Gluten Free, Dairy Free Homemade Dark Chocolate

Last week a wonderful thing happened to me! I was browsing Pinterest (have I ever mentioned how much I am thankful for Pinterest??) and found an amazing recipe. It is a 3 ingredient, no cook, takes 5 minutes to prep recipe for HOMEMADE dairy and gluten free dark chocolate! *Claps hands and jumps up and down excitedly* :)

I. Love. Chocolate. A Lot. When I realized how much dairy negatively affected my body, I thought I could never have chocolate again. BUT then I learned about the wonderfulness of dark chocolate. Growing up we never had dark chocolate in the house. This was all before the huge dark chocolate craze began. Before all the health benefits were made known to the world. Before it was made clear how much healthier dark chocolate is than it's sugar filled companions. It took some time before I fell in love with the rich, dark smoothness and prefered it over the milk filled sweeter kind, but once I fell... I fell hard. I would never go back to milk chocolate even if I could. I typically choose the 60%-70% darkness as it's not quite so slap-you-in-the-mouth dark but just right.

You can find the original recipe here. Please check her out and give her some love! There are a handful of bloggers that I usually follow and find tons of great recipes I can incorporate into my diet. This was the first time I had ever come upon this website, and I have to confess I'm really excited to poke around more to see what delicious goodies I can find. I basically used her recipe but changed a couple small details, so all credit goes to her!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Homemade Dark Chocolate
(Gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, grain free, refined sugar free, Vegetarian, can be Vegan if not using honey)
Makes 12 pieces

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 2-3 Tbs sugar free pancake or maple syrup, regular pancake or maple syrup, or honey

Directions

1. Put all ingredients into a small bowl and stir together until smooth and no lumps remain.
2. Pour mixture into a mold, ice cube trays, or even into a mini cupcake pan. (I got my mold at Ikea. If you do not live near an Ikea, you can also get them on ebay. Look here for some options.)
3. Place immediately into freezer.
4. Once chocolate is hardened, pop out of container and place in a freezer bag. Best stored in the freezer.

Notes

-When these first reach their hardened state, they are a darker brown color, but the longer they stay in the freezer they become lighter brown. This does not affect the taste at all. They are still just as rich and delightful!

-If these are not sweet enough for you, feel free to add some stevia or other sweetener of choice to your preference.

-This chocolate has a mild coconut taste, but it is not overwhelming.

-Coconut oil can be pricey, but if you buy it online and use it wisely it can be a great addition to your pantry!

-As with all foods, consume in moderation. Cocoa and Coconut oil in excess can cause some stomach issues.

Nutrition Facts:

(per piece with 3 Tbs sugar free pancake syrup)

Cals-60, Fat-6.4g, Carbs-1.3g, Pro-0.4g

(per piece with 2 Tbs. honey)

Cals-69, Fat-6.4g, Carbs-4.2g, Sugar-2.8g. Pro-0.5g

Sweet & Savory Black Bean Tacos

The other day I had a hankering for tacos, but not just the average Mexican taco most of us have eaten several times in our lifetimes. Those tacos are full of unhealthy and artery clogging fats, simple carbs, and almost zero vitamins or nutrients. No.. I wanted a transformed healthy version of a taco, but it had to taste AMAZING.

As I looked online for ideas to incorporate into my new melt-in-your-mouth tacos, I kept seeing a couple food combos over and over again: sweet potato and black beans, black beans and avocado, black beans and lime. But I never saw anything that had all of these flavors placed together into one dish. I had my idea for a new, healthy, delicious taco! This is how the Sweet & Savory Black Bean Tacos came to be... full of sweet potato, black beans, & avocado with a squeeze lime. 

For just 323 calories, 9g of heart healthy monounsaturated fat, and 13g of fiber, you get two filled to the brim flavorful tacos per person. I chose to use Mission super soft corn tortillas (they hold up very well when filled up without falling apart unlike other corn tortillas with only 100 calories for 2 tacos), but you can choose to use hard corn tortillas or one very large flour tortilla in their place (I do not know the nutrition facts for those).

The secret to making this a super fast dish to throw together on a weeknight is to cook the sweet potatoes a night or two before needing them while relaxing at home with your family. Cook sweet potatoes in a covered baking dish in an oven at 350F degrees for 90 minutes. Let them cool and store them in a covered container for up to three days. When ready to use them, just grab them out of the fridge and quickly heat them up either in the microwave or on the stove. Easy Peasy! :)

The avocado is simply cut in half, scooped out, and smashed on top of the sweet potato.

