Salted Carmel Sauce made with Coconut Sugar!

Yes, I get the occasional craving for a sweet treat too! But just because I want something soothing and sweet, doesn't mean that I abandon my convictions regarding food choices!

We planted several tiny apple trees nearly 10 years ago when we bought our house and they are finally producing beautiful apples!! And who doesn't love Carmel and Apples?!?! I know I have always loved carmel apples - I remember my grandmother buying me those 3 packs of carmel apples in the grocery store.... But the challenge is we don't eat "sugar" or "corn syrup" - that makes it tough to make a carmel....

Coconut Sugar - Have you ever had it? I encourage you to seek some out and I'm sure it will become a staple of your pantry. But I must caution, just because it's better than refined sugar options, it's still a sweetener and you still must use self-control! Coconut sugar has similar properties to sugarcane sugar, but lower Glycemic Index and a more complex flavor similar to brown sugar.

I treat myself with having coconut sugar in my coffee on Friday, Saturday and Sundays (Mon-Thur I have stevia) and along with coconut milk - I think it's the most heavenly coffee ever!

Tonight was my 2nd time making Coconut Sugar Salted Carmel Sauce and it's not going to be the last time!! Here's my recipe:

1c Organic Coconut Sugar
2T water

Combine in small pot and bring to a simmer over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Once it starts to boil/simmer DO NOT STIR! You can lightly swirl the pan or using water on a pastry brush- wipe the sides of the pot to wash any melted carmel down.  I keep a candy thermometer in mine, but have not be focusing on a specific temperature as a stopping point but just the 5 minutes - which seems to be around 250 degrees.

Remove your pot from the stove and wisk in - in small amounts since it will bubble up:

1t Ghee or Butter
1/2c Organic Coconut Milk
1/4t Vanilla
1/4t Sea Salt

Makes about 1-1/4 c carmel sauce, will be runny at first but refrigerate to thicken.

I started using Ghee (clarified butter) as opposed to just butter to eliminate the dairy milk solids - to make it a pure fat. I've been reducing my dairy intake as Ghee is a great way to keep the taste without "diary" - for those following Paleo or dairy-free diets some consume Ghee but not butter.

Sauerkraut - Part 1

Sauerkraut is so simple to make and when you make fermented sauerkraut at home it's SO GOOD FOR YOU! There's lots of media attention regarding the benefits of incorporating probiotics into your diet - don't just rely on pills, use real food to boost your friendly-gut-bacterias!

Today we started 2 gallons of Kraut.. this post is how to get started, look for more posts as I track it's progress...

Here's a step by step of how we're making ours, required supplies are pretty basic and the process is really simple. Shred cabbage, sprinkle salt, pound to release liquid, cover and let sit...

Today we bought 6 medium heads of cabbage at the farmers market and gathered our supplies. We got our antique kraut shredder from Ray's parents and our 2 gallon crock from my grandmother. (you can use a food processor with a slicing blade or just hand-cut your cabbage too! and you don't need a crock any non-plastic or non-metal vessel will work!)

We cut each head of cabbage in half and removed the core....

Ray shredded each half....

 Then we'd put about 2 inches of shredded cabbage in the bottom of the crock and sprinkled liberally with Celtic sea salt...

 Then pound your salted cabbage, you are trying to get the cabbage to release it's liquid. We use the wooden plunger for our kitchen-aid mixer's meat grinder attachment along with our fists in a punching motion...

 Keep  pounding the cabbage until the liquid released will cover the shredded cabbage when you press it down..

Keep adding additional cabbage/salt in 1-2 inch layers, and keep pounding.

 Our 2 gallon crock held 6 heads of shredded cabbage.. In order for the cabbage to ferment into sauerkraut you need to allow it to sit with the cabbage fully submerged underwater. Use a plate or other flat item that fills up the crock but can be pressed down (I used the lid from my rice cooker, it fit in the crock perfectly! If the weight of the item you are using as a submerged lid isn't heavy enough to keep the liquid above the cabbage, apply weight like a gallon jug of water or a brick.

Cover the entire top of your crock with cheese cloth and allow it to sit at room temperature and out of direct sunlight... every couple days check it out to make sure everything is submerged and to skim any foamy stuff that may collect on top...

Creamy Coleslaw

I don't know about you, but I love coleslaw! I worked to perfect a wonderfully sweet-tangy coleslaw recipe that's similar to what you've had our at chain restaurants and kept full of real food ingredients! Here's my recipe:

1/2c Mayo
1/2c Sour Cream
1/3c Sugar (I use honey and/or coconut sugar, since we no longer use sugar)
3T Lemon Juice, fresh squeezed (I've used red wine vinegar and it's good too)
2T White Vinegar
1t Sea Salt
1/4t Black Pepper, fine ground
1t Onion powder

Mix everything together and toss over shredded cabbage/carrot. The dressing will work on about 1 med head of cabbage or 1 bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

I'll admitt it, last week during a lunch time trip to Target - I splurged on a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks and it was AMAZING! Those warm-fall flavors got me thinking - I can make this at home and it can be healthy!

The recipe I came up with is a Pumpkin Spice Creamer you can mix up ahead of time and just use it in your coffee throughout the week.. best part it's low carb, dairy and sugar free! I think we could even call it is paleo-ish!

1-3/4 cup Organic Coconut Milk (13.5 oz can)
1/4 cup Organic canned Pumpkin 
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
Yield 2-3/4 cups

Add everything to a bottle and shake it up really well - it will turn a beautiful light orange color!
You can use it as-is and add sweetener separately in your coffee - but I like to streamline things, so I added stevia (to taste) driectly into the creamer mix - you could use coconut sugar also - but I'm carb-concious so stevia works for me! (you can put the rest of the canned pumpkin in the freezer in 1/4 cup baggies to use in weeks to come!)

Use your homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte creamer in your coffee - it will keep in the fridge for a week, if it lasts that long :)  Let me know what you think!

 The total recipe has 24g effective carbs (29g carbohydrate - 5g fiber = 24g) If you use 1/4 cup per cup of coffee that's 11 servings with 2.2 carbs per serving!!