Coconut and Chia Cooler

INGREDIENTS

1 cup coconut water

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed pineapple juice

1 tablespoon chia seeds
I also like to add a few tbls of Aloe juice or gel

DIRECTIONS

Briefly blend all ingredients in a blender or shake well in a closed container and let sit for 15 minutes. (Give those chia seeds time to expand.)

This is not one of my healthier recipes but they are soo good. I made them for my daughter’s birthday and she loved them. I am making them again. 

Chocolate Avocado {Vegan} Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream Frosting

Yield: 24 cupcakes

 

Moist and delicious!

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 3 cups flour
• 6 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups water

Avocado Buttercream

• 2 ripe avocados
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• pinch of salt

Instructions

Cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. For the smoothest batter, sift the ingredients together prior to whisking.
3. In a smaller bowl, mash the avocado and then whisk in sugar, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Once thoroughly combined, add and mix in the water.
4. Add the avocado mixture to the flour mixture all at once, whisk until mostly smooth, and then divide among prepared cupcake pans.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You can also test by lightly pressing a finger on the top of a cupcake – if it bounces back, they are ready, but if your finger leaves an impression, continue baking and check again in a minute or two.
6. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Buttercream

1. Cream avocado and butter together until smooth.
2. With the mixer on low speed add powdered sugar one cup at a time.
3. When adding your last cup of powdered sugar add a pinch of salt and vanilla and mix until smooth.
4. More sugar can be added if you’d like the frosting thicker. Frosting can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
5. Refrigerate cupcakes once cooled and frosted.

Notes

These should be refrigerated and eaten within 3 days.

The cupcake recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker and the Buttercream from How Sweet It Is 

If you like this recipe please share with your friends and leave a comment below how your recipe turned out.

happy baking  Shari

Homemade Protein Energy Bars

Ingredients

• 5-6 cups organic thick cut oats
• 2 cups vanilla protein powder can be any brand
• 1 cup nut butter I prefer peanut
• 1 cup milk, rice, almond or skim
• 1/2 cup butter can use yogurt butter
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or agave add more if want bars sweeter
• 1/2 cup flax seeds
• 3 TBLS  Chia seeds
• 1/4 cup fine shredded  coconut flake
• 1/2 to 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips (Enjoy life mini chips king Soopers)

Instructions

In large sauce pan melt butter, sugars, salt  and milk. Bring to a boil for 3 minutes, remove from heat & stir in nut butter and vanilla. In a large bowl mix oats and protein powder well. Then add seeds & coconut to oat bowl.  Quickly add oat mixture to nut butter sugar mixture, stir well – consistency will be thick.  At the very end add chips (they will melt). Place mixture on parchment paper it is very sticky but hardens well. Place another sheet of Pam sprayed parchment paper on top. Roll out or pat down with hands to desired thickness,remove paper. Let cool, cut into desired size bars. Can be frozen up to one month in freezer.  Enjoy!

If you liked this recipe please share with your friends and add a comment below.

Shari

1. Sweet and tart cranberry cocktail

The bold flavor of cranberry helps to cover up the sharp taste of apple cider vinegar. Cranberry also delivers a dose of vitamin C and antioxidants.

Ingredients

• 1–2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons pure cranberry juice
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1–2 teaspoons maple syrup

Instructions

1. Measure the apple cider vinegar, cranberry juice and maple syrup into a glass.

2. Top up with water. Add ice cubes if desired.

2. Grapefruit metabolism booster

If weight loss is your goal, grapefruit is an excellent tool for boosting the metabolism. It’s also a great source of vitamin C and antioxidants and has been show to help lower unhealthy cholesterol. Try drinking this juice before every meal to improve digestion and to encourage gradual weight loss.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pure grapefruit juice
• 1–2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons raw honey

Instructions

1. Measure the apple cider vinegar and honey into a glass.
2. Top up with grapefruit juice. If you prefer less sugar, use half the amount of grapefruit juice and honey, and top up with water.

3. Immune-boosting kick in the pants

If you are feeling under the weather, this mixture will kick your immune system into gear and bring you right back in no time. This is a great preventative brew for cold and flu season, or can be consumed a few times daily when you are feeling sick.

