South African Sour Cream Green Beans - A Quick & Easy side dish

Creamy, zesty, tangy, and savory, this side dish adds interest to any classic dinner. I love this unique recipe. My mom made it when I was a teenager and I made sure I saved the recipe in my recipe box before I left home to start my own family.

I love the creamy tang the sauce lends to the green beans. The sauce is seasoned perfectly, just make sure you use enough salt to bring out all the flavor. Using our BioSalt recipe on this blog is a healthier version to commercial table salt.

Make sure you do not overcook the green beans. they should still be bright green and firm.

This makes a great side dish and is good served with a variety of meats or vegetarian fare. Gently heat any leftovers,


Sour Cream Green Beans Recipe:

2 packages frozen green beans
2 onions, diced
2 T. butter or olive oil
1/2 c. organic sour cream
1/2 c.plain yogurt
1 t. red wine vinegar
1/4 t. coconut palm sugar (or sugar)
2 t. sweet paprika
garlic, to taste
onion powder, to taste
BioSalt or sea salt, to taste


Method:

Steam the green beans until tender-crisp. Set aside and keep warm.

In a large skillet, saute the onion in the butter or olive oil until translucent.

Add the sour cream and yogurt to the onions and turn heat down to a low simmer to avoid curdling the sour cream. Do not let it boil. Stir together well.

Add vinegar, sugar, and paprika. Season to taste with garlic, onion powder, and salt.

Mix in hot steamed green beans. Stir and serve immediately.


Notes: 

Alternately, you may  cook raw, trimmed green beans in lightly salted water, covered, for about 8 minutes, or until tender-crisp. Drain in a colander and keep warm.

French Creme Fraiche is a great substitute for the sour cream, and it does not curdle when heated like sour cream does!



Enjoy,

Leila.

Family Style Chili - A much better copy-cat of Stagg Classic Chili! Plus a note about nightshades...

Family Style Chili

This makes a big pot of delicious chili that is great to serve at family gatherings. It can easily be made ahead and reheated if needed. The flavor is well-rounded yet mild enough that kids love it too. Our recipe is reminiscent of a commercial brand of chili called Stagg Classic Chili. Homemade is always better, and this chili is no exception. I did not set out to re-create Stagg's chili, it just happened.

Our recipe is easier to digest than some chilis, and is nice and tomato-ey as well. It is also less acidic than most tomato-based chilis, due to a touch healthy sweetener being added.

Note that green peppers assault some people's taste buds. If you are one of these people or have a family member who is, just replace the green pepper with a red bell pepper, or even a yellow one. Green bells are technically unripe anyway, and are the most bitter tasting of the three. Red bells are usually the sweetest.

Goji berry bush

Bell peppers are also a member of the nightshade plant family, and some people are sensitive to that, if so, omit the bell peppers (and the tomatoes for that matter!). By sensitive, I mean, some folks experience arthritic-type symptoms when they consume members of the night shade family. Maybe I should just call this nightshade chili! Uh, OK, don't eat this chili if you want to avoid vegetables from the nightshade family.

Other members of the night shade family are: chili peppers (all), potatoes (not sweet potatoes or yams), tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, goji berries, cape gooseberries... Just so you know.

Cape Gooseberry fruits

So, back to the chili recipe! It makes a hearty, delicious meal and I think you will love it.



Family Style Chili Recipe:

2 pounds organic ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, diced small (about 1 cup)
3 stalks celery, diced small (about 1 cup)
1 green bell pepper, diced small (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, smashed with some of the salt
1 1/2 T. chili powder, to taste
1/2 t. cumin powder
1/2 t. garlic powder
2 15-ounce cans organic kidney beans, undrained
1 15-ounce can organic great northern white beans, undrained (or a 3rd can of kidney beans)
1 6-ounce can organic tomato paste
1 28-ounce can organic diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can organic crushed tomatoes
1 cup organic chicken stock
1 t. organic beef base
1 c. purified water
3 T. Golden Lakanto zero-cal sweetener or organic coconut palm flower sugar (replaces brown sugar)
2 t. sea salt or BioSalt, to taste


Method:

In a soup pot, saute the ground beef with the onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic until the vegetables are tender, breaking up the meat and stirring frequently.

