Dairy Free Cookie Dough Recipe

My hubby, B get’s full credit for this recipe and it’s just too good not to share — so consider this a guest blog from my one and only (he even took the pictures!) Since quarantine has started, we’ve definitely been enjoying a few more sweets than normal, so he was on the hunt for a healthier dessert recipe that would also be dairy-free for me! So, as I mention — B get’s full credit for finding this five-ingredient recipe and grabbing all the ingredients, and when he mentioned he was making cookie dough, I definitely did not complain *grins* !
Although this is a simple recipe and only utilized 2-cups of cashews, this definitely makes a larger portion that will last nights to help satisfy that sweet treat. B also decided to get 95% dark chocolate to help with that healthy portion of this tasty treat — but you can definitely decide to put in whatever chocolate, or other goodies you may want to add into this treat.

Prep-Time:
3-4 hours

Shopping List:
– 2-cups of Whole Cashews
– 95% Dark Chocolate Bar
– 3 tbsp. Agave
– 2 tbsp. Coconut oil
– 1/4 cup of Almond Flour

Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. First, boil 3-4 cups of water. Once the water comes to a boil, pour over your cashews in a glass bowl. Let your cashews soak in the water for 3-4 hours.
2. Once the cashew’s have soaked, drain the water from the cashews. Add your cashews, almond flour, coconut oil and agave into a food processor and blend well.
3. The blended mixture should appear creamy and well blended.
4. On a cutting board, break up your chocolate bar into smaller chunks
5. Scrape your cashew base into a bowl and then add your chocolate bar chunks and mix together, then refrigerate before serving!

This was such a yummy treat and definitely felt guilt-free when enjoying. After having it this first round, it would be fun to play around with adding in some other types of chocolate or goodies like sprinkles or m&ms for a little extra color and crunch! I am not a huge lover of super dark chocolate, but mixed in with this, it was definitely a good balance of tart and sweet with the cookie dough.

Taco Pizza Recipe

We recently had the brilliant idea of making our own at home taco pizza — and let me tell you, it was seriously that, brilliant AND delicious. Normally we make BBQ or Buffalo Chicken Pizza’s but were inspired to make one of our favorite dishes into another dinner favorite, in pizza form. The recipe it quite simple and therefore the perfect amount of taco without going completely overboard with toppings. So when we were prepping our menu for our fancy Cinco De Mayo fiesta, this was the perfect and simple addition to make at home for a fun night in!
This will quickly become a fun way to switch up your Taco Tuesday, Friday night pizza or splurge your upcoming Cinco De Mayo party at home!

Shopping List:
– Pizza Crust
– Mild Ortega Taco Sauce
– 1-pound of ground beef
– Taco seasoning packet
– Shredded Cheese
– 2.25oz Sliced Black Olives
– Tomato to slice into pieces
– Optional: Green Onion
– Sour Cream for serving

Step-by-Step Directions:
1. First up, cook your ground beef! Once fully cooked, add your taco seasoning in and set-aside while you prep the rest.

2. With your pizza crust on a pizza pan, pour your Ortega Taco Sauce on as your sauce, and spread around crust with a spoon for nice coverage.

3. Now spoon and spread your ground beef to cover the top of the pizza! Add your black olive slices and tomato slices on next.

4. Finally, sprinkle your cheese (shred a brick or use a pre-shredded bag) we like to use a mix orange and white cheddar for some added color. And garnish with green onion, if you have it (we didn’t have it this time).

5. Cook in the oven based on the crust directions until crust is looking golden and cheese is melted! Slice up and enjoy!

B likes to serve this with sour cream, it is a nice touch for this delicious pizza — I only have a few bites with sour cream, because that is one dairy item that definitely does not agree with me! But it is a nice flavor accent of cool with the taco flavors on the pizza. Again, we kept this recipe simple because it’s definitely easy to over to do it with your taco toppings — and it’s simply perfect!

We also like to make B’s simple homemade guacamole paired with our favorite go-to Tostitos lime chips.  To finish off our fancy fiesta night, serve up with a Corona and lime or this super easy and delicious strawberry margarita made with prosecco instead of tequila! This has quickly become a treat that we like to make for date night and a recipe we first tried out for Valentine’s Day when we were planning our date night in. I think the next taco inspired pizza recipe we play around with will be a breakfast taco pizza – omg yum! Like I mentioned, we love everything tacos. And will be sharing our full fancy fiesta Cinco De Mayo night next!

