Blueberry Blast Smoothie

From Kristi's Kitchen

As featured on the Beyond Organic Facebook page

www.facebook.com/livebeyondorganic

Ingredients:

1 c. fresh organic blueberries

1 organic kale leaf

1/2 avacado

2 1/2 c. Beyond Organic AMASAI (New Blueberry Acai flavor)

1/2 tsp. liquid stevia

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

5 tsp. coconut palm crystals (optional to taste)

1 1/2 c. ice

Directions:

Puree all ingredients until smooth in a blender. 

Makes 4 1/2 -5 cups

Spumoni Muffins...REALLY- They're Just THAT Good!!!

From Kristi’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

¼ c. coconut flour

1/3 c. raw coconut palm crystals OR xylitol

½ tsp. sea salt

¼ tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

1/3 c. chopped pistachios

3 organic eggs

1 ¼ tsp. almond extract

3 tbsp. Milk & Honey flavored Amasai (click on link to the right for info and purchasing)

2 tbsp. melted organic unsalted butter OR grapeseed oil

6-8 fresh or frozen sweet cherries, diced

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Combine dry (except pistachios & cherries) and wet ingredients separately

-Pour wet into dry and whisk until smooth

-Fold in pistachios & cherries

-Fill 8 lined muffin cups ½ full with batter

-Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes

I made these for breakfast and couldn't believe my taste buds. If you like Spumoni -you will LOVE this...the combination of almond, pistachio and cherry is scrumptious!

makes 8 - 1 serving = 2 muffins (coconut flour muffins are very filling; less is more)

TIP: This delectable muffin may easily be turned into a fabulous dessert…While the muffins are hot out of the oven break apart a Beyond Organic Dark Chocolate Bar into 8 pieces and insert a piece into the center of each hot muffin. Let the muffins cool completely and ice with Homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream OR Healthy Non-Dairy Whipped Topping (I like “Mimic Crème’s Healthy Top: http://www.amazon.com/MimicCreme-Non-Dairy-Whippable-Substitute-16-Ounce/dp/B003D32WVQ) VIOLA...DESSERT! 

Beyond Organic Dark Chocolate Scones

From Kristi’s Kitchen

Featured on Beyond Organic Facebook page

www.facebook.com/livebeyondorganic

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. + 2 tbsp. spelt flour, extra for dusting and kneading
1/4 c. coconut palm crystals
2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt
4 bars Beyond Organic Dark Chocolate, broken into little squares
1 c. chilled plain flavored Amasai
1 tbsp. organic butter, melted
1/2 tsp. sugar-free vanilla

Directions:

-Heat oven to 375 degrees

-Line baking sheet with parchment

-Stir together flour, crystals, baking powder and salt in a large bowl

-Stir in chocolate chunks

-Stir Amasai into flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are moistened

-Turn mixture out onto lightly floured surface (I use parchment for easy clean up)

-Knead gently until soft dough forms

-Flatten dough into 1” thick circle; cut into 10-12 2” rounds*

-Transfer rounds to prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart

-Brush with melted butter

-Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned

 -Serve warm

*Rounds bake up nice sized, so if you desire them to be a bit smaller just cut each round in two

Banana Berry Probiotic Smoothie

From Kristi's Kitchen

Featured on Beyond Organic's Facebook page this week

http://www.facebook.com/LiveBeyondOrganic

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. kefir OR Beyond Organic Plain OR Honey Amasai (click to the right to purchase)

1 ripe banana

7-8 large sweet organic strawberries

10-12 organic raspberries

4-5 ice cubes

Directions:

-Combine all ingredients in the blender

-Blend until smooth

Enjoy!

Makes about 3 cups

The World of All Things Coconut...

This morning I decided to set out on a culinary expedition...all things coconut!
In the past year and a half, I have become somewhat familiar with Coconut Flour and Coconut Oil and the tremendous health benefits of both. They are jam-packed with good things that nourish health and healing in our bodies. Convincing my children has been somewhat of a challenge but, I have made a bit of progress! Taste and texture are everything to them...

I have also used Coconut Palm Crystals -they are an excellent brown sugar substitute. They measure equally in recipes (1 cup brown sugar would be replaced with 1 cup coconut palm crystals) and as I have learned, they are low glycemic (35 on the scale vs. 65-100 for standard brown sugar) and come with nutrient rich living enzymes! They are delicious!


Today's journey has led me to the crystal's liquid counterpart:


COCONUT NECTAR


It measures into recipes like honey or agave nectar would but, is lower on the glycemic index (35) than honey (55-83) and just an absolute better choice than agave nectar hands down (agave nectar is highly processed to develop it's sweet taste which, even if organic, kills any nutritional value of any kind and it is also being pumped up with high fructose corn syrup - definitely not the path we want to follow)!


You replace sugar in a recipe the same way you would replace with honey - if your recipe calls for 1 cup sugar, you would substitute 3-4 tbsp. coconut nectar, decrease the other liquids in the recipe by 1/4th and lower your cooking temperature by 25 degrees (I must say thank you to Dr. Rex Russell for teaching me this...his book "What The Bible Says About Healthy Living" is a MUST READ).


Today's offering on the recipe block is:

Tropical Green Smoothie

From Kristi's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. fresh organic spinach, packed

2 - 1" thick slices fresh pineapple, cored

10-12 fresh sweet cherries, pitted

1/2 c. filtered water

1/8 -1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. "Coconut Secret" coconut nectar (may add a bit more to your taste)

Directions:

-Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth

Enjoy!

There will be many more recipes to come in the next days and weeks; both sweet and savory - working on a cinnamon muffin one as we speak -in the meantime go check out my new friends at Coconut Secret (one of the best kept "secrets" -but not for long!) 

The Coconut Secret website:
http://www.coconutsecret.com/


You may purchase Coconut Secret products in several locations -they have a store locator on their site...I have also found the products on vitacost.com, amazon.com, lucky vitamin.com and iherb.com for those who prefer the "straight to your door" method...

Make an investment in your health today!