Add the remaining ingredients, mixing together well.

Simmer, covered for about 90 minutes, to blend the flavors well.

Check for seasoning and adjust if needed before serving.


Serving Ideas:

Serve over buttered and seasoned baked potatoes for a gluten-free meal.

Serve over steamed and buttered summer squash for a low-carb meal.

Serve in a bowl with gluten free organic corn chips, cheese, and sour cream on top.

Serve with homemade organic corn bread and raw honey butter.

Serve over homemade gluten-free macaroni and cheese.

Serve over steamed tamales.

Serve in a bread bowl topped with cheese.

Serve any way you please!


Photos of the process:

Enjoy,

Leila.

Easy Beef or Buffalo Mexican Taco Meat (No commercial flavor packet used!)

Favorite taco meat

Here is our family's favorite taco meat. it is incredibly easy to make and it tastes so much better than taco meat made with those commercial flavor packets you can buy at the store. I actually hate the taste of those flavor packets, but my mom always made hers from scratch...Yes, I know I'm spoiled.

You can make this taco meat with either organic ground beef, ground buffalo, or beefalo. Even ground turkey works.

At times, I have also added up to 30% of a soy protein meat substitute into the mix, to extend the meat. I pre-hydrate the meat substitute first before adding it to the rest of the meat. Then I add the onion, garlic, and seasonings and saute it all together. I do prefer the 100% meat version, but my family hasn't seemed to notice the difference.

I like to make a big batch of taco meat and keep the leftovers in the refrigerator for quick meals later in the week. This meat also freezes well.




Best Taco Meat Recipe:

2 pounds organic free-range ground beef or buffalo
2 onions, minced
8 cloves garlic, smashed with the salt
1 t. sea salt or BioSalt
1 t. onion salt
2 t. Ancho chili pepper powder
2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. paprika
1 t. organic beef base
40 grinds black pepper
1/4 t. psyllium husk powder
1/4 c. purified water


Method:

Brown the meat with the onions and garlic over medium-high heat in a large skillet, until the onions are translucent and the meat is cooked through. Break the meat up as it cooks.

Add all of the seasonings, psyllium, and water and simmer until thickened.

Taste for seasoning and serve while hot.

Serve as a topping for a taco salad, inside organic corn tortillas, or gluten-free flour tortillas.

Saute the meat with the rest of the ingredients.

The finished taco meat- beef in this case.

This large grater is fun for shredding the cheddar cheese.

Heat deodorized coconut oil until a piece of corn tortilla sizzles and quickly browns.

A piece of corn tortilla sizzling away...

Fry your desired amount of corn tortillas.

Fry the tortillas until they start to brown. For stiff shells, bend in the center and fry a little longer.

Place tortillas between layers of paper towel.

Putting the taco fixings on the table.

Start putting on your taco fixings: first the meat, then cheese, then lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, etc.

A beautiful plate of tacos!

YUM!

Enjoy,

Leila.

Leila's Smoky Mexican Chicken Soup - Easy and Delicious!

Leila's Easy Smoky Mexican Chicken Soup

I created this soup after I made a bunch of chicken stock from a couple of Costco rotisserie chickens. I wanted a Mexican-style soup that was loaded with healthy vegetables, had a hit of smoky flavor and was not creamy.

This soup turned out super! our family loves it and we have really enjoyed the leftovers. It is warming for these cool fall evenings we are having.

I really like the zucchini in this soup. I used a huge tough zucchini from our garden for this soup. I peeled it and then removed all the seeds. I then chopped it into small cubes. The older zucchini stay nicely firm in simmered soups. If you have tender zucchini, add it towards the end of cooking time, so that you don't turn it into mush.


