In the Kitchen – Page 2 – The Creative Salad

Dreaming of… Chocolate

I haven’t eaten chocolate in several months since discovering it irritates the baby’s stomach when I indulge (ah, breastfeeding, sometimes you can be hard on mama).

Since I can’t eat chocolate RIGHT NOW, I thought it would be fun to make a list of recipes to try in several months when the baby tolerates me eating chocolate again. (Knock on wood.)

I can’t wait to try these decadent, easy, chocolate desserts (that are all gluten-free and mostly Paleo) from my Almost Healthy Sweets Pinterest board:

1. Banana and Cashew Cream Ice Pops from Souvlaki For The Soul | 2. No Bake Peppermint Patty Bars from oh she glows | 3. Mexican Hot Chocolate from Minimalist Baker | 4. Chocolate Covered Coconut Stuffed Dates Recipe from Gourmande in the Kitchen | 5. Homemade Junior Mints from Coconut Mama

Want to work your way through the list with me? I’m hoping to try one recipe a week… starting sometime soon. I’ll keep you posted as to when. ;)

Strawberry Lovers

Strawberries from our CSA share have been bountiful and delicious.

We’ve all been enjoying the sweet taste of summer:

Next up: blackberry season. You know how we love that.

Organic stuffed strawberry toy by Under the Nile.

Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream Recipe (dairy and gluten-free, sweetened with maple syrup)

I love indulging in homemade ice cream on a hot day.

Since I’m not eating dairy right now (because our breastfeeding baby doesn’t tolerate it in my diet), I decided to rehash our coconut milk ice cream recipe. It probably isn’t cheaper than buying it from the store, but we get to sweeten the ice cream with maple syrup instead of agave or processed sugar.

Plus, it’s really fun to make with kids.

Here’s how we make it:

Mix together 1/2 cup maple syrup, 2 cans of full-fat coconut milk, and 1-2 tablespoons vanilla extract.

Churn in your ice cream maker for 25-35 minutes or until the mixture thickens, then chill in the freezer. Remove from the freezer and allow it to soften for about 10 minutes before serving.

The hubby likes to add chocolate chips on top; alternatively you could add them to the ice cream maker towards the end and allow it to churn for a few minutes to fully incorporate the chips.

Mix-ins that I want to try in the future include chopped fresh mint from the garden with peppermint extract. My friend Tina even adds a little spirulina to get that minty green color. Love it!

What flavor ice cream are you enjoying this summer? Our local ice cream shop has a lavender ice cream that is to die for.

Mango, Avocado, and Quinoa Salad Recipe

Goodness, it’s been ages since I’ve posted a healthy, gluten-free recipe here on the site. This particular salad is one that I’ve been making and enjoying frequently. It takes 2 minutes to put together and I absolutely love it.

Cut up one mango and avocado, season with salt to taste. Add several heaping spoonfuls of cooked quinoa. Mix thoroughly. Enjoy!

Tip: We always keep a batch of quinoa cooked with homemade vegetable beef stock on hand in the fridge. Since it’s already made, we find it incredibly easy to add this high protein seed to soups, scrambles, and salads. Give it a try!

The State of the Pantry

I’ve been exercising like a mad woman (well, sorta), I feel fantastic, but am still stuck at my pre pregnancy weight (i.e. twenty pounds higher than I’d like to be). Wah wah.

One thing that’s looking lighter around here though is our pantry.

Here’s what it looked like a year ago:

And the state of it today:

Oh, and here’s our baking cupboard:

While we have less food in the pantry, there’s WAY more foodstuffs in the fridge. (I love the summer produce season.)

In fact the fridge is stuffed to the gills with salad fixings and veggies, cooked quinoa, hard boiled eggs, nuts, stews, braised meats, grass fed beef hot dogs, handmade salad dressings…

Despite no dairy, gluten, nightshades, corn or chocolate in ~~our~~ my diet, we’re eating well around here!

Now to really up the exercise… as much as I love the yoga and walks, they don’t impact my weight the same way that running does. (Good thing I love, love, love my runs!) So I gotta prioritize and find the time to run more than once a week. Right now I feel like it may take a miracle. I’m going to aim for three runs a week and go from there.