Superfood Hot Cocoa

Today was dreary, gray, wet and cold. I've lived in New England and in Scotland and I still think wet cold is the coldest cold there is. I must be getting acclimated to the south because today, for the first time this winter, I was truly cold. I currently am under a blanket and I am wearing socks. That is huge for this warm blooded gal. You northerners are probably laughing at this. But for Louisiana, this is COLD! (We'll laugh at you come summer time when you complain about the heat) Anyhow, today I was craving something warm to drink, something healthy and I started thinking about hot cocoa. You may be thinking I'm delusional to ever think that hot cocoa could actually be healthy. But surprisingly it is totally possible to make hot chocolate that is not only, 'not too bad for you', but is actually extremely healthy and delicious too!! Here's the recipe, but below, make sure and check out the reasons WHY the superfood ingredients in this delicious recipe make this hot cocoa so healthy.

SUPERFOOD HOT COCOA

Ingredients:
1 cup milk of choice
1 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2-1 Tbsp raw honey or a pinch of pure stevia
1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2  tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

Instructions:
1. Add milk to sauce pan and bring to a boil
2. Lower to a simmer and stir in cacao powder
3. Add in turmeric, sea salt and cinnamon
4. Stir in honey or stevia and vanilla
5. Add coconut oil and whip in until all chunks are melted and mixture becomes thick and creamy
6. Enjoy! (But let cool down and don't get impatient and burn the hide off of your tongue like I did!
(Makes one cup)

Okay so what's so super special about this cocoa? Check out the amazing health benefits of each of the ingredients below. Guilt-free HEALTHY cocoa! Who ever heard of such a thing?!

1. Cacoa: (No I didn't misspell it. :) Just read on...) As you may have heard (and you may have rejoiced as I did),  chocolate does have some health benefits, Unsweetened cocoa powder which typically is an ingredient of hot cocoa has a decent amount of antioxidants, is a rich source of fiber, has some protein and has very little fat. So it is not a bad choice by any means. But there is another chocolate source that is much, much better than the typically, over-processed cocoa our mom's used and is even touted by many experts on health and nutrition as one of the healthiest foods in the world! What is this superfood? Cacao powder. Very similar to cocoa powder but much, much healthier. Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume. It is less processed and has the highest concentration of antioxidants than any food in the world. It is an excellent source of monounsaturated fats, cholesterol-free saturated fats, vitamins, minerals, natural carbohydrates and a high concentration of iron and magnesium to name a few. It also is the only food to help our brains produce the 'feel-good' hormones: PEA, Tryptophan and Anandamide. It also contains flavonoids, which are known to help lower blood pressure and to improve blood flow to the brain and heart. All this with fewer than 15 calories per teaspoon. It was considered 'the food of the gods' by the ancient Aztecs. No wonder it's considered a superfood! And how does it taste? Surprisingly it tastes like what it is- chocolate. There are slight differences from regular cocoa that you may notice, and like dark chocolate it has a bit of an 'edge' to it, but with proper (healthy) sweeteners added, it can be used in the place of cocoa in all recipes. I often will make chocolate milk with cacao, milk, honey and vanilla when I want a filling and healthy snack. As with anything, go organic and raw and check out your sources. I do research first and then buy a lot of my health food on Amazon. You can get it here.

2. Coconut oil: Coconut oil is the darling of the health food world right now. And for good reason. Coconuts are an excellent source of nutrition and a wonderful way to increase healthy fats in your diet. Coconut oil has antimicrobial, antibacterial and anti fungal properties. It also has antioxidant properties and helps in the absorption of other minerals. Coconut oil is the richest natural source of lauric acid which has been shown to be useful in increasing immunity and fighting viruses and disease. Lauric acid has been shown to be preventative against some cancers and when combined with oregano oil has even been found to be more effective in fighting staph bacteria than antibiotics. And it tastes amazing! So coconut oil is pretty super as food goes. I add it to as many foods as I can get away with. It's my oil of choice in recipes and I love putting it in smoothies, greasing pans (Instead of Crisco. It has the same consistency), in sautéing, baking and as a skin moisturizer.  And there are ton more things you can do with it. As with everything you buy, buying certified organic is the way to go. In the case of coconut oil, also look for 'extra virgin' on the label. I use this brand and get it here.