Leila's Smoky Mexican Chicken Soup Recipe:

1/2 pound bacon
1 extra-large onion, minced
6 large cloves garlic, smashed
2 stalks celery with tops, minced
3 large mild chiles, fire roasted and then cored, seeded and minced
4 tomatillos, minced
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes with chipotle chiles
1 7-ounce can La Victoria Fire Roasted diced green chiles (this brand has the best roasted flavor)
3 quarts chicken stock (home made is best)
1 bay leaf
1 t. ground cumin
2 14.8-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
1 29-ounce can Mexican-style hominy, drained
2 zucchini, cubed
1 T. sea salt, to taste
35 grinds fresh ground pepper, to taste
2 to 4 cups shredded cooked chicken meat
Smokey paprika, optional, to taste


Method:

Over a gas flame, char the whole chiles, then remove stem and seeds and mince. Set aside.

In a large soup pot, fry the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and crumble, then set aside.

With the bacon fat left in the pot, saute on medium-high heat, the onion, garlic, celery, chilies, and tomatillos, until the onion becomes transparent.

Add the canned tomatoes and canned green chiles. then add the chicken stock.

Add the bay leaf, cumin, canned beans, hominy, and diced zucchini. Bring up to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and let it simmer about 30 minutes.

Season the soup with the salt and pepper, to taste. Add the crumbled bacon and shredded cooked chicken meat. let simmer a few more minutes before serving. Check the seasoning.

Garnish the soup with sour cream, shredded cheese, cilantro, lime wedges, corn chips, as desired.


Notes:

Use gluten-free corn chips if desired.

If avoiding corn, omit the hominy and corn chips.

If dairy-free, omit the cheese and sour cream garnishes.

For a vegan option, omit bacon and saute the vegetables in deodorized coconut oil. Add smokey paprika to give a nice smoky flavor. Use vegetable broth in place of the chicken stock. add an extra can of beans in place of the shredded chicken.

In place of the canned petite diced tomatoes with chipotle chiles, use regular diced Mexican or plain diced tomatoes. Add these additional seasonings: 1/4 t. Mexican oregano, 1/4 t. dried chipotle powder, 1/4 t. additional cumin, to taste.

Enjoy,

Leila.

Crazy Good Vegetarian Taco Meat (Nut-Free, Gluten-Free)

Crazy Good Vegetarian Taco Meat

Meaty, savory, chewy & perfectly salty - that's what this taco meat is! This is a new favorite recipe of ours!

A couple of my daughters took a road trip to go visit my parents. Lucky them, they got to eat grandma's food! My mom created this terrific vegetarian meat substitute on the 25th of this month. Mom will flavor this meat various ways. This recipe is for a taco meat flavor, and it is SO GOOD.

My daughter Lexi has been a vegetarian for a few years. Lexi has recently introduced a little meat to her diet, but is still generally vegetarian. As long as she remains healthy, we support her in her choice. Grandma and Lexi created this recipe together, so it is now officially named "LexiBurger".

This meat is high protein from the tofu and egg, and high fiber due to the perfectly chewy brown rice. You do not need to tell your family that they are eating tofu, because you cant tell it's in there! Freezing extra-firm tofu is a trick our family has used for years. When you thaw it and press the excess water out, it has an awesome meaty texture when you crumble it. Just buy some extra-firm tofu and throw it in your freezer just for this purpose.

The egg helps to bind everything together perfectly, just so you know.

Are you wondering what the "Umami" is mentioned below??? It's another flavor profile that they know about in Japan. It gives amazing full-bodied, rich, complex flavors to savory foods. MSG enhances umami, for example. Umami flavors are found in slow-roasted stews, and sauces made with fond which have been reduced to concentrate the flavors, mushrooms, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, etc. It's a mysterious flavor that you can't quite put your finger on, but you really notice when it's there because the food tastes so amazing, you just want to stuff your face! Look "umami" up online for a more detailed description.

Put this delicious taco "meat" in tacos, burritos, with or without re-fried beans and cheese, on top of nachos, or on top of a taco salad. Lexi brought some of this meat to my house and we made nachos for a tasty filling treat. YUM. I have pictures of our nachos in this post.

 Look at this meat, it tastes even better than it looks!

Crazy good vegetarian taco meat nachos.

