Monthly Archives: May 2016

Easy Chocolate Mousse for Two

By definition a Mousse is a dessert that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture and can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick.

I was considering calling this mousse Miracle Mousse because there is no cooking and no eggs or dairy in the recipe yet it is thick, creamy and smooth. I whip this decadent dessert up in five minutes flat, at which time it resembles a chocolate syrup. After refrigerating it for 4 hours it thickens and becomes the creamy deliciousness you see below.

Dairy Free Easy Chocolate Mousse for Two

Raw cacao is my favorite for making chocolate recipes, because it is cold pressed and keeps the live enzymes, and you can control what sweetener you use. In this case it was raw, local wildflower honey.

Why should you make this mousse?

You Crave Chocolate
You Want to Impress Someone
You Need A Fast Dessert Recipe Because You Are Busy
It Has No Refined Sugar
You Have a Romantic Date
It Has Clean Ingredients
It’s Darn Good!

The recipe serves two! How romantic! 🙂

Easy Chocolate Mousse for Two

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups of Full Fat Coconut Milk (see In My Pantry for my favorite brand)

1/4 Cup Raw Cacao Powder

1/4 Cup Raw Local Honey

1/4 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

a pinch of sea salt

Directions: Dump all the ingredients in a high speed blender. I used the big cup on my Ninja blender. I have also made it in my Vitamix. It just needs to be high speed to incorporate those air bubbles that makes chocolate mousse…..mousse. 🙂

Pour into two individual ramekins, serving bowls or cups.

Refrigerate for 4 hours and up to two days.

This is a decadent dessert for chocolate fans! Enjoy!

Easy Chocolate Mousse for Two

Eat Your Nutrients!

Greek Salad with Grilled Skewered Salmon

I just returned from a very relaxing time in South Palm Beach Florida. I was traveling with my husband, Doug, for his President’s Club business/pleasure trip, and we stayed at The Breakers Resort where I found it very easy to eat clean, healthy food much to my delight! We also went snorkeling and saw many colorful fish including Barracuda.

Greek Salad with Skewered Grilled Salmon

Greek Salad with Grilled Skewered Salmon

One of my favorite restaurants in the resort (they had ten to choose from) was The Ocean House, which was casual dining overlooking one of the pools and the ocean. It has a wrap around porch with seating on the porch in the shade.

The Ocean House Restaurant – Doug

The Nitrogen Infused Cold Brew Coffee was so creamy and refreshing it was hard to believe that it was just coffee, and the nitrogen imparts a creaminess. See the picture below. It was soooooo good! Wish they had it locally where I live. I could become totally addicted to the stuff. It is so mild and delightful!

Nitrogen Infused Cold Brew Coffee

However, the Greek Salad was so delicious, and you had the option of adding Skewered Salmon to the salad (my favorite) or chicken, steak or shrimp. The Salmon was simply grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper and was so tender and flaky. I wanted to recreate the recipe at home.

Throughout the resort, you could also get fresh pressed raw juices that had just a touch of honey in them and were made daily by the staff. My favorite was the green detox and the second runner up was fresh watermelon juice with lime and ginger. Here is a picture of the pineapple coconut water juice I had. I tried them all. 🙂

Fresh Pressed Pineapple Coconut Juice

We walked to beach every morning and saw the beautiful sunrise. There were other sunrise lovers on the beach and locals with their dogs. One dog in particular was hilarious. He was a hot dog dog, more properly called a dachshund, and he was digging for soft shell crabs and eating them. He had a hole dug as deep as he was with just his rear end sticking out. His owner told us he regularly did this and had a love of crab.

Sunrise at Palm Beach

Waiting for our Guide to go Snorkeling!

Here is my version of this delicious main course salad! Sadly, I cannot pass on the sun, sand and water to you along with it, but I would if possible!

Greek Salad with Grilled Skewered Salmon

Ingredients for Salad:

4 Cups of Leafy Lettuce

1/2 of a Red Bell Pepper, Diced

1/2 of an English Cucumber, Diced

1/4 Cup Finely Diced Red Onion

1/4 Cup Pitted Kalamata Olives

1/4 Cup Scallions, sliced thinly

Place all the ingredients for the salad in a medium bowl, and set out dinner plates.

Greek Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 Garlic Clove, minced or garlic pressed

1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano

1/4 Teaspoon of Dried Parsley

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon of Djon Mustard

2 Tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar

1 Tablespoon of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1/2 Cup Good Olive Oil

Whisk it all together until emulsified, and set aside.

Grilled Salmon

2 Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Filets

1/3 Cup Good Olive Oil, plus more for the grill pan

Generous amount of Sea Salt and Black Pepper

6 Bamboo Skewers.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees. Preheat your grill pan on the stove top on medium heat, dry, for five minutes. Slice each salmon filet into three strips. Brush generously all over with olive oil. Then season with salt and pepper. Place a generous additional amount of olive oil on your grill pan, brushing to coat it so the salmon will not stick. Thread the salmon on the skewers. Grill the salmon three minutes, basting with more of the olive oil, then turn for an additional three. Then place the grill pan in the oven and finish off the salmon for five minutes, or until the center has reached 145º degrees. This will happen quickly.

To assemble the salad. Toss the greens and other salad ingredients you prepared previously with a generous amount of Greek Vinaigrette. Divide the greens between two or three plates. Top with the hot salmon skewers!

The Breakers Palm Beach

Won Ton Shrimp and Pork Meatballs

After traveling in China a couple times about 14 years ago, I had a whole new appreciation for authentic Chinese cuisine, and when I returned home I searched for a cookbook that could help me recreate the flavors I had enjoyed while traveling in the beautiful country with such friendly and fascinating citizens. It was a magical time not only because we were adopting our two youngest daughters, but also because their cuisine was much, much different than the Chinese restaurants here in the states.

