My birthday was last month and the whole family came over for dinner.  I have a rule I follow which states that I do not bake my own birthday cake.  It’s the principle of it really.  It’s my birthday, bring me a cake people!  My mom sweetly volunteered to make my cake, but crazy me just couldn’t not make a dessert of any sort since everyone was coming to our place.  I had to make something!

I also had those who are vegan and lactose intolerant in mind because I was pretty sure that my mother’s lovely cake would contain both.  We had a bunch of mangoes in the fridge and I thought how awesome would mangoes taste with coconut cream?! I started salivating just thinking about it, so I ran to the pantry to grab a can of coconut cream and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours.

When making a batch of coconut whipped cream, I usually refrigerate my coconut cream over night.  It just works better that way, but when in a pinch an hour or two in the freezer is workable too.  I didn’t want to add a lot of sugar, so I made a mango puree in the nutribullet and folded it into the coconut whipped cream.  Just those two things together were amazing!  I could have spooned the whole bowl myself, but sharing is caring so I started putting the dessert together.  While I was at it, I decided to make it paleo and use a tad of coconut sugar to sweeten it.

The pineapple chunks I used were frozen and I thawed them for an hour and gave them a pat with a paper towel before adding them to the bowl.  Now, when I made this for my birthday dinner I had added white nectarines as the bottom layer of the trifle dish, but the nectarines were deemed unworthy by some of the relatives so I left them out the second time I made the parfait.  I actually enjoyed the nectarines, but pineapples and mangoes do taste pretty perfect together!

Ingredients

3 mangoes

2 cups pineapple chunks (fresh or frozen)

1 12 oz can coconut cream

2 Tbs coconut sugar

Method

Cut two mangoes into little chunks and thaw your pineapple ahead of time if necessary.

Puree one of the mangoes in a bullet, blender, or food processor. Place the mango puree in the fridge.  You would usually just use the cream part of the coconut cream and leave out the water that is left at the bottom of the can, but since this becomes almost mousse like I used all of it. Pour the coconut cream and coconut sugar into the bowl of your mixer.  Mix on medium speed until the cream starts to thicken, then mix on high speed until light and fluffy. About 2 minutes.  Remove the mango puree from the fridge and gently fold it into the coconut whipped cream.

Now you can assemble your parfait starting with the mangoes.  Whether you’re layering it in one big bowl or placing the mango pineapple parfait into individual bowls start with the mangoes.  Then add a layer of the mango coconut cream, a layer of pineapples, another layer of coconut cream, and top it with mango pieces.

Place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.

If by chance you end up with leftovers, pour it into popsicle molds and freeze for 3 hours or more.  The chunks of fruit and coconut cream made delish popsicles!

Summer days are here again, and there is nothing better than an ice cold treat on a hot summer day!  My girls have been enjoying their ice cream while I just stare and drool.  Now let me explain why I’m not eating spoonfuls of ice cream and sharing in the brain freezes with them. My doctor told me a few months ago that I need to intake more protein and that my cholesterol was a tad high.

That caught me off guard, since I don’t really eat anything high in fat.  Well, other than cheese.  I’m basically a mouse, so I decided that must be what’s causing it.  I have stopped eating cheese for the most part as apposed to having it on top of everything I eat, and cut out other dairy items that are high in fat.  My last test results showed a much lower level of bad cholesterol or LDL.

I love ice cream though, always have.  In my college days I would order dessert before I had dinner just to make sure that I had room for it.  I know, it was a problem.  I realized years later that my body was probably not very happy with me. Growing up in a house where you hardly ever found anything artificial or super sweet, it wasn’t that difficult for me to return to the old ways.  It has taken some inner strength to not give in to ice cream though!   I’ll have a spoon now and then but nothing crazy!

Luckily I recently discovered banana ice cream, which we like to call “nana cream”.  That has saved me from attacking a tub of ice cream more than once!  I really wanted something a little different a few weeks back, something coffee flavored and creamy.  I know, that’s a very specific craving, but I wanted it!  I was pondering how to make such a thing, and then I remembered the Donut House Coconut Mocha Kcups that my bestie got me hooked on last summer.  There is always coconut cream in my cabinet, so I grabbed it and in the blender it went.

I added some cocoa powder, instant coffee, vanilla extract, and sweetened it with coconut sugar.  I don’t like my coffee that sweet so go ahead and add more sugar if you need to.  I had to blend it and taste it a couple of times before the mixture seemed right, but 4 hours later I had these Coconut Mocha Cream Pops.  Needless to say, I was very happy!  They taste exactly like the Coconut Mocha Kcups! There’s a couple in my freezer at the moment actually.  I may just have to bust one out a little later!

Ingredients

13oz can coconut cream

1 tsp cocoa powder

3 1/2 tsp instant coffee

1 Tbs coconut sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor.  I used my Nutribullet since it’s always on my kitchen counter.  Blend it all up until it is completely mixed together then poor the mixture into popsicle molds.  It should fill 5 or 6 regular size popsicle molds.  I only had four, so I poured the rest of the mixture into silicone ice cube molds.  That worked out really well too.  Pop them into the freezer for 4 hours or more, and you have yourself a super tasty cool summer treat!

The first time I tasted Nutella, I was a kid at my aunt’s house.  Some relatives had smuggled some over from Germany and I thought it was the greatest thing ever created!  Now that I’m sort of grown, I don’t really appreciate all of the sugar and unnecessary ingredients.  I occasionally get the Justin’s brand which is on the healthier side and you can actually see the little pieces of hazelnuts in it.

I wanted something sweet the other day, and suddenly started craving Nutella.  Since that’s not happening, I mixed a little cashew butter, honey, and cocoa powder together for a quick fix.  Then it hit me, chocolate hazelnut bites!  How amazing would those flavors taste with some hazelnuts mixed in?  That’s exactly what they are; amazing! These chocolate hazelnut bites taste like a wholesome version of Nutella without all of the sugar.

I realize that I caught the late train with this whole “Bite” idea, but now that I’ve discovered them, the possibilities are endless!  I’m pondering something with cashews and cardamom for the next batch.

Ingredients

1 cup cashews

1/3 cup hazelnuts

1 Tbs cashew butter

1 tsp honey

3 Tbs cocoa powder

Method

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until it becomes like a mold-able paste.  Roll into round bites and place on parchment paper.  I sprinkled them with a little cocoa powder and crushed hazelnuts, but it’s not necessary.  They are perfectly delightful just as they are.  You can also refrigerate them if you prefer them cold, but they kept well in an airtight container on the kitchen counter as well.