Sugar free, dairy free hot chocolate

Near Christmas time a year and a half ago, back when my husband and I were still dating, I visited him at his sister's house and she made the best hot chocolate I had ever had. Unfortunately James could not drink it because of the high sugar content, and I technically shouldn't have either because it had a TON of dairy. I drank it anyway. Then I asked for the recipe and made it for my family. Then I almost threw up.
But boy was it delicious!

I wanted it so bad...
...so I came up with a similar recipe which both of us could drink safely:

4 cups almond milk (May contain some cane sugar. Check the label first)
1 can coconut milk (Lite works too, but for some reason it tends to separate from the almond milk. I recommend the full-fat kind)
1/3 cup Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Whisk ingredients together over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Serve hot.

Someone told me it tastes like cupcakes. :)
I love the combination of flavors and that I can drink it without getting sick!

Decadent Sea Salt Brownies

I bought this bag of chocolate chips one time which had a really great brownie recipe on the back. Naturally it was packed full of sugar. It sounded so good, so I did what I always do: adapted it.
Here is my slightly healthier version.

Ingredients:

1 cup dark chocolate or carob chips

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable  or coconut oil

1/2 honey

1/2 walnuts (optional)

Hershey's syrup 

course sea salt 

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt dark chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl for 1 min. Stir until melted completely. Add flour, eggs, baking powder, salt, honey, and vegetable oil. Stir in milk chocolate chips and nuts. Spread batter into 8X8 pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm topped with a drizzle of Hershey's syrup and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Sausage Rolls

 Perfect for High Tea!

Ingredients
Fully cooked sausage links
Your favorite biscuit dough
Spicy brown mustard
1 egg
Dried or fresh chives, minced

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Break dough into as many sections as you have sausages. On a floured surface roll out each chunk of dough to about two inches longer than your sausage, and several inches wider. Slather with mustard and sprinkle on some of the chives. Roll a sausage in each piece of dough and place on a cookie sheet or baking stone. Scrabble the egg with a fork and gently brush onto the tops of each sausage roll. Sprinkle with chives.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Slice and serve warm.

Yummy chocolate "shake"

I like to have this sweet treat for breakfast sometimes to get in plenty of fruit 

while having a chocolate fix at the same time.

Ingredients
1 banana
1 kiwi
1 slice of pineapple or orange
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup almond milk
ice cubes

Blend ingredients. Add ice cubes to thicken as needed. Yum! Enjoy!
Makes about 2 cups

Quick Guacamole

James and I love to have this with nachos and refried beans on the weekend. We call it our Saturday lunch.

Quick Guacamole

Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1/4 cup chopped onion
half a Roma tomato, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Peel avocados and remove pits. Mash with a fork. Add chopped veggies, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic salt. Stir. If you want it to be spicy you could probably add some chillies.
Mmmm...
Serve right away. It will turn dark brown if you leave it out.

Avocado Frosting

Frosting is so sugary. :( I've wanted to make a less sweet version of frosting for a long time, but couldn't think of a way to get it thick enough (short of loading it with corn starch). But a while back I found a recipe for vegan ice cream. With a few changes it made a fairly good frosting. Thick, pudding-like texture, creamy, and all that. I liked it. So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 corn starch
1/2 cup honey
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup almond (or other) milk
1 tsp vanilla
optional: 1/4 powdered sugar (if you are not satisfied with the sweetness)

Peel avocados and remove pits. Smash in a stand mixer or food processor until smooth, then add other ingredients. Add extra almond milk or corn starch to adjust the consistency if necessary. Watch out for little green lumps of avocado hanging out in the frosting. It doesn't affect the taste, but it does look a little weird.
Spread onto a cake, or graham crackers, or whatever you like to eat with frosting.
I recommend storing it in the fridge over night before use to let the flavor deepen.

Good-For-You Banana Muffins

My bananas were getting kinda brown so I whipped these up yesterday. They were really yummy! In fact, there isn't a single one left (No, I didn't eat them all by myself). I forgot to take a picture, but next time I make them I will be sure to snap a few shots. Not that they were super exciting to look at, or anything.

Ingredients:
4 very ripe bananas
3 eggs
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of honey
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°. Mash bananas. Unceremoniously dump all ingredients into one bowl and mix...blah, blah, blah...I won't bore you with the details. I'm sure ya'll know how to mix muffin batter. For fun you can also sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over the top before you bake them.
Pour into greased muffin pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (or mostly clean, if you didn't mash the bananas all the way like me) when inserted into the muffins.
Makes about 18 muffins.

Enjoy!