Coconut Butter is a luxury food……it’s silky, creamy and delicious!

Coconut butter is different than coconut oil……What is the difference, you ask???

Coconut Butter uses the coconut meat and is ground into a creamy butter, coconut oil is extracted from the coconut and is 100% oil.  Think about the difference between almond butter and almond oil…..if I can use this is as a metaphor….coconut butter would be comparable to almond butter….it is spreadable, creamy, and has a consistency close to almond butter.  Want to know how to make your own almond butter?  Read about here!!

Coconut Butter is almost the same process as making almond butter!!

Start with 2 cups dried unsweetened coconut flakes….

place in your food processor and blend….

It takes at least 10 minutes of processing before it starts to become creamy and silky.  I processed even longer because I wasn’t satisfied with the texture and wanted an even creamier coconut butter. Process yours as long as 20 minutes to get your desired creaminess!

The end result is amazing!

You want to make this!!!

So, what can you do with coconut butter??

*eat it by the spoonful

*add it into baked recipes

*spread it onto toast

*add in cocoa powder for a chocolatey spread

*use it as a frosting on ANYTHING!

*mix it with a nut butter for a decadent treat

*place a spoonful on top of a baked sweet potato or on top of pancakes

*make lemon truffle fudge!

This recipe is amazing…it is creamy and fresh…a little tart…a little sweet….a must try!

Lemon Truffle Fudge Recipe

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup coconut butter

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

2 tbsp. maple syrup or honey

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.  Pour into candy molds or a baking dish.  Place in freezer for 10 minutes to harden.  Cut into slices or pop out of molds and ENJOY!

Have you ever tried coconut butter??

Please check out my ebooks too!!

I am now offering all 5 of my Ebooks at a discounted price for a limited time only!!!!!  HURRY!!!  This is a SPECIAL OFFER!!!!

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these people are my life…….:)

Anyways, I wanted to take this opportunity to share with my readers about my daughter’s new business venture……..

My 10 year old has been making polymer clay charms and then together we turn them into jewelry like necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, zipper pulls, keychains, and cell phone charm attachments

Here are a few of her latest creations:

For a peek at all of her cute creations check out her website!!!

ChooChoosCharms.com or her facebook page Choo Choo’s Charms

She would be thrilled if you could pass along her business to all of your friends and family and if you ever need a present for a little girl…..just remember Choo Choo’s Charms!!!!

Please check out my ebooks too!!

Healthy fruit lollies??

Yes, and these are amazing for kids!!!

Remember my recipe for rainbow fruit leather?

Healthy fruit lollies are the same concept only in a sucker shaped form!!

This post is going to be loaded with pictures because I took so many of my proud creation….so bare with me and all of my pictures!!

I started with red, orange and yellow colors for the suckers.

RED: 1 banana, 3 oz. raspberries, and 1 tbsp. agave (blend and place in bowl and set aside)

ORANGE: use 1/2 of the red mixture and 1/2 of the yellow mixture to form the orange color

Working with 1 color at a time place the blended fruit puree into a sandwich baggie and snip off a very tiny corner piece.  Use this like a piping bag to pipe circles onto parchment paper, or a non stick surface placed onto a baking sheet.  Place sucker sticks into the center of the circles and cover with more puree.

do the same with each color…..

The orange looks like pink but once dehydrated it takes on a more orangish color.

Set your oven to the lowest setting…. around 170 and place your suckers in the oven and keep the door open to make the actual cooking temperature lower than 170…..these will dehydrate for 1-3 hours depending on how thick you make the suckers.  I even noticed that some dehydrated quicker than others so just keep checking on them.

Here is what they will look like in the end.  When they are finally dehydrated like a fruit leather they will be pliable.  Let them cool down and sit and soon they will harden to a more sucker consistency.

Remember the chalkboard art center I posted about awhile back?

I used this to hold the suckers!

Now, let’s move onto some more colors!!

