At last I get to post a recipe. I actually needed to take a few weeks brake from the blog because I wanted to catch up with things in school as well as focus as to what would be next for the blog as far as recipes are concerned. I also want to expand my travel section and even though I haven’t been traveling lately I have a lot of material from previous travels that I want to share with you all. I am organizing all my travels, recipe schedule and all so stay tuned, lots of good things to come.

Onto the recipe now.

I love coconut anything. I have been wanting to make these dark chocolate coconut truffles for a long time now but never got around to it because I had other recipes I wanted to tackle, however, last week, since I also wanted to have something with coconut flavor, I went ahead and made these.

These truffles are truly out of this world. They only require 4 ingredients and you don’t need anything really especial except for your food processor to make these.

I am going to be making more coconut desserts in the upcoming weeks. I have been wanting to make coconut macaroons as well so I might get to that recipe soon. These dark chocolate mint coconut truffles for now are one of my favorite coconut desserts…so easy to make and so good.

You can use any type of chocolate you like, however, I always use dark chocolate for all of my desserts that need chocolate. Less sugar, much more chocolate intense flavor plus it contains many more of the cocoa benefits. Dark chocolate all the way.

Going forward, I am going to be posting like I was before. I just needed to take a few weeks off to regroup sort of speak.

Anyways, I leave you with these dark chocolate mint coconut truffles that are truly the bomb. If you get to make these let me know how you liked them. Also one suggestion, if you do, I suggest doubling the batch because they are not going to last that long.

Enjoy!

Dark chocolate mint coconut truffles

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 15 truffles

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp mint extract, optional
• 6 oz dark chocolate, melted, vegan if need be

Directions:

Line a cookie baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the coconut, maple syrup, mint, and coconut oil in a food processor until it comes together. Transfer to a small mixing bowl. Using your hands, squeeze the mixture into about small balls. This step may be a bit difficult. I used my finger and gently roll them out. (If you really find they don't come together at all just a tad more maple syrup)

Place the coconut balls in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until firm.

Melt the chocolate in your microwave or double boiler. Using two forks, roll each coconut ball in the chocolate until completely covered. Let the extra chocolate drip off the fork. Place the chocolate truffle onto the prepared tray and place back in the freezer until the chocolate has hardened.

You can top the truffles with some extra coconut flakes before they harden. This step is optional.

Store in the refrigerator.

The post Dark chocolate mint coconut truffles appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I was pleasantly surprise with the flavor of these Christmas energy bites. I wanted to mimic ginger bread flavor so I made my own spice mixture with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamon.

The base of these energy bites are just dates, unsweetened coconut flakes and walnuts. After obtaining the base you can later add any flavorings of your choice to make them different, like in this case, I used the spices to make them indicative of the holidays.

Christmas season is known to be cookie season. I like to keep my recipes on the healthy side. If you are looking to make some cookies over the holidays I really suggest starting with these or least try them. Not only they are no bake, but also gluten free and dairy free.

For these Christmas energy bites you will need some liquid to made the batter come together. I used Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk for it. I always use unsweetened varieties so that I can control the sweetness plus I really don’t like tasting any sweetness when having a plane glass of it.

I have seen recipes that use maple syrup to bring energy bites together but by using dates there is no point in adding any more sweetness to the recipe. Dates are naturally sweet already.

You can also sign up to receive Silk newsletters for coupons. If you use their products you should take advantage of the many coupons they offer. They have a wide variety of new products so I am sure you will put them to good use.

These Christmas energy bites are something that I will be making again around the holidays to give away to friends and relatives. I think these will be a hit so if you like making your own energy bites and keeping your dessert on a healthier side I highly recommend making these. Very unique and delicious.

Enjoy!

Christmas energy bites

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 22 bites

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pitted dates
• 2 cups walnuts and pecans
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• pinch of celtic salt
• 1 tsp clove powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Directions:

Place walnuts and pecans in your food processor and pulse until they are pulverized. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until the mixture comes together. If you need more liquid for the mixture to come together you may add a tsp of water at a time.