Vegetarian Lexi Burger:

1 package organic extra-firm tofu
1 1/4 to 1 1/3 c. chewy cooked organic short grain brown rice
1/4 to 1/3 c. soaked chopped dried onion
2 T. rice oil
1 T soy sauce (Tamari for gluten-free)
1 to 2 T. hot taco sauce, to taste
2 t. sunbutter (sunflower seed butter), up to 3 t., for richness
1 small beaten organic egg
2 t. organic paprika (or ground chili)
2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. mushroom powder (to add full-bodied complex "Umami" flavor)
1/4 to 1/2 t. cumin powder
Chipotle powder, to taste
1/2 c. or more deodorized coconut oil, for browning the mixture.
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Seasonall seasoned salt, to taste
Garlic salt, to taste
1/2 c. more cooked rice, if needed


Method:

Do ahead of time:

1.  Slice and freeze the box of tofu for at least 24 hours. THAW. Press firm to remove excess water and crumble finely.

2.  Cook the short grain brown rice only until it's nice and chewy, then chill at least overnight for best results (over-cooking makes the rice mushy).


The day of making the Vegetarian Taco Meat:

Mix the crumbled tofu with the 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 c. cooked brown rice and soaked dried onion flakes in a medium mixing bowl.

Add the rice oil, soy sauce, hot sauce, and sunbutter, and toss well to combine.

Add the beaten egg and toss well to coat completely.

Toss with the paprika, onion powder, garlic salt, mushroom powder, cumin, and chipotle.

Heat 1/2 c. coconut oil in a large skillet, when starting to sizzle, dump in the tofu mixture and stir-fry it like you would fried rice. You want to brown it a little, but do not over-brown or it can get a little dry. Add more oil if needed.

Season to taste with pepper, Seasonall, garlic salt, etc.

If the vegetarian meat mixture turns out too rich and oily, just work in another 1/2 cup or so of cooked rice.

For the nachos, we melted cheddar and jack cheese over gluten-free tortilla chips. Topped the nachos with the warm "meat mixture, drizzled on salsa and topped with a dollop of sour cream. I was too lazy to go get a can of olives, but we would of loved some along with fresh guacamole!

Enjoy, 

Leila & Nancy.

Zippy Slimming Cabbage Soup - A yummy clean-eating lunch or dinner

Try this robust, delicious and easy to make metabolism-boosting soup. 

This yummy soup is a great clean-eating meal that is also kind to the pocket book. Even though this is "just a cabbage soup," I feel it is of restaurant quality. It is full-bodied with a nice zippy warmth that makes things interesting. I really like it and can eat it frequently without tiring of it.

It's nice to have a large batch of this in your fridge for quick meals. You can feel good in knowing that this is a great weight loss menu item too. I'ts full of fiber and flavor.

I like to make my own chicken stock when ever we buy a rotisserie chicken from Costco, or when I roast my own chicken. Stock made from our Easy Juicy Roast Chicken recipe is the best! Of course you can use boxed chicken stock if you want to, it just isn't as rich and flavorful.

I make the stock ahead of time by putting the picked over chicken bones and skin into a big stock pot. I add all the left over chicken drippings too! I roughly chop up some onion, celery and carrot and throw that in the stock pot, and cover the whole mess with purified water. I bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, put on the lid and let it simmer on medium for at least 3 hours, or on low heat over night. Make sure you check your water level before going to bed!

Then I strain the stock, pick out any usable meat, transfer it to 1/2-gallon mason jars and store it in the fridge to use for a meal later that week.

In the winter, if it is really cold, I will set the pot outside on the cold cement over night to chill. The fat floats to the top and solidifies and you can easily skim it off. If I have room in my fridge, I'll chill it in there (Ha, that's funny, I never have that much spare room in my fridge). Anyway, I'm not too worried about having some organic chicken fat in my soup. It makes for a rich soup, and eating fat doesn't make you fat. Eating a bucket-load of white flour, white sugar donuts, fried in hydrogenated oil - now that can plump you up a bit.