GREEN: 1 banana, 1 handful of spinach, 1 tbsp. agave (blend and place in bowl and set aside)

BLUE: 1 banana, 3 oz. blueberries, 1 tbsp. agave (blend and place in bowl and set aside)

PURPLE: 1 banana, 3 oz. blackberries, 1 tbsp. agave (blend and place in bowl and set aside)

Place these in the oven and dehydrate.  The colors will change as they dry out.

These taste like fruit leathers and even though the colors are not as vibrant as a dyed sucker the novelty is the same!

I passed these out to my neighbors, my niece and nephew, and my own kids….they obviously could tell these were not real suckers just by looking at them but the idea of a sucker was all it took to make them all try it!  Plus, they all asked if they could have more!!

Would you make your own fruit lollies??

Please check out my ebooks too!!

I love this idea and I think it turned out super cute!

Even though these wouldn’t last in an Easter basket, they still make a great Easter treat!  Plus, they are healthy and contain good fats for those little growing bodies!

Easter Pops

2-16 oz. cans of organic coconut milk (light or full fat)

4 tbsp. agave, honey, or maple syrup

Freeze dried raspberries, tangerines, blueberries (I found these at Trader Joe’s)

For the green coconut “GRASS” see this post.

Place coconut milk in blender or use a whisk and incorporate the sweetener.  Divide coconut milk mixture into 3 small bowls and set aside.

For the dyes: dried raspberries for pink, dried tangerines for orange, and dried blueberries for purple……..if you cannot find freeze-dried fruit you may use fresh fruit as well…..

the freeze-dried fruit comes in a package like this:

To make the dye for the coconut milk place dried fruit (separately for each color) into a coffee grinder or food processor

Use this powder to dye the coconut milk.  The more you use the better the color will be.  Do the same for each color.  Grind the dried fruit and add it to the bowl of coconut milk.

Pour the first color into cupcake liners…

Place Saran wrap over cupcake tray and poke holes with sucker sticks or popsicle sticks. The plastic wrap will hold the sticks in place until frozen.

Place in freezer for 1/2 hour.  These do not have to be completely hardened just firm enough to pour the next color.  Once you have poured the second color place back into freezer.  Again, allow about 1/2 hour to firm up the coconut milk.  Pour the third layer and freeze again.  This last freeze should be 3-4 hours or let them sit overnight. Remove wrapper before eating.

Look at how cute these turned out!!

How cute would these be for a girlie princess party too????!!!!

Want some other ideas for Easter??

How about some Homemade Fruit Lollies??

Or Non Dairy Chocolate Sunbutter Cups.…..

or Non Dairy Caramels…..

What are you putting in your kids baskets??

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March is finally here and that means St. Patty’s Day is on its way too!

We are not Irish, so we don’t celebrate St. Patty’s Day technically, but my kids do get into the novelty of the day and wear green and we try to eat some fun green foods!

Here are some ideas!

Green Pepper Four Leaf Clovers!

So simple…just cut a whole green pepper sideways in thin strips to create the clover part and then cut thin lines for the stems!

Super cute!!

How about some DAIRY FREE Shamrock Ice Cream with green sprinkles??

This ice cream is super simple to make, the sprinkles require a few steps though.

Let me walk you through the sprinkles first.

Remember how I dyed pink sprinkles for Valentine’s Day?

We will use the same method but a different color!

I try to stay away from artificial food dyes, except for things like this….

erupting volcanoes!  I am not okay with using artificial dyes in our food though so to dye these sprinkles naturally…….

I started with unsweetened dried coconut flakes.

In my juicer I juiced a few leaves of spinach to get a really dark green juice.

Then I added it to my dried coconut flakes

and mixed until all the flakes were coated and dyed.

It was a little damp so I placed them in my toaster oven on low to dry them out a little.

While making these my kids thought it looked like grass and I started thinking ths would be a great idea to use for Easter treats too….so stay tuned for what I come up with for that!!  

The ice cream is super fast and easy to make!

Shamrock Ice Cream

1 avocado

2-4 frozen bananas

1-2 tbsp. agave, maple syrup or honey

1 tsp. vanilla

optional ingredient: Peppermint extract

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy.  Serve like soft serve ice cream or place in freezer to harden up a bit before serving. Sprinkle with green sprinkles!

