Honey Chocolate Mousse Frosting.
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Happy day after Galentine’s Day!
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Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes and A GIVEAWAY!
That’s right.
LOVElillian
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Nostalgia in the form of Hohos, Snowballs, & Peeps
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BBQ Condiments!!!
It’s summer and everyone’s grilling and I can’t eat any of the BBQ sauces. But I’m not feeling sorry for myself. No Ma’am! I’m going to be making these gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, cane sugar-free, soy-free sauces this August.
This recipe (and the picture above) are both from Heidi over at Adventures of A Gluten-free Mom!
BBQ Sauce
- 1/2 cup Ketchup (I use my corn-free Ketchup)
- 3 Tbs Olive Oil.
- 1 Tbs. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbs. Chili Powder
- 1 tsp. Salt (I use sea salt since iodized salt contains corn in the form of dextrose)
- 1 tsp. Dry Mustard
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
- 2 Tbs. gluten free Worcestershire Sauce (I use my corn-free Worcestershire Sauce since Lea & Perrins, which is gluten free, contains high fructose corn syrup)
- 4 Tbs. Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
- 4 Tbs. Water
- 3 Tbs. Agave or Coconut Nectar
- Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes (or longer).
This recipe (and the picture above) are both from Diane Eblin over at The Whole Gang!
Spicy Mustard
- 6 finger hot peppers or Serrano peppers
- 8-10 jalapeno peppers
- 3-6 habanero peppers
- vinegar
- water
- 1 cucumber
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 12-14 oz gluten-free yellow mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cut peppers in half and take out the seeds and membranes. Use caution as these peppers are beyond hot. I wore rubber gloves to protect my hands and the rest of me.
Place peppers into pot and add 1 cup water and then enough vinegar to cover the peppers. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-30 minutes until cooked. Let them cool off a little before you add them into your blender. Don’t add all of the liquid or your mustard will be too runny.
After the peppers and some of the liquid, add to the blender the garlic. Puree until smooth. Then add in 1 whole cucumber and puree. Pour the mixture out into a bowl and add in the yellow mustard, salt and pepper to taste. I like Annie’s Organic mustard but you can use any gluten free mustard. If it is too thick add in more of the liquid you reserved from cooking the peppers. Save this liquid. You can add it to many other dishes for a spicy touch.
Now if this mustard is way too hot, cut it with the plain mustard.
This recipe (and the picture above) are both from Elana over at Elana’s Pantry!
Gluten Free BBQ Sauce
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- ¼ cup shallots, minced
- 1 (7 ounce) bottle Bionaturæ Organic Tomato Paste
- 1 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Warm oil in a saucepan over medium low heat
- Add garlic and shallot; cook until soft
- Add tomato paste, orange juice, vinegar, mustard, paprika, salt and pepper
- Simmer over low heat 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often
- Baste over fish or chicken
- Refrigerate and allow to marinate for 1-3 hours
- Grill and serve
Serves 6 -makes enough sauce for one whole chicken or 4 breasts
Now get grilling!
Lovelillian
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Chocolate Mousse Pie (with Strawberries!) reboot
FYI… this pie is RIDICULOUSLY easy to make.
Pie Crust Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/4 tsp celtic sea salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
- 1 Tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Filling Ingredients
- 4 ripe avocados, pealed and pitted
- 1 cup organic cocoa powder
- 1 cup agave nectar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 cup thinly sliced strawberries
Pie Crust Directions
- In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda.
- In a small bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla extract.
- Stir wet ingredients into dry.
- Pat dough into a 9 1/2” pie dish.
- Bake at 325˚ for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. (Mine took 13 minutes)
- Let it cool completely before putting the filling in.
Filling Directions
- In a food processor process the avocados until they are creamy
- Put in the cocoa powder, agave and vanilla and process until it looks like chocolate pudding.
- Refrigerate the chocolate mousse for 30 minutes.
- Line the crust with thinly sliced strawberries
- Put the mousse into a cooled pie crust.
- Refrigerate for another hour.
Eat!!!
The Leftovers
FYI, Where and Why
Blanched Almond Flour- You can get it at: http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/blanchedalmondflour5lb.aspx
Avocados- Make sure the avocados you get are really ripe. And don’t worry. The mousse does not taste like avocados. I was a little suspicious of this recipe at first. I mean, chocolate mousse made out of avocados? Gross. But, I generally use avocado as my dairy replacement. I put it in sandwiches, because it’s creamy and tasty and gives me that texture that I want. So, in a way it makes sense to me that avocados would be the perfect texture for a mousse. If the top level of your avocados aren’t getting creamy, just stop the blender and push the top level down. That’s what I did, and a few minutes later, smooth avocado city.
Strawberries- Having the strawberries line the crust, and then having them to eat with the pie as well was really a tasty experience. Try to slice the ones you want to line the crust as thin as you can. Otherwise you wont have enough room for the mousse. :)
Oops
I put a Tbs of vanilla extract into the pie crust instead of a tsp. But to be honest, I didn’t taste it. So, no worries there.
