Chocolate Rhubarb Brownies

Did I mention these are also Gluten-Free?
That’s right.  Take a look at these.  Not only are these brownies gluten-free, but they are also loaded with healthy fats and skinny on the sugar.  What could be better than that?

Now I can’t entirely take 100% of the credit for this creation.  I’ve been reading a lot of recipes in the last while, and although I did tweak my recipe to my own liking, the inspiration came from several of the sites I came across. (none specifically)
Now remember how I said they are loaded with healthy fats?  Yuppers!  The base of these brownies are made using avocado as well as a little bit of coconut spread and avocado oil.  I figure that it’s about time I don’t feel so guilty when I want to indulge and give in to my chocolate habit. 
These brownies are very moist, which I believe is due to the avocado in these decadent treats.  And they aren’t as sweet as regular brownies, so don’t be expecting a sweet chocolaty taste.  They have more of a bitter-sweet chocolate taste, which is also due to the avocado because this fruit tends to get a little bit bitter when heated.  Regardless, they are worth every bite.  
 Ingredients:

• 125g dark chocolate, melted ( I used Cocoa Camino’s Organic Semi-sweet 54% baking chocolate)
• 3 medium avocados
• 1 Tbsp. avocado oil
• 3 Tbsp. coconut spread (Artisana Organic Raw Cocoa Bliss)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 3 large eggs (try to use organic free-range eggs when possible)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (again I used Camino’s 100% cocoa powder)
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. sorghum flour
• 1 tsp. GF baking powder (aluminum-free)
• 1/2 tsp. pink Himalayan sea salt
• 3 stalks of red rhubarb, chopped into small pieces

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next purée the 3 avocados in food processor and make sure there are absolutely no lumps.  You want a nice smooth consistency. (such a cool color)

Place the avocado purée into the bowl of your stand mixer (or in another bowl) and add all of the remaining ingredients to it (except rhubarb).  Beat with your mixer until the consistency is smooth and fluffy.  Then fold in the rhubarb.

Beware!  I ate a couple of spoonful's before baking and I could have easily eaten the whole bowl.
Pour your batter into an 8x8 dish and bake for about 35 – 40 minutes.  When you insert a toothpick, it must come out clean. 

Let it cool a bit before cutting and enjoy!  Best enjoyed when cooled in refrigerator.

Endangered Species

All I’ve kept hearing about in blog land this summer is about this amazing chocolate.  I found out it can be purchased at Whole Foods.  Naturally, I was not going to pass up the opportunity to try chocolate.  And since I just spent the last couple of weeks in Vancouver…guess what?  There are 4 Whole Foods locations.  Guess who commuted about an hour each way (via bus and skytrain) from my parents place to hit up the Vancouver Whole Foods store ? I also picked up a few other things while I was there.  Here’s what I snagged up:

I haven’t tried them all yet, I mean I do have to ration them since I won’t be back to Vancouver before Christmas.  But I was highly curious and excited to try the one with the bat.  It’s 72% cocoa and contains cocoa nibs.  Oh my !

Intense Dark is right!  It was soooo soooo good.  I loved the crunch of the nibs, but I found that when I had a craving for some chocolate, all I needed was one or two squares and I was satisfied.  I didn’t take a picture, but my mom had prepared a bowl of fresh peaches (from their tree) and cantaloupe.  I ended up chopping up a couple squares and mixing it in a bowl with the diced peaches and cantaloupe.  I can’t even begin to explain the taste.  All I can say was that it was one of the best deserts I’ve had in a while.  And yet so simple and satisfying. I will let you know what I think of the others when I get a chance to bite into them. 

Did you know that bats don’t use their eyesight to see in the dark?  They use sonar waves to communicate and navigate.  Thank you Endangered Species for teaching me something new about bats   I love how the wrapper contains a variety of information regarding the Endangered species on the front of the bar.

I’d love to hear about your favourite type of chocolate.  Have you tried this brand?  Others?

Back soon !

Brought to you by the letter “A”

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Do anything interesting?

Well since it’s been raining all day again, I had to come up with a creative way to spend my day.  I took a peek through my fridge to find ways to use up the rest of my produce before my grocery shop tomorrow and came across a very lonely avocado.  Lately I’ve been eating a lot of avocados in my smoothies, but wanted to use it up differently. 

A little while back I tried out one of Angela’s recipes that looked oh so temping…her Chocolate Torte.  She uses avocados as her base for the filling and like I said before, you’d never taste it.  So I thought why not recreate something of that sort.  So instead of making an entire torte, I decided to make a simple Silken Chocolate Pudding.  (pictures taken on my Blackberry until I get a new camera – sorry for the low quality)

Ingredients and directions for 4 large servings

Place the following ingredients into you Vitamix or Food processor….

