Besan Kheer(Split Chick Pea Flour Pudding) using Xylitol as Sweetener

Happy Varusha Pirappu, Vishu, Vishuva Sankranti, Poyela Boishakh to all my readers. If you are new to these names and are wondering what it means? This is the name of the New Year celebrated in different regions of India based on the Hindu Solar Calendar.  Kheer , Payasam or pudding is a must on such occasions and this is one of the easiest one to prepare, can be done in a jiffy. Most of the traditional Payasam/Kheer in the Southern parts of India is made with Jaggery and a very few are made with Sugar. This is one such sweet dish which is normally made with sugar and I substituted Xylitol instead of refined sugar. For those of you who are new to Xylitol, it is a low glycemic sweetener, a natural sugar substitute which looks like sugar but has a slight chilling effect when you taste it. One draw back about xylitol is, not every one can digest it. So try it in low quantities and if you can digest it  go ahead in replacing this instead of sugar. However, portion control is critical when using xylitol as a sugar substitute.

Preparation Time – None

Cooking Time – 20 Minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

Besan/Split Chick Pea Flour/Kadalai Maavu – 1 Cup

Water – 1 Cup

Milk – 21/2 to 3 Cups

Xylitol – 1/2 Cup(You can replace this with sugar if you want to and increase the quantity depending on your sweetness level)

Safrron – pinch

Clarified butter/Ghee – 1/4 Cup

Nuts – 2 Tbsp

Method

1) Heat a thick bottomed pan and once hot, add the ghee and toast the nuts till slightly golden and keep them aside.

2) Now to the warm ghee add the besan flour and roast till it becomes golden browns and a nice aroma comes.  Make sure to keep stirring the flour to prevent burning.

3) To the roasted flour add water and saffron and with a whisk keep stirring till it becomes a nice thick paste without any lumps and starts thickening.

4) At this stage add half of the milk and simmer till it starts bubbling/boiling and now add the xylitol and stir till it completely dissolves. Now add more milk to the desired thickness and set it aside to cool.

5) Top it with nuts and serve or, refrigerate and serve it chilled topped with the toasted nuts.

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Strawberry Parfait

Looking for a high protein, tasty and guilt free dessert? Give this parfait a try. Parfait means frozen dessert in French and in America it is made by layering whipped cream, ice cream, and/or flavored gelatin, cream, fruits in tall glasses. Also it can be done with a combination of sweetened yogurt, nuts and fruits. So parfait is all about layering and I layered it with xylitol sweetened yogurt cheese, layered with some fresh strawberries and toasted nuts and coconut pieces. I use Xylitol extensively as a sweetener and those you are new to my space, xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar substitute which is low on carbohydrates and very low on glycemic index and doesn’t cause cavities like white sugar. But xylitol is slightly difficult to digest. So try out in small quantities and you don’t have any issue in digesting this sweetener, this is the best alternate to sugar and doesn’t have any weird after taste. I some times have parfait for breakfast, sometimes as snack and sometimes as a dessert.  So do you like parfait? If so do you have it for breakfast, snack or as a dessert?
Preparation Time – 15 Minutes
Cooking Time – 5 Minutes
Serves – 3
Ingredients
Greek Yogurt – 4 Cups
Chopped strawberries – 1 Cup and few for topping
Toasted Chopped Almonds, Cashews & Coconut –  3/4 Cup(Use shredded coconut as I found it is much better than chopped coconut)
Powdered Xylitol – 2 Tbsp or to taste
Method
1) Put the greek yogurt in a cheese cloth and squeeze out excess water from it.  Now place this in a bowl and add powdered xylitol and mix thoroughly.
2) Spoon 1-2 Tbsp of this sweetened yogurt cheese in a glass and arrange a layer of strawberries and toasted nuts. Once again spoon another 1-2 Tbsp of yogurt cheese repeat the layering of berries and nuts once again.
3) Top with full strawberry, chill and serve.

Events
Sending this to Zesty Palette’s New You Series 3 hosted by Vardhini.

Sending this to  Ramya’s ABC Series - Dessert

Sending this to Kids delight some thing sweet by Kavitha an event started by Srivalli.

