Homemade safe chocolate

Take a small amount of your favorite fat that's solid at room temperature--I like coconut oil, butter, or a combination of the two. Add a small amount of sweetener (brown sugar is my favorite, but honey is good too) and cream this together with cocoa powder or raw cacao to taste. Eat as is or pour onto greased surface and chill to harden.

Gluten-free Chocolate Zucchini Quick Bread

This recipe is egg-heavy, because I find we do better with a lot of protein along with our sugars. With all the eggs, it's sort of a brownie/cake/quiche cross.

This cake is not super-sweet; I'll even serve it for breakfast. If you like your coffee cake or dessert heavily sweet you may want to add an extra 1/4 cup of honey or other sweetener, or mix in chocolate chips.

For the eggless version, try my Chocolate Zucchini Cake recipe with regular or gluten-free flour.

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Oil or grease a 9" x 13" pan (I used a glass casserole dish; a metal pan may cook faster)

Peel zucchini and cut into chunks--about 2 small or 1 large zucchini.

Sift together in large bowl:

3/4 cup brown rice flour (or any other gluten-free flour)
3/4 cup ivory teff flour (or any other GF flour)
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 Tablespoon (1 and 1/2 teaspoons) baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

In pitcher of large blender, combine:

1/2 cup plain yogurt or applesauce (you can substitute safe chocolate or vanilla yogurt, pureed pears or a dairy substitute)
Enough zucchini chunks to make 2 cups of puree

Blend up the yogurt and zucchini, adding more zucchini until it makes a total of 2 and 1/2 cups combined puree.

Add to blender:

1/4 to 1/3 cup oil (I used grapeseed oil, but any mildly flavored oil or melted butter will work)
1 cup honey
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional--omit if you are avoiding corn, gluten, alcohol or fermented foods and are not sure if your vanilla is free of these items)


Process zucchini mixture in blender until smooth.

Pour zucchini mixture into dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Fold in 1/2 to 1 cup nuts or chocolate chips if desired. Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean.

Let it cool for a few minutes before trying to cut it, but you can serve it a bit warm if desired. Your family won't even know they're eating their vegetables for dessert!

Healthy Chocolate Smoothie

Place in blender:

1 ripe banana
8-10 oz. water, milk, kefir, or dairy substitute
[optional] A handful (about 1/8 to 1/4 cup) of raw cashews, blanched almonds, or nuts/seeds of your choice.
1 Tablespoon unsweetened powdered baking cocoa (if you prefer your chocolate less dark, reduce to 1-2 teaspoons, or substitute carob if desired)
About 1 cup ice, as desired (crushed ice works best)

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

I make this in a personal-size blender with just water, cashews, banana, cocoa and ice. It makes a quick snack high in protein and free of grains and refined sugars. The banana is sweet enough that no other sweetener is necessary. This is my standby when I get chocolate and/or sugar cravings. It satisfies my sweet tooth without giving me the later energy/mood crash or heightened cravings I usually get when eating sugary chocolate.

For a NT-style smoothie, use raw milk, kefir or coconut milk and soak or sprout any nuts or seeds before blending.

Chocolate Fudge Cereal Treats (or No-Bake Cookies)

Grease an 8 x 8 pan or a cookie sheet, or lay out waxed paper on paper bags. Get out candy thermometer.

Measure out 4 cups of puffed grain or cereal (I used puffed rice).

Combine in a heavy saucepan:

1/3 cup oil (I used safflower)
2/3 cup honey
4 Tbs (1/8 cup) sifted unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's baking cocoa)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup rice milk (I use Rice Dream Original Unenriched)
2 teaspoons calcium/magnesium powder (optional)

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until candy thermometer registers 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove pan from heat and stir in cereal until well coated.

Pour into greased pan for bars, or quickly drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or greased cookie sheet for cookies. Allow to cool and enjoy!

If you leave the cereal out, this might make a good hot fudge topping.