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/4 cup organic raw cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup raw agave nectar
• 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 Teaspoons of Navita’s Naturals Protein Twister Blend
• 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil (or coconut oil)

Turn on the mixer and gradually add ….. 1/4 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Beverage (or almond milk if you so desire) until you get the consistency that you desire. 

For all those sceptics, believe you me when I say that the avocados cannot be tasted at all.  The cocoa masks their taste.  I’m not a big fan of guacamole because I’m not a huge fan of avocados.  Just make sure you buy ripe avocados.

But if you really want to taste some decadent, rich, chocolaty goodness that’s good for you, you must try this.  Yes, it does have 250 calories per serving (an the servings are fairly large, so feel free to have less), but it’s a healthy fat and definitely satisfies anybody’s chocolate craving.

Even better…it’s raw, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and dairy-free!

Back again soon.

Bea

xoxo

Low-fat Chocolicious Brownie muffins

VEGAN + DAIRY-FREE

What can I say about this post other than …. hmm hmm chocolaty good.  I haven’t consumed any treats in such a long time and then I came across a recipe (I can’t remember where though) that featured So Delicious Coconut milk as one of ingredients.  And guess who happened to have an open carton in the fridge… I just had to use it up before it went bad…how could I not? 

Take a look at these bad boys…and they are relatively healthy too. I customized the recipe to my own preference to make them a little more healthy than the original version. Next time I am also going to attempt a gluten-free version of these muffins, but for now, they will have to do with being vegan + dairy-free. I wish I could remember where the original version came from…doh!

Ingredients

• 2 cups Spelt Flour
• 3/4 cup pure cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder (gluten-free and aluminum free)
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup 100% pure pumpkin purée
• 1/4 cup raw agave syrup
• 1/2 cup strong brewed espresso
• 1/2 cup So Delicious Vanilla Cocunut milk
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract ( I put in a tad more since I love the flavour)
• 2 Tbsp.  olive oil
• 1 handful of organic semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

• Yield:  12 muffins
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
• In a medium bowl, whisk maple syrup, pumpkin purée, agave syrup, coffee, coconut milk and vanilla.
• Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Add the chocolate chips. 
• Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins about 3/4 full. 
• Bake for 28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out nearly clean.

You will notice the batter is quite stiff and the muffins are very dense, just like a brownie. 

 

They definitely have the consistency of a brownie.

Careful to not over bake them as I think they may get too dry.  They taste great and have a slight coffee aroma.  What I loved about these is that they do not contain one ounce of refined sugar or flour and only 2 Tbsp. of olive oil for the entire recipe.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. But remember, eat in moderation!

Bea

xoxo

Bad Luck

How was everyone’s weekend?  My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people in Japan who have been devastated by the Quake and Tsunami.  Such devastation   If you have family or friends living in Japan, I truly hope that everyone is safe.  In the wake of such disasters, it truly makes me feel grateful for what I have and makes me think again about having an emergency kit ready in case we are ever hit with a natural disaster.  Scientists have been predicting that we are going to be hit with the “Big One” here on the West Coast; but how “ready” are we if something does happen? 

As for my weekend adventures…lets just say it involved a big BANG!

I decided to get my bike all tuned up again so that I can start riding to and from work this week.  I’ve had a flat tire since the fall and it’s been stored in the shed all winter, so I figured I better repair it so that I can ride Monday.  We removed the tire, patched up the tube and put it back on the bike.  I pumped it up to my desired PSI of 50.  As I was checking my front tire…BANG!  It scared the bejeezers out of me.  Trevor thought it was the BBQ at first because he had turned on the propane to clean it. When I took the rear tire off and checked the tube again…it was split into two.  It seemed to have ruptured right near the valve.  Luckily I had a spare tube, so I replaced it and pumped it up again.  Now I was ready for some Saturday afternoon adventures with a 7 year-old boy.  We hit some trails and rode around the neighbourhood.  Low and behold…. ANOTHER FLAT TIRE… I couldn’t believe it.  Same tire…3 flat tires.  I’m thinking there is something in the actual tire, but couldn’t find it.  Going to take the bike into the shop this week for a tune up…hopefully they can figure it out and I can begin riding again.  Frustrating indeed, but beginning to think that I am cursed.

I also played my last hockey game of the regular season Saturday night.  Our game was scheduled for 10:45pm..so late, especially with the time change in effect last night as well.  It was a fun game and I got to play center again.  It was even funnier when I took a shot and tried to score on my own goalie…hehe… at least it’s the first time in 4 years that I tried to do that.  I have a feeling I won’t live that one down.  We have a big hockey tournament at the end of the month…so looking forward to it.

