Spicy Yellow Hot Chocolate

This is a part-immunity, part-pleasure recipe. I adapted this from an MDA post on turmeric tea.
It is intensely spicy, but worth a try if you start coming down with a cold or an illness and can drink.

6 oz light coconut milk (can use full fat, but light is what this recipe is based on, as it is what I had on hand)
10 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 square of baker's unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp Grated fresh ginger (works best if ginger is frozen and use a grater on it straight from the freezer)
1/2 tsp Cracked black pepper corns
1 tbsp ground cinnamon (or steep a stick in milks while heating)
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Pinch of ground cayenne
Stevia to sweeten, to taste (I do not use honey as the sugars can depress the immune response when you are already down).
Water to thin as desired.

Combine all the ingredients on stovetop in a pan, simmer and occasionally whisk for 5-10 minutes, taking care not to let chocolate burn.

Apple Pie Shortbread

As you can guess from the name, this is a recipe for flavored shortbread, this one being apple pie. I adapted the recipe from the Joyful Abode food blog, which was a regular almond flour shortbread recipe.

You will need:
2 cups blanched almond flour
5 TBSP salted butter
1 TBSP coconut oil
.5 cups natural apple sauce
Pinch of stevia crystals
Apple pie spices ( to taste. I ended up not measuring mine at all).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt butter and coconut oil in a skillet, adding apple sauce, stevia and spices. Cook some of the water out of the pan while stirring regularly, about 5-10 minutes. Scrape into the bowl of almond flour, and combine well. Press into an ungreased pie pan, poke well with a fork all around and bake for 15-20 minutes, until browned around the edges. Let shortbread cool completely before cutting or it will fall apart. Makes 12 servings.

Ribs in the Oven

I wanted to continue using up all the meat in our deep freezer, so next in line were a couple pounds of country style pork ribs. Perhaps it is not an original concoction, but a variation on delicious rib cooking.

What you need to make them awesome like I did:
2-3 lbs country style pork ribs
.25-.5 cups BBQ sauce
Can of lager
Garlic to taste (minced or powder)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325 F. Add ribs to a roasting pan, spreading on BBQ sauce and seasonings. Pour lager on ribs, and place lid on pan. Bake for an hour, then turn the oven temp down to 250 F for two additional hours. I happened to have a can of Yuengling in the fridge, so I figured it was as good as any, if not very tasty on it's own. ;)
Ribs were successful- I will be making them again this way.

Sweet Potato Waffles

Waffle irons are great! I love how they nicely put orderly and symmetrical miniature squares into food, while cooking from both sides. That is, regular waffle irons. We had a Bugs Bunny novelty waffle iron, and everything that came out of it was flat. No fluff anywhere! Not at all as I imagined Bugs Bunny being like in real life, unless he became roadkill. So I got rid of it-good riddance. Last night my MIL gave me their old waffle iron (they had replaced it with a belgian-style iron), after I mentioned that I needed to look into getting a normal one. I was very excited, and these are the result of my first adventure with a regular waffle iron.

These sweet potato waffles are good. I topped them with butter and cinnamon for the boys this morning, but my imagination is running wild with many variations.

1 med sweet potato, peeled and shredded (use larger shred size if choice between two)
4 eggs
1.5 TBSP coconut flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
Dash salt

Grease and preheat you waffle iron.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl- batter should be a little wet, but not swimming.
Spoon into waffle iron. Cook for four minutes, or until slightly browned.

*A future variation I'm going to try will be with pumpkin pie spices and topped with freshly whipped cream, chopped bacon and sprinkled with cinammon and nuts. "Oh yeah!" (Think Kool-Aid guy)      ;o)

Watermelon smoothies

This is super easy! No recipe even needed, but I figured since the children enjoyed the smoothies so much, I'd post about them anyway.
*You can get light coconut milk from Trader Joe's for $.99, in bpa free cans. I just bulk it up with heavy cream, or sometimes even make my own coconut milk.

Food items suggested:
3 cups watermelon (or any melon/ fruit)
1 15oz can coconut milk (can use full fat or light. Make sure to shake it before opening!)
1/3 cup heavy cream (omit for dairy free, and use while can of coconut milk).

Method:
Chop watermelon into bite size pieces and freeze. After frozen, stick into a blender with heavy cream and 1/4 can of coconut milk, adding more a little at a time until blender works it in and is running smoothly.

*If you do not care for coconut milk, you can substitute unsweetened almond milk or your preference, but make sure to balance it out with more heavy cream for a fuller and more satiating treat. Same thing goes if you want to omit heavy cream. Add almond or other milk to get blender running smoothie-ly. ;o)

Vanilla Maple Custard

You will need a water bath in the oven for this recipe. I like to put my ceramic bowl that the custard will be baked in into the corning ware dish, as I fill it with water, for water displacement. I also leave the water bath in the oven as it preheats (not sure if this is a normal practice, but it makes sense to me).

Foods for assembling:
1.5 cups whole milk
.5 cups heavy cream
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP pure maple syrup
.5-.75 tsp pure stevia crystals ( I like Trader Joe's brand-they taste the least bitter to me).
Dash salt (I use Himilayan Pink Sea Salt).

