That Vegan Avocado Chocolate Pudding Everyone Makes That I Refused To Try

Tags

avocado, avocado chocolate pudding, chocolate pudding, dairy free chocolate, GAPS Diet, GAPS friendly, gluten free dessert, green fruit, vegan desserts, vegan dishes

Yes, it tastes as good as it looks. I never would have believed it!

My kids joke that I am anti-everything.  I simply refuse to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing.  I know for certain that this stems from growing up as a shy child.  Don’t ever tell a shy kid to “Smile!  You look like your dog just died.”  The shy kid may not be as miserable as she looks, just lost in thought.  I guarantee such comments will ruin her day.  And telling a shy, sensitive kid not take things personally is even worse.  A shy and sensitive kid who questions authority and everything else she is spoon-fed in a private, fanatically religious school will feel even more rebellious.  Spending nearly a decade as a military spouse after shaking off the irritants of the past two decades won’t help the “problem” any.  Don’t tell me what to do, I’ll NEVER do it.  But I will if I want to.  So there.  Sticking my tongue out at the world.  😉

Avocado chocolate pudding?  Agave syrup?  Sugar is sugar is sugar.  Well, raw sugar is raw sugar is raw sugar and I only use turbinado and raw honey, except for on those special occasions when only white flour and sugar will do, as in birthday cake making.  You’d never convince me that eating a bowl of chocolate guacamole would trick me into thinking I was eating chocolate pudding.  Then came the GAPS Diet…

I was halving an avocado for my sons to share this afternoon when I decided that it would be more fun to give it to them in the form of that vegan chocolate pudding recipe I’ve been avoiding, to see if it was any good.  Holy cow!  I found when I licked my spatula that it was indeed, and quickly divided it up into four portions, rather than two.  My three fellows sat mmm-ing, sighing, eyebrows raised in question, wondering at my sneaky grin.  Where did she get chocolate pudding?!  My husband, who had never been brave enough to try the mushy green fruit (anyone who follows this blog knows he avoids green edible plant material when possible), nearly licked his sundae dish clean.  I waited until after everyone was done before I told them it was made from avocados. They all asked for more.  There wasn’t any more.  There is another avocado in the fridge…

And I must mention that we are NOT a vegan family.  Grilled lamb kebabs for dinner!

Most of the recipes for this overblogged delight are the same so I don’t even know who to give credit to for this idea.  Who was the first?  I don’t know.  Here’s my version.

Orange Chocolate Pudding~ Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Vegan, GAPS Friendly

1 avocado.  Peeled.  Pit removed.

1/4 c. Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa (so much better than regular, and better for you)

1/4 c. honey

1/4 c. water (milk, almond milk, whatever)

1/2 tsp. orange extract

Pink Himalayan salt to taste.

Method:

Puree in food processor.

You can have dessert first!  Mmmmm-azing!

Yield: App. 4, 1/4 c. servings

Wilted Spinach with Lemony White Beans and Asiago

Tags

asiago cheese, avoiding bread, digestive disorders, GAPS Diet, GAPS friendly, Gordon Ramsay, hummus, legumes, lemony white beans, pappadums, wilted spinach

We’ve been very slowly reintroducing legumes into our diets after avoiding them for a while.  First it was lentils.  We added those in the wrong way, raw and ground into flour, rather than soaked and cooked, but suffered no gastric discomfort or ill effects.  Then it was garbanzo flour.  This came about when my lentil pappadums were an utter failure and I needed to add the garbanzo flour to stiffen up the dough and keep the rounds from sticking to my board when I was rolling them out.  Tonight it was white beans.  I’d intended to use them last week but it never happened.

My husband has been watching a lot of Gordon Ramsay with me.  We love all of his shows.  On one episode of his new cooking show he made cannellini beans with tarragon on grilled ciabatta.  My husband loves beans in any form and has been asking me to make him a dish similar to Gordon’s when we finally got around to adding back legumes.  I’ve wanted my Lemony White Bean Hummus every time I’ve seen the dried white beans sitting in the pantry.  Both dishes are intended to be eaten with bread and seemed as if they would be a little lackluster without it, but my husband and I are avoiding grains and bread for the time being.  To spruce things up, I came up a with a dish that was similar to each of the ones we were longing for and added in spinach to give it a little more substance.

It made for a harmonious supper.  Hopefully digestion will progress as smoothly.  If not…well I guess our rumbling, squawking bellies will be harmonizing in the still of the night as we try to sleep.  Hopefully there won’t be a trumpet solo from my husband’s side of the bed.

Ingredients:

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 clove minced garlic

2 c. baby spinach leaves

1 1/2 c. cooked white beans

Salt and Pepper

Lemon juice

Asiago

Method:

Heat the oil in a skillet.  Saute the garlic in the oil until translucent.  Very quickly wilt the spinach in the oil and garlic.

Add in the beans and smash a portion of them with the back of a spoon.  Stir the ingredients together, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Plate.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice and shaved asiago to each portion.

Makes 4 side dish servings.

Almond Crusted Pork Sirloin Roast

Tags

almond meal, GAPS friendly, gluten free, Himalayan salt crust, low carb, oatmeal raisin cookie, Paula Deen, roast pork, sugar cookie crust, The Walking Dead

That Paula Deen…tempting me with her insanely delectable Southern food combinations!  This time I was able to outsmart her.

Sick baby (well, as tall as me but still my baby), sick mama.  He had fevers all day and asked if he could camp out in the living room where he had been lying for hours and if I could sleep close by to comfort him.  Of course, my poor, sweet baby.  So I’m in the recliner watching The Walking Dead marathon through half the night, which isn’t helping my nausea one bit, but finally have enough and change the channel somewhere near dawn.  I fall asleep and wake up after 9 to find the queen of the Southern kitchen rolling a pork loin in a combination of cracker crumbs (makes sense) and crumbled sugar cookies.  SUGAR COOKIES!  By this time my stomach is growling and I’m hoping that this will not be day three of the quease, and am grateful to Paula for restoring my appetite.  Little Guy’s fever has broken.  I get up and make breakfast, lunch, snacks, cooked vegetables, and heat broth for the day in case the ick creeps back up on me.

How can I have what I want?  Roll the dang pork sirloin I have planned for Sunday dinner in the almond meal I have left from making almond milk, of course.  Everything goes in almond meal these days.  And it wasn’t sugary sweet Southern, but turned out just as beautifully as Mrs. Deen’s.

Little Guy informed me after eating his piece that he doesn’t like almonds at all and requested that I cut the crust from his pork next time.  Well that’s a first and really made me giggle.  I mean I’ve cut the crust off of bread once or twice… His almond repulsion is also new to me.  I’ll try to remember that.  Guess I’ve been overdoing it with the almonds lately.  He did enjoy the Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Drops that I made for a snack for him and his brother. They were almond free.  I’m blogging them tomorrow.  Maybe I should add an “Almond Free” category to the blog for him and a “Kale Free” list for my husband.  Giggle.  They make me laugh.

Here’s the recipe.  It was easy as pie!  No, wait…much easier.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lb. pork sirloin roast

1/2 tsp. Himalayan salt, coarsely ground

1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, coarsely ground

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 c. almond meal

Method:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place a rack inside a baking pan or dish.

Combine the almonds, salt, pepper, and coriander.

Roll the sirloin in the mixture to coat.

Place on the rack.  I followed  Paula Deen’s instructions here and it allowed the roast to crisp all around.

Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  I don’t know how Paula’s pork loin cooked for only 30 minutes, but it looked done to me.  My sirloin was thicker and took much longer to reach the proper internal temp.

I let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing.