Toasted coconut & almond chocolate

Ingredients:

200gms 85% Lindt

100gms 70% Old Gold

(you can use any brand, I just try and keep the percentages high so that it's richer and I eat less ;))

150gms Butter or Coconut Oil

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

100gms Sliced Almonds

100gms Coconut chips

Prep work: Preheat your oven to grill 200C, Line a dish with parchment paper.

Directions: 

Melt your butter or coconut oil, once melted then take off the heat and add in the chocolate, this will ensure you don't cook the chocolate and then you will have a melt in your mouth consistency. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Put your almonds onto a baking sheet and place under the grill to toast, watch it very carefully as they will burn, check constantly and turn to ensure most of the almonds get toasted.  Do not burn or it will ruin the chocolate.  Next do the coconut, you need to watch the coconut even more or you will burn it, coconut has a very high fat content and will toast much faster than the almonds.  This will get your house smelling amazing too I might add! This can also be done in a non stick frying pan but I find it is easier to mess it up plus you don't always get an even toasting.

Add your toasted almond & coconut to the chocolate mixture and then pour into your lined dish, pop in the fridge for several hours and then cut when it's nearly set, place back in the fridge and then break it up and put into a container and store in the fridge. 

Rum & Raisin Truffle Chocolate

This chocolate is ultra rich and very decadent, you could almost get drunk from it ;) it has a truffle like texture and I promise it will take care of any sweet cravings you have! If you don't like super rich dark chocolate then use all 70% and add some form of sweetener.

• 2 x 100gm blocks 85% Lindt
• 1 x 100gm block 70% espresso chocolate (or just use normal and add a shot of coffee if you like it, won't matter to leave it out)
• 1/2 cup Coconut Oil
• 1/4 cup Appleton Estate Rum
• 1 cup Raisins

Melt the coconut oil, once melted take off heat and add chocolate and let it melt, if needed pop back on heat but not on high or the chocolate won't melt in your mouth once it's set!

Add the rum (less if you don't want it so rich), mix well and then add raisins.

Line a tray with baking paper, pour in mixture and refrigerate for several hours, remove and cut into pieces!

Tip: the way it tastes in the pot is the way it tastes once set so adjust ingredients while you can!

Chocolate lava cake!

Before I start all the credit goes to this awesome blog! http://healthfreakrevolution.com/?p=607

This is my second attempt at the best chocolate pudding ever....it's now lava cake!
This is revolutionary and I'm so happy I stumbled across the recipe, thanks to Joanne from Bellatrix Nutrition for sharing it! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=456968350997260&set=a.306377172723046.93130.149444195083012&type=1&ref=notif&notif_t=photo_reply&theater

It's definitely considered a 'treat indulgence' even though dark chocolate and eggs are super foods I don't recommended having this all the time..have it when you are really feeling like a treat or everyone else is having something non-primal then you could indulge in this.  A very high fat, high calorie treat, maybe half it if you are trying to lose weight!
I'm a real lover of super dark chocolate so if you aren't I suggest going for a 70% cocoa content, this version is very rich!

My little tweaks:

• 14 pieces of 85% Green and Blacks
• 2 pieces of 70% Old Gold
• 1 square of 85% Lindt
• 1 whole egg
• 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil

Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a mug, microwave on a medium setting for about 2 minutes, the coconut oil will stop the chocolate from burning and makes the pudding taste unreal!
Let the melted chocolate cool enough to add in the egg without it scrambling.  Place the square of lindt in the centre and microwave the whole thing for 60 seconds.  
Tip out on a plate, it doesn't stick at all and then serve with whatever your heart desires.  I love pears with chocolate, it reminds me of an old favourite "Upside down pear pudding".

Nutritional stats for this chocolate lava cake are:
Calories: 616
Fat: 52gms
Carbs: 25
Net Carbs: 18
Protein: 11
 

Grain-Free Basic Bread (Coconut Flour Flax Bread)

I cannot take the credit for this recipe as I found it at Joyful Abode which is an awesome blog by the way!! I thought I would give it a try and happy to report it's pretty damn awesome grain free bread, high in fat and low in carbs with super ingredients.

You could eat this everyday if you wanted but if you think it might start a craving for "real bread" then maybe keep it as a treat. The taste has way more flavour than plain bread, great with almond butter which is how I had mine, I had two slices with butter then almond butter when it first came out of the oven and wow it was super filling, it's all I ate for the day that's how filling it is. I reckon it would be awesome for french toast, then the obvious just toasted and used under poached eggs or creamy mushrooms or for croutons, it was really fresh the day after and you could easily use it for a sandwich. Here's the recipe and I've done the nutritional breakdown for it also.

