Vegan, sugar-free, nut-butter cups! Oh. My. Word!

I was visiting with my darling friend Laura Madden who shared with me her remarkable Natural Vegan Chocolate bark and we talked about the amazing possibilities of the bark in other dishes. Peanut butter cups come to mind...only because they're just the bomb. I'm not going to lie, there's a huge part of my rear-end that was caused by those sugar treats. Many of you know that I've been switching over to a healthier lifestyle and when it comes to food, I am certainly a work in progress. That being said, when I find something amazing that can satisfy my cravings now and then, it is a good thing! So, here's the natural, vegan, sugar-free version that I came up with today. It has been a blast...and I'm not going to lie, I'm so very glad to have something to replace my peanut-butter cups with right now. 

Tess' Peanut Butter Cup Filling

 1/2 cup natural nut butter (of your choice but I used Nutzo organic 7 nut and seed butter)
3/4 cup Natural almond flour
3T natural granular erythritol or 30 drops natural stevia
1 tsp Natural Madagascar vanilla bean paste

Basically, combine all the ingredients. I know. It should be more complicated. 

 Now make your coating.

Chocolate bark Coating 
adapted from Laura Madden's Vegan Chocolate bark

3/4 cup organic raw baker's cocoa
3/4 cup   Coconutreat Raw Organic Coconut Oil
2-3 droppers full liquid stevia (I prefer the flavor of Sweetleaf.com)
1/2 tsp Natural Madagascar vanilla bean paste

Melt the coconut oil over very low heat just until liquid.

Stir in the remaining ingredients until smooth. Doesn't the picture of chocolate like that just do the heart good?

 Pour 2T of the liquid into eight baker's cups and put the cups in the fridge until set, about 5 minutes.

While the cocoa sets, divide the peanut mixture into eight balls and flatten them to fit the bottom of a cupcake cup...

 Put the peanut butter disk on top of the cooled chocolate mixture and then top with remaining mixture, about 3T per cup.  Cover the top of the disk-thingy. If you want to use more chocolate mixture you can, but I just needed a thin candy shell over it to get my fix.

 Place in fridge and set, about 10 minutes. I do realize how freakishly hard it will be for them to set, but think of that chocolate coating being able to melt like a truffle-y mess in your mouth. 

Keep chilled until you're ready to enjoy. Coconut oil will start to melt around 80 degrees, so chilling is best.

There you go! A great replacement for an occasional treat!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend  Chef Tess

4 ingredient Super Simple Natural Vegan Nutella-type recipe!

My friend Amy shared Amy's coconut nut butter bites on her blog today. I don't usually jump on a recipe that quick, but this one was so simple it was almost scary how perfect it was!   I already had all the ingredients at home. After I made the cups, I thought, "this could totally make a truffly chocolate spread!:   I knew it could easily be converted into a homemade version of natural vegan  Nutella! Nutella is the registered name brand spread for Nutella. It contains milk and is not vegan. This version is my homemade interpretation. I replaced rice syrup or agave nectar for the honey (most vegans I know don't eat honey). 

Amy Inspired Hazelnut Butter

1/2 cup  Coconutreat Raw Organic Coconut Oil

1/2 cup hazelnut butter (available at health food stores)

1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder

1/4 cup rice syrup or agave nectar

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and melt together until smooth (can also be done in microwave) Just heat and stir till nice and creamy. Pour into a mason jar or bowl and place in the fridge for 10 minutes. Stir after 5 minutes. Keep at room temperature if you want it to be spreadable. 

There you go! Make a very simple nut butter. It works amazing with peanut, almond and soy-nut butter as well. 

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Creamy Coconut Lime Millet Breakfast Pudding (Pressure Cooker 101)

Isn't Millet Divinity?

 It's Monday. Oh how we love Monday. It's like a blessed reminder that we have another week to live. It's a glorious new start. It's...gosh...another week of meals. Now, imagine me whirling around on the hills of Austria like Julie Andrews singing , "The MEALS are Alive! with the sound of Music!"Fa la la la !! " Doesn't that make you feel better (or slightly nauseated) ? Monday's also the day I try to share some great way to use food storage and expand just a little on the whole grain, if I haven't done that every other day of the week. Dear land. I think this breakfast will totally count as that. It's a gluten free, dairy free, cream-a-licious pudding that isn't too sweet. I'm a push over for lime and coconut anyway. Millet is a natural couple for it I might add. I also cook it in a pressure cooker, so it's fast!  I'm doing a little tutorial pressure cooker usage too, so if you're a little new to the pressure cooker, join the fun. It's a handy dandy tool to have in your kitchen.