3 Dairy Free Desserts

With my diet truly becoming a lifestyle change and avoiding dairy as much as possible, we’ve finally started venturing into dairy free recipes for the sweets!  Although most desserts, even with dairy, don’t always bother me, I realized if I’m truly going to make this a lifestyle change that it should be all inclusive.  I was first inspired when B made me a dairy-free cookie dough ‘cheesecake’ for a date night he planned last month.

Dairy-Free Cookie Dough ‘Cheesecake’ – This recipe might seem a little intimidating just based off the ingredients list, but I assure you that it was rather straight forward and easy to put together once you have everything! Not to mention, this is completely delicious and I would even recommend just making up the cookie dough part  for a treat. And, if you haven’t used cashews to substitute for cheese, you are missing out, it’s incredible how you can’t tell the difference yet still maintains the consistency.

Low Carb Chocolate Coconut Cake – As i’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to love coconut especially with chocolate! This cake is a twist on an Almond Twist (one of my favorites), and although a smaller ingredients list, this won’t skimp on taste.  It also reminds me of my grandma’s German Chocolate cake that she used to make, and now I can put my own twist on it while still having a bit nostalgia for my grandma.

Pistachio Chocolate Banana Sushi – Um, YUM! We haven’t made this one yet, but it looks so easy with only three ingredients! Plus with the use of dark chocolate and fresh bananas it’s probably one of the healthier decisions you could make to satisfy your sweet tooth!

With bathing suit season upon us, we can still satisfy our sweet tooth without compromising on health/nutrition and sticking to our lifestyle choices!  Share your favorite treats in the comments below!

Homechef – French Onion Chicken

As I mentioned in my Latest Obsessions – we’ve been loving our Homechef weekly delivered meals.  I admittedly haven’t made all of the recipes we’ve received, because B is awesome! But one meal I have made was the French Onion Chicken.  I followed all the instructions, set off the smoke detector, but it still came out delicious, not to mention it was super easy following the step-by-step directions!

The French Onion Chicken has a reasonable prep and cook time of 25-35 minutes, and was easy to accomplish on a week night after a full day of work.  One of the main reasons we love Homechef so much is the additional ingredients provided that bring the flavor level up a notch. This was accomplished with the caramelizing of the onions using thyme and sherry wine in the process, such a game changer!  These added flavor ingredients, are also portioned perfectly so there is no waste or left over thyme/greens to sit in the fridge.  How many times have we bought a whole container of basil or cilantro when we only need a quarter of the pack?!

Get the full recipe here: Homechef – French Onion Chicken

Every time we bite into a new Homechef meal, we groan a little and rave just how delicious it is! We haven’t had a bad meal yet, and love the convenience of having meals delivered straight to our door, allowing us to plan ahead for the week!  Do you use a home delivery meal service? Leave a comment below and share what you absolutely love about it!!

Champagne Cocktails for NYE

We are in the final countdown of days for 2016 so that means it’s time to start planning for your last night of the year.  And in my opinion, every occasion is an occasion for champagne, although some occasions call for a little more expensive champagne than others.  But there is always one occasion that demands champagne and that is New Year’s Eve!  I love champagne straight, all day long, but found some fun, easy cocktails to try for your NYE celebration for those who might want a little more “umph” to get the party started.

Pomegranate Cranberry Champagne Punch – This cocktail will be tasty for everyone, and requires minimal ingredients beyond what you may already have stocked on your bar. Garnish this with some cranberries and mint leaves and you’ve got a fun drink to be enjoyed by all!

Champagne Punch – I love this punch because it has a bit more flavor paired with rum and pineapple juice for a little more exotic flair to kick off your evening of celebrating. Not to mention the recipe allows for a larger portion, perfect for the family party or night with friends.

Raspberry & Ginger Beer Champagne Cocktail – This cocktail is something even your honey won’t mind drinking… well maybe besides the pink color.  Mixing a taste of raspberry with ginger beer and champagne this cocktail is sure to be refreshing and light and perfect to enjoy the whole night!

If your like me and have a love for champagne, these are fun ways for other guests and friends to enjoy some bubbles as well – or even more simple buy some garnishes to throw in your bubbles – frozen cranberries, raspberries, blue berries, or even a strawberry garnish and some greenery to give your champagne a sophisticated look for your NYE party! And don’t forget to WOO when you pop that bottle!!