3. Turmeric: Turmeric is another superfood with tremendous health benefits. To begin, turmeric offers anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and even anti-carcinogenic properties. It is touted as aiding in digestion and in assisting in reducing bloating and abdominal cramps. It can reduce the accumulation of toxins and harmful bacteria in the gut and is a useful treatment of diabetes, liver diseases, arthritis, skin and joint issues and gut inflammation, It can protect against heart disease, reduce cholesterol and can be used as an antibiotic on open wounds. I have used it in a ginger tea when I had a bad upper respiratory infection. Although it's commonly used in Indian food, it's a premiere ingredient in our Greek Chicken Schwarma recipe. Doesn't seem like a likely thing to put in hot chocolate, but even a little has great health benefits. And it gives my hot chocolate the tiniest little indiscernible kick. Tasty!

4. Cinnamon: Cinnamon is more than just a friendly little spice to put on your oatmeal and cinnamon rolls, it is also loaded with powerful antioxidants. The antioxidants in cinnamon have anti-inflammatory effects which may help lower the risk of disease. It can lower blood sugar levels and has a tremendous anti-diabetic effect. It has beneficial effects on Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases and has been used to successfully fight bacteria and fungal infections. Surprised?!

5. Sweetener: Raw honey is the sweetener of choice for the Superfood Hot Cocoa because of its help with stomach issues and its antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-fungal and wound healing properties. But because it's a Daniel Fast and honey isn't allowed, I'm using a pinch of concentrated all natural stevia powder instead. This isn't the stevia you usually see in the grocery store which is highly processed, with all types of fillers and artificial ingredients added (and some brands even add processed sugar). This is the pure, organic, undiluted stuff and trust me on this- a little bit goes a long way! So I use a pinch of it, I taste it and I adjust accordingly. This is a product that I use a lot. It takes only 1/2 tsp of pure stevia for an entire pitcher of ice tea. I'm telling you, this stuff is stout! I also get this brand on Amazon and you can also get it here.  (This isn't the only good stevia around, but I love it and it's a good one that I can recommend). But to be honest, raw honey is probably a more nutritious option for hot cocoa (and after the fast it will probably be what I use), but for the Daniel fast I will stick with my stevia. Some DFast purists don't even allow stevia. But I'm obviously not a purist and anyhow, its from a plant. So there!

The remainder of the recipe calls for milk (I used organic almond milk), a tiny pinch of sea salt and vanilla (optional) and there you have it.  Superfood Hot Cocoa!

*Some other ingredients you can also add to this recipe are maca powder and also ginger. These also have great medicinal, superfood benefits which would add even more nutrition to Superfood Hot Cocoa.

Crispy Eggplant Pasta

Last night I made probably the best thing I've eaten on this Daniel Fast so far. And it wasn't on the menu either. Last time I was at the grocery store, in the produce aisle I spied a large, lovely eggplant. Although I knew there was nothing on the menu with eggplant as an ingredient I threw caution to the wind and dropped it in my grocery cart anyway. Fast forward to last night- I was trying to decide what to make. I was tired of soup, weary of Mexican, not feeling a salad, still burned from my last pasta disaster (the infamous cauliflower Alfredo- Yuck!) so I decided to try something with eggplant. I perused Pinterest with the search title of "eggplant, vegetarian, dairy free" and although I didn't find anything dairy-free per se I did find a recipe I felt I could adapt without losing integrity. I hate to tell you that I took no pictures to tell of it's glory because I was halfway through my second helping before the thought occurred to me. Oh well. However, I do have a link to the original recipe here and you can gaze at the original blogger's beautiful pics. I highly recommend that you try this one out for your Daniel Fast unless you have a problem with eggplant ((gasp)). The original title of the dish is Vegan Eggplant Parmesan. But since my D-Fast adaption is cutting out the dairy (i.e. the parmesan) I changed the name of the dish for my purposes here. However, the original recipe could still be used for a Daniel Fast if you have the ingredients -vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast- I had neither so... However even without these it was still amazing! Anyhow, here's the link so you can check out the lovely photos. I followed the directions exactly except for the parmesan. It was still divine and oh so crispy. The marinara sauce recipe I added was also from the same blog. Highlighted items in the recipe are my adaptions to the original recipe. You don't have to follow my changes, because I feel sure the recipe is great on it's own without them but my changes were made because either I didn't have an ingredient or I added something I particularly like. It's all up to you. Enjoy!

