I struggled with the title for this one, because this lemon mousse is really so many things. It will boost your immune system, help you detox, increase digestion, strengthen hair and nails, improves skin elasticity for wrinkle reduction, and can slim your waistline. Not only will it do all that, but it tastes fantastic while it’s making you healthier. I like putting this lemon mousse into small mason jars. It’s portable, snackable and easy to grab this way.

To low fat or not low fat

The base for this  lemon mousse is protein rich Greek yogurt. You can strain regular yogurt if you don’t have Greek on hand. I’m a big fan of whole fat dairy products, but if you’re focusing on weight loss, then you can use low fat. Since cream will naturally rise to the top of un-homogenized milk, the lower fat milk on bottom is what’s used to make low fat yogurt, without any weird processing going on. 

Detox and boost immunity

The flavor of course is coming from lemon, and here we’re using a fresh lemon. The acidity from the lemon increases stomach acid production to improve digestion. It also helps to flush toxins from the body and cleanse the liver, our main detox organ.

This recipe for lemon mousse uses the whole lemon though, including the pith, which is super high in vitamin C and kicks your immune system into gear. Make sure you use an organic lemon to avoid the high amount of pesticides in the peel.

Better nails without a manicure

And you can’t have  lemon mousse without some way to thicken it. I love using grasssfed gelatin here since it’s so nutrient dense. This isn’t the same stuff found in the artificially flavored and neon colored box at the grocery store though. Gelatin gives your body the amino acids and proteins it needs to have healthy and vibrant nails, hair and skin. You can find gelatin in my superfood vanilla latte or gingerbread latte recipes.

A sweet combination

Raw honey is amazing in so many ways, and I frequently use it as my sweetener of choice. It’s perfect for sore throats and respiratory issues, and it tastes great in some honey sweetened caramel. Too much though, and it will spike blood sugar, which can give you a sugar crash, resulting in weight gain. Since the lemon is so sour, and the pith can be bitter, you really need enough sweetener here.

I use a combination of raw honey and stevia in this recipe. Most stevia is either highly processed, or terribly bitter. I’ve been using this liquid stevia, or this stevia powder lately since they’re both minimally processed and not bitter. To round the flavor out though, you really need some honey. By using both you’re getting a nice, full sweet flavor, without a blood sugar spike.

What’s your favorite afternoon snack? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to share this recipe with a friend!

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There’s something about the sweet and salty combo of salted chocolate that’s just magical. And of course you can’t go wrong with cookie dough. The almond meal and arrowroot combo provides the base of the “dough” without any grains or gluten. The cashew butter adds that extra layer of creaminess to really tie it all together. You can just use more almond meal if you don’t have cashew butter, but I really like the neutral, almost cream cheese like flavor that it gives to the truffle.

Bite sized

One of the things I like about these, in addition to their chocolatey goodness of course, is that they’re in nice individual sized portions. Now I can’t say that I’ve ever stopped at just one, however this does make them easier to serve. It’s also nice for when the little guy wants a treat; one of these can go a long way for a 4 year old.

They do get a little bit melty in our house, which is unreasonably warm, so they’re stored in the fridge or freezer. If your house is cooler than 74 degrees, then feel free to keep them at room temperature. Keeping them really cold also helps them from melting all over your fingers as you’re noshing down on one. Be warned though, that too long in the freezer makes them a little hard to chew.

Make it dairy free

To keep it dairy free, use ghee instead of pastured butter. You could also use coconut oil, but ghee smells like toffee to me and gives a phenomenal, concentrated butter flavor without the milk proteins some are sensitive too. I also use this brand of chocolate chips since they’re dairy, soy and gluten free, as my other half doesn’t handle dairy well.

The post Dark Chocolate Salted Cookie Dough Truffles – Paleo appeared first on The Herbal Spoon.

I hate lawn mowers, I really do. In our garden we’ve replaced as much of the grass as possible with useful plants like clover, plantain, dandelion and moss. Of course everyone around us sets out on their dandelion beheading vendetta every Saturday afternoon though.

Health benefits of violets

My hatred for perfectly manicured grass aside, common lawn flowers like violets are not only edible, but medicinal for the body. The leaves and flowers can be prepared a variety of ways. European violets are used for coughs and bronchitis, while their relative the pansy was used as an expectorant, diuretic and to calm inflammation. Violets are one of the featured plants in one of my new favorite books and are used in skincare preparations to calm eczema, psoriasis and acne.

The leaves can be used in salad or to make tea and contain more vitamin C than oranges and more vitamin A than spinach. Even more impressive, violet was used for decades as a natural cancer treatment, primarily by the Native Americans. Current studies confirm violets benefits for an overactive immune system (source)

How to Use Violet Syrup

This violet syrup is delicious over ice cream, stirred into custard or on pancakes and sweet breads. Be careful not to overdue it though, as traditional herbalists used to use violet syrup as a children’s laxative! I’m assuming you would need to down a decent amount though before you had issues with violet’s laxative effects.

