BOP, Boulder Organic Pizza, gluten-free and meeting the Segersten family

One of our best friends moved to Texas this week. We're really going to miss her, but I'm also excited for her. The night before she left she came over to wish the girls a happy birthday (Ashley just turned 6 and Zoe just turned 8) and see us one last time. She also brought this gluten-free pizza from Boulder.

It's from a place called Bop (Boulder Organic Pizzeria). This is a gluten-free crust with a pizza called, The Beet. They describe it as, "Home made Cannellini Bean Sauce, Roasted Beets, Garlic, Chilli Flakes, Fresh Basil & Olive Oil." It was delish.


Then my friend Ali, of Nourishing Meals and I got to meet in person for the first time! :-) It was total bliss. We just loved Ali and Tom and their kids! Such a thrill :-)

We took them to one of our favorite gluten-free spots in Longmont, Sun Rose Cafe. We went to Left Hand Creek and played in the water. And we hung out at our house. Tom made fabulous green smoothies. Ali brought her homemade cookies and truffles that are amazing. I made them a few of the recipes that will be in my next cookbook.

...What can I say? It was so much fun!!!

The beautiful Ali and I on my porch :-)

Tom and the kids listening to a book on record.

PS If you would like email notifications of new posts from me, you can now sign up to receive them. It's located on the top right side of my blog for now. I might move it a little further down in a week or two after everybody's seen it :-)

Plum or Nectarine Smoothies, dairy-free

We made more smoothies like the ones I mentioned on the Spunky Coconut Facebook Page yesterday, and they were so pretty I had to take a picture :-) I don't measure exactly, but I made enough to fill my blender to the top line. Here are my ingredients:

Add to blender:

2 plums or nectarines, cut in half, pits removed

frozen organic blueberries up to about the 3.5 cup line

2 tbsp Chia Seeds

1 tsp honey

Fill to about the middle cup line with nut milk. I used cashew milk.

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

Fill the rest of the way to the top cup line with water.

Puree.

Yesterday I used nectarines, and today I used plums. The nectarine version is my favorite, but both kinds were slurped down by the whole family ;-) Nectarines are my favorite fruit though. What's your
favorite fruit?

♥, Kelly

DAIRY-FREE Frozen Yogurt! soy-free, refined sugar-free

It's been really hot lately here in Longmont, CO. Zoe and Ashley love to stand in our kiddy pool, which is only a few inches deep, and pour the water over their heads to stay cool. They also throw water at each other, and laugh. Their laughter is so contagious.

We also like to eat ice cream to stay cool. Last night I made my best yogurt recipe with coconut milk, rather than cashew milk. After refrigerating today it tasted great, but wasn't as thick with coconut milk as it is with cashew milk. So I threw it in the Ice Cream Machine, and topped it with fresh chopped apricots and nectarines. Yum!

If you make it with coconut milk I would suggest adding more gelatin or Agar-Agar. I think I preferred the original recipe with cashew milk, so I'll keep the coconut milk variation just for "ice cream." It's nice to know that if the yogurt doesn't turn out as thick as you want, you can turn yours into frozen yogurt too :-)

♥, Kelly

Sometimes you've just gotta eat cookie dough ;-)

...don't you think?

It's been a really long time since I've hand a hankering for cookie dough. Then, last night, out of the blue, there it was—Hankering for cookie dough ;-) I mixed some up in about 15 minutes time, and gave the girls and I each a cute mini mason jar of cookie dough. Yummy.

In case you ever get a craving for cookie dough too, here's my recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

♥, Kelly

Tapioca Pudding (dairy-free, vegan) & an iHerb giveaway for two of you!

Congratulations Millie & Heather! Please email me, so I can get you your prizes :-) Kelly (insert @ symbol) theSpunkyCoconut.com

I'm so excited to do another giveaway for iHerb! I just love giving you free stuff :-) Here's how this one works:

iHerb offered me $25 worth of complimentary products, which I also get to give away to two of my readers. Yay! So I chose ingredients that I thought you (and I) would enjoy, plus I created a recipe to go with them. Now two of you will win these great ingredients.

And the ingredients are...

Small Pearl Tapioca, Organic Cashews, Vanilla liquid stevia,
& White Chia Seeds

Something I love about iHerb is that (as a US resident), when I spend $40 or more, the shipping is free. So cool. And they have all kinds of other great stuff too, like Hemp Seeds, Raw Cacao Powder, buckwheat groats, Guar Gum, liquid Evening Primrose Oil, because Ashley needs tons of Omega 6 (surprisingly), and Goji Berries, for pie, smoothies, & ice cream (soak for 10 minutes before using).

So don't be shy about registering with iHerb—I've been using them for a long time, and they don't spam you.

In order to win this giveaway you must register at iHerb, and do at least one of the following:

* Leave me a comment on this post.

* Subscribe to this blog (look under the link to Facebook), and leave a comment on this post telling me that you are subscribed.
* Follow/"like" me on Facebook, and comment on this post to tell me.
* Follow me on Twitter, and comment on this post to tell me.
* Tweet about this giveaway, and comment on this post to tell me.
* Post a message on your Facebook wall about this giveaway, and comment on this post to tell me.
* Post about the giveaway on your blog, and comment on this post to tell me.

Do more than one of those, and you have multiple chances to win :-)

This giveaway is open to US residents. International residents will be responsible for any additional customs fees, duties or taxes. The giveaway closes Friday, July 23rd, at midnight Mountain Time.

I will select a winner using Random.org. and announce the winner the day after the contest closes.—That's a week from tomorrow, so remember to check back again and see if you won!

And now, as promised, here is my recipe for dairy-free, vegan tapioca pudding, made with these ingredients :-)

Tapioca Pudding:

Dairy-free, Vegan

Using a small mesh strainer, rinse 1/3 cup small pearl tapioca.

Add the pearls to a pot with:

3/4 cup water

Set the timer, and let soak for 30 minutes.

Add:

2 & 1/4 cups cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

10 drops vanilla liquid stevia

1/8 tsp salt

Bring to simmer, watching it carefully so it doesn't boil over.

Reduce to lowest setting & simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat & let cool for a few minutes.

Stir in:

2 tbsp chia seed meal (equal to 1 tbsp chia seeds)

Note: I use my coffee grinder to turn the chia seeds into meal.

Serve warm or cold.

Caution: This recipe is SERIOUSLY delicious ;-)

♥, Kelly

Refined Sugar & DAIRY-FREE Yogurt!

Oh, I am so excited to share this recipe with you! It's my best yogurt recipe yet. It's thick, creamy, and tangy too. I wish you could taste some right now :-)

You may remember I said that I had been told by friends that you can just open up your probiotic capsules and use them for the starter. Well, that's exactly what I did. I toyed with ordering starter, but didn't have the patience to wait for it to arrive, so I used my probiotic capsules. Turned out better than ever! Here is how I did it:

Refined Sugar & DAIRY-FREE Yogurt!

Over almost medium heat bring to simmer:

4 cups cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

2 tsp honey

20 drops vanilla liquid stevia

Keep a close eye on it so it doesn't boil over.

Meanwhile, dissolve 2 tsp Gelatin in 1/4 cup boiling water. (OR use Agar-Agar for vegetarian. Note: the amount of Agar-Agar needed might be different. I have only made it with gelatin so far.)

As soon as the cashew milk starts to simmer turn off the heat.

Add the dissolved gelatin water to the cashew milk and let it come down to about 92 degrees.

I pour the liquids into a bowl and put that bowl into a larger one of cold (but not iced) tap water. Whisking also helps it cool down faster.

Once you've reached about 92 degrees:

Open 6 probiotic capsules and whisk them in well.

I use Solaray Multidophilus, 3 Billion, non-dairy

Pour into containers and keep warm for about 10 hours. (I use my yogurt maker, but I love the suggestion of using a cooler with jars of hot water around the yogurt containers.)

Note: If there is a clear pool at the bottom, secure the lids tightly and shake the yogurt to mix it in before refrigerating.

Refrigerate for 8 hours.

I'm going to mix in a drop of lemon extract before I eat mine tonight. I love lemon yogurt :-)

Click for the link to my yogurt making supplies.

♥, Kelly

Spaghetti Leonardo

Do you ever feel so uninspired to make dinner? I do. Baking comes naturally to me, but main dishes I really have to work at. That's okay though, because sometimes we have salad and cake or pie for dinner :-) And you know the kind of ingredients in my cakes and pies—super healthy. High protein, low carb, full of vitamins, good fat, fiber, essential fatty acids... But enough about cake and pie... ;-)

If you follow me on facebook, then you know that last week I accidentally made an amazing dinner dish. When it's really hot, like it's been, I try to use the oven as little as possible. That's when the crock pot comes in handy. Sometimes I even put the crock pot outside under my covered porch, as long as there's no chance of rain (which is most of the time where I live).

Spaghetti Leonardo

Add to Crock pot:

4 cups chopped vine-ripened tomatoes

4 Italian sausage (casing removed)

1/2 an onion, chopped

1/4 tsp garlic

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Set to 4 hours high.

After cooking throw in about 3 cups fresh chopped spinach to wilt.

I also added a drizzle of organic extra virgin olive oil, and a few cranks of fresh ground pepper.

Serve over over noodles. I use Tinkyada.

Why am I calling it "Spaghetti Leonardo" you might ask? I was looking for an Italian name, and who better to honor than my hero, Leonardo DiCaprio. No, I'm not talking about his acting career, although I do love his movies. I'm talking about what Leonardo does in his free time. You may have noticed the little polar bear button at the bottom of the right hand column on my blog. That's a link to one of my favorite organizations, the Natural Resources Defense Council. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the board members of the NRDC, along with Robert Redford. I joined the NRDC about four years ago, after hearing about them from my brother, Brandon. If you can, check them out and give them your support too.

Click to go to the Natural Resources Defense Council