I use a can of tomato sauce and a can of stewed tomatoes in this recipe. The stewed tomatoes have more ingredients and flavor than just regular canned tomatoes. I used a can of organic stewed tomatoes, Italian-Style from Costco and it has the following vegetables: Onion, green bell pepper, celery, garlic, basil, and oregano. If you only have plain canned tomatoes, toss in some minced celery and bell pepper into the onions as you are caramelizing them. Add a pinch of basil and oregano to the soup as it's cooking. When seasoning at the end, you will need to add up to 1 T. erythritol too.

Another substitute idea is to use 8 cups of canned spicy tomato juice instead of the tomato sauce, canned stewed tomatoes, and the 4 cups water. That tastes good too, I just prefer my recipe the way I listed it below. I like to have options, and thought you might as well.



Zippy Slimming Cabbage Soup Recipe:

1 large to jumbo sized yellow or white onion, chopped
1 T. organic butter or deodorized coconut oil
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch baking soda
4 large cloves garlic, smashed or minced fine
1/2 c. white wine
2 quarts homemade chicken stock (or boxed organic chicken broth)
1 15-ounce can organic stewed tomatoes, chopped
1 14.5-ounce can organic tomato sauce
4 c. purified water
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 large head cabbage, cored and chopped
60 grinds fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 to 1 1/2 t. Louisiana Hot Sauce (If Tabasco Sauce is used, use at least half this amount), to taste
1 T. sea salt or BioSalt


Method:

Heat the butter or coconut oil over medium heat in a large heavy stock pot.

Add the chopped onion and sprinkle with the pinch of salt and the pinch of baking soda.

Stir and cook until the onion starts to caramelize, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and saute 1 minute. do not let the garlic brown (it gets bitter if too browned).

Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan.

Pour in the chicken stock, canned tomatoes, water, and lemon juice, Bring to a simmer.

Once simmering, add the chopped cabbage, cover and let simmer 20 to 30 minutes.

After simmering up to 30 minutes, check to see if the cabbage is cooked down and submerged in the cooking liquid. If the cabbage isn't fully submerged, add a little more chicken broth or water.

Let the soup simmer uncovered for at least 30 more minutes, until the cabbage is completely soft. You may also let the soup very gently simmer for a few hours, until dinner time. Add more water as needed.

Season with Louisiana Hot Sauce, salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste. Serve hot.


Tip: My mom likes to garnish of a dollop of sour cream flavored with caraway seeds.

Deglazing the pot with white wine.

The soup has simmered and is ready to serve.

Delicious!

Enjoy,

Leila.

Summer Confetti Macaroni Salad (sugar-free)

This is a colorful classic macaroni salad with a great balanced flavor.

Summer Confetti Macaroni Salad

This pretty pasta salad makes a nice side for summer picnics and celebrations. I love having more crisp, colorful vegetables in my pasta salads. I really don't want to eat just plain macaroni slathered in mayo... If you are like me, you will love this recipe. I also like that it has enough vinegar to give it a bit of zing and enough erythritol to cut the bite of the vinegar, then our BioSalt pulls it all together.

You may use gluten-free pasta, if desired. If you are going dairy-free, omit the sour cream and replace it with mayonnaise. And of course you can adjust the diced vegetables to taste.




Leila's Summer Confetti Macaroni Salad Recipe:

1 pound pasta or gluten-free pasta (macaroni, ditalini, or small shell pasta)
3/4 c. real mayonnaise
1/4 c. sour cream (omit if dairy-free is desired and increase the mayo to 1 cup)
3 T. white wine vinegar
3 T. erythritol
1 1/2 t. dry mustard powder
1 t. sea salt or BioSalt, to taste
1/2 t. onion salt, or more to taste
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. fresh ground pepper, to taste (about 50 grinds)
2 to 4 T. fresh minced parsley, to taste
1 c. finely diced celery (4 ribs)
1 c. finely diced red bell pepper (1 whole pepper)
1/2 c. finely diced peeled carrot (1 large carrot)
1/4 c. finely diced red onion
1/2 c. minced scallions, about 6, optional
1/4 c. diced radishes, optional

Garnish:
Paprika
Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, optional

Method:

Cook the pasta aldente, rinse and drain extremely well. Set aside to cool.
Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, and erythritol together, until erythritol is dissolved.
Add the mustard powder, salt, onion salt, garlic, and pepper, mixing in well.
Add the minced vegetables and then the pasta and gently mix together. Taste.
Chill overnight for the best flavor.
Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.
Garnish with a sprinkling of paprika. Top with tomatoes, if desired. Serve cold.