Grain-Free Basic Bread (Coconut Flour Flax Bread) Recipe
• 1 cup coconut flour, sifted
• 1 cup flax seeds, ground and sifted (I discarded the hulls that wouldn’t sift through)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 10 eggs (yeah, here’s the high-protein part)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup plain full-fat yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees celsius).
Mix together flour, flax, salt, and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut oil, yogurt, and vinegar.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing after each addition (I did about 3-4 “rounds” of adding dry ingredients).
Pour into a greased loaf pan, and bake 50 minutes. (Probably longer if you are using a smaller loaf pan so your bread is “deeper”) I baked the one above for 70 minutes since it's in a deeper pan which only makes 18pcs not 22.
Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cutting board. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

If your interested in net carbs it's only 2.12 grams of net carbs per piece

The link to the Joyful abode site is http://www.joyfulabode.com/2010/12/01/grainfree-basic-bread-coconut-flour-flax-bread/

Primal Power Bars

As requested by Jaxz the recipe for Primal Power Bars.....

These are awesome! I found the recipe on the new MDA Forum http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/topic/primal-power-bars and they really are great. The recipe originated at Elana’s Pantry http://www.elanaspantry.com/power-bars/. Here’s my little adjustment of course :)

Gluten and Dairy Free Power Bars

1 cup almond flour/ground almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts - fresh

½ cup flax meal

½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

½ cup salted roasted almond butter

½ cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon dark cane sugar or Raw honey (depending on taste)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Combine almond flour, flax meal, coconut, sugar.
2. In a small sauce pan, melt coconut oil over very low heat,
3. Remove coconut oil from stove, stir in almond butter and vanilla
4. Add coconut oil mixture to dry ingredients which will form a coarse paste
5. Press mixture into an 8 x 8 glass baking dish
6. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour, until mixture hardens

Topping: Dark Chocolate Ganache

113 Dark Chocolate (I used 85%)

90mls Coconut Cream

1-2 tablespoons Coconut Oil

1. In a small saucepan, heat coconut cream and coconut oil, take off heat and add chocolate stiring continuously until smooth.
2. Spread melted chocolate gnache over bars; return to refrigerator for 30 minutes, until chocolate firms. It won’t harden completely but it’s very yummy. You can just use melted down chocolate for topping.
3. Remove from refrigerator, cut into bars and serve

Macadamia Chocolate

I love Macadamia Chocolate but the only one I can find that I love is one called MacBar which is only 70% choc and costs $3.50NZD for only 30gms!! Also I prefer 85% and it’s lower in sugar. So I went to the organic shop the other day and bought a handful of shelled macadamias and sat outside on the concrete with a hammer and uncovered the delicious macadamias, if you’ve only ever had packet roasted or salted ones and you’re not sure about them then you need to try raw ones. I personally only like the raw ones, they are divine and expensive to buy unshelled in a foil packet something like $7-8 for 100gms!!

So I managed to get 50gms of unshelled macadamias for about $1.00! all it meant was I needed to hammer the crap out of the shells but it was therapeutic and soo much better than paying more. This also means that the chocolate I buy doesn’t feel so exuberant when you save on the macadamias… I buy Rapunzel chocolate for 80gms is $6.90 which is fairly expensive but compared to the MacBar it’s a lot cheaper, you also don’t need a lot because it’s so rich. The 85% Lindt bars which are cheaper are also good but no way near as nice or smooth as Rapunzel, I think Rapunzel has more fat in it which is why it’s smoother plus it’s organic fair trade which is great.

Here’s the fun I had in the kitchen:
De-shelled the macadamias and chopped them coarsely then prepare the chocolate broken into pieces.



Bring to the boil a double boiler or a pot with a stainless steel bowl as seen here, melt the chocolate down then add the chopped macadamias. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and pour in the chocolate mix. I had to set mine in the fridge and take it out just before it sets so I can cut it, but I also found it didn’t set too solid so could be cut after anyway.



So I think the texture is actually better after it’s been melted it’s more melt in your mouth for some reason. The finished product is OMG!! I cannot tell you just how good this tastes and is a real treat and a sensible vice :)


Another idea I’ve had is to try it with Lindt 85% because it’s a bit cheaper and add a little coconut oil to the process which might make it smoother and I guess a little lower in carbs also, that will be my next try if I’m trying to be careful with cash. Otherwise the Rapunzel is the ultimate!