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Pulled Pork – Protein Prep – Oven or Traeger {gluten-free, paleo, keto, Whole30}
Pulled pork is one of those meals that when someone else makes it and says how easy it is to make, but you still never make it. Well, here is your chance. Making a simple and delicious pork butt is almost a set it and forget it type of deal. We also don’t go crazy with the spices for our rub on this recipe. The reasoning behind that is so that you can repurpose the leftovers in a variety of ways without having overpowering seasonings.
Pulled Pork Pro Tips
Pork butt and pork shoulder are very similar, and you could use either cut or for this recipe. They are both in the neck area of the hog. Just a tip from my experience, getting 2 smaller pork butts, about 5 pounds each, is easier and faster to cook than 1 large 10 pound. If you can only find 1 large you can cut it in half before cooking or just leave it whole but remember to time figure out the approximate time of cooking you’re going to need based off the weight. It is typically 60-90 minutes per pound.
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Sheet Pan Crispy Ranch Chicken {gluten-free, paleo, keto, whole30}
This simple Sheet Pan Crispy Ranch Chicken is a breeze to prep and you can make it in bulk to protein prep for the week ahead. This recipe is gluten-free, paleo, keto and Whole 30 friendly! Make with fries, roast veggies or serve with a salad!
Crispy chicken thighs in general are delicious, but have you had crispy ranch chicken thighs? No? Well get ready to get your socks knocked off because this recipe is going to be perfect for batch prepping protein for the week. This recipe features cooking the chicken in the oven, but you can also grill them if you have access to a grill. These are full of flavor and texture that makes eating so much fun!
Growing up I never really enjoyed the flavor of dill or pickles. In the last few years, my taste buds have come around and now I can’t get enough of a crisp pickle and some fresh or dried dill added to so many meals I make. Right now, we are switching gears from winter comfort meals and moving towards those spring and summer meals with the unique light and bright flavors that reminds us that summer is on the horizon. Get ready because you are going to love our Crispy Ranch Chicken with pickles and crispy oven baked fries. Yes, that’s a lot of crispy because we like a lot of texture over here at TY HQ.
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Gluten-free Chocolate Mousse Pies {Dairy-free with grain-free options}
These mini creamy, rich, decadent gluten-free chocolate mousse pies are the perfect sweet treat to share with your sweet. This dairy-free cream pie is served on a crumbly cookie crust that brings the perfect texture and flavor. With lots of options for serving, don’t miss out on the Tasty Yummies Organic Raw Dark Chocolate to compliment and finish these pies off, just right.
Chocolate mouse is one of my favorite desserts…well basically anything including dark chocolate will get you an A+ in my book. This is one of those desserts that is so simple but tastes so decadent you and anyone who tries it will think that it was made by a professional baker. No need to tell anybody that this is dairy free and gluten-free, that’s how amazing it tastes! This recipe is can easily be made grain-free and refined sugar free, depending on the cookies you use or how you make the crust. We love a good dessert, but we also like to ensure that we use the highest quality ingredients within our budget and still making sure that the recipe is amazing.
First, you want to make sure that you have a good can of coconut milk. We want the cream on the top because that will help the pie stay more solidified. If you can shake your can of coconut milk and hear everything move around, you’re going to want to put it in the fridge for a few hours and if you think about it ahead of time, put that can of coconut milk in the fridge the night before. When you open your can of coconut milk you’re going to want to scoop off the solid part on top, that’s the good stuff! You want to measure out one cup of coconut cream. You can also purchase just canned coconut cream, too, if you’d like.
Next you want about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of dark chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate chips or roughly chipped dark chocolate. We used dark chocolate chips that were sweetened with coconut sugar. We recommend using a double boiler to melt the chocolate down, it is the easiest way to melt down the chocolate without burning it. If you do not have a double boiler you can also use the microwave heating for 1 minute to start then 30 seconds at a time stirring every time you need to add more time.
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Gluten-free Cheesesteak Bowls {keto, grain-free, options for paleo + whole30}
These Gluten-free Cheesesteak Bowls are a fun and different way to get dinner on the table in no time, especially when you planned ahead and pre-prepped the protein using our Protein Prep Chipped Beef recipe. These Gluten-free Cheesesteak bowls are also Keto-friendly, grain-free and if you swap out the cheese, you can easily make it paleo or Whole30, see below for suggestions.
I really feel like cheesesteaks are an underrated meal prepped option. They are so simple but offer so much flavor using add ins and toppings that you love. We chose to forgo the roll and turn these delicious, chipped beef cheesesteaks into hearty bowls with lots of mushrooms, onions, and peppers. As we like to note, this recipe is meant to inspire you and you are totally allowed and encourage to swap out ingredients depending on your taste and preference.
The Cheesesteak mixture would also be delicious over rice, cauliflower rice or other veggies, a top a huge salad or throw it on top of your favorite bread.
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Gluten-free Butter Cookies (Dairy-free option)
These Gluten-free Butter cookies are a classic simple recipe that can be made during any time of the year but are special to us during the winter holiday season. We adapted one of our family’s recipes to make our butter cookies gluten and dairy free. The cookies still have the same buttery rich flavor from the ghee (clarified butter) without the lactose or casein.