Crispy Eggplant Pasta

Ingredients:

EGGPLANT PARMESAN

• 1 medium eggplant (as narrow as possible - see notes for more tips)
• 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour (or other flour of your choice) I used King Arthur white whole wheat
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (GF for gluten free eaters)
• 2 Tbsp vegan parmesan (or sub 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast) I omitted this ingredient
• 1 tsp dried oregano (or 2 tsp fresh) I used just 1/2 tsp of dried oregano and ADDED 1/2 tsp dried basil and 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt I used 1/2 tsp
• 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or other neutral milk)
• 1 tsp cornstarch

PASTA + SAUCE

• 8 ounces pasta (such as linguini, but any kind will do, including veggie noodles or gluten free) I used WHOLE WHEAT thin spaghetti
• 2 cups marinara sauce

MARINARA SAUCE

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce OR 6-ounce can tomato paste (organic when possible)

1/2 tsp each dried or fresh basil, oregano, garlic powder, granulated sugar I omitted the sugar but added a Tbsp of pure Real Apple brand apple juice. Also after tasting I added more of the spices than 1/2 tsp.

Sea salt to taste (1/4 tsp) I used 1/2 tsp

Instructions:

1. Slice eggplant into thin rounds slightly less than 1/2 inch thick, and sprinkle each side liberally with sea salt. Arrange in a circular pattern in a colander and place in the sink to draw out the bitter taste of the eggplant.
2. Let rest for 15 minutes, then rinse and arrange on a clean absorbent kitchen towel. Top with another clean dish towel and lay a baking sheet on top. Place something heavy on top, such as a cast iron skillet, to thoroughly dry for at least 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil and spritz with nonstick spray. Also, if making pasta, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.
4. Prepare your dipping stations by placing almond milk + cornstarch in one bowl; flour in another bowl; and bread crumbs + sea salt + oregano + vegan parmesan (or nutritional yeast) in another bowl.
5. Once thoroughly dry, dip eggplant slices in flour, then almond milk mixture, then breadcrumbs. Arrange on the baking sheet and pop in oven to bake for a total of 20-30 minutes.
6. IMPORTANT STEP: While the eggplant is in the oven, bring a large skillet to medium heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil (or sub canola or grape seed) and pull 3-4 eggplant rounds out of the oven at a time and sauté to give them extra crisp and texture. Cook for ~2 minutes on each side (or browned) and then return to oven to continue crisping. Do this in batches until all rounds are browned.
7. While eggplant is browning in the oven, prepare marinara. I prefer adding my tomato sauce and spices to a serving bowl and microwaving to warm, but you could also heat it on the stove. Set aside.
8. Once done cooking, drain pasta and cover with a towel to keep warm. Set aside.
9. To serve: Plate pasta and eggplant slices and marinara in a dish as a dipping sauce. Additional vegan parmesan cheese makes an excellent topper.
10. Leftovers don’t really reheat well, so it’s best when fresh. See notes for additional tips on crispy eggplant!

Notes

*Loosely adapted from the Crispy Aubergine Pesto Pasta from Top with Cinnamon’s new Cookbook!
*EGGPLANT TIPS!
- Buy a narrow eggplant - the really big wide ones don’t get as crisp!
- Don’t skip the salt / drain step - it really helps draw out the bitterness.
- Once coated, make sure you get the eggplant in the oven as quickly as possible so it doesn’t sit there absorbing any excess moisture.
- Really press down on the eggplant after rinsing to ensure you get all of the water out you can.
- Although it’s an extra step, browning the eggplant in the skillet in addition to baking yields the crispiest result!

Taco Soup Recipe

Tonight was one of my favorite Daniel Fast meals. Taco Soup.

