Salted Caramel Sauce - Paleo, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free

Christmas is upon us! And despite the fact that it is only November, Christmas is EVERYWHEREEEEEE. I mean seriously. It seems to get earlier and earlier every year. Wouldn't surprise me if people start putting up their decorations in September if I'm being honest.

I myself, am dreading putting the tree up this year. With 3 kids under 3, I know my eldest will be ready to have at it the minute it's up...and my 8 month old twins that are now on the move, let just say - it's gunna be a hectic month of 'No!!!!!' and 'Don't touch!'. This year I think I will just don the Christmas lights and leave the other decorations hidden safely away until they are old enough to understand. 

Anyway! Since it is everywhere already I thought I had better get a head start to get my Christmas recipe collection up quick smart so all of you can enjoy beautiful treats, that are healthy and nourishing. 

When I say healthy and nourishing, can we please touch on the fact that this recipe still contains Sugar. It may be Raw Organic Honey ( Or raw Maple if you choose ) but at the end of the day, it is still sugar. It will react in your body the same as sugar, and cause all those nasty side effects that sugar does when you consume too much. So while it's a more easily absorbed and processed sugar by our body, and is unrefined, we just have to make sure that we aren't over doing it! A great time to practice Mindfulness with our food. 

The Keto version of this is absolutely delicious as well. You just don't add the honey or maple. Coconut cream contains its own natural sugars, so without the added sugar, you can still caramelise the coconut cream. It just won't be as sweet. But if you're keto anyway, you've most likely forgotten what sugar tastes like.

This recipe is SO super simple that it will help even the worst cooks conquer Christmas and leave a lasting impression on family and friends! I promise you!

When this sauce is warm, it is perfect to drizzle or dunk... but if you pop it in the fridge, it will also go solid, a spoonable solid... which is amazing for scooping and placing on something like a Raw Brownie ( Click HERE for our Raw Brownie Recipe ) The possibilities with this sauce are endless! I like to put my sauce on top of Banana Smoothie Bowls! It's SOOOOO yum! I am working on a recipe to post later this week with a burnt banana smoothie and caramel drizzle (yes I know... YUM!) so watch this space. 

I even made this sauce for my eldest 2nd birthday. I sliced up some beautiful fresh fruits, and drizzled this sauce over and called them Fruit Nachos. A massive hit with the kids! Especially when topped with Cacao Nibs! Yummo!

Anyhow! Enjoy and as always let me know what you think if you give it a go!

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Recipe

Serves - 5-6

Time - 20 minutes - 

What you need:

1 Can of Organic Coconut Cream (The size of the can will determine the amount of sauce you get)

2 Tablespoons of Raw Organic Honey or Maple ( Omit for Keto Version )

Pinch Salt

1/2 Vanilla Bean Pod

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What to do:

In a Deep Sauce Pan, add your Coconut Cream Contents and Honey/Maple

Bring to a boil, and then reduce to simmer.

With a whisk, mix once the mixture is boiling to remove some of the heat while lowering the heat. Once the heat bubbles subside and the mixture is simmering, keep a close eye and watch as the colour changes. This can take up to 15 minutes (longer if you have a large amount of coconut cream). Watch it carefully because there is a fine line between Caramel and Charcoal.

Once you have the desired colour (In my photo above) turn off the heat, and add your vanilla bean and salt. It will look like the mixture is somewhat separated until you stir it. Stir it well and it will thicken and turn glossy. 

Place into a jar and leave on the table during dinner. If you are making it ahead for the next day, I would suggest placing it in the fridge and bringing it out in the morning of the next day. If it isn't runny enough to drizzle by the time you need it, just place the jar in a bath of warm water until the desired consistency is reached. 

Voila!

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Quinoa Porridge

Oats are definitely over rated and I personally think they taste like chalk and feel like cardboard when you eat them. I'm not saying I've ever eaten chalk... but I just think that if chalk had a taste... it would be oats. Bleh, Horrid.

Quinoa porridge is SO amazingly simple and delicious. My son will pretty much eat anything... he's pretty good... but when it comes to this porridge... he HOOVERS it! Like seriously. Gone in a flash. He's 2.5 and I swear when there is something he likes, he eats quicker than I do...and more of it.

I've tried a few quinoa porridges in my time and some of them I have found respulsive admittedly. I'd hate to name the particular restaurant I'm talking about that serves it... but they should seriously contemplate taking it off the menu IMMEDIATELY! But who knows - maybe you'll hate my Quinoa porridge and I'm just too picky!..... hahah jokes. There's no way. Cause this Quinoa Porridge is a rock star.  

Quinoa can be a fickle bitch in some peoples digestion...and is kind of a paleo grey area. Some people say you can eat it... and some say you can't. I always air on the side of caution... however I have done many tests after re introducing it to my diet and it doesn't seem to affect me. In saying that - when I eat quinoa in this form (not as pasta) I ALWAYS sprout it! And I think that's a good lesson for anyone who has digestive issues to learn. IF you are going to eat grains or legumes, always always always sprout them! Sprouting breaks down the saponins and makes the nutrients more bio available. This means your digestion isn't working as hard to break down the food mass to get to the nutrients because its already kind of 'half digested' when you eat it. You can learn how to sprout your Quinoa HERE . It's super easy and the health benefits are endless. 

I always do a larger batch than what the recipe is for below, and this is because I like to have it on hand sometimes for the week! Some peoples recipe calls for adding fruits and such, but I have kept this plain so you can keep it in the fridge, and then every day add something new to it to change the flavour. Today we had Raspberries, Cacao Nibs and Chia Seeds (You can sprout those too!) , Tomorrow I plan on mashing a banana and mixing it through with some slivered Almonds. So good!

I use the Macro Organic Tri Colour Quinoa - Different colours of produce mean different nutrients which is why I get this one. 

So enjoy this recipe! It's definitely a crowd pleaser. I would love to hear your experiences and what you think in the comments! Happy Cooking :) 

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RECIPE

Serves - 3 - 

Time 45 m

What you will need: 

1 Cup Sprouted Quinoa 

2 Cups Almond Milk (Or coconut milk) 

1 Vanilla Bean , scraped. 

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon 

Manuka Honey to serve. 

Toppings of your choice. 

What to do: 

In a Saucepan, place your sprouted Quinoa and your milk of choice. 

Bring to a simmer over medium low heat and stir occasionally.  

Add your Cinnamon and Vanilla Bean .

Simmer until the milk is almost absorbed, but there is still a little bit of liquid left.  

I'm being serious when I say - That's it. There's nothing else apart from serve with your topping of choice and enjoy!  

Don't add the Manuka while cooking though as the heat will destroy the benefits of the Honey, instead only add the honey as you are serving, once the porridge has cooled enough to be edible.  The little blessings we call Bee's work way too hard to have us ruin their honey!