GF Raw Macaroons & Tea With Pattie

Pattie was coming by for a quick cup of tea in the garden this morning and I wanted to make something quick but special. It also needed to be light and healthy. I remembered some amazing raw macaroons my friend Laura had made a while back and decided to try to recreate them. Since my guys are gone on a road trip I purposefully made a small batch so that I wouldn't have too many left over to gorge on. These may not be exactly like Laura's but we really enjoyed them. The almond extract is a stage 2 Feingold ingredient but you can skip it and they will be delicious. Not only are these treats gluten free but they are also casein free and vegan. Perfect for so many of our friends' diets these day.

If you have everything on hand you can be eating them in minutes. Store them in the fridge and they will melt in your mouth.

I've just shared them over at Gluten Free Cat's Raw Thursdays! Gluten Free Cat is one of my favorite gluten free blogs and one of my Link Loves.

Raw Macaroons

Make 8 but can easily be doubled or tripled.

1 1/2 Cups Shredded Coconut

3 Organic Medjool Dates (if not very moist, soak in water for a few minutes)

3 Tablespoons Coconut Cream Concentrate, Coconut Butter or Coconut Manna depending on brand

1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil

1 Teaspoon GF Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon GF Almond Extract

In a food processor combine all ingredients, except the shredded coconut and mix until the dates are completely pureed. Add coconut and process just long enough to mix. You want a bit of texture.

Scoop into one tablespoon balls either rolling by hand or using the tablespoon to shape.

Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

December Sanity Challenge?

The mere fact that I am updating the December Sanity Challenge on the seventh day of January should really tell you all you need to know about my success on said challenge. ;-)

Overall, I did manage to keep most of my goals while finishing up our homeschooling for the year, preparing for Christmas and keeping the usual errands, cooking and chores going. Blogging was postponed. That was okay. I was staying on track, making homemade gifts for loved ones, wrapping presents and feeling overall serene.

Yet since staying healthy was my main goal I guess I wasn't ultimately successful. I spent the last five days of December in bed with the flu despite daily exercise, adequate sleep and keeping our diet healthy and low in sugar.  I'd like to think it could have been worse if I hadn't been healthy to start. Yet the fact it's still holding on to my chest twelve days later is making that hard for me to believe. But it is better now and I'm so thankful for that.

My Bible reading was wonderful, my actual Bible study time wasn't so much a success, though. There's catch up to do there and I've got two new devotionals to fit in as well. I'm looking forward to digging into each of them.

The best part of the December Sanity Challenge was the opportunity to meet some new bloggers and be challenged by their goals and posts. It was nice to sit with a cup of tea and read through the facebook and blog posts as I had time.

For a round up of all the posts, go to Cheryl's site Gluten Free Goodness and check them out. Each and every site is unique and worth looking through. One thing you'll notice if you read through the post is that I was fortunate enough to win a copy of Carrie's Cookbook! How fun is that? I'm excited to read through it and hope to find some yummy slow cooker recipes for busy school days.

There's still a lot to catch up on and a fun lunch at the Irregardless with Laura is next on the blog schedule.

For now, here's a quick non-recipe for a healthy, naturally gluten free, vegan, refined sugar free treat. This is one I've been asked about a lot recently and the first Lara Bar type treat I ever made. It's been several years since I started making these and they're such a great go to treat.  Once you have your nut to fruit ratio down you can vary them to your heart's content.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites

Makes 13 cookie dough bites.

1 Cup Peanuts, Roasted and Salted
1/2 Cup Organic Dates, Pitted and packed firmly (I used seven large dates)
1/4 Cup Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

In a food processor combine peanuts and dates, pulsing until well mixed but not so long the peanuts start to turn to peanut butter.

I like a little texture - you can see what it should look like in the picture at right.  Dump the mixture onto a plate and pour chocolate chips on top.

Using clean hands knead the mixture together, squeezing and mixing until you have a soft mass of dough. Using a tablespoon for a mold, pack the mixture into the tablespoon and tap it out onto the plate.

Three ingredients, less than ten minutes. Can't go wrong with a quick and wholesome treat like these.

Enjoy.

