Easy Mayan Black Beans

From the Healthiest Diet on the Planet
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c fresh salsa
1/2 c chopped green onions
3/4 c frozen corn
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro optional
Bring everything except cilantro to gentle boil. Cook about 12 min. Stir in cilantro, let rest 1 min. serve. Great topping for brown rice.

Chocolate Avocado Moussse

Dr Eric Z's Chocolate Avocado Mousse

• 3 avocados
• 1 super ripe, mushy banana
• 1 cup coconut-soaked raisins *
• 1 t vanilla
• ½ cup cacoa powder
• ½ cup coconut milk or Blue Diamond Almond Breeze
• ¼ t stevia
• Pinch Finely Ground Pink Himalayan Salt
• Handful of organic berries (optional)
• 1 drop of peppermint essential oil (optional)

Instructions

1. Place avocados in food processor.
2. Add ¼ cup coconut milk and the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth, making sure to scrape the sides with a rubber scraper.
3. Add extra milk to desired consistency.

Coconut-Soaked Raisins

1. * Coconut-soaked raisins are a staple for my desserts. They're unbelievably resourceful and taste good with almost everything - and especially by themselves.
2. Pour 1 can coconut milk in a large Tupperware or glass bowl with a lid.
3. Add raisins to the top of the milk line.
4. Mix with spoon, cover bowl, and refrigerate for at least 1 day to marinate.
5. This mixture will keep for several days.

Sourdough Buckwheat Bread

This is worth making again - pretty nutritious and doesn't taste extremely bad. Also pretty easy and only three ingredients. Blender needed.

From http://phickle.com/?s=buckwheat 
(because the directions are good, I am copying this word for word, in case Phickle ever decides to take it down from her site) - using my own pictures though!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (375 g) hulled, whole buckwheat
• 1 cup (235 ml) filtered water, plus more for soaking
• 1/2 teaspoon (3-4 g) kosher salt
• 1/3 cup (45 g) sesame seeds (optional) - I used toasted ones

HOW-TO

1. Rinse buckwheat and remove any debris. Place buckwheat in a large bowl and cover with at least 2 inches of water. Cover with a cloth and let it soak overnight.
2. Drain buckwheat well in a fine mesh strainer. DO NOT RINSE! That slimy stuff is what makes this work. You’ll lose a little of it just by draining off the soaking water. No worries on that.
3. Pour the strained buckwheat into the blender or food processor and add 1 cup of filtered water, salt and sesame seeds. Pulse until combined, but not smooth. In a Vitamix, this is like 2 seconds of it running, followed by 2 to 3 pulses. In a food processor, it’s more like 10 pulses. Your goal is to integrate the liquid and grain so that they don’t separate when poured out of the blender, but also leave some of the grains relatively in tact. If it gets too smooth, no worries! It will be just fine, but it tastes nicer and has a way better texture when not fully blended. If you pour it and you’re seeing too much water separated, blend it again. Better over-blended than under-blended, but you can also toss it back into the blender for another pulse or two if it pours and separates quickly.
4. Pour it into a large glass bowl (the same bowl you soaked it in is fine), cover with a kitchen cloth to keep dust out and let it sit for 24 hours at room temp. If your home is particularly warm, you may want to cut that time, or if it’s particularly cool, you could go up to 36 hours.
   
   I’ve tested this at room temperatures ranging from  64°F (17.7°C) to 78°F (24.5°C), (all in the same summer month! Thanks, climate change!)  and I was able to bake it after 24 hours of fermentation at both temperatures. (I only needed a little over 12 hours in Florida during July - even in air-conditioning.)
5. If you want to measure how much your dough/batter has risen, place a piece of tape along the side of the bowl, even with the level of batter. This isn’t a glutinous bread that will double in size. It tends to rise between a 1/2 inch and an inch. You’ll be able to see the bubbles in the batter that tell you it fermented, though, so keep your eyes peeled for those.
   
6. Once it’s ready, heat the oven to 425° F (218° C), and gently pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Since this bread doesn’t rise a ton, I prefer a deep loaf pan so that I get a more sandwich-worthy slice. It should be full to about a 1/2 inch below the rim of the pan. My best results have been in my 1.5 quart Pyrex loaf pan.
7. Place it in the oven, middle rack, and allow it to bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Mine is done at 38 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the entire surface looks like cracked desert sands. The edges should be lightly browned. The middle will set last, so if you see a wettish spot there, it hasn’t finished baking.
   
8. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan. It should release easily once cooled.
9. This loaf will keep for 3-5 days at room temperature. Underbaked loaves will be wetter and won’t keep as long. You may want to store those in the fridge.
   

Can't wait to try making some chia blueberry jam to spread on this. My job for today!!

Microwave Chocolate Pie

This recipe is my continuing experiment with Sandy & Mom's Chocolate Party Pie Recipe, and dairy, gluten, sugar free cooking.

Caveat: Monk Fruit is NOT as sweet as sugar. I made this pie on pi day (March 14, 2016) using only Monk Fruit and it was pretty tasteless. Next time, I mix in some coconut or regular sugar.

 Crust for one pie:
1 1/4 cup gluten free flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tb sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tb vodka (or water)
1/3 cup oil (I used grapeseed)
1 Tb ghee

Mix it right in the pie pan, and put in frig to set. It would probably be a better pie if I were to bake the crust a little before putting in the pudding. :-)

Filling for one pie:
1/4 cup cocoa (Gary thinks more is needed)
1/3 cup GF flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/8 cup sugar
2 cups milk (almond is what I had)
2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue)
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tb ghee

I used the Betty Crocker meringue recipe.

3 egg whites, 1/4 tsp cream of tarter, mix this till foamy

Add 1 Tb at a time, 6 Tb sugar, beat till stiff and glossy

Put on pie, bake 400 degrees for 8 min or so.



Step by step directions for pie

1. Make the crust by mixing up all the ingredients in a pie plate (I had a 9 or 10 inch one). Pat the crust mixture down and around the edges. Put in refrigerator to set. When pudding is cooking, bake the crust a bit at 475 degrees for 8 minutes (I would watch this carefully). Let pie crust  cool and change oven down to 400 degrees.
2. In a large glass container, mix the dry ingredients, eggs, and milk. Microwave 1 minute, and whisk. You may need to do this 4 or 5 more times, until pudding is nice and very thick. 
3. Add the ghee or butter and vanilla, and whisk once more.
4. Into baked pie crust, pour the pudding and smooth it out.
5. Make the meringue, and spread over the pie. Bake as directed.

 
 TO TRY for meringue to keep weeping down:

4 room-temperature whites

1/2 c water

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cream of tarter

1/2 c sugar

In 1 cup liquid measure whisk water and cornstarch. Microwave 45-60 seconds until boiling, stirring once. set aside.

Add vanilla and cream of tarter to egg whites. Beat on medium for 1 minute until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 T at a time, beating on high. Gradually beat in the warm cornstarch mixture until stiff, glossy peaks form. Make this meringue before you fix the filling - the cornstarch stabilizes it. Spread meringue onto HOT filling. Cook meringue to 160 degrees.