5 Minute Dairy Free Chocolate Mousse

Here it is: My 5 minute chocolate mousse recipe. And it's soooo ridiculously easy!!! Chocolate mousse traditionally ranges from thick, dense and creamy to light, airy, whipped and smooth. They are ALL equally brilliant in my book.



THIS particular mousse is on the thicker side (especially when chilled). It is great by itself, but also wonderful as a filling for tarts, as a fruit dip, in

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Chocolate Cherry "Milkshake" -- a green smoothie in disguise

Basically I just wanted chocolate a few nights ago... then I wanted a milkshake... then I decided just to make a healthy version of a chocolate shake... I had frozen cherries in the freezer from a friend. I had spinach. I had raw cacao powder. I had bananas. I had almond milk. All that stuff + ice = mmmmm. Unexpectedly mmmmm.

This one's a win! It's a green smoothie in disguise. You can add more greens if you like. It's quite sweet with the stevia and fruit, so you could definitely pack in some more spinach or kale. They will never know... it's chocolate, so it's supposed to be brown... they'll never guess that's partially from the greens as well.

Michael also likes this with a few tablespoons of peanut butter thrown in for good measure. I, however... am the purist... just give me the chocolate and the cherries.

Chocolate Cherry "Milkshake" 
Gluten/Grain-Free, Dairy/Casein-Free, Soy-Free, Vegan, No-Added-Sugar
Created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com

1/2 medium banana
1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen, pitted cherries
1-2 handfuls baby spinach
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (of course if you don't have this laying around just toss in some Hershey's cocoa powder!)
1/2 cup almond milk
3-4 ice cubes
few drops liquid vanilla stevia

Add all to high powdered blender and blend on high for 1-2 minutes until thoroughly creamy and resembles a dark chocolate milkshake. Makes 1 large serving -or- 2 small servings.

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Dairy & Grain Free Strawberry Shortcake

This summer we celebrated my youngest son, Linus' 11th birthday. This was also the first birthday that he's had where I, because of our dietary restrictions, couldn't make him a brilliant, Ace Of Cakes style novelty cake as our tradition previously had been. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that we've have had some seriously ornate cakes in our birthday celebration history!

So after

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This Week's Menu - Kindle Cooking!

I never thought I'd say this.... but I am now the proud owner of a kindle. And I loooovvvvvvvveeeee it. I really didn't think I would love it. But I seriously loooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee it. I mean I really, really love it.  So far I've read three four books (I got it on Wednesday)... not listened to them... but actually READ them! I honestly haven't done that in years. Sad to say.

And on top of that.... I found a few super great deals on cookbooks I could download on my kindle... so another thing I never thought I'd do? I cooked from the kindle.

When I've actually had the time to do it in the past few months I've started cooking all of our meals on Sundays. My friend Angie has done this for ages and I've done it occasionally in the past few years... but now it's become the norm.

So Sunday while browsing through "Fix, Freeze, Feast" on my kindle -- which is actually more of a "freezer" cookbook, I found ideas for nearly all of our meals this week. It's become a running joke between my dietitian & I that ONE day soon (I've been saying that for probably a year now) we'll have a deep freezer... and it still hasn't happened (but it WILL! One day soon!).... so while I couldn't really take advantage of the freezer part of the recipes... it gave me great ideas for the week.

This Week's Menu: 

• Monday: Chicken Zucchini Casserole... I've been obsessed with this recipe ever since my friend Betty made it for Michael and I a few months ago when we went to visit. The casserole I made last night is a super altered version that includes chicken, rice, and no eggplant. I actually substitute zucchini for the eggplant when we have made it closer to the original directions. 

• Tuesday: Austrian Pork Goulash -- From Fix, Freeze, Feast served with steamed broccoli

• Wednesday: Simple Slow Cooker Beef Stew -- 1 pound stew beef, handful of baby carrots, half an onion roughly chopped, handful frozen peas, 2 chopped red potatoes, about 3 cups beef broth, salt & pepper... literally thrown into the slow cooker and cooked on low for 8 hours... 

• Thursday:  Chicken hash with red potatoes, green peppers, and onions  -- idea from Fix, Freeze, Feast

• Friday:  Mustard-Oregano Pork Chops -- From Fix, Freeze, Feast with garden peas & sauteed zucchini

Breakfasts: I made "regular" bagel sandwiches for hubs to take to work with him (this was cheaper than buying the frozen ones he really likes! lol) and for myself I used the same hash brown ingredients for the chicken hash above, but used eggs in place of the chicken for a breakfast hash for myself to take to work. 

