste the nog."

Homemade Eggnog

1 cup whole milk (preferably raw and grass-fed)
3/4 cup cream (preferably raw and grass-fed)
4 egg yolks (preferably pastured)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cloves
pinch of allspice
2-3 tablespoons maple syrup or raw honey (I used syrup)
dash sea salt
Bourbon, rum, cognac, to taste (optional)

1. Place everything in a blender and blend for a minute or so.  Pour into glasses and garnish with another grating of nutmeg, or a stirring stick of cinnamon.

Coconut Citrus Fudge

Coconut Citrus Fudge

1 cup coconut butter

2-3 tablespoons raw honey

2 tablespoons coconut oil, gently melted

1 tablespoon orange, lemon, grapefruit or other citrus zest

1 teaspoon orange, lemon, grapefruit or other citrus extract (if using oil, use a few drops)

1. In a food processor pulse coconut butter and honey until combined.  Then with the processor running, add the coconut oil in a steady stream.  Add zest and extract or oil, and mix until combined.

2. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper, spoon mixture and form into a rectangle.  Press with your hands to make the thickness even, about 1/4 inch thick.  Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

3. Remove from the fridge, and lift parchment or wax paper off the cookie sheet and transfer to a cutting board.  Cut into little squares or whatever bites you like.  

4. You can store these in the fridge, or even on the counter in an airtight container.  The coconut butter keeps it shape well, even at room temperature.  And this time of year our houses are on the cooler side.  Enjoy!

(Inspired by a review of Cooking to Heal by Kimi at The Nourishing Gourmet, I have made this "fudge" a few times.  It is very light, very nourishing, and kid-friendly.  My kids love it.  I have changed it a little, mostly to incorporate more coconut oil and achieve a smoother feel.)

Joyous Almond Cups

Whenever I make these peanut butter cups I always end up making these Almond Joy-esque cups as well.  I use the same mini cupcake pan, the same spot in the freezer to freeze the two layers, and we end up with two flavors of cups to choose from for a sweet, but nourishing treat.  This recipe is my version after being inspired, as usual, by a recipe from Kimi over at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Even more so than the peanut butter cups, these joyous almond cups have a lot of coconut oil incorporated into the recipe.  Coconut oil has many benefits.  Coconut oil has a lot saturated fat.  But don't fear.  This saturated fat is good for you.  Yes you read that right.  The saturated fat in coconut oil is comprised of medium chain fatty acids, 50% of which are the fatty acid lauric acid.  Medium chain fatty acids are more easily digested, reducing strain on the liver, pancreas, and digestive system.  Coconut oil benefits a sluggish thyroid by this same logic: it takes less energy to digest coconut oil, freeing up your thyroid to heal and function better.  Coconut oil helps with energy levels and weight loss.  Coconut oil heals you from the inside out.

So when you wonder why I go through all the trouble of researching coconut oil, finding different kinds of coconut oil, and then incorporating it into my diet despite my lack of love for it's flavor, this is why.  I feel better when I have it in my daily diet.  I know the science behind it and am more than happy to have it's help healing my body.

Now let's get back to the treat part.  I make these either with or without chopped almonds.  Sort in the vein of sometimes feeling like a nut...But when I do add the nuts I make sure they are from my soaked and dehydrated stash.  Soaking nuts overnight in salt water helps neutralize the naturally-occuring enzyme inhibitors present in most nuts.  Then dehydrating them returns them back to their crispy state.  The almonds I used in this recipe were soaked, dehydrated, and then toasted for 20 minutes at 300 degrees just to bring out their flavor a little before I chopped them and added them in.

Joyous Almond Cups

coconut base:

1/2 cup gently melted coconut oil

1/4 cup gently melted raw honey

1 1/4 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1/2 cup chopped almonds, preferably soaked and dehydrated, then toasted for 20 min. at 300 degrees

chocolate topping:

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3 tablespoons raw honey

3/4 cup coconut oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon coffee liqueur

1. Make coconut base: Combine melted coconut oil and raw honey.  Whisk well to combine.  Add shredded coconut and almond extract.  

2. Using a small ice cream scoop, divide among 24 mini cupcake molds.  Sprinkle each one with a little of the chopped almonds, dividing evenly.  Place in the freezer on a level surface for 30 minutes to harden.  

3. In the meantime, make chocolate topping: combine cocoa powder, honey, and coconut oil in a glass bowl set over simmering water.  Whisk until coconut oil is almost completely smooth.  Remove from heat and continue whisking, adding vanilla and coffee liqueur.

4. Remove frozen coconut bases, and spoon a little of the chocolate topping on each cup.  Place back in the freezer for another 30 minutes until frozen and set.  

5. To remove, pop out with a spoon or butter knife immediately after removing from the freezer.  Store in the freezer, or else they will melt.  To eat, I like to remove from the freezer and let sit for a few minutes to soften.  Enjoy with cold, whole raw milk, yum!