Now...What's for Dessert?

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! My life has been crazy transitioning into summer mode (which seems a bit counterintuitive...)

Anyway, today I was DESPERATE for some sweets. Before I was forced into a gluten and dairy free life, chocolate was DEFINITELY my go-to dessert item. Anything chocolate was (and still is) absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, lots of chocolate (even the dark kinds) have milk fat. While an interesting obstacle, early in my diagnosis I was willing to face the challenge to find inexpensive and delectable dairy-free chocolate. Month two of my gfcf life, mission accomplished.
Trader Joe's sells semi-sweet chocolate chips that only contain soy, no milk. This chocolate, along with their natural peanut butter has been my vice throughout this past year. I go straight into the jar and it's like an instant reese's.
It took a lot of research on my part to find some safe treats, but I have been successful. Junior Mints are (surprisingly) gluten and dairy free, so are most jelly beans, skittles (!), jolly ranchers, and starbursts.

Earlier this year, however, I went on a healthy food kick. Upon learning about the damage gluten and dairy can do to my body, I started thinking about ALL the food I was ingesting. This created a bit of an obstacle to my sweet tooth. Cocoa powder was okay, and combined with honey or agave nectar tasted sweeter, but what I was REALLY missing was ice cream. That's when I discovered the BEST dessert:

Banana Nut "Ice Cream":
In a blender put together
- 1 frozen banana (I usually slice a banana when it's at it's prime ripeness, put it in a zip lock bag, and freeze it)
- 1 tsp of peanut or almond butter
- just a little almond (or soy or rice) milk to get the blender moving
Blend all the ingredients and it comes out like ice cream!!! It's so good! I've also experimented by adding a little coconut or cocoa powder, depending on my mood.
I made one today but unfortunately had no frozen bananas, so I tried to make it with a room temperature banana and ice, but the result was more of a smoothie (still good, but not ice cream :( )

Another great sugar free, gluten free, and dairy free dessert recipe was given to me by one of my friends. I believe they are considered "Brownie Balls," and they are also absolutely delicious!

Brownie Balls:
- 1 c. roasted almonds (or you can use almond meal, which can be found at trader joes)
- 15 pitted dates (depends on the size though, if they're small, probably more)
- 2/3 c. cocoa powder
- 1 T honey
- 2 T water
Grind almonds in food processor. Add dates, cocoa powder, honey, and water. Mix until it forms a "sticky mass" Roll into balls, or form into bars, whichever seems more appealing, and either enjoy now, or keep them in the fridge or freezer so they'll stay delicious!

The last treat may be my favorite. It's good because you can eat it for a dessert kind of thing, snack, or I've even had it for breakfast...

Rice Cake "Cakes"
- 1 Rice Cake
- 1 tbsp of peanut butter (like I said, peanut butter on anything makes everything better...)
- drizzle of honey
- handful of raisins or cranberries (or chocolate chips...)
First, spread the rice cake with peanut butter, then drizzle on honey (I've found that making a star puts exactly the right amount of honey on... :) ) Then sprinkle on the raisins/cranberries/chocolate chips. and ENJOY! It's so delicious that I always end up having more than one...

In a gluten and dairy free world it's IMPERATIVE to find some good treats that don't rely on specialty gluten free labels. I'm glad I've found "brownies," "ice cream," and "cake" to satisfy my sweet tooth and chocolate cravings!!