Here it is pictured with different lighting…

don’t let the avocado in this recipe scare you….I made this for my two kids and my neice and nephew-they all ate it and loved it and never even questioned what was in it!  You cannot taste the avocado, but it gives it a nice creamy texture!

I have some more ideas for St. Patty’s Day so make sure to sign up to receive all of my posts in your email so you don’t miss out!!!

Please check out my ebooks too!!

These treats can also be made anytime of the year not just Valentine’s Day!

Chocolate Sunbutter Fudge with Pink Coconut Sprinkles

Fluffy Coconut Mousse with Coconut Sprinkles

Peppermint Filled Chocolates

Cupid Hearts made with Pineapple and Tangerines

Crayon Hearts

First, let me explain how to make the “pink sprinkles.”  I used Rawxy’s idea from her blog to color dried shredded coconut with beet juice to make the coconut turn pink…mine took on a sort of purple color though….it still looked super pretty!!  I just took 1 cup of dried coconut flakes and placed them in my food processor then added in drops of pure beet juice until I reached the desired color.

I placed them into my toaster oven at the lowest setting and left the door open so they didn’t cook…I just wanted them to dry out.  Place in an airtight container and use for any of the following recipes.

Chocolate Sunbutter Fudge with Pink Coconut Sprinkles

1/2 cup soaked dates

1/2 cup of the soak water from the dates

2 tbsp. Sunbutter

1 cup melted coconut oil or coconut butter

2 tbsp. cacao powder or cocoa powder

Blend dates and water until smooth.  Add in Sunbutter and coconut oil.  Pour into molds of any shape and top with pink coconut sprinkles. Place in freezer for about an hour.

Fluffy Coconut Mousse with Coconut Sprinkles

1 can full fat coconut milk that has been refrigerated for 10-12 hours

2 tbsp. maple syrup

10-20 drops of beet juice

Open the refrigerated can of coconut milk -it will be solid like in the picture.  Spoon out the solid layer and discard the water that is at the bottom of the can.  Place the thick cream into a bowl.

Add in maple syrup and beat with beaters until mixed.  Set aside 1/2 cup of the mixture.

To the remainder of the mixture add in drops of beet juice and beat.

Layer the pink and the white in a decorative glass and sprinkle with pink coconut sprinkles.

Peppermint Filled Chocolates

Chocolate:

1 cup melted coconut oil

1 tbsp. cacao powder or cocoa powder

1 tbsp. maple syrup or agave

Mix well and pour a bottom layer into molds.  Place in freezer to harden. Set the remainder of the chocolate aside.

Peppermint Filling:

1 can of coconut milk refrigerated 10-12 hours

drops of peppermint extract

2 tbsp. of maple syrup

Use the same method as the mousse recipe above except add in the drops of peppermint extract before beating with beaters.

Take harden chocolate out of freezer and place a layer of the peppermint on top.  Place back in freezer for 10 minutes.  The filling will not be solid but firm enough to pour the top layer on.  Return back to freezer for 1 hour to firm up all layers.

Cupid Hearts made with Pineapple and Tangerines

1 pineapple

1-2 small tangerines

skewers

Cut the pineapple into rounds each piece being about 1/2 -1 inch thick.  Cut off the outer layer.

Now using a knife start cutting a heart shape out of each piece.

Serve them as a tower of hearts

or arrange them on a plate

or using a skewer pierce through the heart sideways add 2 pieces of tangerines to the end.  Cut 1 segment and cut it into a triangle shape and add to the top of the skewer.

Crayon Hearts

Peel the paper off some old crayons.  Break them into smaller pieces and place them into molds.  Bake at the lowest temperature setting that your oven will allow.  Only bake until melted.

Let cool and then place into freezer to harden.  Turn molds over and pop out the crayon hearts.  I had to work with a few and use a knife to loosen.

Thanks for stopping by!!  While you are here please take some time to read through some of my other popular posts!!

**DIY Healthy Fruit Lollies

**Homemade kale Crispies

**Banana Split Pie

or check out my Recipe Index page

Please check out my ebooks too!!

