Sugar Free (almost) Strawberry Parfait

Hey Hey there Diva Friends! 

I recently made this strawberry parfait and not only was it a HIT, it was sugar free! Well....sorta :) There was ZERO refined sugar but a little bit of maple syrup and honey sprinkled throughout. For most that are not on a strict elimination diet this would make a really great treat and get this....it's healthy enough for breakfast if you would really want to do that :P

When I was thinking about what I wanted to make I googled (of course) 4th of July paleo desserts and lots of fun red white and blue treats come up - most of them using strawberries and blueberries for that patriotic look. Lots of parfait options came up which inspired me to make me own....

Enjoy!

Strawberry Tapioca Parfait

Ingredients:

• Against All Grain Shortbread Cookies
• 3 Pints fresh organic strawberries halved
• Honey
• Let's Do Organic Tapioca
• Full Fat Coconut Milk

Directions:

I made the shortbread, tapioca, and strawberry filling the day prior so they could cool completely. Then I assembled everything just before we ate them. I made 8 large parfaits and doubled the tapioca recipe but had leftovers. You may need to adjust amounts based on parfait serving sizes and number of people.

1. Make the shortbread cookies ahead of time. Making them pretty isn't a priority unless you care how the decorate topper ones look. About half of them will be crumbles up so I made 24 balls, flattened them out and baked according to the directions.
2. For the strawberry sauce I took 2 pints and cut them in half. Then I placed them in a saucepan over low-med heat with a few drizzles of honey and let them cook (stirring occasionally) until the broke down into a lumpy jam. You could continue to cook if you wanted a smoother sauce but I liked the lumps. Let cool in the refrigerator.
3. Make the tapioca according to the box except sub out the sugar for honey and let cool completely. 

To assemble:

1. Start with an ice scream scooper of tapioca pudding. Then scoop the strawberry sauce on top making a layer thick enough to see and differentiate on the side. 
2. Loosely chop about 8-12 of the shortbread cookies and layer them on top of the strawberry filling.
3. Spoon a little more tapioca on the cookie sprinkles and then garnish with a few slices of fresh strawberries and 1 full shortbread cookie.

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Mangos for Thanksgiving?

Hey hey Diva friends! WOW yesterday was a long but fun day!

Our morning began bright and early as we got up to meet the rest of my family for the annual Miamisburg Turkey Trot!!!

After the Turkey Trot everyone headed over to our place for a yummy brunch full of delicious yet GUILT FREE food! 

On the menu:

• Bacon Tart
• Fruit Salad
• Chia and Mango Pudding ( recipe below!)
• Sparkling grape juice 
• COFFEEEEEE :)

After brunch we relaxed (briefly) and then began the preparations for dinner at my Mom and Dad's! It was lots of fun and the whole family was together :) We laughed, we talked, we shared what we were thankful for, we played games, and we enjoyed the day tremendously.

One recipe I made was quite delicious and so I wanted to share it with all of you! It's a combination of recipes from: Paleocoupboard.com and TheBalancedBerry.com

My combo is below!

Ingredients:

For Chia seed pudding:

• 1 Can full fat coconut milk in a can
• 1/4 ground chia seeds
• 2 TBS sweetener (honey or maple syrup)

For the Mango pudding:

• 2 mangos
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 inch of ginger

Directions:

1. Mix all the chia seed pudding ingredients together. Let sit for a few minutes and re-stir. Then refrigerate overnight
2. Peel and cut the mangos
3. Peel the ginger
4. Blend the mangos, lime and ginger together ( I think there could be more ginger personally!)
5. Chill
6. Layer the puddings and top with toasted coconut, raspberries or whipped cream
7. I doubled the recipe and made 10 servings. You could make smaller portions as well. This made about 10 LARGE servings.

ENJOY!!!!

What was your favorite part of Thanksgiving? I'd love to hear some family traditions or recipes you enjoyed :)

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