This goes to Cook Eat Delicious Desserts – Refined Sugar & flour free whole some desserts an event hosted by me and started by Raven

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Mango Jelly using Xylitol

 

I hope all of you are having a great Holiday Season. Happy Holiday wishes to all my readers and friends. Life is become so hectic with all the holiday gift shopping, school vacation, work, year end Doctor visits so blogging has been pushed into back seat. But hoping to be quite regular in a few days. It is been a while since I posted any recipe and to end this void thought of publishing this unseasonal post. This has been lying in my drafts from Summer. I love mangoes so much,  I make mango puree and freeze them in season which I use in various recipes when this lovely fruit is not in available.  So whenever you can get hold of this yummy fruit or if you also freeze the pulp like me, do  try out this Jelly. I used xylitol as the sweetener and I loved it but you can go ahead and substitute the sweetener of your choice.

Preparation Time – 15 Minutes
Cooking Time – 15  Minutes


Ingredients


Mangoes – 2 Big or 3 Medium sized
Water – 1 Cup
Xylitol – 1/4 Cup (Increase the sweetener measure based on the sweetness of your mangoes)
Lemon juice – Juice of 1 lime
Salt – pinch
Agar agar flakes – 2 Tbsp

Method


1)  Soak the agar agar flakes in half cup of water and let this sit for few 15 to 20  minutes.
2) Peel, cube the mangoes and puree to a fine pulp by adding half cup of water. Add xylitol to this and keep this aside.
3) Heat the soaked agar agar flakes and boil till the flakes are completely dissolved, now add the mango pulp and cook for 10 minutes. Switch off the flame and add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly.
4) Leave this aside to cool for 5-10 minutes, while it is hot pour into containers and leave it aside to set.
5) Keeps in refrigerator for at least a month.

Events

Sending this to Zesty Palette’s New You Series 3 hosted by Vardhini.

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Sandesh(Saffron flavored milk sweet sweetened with guilt free Xylitol)

Wish ing you all a very Happy Diwali/Deepavali. Diwali/Deepavali is one of the most important festivals in India. The name Deepavali means row of lights and it indeed is a festival of lights where small clay lamps are lit inside the house and families get together and celebrate with sweets, new dress and to top it all bursting fire crackers. Unless you have visited or stayed in the Indian subcontinent during Deepavali time, it is slightly difficult to understand what is being missed miles away during this festival time.



Living thousands of miles away  I try to recreate things in whatever way I can, so that my kids also get a feel of this festival.  Now getting on to this recipe, this is a very easy one with very few ingredients, even though it involves couple of steps. Super healthy too with calcium and protein and not cavity causing sweetener Xylitol. Do try it out and let me know, how you liked it.



Preparation Time - 30 Minutes

Serves - Makes around 12 pieces





Ingredients



Whole Milk - 4 Cups

Vinegar - 1/4 Cup

Saffron few strands

Rose water - 1/2 Tsp

Powdered Xylitol - 1/4 Cup( or 1/4 Sugar)

Few rose petals and almonds slices for garnishing



Method



1) Combine saffron and milk and boil the milk. Once it starts to rise in the pan, add the vinegar stir and switch off the stove. By now the cheese and whey would have separated.



2) Line a colander with cheese cloth and pour the whey and cheese through it. The cheese would settle in the top of the cloth and the whey would drain. Rinse this cheese with cold water to remove any smell or sour taste and squeeze out all the extra water.



3) Knead the cheese using your hands to form a soft firm dough and add the powdered xylitol, rose water and make small balls out of it and garnish with sliced almonds and rose petals. Chill it and serve. Xylitol causes little bit of dryness, so you are better off without cooking the mixture. If you are using sugar proceed to step 4.



4) If you are using sugar instead of sugar. After adding the sweetener, cook in low heat for around 5 minutes. Until the mixture resembles a soft dough. Cool this mixture and once it is warm enough to handle, roll out small balls and garnish with nuts or fruits of your choice. Chill it and serve.

Events



Sending this to Cooking Concepts - Festive Food hosted by Srav's Culinary Concepts.