The dressing and vegetables mixed together.

Freshly mixed pasta salad.

Delicious!

Enjoy,

Leila.

Fully Loaded Chocolate Bombs with Cocoa Nibs, Coconut Oil, Fruit & Nuts (Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo) - plus a discussion about healthy fats -vs- sugar & starch.

Fully Loaded Chocolate Bombs.

This is a fabulous chocolate recipe we have kept as a guarded family secret... until now! 

I made these delicious little morsels with my mom during a recent visit with my parents.

This is a super easy and amazingly delicious chocolate recipe. It is based on my mother's healthy sugar-free chocolate formula now being manufactured by a company called Lakanto. 

We extend the Lakanto Zero-Sugar Dark Chocolate with coconut oil, cocoa powder and other goodies. The chocolate retains it's smooth texture, delicious taste, and has a beautiful shiny surface. 

These cute little chocolate bombs are exploding with flavor and a myriad of textures, and are a real pleasure to eat. We have noticed that this chocolate also curbs the appetite nicely. That means if you eat this, you will eat less of that (not good for you stuff).

You  also get the benefits of healthful coconut oil in your diet, while enjoying a low-carb, sugar-free chocolate at an affordable cost. It's a beautiful thing!

2 T. coconut oil is generally recommended daily for health benefits. An added bonus of adding coconut oil is that this chocolate will no longer require tempering! This is what makes working with this chocolate so super simple and fast. You will love it.

At our house, we have to have this chocolate, I can't imagine life without it now. Seriously.

We love that this is truly HEALTHY chocolate. That's why we are sharing this recipe with you. We are passionate about sharing recipes for foods people deeply crave, and we offer them with a healthy twist. Replacing the foods you love with a better choice, while maintaining it's great taste is what we are all about here at Kitchen Cheetahs.

You can add any inclusions to this chocolate that tickle your fancy. Make your chocolate base first and then you can get creative with it. You could try combinations like candied orange with chipotle, coconut flakes with macadamia nuts, dried pears and pecans, salted raisins and roasted, salted peanuts, pistachios with dried pomegranates, cashews and banana chips... We also love it with just cocoa nibs added.

Cocoa Nibs.

Now, I must tell you that during my recent visit, I ATE at my parents house. If you have ever tasted my mom's cooking, you know what I mean! I was not concerned, but still assumed that I would go home heavier then when I arrived. We ate tons of chocolate-dipped figs, figs and cream, and we made gluten-free, sugar-free rhubarb cake (so yummy), and grilled dry aged beef, and spaghetti with my mom's amazing homemade sauce, unique yellow squash "pasta", drizzled with olive oil,topped with cheese, and gluten-free french baguettes grilled with butter and coconut oil on the side. We also ate various salads with homemade dressings, the buttery scrambled eggs my mom is famous for, and her Sun Warrior Protein Pudding, refreshing green drinks, unique mocktails, and my dad's delicious protein smoothies... and more chocolate! It's all kind of a blur now really. A delirious food coma ensued. Sigh.

I get home and got on the scale and to my amazement... I LOST weight! I ate happily at my parents, without a worry. Mom's food was amazing and definitely not skimping on the fat! I was not deprived in the slightest. I ate good protein, vegies and greens, healthy fats, low-carb and sugar-free desserts. I ate a few gluten-free pretzels and that french bread, but basically eliminated grains, starch, and sugar for that week I was there. This validated my belief about fat -vs- sugars...