Lunches: are leftovers! 

Desserts: fresh fruit... this has been my dessert of choice lately (we won't mention the fact that I ate nearly ALL of the grain-free, no-sugar-added chocolate cake -- that's a dangerous cake, especially when you add raspberry preserves on top!) my friend Heather gave me some ripe kiwi, which I haven't had in years so kiwi and peaches are my favorite this week!

Do you have a favorite kindle cookbook?? Please share! And so you're in the know... my slow cooker cookbook coming out this fall will be available for the kindle, nook, etc... so if you've become an e-cookbook lover, you'll be good to go! :-) 

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Gobi Manchurian Recipe - Restaurant style

Gobi Manchurian is one of the most popular starters from the Indo-Chinese cuisine. It was made popular by all the small Chinese restaurants and street side food carts all across India and more specifically in the Kolkata region where the recipe was created by the small Chinese community.

This scrumptious recipe is made with cauliflower florets dipped in flour batter, deep fried and mixed in a slightly sweet, spicy tangy sauce. The sauce itself is made with garlic, green chilly, ginger and onion cooked in soya sauce, chilly sauce and tomato ketchup to give the restaurant-style taste.

Gobi Manchurian Ingredients

• Cauliflower - 1 (medium sized cut into florets)
• Oil for deep fry

For making the batter:

• Corn flour - 2 tbsp
• All purpose flour / maida - 2tbsp
• Egg - 1 no
  NOTE: If you are a vegetarian (vegan) instead of egg use 1/4 cup of water and 1 1/2 tbsp rice flour.
  
• Chilly powder - 3/4 tsp
• Baking powder - 2 pinch
• Orange food color - 2 pinch
• Salt - 1/2 tsp

For making the sauce:

• Onion - 1/2 (medium size chopped)
• Green chilly - 8 no (finely chopped)
• Garlic - 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
• Chopped ginger - 2 tsp (finely chopped)
• Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
• Red chilly sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
• Spring onion - 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
• Corn flour - 2 tsp
• Water - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Ajinomoto - 1 pinch (optional)
• Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Gobi Manchurian Cooking Method:

1. First bring water to a boil in a vessel on medium heat. When the water starts boiling add 1/4 tsp salt and cauliflower florets. Cook for 4 min.Then drain the water and set aside.
2. To make the batter take a bowl and mix all-purpose flour, corn flour, chilly powder, salt, baking powder and food color.
3. Add egg into mixture and mix well into a thick paste.
   NOTE: If you are a vegetarian (vegan) instead of egg you can use 1/4 cup of water and 1 1/2 tbsp rice flour to make the thick paste.
4. Add the cauliflower florets and mix slowly. Make sure all the florets are well coated with the batter.
5. Heat oil for deep frying in pan on medium heat. When oil is hot put coated cauliflower florets.
6. Deep fry till the florets turn golden brown. Fry for around 15 to 20 min to ensure there is no rawness in the cauliflower.Take out the cauliflower and put them on paper towel to drain excess oil and set aside.
7. Take another pan or a wok on medium to high heat. Add 1 1/2 tbsp oil. When the pan is hot add onion, green chilly, ginger, garlic and stir fry till the onion turns translucent.
8. Then add tomato ketchup, red chilly sauce and cook till oil starts to separate from the mixture.
9. Add soya sauce, ajinomoto (optional) and cook for 2 more minutes.
10. Meanwhile mix corn flour in a few tablespoons of water. This will be used as the thickening agent.
11. At this stage you can taste the sauce and adjust the salt and/or chilly sauce as per your taste requirement. If you want to make it a little bit sweet then add sugar.
12. Now increase the heat a little. Add cornflour water mixture to it and mix well. As soon the sauce starts to thicken throw in the fried gobi florets.
13. Slowly mix the contents such that all the cauliflower florets are fully coated with the sauce.
14. Now add finely chopped spring onion and toss or just mix the contents. Gobi Manchurian is now done and ready to be served.

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Gluten-Free, No-Sugar-Added, Chocolate Fudge Cake

really horrid phone camera pic of some seriously awesome cake.
please don't judge the book by it's cover on this one...
trust me... you want to make this cake!

Wow... it's been a while... it feels rather like when you spend a prolonged period at home or on vacation and you're not the one driving... then when you get back in the car on Monday morning to head to work it feels strange... 

I've missed you. I've missed blogging... but I'm ready to come back! 

