cauliflower mashed "potatoes"

It's fall. Comfort food is a must. Compromising your health is not.

I love taking traditional comfort food favorites and putting my own healthy spin on them! These mashed "potatoes" are all the deliciousness of regular mashed potatoes and none of the digestive disaster - especially for all you fellow gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free peeps out there. 

I know I joke about my diet being "fun free" as well, but really - with simple substitutions - it doesn't have to be. You can have your cake and eat it, too! Or should I say your potatoes :)

Without further ado, I present to you:

cauliflower mashed "potatoes"

what you need:

- 1 head cauliflower

- 1 onion

- few cloves garlic

- chicken broth (or veggie broth)

- coconut oil (or olive oil)

- salt, pepper, dried (or fresh) herbs

what to do:

- rinse cauliflower

- chop (can be messy/doesn't have to look pretty)

- place cauliflower into pan

- add some broth

- cover with lid

- simmer on medium-low heat until cauliflower is soft

- meanwhile, chop onion and garlic

 - add to pan with coconut oil, salt and pepper

- sautee until golden brown

(You will probably use about half of these with your cauliflower. I usually serve the other half with another part of the meal - on top of a burger, etc.)

- place cauliflower & sauteed onion/garlic (about half) into your Vitamix (or blender/food processor)

- add a splash more broth (you can eyeball this. adding more as needed - depending on how thick you like them)

- season to your liking with salt, pepper, and herbs of your choice (I like a little oregano, thyme, and even some rosemary)

- blend

- serve

- let this warm, wintery goodness warm your heart and soul

Happy fall y'all! - M

chocolate macaroons

If you like coconut and if you like chocolate, then you will LOVE these gluten-free, dairy-free, guilt-free chocolate macaroons!

chocolate macaroons

They are super quick and easy to make. You only need 5 ingredients:

1. shredded coconut (1 cup)

2. cacao powder (5 T)

3. coconut oil (1/4 cup)

4. maple syrup (1 T)

5. vanilla (1 t)

Blend all the ingredients together. I use a Vitamix - the stick that pushes the ingredients down comes in handy when making recipes such as this one as the "dough" is pretty thick.

Then, using your tablespoon, scoop out "half circles" of the dough mixture. Press the dough firmly into the tablespoon to solidify, then gently slide it out (and quickly - coconut oil tends to "melt" pretty fast).

Place the "half circles" onto parchment paper and store in the fridge for an hour or so until they harden. At that point you can remove your macaroons from the parchment paper and store them in an air tight glass tupperware container for best keeping. They should last about a week in the fridge!

Indulge. Share. Enjoy!

mashed sweet potatoes

So I pretty much just made up this recipe. I love sweet potatoes in every form, so I decided to experiment with making mashed sweet potatoes! Not only did they turn out so delicious, they are super hell so healthy, and so easy to make!

mashed sweet potatoes

ingredients:

• sweet potatoes
• salt, pepper
• garlic powder
• coconut milk

vegan chocolate smoothie

So, my first recipe post on this blog was for my original chocolate protein shake. I have since learned that whey protein is full of dairy, and dairy is not great for me. (It is also not great for a lot of people, although they may not even know it.)

Since I have been on this journey of healing, I have drastically changed my diet. Turns out all the dairy I was consuming was completely depleting my immune system. So, no more dairy for me.

But I couldn't give up my favorite way to start the day! I know, super cheesy, but I really am obsessed with these.

gluten-free, vegan, raw macaroons

Recently I have developed some food allergies and have had to change my diet drastically to a gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, dairy-free, basically fun-free diet!

I must say I have been doing pretty well and haven't missed much of the old stuff much except... dessert! I have a huge sweet tooth, so I have had to search for desserts that I can have.

I have found a couple brands of gluten-free, vegan macaroons that I really like from Whole Foods. But of course they are pretty pricy. So I was looking at the ingredients and realized that I already had all the ingredients, and they would be pretty simple to make myself!

So I decided to experiment with some of my own recipes using my Vitamix.

I made two kinds to start out:

(left) dates, peanut butter, shredded coconut, coconut flour, chocolate chips, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt
(right) dates, shredded coconut, coconut flour, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, cinnamon, honey, vanilla, sea salt