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Carrot Milk Fudge(Carrot Halwa using Xylitol)

Looking for more ways to include this naturally sweet, delicious and crunchy, vegetable in your diet? Then definitely try this carrot milk fudge. But before that let us see more about this vegetable. These root vegetables comes with wholesome health benefiting compounds such as beta carotenes, vitamin A, minerals and anti-oxidants in ample amounts.  Studies have found that flavonoid compounds in carrots help protect from skin, lung and oral cavity cancers and the vitamin A help in maintaining a good vision. This naturally sweet, root vegetable packed with vitamins may be good for lot of people, but for people who are on a low sugar this is not the vegetable to be included regularly in their diet. Will post another fudge recipe using white pumpkin, which is low in sugar but still tastes wonderful. Check back soon and now let us get on to this recipe.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 20-25 Minutes

Serves - 8 to 10 (small portion sizes)





Ingredients



Grated Carrots - 3 Cups

Milk - 1 1/2 Cups

Grated Paneer - 1/3 Cup(Indian cottage cheese)

Xylitol - 1/3 Cup(If using sugar go till 1/2 Cup, because xylitol is slightly sweeter than sugar I used only 1/3 cup)

Saffron - few strands

Blanched almonds -1 Tbsp

Cashew - 1 Tbsp

Clarified butter - 3 Tbsp



Method



1) Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add a Tbsp of ghee and toast the nuts and keep it aside.



2) Add another Tbsp of ghee and add the grated carrots and saute till the raw smell is gone. ( This will take any where between 7-8 minutes).



3) Now add the milk and saffron strands and boil till the carrots are well cooked and all the milk is evaporated and the mixture becomes thick.



4) Now add the xylitol and paneer keep stirring till the mixture starts leaving the sides. At this point add the left over ghee and the toasted nuts and stir well and switch off the stove. Serve hot.

Events



Sending this to Cooking Concepts - Festive Food hosted by Srav's Culinary Concepts.

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Rasgulla(Home made Cheese Ball cooked in Sugar free Sweet Syrup)

Rasgulla is a milk based sweet from the Eastern part of India. Most or I would say all of the Indian sweets are traditionally made on stove top and most of them are gluten free. This one is traditionally made with sugar, but in my household I try to avoid refined sugars in all forms so had to go for xylitol. For people who are hearing Xylitol for the first time, it is a natural sugar substitute and is safe for people with diabetes. Xylitol tastes sweet but, unlike sugar, it is not converted in the mouth to acids that cause tooth decay. It reduces levels of decay-causing bacteria in saliva and also acts against some bacteria that cause ear infections. But make sure you don't indulge excessive amount of sweets made with xylitol, as it will cause upset stomachs. Now getting on to the recipe, there are few steps involved but once you get familiar with them, making rasgulla is a very simple task.



Preparation Time - 20

Cooking Time - 30

Serves - 12 to 15 Balls





Ingredients



Milk - 4 Cups

White distilled vinegar - 1/4 Cup or Lemon juice - 1/4 Cup + 1/4 Cup cold water

Xylitol - 1 Cup (If using sugar go for 1 1/2 cups and use 4 cups water)

Water  - 3 Cups

Rose water - 1/2 Tsp

Saffron few strands(optional)



Method



1) Boil the milk in medium heat, stirring once in a while so that the bottom doesn't brown. Once the milk is boiled well and starts coming up in the vessel, pour the vinegar slowly, stirring it and once the milk is curdled you will see the whey and the cheese starting to separate, at this point switch off the stove.



2) Line a colander with a cheese cloth and transfer the hot contents in it, the whey will be filtered down and the cheese will stay on top. You can use this whey to add to soups, gravies or kneading dough. But if you are using vinegar to curdle the milk, check the flavor of the whey before using it as I find a strong vinegar flavor and use only whey done using lemon juice. On top of the cheese immediately pour cold water to remove the flavor and sour taste and rinse nicely.



3) Squeeze out the excess water from the cheese by keeping a heavy object on top of the cheese cloth or you can use layers of paper towel to absorb excess water. Once the excess water is drained out, take a small amount of paneer or cheese and knead to see if you are able to make a small ball out of it and the ball holds shape.



4) In a pressure pan, add the xylitol and 3 cups of water and boil till the xylitol is completely dissolved. Meanwhile take out the paneer and knead it several times to form a firm soft dough and  make equal sized ball and keep it ready.



5) Once the xylitol is dissolved, slowly drop the paneer balls one by one in the xylitol mixture and cover the pressure cooker and cook in medium heat till you get one whistle. Now put the flame in low and switch off in 5 minutes.Once the pressure cooker is cool enough to handle, remove the weight on top and open the pressure cooker and add the rose water. Chill and serve. You can also add few pieces of crushed saffron for flavor.