Butter cookies can be known to be a bit dense so for our recipe we really recommend you mix the butter and sugars together until they are light and fluffy. It may take 3-5 minutes to get to that fluffy consistency that we are looking for so we recommend using a stand mixer if you have one and a hand mixer will also work for this recipe. Room temperature ingredients are important with this recipe. Having the butter and egg yolks at room temperature helps the dough come together with the coconut sugar.
If you can’t find ghee at your local grocery store, we have a recipe to make your own ghee at home and it is so easy and worth your time to make a batch to have on hand. Using a high quality organic butter (pasture-raised if you can find it) is optimal when making ghee. If you do not have dairy sensitivity you can for sure use regular high quality butter in this recipe it swaps very easily.
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Bone Broth Risotto with Pan Seared Scallops {gluten-free + dairy-free}
Risotto is one of those comfort foods that’s easier and more versatile than most people think. This recipe does take some attention because you need to add one cup of broth at a time, but it is well worth it! One of the best parts about this Bone Broth Risotto with Pan Seared Scallops is that it is packed with flavor, ingredients that you know have added nutritional value, but the best part is you save more than half of the amount of money on this dish making it at home than buying at a restaurant. There are no extra oils and ingredients that you can’t pronounce the name of. This recipe is great for a novice cook looking to dip their toe in an elegant new dish to show off to their family and friends.
In this recipe we use arborio rice. Arborio rice is known to be very starchy which in turn creates this creaminess without using any milk or cream. Arborio rice is also naturally gluten free for those that are sensitive or intolerant to gluten this is a great option.
We chose turkey bone broth in this recipe because Thanksgiving has just come and gone, and we had a batch on hand. Don’t worry though, any bone broth or stock that is homemade or store-bought will work with this recipe. Bone broth has lots of nutritional value! It’s rich in minerals, amino acids, protein. Here is a post we did on making your own bone broth with more information on the nutritional aspects.
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Dark Chocolate Crispy Peanut Butter Balls – No Bake {Gluten-Free + Cane Sugar-Free}
These gluten-free Dark Chocolate Crispy Peanut Butter Balls are literally ALL of my favorite things in one. Dark chocolate, peanut butter, they’re a little creamy, a little crunchy and they have the perfect bit of salt on top. WHAT? Did I dream these?
We had a small outdoor, safe, Thanksgiving celebration here at out house with our little “Pandemic Pod of Pals” and I made a full spread of classic, Thanksgiving food w could enjoy outside on our deck. Our friend Audrey offered to bring her famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls to share and when dinner ended and I pulled them from the fridge, made sure they were gluten-free and then promptly popped one into my mouth. After I yelled a few overly excited expletives I realized for me, it was love at first bite!! I believe while I was dancing with one of these in my mouth, my exact quote was (and I will leave out my excited use of the F-word) – “OMG, what is this magic? This is all of my most favorite things in one bite!!!”
After getting Audrey’s original recipe, I made a few small tweaks to the recipe, swapping powdered sugar for coconut sugar and maple syrup, leaving out vegan butter and cutting it in half and opting for salted grass-fed butter instead (you can also use ghee or coconut oil here, too) and the box of sprouted brown rice cacao crisps I already had in the pantry made for the perfect crispy crunchy interior.
There’s just something about the classic flavors of dark chocolate and peanut butter that I will never tired of and while there are so many nut butter alternatives and yeh, sure, they are good, they just don’t quite do it for me the way that peanut butter does (see below for options and alternatives for other options, if you must).
Making these Dark Chocolate Crispy Peanut Butter Balls was a therapeutic baking session (sans actually baking) thanks to the sadness of my cancelled plans. There’s something about being in the kitchen, Christmas music blaring and making something sweet that is instantly soothing to the soul.
The best part about these, since they make well over 4 dozen balls, they are perfect to portion out and share with people you love, especially for the holidays. Leave a small box for your neighbors, give some to your trainer in an effort to bribe him to go easy on you in your workout (I might have done that) or just keep them ALL for yourself.
I have since learned, thanks to Google that these Rice Crispy Peanut Butter Balls are a classic recipe, though many of the original recipes include half as much cereal and peanut butter and a full cup of powdered sugar, plus milk chocolate. I can’t even imagine how overly sweet those are. I really love that these Dark Chocolate Crispy Peanut Butter Balls are the perfect amount of sweet without hitting you over the head with it.
I hope you enjoy these Dark Chocolate Crispy Peanut Butter Balls as such as I did – and please let me know if they make you scream swear words out of pure glee, too!
By the way, in other circumstances I would have loved to share process photos while I made these, but to be fair, I did make them at like 8pm on a Sunday night after we found out our Yosemite trip had been officially cancelled because our campgrounds had closed due to this secondary lock down in California. So it is what it is, like the rest of 2020!
Also, hey – did you hear the news?
Speaking of chocolate, in case you missed it, I officially unveiled the brand new Tasty Yummies web store last week and introduced the three exclusive Tasty Yummies raw organic dark chocolate bars – Basic B, Salty B and Spicy B. All of the bars are dairy-free, cane sugar-free featuring the right amount of sweetness from mineral-rich coconut sugar, and luscious raw cacao butter stone ground at low temperatures. I am so proud of these bars and I am so excited to finally share them with all of you.
While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend melting down these Tasty Yummies Chocolate Bars like 10 of them for this particular recipe, they are the perfect bar to savor and enjoy every single day.
