Dessert Plate

 

Ok, so this first one... let's just say I wasn't expecting it to taste all that great after I made it - it looked kind of off.  BUT, contrary to my expectations... WOW.  It had that flavour of sweet, sweet fruit.  Seriously, this is good stuff.

Adapted from Sweet Healthy Living

Part 1, the fruit: Mix together 1/4 cup chopped frozen strawberries, 1/4 cup chopped frozen bananas, 2 tsp chia seeds, a drizzle of maple syrup, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of dried ginger.  Let sit in the fridge for several hours to thicken.

Part 2, the whipped cream (more than needed): blend 1 pear (ripe, cored, peeled, roughly chopped), 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/3 cup raw cashews, a dash of dried ginger, 2 dates, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum.

When you are ready to serve, top the fruit with the cream, and sprinkle with granola (I just used store-bought).  Mix together.

 

And now for the cookies and such...

 



The newcomers here are...
The white blob on the bottom is cookie dough from Chockolawtay.  I halved the recipe, skipped the protein powder, butter extract, coconut extract, rice flour, and vanilla paste.  I added vanilla extract and rum extract, and used baking blend stevia for the sweetener.  Big hit!
The chocolate to the right of the cookie dough is red velvet fudge from Foodie Fiasco.. although, obviously, not so red.  I opted to use banana, and thought these also turned out excellent.  Zapping in the microwave is not optional, trust me.
On the veeery right of my plate was some banana-pistachio bread.  Yuuum!  Straight from Boy and the Rabbit, only I skipped the frosting and added the pistachios straight into the bread.  Hey, that worked too...
The cookies on the left are pumpkin oatmeal.  I wasn't too impressed with them - rather flavourless, actually.

Apple Cole Slaw

This is an odd little cole slaw that I had obtained quite a long time ago from All Recipes.  I say odd because it is quite simple, and yet is so utterly delicious!  And, atleast to me, the ingredients seem like quite an odd combination.  But, every so often  I get a craving for a cold, crunchy, creamy salad, and this is the one that comes to mind.  The ingredient are something that M and I always keep around, so, as we were really out of things for lunch today, I decided that this would fit the bill for cooling us off on another one of these ridiculously hot days. 

I normally just eyeball the ingredients when I make this cole slaw, and they are really quite flexible.  I also sometimes play with the ingredients, and would encourage you to do the same! 

One thing, though.  The apples need to be coated in lemon juice, if the salad is going to sit around very long, because that will prevent them from going brown.  What I did this most recent time was, since the juice was in a little plastic bowl, I put a couple apple slices in there and shook it up.  I have also just dipped the apples in the juice.  Just whatever seems practical at the time.

It's also very easy to make more servings of this, if you have more mouths to feed...

Apple Cole Slaw

Adapted from Allrecipes

Serves 2, generously

2 1/2 cups chopped cabbage

1 unpeeled red apple, cored and chopped
1 small carrot chopped
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 green onion, chopped
3 tbsp fat free mayonnaise
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste

Mix together the cabbage, apple (coated with lemon juice), carrot, pepper, and onion.  Add the mayo, sugar, and remaining lemon juice, and stir to coat.  Refridgerate until ready to serve.