Choosing your sugar

Violet syrup is really a two step process. When the flowers are first infused into the water, it turns a deep blue, slightly green color. However, once it’s combined with the lemon juice a chemical reaction takes place and the color changes. If you’re using regular, refined white sugar then it turns a deep violet purple color. I used a slightly less refined evaporated cane crystal that turned my violet syrup a deep ruby red.

I never use white sugar and prefer to sweeten my ice cream, superfood vanilla lattes, and raspberry chocolate mousse with natural sweeteners like raw honey and maple syrup. For this recipe however I did use a mostly refined organic cane sugar. The heavier flavors of honey and coconut sugar drown out the delicate floral taste of the violets. To get the best flavor and purple color you really need the completely white conventional sugar, but I was willing to only compromise so far. Organic evaporated cane juice is as far as I’m willing to go.

What plants do you have growing in your yard? Let us know in the comments below!

The post How to Make Violet Syrup and Violet’s Health Benefits appeared first on The Herbal Spoon.

Don’t let me into your house if you have biscotti laying around or I won’t leave until I’ve eaten it all. A little extreme? Maybe, but I have very fond memories of biscotti being dunked in some coffee or herbal tea. Lately though I’ve switched my biscotti devotion over to this gluten and dairy free chocolate almond biscotti.

This cookie is rich and nutty with that satisfying dunking shape. It tastes divine with a superfood vanilla latte or some authentic Indian spiced chai. You can even give it a hearty herbal coffee bath with these caffeine free and superbly delicious herbal coffee recipes.

I have a hard time creating good gluten free chewy cookies, but with biscotti, that doesn’t matter. Since these are designed to be hard, they naturally soak up whatever you dunk them into like a porous little sponge.

I made these for Christmas gifts since you don’t really have to worry about them getting stale so fast. And since they’re firm, they’re great for mailing to family and friends, just be sure to wrap them well!

I really love using my silpat liner here since nothing sticks to it, even burnt sugar. It’s also washable and reusable, unlike parchment paper, so it’s more economical and an eco-friendly choice. You can read more about the safety of silpat liners here or see which one I have here.

Caveman Cookie Exchange

These are the cookies that I sent out to some blogger peeps as sort of a “secret santa” caveman cookie exchange. So a shout out goes to the Paleo Cavewoman for her double chocolate peppermint cookies. My son has been eating them like crazy! You can find all of her awesome recipes here.

My favorites though were the paleo samoa truffles from Kitchen Vixxen. I *may* have hid them so I could eat them all myself. You can check out Kitchen Vixxens site here.

Lastly, we got some delicious spiced cookies from Gutsy by Nature. These resembled a gingerbread cookie and really reminded me of all the Christmas flavors I can’t get enough of. You can find Gutsy by Nature here.

The post Chocolate Almond Biscotti – Gluten and Dairy Free appeared first on The Herbal Spoon.

I feel like I’m swimming in apples we picked so many from our trees this year. We’ve experimented with some delicious apple cider, and of course made some applesauce, but I wanted to add even more variety. These dried cinnamon apple chips are ridiculously simple, yet bursting with flavor!

The many benefits of cinnamon

Everyone knows that cinnamon goes with apples like peanut butter and jelly, like stinky perfume and great aunt Edna. What you may not know however, is how absolutely good for you this fragrant spice is. Cinnamon helps control blood glucose levels and helps manage weight. There have been many studies, including this one, that have shown it to be incredibly helpful for diabetics. These researchers found that cinnamon and ginger both:

 “Significantly reduced body weight and body fat mass; normalized serum levels of liver enzymes; improved lipid profile; decreased blood glucose and leptin and increased insulin serum levels… also increased activity of kidney antioxidant enzymes.” (source)

Not only is cinnamon a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, but it can help the body kick cancer and even fight infections. Double brownie points for being delicious. (source)

Dried apple chips

One of my favorite ways to use these cinnamon apple rings is chopped up in my oatmeal for cold mornings. They’re also great as a snack just by themselves. Since they’re dried, all of the flavor gets concentrated down into each tiny bite, so they’re bursting with fresh apple flavor.

You can also throw these into a cake, quick bread or muffin recipe for a quick and easy apple flavor. Add them to granola or yogurt for a delicious snack. You can turn them into an apple pie or cobbler, or even make some of these yummy looking caramel apple energy balls.

I cannot recommend enough getting one of these handy dandy machines. It makes processing apples so much smoother and more efficient. I’m all for hard work, but this time saver will help you get your apples done faster, like 20x faster! It also cuts the guess work out of trying to get even slices. Seriously, that takes forever to do by hand!

(This post contains affiliate links that help support this blog and my family. Thanks for your support!)