Thoughts
Without a doubt, this was a huge success. In fact, it was such a success that it leaves me wondering about all the possibilities. What if I blended the berries into the mousse? Could I make different flavored mousse or pudding with this avocado base? I wonder if I could freeze it and make “fudgsicles” with it? I don’t know. But I fully plan on trying to make fudgsicles when the weather gets warmer. I’ll keep you posted on that.
UPDATE!
I made this a second time, at my entire family’s insistence. And this time I used Dagoba cacao powder instead of the Trader Joe’s brand. I noticed a BIG difference in the flavor. I’m not quite sure how to describe it in any way other way than, it tastes more chocolatey (aka better). Less like a fudgsicle and more like a rich, deep chocolate mousse. I highly suggest popping for the the extra 3 bucks and using Dagoba (or some other chocolate like Valrhona) cocao powder. It’s worth it.
The mousse recipe can be found at www.themessychef.net and the pie crust is from elanaspantry.com
Good Luck!
Lovelillian
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Ane & Lillian ON: Balance
In order to figure out how to find it, we first have to sort out what “it” even is. And that’s just what Ane and I are trying to do.
As I’ve been thinking more about the idea of balance, I realized that the way I had always thought about it is in that same self-important and self-centered way that people had thought about the universe; before we discovered that the earth goes around the sun and not the other way around. I thought that a “magical balance sweet spot” existed. That if I could just find that one spot and get my feet securely in it, then I would be able to perfectly balance everything else around me. Life would feel even and I would feel in control.
But that’s not how we operate, and that’s not how the world works. We are never truly still. We are, as Ane says: “constantly moving and changing.” And all that changing and movement makes it very difficult to find that “balance sweet spot”, get into it and expect to stay there.
So what I’ve finally come to is this: being and feeling balanced is wholly dependent on our ability and willingness to be flexible and roll with change. There is no “magical” balanced place to get to. Which is both depressing to me, and intensely freeing. Because it means that besides listening to and not judging myself, there is no right way to do it, which is kind of scary. But that also means that there’s no wrong way to do it either, which is kind of awesome.
I’m doing my best not to judge myself for all my back and forth swings on the pendulum. To love and accept, or at least, not hate myself for my moments of excess and my moments of restriction. But to allow them both to happen and then allow them both to pass. To let them be neither good, nor bad, but just what I need in that moment. And the more I’m able to not judge myself (or at least judge myself less) the more I’m able to let all of it be transient. And as I do that, I believe I am getting closer to balance.
What do you think? How do you find balance?
Ane Axford is a rockin’ hypnotherapist in NYC who specializes with the 20% of the population who are highly sensitive. Find out more about her at her website: www.sensitiveandthriving.com
The music in this episode is “Stand Where You Stand” from Destry’s new awesome album, ‘Waiting On An Island’. Check out their website here: www.destryband.com
Lovelillian
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Incoming post. Ane & Lillian ON: Balance
Balance is illusive. I feel like I’m always searching for it. And whenever it seems like I’ve found it; found that thin, calm line between excesses, it slips through my fingers. And it occurred to me, that even while I am constantly searching for some “sense of balance”, I don’t really know what balance is.
It’s a feeling. It’s a calmness. It’s a sense of control. It’s an intangible something that I can’t define.
And so I thought, that before I continue my search for balance, it might be beneficial if I figure out what “it” is. And so Ane and I are having a conversation about that very topic. Coming Soon.
Lovelillian
How NOT to Melt and Sweeten Chocolate - Reboot
Because of my food allergies, when a recipe calls for chocolate chips or chocolate chunks, I have to melt some chocolate down and sweeten it myself before I can add it to a recipe. (Schraffen Berger is my go-to brand. their 99% cacao bar is just cacao beans and whole vanilla beans which works for me).
In this episode I am also trying out a new sweetener, xylitol. I had never used it before and just assumed that it would work. Needless to say, it didn’t. But I find that sometimes learning what not to do, can be just as entertaining and educational as learning what to do.
Obviously I don’t recommend using xylitol to sweeten chocolate (unless you know a trick that I don’t). Here’s what happened: It wouldn’t dissolve into the chocolate no matter how long I cooked it. And then because I cooked the chocolate longer than normal (I was convinced the xylitol would melt at some point) I burned it. And then I burned myself tasting it. And worst of all, it tasted awful.
DON’T DO THIS.
What you should do:
- Use a double boiler. If you don’t have one (like me) you can make one. Here’s how:
- Take a small pot and a bigger pot (if you only have one, you can use a frying pan for the bigger one).
- Pour some water in the bigger pot (a few inches) place the smaller pot inside the bigger one. And voila! You now have a double boiler. Congratulations! Next step:
- Turn the burner on medium to high (you want the water to boil).
- Place your chocolate in the smaller pot, & add the sweetener right away or at least add it before the chocolate has completely melted (I suggest a liquid sweetener: I like about 3 Tbs of agave for 1/2 cup of chocolate, if you don’t want your chocolate to be super sweet) and for goodness sakes, watch it and stir. As the water boils, it will gently melt the chocolate.
- Remove the pot from the heat as soon as the chocolate is almost all melted (it will continue to melt a little bit).
- Use however you wish. I suggest you eat it. It will be delicious.
Good luck!
The music in the episode is “You’re Not Stubborn” by Two Door Cinema Club. Check out their website HERE.
Lovelillian
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