Go Ahead Honey; Sweets for your Sweetheart!

The fabulous Naomi, of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried, created Go Ahead Honey, it's Gluten-free, much to the enjoyment of all of her fans. I want to say thanks to Naomi for having me host this February, I'm so excited!

My theme for February is Sweets for your Sweetheart. Valentine's Day is what comes to my mind when I think of February. And although most of us think of our significant other as our "sweetheart," Valentine's Day is for anyone you love. It could be a child, or a grandchild, a neighbor or a friend. Maybe you know someone who would really appreciate you showing them that you care.

I remember one Valentine's Day when I was young. My friend, Paul, came to sit by me at lunch. He opened his bag and began to take out his food. Everything his mom had packed him in his lunch was red. She gave him strawberries I remember, and a clear little bag of red M&M's, that looked as though they had been separated from the other colors by hand. There was also a red bow and a card. Paul must have felt pretty good about that, and I did too, just admiring it.

I don't know who I'm going to give this Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream to yet, but I think they're going to love it. It's chocolate and creamy, and there are chunks of chewy brownie bits in every bite. I know it's cold outside, but I will always remember the very first time I came to Colorado, ten years ago. It was covered in a ton of snow, and I was at my girlfriend's place in Denver. We curled up on her couch with about 3 pints of Ben&Jerry's and dug in! This may have even been one of those flavors!

If you would like to participate too, send your photo and a link to your post to me: kelly (at) theSpunkyCoconut (dot) com this month. I'll post the roundup at the end of February, and we can all enjoy each other's sweets :-)

Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream:

Dissolve 1 tbs gelatin into ¼ cup boiling water and set aside/Or substitute with ½ tsp xanthan gum.
Add to blender:
1/2 cup hemp milk

2 cups almond milk

1/4 cup honey or agave
2.5 tbs cocoa powder
Add gelatin just before blending.
Puree. Add to ice cream machine. .

When it's almost ready add a cup of crumbled Flourless Brownies.

Frozen Vanilla Almond Tea Latte

These frozen tea lattes are my latest passion. I made this one with Vanilla Almond black tea, frozen homemade hemp and cashew milks. Yummy! I wonder what tea I'll find and use next? Do you have a favorite that might be good?

Add to blender:

4 cubes frozen hemp milk

5 cubes frozen cashew milk

1 tbs honey

2 cups chilled Vanilla Almond black tea

(double for two servings)

Treats you can feel good about! Full of Omega 3 and 6, protein, vitamins, natural enzymes and antioxidants! Cheers!

Here are my two current teas, before I put them in the fridge to chill.

You might also like this one: Frozen Nutcracker Sweet Tea Latte

Veggie Spring Rolls

I'm going to keep using the brown rice tortillas for pizzas, but I think for a wrap I'm switching to rice paper. Love them! The past two days we've been making these cute veggie spring rolls with the rice paper, and having so much fun. The girls take their positions at the kitchen island and enjoy dropping the rice paper into the warm water. We wait several seconds, then I lift them out and we start to assemble. Mostly Zoe assembles, and Ashley eats the carrots and cabbage off the cutting board :-) 

The trick is to wrap them as tightly as you can, and keep all the ingredients long. The first time we made them I finely chopped the lettuce and the carrots, so as we ate they fell out. Live and learn :-)

I've been dipping the rolls, but I think from now on I'm going to pour my sauce in before rolling it up. This sauce (above) that I made today was:

1 tsp tamari sauce

1 tbs almond butter

2 tbs sesame oil

2 tsp Vegenaise grapeseed oil

and a pinch of garlic powder

I just dropped all of the above ingredients into a glass jar (which came from buying jam and now is reused over and over), screwed the lid on tight, and gave it a good shaking. 

Next I think I'm going to make some bean burritos with these rice papers and see how they turn out. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Why on earth am I making ice cream in January in the state of Colorado? Because there's no snow and it isn't even cold! hahaha! Seriously, it's been 60 degrees here. But actually I'd still be eating ice cream even if we had 2 feet of snow right now :-) It's a bit of a passion of mine. 

Here's the latest - Banana Chocolate Chip, with chocolate ganache and fresh sliced bananas. I was going for extra creamy here, and I think I got it. I'm still using the gelatin for health purposes. (It is said to be healing to the gut.) If you prefer, you could substitute with a quarter tsp or so of xanthan gum. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream:

Dissolve 1 tablespoon of gelatin into 1/4 cup boiling water. Set aside.

Add to blender:

3 pitted dates

1/2 a banana

1/2 tbs vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups cashew milk

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup honey or agave

Add dissolved gelatin at the last second, and blend well.

Add 2 tbs chocolate chips, like Enjoy Life

give it another whirl

Turn on ice cream machine. Pour mixture into machine. 

An update: I just made a variation of this recipe, leaving out the banana, and adding a teaspoon of alcohol-free mint extract. It is so heavenly and creamy. It's definitely the gelatin that adds the creamy texture. I am using it for it's healing properties, but it's giving me the bonus of fabulous consistency! 

Pei Wei gluten-free

Once in a while I hear about and even get to meet homeschool families who travel around the country for months at a time. There was one family on the move that was filmed for a show on the Discovery channel, but I only heard about it after it aired. Did you catch it? But one big difference, I can only assume, between those families and mine, is diet. Feeding a family with food restrictions while traveling can feel a little daunting, am I right?

Today Andrew took off from working for a few hours because it was positively glorious out, so we could go to Boulder. We went to probably our favorite place to eat, and definitely where we eat out most frequently: Pei Wei. Oh, how I adore this place. The portions are big, so you have leftovers and you get to eat twice for what is already a great price, and of course, the most crutial point: they have a gluten-free menu! 

Zoe is so funny. She doesn't say Pei Wei, she says "the place with the red guy on the door." My girl Jean (honey - please correct me if I'm spelling your name wrong!), who was at the Broomfield Pei Wei when we lived down there, is now at the Boulder Pei Wei (that's at the 29th street mall), and we couldn't be happier. Say "hi" for me when you meet her, you'll love her! And ask her to make you the lettuce wraps gluten-free. They aren't on the GF menu, but they will do it for you if you ask. They just have to leave off the sauce, but they are still delicious. I wish I had a picture of them to show you. 

So I was just looking at the Pei Wei website, and noticing how many are popping up across the country, and don't think I'm not considering a road trip now too!