The beans can be from a can or cooked 2-3 days before and stored in the fridge until ready to use. Then when the time comes to make this dish, you only have to quickly heat them up just like the sweet potatoes.

The tomatoes can also be bought already diced in a can or fresh and cut by you. You only need 1/2 beefsteak tomato or 1 plum tomato (1/2 cup chopped), and it will take a mere minute to prepare it to eat.

Throw some cleansed romaine lettuce and cilantro on top of the pile, and finish this amazing dish with a squeeze of fresh lime on top.

With just a little bit of planning ahead, you can have a healthy, finger-licking dinner on the table in minutes to fill those hungry tummies after a long day.

Sweet & Savory Black Bean Tacos
(Can be gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, soy free, added sugar free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Serves 2 (Can easily be doubled for 4 or tripled for 6)

Ingredients

• 4 Mission Super Soft Corn Tortillas (or 4 hard corn tortillas or 2 large flour tortillas)
• 1/2 cup cooked sweet potato (2 Tbs per taco)
• 1/2 of a ripe avocado (1/8 per taco which is about 1 Tbs)
• 1 cup romaine lettuce strips (about 1/4 cup per taco..use your judgement how much will fit)
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes: can use 1/2 beefsteak tomato or 1 plum tomato (2 Tbs per taco)
• 1/2 cup cooked black beans (2 Tbs per taco)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro (2 Tbs per taco) (optional)
• 2 tbs or more of fresh or bottled lime juice (1/2 Tbs per taco) 

Directions

1. Prepare, cook, and store the sweet potatoes in the fridge ahead of time.
2. Soak and cook the black beans ahead of time and store in fridge if using fresh beans.
3. When ready to make the dish, heat up 1/2 cup of the sweet potatoes and 1/2 cup of black beans either in the microwave or in a pot on the stove.
4. Dice the tomato until you have 1/2 cup or open the can of prepared diced tomatoes. 
5. Chop the romaine lettuce until you have about 1 cup of strips. 
6. Tear off the cilantro leaves and throw away the stems. 
7. Cut the avocado and lime in half.
8. Spray a pan and heat up each tortilla one at a time on each side until slightly browned. 
9. While heating each tortilla, cover the cooked ones on a plate to keep warm.
10. To make taco lay tortilla down, rub 2 Tbs sweet potato on top, scoop out 1 Tbs avocado, and mash onto potato.
11. Lay down 1/4 cup of lettuce, 2 Tbs of tomato, and 2 Tbs beans in that order.
12. Garnish with cilantro if desired and squeeze lime on the very top. 
13. Fold and take a tasty bite :)

Nutrition Facts:
(for 2 tacos)
Cals-323, Fat-9g, Carbs-54.5g, Fiber-13g, Sugar-7.5g, Pro-10g 

Light Blueberry Delight (the sneaky way)

Last week I posted a recipe called Light Blueberry Delight. I've had great feedback about how good these were from friends who have made them already! (Thanks for letting me know by the way!) I've also had comments about how some family members do not like blueberries and picked them out before devouring the cake part. :)

The original delightful treat

The great news is that I have a solution for those of you who have decided that blueberries can not be a part of those loved one's diets. With just ONE very simple modification, you can make this healthy delicious dessert WITH the blueberries and have your berry haters eat it! To go to the original recipe click here. I will not be reposting the whole recipe in this post but just giving you the simple step to change it. 

In the first step of the recipe, while blending the banana, we're going to blend the blueberries too! After blending the bananas down half way, add the 1/3 cup of blueberries and continue to blend until all of it is smooth with no chunks. You may need to add a little bit of water if it gets stuck and cannot blend any more. 

This is how it should look before you put it in the oven. If you have a super aware detective on your hands who can spot slight specks in their dessert from a mile away followed by an "ew gross!" then try sprinkling a few chocolate chips across the top of the batter before you put it in the oven (like in this picture). I only put chocolate chips on half and left the other half without for the more health conscious folks. If a little chocolate doesn't persuade them, nothing will! Ha! My family loves these every single way I have ever made them. If you didn't win yours over the first time you made this, try one of the other 2 suggestions. Please let me know if you made these and what everyone thought! Thanks for stopping by!