You just can't go wrong with this soup. It's especially nice to have hot soup now that the weather is finally acting like it's winter time! This recipe has a little bit of kick to it that I guess came from the spices in the Ro-tel tomatoes. I'm not sure but that little bit of heat wasn't too much and was a nice touch. I suppose it could have been the taco seasoning. You can certainly used packaged taco seasoning but I encourage you to read the ingredients label first. As stated before in this blog, if the ingredients are not anything you recognize or can easily pronounce, then they are probably artificial and processed ingredients. Better to make your own. I'll provide the recipe for homemade taco seasoning below.  You probably have most of these in your cabinet anyway. I originally got this soup recipe from The Ultimate Daniel Fast website but I've adapted it a bit for my family's own taste.

Taco Soup
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
4 cups vegetable broth or water
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilis
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can refried beans (organic and vegetarian if you can find it)
1 can corn drained (or better yet, frozen corn)
1 Tbsp DIY taco seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
*1 to 1 1/2 cup cooked brown rice

Cook rice according to package directions. Sauté diced onion in olive oil over warm heat until soft and translucent. Add broth, tomatoes, beans, refrieds, corn and seasonings. Heat to boiling and reduce heat and cook 30 minutes. Add cooked rice, the last few minutes of cooking.

Yield: 8 servings
*Can substitute polenta or quinoa for brown rice.

DIY Taco Seasoning

I've found that making your own seasoning mixes rather than buying the super processed, artificial packaged ones is a much healthier and affordable option. We eat a lot of Mexican food so we use this one a lot so it saves us a lot of money.  

DIY Taco Seasoning

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
3 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp sea salt

Combine ingredients in a jar, shake to mix. You can adjust the ingredients to your taste, double or half this recipe.

Recipe- Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potato(es)

olive oil

salt

pepper

rosemary

almond milk 

Bake sweet potato(es) in the oven or microwave (I was impatient and microwaved it for 10 minutes). When cooked through careful cut lengthwise and scoop out middle. Take the empty shells and brush inside and out with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. (Just watch them carefully so they don't burn -I find that every oven is different). While the potato skins are cooking, mash sweet potato filling and mix with milk* and seasoning **. Then when shells are done, stuff with filling and bake for an additional 10 minutes until heated through. 

*The amount of milk depends on the amount of your sweet potato filling. I just poured like a couple of Tbsp at a time (you don't want it to be too liquidy) until it was creamy, like mashed potatoes. 

**The seasonings are according to your taste. I'd never added salt to a sweet potato before but the salt along with the rosemary made a deliciously complex flavor. 

I wish I'd taken a picture but I gobbled it down too fast. I had to fight Keith off of them which I wasn't counting on since he's never been a big sweet potato fan. Guess I'll have to make more than just one next time! :)

Good stuff!

Had a pretty successful fasting day today. Breakfast was pretty great. I made my fruity nutty cereal which is basically any type of berry you want (I had several different types), nuts (I used pecans and almonds), sliced banana, coconut in almond milk. Yum! If fresh peaches were in season that would be pretty awesome as well. But I imagine any type of fruit would work.

Then lunch was freakin great as well. I saw this recipe posted on Facebook this morning and I adapted it to be DFast friendly. Twice baked sweet potatoes. Pretty simple actually. Now I love me a sweet potato. I'm not talking about canned yams loaded down with sugar and marshmallows served on holidays. But the real thing with the skin. My dad always called it 'country candy' and we had them a lot growing up. Nothing better than a hot baked sweet potato slathered in butter. Yum. But since dairy's not allowed in the fast I tried this recipe instead. Keith isn't a huge sweet potato fan so we don't have them often. But I may have converted him. Sweet potatoes are a much healthier option than white potatoes so I'm going to try to get creative and add them to our diet more. I didn't get a picture of my sumptuous sweet potato lunch but here's the recipe. 

For supper we had the shish kababs.

These were a bit of a disappointment. The marinade was great and they tasted fine but they just seemed to be lacking somehow. Perhaps had I served it with something else, or added potatoes to the mix, they would have been more filling. I think they'd be great as a side dish but as the main entree, I just wasn't left very satisfied. However, this IS a fast lest I forget. :) I think that's kinda the point. Anyhow.  Definitely not a failure. Just not as amazing as breakfast and lunch.