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Winter Salad with Chicken, Root Veggies & Champagne Vinaigrette
If you thought salad was only a summer dish, I promise this Winter Salad with Chicken, Root Veggies & Champagne Vinaigrette is sure to change your mind. This salad has a ton of warming flavors with a winter vibe from the rosemary to root veggies with lots of options for you to customize to your family’s needs.
This Winter Salad with Chicken, Root Veggies & Champagne Vinaigrette is a wonderful way to celebrate the bounty of the season with a meal-sized salad FULL of nutrients and valor.
First up is the roasted rosemary balsamic garlic chicken that smells like a night with heavy snow and everyone hanging out by the fire all nicely warm and cozy. This chicken is quick to cook, but you can also plan ahead and prep the chicken a day or two ahead, if you are someone who batch preps your proteins at the start of the week. It makes easy weeknight meals even easier. If you want to this Winter Salad to be a side dish to another protein, simply leave the chicken out.
Next up we have some roasted sweet potatoes that add a nice sweetness and texture and can take the place of croutons any day. You may be surprised with the roasted beets in this salad but the nutty earthy flavor they provide pairs very nicely with the rosemary chicken. A sprinkle of goat cheese and chopped pecans are the perfect final add-ins. The topper is the champagne vinaigrette. It sounds fancy, it tastes fancy, but don’t worry it is very simple to make and I’m pretty sure this will become a staple dressing.
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3-Ingredient Dark Chocolate California Avocado Truffles
3-Ingredient Dark Chocolate California Avocado Truffles
These decadent and delicious Dark Chocolate California Avocado Truffles can be made with just 3 simple ingredients. Plus, with the added bonus of the avocado you get all the amazing nutritious goodness of one of my favorite functional foods.
Rather than heavy cream or butter you’d usually find in a traditional chocolate truffle recipe, avocado steps in and takes this simple recipe up a notch. Best part, you don’t even taste the avocado, all you taste is the rich dark chocolate, but it gives the truffles a decadent, creamy texture and it takes your dessert to the next level. Read the rest of this entry »
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Low Carb Banana Bread {paleo, keto, gluten-free, dairy-free}
This delicious, low carb banana bread is only sweetened with a few ripe bananas and it’s so delicious, super satisfying and perfectly subtle. Grain-free, dairy-free, paleo and keto-friendly.
I don’t exactly love straight-up bananas, personally, but Mark often requests having a bunch on hand. I will occasionally add them to our organic CSA box (community supported agriculture) that gets delivered to the house each week. But, often, he won’t eat all of them and then they get a bit over ripe. YUCK! Literally one of my least favorite things, in the entire world. Usually I just peel them and freeze for smoothies, but this most recent time, it felt like a perfect reason to make banana bread, a treat I haven’t made in maybe nearly a decade. (not joking)
For my low key sweet taste buds, the ripe bananas are the perfect sweetener – nothing extra needed. I find for my palate, the subtle sweetness from a ripe, in-season fruit, some coconut cream, super dark chocolate or even just caramelized, roasted veggies – these are often plenty sweet for me to satisfy that important taste. I absolutely don’t believe sweet is a taste that needs to be avoided but redefining the relationship that we have with sweet is the ultimate goal. These beautiful, nuanced, naturally sweet flavors from real whole foods can easily get missed when we flood our taste buds constantly with sugar or sugar alternatives. This is what leads to the constant sugar cravings and needing more and more sweet stuff. Imagine if a piece of fruit were enough!! Talk about taking away the power a food has over us (ahem, this is what sugar is best at) and experiencing true food freedom.
If reducing your sugar intake is still fairly new for yo and you are worried bananas as a sweetener might not cut it for you, I challenge you to give it a try and then you can always consider a light drizzle of honey over your warm, toasted banana bread. Or you can always add a tablespoon or two of coconut sugar or date sugar to the batter. Some dark chocolate chips might also be a nice addition to the bread, too, if that’s your thing. Mmmmmm.
How to Make Low Carb Banana Bread:
The most important step is the super ripe bananas, they bring the flavor and the sweetness here. Regular ripe bananas will be far less sweet. If your bananas have green tips, that’s awesome for a lower sugar fruit option, but they tend to be more starchy and less sweet and you definitely won’t be able to mash them up.
Flour Options for Low Carb Banana Bread:
Next, the almond flour is the star here!! This recipe was developed and tested with blanched almond flour. Be sure to go with a blanched fine almond flour, an almond meal with the skins included in the flour will likely results in a slightly different texture. If you can’t have almond flour, you can experiment with another nut flour, like cashew flour, macadamia flour or hazelnut flour. Sunflower seed flour may work, but be aware that the baking soda combined with sunflower seed flour can result in a green color due to chlorophyll present in the seeds, half the baking soda and add 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar. You might also try oat flour or an all-purpose gluten-free flour, while not grain-free or low carb, these might work for some of you, they *should* substitute 1:1. Please note – I have not tested ANY of these, so experiment at your own risk and please report back if you do. You CANNOT swap coconut flour for almond flour as a 1:1, they are totally different flours and they behave and react completely different. Coconut flour is more absorbent. A good starting point if opting for coconut flour would be to use 1 cup of tapioca flour and 1 cup of coconut flour in place of the 2 cups of almond flour and add two additional eggs. Again, these are educated guesses, this HAS NOT been tested on my end.