 

Boil the milk

 Pour the vinegar and stir till the cheese and whey separates.

Events



Sending this to Cooking Concepts - Festive Food hosted by Srav's Culinary Concepts.

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Almond Milk Pudding(Badam Kheer)

Tastes good, looks good, a super food with high fiber, protein, rich in calcium. Can a dessert be delicious & good for you too? Why not, this Almond Milk pudding made out of Almonds,

milk & sweetened with Xylitol tastes really good and also is safe for people on low glycemic index (low sugar) foods. Very easy to put together, this dessert is once again a dessert that can be made even by a novice cook. So if you haven't tasted this dessert before, try this out and let me know how you liked it.





Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 10-15 Minutes

Serves - 6





Ingredients



Almonds - 1 Cup

Milk - 2 3/4 Cup

Water - 1/4 Cup

Xylitol - 1/3 Cup(Traditionally done using sugar, if using sugar go for 1/2 cup or to your taste)

Saffron few strands

Cardamom 1 pod

Toasted Charoli nuts - 1 Tbsp



Method



1) Soak the almonds over night. Rinse and drain the water. Boil 2 cups of fresh water and once the water reaches the rolling boil point add the almonds and boil for 2 minutes. Then switch off the stove, immediately drain the water and add cold water rinse and once it is cold enough to handle. Just press the almonds between your thumb and index finger and the almonds will pop out of the skin. Do the same for the rest of the almonds.



2) Place the peeled almonds, saffron strands, cardamom and 1/2 cup of milk in a food processor and process till you get a smooth paste. Pour the ground paste in a thick bottomed pan and add 1/4 cup of water to the food processor to get any remaining paste sticking on to it.



3) Add the remaining milk and cook in medium heat. When it is slight hot add xylitol and boil till mixture slightly thickens and the xylitol melts approximately 8-10 minutes. Stirring in between to avoid burning  the bottom.

4) Add toasted nuts and serve hot or cold as per your choice.

Note - Another good thing(or bad thing!!) about using xylitol is they teach you portion control, any time you exceed or go overboard with big portion sizes then the result is upset stomach. 

Events



1) Sending this to "Cook - Eat Delicious Desserts Almonds hosted by Anu" an event started by Raven.



2) This is one of my favorite desserts and I am sending this to My favorite dish event hosted by Sreevalli.

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Vegan Tropical Smoothie(Mango, Papaya & Pineapple)

The ignored and tainted coconut has become the new super food and is every where in all different forms coconut milk, coconut flour, coconut oil. Even main stream restaurants offer smoothies with coconut milk in their menu. People are reinventing the wheel and coconut is in the lime light. At least now I hope the dietitians keep themselves updated and advice their patient to avoid coconut!!! Now coming to this smoothie recipe, I saw it in a restaurant menu card and fell in love with the ingredients used. So delicious and nutritious and a great way to kick start the day.

But if some one is on a diabetic diet, fruit smoothies are not advisable as the sugar in the juice form easily and quickly spikes the blood sugar. So if you are looking for a low sugar beverage go for any of this Almond Butter Milk shake, Ash gourd & Cilantro Smoothie, Chocolate Truffle Shake, Almond Milk, Cucumber Cilantro Smoothie, Almond Saffron Milk Falooda.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - Nil

Serves - 4





Ingredients



Coconut Milk - 2 1/2 Cups (Chilled)

Papaya pieces - 3/4 Cup

Mango pieces - 3/4 Cup (Fresh or frozen both will work great)

Pineapple pieces - 3/4 ( All fruits washed, peeled and cubed)

Xylitol or Honey - 1 Tbsp or per taste(once again use the sweetener of your choice, but honey gives a lovely tropical flavor to this drink)

Vanilla extract - 1/4 Tsp

Ice cubes - 1/2 Cup



Method



1) Place the papaya, mango and pineapple pieces along with honey, vanilla extract and coconut milk in a food processor and blend till smooth.



2) Add the ice cubes and blend one more time and serve immediately.



Note - Using a good quality food processor will eliminate the need to filter and discard the fiber. Fruits and vegetables are eaten for their vitamins and fiber and do not filter and discard the fiber and lose the health benefits.