Let me begin by saying….this is not my creation……nope, I did not figure this out myself       at all…..see…..

I bought this package of white felt from JoAnn’s and right on the package was a beautiful wreath so I had to make my own!  My intent was to have it finished before Christmas and hang it as part of my decor….but time ran away from me………….

So here we are in January and I have a finished wreath!!!!

It is still sitting on my table because my hubby believes wreaths are only for holiday time and should not be hung as a home decor item!!!

What do you think??? I would LOVE your opinion on this matter!!!

SO, if you do want to hang this wreath in your house -here are the directions!!!

Step 1: Buy some felt!!  It doesn’t have to be white, choose any color!!  I purchased a brand called Feltables.  I used a 40% coupon and paid around $3.00. I also purchased a white, round styrofoam wreath, and a box of dress pins.

Step 2: Use a small cup to make a circle on the felt…only make one and use it as your template…I made the mistake of drawing a bunch and then realizing that the pencil showed up on my wreath and made it look dirty.  Once you have a template circle, cut out as many as you can and then cut out some more!!!

Step 3: Fold your circle in half…..

and then in half again….

place you pin in the bottom corner of your felt….

Step 4: Push you pin into your styrofoam wreath and then repeat….

continue working your way around the wreath until it is covered.  I did not place any on the back side so that it will lay flat against my door or wall!!!  I did cover the sides thoroughly though!

FINISHED!!!!!  Now find a place to hang it!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!  While you are here please take some time to read through some of my other popular posts!!

**DIY Healthy Fruit Lollies

**Homemade kale Crispies

**Banana Split Pie

or check out my Recipe Index page

Please check out my ebooks too!!

Here’s an excerpt:

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 72,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Have you ever heard of the saying, “Smack your momma good”??

Well, these are, “Smack your gramma off her rocker!” good!!!!!

A well trained chef will tell you that a properly prepared dish will hit each taste bud….sweet, salty, savory, bitter, a little spice….this hits even the taste buds you don’t have!

YOU MUST MAKE THESE!

There is some preparation involved before you can make this recipe…..you must first make the mango wrappers….but if you are wise you will make a whole lot of them and store them!  So first, blend as many mangos as you would like to make a fruit puree…do not add in water or anything else!  I used 4 yellow mangos.

Now, we are going to essentially be making fruit leathers….if you need a tutorial please read my post here or if you want to learn how to make homemade suckers using this same puree check it out here.

Spread the mango puree onto a teflex sheet or waxed/parchment paper placed onto a cookie sheet. (These are shown on my dehydrator trays, I made a batch in the oven and dehydrator to test the recipe)

Spread it as thin as you can get it…and if you have enough make several batches to bake at the same time.

If you have a dehydrator than place the mango puree in and dehydrate overnight on 115 degrees.

If you do not have a dehydrator turn your oven on the lowest setting (mine goes to 170) and place in oven.  I keep the door open to keep the oven cooler than 170…..we are drying these out not baking them!!!  Depending on how thick you have spread the puree it may take anywhere from 1-4 hours to dehydrate in your oven.

When they wrappers are finished cut them into large rectangles….now you can make..

Smack Your Grandma Off Her Rocker Mango Wraps

Place one wrapper on a plate and fill with any sort of veggie you like!!

Here is what I used….

Avocado slices, spinach leaves, red pepper, and a dash of salt,and a dash of cayenne pepper…..I would have also liked to have put some sprouts or pea shoots on here but I did not have any

Once you have your fillings placed onto the wrappers, roll up your wrap and slightly wet the very edge of one of the sides so that it will stick and stay closed.

You can also drizzle some hot sauce or salsa over the top…..watch out gramma!!!

or eat them plain…..

but please don’t actually smack your gramma…..

What would you fill these mango wrappers with??

My bestie likes to eat them this way:

Here she used broccoli slaw, maple syrup, cayenne, sea salt, and a splash of soy sauce….

Here she made a mango dressing as a dip -it had mango, onion, jalapenos, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt, and red pepper flakes in it!

Please check out my ebooks too!!