Teatime Thursday

What's dreamier than a coconut cream chai latte and a fuzzy blanket? 

Happy Thursday!

                       

Teatime Series

Since I review tea, I drink tea ALL the time. I don't like whipping up my tea and throwing it in any old mug. I carefully make my tea and I make sure it looks pretty. My whole tea making process has inspired a new photography series I'm calling Teatime.

Here's a taste of the pictures to come!

Gluten-Free Lemon Bars

For Mother's Day I made these delicious gluten-free lemon coconut bars. I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to follow an exact recipe so I decided to wing it-and it turned out wonderful!

Gluten-Free Lemon Coconut Bars 
(Adapted from this recipe: http://www.greenkitchenstories.com)

Crust

5 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
3 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
2 cups shredded coconut
3/4 cup almond meal/flour
1/4 cup all purpose gluten-free flour (I used Trader Joe's blend)
2 egg whites (save the yolks)

Filling

3 eggs and the 2 egg yolks
7 tablespoons maple syrup
1/3 cup and 2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons gluten-free all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sweet rice flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour

Crust: Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all the ingredients together until fully combined and press into a small pan (I put parchment paper underneath so the bars came out easily). Bake for 10-13 minutes.

Filling: beat the eggs until foamy and then add the rest of the ingredients. Beat all the ingredients for two minutes. Pour the filling onto the crust. Bake for about 18 minutes (on 350) until the filling is set (not liquid).

Let bars cool and then cover with powdered sugar. I suggest keeping the bars in the refrigerator after they cool.

Toasted Coconut Crunch Ice Cream

Last week I made toasted coconut crunch ice cream for a friend. It turned out so delicious and I think it might be my favorite ice cream I've made. Coconut is just so addicting and this cold treat is perfect for summer. 

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

1 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup sugar (I would add a little less the next time I make it)

A pinch of salt

5 egg yolks

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 a bar of coconut crunch chocolate (I bought mine at Aldi. If you are unable to find coconut crunch chocolate, you can get just coconut chocolate and add some crushed corn flakes. You could also add some toasted coconut instead) 

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the shredded coconut on a baking sheet. Place the coconut in the oven for about 7 minutes, stirring every minute. Once the coconut is golden brown, remove from the oven and set aside. 

2) Heat the whole milk, the heavy cream, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan on medium heat until it begins to steam. Remove from heat and add the toasted coconut. Stir, place lid on top of the sauce pan, and let it sit for an hour (you can let it sit longer if you like).

3) After an hour, reheat the milk mixture and then strain it. Make sure to get all the liquid out of the shredded coconut. Whisk your egg yolks in a bowl and slowly begin to pour the milk mixture in. Once the yolk and the milk is combined, pour it back into the sauce pan and put on medium heat. Stir continually until the mixture thickens. 

4) Strain the mixture one last time and then add the coconut milk and the vanilla. Place in the fridge either over night or until fully chilled. Once chilled, place in an ice cream machine or freeze. While it is in the ice cream machine, add the chopped chocolate. You could also mix it in before you freeze it or you could just sprinkle it on top before you serve it. 

Chocolate Muffins and Iced Coffee

My iced coffee recipe: http://lexalex-lexa.blogspot.com

chocolate muffin recipe: http://www.thehealthychef.com

A Bit of Baking

Since my brothers have come home for the summer, I've started baking again! Yesterday I made these lovely coconut macaroons and today I made brownies. The macaroons are absolutely amazing! I suggest you try them out. Both of these recipes are super quick and easy. 

Here's the macaroon recipe: http://pamelasalzman.com/coconut-macaroons/

(I used less sugar and maple syrup in place of the honey. They were plenty sweet!)

 Brownie recipe: http://www.eatgood4life.com/2013/04/the-best-gluten-free-brownies-ever.html

(Plus they're gluten-free!) 

April Showers

I've been hiding in my dark room all day while drinking tea and listening to the patter of rain. It's been perfect.

You can find the recipe for the delicious apple muffins here: http://paleomg.com

You can buy the amazing almond coconut tea here: http://www.republicoftea.com

You can check out the Etsy store where I bought the tea cup here: TheVintageTeacup

Vanilla Coconut Crepes

This morning I made myself a gluten-free vanilla coconut crepe with greek yogurt and nectarines. And guess how long it took me to make this scrumptious breakfast for myself? Only 5 minutes! Originally, I found this recipe for a flaxseed wrap here: Wheat Belly: Flaxseed Wrap. I made this wrap for lunch and it turned out delicious (you should try it!). After thinking, I decided that it would make an amazing crepe.

Here’s how I did it:

Vanilla Coconut Crepes 

3 Tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (you can add a little more if you want more vanilla flavor)
1/2 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 Tablespoon water
1 large egg
Pinch of salt

1) Mix all the ingredients together until smoothly blended.
2) Grease a microwave-safe pie pan with butter or coconut oil
3) Pour batter into pie pan and spread evenly
4) Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes until cooked
5) Let crepe cool for a minute or 2

Crepe Filling

This is where you can get creative!

1) Spoon a yogurt or whipped cream of choice onto crepe (I used creamy plain greek yogurt)
2) Chop up one fresh nectarine (or any other fresh fruit of choice!) and place onto the crepe
3) Finish off the crepe with a drizzle of syrup or honey (I used honey)

See how easy that was? Once you get the hang of making them you can whip 'em up in no time! This is a perfect breakfast for when you want something filling and healthy but have limited time. You could even make this sugar free by adding honey or syrup in place of the sugar.

 

Pina Colada Smoothie

This is the perfect smoothie for hot summer days!

Pina Colada Smoothie

1/2 frozen banana
2 handfuls of frozen pineapple
1 Tablespoon vanilla protein powder (optional)
3/4 Cup coconut milk (you may need more if it doesn't blend)
2 big spoonfuls of yogurt

Coconut Mango Smoothie

For a week, I'm going to try to post a different smoothie recipe each day. I've been really enjoying making smoothies as the weather gets warm again. Today I made a coconut mango smoothie...it was wonderful.

Coconut Mango Smoothie
1 handful of frozen raspberries
about 1 cup of frozen mango chunks
1 handful of ice
about 1 cup of coconut milk (add more if it's not blending)
1 tablespoons of vanilla protein powder (optional)
2 spoonfuls of plain/vanilla yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

Blend away and enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

I recently found an awesome recipe for chocolate mousse frosting that looked amazing (Chocolate Mousse Frosting). I changed the recipe up a little by adding raspberries and sugar. It turned out great! If you love coconut, chocolate, and raspberries, then this is a dessert you won't be able to resist.



Chocolate Raspberry Mousse 

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you want it) 
• 1 1/3 cup of Raspberries 

1) Stir the coconut milk, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and sugar together in a bowl
2) Heat 1 cup of raspberries until warm/hot and strain them, only getting the raspberry juice.
3) Add the raspberry juice to the rest of the mixture
4) Put the mixture in the fringe for 1 to 2 hours (until hard on top)
5) Add 1/3 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries to the mousse
6) Put the mousse in an ice cream maker for around 30 min (it gets hard fast, so keep an eye on it)
    (If you don't have an ice cream maker, put the mousse back in the fridge for a few more hours until it's the consistency you prefer.)

 Once the mousse is done, top it off with some whipped cream and enjoy. I even put some raspberry jam on top of mine. If you aren't a big fan of raspberries you can just not add them. Next time I make it, I plan on trying peanut butter instead of raspberries.