Event

This energizing smoothie goes to Sizzling Tastebuds Vrat Ka Khaana.

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Mango Lassi/Smoothie

Last few days/weeks were very busy for me with work, last minute visits to friends & families back home, last minute shopping, packing and then flying back to NJ after the stormy Irene. Coming back here and feeling like a stranger in a quiet house with no hustle and bustle and kids back to their school making me even more home sick. I am just now catching up with things in my house and the blog and my blogger buddies posts. Now getting on to this simple but super delicious recipe, do try out and let me know and I am sure who ever hasn't tried Mango lassi before is going to love it. But wait, if you watch your sugar and carbs, mango is not a fruit for  you.



Preparation Time - 5 to 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - Nil

Serves - 2 to 3





Ingredients



Mango - 2 Big to Medium or 3 Small as shown in the photo

Yogurt - 1 1/2 Cups

Butter Milk or Milk - 1/2 Cup

Xylitol - 1/4 Cup (You can use an sweetener of your choice like Honey, Sugar and increase this based on the sweetness level of the mango)

Rose water - 1 Tsp

Saffron few strands

Ice cubes - 1 cup (optional)



Method



1) Peel and cut the mangoes into small pieces, throwing out the seed after squeezing out the pulp.



2) Place the mango pieces, yogurt, butter milk, xylitol, rose water and saffron in a blender and blend till smooth.



3) Add the ice cubes and blend one more time and serve immediately.



Note - You can add ginger, cardamom for flavoring and also the lassi can be served with some chopped nuts on the top (like pistachio, almonds etc).

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Mango Mania - Mango & Banana Gluten, Grain free low fat, stove top Munchkins(Sweet Paniyaram)

A pretty long name for such a small dish, eh? Every one has a favorite gadget in their kitchen which they love and use it often. For me Aebleskiver Pan or Danish Cake Pan or the Payiram Pan with which ever name you know is one such gadget and use it quite often in making a variety of dishes. Bitten by the mango bug and trying out various dishes using mango, I wouldn't do justice to my favorite kitchen gadget if I didn't try anything using it. So came up with this easy, delicious and high protein snack. My elder one's friend who had come to play with him thought that these cuties looked like the munchkins and preferred to call them the same. Now getting on to the recipe



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 15 Minutes

Serves - Makes approximately 10





Ingredients



Mung & Urad batter - 1 Cup (See note below)

Grated coconut - 2 Tbsp

Mango pieces - 2 Tbsp

Banana (1/3 banana) - Mashed with a thick spoon into a nice puree

Cardamom powder - pinch

Grated Coconut - 2 Tbsp

Powdered Palm Sugar or Powdered Xylitol or Powdered Jaggery - 2 Heaped Tbsp (Jaggery tastes the best and next comes palm sugar and third comes xylitol in terms of the authentic taste)

Clarified butter - 1 Tbsp or more to your preference



Method



1) Add the grated coconut, mango pieces, cardamom powder, powdered sweetener of your choice, mashed banana to the ground bean batter and combine thoroughly.

2) Heat the Appam pan on medium heat and pour a drop of ghee in each one of the hole.

3) Once the pan is hot enough pour the batter, cover and cook little crispy on one side.

4) Now turn the appam and cook the other side. You can add little bit of more ghee to get a brown color on the other side too.

5) Remove the appam, when both the sides are well cooked.



Note - I soaked 1/2 Cup of Mung Bean and 1/2 Cup of Urad Dal for 3 hours and then washed, rinsed and ground them into a fluffy smooth batter. Used 1 cup of batter for these and used the rest to make dry fruits and nuts paniyaram which I will post later.



The idli batter also works out fine for this, but I prefer the one without grains.

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Mango Mania - Amarkhand (Mango Flavored Yogurt Cheese Sweetened with Xylitol)

Craving for some dessert, try this nutritious Amarkhand!! Amarkhand is an Indian Sweet Dish made with strained yogurt, mango pulp and by mixing it with sugar, saffron, cardamom and nuts.  Instead of the sugar, I have replaced it with Xylitol and you can absolutely not tell much difference in the taste of Xylitol on dairy based desserts. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as naturally occurring sugar substitute. In fact Xylitol doesn't cause any cavities like normal sugar and is safe for kids too.

I am holding off on those summer beverages and thought of posting my series of mango recipes. Summer is incomplete without mangoes and in tropical countries like India you get a variety of them. But in United States except for the Mexican variety and few of the Indian varieties you don't have much choices. Unless you have seen and tasted the Indian varieties of mangoes it is very difficult to comprehend what I am talking about. But these mangoes are good to go in variety of dishes like this and with still Summer around the corner, do try it out and let me know how you liked it.

Preparation Time -30 Minutes

Cooking Time - None

Serves - 2

Ingredients

Greek Yogurt - 2 Cups (16 oz)

Mango pulp(pureed) - 3/4 Cup

Powdered Xylitol - 1/4 Cup or more based on taste

Saffron - Few Strands

Warm Milk - 1 Tablespoon

Sliced toasted nuts- 1 Tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 Tsp

Finely chopped mango pieces - 1/4 Cup  (optional)

Method

1) Place the yogurt in a cheese cloth and squeeze out the excess water from the yogurt.( Make sure you don't squeeze out the yogurt and only the water).

2) Place this cloth in strainer with a bowl underneath and set this aside for 30 minutes to drain any more excess water.

3) Soak the saffron strands in warm milk and set this aside.

4) Now take the yogurt from the cheese cloth and wrap it in paper towel and place a flat bottomed heavy weight object for 5-10 minutes. The excess water any left out will be absorbed by the paper towel. Repeat the process with another 4 to 5 towels and voila you will have the thick, creamy yogurt.

5) Now add the saffron soaked  milk, powdered xylitol, mango pulp, cardamom powder and the chopped nuts.

6) Chill it before serving and add chopped mangoes before serving.

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Beat the heat - Sugar free Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream

Most of you must be wondering about so many beverage recipes coming up here lately. But it is summer time and with seasonal fruits in abundance,  it is very easy to live on milk shakes, juices and smoothies during the hot weather. In few places this is the time for summer school break for kids and that means lot of running around and entertaining the kids. So with less time to spend in the kitchen and frequent need to feed small hungry tummies thought that I will share my quick and easy to make recipes with you all. Most of the recipes are so simple, you can involve your kids to make it or if the kids are little older instruct them to make on their own. Healthy, simple home made stuff ready in minutes. This ice cream recipe is so simple to make and tastes great. Not to leave the point, is made without sugar and with protein rich nuts, coconut milk and vitamin c rich strawberries. Now let us get on to this recipe and do try this and let me know your feedback.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 10 Minutes





Ingredients

Coconut Milk - 4 Cups

Xylitol - 1 1/2 Cups or to taste depending on the taste of strawberries

Cashews - 1 Cup

Agar Agar Flakes - 4 Tbsp

Strawberry - 25 (Pureed and chilled)

Method



1) Soak the cashews in enough water and leave it for 3-4 hours.



2) Soak the agar agar flakes in warm coconut milk and let this soften for 30 minutes.



3) Simmer the coconut milk along with agar agar flakes and xylitol till the agar agar flakes are dissolved.



4) Strain this to filter any undissolved agar agar flakes and let this cool for 30-40 minutes(luke warm)



5) Now grind the cashews into a fine paste adding just enough coconut milk and once it becomes a smooth paste add the rest of the coconut milk and blend for a second.



6) Place the coconut milk and cashew mixture in a refrigerator and let this cool for an hour. Now take it out and blend in a powerful blender like vitamix for few minutes along with the strawberry puree and  transfer the contents to an ice cream maker and process according to its instructions.



Note - In store bought ice creams a variety of stabilizers are used for a better texture and to prevent the ice cream from melting rapidly. Because agar agar is a vegetarian stabilizer and a much healthier choice I went for that. You can also use Corn starch or Arrowroot starch in place of agar agar.

Events



This goes to Healing Foods Berries event hosted by Smitha an event started by Siri.

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Beat the Heat - Almond Butter Chocolate Milk Shake

Looking for a high protein, low sugar but super delicious milk shake. Then you have to try this out. Power packed with protein rich almond butter, calcium rich raw milk, antioxidant rich unsweetened cocoa and sweetened with xylitol these are perfect to kick start your day. Easy to make and absolutely delicious on a hot summer day. Do try it out and let me know, how you liked it.