Won Ton Shrimp and Pork Meatballs

I found a book by Eileen Lin Fei Lo entitled The Chinese Kitchen. I consider her the Julia Child of Chinese Cuisine and Technique, and I started frequenting Chinese Markets back home and working my way through her cookbook, making delicious and authentic tasting dishes. It was a huge learning curve at first, and then I got better and better at it, and my family was thrilled. My little baby girls loved Congee and Steamed Egg Custards, and I was able to make them for them. Then I became gluten sensitive, and the book sat forlornly on the shelf collecting dust.

Won Ton Shrimp and Pork Meatballs

This week, I pulled it off a gluten free, wrapper-less, won ton that I think you will love regardless of your food preferences. I was craving those little won tons I used to eat, and I was determined to make a Paleo version of them. I was pretty gleeful after I mixed up the meatballs and let them refrigerate for a couple hours before forming them, because the meatballs were too soupy……… until I sprinkled in a couple teaspoons of gelatin at the very end and mixed it up again, then said a little prayer and popped them in the refrigerator.

When I took the mixture out of the refrigerator to form the balls, I could tell when I started rolling them that they were the perfect texture and were going to be silky on the tongue.

This meal is grain-free, so I made julienned carrots and zucchini sauteed in fat our your choice. I like olive oil, which is not traditional, but very healthy. My kids and hubby gobbled them up. The only sad part is there are no leftovers for lunch today. Next time I will make a double batch!

Won Ton Shrimp and Pork Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 Pound Pastured Ground Pork

1 1/2 Cups Cooked Baby Shrimp, finely diced

1 Tablespoon of Coconut Aminos (this is a fantastic soy substitute)

1 Tablespoon of Fish Sauce (I used Red Boat)

1 Teaspoon of Honey

1 Teaspoon of Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Onion Powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Ground Ginger

1/4 Teaspoon of White Pepper

2 Teaspoons of Grass Fed Gelatin (the kind that thickens like Vital Choice Green Label – see In My Pantry)

For Cooking:

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl with your hands, except the gelatin, until very thoroughly blended. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top of the mixture, and quickly incorporate thoroughly with your hands. Place in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to 24.

To make the won ton. Preheat the oven to 350º degrees. Form the won ton into tablespoon sized balls. Place the oil in a large non-stick skillet, and melt over medium high heat. When melted, evenly distribute in the skillet, and add the won ton. Cook on one side until lightly browned, then turn them and cook a few more minutes. Then place the pan in the oven for ten minutes to cook through the center.

Serve.

Eat Your Nutrients!

Orange Apple Pecan Cookout Salad

I am so excited that cookout season is here finally! Cold salads to serve alongside something on the grill lets me relax outside with a glass of something to sip beforehand, because the sides are prepared and marinating in the refrigerator.

Orange Apple Pecan Cookout Salad

Leafy green salads are great, but heartier salads to heap on your plate are filling and fun as well. I have a new recipe for you that is packed with vegetables and fruit with a sprinkling of crunchy pecans. You can make it up to two days in advance. It just gets better with time. One of the things I love about this salad is all the colors and the fresh tastes.

This is a robust side with healthy, grain free, nutrient rich carbohydrates. Here is what you will need!

Orange Apple Pecan Cookout Salad

Preheat the oven to 375º degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and prepare the Squash.

Butternut Squash Prepped for Roasting

Place the squash cubes from below on the cookie sheet and toss with 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil, 1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt and 1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper. Roast for 20 minutes until tender but still holding together. Try a piece to make sure it is how you like it. Then,

Ingredients for Salad:

1 Medium Butternut Squash, Peeled, Seeded and Cubed into 1 1/2 inch cubes

(Roast the Squash Above and Cool Slightly before making the Salad, Measure out 4 Cups of Squash and save any extra for another time.)

1 Can of Mandarin Oranges (I used Native Forest Brand in it’s own juice)

1 Apple, seeded and diced (I like Fuji, but you choose)

1/4 Cup Fruit Sweetened, Dried Cranberries

1/4 Cup Raw Pecans, Coarsely Chopped

2 Scallions, sliced

Ingredients for Dressing:

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

2 Tablespoons of Cider Vinegar

1 Tablespoon of Honey

1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

Directions: Whisk together your dressing and set aside. In a large bowl, add the prepared salad ingredients including the roasted squash cubes that have mostly cooled. Pour the dressing over the ingredients, and gently toss. Taste, and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Place in the refrigerator two hours before serving to let the flavors meld.

Ready to Toss

This salad keeps well in the refrigerator. It is a delicious, filling, colorful salad that is packed with all those wonderful fruits and veggies to make us glow with health!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Strawberry Mug Muffin! (Fast and Easy) Yum!

Strawberry Mug Muffin! Yum!

With Strawberry season upon us, why not have a mug muffin? This recipe is a microwave mug muffin that you literally can make in five minutes start to finish. Mug muffins are a convenient way to have a quick breakfast or snack without having to make a huge batch of muffins. They are single serve, which makes them very appealing to college students, kids in the kitchen who want to do some independent food preparation, someone who is single, or someone like me who wants something quick, healthy and pretty!

This recipe for a single mug muffin is Grain Free and has healthy fruit, fiber, protein, and fat, and is sweetened with a touch of honey. Embellish the top with more fresh berries, a dollop of coconut cream, and sliced almonds if you like!

Beautiful Strawberry Mug Muffin Recipe