 My friend Troy Adair down at Preparing Wisely Store let me play with this new little pretty  Presto Electric Pressure Cooker . I love that it doesn't take stove space. I've used it often so I thought I'd show how to cook the millet pudding in a pressure cooker using this model. If you have another brand, you'll have to use your pressure cooker's instructions, but they are all pretty similar.

Chef Tess Creamy Coconut Lime Millet Breakfast Pudding

2/3 cup millet,

 13.5 oz can coconut milk, 

1 cup water, 

zest of one lime,

 pinch of salt

1/2 tsp Wise Woman of The East Spice Blend, 

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup toasted coconut (optional)

 Place pressure cooker on a dry, level heat resistant surface in center of counter top. As s general rule, prepare ingredients according to the directions in the pressure cooking recipe you have selected. If larger quantity is desired, you may increase the ingredients by half. Be sure not to overfill the pressure cooker.  It's also very important to look through the vent pipe in the lid of the pressure cooker to be sure it is clear of any blockage. You don't want to find that out later when the heat is on.

 This little doo-hik-ee is called a "pressure regulator".  It goes on the top of the vent in the lid.

 Like this.

 On the handle and lid there are arrows that need to line up. Hold the body handle with your left hand and the cover handle with your right hand and twist using a slight downward pressure to get the lid to seal on. Wait. First put the pudding stuff in there.

 2/3 cup millet

 1 can coconut milk and 1 cup of water.

 pinch of salt

 add the  1/2 tsp Wise Woman of The East Spice Blend 
 and the 1/2 tsp vanilla

 Now align the arrows by placing one hand on the cover near the helper hand and applying a slight downward pressure. The pressure cooker is completely closed when the cover handle is directly above the body handle.

 This model shows it is locked.

 You will notice a little rubber knob on the top of the pressure cooker. It is an air vent.

 Turn up the heat to 400 degrees or high.

 The air vent will pop up and then...

The pressure regulator begins a rocking motion. Cooking time starts at this point. 12 minutes for this pudding. Allow the pressure regulator to rock vigorously for 1-2 minutes and then slowly turn the heat control down, stopping just at the point where the pilot light goes out. As cooking proceeds, the heat control will cycle on and off to maintain the proper cooking pressure. The pilot light will go on and off and pressure regulator will rock occasionally indicating that the pressure is being maintained. Note: If the pressure regulator does not rock every 2-3 minutes, it is likely that the heat control has been set too low. Turn the heat control up slightly until the the pilot light comes on.  

 To prevent excessive liquid loss, do not allow pressure regulator to rock vigorously for more than 3-4 minutes. If the regulator is allowed to continuously rock, excess steam will escape. This will cause too much liquid to escape and food to scorch.  Do not leave pressure cooker unattended.   After 12 minutes, turn off heat.

 Wait for pressure cooker to decompress naturally. This may take about 10 minutes.

 Remove pressure regulator only after air vent cover has returned to the flush position.

 The pudding is creamy and ready to be sweetened...

 I use three droppers full of stevia or

1/3 cup Xagave Raw Organic Agave Nectar  

 I like my coconut crispy. It's a nice crunch on top of the creamy pudding.  So I stir in the lime zest and sprinkle the coconut over the pudding.

 We serve it up warm.

There you go! Happy Moday!!

Pear and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Here is another way to incorporate whole grain in your family's diet. Who doesn't like cookies?

True confessions...I love oatmeal cookies. This recipe has some crunchy coconut on top of a wholesome chewy spiced pear oatmeal cookie. It's a big white fluffy toasted crunch hat...like Broadway meets my cooling rack...minus the sequin. Great as a quick breakfast on the run or in a lunchbox with a sprouted wheat bread sandwich, these will really add energy to your life!
Just before baking I top with coconut. That's the top hat secret.

See that pile of love? I then flatten the pile a little, but dough doesn't stick to my hand if there is coconut there. See the genius in that..can someone tell my husband?

This is the recipe:

Pear and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies (of joy and happiness)

3 cups oats, rolled

1 cup whole wheat cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, or "Smart Beat" heart smart stuff...for baking MELTED.

1 cup brown sugar (or 1/2 cup honey)

2T molasses

1 egg, or 1/4 cup egg replacement

1/2 cup buttermilk or milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped dry pears

1/2 cup coconut, shredded

coconut for top hats.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the melted butter, sugar, molasses, egg, buttermilk, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined along with the pears and 1/2 cup coconut. Scoop by rounded Tablespoon onto parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with coconut. Bake 350 degrees 10-12 minutes.

EAT, FAINT, REPEAT.