Preparation Time - 5 Minutes

Cooking Time - Nil

Serves - 1





Ingredients



Raw Milk - 3/4 Cup(Since I used raw milk it has little bit of cream on top, so the milk is a mixture of cream & milk)

Cocoa Powder - 1 Tbsp

Almond Butter -2 Tbsp

Xylitol - 1 Tbsp or as per taste

Vanilla extract - few drops

Ice - 4 to 5 (optional)



Method



1) Place the raw milk, cocoa powder, almond butter, xylitol and vanilla extract in a blender and blend till smooth.



2) Now add the ice cubes and blend for a second and pour into tall glass and enjoy immediately.

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Beat the heat - Strawberry Smoothie

With certain parts of the United States reeling under a severe heat wave, I thought will share with you couple of Beat the Heat Recipes which are simple to make and good for you.



Strawberries have very high levels of vitamin C, fiber, folate and potassium than most other fruits like bananas, apples and even oranges. These berries are good for your heart and acts as a shield for cancer protection. But strawberries are one of the most contaminated produce with pesticide. So grab a box of organic one even though it costs a few more bucks because studies show that the antioxidants are more in organic food than conventional ones. Even though strawberries are so good for you be wary of the fructose content and accordingly adjust your intake of fruits.



Preparation Time - 5 Minutes

Cooking Time - None

Serves - 1





Ingredients



Plain yogurt - 3/4 Cup

Organic Strawberries - 6 to 8

Xylitol - 1 Tbsp or a pinch of Stevia

Ice cubes - 4 (optional)



Method



1) Place the yogurt, strawberries and xylitol in a blender and blend till smooth.



2) Add the ice cubes and blend one more time and serve immediately.

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Coconut Milk Pannacotta

Panna cotta (from Italian cooked cream) is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. This chilled dessert is then served with wild berries, caramel, chocolate sauce or fruit coulis. In this recipe I have used coconut milk instead of cream and xylitol instead of sugar, Agar Agar instead of gelatin and topped with grated truffle

made with Xylitol. This is a vegan version of the Italian dessert and  this is perfect even for people with diabetes. So try it and let me know, how you liked this.





Preparation Time - Nil

Cooking Time - 10 Minutes

Serves - 3





Ingredients

Coconut Milk - 1 1/2 Cups (12 oz)

Agar Agar Flakes - 1 Tbsp

Xylitol - 2 to 3 Tbsp or per taste

Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp

Method

1) Warm the coconut milk slightly and add the agar agar flakes and let this sit for 15 Minutes, till the flakes are softened.

2) Now simmer in the stove on slow to medium heat and add the xylitol to dissolve at this stage. Do not allow it to boil, but simmer till the agar agar flakes dissolve.

3) Once the flakes are completely dissolved, remove from the stove add the vanilla extract and pour the contents into small cups and allow it to set. Chill and serve with chocolate sauce or with some grated truffle on top, with nuts and fruits of your choice.

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Mango Milk Shake

Who doesn't love mangoes? The king of fruits. It is summer time and this fruit is in lot of abundance. But for some reason I find the mangoes from Mexico don't equal the taste of Indian mangoes. They smell great and look great but lack little bit of taste. I love mangoes by the look of it and tend to buy them, but most of it instead of getting consumed as a whole fruit because of the taste factor goes in making milk shakes, lassi (yogurt and mango drink), ice cream   jelly, cakes etc. Also I take the mango pulp out and puree them and freeze them in small bottles to be used during the rest of the season. So let us get on to the first mango recipe for this season, mango milk shake. Very easy to make and tastes great.



Preparation Time - Nil

Cooking Time - Nil

Serves - 2 



Ingredients



Mango Pulp - 1/2 Cup

Cold Milk - 1 Cup

Cold Water - 1/2 Cup

Xylitol - 2 Tsp or per taste and taste of the mango pulp used

Ice cubes - few optional



Method



1) In a blender place the mango pulp, cold milk, cold water, xylitol and blend till well combined and smooth.



2) Pour into tall glasses and add few ice cubes if desired and enjoy.



Note - If you are diabetic this milk shake is not for you.

