[recipe] SF Chocolate Avocado Paste Balls

Last month, when I was reading I breathe... I'm hungry, I ran into this very awkward yet interesting recipe. It takes your standard bourbon truffle and substitutes avocado to make it creamy. So I got three avocados and stuck them in my 5 dozen egg carton to ripen for a couple of weeks (still not enough -_-) and got to mixing everything (except the nuts) until creamy, then folding in the pecans.

2 ripe avocados

2 T coconut oil

1/2 C premium cocoa powder

1 T Splenda

2 T SF chocolate syrup

2 T heavy whipping cream

1/2 t vanilla extract

1/2 t almond extract

1/2 C chopped pecans

It is very important that the avocados really are as ripe as possible, without starting to rot. Judging by the ingredients she uses, I'm guessing the writer of the other blog lives in a warmer climate, prone to all the good produce I miss.

Unfortunately, mine still were a bit green, highly influencing the taste. I tried to counteract this by increasing the Splenda to 1 T and adding vanilla and almond extracts.

Another substitution, which I doubt worked, was SF chocolate syrup (Walmart brand Hershey's knockoff) instead of SF chocolate flavored syrup (Torani). I bought one that was caramel flavored last month that I really didn't like, so I didn't feel like filling my pantry with yet another subpar bottle just to use two tablespoons. This might not have been an ideal substitution, either, as it was quite bitter.

Next time, I want to try eliminating the syrup and adding some more cream, Splenda and extract to compensate. And riper avocados :/

Also, I went the lazy route and just left it in the mixer bowl to be eaten with a spoon ^_^

Makes 12 portions, each with:

111 cals, 10 g fat, 4.5 g carbs (3 g fiber), 1.5 g protein

[recipe] Cauli-pizza Mash

Last night I made the yummiest healthy thing by accident! I took a head of cauliflower (5 cups?), boiled it a bit, then tossed it in the food processor with:

- 1/2 C ricotta

- 2 t California Sun Dry Julienne Cut Tomatoes with herbs

- 1 oz grated parmesan cheese

- 1 oz pepperoni

That's it! The tomatoes I used, though, were packed in oil with some herbs, making it taste exactly like pizza. Stupidly yummy.

Nutritional facts for the whole thing:

Ricotta - 216 cals, 16 g fat, 4 g carb, 14 g protein

Tomatoes - 30 cals, 3 g fat, 3 g carb, <1 g protein

Parmesan - 120 cals, 9 g fat, 6 g carb, 12 g protein

Pepperoni - 138 cals, 12 g fat, 6 g protein

Cauliflower - 140 cals, 30 g carb, 10 g protein

TOTAL - 644 cals, 40 g fat, 43 g carb (only 10 g being fiber), 42 g protein