Healthy Dessert

YUUUUUMM!!! EASY HEALTHIER DESSERT OPTION. Sliced 6 green grannysmith apples with slicer, then cut each one into a few thinner slices, place in a glass pie pan. Pour moderate a amount of liquid coconut oil over the apples gently moving them around to distribute oil more evenly. Then sprinkle lots of PURE cinnamon (NOT cinnamon sugar:)) all over, and gently move apples around to distribute more evenly. Lightly sprinkle small amount of salt over apples and gently mix again. Bake in preheated oven (375F) (can adjust higher or lower, sometimes I'll cook at 400 for 15-20 min. and 300-350 for remainder of time). Bake about 25-35 minutes (maybe longer or shorter, pending on oven, temp, and if you like them much much softer cook longer).. And about half way through baking, take out and gently move/redistribute apples.
After out of oven, mix the servings with Plain Unsweetened Nonfat Greek Yogurt, lots of it!!! SOOOOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS.

Dark Cacao Cake low sugar~gluten free~healthy

INGREDIENTS:-8 large eggs.  (use whole thing, minus the shell of course:))
-2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract (NO CORN SYRUP additives in vanilla extract). I used 2 Tablespoons, but will try more next time as vanilla didn't quite come through.  Still delicious on all the other notes.
-1 teaspoon iodized sea salt.
-1 teaspoon baking soda.  no aluminum.
-3 Tablespoons sour cream. (used Daisy regular.)
-3 Tablespoons organic extra virgin coconut oil.  cold pressed. unrefined.  melted.
-3 medium sized Cara Cara oranges.  ripe.  peel and pulverize.  (used a ninja.. could just juice old school way and chop up remaining orange pieces to add so WHOLE ORANGES are used (but not the outer peel:)) 
-1/4 cup unsulphured blackstrap molasses.
-1/3 cup PLUS 1/4 cup (OR 1 generous 1/2 cup) of Hershey's UNSWEETENED SPECIAL DARK cocoa powder (100% cacao).  I had to check a few stores to find it, ended up finding it at Giant Eagle...- Really worth it, super glad I didn't just use regular.
-3 cups of COOKED PLAIN unseasoned unsalted black beans.  (I ended up making my own since the canned ones all had salt etc. added....)  Figure out a way to get them mashed so they are like a paste, smooth as can be.  I didn't have a food processor so I mashed the beans with large utensils and my hands to get it to the the right consistency (it kind of reminds me of thick mashed potatoes..)

more to come....!

DIRECTIONS:
Mix unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in one bowl.  Mix eggs in another bowl and then mix in coconut oil and sour cream with the eggs.  In a 3rd bowl, mix together the orange juice/pulp, vanilla extract, and unsulphured blackstrap molasses.  In a fourth LARGE mixing bowl, add mashed beans and all the other ingredients from the other 3 bowls and mix together WELL.  Once it's mixed enough,  add to glass baking dishes.  Anything will work.  I put the batter in two glass casserole dishes (each about 12 inches X 8.5 inches).  Can't remember if I greased them or not.... wouldn't hurt, just grease with coconut oil...  Have oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add your cake batter dishes and bake for about 17 to 22 minutes.... Keep an eye on them, ovens can vary.  Remove and let cool.  ENJOY!  They are good fresh and warm, and also really tasty once they cool, and sit for awhile.  I like leaving them out or putting them in the fridge is yummy too.  And the flavor intensifies the next day, if they make it through the night! :)  Be careful to not eat too much/too quick as the cocoa contains theobromine and caffeine. . . this cake seems to have a stimulant effect!


approximate NUTRITIONAL VALUES for the entire mixture:
2,264 CALORIES
97 FAT grams
4,638 SODIUM mg
6,351 POTASSIUM mg
64 FIBER grams
107 PROTEIN grams
96 SUGAR grams
262 CARBOHYDRATES
40 IRON mg
1080 CALCIUM mg

other vitamins and minerals (etc.) in the Dark Cacao Cake include magnesium,  phosphorus, selenium, folate, zinc, manganese, copper, choline, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin D, vitamin C, B6, B12, omega 6 fatty acids.  I will update the values once I calculate them.

Chunky Cinnamon Pancake

Chunky Cinnamon Pancake.

(gluten free.)

~1-3 Servings.

Ingredients:

-3 eggs

-1/4 cup sweet white sorghum flour

-2 teaspoons pure ground cinnamon

-1/2 teaspoon pure ground cloves

-1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar (could add more if want sweet, but I try to keep my sugars low.)

-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

-pinch of salt

-unsalted butter to grease pan 

-1.5 teaspoons oil (melted if need be). (i used olive, love coconut and red palm fruit also.)

-half teaspoon vanilla extract OR 1 drop liquid stevia vanilla creme

(topping)

-plain nonfat greek yogurt (1/2 cup? . . . however much or little you like.))

-fresh fruit or juice (1/8 cup or even less. . .)

-more ground cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Directions:

-Mix eggs.  Add cinnamon, cloves, coconut sugar, salt, lemon juice, oil, vanilla.  Mix well.  Add sweet white sorghum flour, fold in, mix to even consistency.

-Heat pan with a little coconut oil or unsalted butter. ( i love my cast iron skillet, just need to be extra careful not to burn myself:))  

-Add mixture and let cook on medium to medium low heat.  Once edges cooked and/or bubblish in middle flip.  I usually end up breaking it into a few pieces when flipping.  Cooks fairly quickly. . . 5-7 minutes?