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I will admit that I’m a no holes barred chocolate person. If it’s made with chocolate, I’ll eat it. Except for maybe these chocolate cricket cookies. I don’t care if they’re high in protein, I’ll pass for now thank you.

What makes chocolate so appealing?

So why do we love chocolate so much? I experienced a major decrease in my chocolate cravings once I started to supplement with this magnesium, a mineral that the majority of Americans are deficient in. Many issues can be caused by a magnesium deficiency, like body odor, brain fog and low energy (source).  It just so happens that chocolate is high in magnesium, so a strong craving signals a deficiency.

I probably don’t have to tell you that most desserts out there are loaded with unhealthy sugar, trans fat, refined flours, high fructose corn syrup, and the list goes on and on. Even organic desserts aren’t the healthiest options because they are lacking in nutrition, something that’s increasingly harder to find in our modern foods.

This mousse recipe however is not only free of the bad stuff, but it boasts a nutritionally dense ingredient list. My 3 year old LOVES eating it, and I actually feel good about letting him chow down on some (within reason of course). It’s still high in natural sugars, so I don’t let him eat his body weight in it or anything.

Healthy fat keeps you thin

The popularity of avocados has skyrocketed in the past few years and for good reason. They’re full of healthy, satiating fats that improve skin and help regulate hormones. They contain roughly 37% of your daily dietary fiber intake. They’re also really high in potassium, magnesium, the B vitamins, vitamin C and vitamin K. (source)

Coconut milk is high in medium chain fatty acids, or MCFA, that actually help you shed pounds and stay in shape. As a bonus, just 1 can contains about ½ your needed iron, 1/3 of your magnesium, copper and phosporous and all of your daily manganese among other minerals. (source)

Why raw is better

Raw cacao powder is naturally less processed than regular cocoa powder. Since the beans aren’t heated, more of the nutrition remains intact. It’s also high in necessary minerals like magnesium, calcium, potassium and seleium. (source)

This recipe uses raw honey, which is good for everything from treating burns and infections to sweetening up superfood vanilla latte’s. My favorite caramel recipe is also made with honey instead of refined sugar. You can read about the other amazing healing and nutritional benefits of raw honey here. (source)

Raspberry Chocolate Mousse

So now that you know why this recipe is so good for you (or maybe you’ve just scrolled down to the recipe because you simply want the chocolate deliciousness right now), here’s the recipe. I’ve found that this tastes good a few hours after it’s chilled, but it tastes absolutely amazing after 1 ½ to 2 days. This lets the flavors really meld together for a smooth and flavorful dessert. Affiliate links below.

Raspberry chocolate mousse ingredients

• 1 very ripe avocado
• 1/3 cup cacao powder – get it here
• 1 can full fat coconut milk – get it here
• 1 and ½ tsp vanilla extract – get it here
• 3 Tbsps raw honey – get it here
• Pinch of unrefined sea salt – get it here
• ½ cup raspberries (strawberries can be substituted

Raspberry chocolate mousse directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
2. Pour into individual serving cups or small mason jars.
3. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, but preferrably 36 hours before serving.
4. Top with a generous layer of berries. Yields about 2.5 cups.

Shared at: Mama Moments, Let’s Get Real

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A good caramel sauce goes well with so many desserts, I’ll even add a touch to my morning herbal coffee brew for a salted caramel flavor! Most caramel sauces are made with heavy amounts of refined sugar, which wreaks havoc on your body. This honey sweetened caramel sauce is naturally sweetened and offers a healthier, yet just as delicious option.

In search of ice cream topping

Last night I made chocolate ice cream from some coconut milk I had just bought. We were going to eat it after the baby went to bed except, the baby wouldn’t go to bed. We finally rolled into bed bleary eyed and exhausted at four in the morning, after Mr. energy had finally exhausted himself. Tonight I decided to pull the ice cream from the freezer, but then I realized I could do better.

Can I tell you something? My secret indulgence is a chocolate sundae with caramel sauce from Dairy Queen. It’s so smooth, sweet and creamy, but so incredibly bad for you! I’m not even sure what all chemicals and artificial flavors are in it.

Honey sweetened caramel sauce

That’s when I had an epiphany and decided to try a sugar free all natural caramel sauce. After much searching I found some inspiration online, but nothing exactly like what I was looking for. The resulting recipe is rich and smooth just like regular caramel, but without the guilt! I wasn’t sure it would thicken properly at first, but I promise you it will!

You don’t have to save this sauce for just ice cream though. It tastes equally delicious on top of some cheesecake, or drizzled on a moist, chocolate brownie. I’ve even been known to sneak a few spoonfuls in straight out of the jar.

Be sure to use pastured cream and butter as well as local honey and a healthy sea salt like Celtic or Himalayan. I’ve included links in the recipe below for ingredients we use if you can’t find what you need locally.  So without further ado, here is the best caramel sauce in the universe. (okay maybe not, but it’s pretty darn good

What would you put this caramel sauce on? Let us know in the comments below!

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