Lately I’ve been eating a Paleo diet, which for those of you who don’t know what that is, I’ll be sharing plenty more information about very soon.  Basically it’s about eating like our hunter-gatherer ancestors, foods like meat, seafood, fruits, nuts and veggies, and cutting out grains and dairy.

To a lot of people starting down this path, it can seem like it takes away a whole lot of your food options, particularly desserts.  I’m here today to tell you that this don’t necessarily need to be the case, you can still get some good sweet foods in if you desire.

Antioxidant Power Of Dark Chocolate

The trick is to cut way down on sugars, especially from packaged foods and complex carbohydrates, and using chocolate

Easy Paleo Chocolate Mousse With Fresh Berries

that is really high in cocoa content, minimum 45%, but use 70% if you can.

It may seem a little bitter and hard to eat at first, but this Easy Paleo Chocolate Mousse Recipe that I’m sharing right now will show you how you can add a couple of other natural sweeteners like honey to make it really delicious, and most importantly, maintain the  rich dark chocolate benefits of high antioxidant levels with 70% cocoa mass.

Add a couple of fresh berries, and it’s bloody brilliant!  (Plus berries are also very high in antioxidants!).

Paleo Chocolate Mousse Ingredients

3 tablespoons high fat cocoa powder

1/4 cup (40g) Arrowroot powder (also called Tapioca flour)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 can coconut milk

120g good-quality dark chocolate (ideally with 70% cocoa content)

2 tablespoons honey

2 large egg yolks

How To Make Easy Paleo Chocolate Mousse

1. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder, arrowroot powder and vanilla.
2. Add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of the coconut milk and whisk out any lumps.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the remaining coconut milk to a low simmer.
4. Break up the dark chocolate into chunks and add it to the coconut milk, stirring often, until it is melted.
5. Mix in the arrowroot/cocoa/vanilla mixture, and keep whisking continuously.
6. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks to break them apart, stir in a little bit of the warm coconut milk mixture, and then pour all the contents back into the saucepan and return to the heat.
7. Continue whisking all until smooth and the mixture coats the back of a spatula.
8. Pour into small ramekins, place glad-wrap around it to prevent a skin from forming, and put in the fridge to cool.
9. Serve cold, with a few fresh berries on top.

There are a couple of old sayings when it comes to food, like ‘we are what we eat’, and ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’.  There’s a good reason these sayings have been so popular for so long… because they’re true!

Healthy Eating Advice For You

Recently I’ve been given some further advice about food, which I’m going to pass on to you now – Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and eat dinner like a pauper.  In other words, breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day, to kick start your energy levels so you can go out and attack the day, and then obviously lunch is also important to maintain your energy throughout the day.

Easy Apricot Oats

When it comes to dinner time though, this is when our body doesn’t really need as much

energy, particularly as our body prepares to sleep and rest for the night.  Try doing that for a couple of weeks, and I’m

sure you’ll feel much better for it!

I’ve decided to do a bit of series on some healthy breakfast recipes, good hearty meals to get your energy levels up for a big day ahead, and I’m going to start today with an easy Apricot Oats recipe,

which serves 1.

Ingredients For Easy Apricot Oats Recipe

• 1/2 cup instant porridge
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 dried apricots, chopped
• 2 tsp. golden syrup

How To Make Easy Apricot Oats Recipe

Simmer the porridge and milk together in a small saucepan for 4-5 minutes until slightly thickened and smooth, stirring frequently.

Stir the golden syrup into the porridge.

Pour the mixture into a bowl then sprinkle apricots on top and serve.

For more easy food recipes just like this easy apricot oats recipe, download your free copy of my Lunch And Snacks Cookbook at www.AllEasyFoodRecipes.com

Mick Reade

All Easy Food Recipes

Recipe Serves: 6

Ingredients for Easy Fruity Seafood Recipe

Fresh Tiger Prawns

3 tb Butter
4 Shallots chopped
1 Green apple, peeled cored and diced
1 pn Dill
2 ts Mild curry powder
2 tb Plain flour
1 c Apple juice
1 lb Scallops
1 Banana sliced
1/2 lb Green or Tiger prawns in bite sized pieces
1/2 c Cream
Salt to taste

Easy Fruity Seafood Preparation

Melt butter in saucepan, saute apple and shallots until soft. Add curry powder and cook for a minute longer.

Stir in flour, add apple juice. Bring to boil, stirring constantly.

Add salt and dill, simmer for 5 minutes. Add prawns and scallops, cook until almost tender, add banana 5 minutes before end of cooking time.

Stir in cream, heat through. Serve with fluffy or fragrant rice.

Now that we’re well and truly into Winter down here in the Southern Hemisphere, I decided today would be a great day to share some tips on making a great custard.  Custard is fantastic in the colder weather, and is very versatile, being able to use it with many different types of dessert (or even eat it on its own!).

Easy Custard Recipe Preparation

Stirred Custard

The standard test is to cook until mixture will coat the back of a metal spoon, not as easy to determine as it sounds because uncooked custard will also leave a film on a spoon.

The difference is that cooked custard should leave a thick, translucent, almost jellylike coat about the consistency of gravy. If you suspect that custard is on the verge of curdling, plunge pan into ice water to stop cooking.

Baked Custard

Insert a table knife into custard midway between rim and center (not in the middle as cookbooks once instructed). If knife comes out clean, custard is done. Remove at once from water bath and cool.