Method:
Make your water bath before you begin, preheating it in the oven at 350 F.
Start recipe by heating milk and cream together on stove top at medium heat, whisking occasionally as you go.When slightly boiling and climbing sides of pan or milk rises a little in the middle, turn off and let cool. Skim any skin that forms as it cools (and eat! Cooked milk is yummy...).
Next, while waiting for milk to cook/cool, beat eggs, stevia, salt and vanilla together in a ceramic or oven safe dish (may also use individual custard cups for fancier presentation). Once you are able to stick your finger into the hot milk without getting too badly burned, add a little to the egg mixture, whisking as it streams in(trying to temper eggs a bit-about half a cup milk).  Then add the rest of milk/cream. After that, then whisk in maple syrup.
Place dish(es) into hot oven water bath. Bake for about 20-25 minutes before checking doneness with a butter knife at center. May need a few more minutes if knife doesn't come out cleanly. You can also choose to shut oven off after 20 minutes, leaving custard to cook in residual heat, if desired (woo-hoo! Power saver!) If you do this, let it sit an additional 30 minutes in oven.
Can eat custard hot, cold, for breakfast, for dessert, snack, let a puppy lick it off your toddler's face, etc. I ate mine after lifting weights this afternoon- garnished with Vietnamese cinnamon, nutmeg and raw cream.
Super yum.
P.S. I doubled my recipe and adjusted cook time accordingly, letting it rest in the oven longer.

Chicken Taco Stuffed Jalapenos

I was thinking about how to use up some jalapenos in our crisper before they all grew furry, and for the first time ever, smoked poppers didn't really strike my fancy. Last night, I grilled a whole chicken for supper and ended up with about one and a half pounds of leftover goodness. I decided to make chicken taco stuffed jalapenos. Not really too inspired, but they smelled like taquitos while they baked, and tasted so very yummy. I even ate a few extra for dessert!

Here it is:
1.5 lbs leftover cooked chicken, cut into chunks and partially shredded
1 cup sour cream
.75 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 chopped green onions
1 medium diced fresh tomato
3-4 TBSP homemade taco seasoning (I made a large batch from here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/  substituting the crushed red pepper for home grown ground chilies and adding a bit more cumin).
16 jalapenos, halved, seeded and soaked for 30 minutes (you still get some heat, but a bit less burn-your-face-off).

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir well.  At this point, if you taste test it like I did, you may be tempted just to eat it as is, like an awesome chicken salad! Hold out for the jalapenos though, because they add such a great dimension of flavor. Stuff your jalapenos, lay on a jelly roll pan and drizzle with a little olive oil. Put into a preheated oven set to 375 F. Cook until you can't handle waiting anymore because of the good smells emanating from the oven. Or set your timer to check them after 20 to 25 minutes. :o)  Bake them to preferred doneness. My batch ended up with an ever so slightly retained, enjoyable firmness. I made some guacamole to smother them in, along with a garnish of more cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Hubby liked them, so I feel pretty good about saying they are worth the effort.

No Added Sugar Coconut Stuff

I won't call this syrup...syrup would indicate a certain consistency, or expected viscosity.  Nope, this is an easy-peasy, watered down coconutty flavored liquid  (still not saying syrup) that you can add to drinks and all your other culinary delights. You can even just drink it straight. This sweet and coconutty stuff will contain about 6 grams of carbs for the while batch.

1.5 cups cool, filtered water (fancy, I know! I just got it out of my fridge).
.5 cups light coconut milk
.25 tsp pure stevia crystals
.25 tsp vanilla
.25 tsp citric acid or lemon juice
Pinch of xanthan gum (can leave out if you don't have).

Add everything to the blender for 20-30 seconds. You're done! :o) Store in fridge, 3-4 days (you can freeze it in ice cube trays for fast use also). I will be playing around with this from time to time, just like I do with all my recipes. So maybe it will reach a syrup, rather than milk status, at some point in the future.

Chili Lime Baconnaise

2 cups bacon grease, liquid state (not hot; slightly warm is okay).
2 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks, room temperature
3 TBSP lime juice
2 TBSP liquid whey (I used kefir whey, but the stuff from plain yogurt should be just fine).
2 tsp spicy brown mustard (or just eyeball it)
2 tsp chili powder
1tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chilies (or again, eyeball it)
Generous amount sea salt, to taste. I used the smoked sea salt that comes in a grinder from Trader Joe's. Good stuff!

Add all ingredients, EXCEPT bacon grease, together in a blender. Then on highest speed, let all components go for a couple minutes to make the egg somewhat fluffy (you are incorporating air at this point). Take the little plug off the blender lid if it has one, and then add bacon grease  in a teensy stream, a little at a time, letting it mix in thoroughly.  This will take awhile, but your patience will be rewarded! The blender may start to stop mixing towards the end-just remove the whole lid (with blender off) and stir a bit, then start it again. The deliciousness is done when all the bacon grease is incorporated and there isn't any left on surface of mixture.
Store it in a jar- will make slightly under a quart. Let it sit on the counter for 7 hours before cooling in fridge, so the whey can start the preservation process. This will last 6 months or more with whey. 2 weeks without.

Mix into meat, egg or potato salads (if that's your thing), put this stuff on anything, even a spoon. Yummy yummy. :o)

Salmon "Scrapple"

One 15oz can salmon (I use Trader Joe's, as it's cheap and the can is BPA free)
3 TBSP ground flax seeds (I fresh grind mine every time, and store the seeds in fridge to help keep the PUFAs from oxidizing) + 1 to 2 TBSP water, let stand together for 5 minutes (making the "glue" to hold it all together)
1/4 Cup almond meal
1 tsp original Mrs. Dash
Garlic and onion powder to taste, plus any other green colored seasoning of the day (chives, parsely, oregano, fresh green onion, etc.)

Mash everything together (entires contents of salmon can, skin and all) shape into patties and fry in preheated bacon grease, olive oil or clarified butter over medium heat. Watch your belly, all you neked fryers! It does pop and sizzle (so a tilted lid is recommended, 'specially if you've got little ones running around). It is done when the outside is firm and browned, about 5 minutes each side. It IS that simple and it IS that good. ;o) *Although my PA FIL (and any other east-coasters) will probably condemn me as a scrapple heretic! P.S. I hope to get some pics up as soon as I make this again.

Big Boy's third birthday cheesecakes