-Once done make your topping if desired.  Mix together the yogurt with a tiny splash of juice.  Or fresh or even melted frozen fruit works great too. (I like cranberry juice no sugar added.)  Sprinkle more cinnamon on pancake chunks.  some walnuts might taste nice on top of this also.  

 

My Swedish Stroganoff

My Swedish Stroganoff.

~4-6 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

-32 oz ground turkey breast.  (usually sold in 16 ounces so I buy 2 packs).  (make sure it is ground turkey breast!  I prefer the ground turkey breast that also has rosemary extract listed when you read the ingredients.)

-healthy oil of your choice for 'browning' the ground turkey breast.  I prefer cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil, or organic red palm fruit oil, or extra virgin olive oil.  

-1 large bunch of green onions.  (1-2 cups loose green onion chopped) (can also use the white parts too).  I will buy organic if the price is reasonable.  Sometimes you even get more with organic and you can see a visible difference in the quality of the produce.

-1 plus 1/4 cup sour cream.  (I use Daisy regular sour cream. . . so many other brands-healthy or not-use fillers- GROSS.)

-3/4 cup (dry) white rice. (can use more or less). follow directions for cooking.  usually cooks quicker and with a little less water if soaked for awhile.  don't worry how rice consistency turns out.  It gets patted down on top of the meat mixture and the tastes meld nicely.

-2 tablespoons unsalted butter.

-iodized sea salt or regular iodized salt. (make sure no aluminum!)

-3 tablespoons Lea & Perrins original Worcestershire sauce.  (my favorite by far...even Walmart sells it.  Pay the extra, it's worth the taste.  Plus, a lot of other ones are not gluten free.

DIRECTIONS:

Rinse rice many times then let soak for at least one hour, longer if you have the time.  Rinse again before cooking.  I cook the rice separately toward middle of turkey being done.  Add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter to rice once water cooked off and finished.  Add salt to taste.... enough, but no too much.  1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon?....

-Cook the ground turkey breast in a large stainless steel skillet.  Use ~1 tablespoon (more or less as needed) of oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Continue gently breaking it up as you cook it.  Once it is over halfway being done, add the chopped green onions and fold in.  Continue cooking until meat totally browned.

-Add sour cream to meat mixture (can use more or less than what I listed. . . just taste to see to your liking.  I've subbed out plain greek nonfat yogurt, still good but the sour cream makes it GREAT. . .  daisy light sour cream might be okay too, you just lose a lot of that rich deep swedish stroganoff like flavor when you go low to no fat. . .whatever works best for you :).  I like to make this on a day when I know I'm only going to have one real meal and keep it light the rest of the day.  

-add 3 tablespoons Lea & Perrins original Worcestershire sauce on the sour cream and fold/mix in totally with the meat mixture.  

-add rice evenly over top of meat mixture and pat it down over the whole thing like a pie frosting.

Cut like pie slices and serve.  May need large spoon with spatula to get all mixture out under each 'slice'.

Ah, comfort food.  ENJOY! 

I'm working on gathering the nutritional facts for this recipe.

Z's Dark Chocolate Espresso Brittle

Ingredients:  1 1/2 cups Organic Espresso Beans.

(2) 3.5OZ Dark Chocolate Bars. (I used Green & Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao for one bar, and Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Smooth Dark for the other bar.  Melted together.  Note, Lindt is slightly higher sugar content and Green & Blacks has a MUCH MUCH higher IRON content for the same serving size!).

(Wax paper or parchment paper).

Melt chocolate on LOWEST HEAT POSSIBLE.  Once melted, stir in  espresso beans and turn heat off.  If applicable, use spatula or stir utensil that won't scratch the pan.  Have wax (or parchment) paper lining a cookie sheet and spread the chocolate covered beans over the surface.  Let sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes or so...then place sheet in fridge and let solidify.  It should take less than an hour.  Remove and break apart the dangerous mass of goodness.  Store in glass in fridge.  Eat with caution ;) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Ideas:  Try different coffee beans and chocolates.  I chose those particular dark chocolates because I pretty much don't do dairy/gluten.  You might find ones actually certified gluten free.....vegan.... and so forth, but I think I'm okay with these.  

Here is a link to an article talking about chocolate and coffee health benefits & considerations.

http://woman.thenest.com/health-benefits-chocolatecovered-espresso-beans-9046.html

GINGER TEA

Some teas that help me with pain, stiffness, digestion, nausea, cravings etc. include pure ginger tea, ginger/turmeric tea, pau d'arco tea, elderberry tea, & buffalo bone tea.  Most of the teas I enjoy are caffeine free.  I always read ingredient lists (eg: buffalo bone tea has lots of different herbs) and get familiar with things that may or may not agree with me.  Something I learned is that it really does make a difference to take the time properly preparing your tea.  Some need boiling water & steeped, covered for awhile, others have you boil the tea bags from the start & then simmer on stove low covered 20 minutes.. I just follow the directions.  Also, some of the mesh tea strainers holes are too big, so be careful if buying one to handle loose tea..  I found a fairly solid metal one with tiny holes at world market awhile back.

MEATBALLS & SLAW

make the meatballs from the homemade soup recipe, but add lots of chopped green onion to meatball mixture...combine meatballs hot or cold with plain coleslaw, nonfat plain greek yogurt, & some fresh cut up tomato