December Sanity Challenge & German Chocolate Bites

As I mentioned in my last post, I found out about the December Sanity Challenge from Carrie at Ginger Lemon Girl. The idea of a little accountability and support for staying sane and enjoying the Christmas season is perfect for me. There's even a facebook page to stay up to date with new blog posts and things like helpful quotes for inspiration. Love that.

So far I haven't done a stellar job at getting this going. I've been trying to get my own goals settled in my head and have read these great posts for a little inspiration:

Carrie @ Ginger Lemon Girl - http://gingerlemongirl.blogspot.com/2012/11/december-sanity-challenge-2012-peaceful.html

Cheryl @ Gluten Free Goodness - http://www.gfgoodness.com/2012/11/23/december-sanity-retreat-2012-join-us/

Valerie @ City Life Eats - http://www.citylifeeats.com/2012/12/02/december-sanity-challenge-2012-sleep-move-dance-stretch/

Iris @ The Daily Dietribe - http://www.thedailydietribe.com/2012/12/join-december-sanity-challenge-2012.html

One immediate benefit is getting to know some really great new-to-me blogs.

Shirley from Gluten Free Easily is a part of the group and I've been enjoying her ideas, too.

So anyway, my goal is to stay healthy and serene through December. Serene may be too far reaching a goal for me! So to stay healthy and not be stressed is my real goal. I know I need to work on my body and spirit and need to make specific goals.

First, I will exercise daily. My goal will be to either bike (indoors, no excuse for bad weather) for one hour or walk with my pup for at least three miles per day.

Alternatively I could play outside with my bff!

To stay healthy I will focus on unprocessed, whole foods and keep sugar to a minimum while making a deliberate exception to have a holiday treat no more than once a week. I know sugar lowers my immune system and will let a passing cold or flu bug take hold.

To alleviate stress I will also attempt to get eight hours of sleep per night. Not easy during menopause and certainly not easy with a snoring dog in our room but I will do my best to be in bed at a decent hour.

I will also set boundaries for holiday invitations and requests so I don't overdo. This may be difficult but I feel it's really necessary. My own stress transfers to my family and that isn't ever fair. This helps me to enjoy the traditions I really enjoy like a holiday craft day and tamale making (mostly eating) with Gabby and gives me plenty of time to take care of myself and my family.

And last but not least I will get back into my too-long-ignored Bible study and focus on the real reason I am celebrating Christmas.  I will finish the entire December study and I know it will be a blessing.

One thing I am adding this year is a cookie exchange that my friend Laura at http://thechroniclesofddl.blogspot.com/ has created.

It's been years since I've participated in a real live cookie exchange and this one is different.

It will be gluten free, vegan, artificial dye, flavors and preservative free and we'll use only low glycemic sweeteners.

This exchange will be much more of a challenge than the buttery, sugary Christmas Spritz cookies of years past!

We've started a Pinterest board to share ideas and I'm excited to have like minded people to exchange with!

This recipe is one I may include although I'm not sure it really qualifies as a cookie.

I think we've all made faux Lara Bars and there are dozen of recipes in the blogosphere but I really like this version.  It's such an easy recipe to make. I am not used to very sweet desserts anymore so if you are I would switch out one of the spoonfuls of coconut oil for honey. To me, the dates are plenty sweet.

Laura had made some delicious raw macaroons and shared some with me last week. I stole her presentation by packing my tablespoon very full of the fruit and nut mixture and then tapping it out into my hand. They look prettier than my usual rolled balls.

German Chocolate Bites

In a food processor combine:

1 cup Raw Pecans
1 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
12 pitted Dates, roughly chopped
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
2 Tablespoons Cocoa
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Process all ingredients by pulsing until the mixture looks similar to the photo on the right.

At this point I dump everything into a large bowl and press it together into a ball.

Taking a tablespoon measure pack the chocolately goodness into the spoon tightly.  Tap the treat out into your hand. If it won't release quickly tap the side of the spoon onto the side of your bowl and it should come right out.

The recipe will make 15 to 16 depending on how much you nibble as you make them.

Enjoy!

Thank you Gabby for the bff pic!