And for some exciting news..at least to me   I went shopping this afternoon and was on the market for some Peanut Butter.  Then I found this…and just about had to pick my jaw up from the floor.  I bought two right away because I’m not sure if the store will carry it again (since this is the first time I’ve seen it there).

On to good eats… Sunday night was another Thai night.

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Beef with Onions and Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp  olive oil
• 2 Tbsp Thai green curry paste
• 325g  sirloin steaks, sliced thinly
• 2 onions, sliced
• 6 scallions, chopped
• 225g  broccoli, cut into florets
• 225g  mushrooms, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 400mL  light coconut milk
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, chopped coarsely
• 4 Tbsp  chopped fresh cilantro
• Thai Rice Stir-fry Noodles – prepared as per directions on package

 

Directions

Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the curry paste for 1 – 2 minutes.  Add the meat, in batches if necessary, and stir-fry until starting to brown.

Add the onions, scallions and garlic, and stir-fry for another 2 –3 minutes.  Add the broccoli and mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 – 3 minutes.

Pour in the coconut milk, add the lime leaves and bring to a boil.  Let simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until the meat is tender.  Stir in the chopped cilantro and prepared rice stir-fry noodles.  Toss until well combined and serve immediately. 

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I also decided to make a Dessert Hummus.  There are so many recipes out in the blogging land, so I just threw some ingredients together and voila!  Please put your hands together for…..

Double Chocolate Chip Hummus

I blended together the following ingredients in my food processor:  1 can of chickpeas, 1/4 cup Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter, 1/4 cup Maple Syrup and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract. 

Process until smooth, then fold in about a 1/4 cup chocolate chips.  The taste is incredible…I had a hard time not eating it by the spoonful.  But I did put some in my lunch bag for tomorrow… yipee

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Well time to go for tonight….. I`m still adjusting to the time change from last night.  We got off the ice at 12:15am and by the time I got home, showered and into bed, it was 1:30am (2:30am after the time change).  So an early bed time tonight, followed by a long day ahead of me tomorrow. 

Anybody have any interesting projects ahead of them this week?  It’s a short week of us.. Spring Break starts Friday and them I’m off to visit my parents. 

Have a great night.

Bea

xoxo

Monday Madness

Crazy…Crazy….Crazy…. that basically sums up my busy today. 

I left the house at 7:30am and didn’t walk in until 6pm.  But the good news is that I got everything accomplished that I wanted to…yipee

I finished up my class banner this afternoon and had to edit and print off my report cards to be handed in today.  The class banner is looking quite amazing… just one tiny little detail to complete tomorrow and then you will soon see pictures. 

And then I want to send a huge shout out to a fellow Canadian blogger Angela over at Oh She Glows.  I’ve been reading her blog for about a year now and she is so inspiring. Angela is one of the reasons I began blogging too.  And plus she’s got the most adorable kitty and amazing food recipes. 

A little while ago I was searching for a healthier version of Chocolate pudding.  Low and behold… there it was staring me in my eyes….and calling my name….. the Chilled Double Chocolate Torte.

hallelujah !!!!!!!!

What started with a basic search for Chocolate pudding…ended in the most amazing and unexpected find for a Chocolate Torte.  The reason I say unexpected is because of it’s main ingredient…..

……………………………………

are you ready for it?

…………………………………….

It grows on this tree

Did I hear someone say avocado..gold star for you

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If you think about it for a minute…avocados are the perfect ingredient.  Not only are they creamy (make sure they are ripe), but they absorb the taste of other things.  And avocados are so healthy for you too.  Believe me when I tell you that the result of this cake is so delicious and chocolaty richness.  See for yourself…..

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Come check out Angela’s blog by clicking on this link for the recipe. 

My challenge to you is to try it out and let me know what you think.   Just remember to keep it chilled so it keeps its firmness and doesn’t go bad.

Have a wonderful night y’all.  I’m going to go and help myself a nice big piece of the torte.

Bea

xoxo

Gluten-free, Dairy-free and Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ok guys…this cake is absolutely divine.  You will fall madly in love and you will feel like you are floating into another dimension.  If you are a chocolate lover, addict and want to cheat… I dare you to make this.  And it’s so simple to make too. 

INGREDIENTS

• 10 oz  Dairy-free 72% dark chocolate, chopped or broken into small pieces.
• 7 oz  Earth Balance Butter, diced
• 5 large eggs (Flax substitute for Vegan version) – room temperature
• 1 cup  brown sugar (sucanat)
• 1/4 cup  cocoa powder, for dusting pan

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9-in spring form pan and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess.  If your spring form pan isn't’ 100% water-tight, wrap the outside with aluminum foil, making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.