Form little balls with the mixture and store in a glass airtight container in the fridge.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Christmas energy bites appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

On another note, my school adventure pretty much starts today. I am moving all the way up North to Poughkeepsie and to say that I am super excited is an understatement. It has been a long road to be able to accomplish just getting accepted into the program so I am really happy about that.

This chapter in my life is going to be full of challenges and sacrifices since I am leaving the kids behind for 2 years, however, I think the rewards are going to be huge in the near future.

Lucky for my the school is only 2 hours away from were my family lives so I will be able to visit them almost every weekend. Shew…

All day yesterday I was prepping my meals for the week. I don’t intend to gain weight or become unhealthy while in school so sticking to a tight schedule as far as meal planning an exercise routine is concerned is what I intend to do.

I believe it really doesn’t take much to have a meal plan in place. Just a bit of invested time at first to gather ingredients and recipes for the week ahead is pretty much it. Then devoting just an afternoon cooking for the week and you are done.

I think this method is better because it saves time doing food shopping and cooking through the week. All in all in a much better way and it saves time in the long run.

I was able to make chocolate almond butter overnight oats, caribbean rice and beans, gazpacho, pasta and the Acai superfood bites which will be my snack of the week. If this doesn’t last me I will prepare something simple like a wholesome salad a couple of times if any and I should be good to go.

Anyways, if you have noticed, these Acai superfood bites have no dates so for those that despise them this recipe is for you.

Enjoy!

Acai superfood bites

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 20 bites

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup protein powder
• 1/3 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/3 cup Acai powder
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp Mexican vanilla
• 1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds
• 1/3 cup cacao powder
• 1-2 tbs water

Directions:

In your food processor add all the ingredients except the hulled hemp seeds and pulse until you obtain a paste.

Place the hulled hemp seeds in a plate. Form balls with the paste and coat with the hulled hemp seeds.

Store bites covered in a glass container in the fridge for at least 1 week.

The post Acai superfood bites appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

These almond coconut snowball cookies will take you about 10 minutes to make, that is it. No bake, gluten free, vegan and good for you, what else can you ask for?

I am planning on making a couple more desserts that are typical of the holidays. For sure they are going to be healthy, so not to worry. I have been thinking of some sort of peppermint brownie patties. I want to make it both vegan and gluten free and maybe no bake…will see what I can come up with.

I am really excited about the holidays this year. This time around we are going to go and visit Tennessee which is where my husband is from. I like going there because there are plenty of antique stores I can visit and also relax a little bit since my kids are mostly entertained.

Last year it was my turn to spend Christmas with my family so we went to Vegas to see my brother. This year is my husband’s turn so Tennessee it is!

Well I hope you get to make these almond coconut snowball cookies. They are super easy to make and delicious. If you are looking for something healthy for the holidays look no further, these are a hit.

Until my next recipe…

Enjoy!

Almond coconut snowball cookies

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 25 balls

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp almond extract (optional)
• 2-4 tbs water

Coating

• Unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

Place ingredients in your food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together. If it doesn't add 1 tablespoon of water at at time and pulse in between until the dough comes together.

Form little balls and coat with coconut. Keep balls refrigerated.

The post Almond coconut snowball cookies appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I am not much of a football fan myself but once in a while I will watch a game. I mean, don’t ask me about any of the rules or anything but I will watch and enjoy myself watching with the boys. As a matter of fact, about 3 weeks ago, I actually went to my first tailgating party. It was a lot of fun but of course what I enjoyed the most was the food!

These healthy cookie dough footballs would have been perfect for that, as no one brought dessert. Not only these are gluten and dairy-free but these are actually good for you.

For these healthy cookie dough footballs I used unsweetened almond milk mostly because it is very neutral in flavor, has no added sugar, it is Non-GMO, and has no artificial colors, or flavors.