Ingredients

• 1–2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1–2 tablespoons raw honey
• Thumb-sized piece of ginger root
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Hot water

Instructions

1. Grate the ginger root, then squeeze the juice from the pulp into a glass or mug. Discard the pulp.
2. Add the apple cider vinegar, honey, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.
3. Top up with hot water — ensure the water is at a drinkable temperature, not boiling, so that the living compounds in the vinegar and honey are preserved. Stir to dissolve, and drink.
4. Optionally add 1 finely chopped or crushed fresh garlic clove for a further immune boost (not for the faint of heart!).

4. Savory probiotic juice

This recipe is a great way to include more vegetables in your diet. It also makes the apple cider vinegar more palatable.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe tomatoes
• ¼ of a cucumber
• 1 large stick of celery
• Juice of ½ lime
• 1–2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place all of the vegetables in a blender or juicer.
2. If using a blender, blend until smooth and then strain, so that you end up with a juice.
3. Mix in the vinegar, lime juice and some salt and pepper to taste. Optionally add a little hot sauce.

5. Mineral-rich tonic

Were you ever given blackstrap molasses as a child? This age-old remedy is making a comeback. Blackstrap molasses is one of the best sources of minerals in an absorbable form. You’ll get a good dose of iron, magnesium, manganese and calcium from this brew.

Ingredients

• 1–2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses
• Water

Instructions

1. Stir the ingredients together and consume.

The only type of apple cider vinegar you should ever buy

Now that we’ve covered a few great ways to make apple cider vinegar more palatable, let’s address the vinegar itself. It’s essential that you use a high-quality vinegar.

We are not talking about those huge plastic “tanks” of low quality stuff. While this may be okay for making barbecue sauce, we want to step it up a notch for health and weight loss applications.

The type of apple cider vinegar to seek out is a raw, organic variety. These usually come in glass bottles. Check the label for the words “unpasteurized,” “raw” and “mother.”

These indicate that the probiotic properties of the vinegar have been retained. Pasteurization removes all the living cultures, and the vinegar will not have as many benefits.

In a raw vinegar you will see strings or small chunks floating near the bottom — this is a good thing! Although it looks a bit gross, these helpful bacteria will make your skin bright and your digestive system and metabolism sing.

It is also important that the vinegar you buy has been made with organic apples. Apples are near the top of the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list, which highlights the types of produce that have the most chemicals (such as pesticides and herbicides) applied to them.

In fact some sources estimate that the average conventionally grown apple has up to 92 different chemicals on the skin, including potential carcinogens. Organic is definitely the best choice.

Why not experiment with some of these recipes and see which one is your favorite. Try incorporating a little apple cider vinegar into your diet each day and watch those positive changes happen effortlessly!

Apple cider vinegar not only makes you healthy and beautiful from the inside out, it can also be applied externally.

If you liked this article please share with your friends and add a comment below.

Thank you,

Shari

Creamy Coconut -Avocado Dressing
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup melted coconut oil (organic)
½ large avocado
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Sea salt
Ground pepper
Pinch of turmeric
DIRECTIONS
Mash the avocado well and combine rest of the ingredients to make a creamy dressing and enjoy on your salad.

Enjoy! If you would be so kind share with your friends and leave a comment of what you thought of the recipe.
Shari

 Salmon Burgers

I ended up with this Mark Bittman recipe on Bitten, which solves the problem of holding the meat together by totally pureeing 1/4 of the meat into a paste which holds the larger chunks of salmon together. While some recipes call for mayonnaise or an egg to keep the patties intact, I liked this purer salmon-only approach.

The result is a wonderful way to enjoy salmon. Taking the cue from some other recipes I found, I stirred in a little lemon juice and parsley into mayonnaise to create an herby sauce. A perfect match for the rich, flaky burger.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless salmon
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 small shallots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup coarse bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 4 soft hamburger buns

Procedures

1. Cut the salmon into large pieces, and combine 1/4 of the pieces with the mustard in a food processor. Process until the mixture becomes pasty, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the shallots near the end so they are also finely chopped.
2. Turn out the mixture into a bowl and stir in the breadcrumbs by hand. Season with a healthy pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper, and shape into four patties.
3. Heat butter or oil in a large (12-inch) skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high eat. Once the skillet is very hot, carefully place the patties inside and cook 2-3 minutes per side, turning once. Alternatively, grill them for the same amount of time, though be careful as the patties are rather fragile.
4. In the meantime, stir the remaining parsley and the lemon juice into the mayonnaise. Serve with the burgers on a bun or a bed of greens
5. As an option I like add the 1/2 the mayo and lemon into the food processor to mix all in together

I hope you enjoy this yummy recipe! If you like it please be so kind to follow me and share with your friends.

Shari