With spring in the air it has been a blast making all sorts of dinner dishes, fresh salads and desserts!
I would say our family favorite desserts are:
-strawberry-limeade ice pops!
These fulfill that craving for something luscious to chill you out on a hot day! I'd have to say these are the kids favorite and they love making them!! I feel much better about letting them slurp on these than the otter pops made of pure corn syrup some food dyes and who knows what else! Ours are made with the natural sweetener of fruits as well as some added honey and agave for a kick. Getting the right amount of lime/strawberry/sweetener makes a difference! Too much lime and it's a bitter treat. Maybe you like a strong tart taste- if so, add all the lime you want. The perfect amount of strawberries gives it that extra kick of flavor and the pretty pink color. Too much could turn it into strawberrry icicles and the lime might go unnoticed but we like strawberries in this house so that probably wouldn't bother us too much. Then- last, you want just enough sweetener to enhance all the flavors without drowning it out. I mainly use this to counterbalance the tart flavor of the limes! Our last round of strawberry-limecicles were amazing! Perfectly refreshing!!
What's your favorite way to make a popsicle?
If you haven't made your own yet- go experiment with limecicles! They are so yummy and so easy a kid could make them!
-chocolate dip with fruit.
Since I'm super sensitive to refined sugars I try to stay away from them. But sometimes I just want chocolate! That's where this chocolate dip came in! It's inspired by ganache. If you like dark chocolate, the quality of your cocoa will make a difference. The darker the cocoa, generally the better. And the kids like it. I have pics of my sugar-Holic to prove it. Add some dairy free milk and cocoa to a pan. As a tiny splash of vanilla, a pinch of salt if you love a sweet and salty taste, then add equal parts of honey and agave for best flavor. You only need a tiny bit of milk since the sweeteners almost act as another liquid. Let it simmer until it begins to boil, mixing the entire time. Remove from heat and enjoy! This was totally worth it! We dipped crackers and strawberries in our chocolate! I've been wanting to try this for way too long and am so glad I did! Don't like dark chocolate? Experiment with some more mild cocoa or find some unsweetened chocolates to melt. I like the availability of cocoa.
-coconut mango rice!
We use pre-cooked brown rice for this. Microwave it with some coconut milk for a good 20 minutes to soften the rice- or just add milk if you aren't concerned about the texture. Once it's done- add coconut milk from the can and agave sweetener and a pinch of salt. Let cool- then add coconut cream and fresh mango. Serve and enjoy. You can have this warm or cool! I love love love this dish!!!!
And just for the record- coconut cream with fruit like blueberries, etc. Is heavenly!! Totally fulfills that craving for whipped cream (I stay away from dairy too).
By now you can see that I'm not always the perfect examples of perfect health but we strive to stay away from refined sugars. The less refined, the better. Its best to stick with fruits as your source of sugar but if you gotta have more sweeteners like stevia, honey and agave are a great alternative to curb that sugar craving!
Let me know if you try any of these. I am not an exact recipe girl- I like to taste and adjust as I go- I find that makes for the best results. But maybe that's not you. There are plenty of exact recipes out there if eyeballing and tasting isn't your way of cooking. That being said, if you have any questions about making any of these treats, let me know, I'd be happy to help you figure out how to make it just right!!
Have a great spring day!
Hhh
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