Covetous Coconut Creations

Photo Credit

Pirates made from coconuts - so funny!  I could be a coconut pirate, but for now I'll just share some other coconut creations to covet.

I opened the fridge yesterday to grab a scone when I noticed a leftover container with something in white in it.  Not recalling what it could be I cautiously opened the lid and peeked inside.  It looked like whipped cream.  Had Mark been holding out on me?  When did we get and whip up any whipped cream?  Then I sniffed.  The whipped cream smelled like coconut.  Next I stuck my finger into it (it felt like whipped cream) and tasted it and...

HOLY-MOLY WOWZERS!

Then I remembered.  Mark had told me he couldn't get the coconut milk to blend so he had stuck it in the blender for a few seconds.  What he didn't know was that when he stuck the blended coconut milk into the fridge it set.  It set into a frothy whipped yummy goodness and became whipped coconut milk - any day rival to the real deal.  It was like whipped cream and creme frache all mixed up in one but with the light taste of, well, coconut.  

You know what I did, right?  I mean I WAS grabbing a scone from the fridge, and what goes with scones like nothing else?  Creme Frache, of course.  And I had this perfect creme frache look-a-like right there in front of me, complete with finger marks.  I couldn't resist.  I plopped a heaping dollop on both sides of the scone got the coffee that my cat, Jazz, made me make (really - she was running between the coffee maker and the fridge and looking at me intently - she knew it was "time for a little something" and she wanted to make sure I made coffee and not some fruit smoothy thing, 'cus those fruit smoothy things do not contain milk - her favorite thing on earth!) Anyway, I grabbed the now glorified scone and that milky coffee and headed back to my studio to relish in this new found accidental creation all the while thinking, "My husband is a genius!"  I was so engrossed I forgot to take a picture.

Later that night, however, I introduced my husband to his geniusness by taking a slice of his carrot cake and putting a big heap of whipped coconut goodness onto it.  He agrees, he's a genius.  This time I got a picture.

But wait there's more!  Not only did we have this homemade coconut adventure we've also been continuing to test out more products from Luna and Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss.  Remember I blogged about their Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars?  Well we couldn't help but try one of their ice-cream creations as well.  Still non-dairy, still organic, still fair trade, still magnificent!  The flavor we picked up was the Cappuccino - we love our coffee flavored frozen desserts - so it had to be the first one for us to try.  You know what we discovered?  Coffee and coconut, together, rock!  Wow, this was delicious.  I highly recommend it - but beware, it is rather addictive and disappears far to quickly.  They need to work on that - maybe the miraculously refilling coconut ice cream container could be their next endeavor.  Or maybe my genius of a husband will figure it out - I can dream can't I?

Peanut Butter Ball Improv

I needed a little something this afternoon (this is a common trait of mine, no?) to go with my cup of decaf cafe au lait.  So I got the food processor down and started pulling ingredients that sounded good.  No recipe, just improv for food.  The results are delicious!  Very peanut buttery with a base of oats and almond meal, a touch of chocolate -two ways- and coconut just because.

Here's what went into them:

1/2 cup oats, ground to a coarse meal in the food processor
1/2 cup peanut butter, crunchy
1 Tablespoon almond meal
1 Tablespoon unsweetened coconut
1 Tablespoon chocolate syrup
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons almond milk
1 teaspoon agave syrup

All the above blended up in the food processor and then molded into little balls. This made 14 Tablespoon size goodies.

Mostly Raw Almond and Coconut Macaroons

Inspired by all of Averie's delicious sounding raw cookie balls and made up on a whim when I was needing a little somethin'.

Mostly Raw Almond and Coconut Macaroons - Makes 1 Dozen

3/4 flaked oats
3/4 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup agave
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons almond meal/flour
2 Tablespoons rice milk or other non-dairy milk
Splash of vanilla

Put the oats in a food processor and process for 15-20 seconds.  Add all the other ingredients and process till a dough comes together.  Gather the dough up in tablespoon portions and roll in your hands to make small balls.

So simple!

So yummy!

So Pretty!

Cookie Monster Goes Raw

There are a total of six cookie monsters in this house.  The first and foremost would be Mark - my
hollow-legged skinny pole of a husband.

(Really I DO feed him and his mother had to swear the same thing and his sister, Meri, will most likely have to say the same thing about one (or both) of our nephews - they seem to be taking after their Uncle Mark. I'll feel for Meri when she has to start feeding those boys through their teenage years!)

The next cookie monster on the list would be Ginger.  If a cookie comes out, she's quick to try and steal, beg or otherwise let it be known that she things all cookies belong to her.  She's a tortoise-shell tabby with the attitude to match her striking good looks.  She occasionally gets a cookie crumb and a reminder that she's an obligate carnivore and if she eats too much grain things get messy. (This IS a food blog so I won't get anymore detailed.)

Then comes Tigger (the loud mouth) and his sister Tipsy.  These two grey striped monsters are always on the lookout for a stray cookie or crumb or whatever they can get their nosey little whiskers into.

Now Jazz, she's a different story.  She would quickly forgo the cookie to get her pink little tongue into the glass of milk that goes with it.  This cat will drink coffee if it has milk or cream in it.  When you go to the coffee pot and start to make coffee she gets all excited and under foot because she KNOWS that the milk will soon come out of the fridge and I have been a sucker enough times to make a nuisance into a monster.  Heaven help this cat if I were to ever go Vegan!

And the sixth cookie monster?  Well, that's me.  I've been known during times of bad behavior to have a cookie or two for breakfast.  Shame on me.

Having cookies for breakfast may not be such a bad thing now that I've discovered the glories of Raw Cookies, thanks to Averie over at Love Veggies and Yoga.  That woman is always posting up the most delicious ideas and recipes and so far I've tried out the Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Protein Bars - they were good.  Then I made a version of her Raw Oatmeal Raisin Cookies which turned out way to cinnamon-y for the likes of me but they were right up my husband's alley - the guy is a cinnamon freak.  I made these with raisins as the base and learned that it would be better to soak the raisins first. I had to add water to get a workable dough.  I honestly wonder if 2 T of cinnamon is a typo*...but Mark loved them anyway.  I have to make more for him asap, I've been informed.  (I don't have a puppy-dog, but who needs one when you have a husband that is so good at puppy-dog eyes?!)

Since the first batch of cookies didn't turn out to my liking I decided to play with the recipe a bit.  Averie gives lots of options for ways to switch it up with the raw cookies.  I ended up using dates as my base, and added coconut and only a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon but more than a splash of vanilla and ooh la la I got a winner!  I LOVE these cookies.  These little cookies are packed with good for you stuff.  On my last trip to the co-op I picked up some raw chocolate nibs that are SO going into my next batch.  To top it all off, these cookies are SO easy to make - I can't wait to get one of the nephews over here to help me make a batch.  They'll learn baking from mom and grandma and un-baking from Aunt Maurie - what well rounded kids (culturally, that is) they'll be!

* Thanks to Averie for stopping by in the comments and pointing out my oops.  I had doubled the recipe - that's where I got the 2 from.  But even worse was how I read Tsp as Tablespoon.  It comes from the way my mom always wrote recipes:

Big "T" "for tablespoon and little "t" for teaspoon.

I saw the capital T and my brain said Tablespoon and ignored the rest of the letters - even after double checking!  Silly me!