First I melted the chocolate and the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan.  Continue to stir until you get a smooth mixture. 

So this is what happens when I ask the boyfriend to help me in the kitchen.  Hehe…he had a little bit of fun taking pictures, wouldn’t you say?

While Trevor was melting the chocolate and butter for me, I prepared the egg and sugar mixture. Using an electric hand mixer, beat until nice and frothy.  Then when the chocolate was nice and smooth, I added it to the sugar/egg mixture.  Continue to beat until well mixed.

 

Make sure you also tap your pan a couple of times on the counter to remove possible air bubbles and to level out the batter.

Cover the top of the pan snugly with a sheet of foil and place into a larger baking dish, such as a roasting pan.  Then I added enough hot water to baking pan to come halfway up outside of the cake pan. 

I baked it for 75 minutes.  The cake is done when it feels just set, like chocolate pudding.  If you touch center gently with your finger, it should come away clean.  Lift cake pan from water bath and remove the foil.  Let the cake cool completely on a cooling rack before serving. 

A little heat to kick this cold

I woke up this morning after a very restless night’s sleep.  I had a hard time falling asleep and woke up what seemed like every few hours unable to breathe through my nose.  I also had a couple of furry friends join me in bed last night.  Misty was curled up against my chest, furiously kneading me and Buster was curled up behind my legs.  I felt like the icing in between an Oreo cookie.  Pretty cozy though .

Trevor left me with a lovely Valentine’s Day gift.

 

Valentine’s Day was pretty exciting for the kids at school.  Many brought Valentines to exchange, but I told them they had to wait until after lunch as I didn’t want to have to deal with sugar highs all day long.  I also gave them their treat after they showed me that they wrote their homework in their agendas.  They were pretty stoked for these goodies I made on the weekend.  All got eaten up too   Always a good sign, right?

Today’s weather was a whole other story.  It poured all day and the rain was coming down sideways.  Unfortunately we had to have an indoor day for both recesses this afternoon, which didn’t help with the Vday excitement at school. 

I did manage to stop along the highway on the way home and snap a few shots of the crashing waves.  I do love watching the waves crash in, minus the rain. 

It was very chilly out…glad to get home shortly thereafter.  The cold and wind did clear up my sinuses for a little bit, so that was good, but when I got home I made myself a tall hot mug of Vanilla Rooibos Tea… my favourite.

As for my yummy food creation tonight, I thought a little bit of spice may help kick this head cold out of me…so let me introduce you to…..

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Spicy Beef and Noodle Soup

I haven’t made Thai food in a little while and had some leftover Beef Tenderloin from last night’s Bacon Wrapped Fillet Mignon.  My recipe calls for Beef Fillet, so what a perfect time to make this soup. 

  Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 oz Beef Tenderloin, sliced thinly
• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
• 4 Tbsp crushed ginger
• 3 Tbsp  Green Curry Paste (or less if you can’t handle too much spice)
• 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Bragg Soy Sauce
• 4 oz Flat Rice noodles
• 4 cups low-sodium Beef Broth
• some cilantro for garnish

Here is my spread of ingredients used

How to make this goodness

You will need a large pot and a wok.  Prepare the broth first by heating to a simmer in the large pot.  Once the broth comes to a boil, add the rice noodles and reduce heat to a simmer and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In the wok heat oil over medium to high heat and add the sliced onions, garlic and crushed ginger.  Sauté for a few minutes until onions are translucent in color. 

Add the beef and green curry paste and stir-fry for another couple of minutes.

Add the fish sauce and soy sauce and add entire mixture to the noodles and beef broth.  

Cook for another few minutes and serve in a bowl.  Garnish with some fresh chopped cilantro. 

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After dinner settled, my friend Vicki and I had some of this….

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream goodness with fresh strawberries and Maple Balsamic Reduction. 

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That’s it for me tonight… going to head to bed to try and catch up on missed sleep from yesterday.  Hopefully I’ll be able to breathe somewhat.

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day.  Remember….it’s not about how much you or your sweetie did or did not spend today or this weekend… everyday should be like Valentine’s Day.

I think that Valentine’s is definitely a money maker for the stores and companies out there. It’s just another reason for people to go out and buy things to please someone. My opinion is that you shouldn’t have to go out and buy material things to show how much you care about that special someone in your life.  It’s the everyday actions that you do and show towards your significant other that speak louder than words. 

But if you got some chocolates or a card or some flowers today… enjoy them.  I did I will admit that I did enjoy getting chocolates, flowers and a card from my sweetie.

Have a great night

Bea

xoxo