Optional Add-ins for Low Carb Banana Bread:
Add in your favorite nut or seed, walnuts, pecans or hemp seeds are really great options. You can also add in dark chocolate chips or chunks, cacao nibs, cranberries, raisins or other dried fruit. You can also add cut up bananas to the top of your loaf just before baking.
Ingredients
- 2 cups blanched superfine almond flour
- ¼ cup arrowroot starch, tapioca starch would also work*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder, use or make a paleo baking power, if necessary
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- generous pinch ground nutmeg, optional
- 4 small-medium very ripe bananas, or 3 large, mashed well (measures to a bit over 1 cup)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup ghee, melted (melted coconut oil, avocado oil or melted butter would also work)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a small loaf pan (my pan was 7.5 X 3.5 inches) with parchment paper strips, leaving two inches of overhang on the sides of the pan. Lightly brush or spray the lined pan with oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour breaking up any big clumps, arrowroot starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, vanilla and ghee (or coconut oil) until well combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, slowly. Stir by hand until it is smooth and no clumps of flour remains.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter top to distribute the batter and eliminate any air pockets.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until it's a nice deep golden brown color on top and set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (if the top of the loaf starts to brown too quickly, tent it with foil).
- Using the parchment paper strips that overhang, carefully lift up and remove the banana bread from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to cool. Carefully remove the parchment paper so the bread can cool.
- Allow to cool at least 30 minutes. Cut into 10-12 slices, serve and enjoy.
Notes
if you wish to skip the arrowroot or tapioca starch, try instead ground golden flaxseed meal -
Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat Recipe) – {options for keto, paleo, dairy-free, vegan}
The Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew is made with their signature cold brew coffee, vanilla syrup, a sweetened pumpkin cream cold foam on top that actually contains real pumpkin and it is finished with a sprinkle of pumpkin spice topping but it also has a lot of sugar, some not so great ingredients and of course, dairy. This copycat recipe was recreated at home to ditch all the refined sweeteners and sugar and to use the quality ingredients I personally prefer. I am sharing options for dairy and non-dairy and lots of opportunity for you to customize to your preference, follow the instructions for paleo, keto, etc.
I am married to a Starbucks addict. Mark likes Starbucks. A lot. Me, not so much. Mark loves their straight up cold brew, extra ice, splash of whole milk. He’s simple but he knows what he likes. He also like knowing what he will get, Starbucks are everywhere and he knows what to expect. He will occasionally venture out and try something seasonal that isn’t too obscene and he hasn’t stopped raving about the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. Recently he basically FORCED me to try the Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, a persistent little dude – because I think deep down he knew that my fall-obsessed, pumpkin spice lovin’, recipe recreating soul would fall in love and recreate it at home – which he really benefits from!!
And I loved it and I couldn’t do much more than take a sip because it was grossly over-sweetened, even with me asking for only one pump of vanilla syrup in the coffee. But, I considered it market research and off I went trying to figure out how I could recreate it at home.
How to Make a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Coffee:
1) Make Your Own Cold Brew or Buy Your Favorite Cold Brew:
Making your own cold brew at home is surprisingly simple and very cost effective. We do this often and the best part is being able to control the strength of my cold brew, the quality of the beans (I always go for organic as coffee beans are one of the most highly pesticide-sprayed foods) and often if I am avoiding or limiting caffeine I will make my own decaf or half caff cold brew, something you can’t find anywhere else.
2) Milk Options for the Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam:
Closest to the Starbucks Original Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew – only if you tolerate dairy:
After some investigating and lots of testing, I learned that Starbucks uses skim milk to get their light frothy cream. In the pumpkin cream cold froth it actually contains a condensed skim milk. I wasn’t going there since those are always high in sugar. But I also read in the ingredients on their website it also contains cream and milk. Just for the heck of it, I also tried frothing half and half and it definitely didn’t foam up and get nearly as frothy. From what I understand the protein without the fat content found in skim or low fat milks creates large air bubbles which allows it stay light and foamy. Now in most other scenarios I would say GO WITH FAT, skim milk is kinda blech yucky face, in my opinion, the fat is where the goodness and taste is and skim milk is generally so crazy stripped of any potential nutrients, but look, if you are looking for a really close replica at home and you tolerate dairy, skim milk is the answer. Again this homemade version of the cold cream foam made without the carageeenan (a stabilizer) and all the sugar that you will find in the Starbucks version, means this DIY rendition is a bit lighter – but it’s really quite nice. If you want a thicker, richer cream try half and half or heavy cream, but just know that it definitely doesn’t get as frothy.
For Dairy-free/Paleo Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew – a very close second
The best results that I found, to recreate the frothy cream, without dairy, is to FIRST select your favorite non-dairy milk. I have tried store-bought macadamia, almond, cashew and coconut milk. They all frothed up a little bit on their own, but not nearly like the skim milk did. Homemade unstrained cashew milk froths up quite wonderfully. The store-bought barista blends that usually have gums and many have sugar these frothed better than the non-barista blends. Coconut milk was least frothy, I think it’s a bit too heavy.
SECOND, ok so here is what I did next my secret for the ultimate frothy, non-dairy milk: stay with me on this one, ADD EGG WHITE!! Hear me out, think of those old school frothy cocktails, a whiskey sour, gin fizz or a pisco sour, they are light, frothy and have that distinct mouth feel that I realized is kinda close-ish to the Starbucks Cold Cream Foams, this is the best way I have found to create a non-dairy copycat. I use approximately 1/2 of 1 egg white and add it to the 1/4 cup on non-dairy milk and VOILA – frothy, non-dairy cold cream foam. I recommend going with less pumpkin on the non-dairy versions, 1/2 teaspoon.
For Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew:
If you can’t do dairy and you can’t consume egg whites or you prefer not to, you can certainly froth up your favorite non-dairy milk, but as I said, it isn’t quite the same, you definitely don’t get those exact foam vibes but it’s still VERY delicious. Try homemade unstrained cashew milk to get the creaminess or for a richer version coconut milk is nice for taste and thickness, but again it’s not as frothy. I recommend going with less pumpkin on the non-dairy versions, 1/2 teaspoon.
3) Options for Sweeteners:
In the Starbucks Original Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew the Grande size has 2 pumps of vanilla syrup in the coffee alone (which you can easily ask for them to leave out), but there is also a fair amount of additional sugar in the vanilla syrup found in the flavoring that gives the pumpkin cream foam topping all of it’s taste, which as far as I understand is mixed in with the pumpkin flavor already, so you can’t leave it out. In a Grande, which is 16 oz the drink as it comes contains 32 grams of sugar.
For me, I really love the way just a little smidge of maple syrup tastes in the homemade pumpkin cream cold foam. 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon is honestly more than enough for my low-key sweet taste buds. At just over 1 gram of sugar for 1/4 teaspoon of maple syrup or 2.5 grams of sugar for 1/2 teaspoon, this keeps this drink low carb and keto-friendly, easily. You can certainly add more to your liking, maybe upwards or a teaspoon or two, but be aware as you start to add more maple syrup, it may affect the frothiness and it will obviously increase the amount of sugar.
If you are more a straight-up sugar kinda guy/gal than I would recommend making a simple syrup (I would recommend doing so with unrefined sugar or even coconut sugar) vs. adding granulated sugar as that too would affect the cold cream. You can also opt for a few drops of stevia or another non-caloric sweetener, if that’s your scene. I did make one version with this pumpkin spice sugar-free stevia syrup that I happened to have here since it was sent to me as a sample. It was delicious, though I generally do not recommend these type of highly refined products. I would personally rather opt for real food.
I personally prefer to leave the sweetener out of the coffee itself, but if you wanted it sweet, again a little maple syrup would be a nice option.
4) Additional Ingredients:
Pumpkin Puree – yes we add REAL pumpkin to this tasty pumpkin cream foam. It’s not a lot, but it brings just a lil pumpkin flavor. Just an FYI if your foam isn’t frothing to your liking, you may want to take your pumpkin puree down to 1/2 or 3/4 teaspoon
Pumpkin Pie Spice – this is where the real flavor comes from, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves – so much fall flavor.
Vanilla Extract – the original contains vanilla syrup both in the coffee and the foam. Rather than a syrup, I like to add straight up real vanilla extract to the foam. You can also add to the coffee, as well. Vanilla bean paste or fresh vanilla beans are also really nice.
Maple Syrup or other sweetener (see above) – this is often my go-to sweetener, a little goes a long way, it’s a whole food that hasn’t been refined and stripped of it’s nutrients, it blends nicely into the pumpkin cream cold foam.
Real Salt – just a pinch is all you need, quality unrefined salt always makes sweet flavors pop. I like using Redmond’s Real Salt to get in some extra trace minerals.
5) What You Need to Make Your Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Foam (any of these will work):
Milk Frother: You can buy a stand alone milk frother, like the Aeroccino and most offer the option for heat froth or cold. I use this one from Nespresso and I love it, you can make cold or hot foam and also just heat milk without frothing (though it seems this model has been discontinued so this is WAYYY expensive.)
Handheld Milk Frother Wand: I see these everywhere now, they are affordable and surprisingly very, very effective. Do a quick search on Amazon, there are loads of options. I tested this recipe with a high quality Nespresso milk frother and a FREE handheld wand I was sent as a promo and the results with both were about the same!
Steam Wand on an Espresso Machine: this would work but would heat the cream.
High Speed Blender: To froth milk in a blender, pour in the ingredients then let the machine rip for 15-30 seconds, or until the milk is foamy.
Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture: add to a jar and shake, shake, shake. Won’t be the same, but hey, it’s something.
Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat Recipe) - {options for keto, paleo, dairy-free, vegan}
gluten-free, grain-free, keto/low carb, options for: paleo, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-freePrint Pin RateServings: 1 servingIngredients
- Cold Brew Coffee
- 12 ounces cold brew coffee
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- maple syrup or other sweetener, to taste (optional)
- Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam, see options below
- Pumpkin pie spice blend for topping
Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam (dairy version)
- ¼ cup cold organic grass-fed skim milk
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin puree
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (or other sweetener)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch real salt or sea salt
Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam (non-dairy version)
- ¼ cup cold non-dairy milk, of your choice (homemade cashew milk is great, store bought barista blends froth up nicely)
- ½ egg white from pasture-raised or free-range egg, just an approximation
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin puree
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (or other sweetener)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch real salt or sea salt
Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam (vegan version)
- ¼ cup cold non-dairy milk
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin puree
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (or other sweetener)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch real salt or sea salt
Instructions
- Make your cold brew ahead of time if you are making yourself. Strain and chill.