A lot of these recipes are so satisfying that I often don't feel like I'm fasting at all. Keith's losing weight like crazy but he's also not going back for seconds like I am either. So I need to get myself under control and tell myself NO. :) Anyhow, hoping tomorrow is as successful as today!

Week 1 Recap and WEEK 2 Menu

Hey all. Well how'd everyone do with Week 1 of the Daniel Fast? We did pretty well overall except for a couple of mess ups (In addition to my nasty cauliflower Alfredo I also had a huge smoothie failure which I shall not elaborate on). I didn't completely stick to the Dinner idea list. That big honkin batch of soup that I made on the first day reappeared many times during the week for lunches and even for dinner a couple more times when we didn't feel like cooking. As you know I attempted the Alfredo instead of sticking to the list, which along with the nights we had left overs replaced the burrito bowls and taco soup so that will be on the list again this week. Here's what I ended up having this week. Keith's was slightly different since he chose different items for lunch and also was away one night on a hunting trip and had to eat what he was served.

Monday: Detox soup for the masses (Success although we made so much and had it so often that I don't think I want to see this soup again for a long time).
Tuesday: Portobello fajitas. (Success!)
Wednesday: Soup left-overs
Thursday: Alfredo disaster
Friday: Soup left overs
Saturday: Greek salad (Success!! This salad was glorious! We shall see it again next week. More on it below)
Sunday: Stewed cabbage and sliced potatoes and onions sautéed in olive oil (Success! This is a favorite of ours any night of the week, Daniel Fast or not. Especially good in the summertime served with sliced tomatoes when they are abundant)

A little about the Greek Salad. I don't know if I was just super hungry or what but good grief it was good. Sliced mushrooms, diced red onions, sweet bell peppers, green olives, pickled artichoke hearts, avocado, grape tomatoes, pecans and handful of hemp hearts served with Italian dressing. Yum Yum!

For breakfasts I usually had a smoothie or oatmeal.
I had the best smoothie of all time this week--Frozen strawberries, half an avocado, half a banana, tofu, coconut oil, hemp hearts, pineapple juice. Yum! For lunch I either had left-overs or I ate breakfast so late that I had my breakfast at lunchtime.

But despite all this healthy food, I've lost one pound is all :(. But I do feel sharper and healthier. The longer you eat healthy, the less you want to eat junk. And I have found myself a lot more focused and have had some really good times in the word and in prayer. More on that later in the week...

Okay so what's on the menu this week? This is just a guideline. As you can see I don't always stick to it.


WEEK 2:

Breakfasts:
Smoothies
Oatmeal
Fruit and Nut Cereal --This is basically, different types of berries and/or fruit, bananas, coconut and nuts in a bowl with almond milk. I eat it like cereal. Its really yummy and surprisingly filling. You could use any type of berry or sliced fruit.

Lunches:
Leftovers
Tortilla with avocado

Dinners:
-Spaghetti with sautéed vegetables (See Recipe)
-Burrito bowls --Sautéed onions and bell peppers, black beans, refried beans, avocado, salsa in a bowl of Cilantro Rice 
-Grilled (or roasted) veggie shish kebobs (Link)
-Pesto Pasta with sautéed vegetables --Basil or Tomato pesto--to taste, as much or as little as you like-- mixed with whole wheat spaghetti and sautéed vegetables. Could use zucchini, eggplant, onion, mushrooms, etc.
-Taco soup (Recipe) Another tried and true that we return to each year (adapted from The Ultimate Daniel Fast's taco soup recipe).
-Greek Salad (Link) Original recipe is in the link. But you can see how I adapted it above. 

Snacks:
Nuts and dried fruit
Granola (Link) I follow this fairly close but I prefer pecans to walnuts and I add some cinnamon to the mix and also I don't add the dried fruit until towards the end of the baking time to keep it from becoming too dried out and chewy. I also bake longer than the recipe calls for. Maybe I should have just written out my own recipe lol 

I realize that I only listed 5 dinner items but I want to leave it open for ideas that may strike me throughout the week plus the inevitable left overs. I'll let you know how it goes. :)