Namaste Foods: Chocolate

Mom used to have a refrigerator magnet that read “There’s nothing wrong with me that a little chocolate wont fix!”  There’s nothing wrong with me today, but I just needed some chocolate anyways.  I’ve never been very good at baking.  Having to be so precise with the measurements just doesn’t work very well for me.  I usually cook by sprinkling a little at a time until it has the right smell or taste.  However, these two chocolate recipes are easy enough that even I could make them.

First I decided to make cocoa macaroons.  This is a recipe that came from my Grandma and Mom always would make them during the holidays with the rest of her Christmas cookies.  Since they don’t have any flour in them, I’ve decided that they need to be made year around.

3 cups oats
6 tbsp cocoa
1 cup coconut
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Combine oats, cocoa, and coconut and mix well. Then bring sugar, butter, and milk (and vanilla) to a boil. Combine the wet and dry mixtures, form cookies, and drop onto wax paper. Chill in the fridge before serving. These also freeze really well to save for later.

Cocoa macaroons

Apparently, that wasn’t enough to satisfy my chocolate need. I decided today would be a good day to try out my Namaste Foods brownie mix.  I think they turned out pretty good.  Not quite as chocolaty as I thought they would taste by looking at them, but still very yummy.  Of course I may have a biased opinion in my very chocolate needy state of mind.  I think they would be even better with chocolate chips sprinkled on top.  This mix was just as easy to make as regular brownies.  I only needed to add an egg, some oil, and water.

Brownies

I tested out both of my recipes as soon as they were ready and I think I’ll be going back for more after dinner.  A very successful and chocolaty afternoon!

Namaste Foods: Pizza Time

Pizza crust mixI am so excited to tell you about a new brand that I have just discovered. The wonderful folks at Namaste Foods might just be my new best friends. I tried their pizza crust mix for the first time tonight and LOVED it! I didn’t realize how much I was missing not being able to have pizza. Their crust mix is super tasty and all I had to add to it was a tiny bit of olive oil and some water. I went to their website after dinner and found that they also make pasta, muffin mix, brownie mix, and frosting! I can’t wait to try out some more, or all of their products.

Jesse is a pretty tough critic when it comes to pizza, the man really knows and loves his pizza. When he says it’s one of his favorites you know it’s got to be really good. We’ll have to experiment with some different toppings and see what other kinds of pizzas we can come up with.

The recipe was intended for one 14″ pizza, but we like thin crust so I made two 9″ pizzas. The crust goes in the oven to cook for 20 minutes. Then add all your toppings (can you tell which one is for Jesse?), and back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Making pizza

Pizza sauceMy toppings were ground beef mixed with pizza sauce. I like to use Muir Glen‘s tomato products. It’s really not because it’s organic, but because it’s hard to find sauces that I am able to have. We love their spaghetti sauce so I thought their pizza sauce would be good too… and it was! They add lot of yummy spices to their sauces that made the pizza that much more fabulous. And, of course, we had cheese.  Too much milk products tends to bother my stomach, but I do fine with a little.

The pizzas came out perfectly! I think pizza will be back to a regular part of our diet again. I had to email Namaste Foods after dinner just to let them know how awesome it is that they make such a great product for people with allergies. It is really hard to find foods that avoid all three of my allergies so I just wanted to make sure they know someone is really enjoying them.

Pizza