- Add all of the Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam ingredients to a jar or measuring cup if using a hand held brother or the pitcher of a milk frother (if mixing by hand add to a jar with a tightly fitting lid).
- Froth until it is fluffy, light and foamy.
- Add ice to a large glass, add the cold brew coffee (if adding vanilla or sweetener, mix well to combine). Pour or spoon the Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam over top. Sprinkle a little pumpkin spice blend on top.
- Enjoy.
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Low Carb Pumpkin Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips {Grain-free, Sweetener-free, Dairy-free}
This Low Carb Pumpkin Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips is grain-free, sweetener-free and dairy-free and it’s the most perfect way to kick-off my favorite season of them all. Serve this delicious low carb pumpkin bread warm with a little butter, ghee, coconut butter or cream cheese. Depending on your vibes with sweet stuff, you might consider a light drizzle of maple syrup or raw honey.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere autumn is upon us once again and we can get super basic and pumpkin spice ALL the things. I find myself getting super inspired in the kitchen this time of year, this is my favorite season to create. Cozy, comfort foods is my favorite, this is what it’s all about!
Because most of the pumpkin spice foods you find in the world are aggressively over-sweetened with refined sugars or corn syrups or to make “sugar-free” treats, they are blasted with highly-refined, non-caloric sweeteners, which I don’t personally love – it just doesn’t leave a lot of options!
REDEFINING SWEET with Sweetener-Free
As you all know, I am a really big fan of redefining the term sweet. Developing a new relationship with this important taste in our palate is something I find to be very important. Instead of continuously having to push the boundaries of sweet, going sweeter and sweeter and it never being enough, then taking on a bi-annual sugar detox where you completely cut out sweet entirely because it gets out of hand, all this before the cycle starts over again (because news flash, deprivation doesn’t work) – I prefer to instead break this cycle, redefine the relationship with sweet and really learn to appreciate and crave the natural sweetness of foods. I don’t think sweetness is a taste we need to avoid completely, it’s important to our palate and our food experiences – but I do feel that it is one that can be changed.
I love that by redefining what sweetness is for you, not only do you get the wonderful pleasure of truly appreciating the inherent sweetness and the subtleties of flavors from so many delicious foods, you also redefine the often troublesome relationship many of us can have with sweet things.
Many alternative sweeteners, natural and artificial alike, while they may not contain calories and they may not increase your blood glucose, they also can be anywhere from 100 to 20,000 times sweetener than regular table sugar. This can lead to a hypersensitive palate, where an individual will find that more and more sweet stuff is needed to receive pleasure and to placate the sweet taste receptors. But, it’s also common that other taste receptors are affected as well, the body’s ability to effectively taste (and therefore crave) important flavors like “bitter” (an important taste than can ensure that we are consuming nutrient-dense foods like dark-leafy greens, etc.) can also be affected, which is why you will often hear people who are addicted to sugar and sweet stuff adamantly swear they HATE the way some veggies taste. I believe it, they aren’t being picky, their taste buds are off!
Some research 1https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/261179.php has also shown that while non-caloric sweeteners may not cause a blood glucose response, some may still trigger an insulin response and what’s worse, it’s an increase of insulin without the high blood glucose. When insulin rises without an increase in the blood glucose that it intends to shuttle out of the blood stream and this can lead to blood glucose levels to follow that fall too low.
Additionally, many of these non-caloric alternative sweeteners don’t raise important satiety hormones that tell the body when it is satiated, satisfied and full. These sweeteners also do not affect neurotransmitters the way that sugar traditionally does, so if the sweet receptors are triggered by the sweet food but it doesn’t receive the expected results of satiety or the feel-good vibes (due to the affects on neurotransmitters) that regular sugar provides it can be quite confusing to the metabolism and this can lead to overeating and increased hunger and cravings.
Finally, many non-caloric sweeteners can lead to GI discomfort like bloating and gas and many have been shown disrupt the gut microbiome, I am sure you know by now the gut plays an incredibly crucial role in our digestion, immune health and overall vitality! We definitely don’t want to be messing with that delicate balance.
In my personal approach, I would rather use a very, very small amount of the natural options on the rare occasion I want something sweet – a date or two, a banana, a light drizzle of unrefined dark maple syrup or raw honey. Not only are they unrefined and unadulterated, blasted with heat or solvents, unlike totally nutrient-depleted sweeteners and even refined table sugar, these foods left in their whole form do contain some actual nutrients. Now, I am not at all suggesting you chug maple syrup to get your B vitamins, but they are in there. Of course, the reason a little goes a long way with these foods is that the less you consume sugar and of course, the sweetener alternatives, first of all, the less you will crave them and the less you will need, but also the more sensitive your taste receptors becomes to sweetness. And suddenly a single date will taste like straight up candy. Coconut milk will take on a sweetness you never noticed before, 85% or 90% dark chocolate will be plenty sweet and warming spices often paired with sweets, like cinnamon or nutmeg or even a little pure vanilla extract, these alone will bring a little sense of sweetness to your palate. It’s incredible.
This Low Carb Pumpkin Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips is sweetener-free. I like it this way! Yes, the dark chocolate chips, depending on which you use may have a little sugar, this is going to be up to you. You can use dark chocolate chips that are stevia-sweetened like Lily’s or maybe go for 100% dark chocolate chips (YES PLEASE). If you are like “UMMM NOPE, Beth, I need some sweetness” you can add a little coconut sugar, maple sugar or date sugar to the recipe, start with 1/4 cup and go from there. Sometimes I will drizzle the littlest amount of maple syrup or raw honey over a warm, toasted slice of this bread, with a little salted grass-fed ghee or butter.