If you are a regular visitor of Eat Good 4 Life you pretty much know that most of my recipes are vegetarian, gluten-free and some vegan. These little things almost resemble that. Not bad at all!

If you would like to see more recipes that are meatless and dairy-free, especially for Monday football nights, visit Silk’s page. There is also a giveaway so make sure you check that out too.

For this particular recipe, while you can use regular chocolate, I opted for using a vegan brand for those concerned with dairy. Also, the base of these healthy cookie dough footballs are made from chickpeas. I must say, these taste nothing like chickpeas, and no one will ever know there are chickpeas in here so trust me on this and give them a go. They are just plain delicious!

I hope you like this little creation. The perfect healthy dessert for Monday night football that it is gluten and dairy-free.

Enjoy!

Healthy cookie dough footballs

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 30-36 footballs

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 13 oz canned chickpeas, drained
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp cacao nibs
• 1 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Coating

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate, vegan
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• 4 oz white chocolate, vegan

 

Directions:

In your food processor place all the ingredients except the shredded coconut. Pulse until the mixture comes together.

Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and add the shredded coconut. Mix with a spatula. If the mixture is to wet to form into oval shaped balls add an extra 1/2 cup of almond flour.

With your hands, form oval shape footballs and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes. On the meantime, melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave save bowl at 30 second intervals until completely melted.

Place one cookie dough football at a time into the melted chocolate and coat completely ( I do this step with a couple of forks) Transfer footballs to the prepared cookie sheet. Once all the cookie dough pieces are coated with chocolate place them back in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate and pipe onto the footballs to create a string. Keep footballs refrigerated.

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Healthy cookie dough footballs appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

While these pumpkin truffles may be a little more involved they are just plain sensational. Worth every minute.

I have not made truffles in for ever and I think these have become a favorite truffle recipe for me. While you can skip the salt on top of each truffle I thought it added a much needed taste to brake up the sweetness a little bit. It is up to you if you want to add the salt or not.

As you know, I am trying to make some more pumpkin recipes for the month of September so will see what I can come up with. I have already put pancakes and waffles on the list. Since these are two recipes that my readers requested I will be making these soon. Stay tuned because these are going to be really good.

These pumpkin truffles are so good you can even have them for breakfast  or as a snack. They are healthy, filling and 1-2 go a long way.

The only difficulty I see with these is making the date paste since it takes a few minutes and you will have to scrape the food processor a couple of times. I have had the date paste frozen for 3 months after I made a huge batch not long ago. I didn’t know what to do with it so I just made up this recipe which turned out perfect. Sometimes I am really lucky on that department!

Anyways, these healthy pumpkin truffles are out of this world. I hope you get to try them. You will not be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin truffles

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 30

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Date paste

• 2 cups dates
• 1/3 cup almond milk

Filling

• 2 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 3-4 tsp pumpkin spice

Coating

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, vegan
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Topping (optional)

• 1/2 tbsp Celtic salt

Directions:

In a food processor add the pitted dates and almond milk and pulse until you obtain a creamy consistency. You may have to stop the food processor in between and scrape down the sides.

Add the almond butter, pumpkin puree and spices. Pulse until you obtain a homogenous mixture. Add the almond flour 1 cup at a time and pulse in between until you have added the 2 1/2 cups. You should be able to form balls with these dough, if not add a bit more almond flour.

Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper. Form 25-30 dough bit size balls and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to harden.

In the meantime, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second intervals until completely melted.

When the balls are cold enough, dip them, one by one into the melted chocolate. I used two forks for this step, and place them in the prepared baking sheet. If using, place some coarse celtic salt over each truffle piece immediately after dipping it in chocolate. You need to do this now otherwise the chocolate will solidify and the salt won't stick. Place back in the fridge of freezer for the chocolate to solidify.

Keep chocolate truffles in the fridge.

NOTE: If you don't have pumpkin spice you can make your own by mixing 2 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tsp clove powder, 1 tsp ginger powder, 1 tsp nutmeg powder.

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