My Dad is very, very, very slowly on the mend. We are still traveling every other weekend to see him in the hospital. And it's been a joy to see him slowly progress. Some days are better than others both physically & mentally for him. He has a very long road ahead with many, many steps of recovery along the way... and we pray the end result will eventually be a heart transplant. It will be quite a journey to that point.... but I believe in him. 

In lighter news... I'm also a fan of cake. Densely, richly chocolate cake. My friend Jaime W. makes this amazing gluten-free, flour-free chocolate cake. She brings it to local gluten free potlucks and I might as well forget about portion sizes, sugar intake, or my calorie content for the day. It's all out the window if she brings that marvelous cake. 

My friend Heather invited us over for dinner the other night and I instantly wanted to make cake... which is odd since I haven't felt like cooking or baking in months... but suddenly I wanted to make cake. And I wanted a low-sugar, but super chocolate-y cake. I remember seeing a version of Jaime's cake in Paleo Comfort Foods, but it didn't contain ANY added sugar and I thought surely that must taste horrible.

But I decided to give it a go. I didn't want to use as much butter or eggs as the recipe called for... so I played and came up with the following version. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we have... it's definitely better cold (it's AWESOME cold! Richly dense and super delicious!) but almost like a sponge cake when warm... so you can pick how to enjoy it...

(Additional Note: This cake is EXTREMELY rich, fudge-y, and not very sweet. It almost has a coffee overtone (which we loved!)... but I don't think it would appeal to children because of the lack of sweetness and due to the hint of bitterness from the intense dark chocolate.) 

and another really awful phone camera pic of this marvelous
cake... I probably need to apologize to the cake...
she's truly much more stunning in person...
and strangely enough I rather like the retro feel
of these sort of 70's orangish pictures...
moving on...  :-P

Gluten-Free, No-Sugar-Added, Chocolate Fudge Cake
Adapted from the version in Paleo Comfort Foods
Free of gluten, grains, soy, and added sugar
Printer-Friendly Recipe

The Good Stuff:
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1 bag (11.5 oz.) 60-75% dark chocolate chips

Wet Ingredients: 
5 large eggs (preferably at room temperature)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut flour
* 1/4 teaspoon corn-free baking powder (optional)
* 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a double broiler on the stove or a glass bowl in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips and butter together. In another large bowl whisk together the eggs, applesauce, almond milk, and vanilla. Very, very slowly & gently whisk in a small stream of the melted chocolate and butter into the egg mixture. If you add the hot melted chocolate too quickly it will cook the eggs, so do it very slowly and gently. Mix the melted chocolate, butter, and egg mixture until it's thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the dry ingredients. Pour cake batter into a greased pie plate or cake pan. If you want to serve the cake on a platter make sure to line the cake pan with parchment paper so you can remove it easily. Place in 325 degree oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. The time can vary depending on the temperature of your oven and how wet the batter is. The cake will be completely done on the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out MOSTLY clean, there will be some crumbs. Allow cake to cool completely on the counter (the edges will pull away from the pie pan and look as if it's shrinking a bit -- that's okay!) before transferring to the fridge to chill overnight. Slice and serve!


Carrie's Notes: 

• I have no idea what you can use in place of coconut flour, sorry I can't offer a substitution! If you would like the full sugar version that doesn't use coconut flour, try this cake recipe. 
• I have no idea what you can use in place of the eggs in the cake... the eggs are very important here. For a dense egg-free gluten-free chocolate cake, try this one. 
• The baking powder will help the cake rise a little more, but it's not necessary if you choose to leave it out. For a homemade version of corn-free baking powder, check out this recipe. 
• Also the chili powder adds just a hint of kick to the cake, which is awesome... but if you're not into awesome, you can leave it out too! 
• I just baked the cake and served it out of a glass pie pan, which I think works well! And it's pretty!  
• I recommend refrigerating the cake overnight before serving. It will be a dense, rich, dark chocolate-y cake. 
• If you prefer it warm, it will have more of a sponge-cake type texture and is still quite good... but I personally prefer it cold!

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Ganache Filled Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites (Dairy/Grain /egg free, vegan)

I'm about to introduce you to your favorite indulgent snack! Everyone, meet "Ganache Filled Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites"



These cookies are super easy to make and on top of all that, they are grain, dairy, egg and refined sugar free. And that's not all! There are endless things you can make with this ganache recipe....from truffles, frosting, fillings and more. Add a LOT of coconut milk

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