I plan to share a podcast episode or write an article going more into depth on my thoughts on sweeteners and sugar – is that something you might enjoy? If so, please share any questions you may have about alternative / non-caloric sweeteners and my approach to sweetness!
References
1. ↑ https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/261179.php -
Instant Pot Thai Peanut Chicken {Keto, Gluten-free}
This post is sponsored by the National Peanut Board. I received compensation, but all opinions and content are my own.
This Instant Pot Thai Peanut Chicken is coated in the most incredible, flavor-rich peanut sauce. Serve it over zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice for an easy meal, and garnish with extra peanuts for added crunch!
I know you all are with me on those easy, weeknight meals that come together in no time but pack a major flavor punch. This simple Instant Pot meal requires very little prep and it’s layered with rich flavors. I find this easy meal brings the flavor of the Thai classic Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce but with far less work, no need to skewer meat and no grilling necessary. Just pull it all together, set it and forget it.
Peanut butter is front and center in this easy, weeknight meal. I love how a creamy organic, unsweetened peanut butter fits into a tasty, savory dish like this Instant Pot Thai Peanut Chicken. It’s so rich and creamy and together the peanut butter and the coconut milk leave the chicken super juicy, moist and tender.
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Keto Chocolate Avocado Pudding {Paleo, Vegan}
This rich, decadent, smooth Keto Chocolate Avocado Pudding has become a favorite treat around our house. It’s decadent, creamy and so so easy. Ready in just a few minutes, with just 5-ingredients!
You all know from following me, I am not a big treats and sweets gal. I just don’t crave sweets these days and I generally prefer to avoid the keto-fied treats loaded with suspect sweeteners. I generally just stick to my daily dark chocolate. A square or two of 85-100% dark chocolate and I am a very happy girl. Chocolate truly is my love language.
Hubby is a little bit different than me. The man grew up on sweets. The really sweet sweets! They are his comfort food, so I am always looking for ways to please both our palates.
This Keto Chocolate Avocado Pudding is a creamy, whipped mousse-like dessert that comes together quickly and it really hits the spot. The best part, as like most recipes you’ll find here on Tasty Yummies, SO many fun flavor options. Add in a little nut butter and some sea salt and it’s delightful. Bump up the coconut flavor with shredded coconut, toasted coconut flakes or maybe a little coconut extract. Mint Chocolate pudding is nice, add a little mint extract and/or fresh mint leaves. Try adding some cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne for a spicy Mexican Chocolate pudding. Lastly a little espresso powder is also really really nice. Read the rest of this entry »
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Paleo Baklava Shortbread Cookie Bars {Gluten-free}
A twist on traditional baklava these Paleo Baklava Shortbread Cookie Bars bring the classic flavors of this popular Greek pastry, I grew up on without flour or gluten. Luscious butter, comforting, aromatic spices, a hint of citrus, a blend of spiced nuts and a sweet honey syrup. Mmmmmm!
I am sorry, I have been holding onto this recipe for sometime now. I usually work several months out on my content, I create and test recipes several times over to get them right, then I make them for the final shoot, I style the food, shoot and edit all the photos, I write up the post and recipe and put it into the content calendar. I move my content around to keep it fresh, I base it on what’s in season, holidays and what you all are wanting most. For me, baked goods aren’t always a priority, I don’t love to bake and I don’t generally care about sweets so the baked goods always get pushed down in the queue.I created the recipe for these Paleo Baklava Shortbread Cookie Bars after a trip back home to Buffalo to see my family this past April. My trips home always inspire so many recipe ideas, often new ways to create family or local classics that I didn’t even know I missed so much. The day I made this recipe for the very first time, the smell in my kitchen reminded me of home, of my mom and my dad, my Yia Yias. The first bite I took of this Paleo Baklava, I actually cried. A full on dessert-induced cry.
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Keto Strawberry Shortcake with Balsamic Roasted Strawberries and Basil Whipped Coconut Cream {gluten-free, paleo}
What? Low Carb Keto Strawberry Shortcake? Yup, you read that correctly. This dreamy, classic summer treat gets a bit of an update with grain-free, low carb biscuits, tasty balsamic roasted strawberries and a basil infused whipped coconut cream. Real food, no weird ingredients. Just some tasty, clean whole foods.
Let’s start off by saying, if you think I’ve lost my mind and if you want to keep this classic dessert more simple and traditional, you can very very easily follow this recipe, opt simply for fresh strawberries or just roast the strawberries without the balsamic, but if you’ve never had balsamic roasted strawberries, yet, you truly aren’t living. And as for the basil infused coconut cream, will change your life. That has to be said.
This recipe is quite fuss-free, despite the amount of characters required to accurately describe it. Make the easy, grain-free low carb biscuits ahead and while they are baking you can prep the strawberries to go into the oven next and then finally, whip together that delicious, basil infused whipped coconut cream while the berries roast.