Cheers!

 

 

Photo sources linked above. 

Parties – Festive Cocktails

Since I’m SO pumped for the holidays this year – I can’t help but get excited for all the fun leading up… the decorating, the tree hunting, our Christmas party, baking cookies, just all of the things!  One way to customize your holiday party is to have a signature drink, these drinks have me totally inspired for our upcoming holiday party.

Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer: This drink just looks light and refreshing especially with the garnish of rosemary to top it off.  I think substituting out the pomegranate for cranberries would also be a great option if you wanted to make it a little more affordable and easier to create. This would also be a great drink for a NYE party!

Pink Peppermint Russian: Although I would need to substitute the milk, perhaps with almond milk, this drink looks so pretty and delicious and has Christmas written all over it. Not to mention, it’s a warmer drink which is perfect for warming up your guests from the cold and snowy nights.

Crockpot Cranberry Apple Cider:  This is perfect for a party to start up, and let it simmer and cook in the crockpot while you fine too the decorations and prep the food!  Easily add in some whiskey or rum and you have an instant cocktail to keep you warm and keep the festivities going!

My other go-to holiday party drink is getting the party start with Little Beers, or red and green Jell-o shots!

Cheers!

 

3 Dairy Free Recipes for Fall

As the days cool, the nights darken and the full effects of comfort food and fall hit us – I can’t help but look for recipes that fit the void of comfort food, while being diet-friendly. And by diet friendly, I don’t mean some strict diet I’m on, just the diet of agreeing with my stomach, aka no dairy! I’ve definitely become more strict on my no dairy, and feel much better without it. We’ve also been trying to eat low-carb, and have surprisingly been able to stick to that fairly well, also!

Baked Almond Feta with Rosemary (dairy free): This not only looks easy with minimum ingredients, but looks delicious and the perfect dish for appetizers and upcoming holiday parties! Plus all the dairy-free party goers can enjoy it too. Enjoy the full recipe here. 

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash: We’ve already enjoyed this dish a few times, and all I can say is YUM! Not to mention, you don’t feel as guilty but can still indulge in buffalo chicken dip tastes without eating a million chips! The ranch and hot sauce are areas where I air with caution (and the best part about BCP) but this recipe offers great substitutes for the dairy free eaters.  Enjoy the full recipe here.

Lasagna (gluten + dairy free): This is a must-try for this cool season and fits within our low-carb and dairy free diet restrictions! Although this has a bit more prep-time, it isn’t anything new when it comes to making lasagna – just a different kind of prep to get that cashew cheese substitute.  Trina’s full recipe is available here.

Have you conformed your favorite comfortable foods to fit your dietary needs? If so, share them below!

3-Recipes I’m Dying to Try

Since we’ve been in #weddingdiet mode, we’ve been trying to be a bit more conscious with our dinner choices, on top of some recent dietary restrictions I’ve been faced with, the options become extremely limited.  So we’ve had to try a few more options and stick solely to the basics; meat and veggies.  But with this comes prep time and planning which are two crucial items when trying to eat right!

The goal for me, is finding recipes that can easily be tailored to fit within my dietary restrictions, which pretty much means, no cheese and nothing too spicy, among other things that I’ve just learned to stay away from – and even just in general the more plain the food is, sadly the safer it is for me! So although these recipes I’m dying to try will need to be altered – it doesn’t mean you all have to suffer too!

Beef Taco Salad Pizza: This looks so delicious, and very few ingredients too, which makes pulling this one together affordable!  I would have to ditch the cheese and sour cream, but the seasoning and avocado will make up for any lost taste!

Black Bean Quinoa Burger: This plump looking burger calls for some spicy mayo, this would definitely need to be substituted out in addition to the cumin and cayenne called for in the actual burger.  I love the idea of mango and avocado topping this quinoa black bean burger – mouth officially watering.

Greek Grilled Eggplant: This recipe again is super easy and low cost, making it a perfect busy-day dinner!  Ingredients are probably all housed beyond maybe picking up a fresh eggplant to slice up and grill. I think you could probably guess by now, no feta for me! But some fresh basil would be a great topper.

Have any great, easy recipes? Leave a comment below and share them with me!