My New Kitchen Gadget

Do you ever just get tired of the random crap around your house? It drives me nuts! So Sunday we de-cluttered my entire house. Taking a car load of worthless things to the dump and Goodwill is such a relieving feeling! After all was cleaned out and organized (something I'm slightly obsessed with), we set this up...

And I love it! There's a place for everything and allows for so much more counter space. Oh the little pleasures in life...

"Nutella"

At work on Monday we celebrated World Nutella Day (and yes, there is actually a day to celebrate this heavenly hazelnut spread). Not being able to eat all the sugar and yummy ingredients in Nutella, I set out to make my own version.

One disclaimer- chocolate is not SCD legal. However, I have found that I can handle small amounts of organic unsweetened cocoa powder without reactions. So I treat myself occasionally when I just can't resist my chocolate cravings anymore.

Here's the recipe.
2 c. hazelnut flour (you can grind up hazelnuts in your food processor if you don't have flour)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 - 1/2 c. coconut milk/water*
*Any type of milk can be used here. I used just over a 1/4 cup coconut milk and about 1/8 cup water. You can vary this however you want, or use only water. The coconut milk just gives a richer taste (but adds more fat). 


Preparation couldn't be simpler. Combine all ingredients except the milk/water. I used my food processor but you can use a mixer, blender or good old mixing by hand.   

                       

Once everything is mixed, add the milk/water to reach your desired consistency. With almost 1/2 cup of liquids, mine was relatively smooth. And it actually tasted like Nutella! A little less sweet but a very good substitute. 

This recipe made about 8 oz, minus a spoon or two I had to taste along the way :) It's pretty tasty to eat off the spoon but even better on fruit. I've put it on apples, bananas and strawberries so far and it's delicious!

I can't wait to figure out a way to incorporate this into some sort of dessert recipe, maybe use it as a frosting on a white 'cake' recipe I'm working on? Come back later to see how that goes!

And My Sewing Machine is Back

After collecting dust for too many months, I finally pulled out my sewing machine. For Christmas (a very belated Christmas that is), I made my friend a blanket. I love giving people homemade presents. My friend is from Buffalo and a huge Bills and Sabres fan so I knew he would love anything involving them. I ordered patches for both teams online and went to work on colors and design. Here it is!

One side for Buffalo Bills...

And the other side for Buffalo Sabres...

It turned out great- very soft fleece and an oversized design make the perfect blanket in my opinion. He seemed to think so too. Success :)