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The Weight Watcher Parfait

 Parfait is a french style dessert made with layering cream, ice cream, yogurt, nuts, fruits etc. This parfait is very unique meaning, I have just used strawberries milk, mixed with chia gel as the main middle layer instead of yogurt and used nuts and coconut as alternate layer, topped with some xylitol sweetened 100% Cacao truffle(grated). So you can have this any time of the day, either as a break fast or as a dessert. With the low GI strawberries and calcium rich raw milk, omega - 3 rich chia gel, they are not only healthy and also tastes great. Much better option than the morning break fast cereal !!! It is a myth that fat makes a person gain more weight, if the fat is from good sources like unprocessed milk, chia seeds, nuts etc the food keeps you satisfied for a longer period of time and curb cravings. It is the sugar and carbs that makes people to gain more weight.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - Nil

Serves - 1



Ingredients



Raw Milk - 1/2 Cup

Strawberries - 4 (washed, trimmed and chopped)

Xylitol - 2 Tsp or to taste

Grated Coconut - 2 Tbsp (Heaped)

Chopped nuts - 1/3 Cup

Chia seeds - 1 Tbsp

Water - 3 Tbsp

Dark Chocolate Truffle - 1 (This is also sweetened with Xylitol)



Method



1) Soak the chia seeds in water and set them aside for few minutes to soak and gel.



2) In a food processor blend the milk, xylitol and strawberries till smooth.



3) Combine the strawberry milk and chia gel and set them aside.



4) Take a tall glass and layer half of the nuts and top it with half of the grated coconut and press it nicely. Now pour the strawberry, milk gel on top of the coconut and layer it with the remaining nuts topped with the remaining coconut.



5) Grate the chocolate truffle on top and enjoy.

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Eggless Sugarless Creamy Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate puddings are traditionally made with milk/cream, eggs & starch (corn) or with gelatin as the thickening agent and sweetened with sugar. But this pudding doesn't use eggs or starch. Neither does it use gelatin. I  have used agar agar flakes as a vegetarian substitute for gelatin. Sweetened with Xylitol and antioxidant rich unsweetened cocoa powder, they are a sure treat to have with no worries about cavities or sugar high and sugar lows. Try this out and let me know, how you liked it.



Preparation Time - Nil

Cooking Time - 10 to 15 Minutes

Serves - 4



Ingredients

Light Cream - 1 1/4 cup (I get raw milk and the cream settled on top was used along with little bit of milk)

Water - 1/4 Cup

Agar agar flakes - 2 Tsp

Xylitol - 5 Tbsp (Taste it and increase the sweetness based on your taste)

Unsweetned cocoa powder - 2 Tbsp

Unsweetened chocolate piece - 2 (100% Dark Chocolate)

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Method

1) Soak the agar agar flakes in water and let it sit for 10 minutes till it soften.

2) Heat the water along with the agar agar flakes and once it is hot, add the cream, cocoa powder, chocolate piece, xylitol and simmer till the agar agar flakes are dissolved.

3) Pour them into small cups and allow it to set. Chill it and decorate with almond flakes and serve.

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Coconut Chocolate Truffle and a Vacation

It's almost midnight, really feeling tired after all the packing. Yes heading back home for the summer vacation tomorrow. Will catch up with my blogger buddies in a few days. If you see posts being published and I am not visiting your blogs don't be surprised because I have scheduled couple of automatic posts. So good bye and will be back in action soon. Now getting on to this post.



Are you a chocolate lover and then you should be happy to know about this. Chocolate contains flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries).  Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.

Made with 100% unsweetened dark chocolate and sweetened with xylitol and with the added nuts and coconut these surely are better than the sugary truffles.



Preparation Time - 5 Minutes

Cooking Time - 10 Minutes

Serves - Makes around 12 to 18 Truffles



Ingredients





Unsweetened baker's chocolate - 1 bar(4 oz - broken into pieces)

Organic Heavy Cream - 1/2 Cup

Xylitol - 1/3 Cup or 1/2 Cup for a sweeter truffle

Coarsely chopped almonds - 1/2 Cup

Grated Coconut - 4 Tbsp

Vanilla extract - 1/2 Tsp

Salt - pinch



Method



1)  Combine the chocolate pieces, xylitol, salt, heavy cream and simmer on medium heat till the chocolate pieces melt. Add the vanilla extract, the coarsely ground nuts to this mixture and set this aside to cool.



2) Once cool enough to handle, take a small amount of this and roll them between your palms to make a uniform shape. Roll these balls in grated coconut and place them in small cup cake liners. Refrigerate for few hours and then enjoy!!!!

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