There are a few books out now that talk about high-fat diets, promoting healthy fats. Interesting, and I like it because eating fat leads to satiety (greater food satisfaction). Our bodies seem to know when we have had enough fat and our appetite quiets down. I think people who eat fats are happier too. I believe it is sugar and starch that generally cause obesity, not healthy fats. The more processed the sugar and starch is (white flour, white sugar, white starch) the worse it is for our bodies. Starch converts to sugar so fast in the body, it can make your head spin. A chemist friend of mine told me that starch converts to sugar in the mouth within seconds. Research shows that sugar leads to body inflammation and inflammation is underlying all disease. I figure that starch leads to body inflammation too. We at kitchen Cheetahs are very concerned about the majority of gluten-free products being marketed that base their formulas on starch and sugar. I'm sure you can figure out why.

The thing is, as a population, we generally know what we shouldn't be eating - but we eat it anyway. Why? Because it tastes good. Because it's easy. Because it's familiar. Because it's there.

The transition to eating healthy is made easier by eating healthy foods that are tasty, easy, familiar, and available. Sounds simple. Once educated, it is simple. I say, start with chocolate!

So have some fun and enjoy this guilt-free treat. Live on the edge and have some with breakfast!

Fully Loaded Chocolate Bombs Formula:

SMALL BATCH:

Chocolate Base:
170 grams (2 bars) Lakanto Zero-Sugar Dark Chocolate, chopped small
30 grams deodorized coconut oil
15 grams dark Dutch cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 + 1/8 t. intense sweetener powder, to taste (a mix of stevioside, monk fruit is good)

Flavorings (optional):
1/8 t. vanilla flavor powder
1/4 t. almond flavor powder, to taste
1/8 t. cherry flavor powder

Inclusions (about 1 1/2 c.):
80 grams (1/2 c.) roasted crispy whole almonds
60 ounces (1/3 c.) whole dried organic Bing cherries
35 grams (1/4 c.) dried organic sour cherries (sweetened has the best texture and taste)
35 grams (1/4 c.) organic raisins
20 grams (1/8 c.) cocoa nibs


LARGE BATCH:

Chocolate Base:
600 grams Lakanto Zero-Sugar Dark Chocolate, chopped small
100 grams deodorized coconut oil
50 grams dark Dutch cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 t. intense sweetener powder (a mix of stevioside, monk fruit & CitrusSweet is good)

Flavorings (optional):
1/2 t. vanilla flavor powder
1 t. almond flavor powder, to taste
1/2 t. cherry flavor powder

Inclusions (about 6 c.):
280 grams (2 c.) roasted crispy whole almonds
8 ounces (1 1/4 c.) whole dried organic Bing cherries
120 grams (1 c.) dried organic sour cherries (sweetened has the best texture and taste)
140 grams (1 c.) organic raisins
70 grams (1/2 c.) cocoa nibs


Method:

In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and coconut oil together, pausing and stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and warm. Mix together well.

Prepare one to two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or silicone mats and set aside.

Add the cocoa powder to the melted chocolate mixture and mix in well

Add the intense sweetener powder to taste and mix in very well. Taste for sweetness.

Add the flavor powders to taste and mix in well.

Add the inclusions and mix well.

Stir the chocolate occasionally as it cools until it starts to thicken up enough to hold a shape when mounded.

Portion the chocolate mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, in small mounds, using a spoon or a very small ice cream scoop.

Sprinkle the tops of the chocolates with sea salt before they set up, if desired.

Place the chocolates in the refrigerator until they are completely set up.

Store the chocolates in an air-tight container (in the refrigerator in the hot summer months).



Photos of the process:

Gather your ingredients.

Combine the chopped Lakanto chocolate and coconut oil.

Stir chocolate mixture every 30 seconds as it is melting.

Mix in the cocoa powder, intense sweeteners and flavor powders, to taste.

Start adding the inclusions.

Let any refrigerated ingredients come to room temperature before adding to the chocolate.

Stir the chocolate occasionally while cooling.

A silicone-lined baking sheet.

A parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Drop chocolate mixture into little mounds.

A finished tray of chocolates.

Chocolates with a kiss of sea salt.

Beautiful Chocolate Bombs ready for packaging.

Enjoy,

Leila & Nancy.