As far as I am concerned, strawberries are the quintessential summer fruit. They have such fond memories attached to them, for me. From strawberry picking with my mom and my sisters, to bowls of fresh berries being brought outside out for dessert after a delicious summer meal, enjoy al fresco. My mom loves to bake and she made an incredible strawberry shortcake, with fresh baking soda biscuits, which she always made to seem so effortless. Strawberry shortcake reminds me of backyard meals, towels wrapped around our chilly bodies from spending the entire day in the pool. It brings back memories of no school, being outside all day and late sunsets.
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BBQ Kalua Pork Hawaiian Pizza {grain-free, gluten-free with paleo and keto options}
This delicious BBQ Kalua Pork Hawaiian Pizza was inspired by our anniversary trip to Maui and it was love at first bite. depending on which crust you select and how you dress it, this grain-free pizza can be paleo or keto/low carb, too. Topped with tender, smoky shredded kalua pork, flavorful BBQ sauce and the red onions, it’s a perfect combo.
I know that Hawaii is known for so much more than kalua pork and Hawaiian pizzas – there’s so much beautiful tropical fruit, mangoes, pineapples, lychee and don’t forget about shaved ice, acai bowls, coconuts, poi – but you guys know, I am forever a savory girl. Savory food is my true north, this is what I want when I visit a new place. I live for the savory.
Our time on Maui was one I will never forget. From beautiful beaches with epic views and gorgeous black sand, to swirling black lava rocks with the contrast of the most vibrant colors I have ever seen, tropical plants and flowers and aromatic fruit – pure beauty as far as my eyes could peer. It was unlike any place I have ever been, too. Every bit of Maui was magical and the vibe was truly energetic.
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Dark Chocolate Raspberry Coconut Butter Keto Cups {paleo, low-carb, gluten-free, vegan}
These 5-ingredient Dark Chocolate Raspberry Coconut Butter Keto Cups are a tasty snack or the perfect bite-sized dessert. My favorite part, for as fancy as they appear, they are ready in no time at all. Besides being low carb and keto are also paleo, gluten-free and vegan, too!
You guys know I am not much of a sweets person. It’s just not really my thing. It’s rare I am dreaming up new and clever ways to recreate treats to be more healthful, because for me, as long as I have a bar of super dark chocolate in the fridge, freezer and/or pantry (what can I say, I like my chocolate at different temps for different reasons) – I am a happy lady.
I’ve especially found since I’ve been eating keto for the last year +, my taste for sweets has basically diminished completely. But my love for chocolate will never waiver. Read the rest of this entry »
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Paleo Pumpkin Panna Cotta with Cinnamon Cookie Crumble and Caramel Drizzle
This rich, creamy, luscious Paleo Pumpkin Panna Cotta is made dairy-free and it’s topped with crunchy spiced Cinnamon Cookie Crumble and a homemade dairy-free, honey-sweetened caramel drizzle. The perfect make-ahead, fuss-free holiday treat that you can feel good about eating.
We all know that with the holidays comes fussy recipes, especially desserts, that we covet and cherish every year, so we can savor the traditional flavors we have come to associate with the season. There is so much about this that I love and simultaneously I also find that possibly our time might be better spent in other ways. I would much prefer not to fuss with a complicated pie crust and rather enjoy my family or friends. I would prefer a more health-focused, smarter, more updated version of a recipe, in place of what we’ve always known.
This recipe brings the pumpkin pie vibes in a whole new way. Paleo Pumpkin Panna Cotta with Cinnamon Cookie Crumble and Caramel Drizzle, OK so, it may sound complicated in it’s name, but it will take more time to say the name, than it will to actually make it (ok disclosure: that part’s not true). There is certainly time in set up with this one, but actual hands on minutes of cooking and prep, they are pretty minimal, by comparison to a pie. Plus, as far as I am concerned any holiday recipe that doesn’t require an oven, that’s a win for every one. This single recipe can be made in much smaller serving sizes, serving up to 8, depending on the vessel you choose to serve in.
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Grain-free Carrot Cake Coconut Panna Cotta {Dairy-free and Paleo-friendly }
Subtly spiced dairy-free coconut milk panna cotta topped with chunks of grain-free spiced carrot cake and a little whipped coconut cream, makes for the perfect Spring-inspired treat without the sugar, grains or nuts.
I kinda love that carrot cake has become synonymous with Easter, simply because of the Easter Bunny. Rabbits eat carrots, Easter invites a sweet bunny that leaves baskets and eggs and chocolate for us. Hmmm. It’s a stretch, but I’ll take it – cuz carrot cake rules.
While I have been experimenting with the ketgenic diet since the start of this year and have slowly transitioned toward a fat fueled lifestyle over the last year and a half, my interest and taste for sweets has admittedly all but disappeared. Beyond a solid, super duper dark chocolate, I honestly can’t really be bothered. Not so great as a food blogger, but I make it work.
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15 Homemade Holiday Gifts
15 Homemade Holiday Gifts
With the holiday closing in on us, I am sure many of you are doing the last minute gift scramble so prevalent in these final days before Christmas. Rather than throwing money at the wall and going with whatever it sticks to, instead of just grabbing another gift card from the big box stores, why not get creative and craft up some beautiful, thoughtful homemade gifts this year?
Drop the cottonball snowmen, leave the popsicle sticks in the popsicles and leave the salt dough for the kids. Finally put away, I repeat, put away the glitter. Spread the holiday cheer with some of my favorite sweet (but sometimes savory) and simple handmade holiday gifts.