To chill quickly, set custard in ice water-but only if baking dish is one that can take abrupt changes of temperature without breaking.

What to Do About Curdled Custard

If it’s baked custard, the best idea is to turn it into a Trifle by mixing with small hunks of cake if stirred custard, strain out the lumps and serve as a sauce over cake, fruit, or gelatin dessert.

Caution: Keep custards refrigerated; they spoil easily, often without giving a clue.

Check out this excellent recipe for baked custard below…

Recipe Serves: 6

Ingredients for Easy Frittata Recipe

Easy Frittata Recipe

2 tb Butter or margarine
1 med Onion; chopped
1/4 c Celery; chopped
1 lg Bell pepper; chopped
1 cn (15-oz) corned beef hash
4 Eggs
1/4 ts Salt
1/8 ts Pepper

Easy Frittata Preparation

Melt butter in large skillet; saute onions, celery and bell pepper until tender. Add hash; break up with a fork.

Cook over medium heat until hash begins to brown. Beat eggs with salt and pepper just to mix. Pour into skillet with hash.

Cover over medium heat until eggs begin to set.

Place under broiler a few minutes until eggs are set and surface is lightly browned. Serve in wedges.

This recipe serves 6.

Visit www.alleasyfoodrecipes.com to collect your own Free cookbook, packed full of delicious and easy recipes for free, just like this!

Recipe Preparation: cooking & baking

Recipe Serves: 6

Ingredients for Lamb, Artichoke and Roasted Potato Salad Recipe

THE POTATOES:

2-1/2 lb Small red potatoes; quartered

1 tb Olive oil

3 ts Fresh rosemary; chopped

1 ts Kosher salt; plus more to taste

Freshly ground pepper; to taste

THE LAMB:

1 ts Olive oil

8 Lamb loin chops; boned and trimmed

2-1/2 tb Lemon vinaigrette;

1/2 ts Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper; to taste

1 ts Italian parsley; chopped

THE ARTICHOKES:

18 oz Frozen artichokes hearts; cooked and cooled

4 lg Fresh artichoke hearts, raw; very thinly sliced

10 oz Frozen baby lima beans; cooked and cooled

2 c Garlic; peeled and minced

1/4 c Lemon vinaigrette;

2 ts Italian parsley; chopped

1 ts Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper; to taste

12 c Salad greens

3 tb Lemon vinaigrette;

1-1/2 c Imported black olives

1-1/2 c Parmesan cheese; shaved

Lamb, Artichoke and Roasted Potato Salad Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the potatoes in a roasting pan and toss with the olive oil and 2 teaspoons of rosemary. Begin cooking & baking until tender, stirring from time to time, about 30 minutes. Let cool. Place in a bowl and toss with the salt and pepper. Garnish with the remaining rosemary.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the lamb and sear on all sides until medium-rare, about 4 minutes. Remove from the skillet and cool. Thinly slice the lamb and toss with the vinaigrette, salt and pepper. Place on a platter and garnish with parsley.

3. Place the cooked and raw artichokes, lima beans and garlic in a bowl and toss with the 1/4 cup vinaigrette. Toss in the parsley, salt and pepper.

4. Place the salad greens in a large bowl and toss with the 3 tablespoons vinaigrette. Place the olives and Parmesan in separate bowls. Pass the dishes separately, letting guests build their own salads.

NOTES : Assembly Required- this recipe for a summer party where guests assemble their own salad…Have platters of roast lamb with potatoes and marinated artichokes. Of course, plates of marinated mushrooms, roasted peppers, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese enable the guest to further customize the meal.

These are foods that people like to eat in summer. Tasty, appealing and stylish. One proviso: Group efforts tend to need reinforcement, like a sumptuous dessert.

To get yourself a free cookbook, as well as access to thousands more easy recipes, please check out http://alleasyfoodrecipes.com

Recipe Preparation: Cooking & baking

Recipe Serves: 6

Ingredients for Liver Loaf with Pan Gravy Recipe

1-1/2 lb Beef liver

1-1/2 c Boiling water

2 sl Salt pork, 1/4 inch thick

1 lg Onion

1/4 c Chopped parsley

2 c Soft bread crumbs

2 Eggs, slightly beaten

1 ts Salt

1/4 ts Pepper

2 tb Flour

1-1/2 c Cold water

Liver Loaf with Pan Gravy Preparation

Rinse liver, cover with boiling water and let stand 10 minutes; drain. Grind with salt pork and onion; add parsley, crumbs, eggs, salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly.

Press into baking pan (8×4×3 inches) and continue cooking & baking in a 350 degree F oven for about 1 hour or until browned. Remove loaf to hot platter.

Stir flour into drippings and brown; add water gradually and cook 5 minutes until thickened; season and pour over loaf.

To get yourself a free cookbook, as well as access to thousands of easy recipes, please check out http://alleasyfoodrecipes.com

Recipe Preparation: cooking & baking

Recipe Serves: 12

Ingredients for Coca-Cola Basted Ham Recipe

10 lb Ham; *

6 c Coca-cola

1 c Brown Sugar; Dark, Packed

1 tb Mustard; Dry

2 tb Mustard; Prepared, Sharp

2 c Bread Crumbs; Fine, Dry

Coca-Cola Basted Ham Preparation

* Ham should be one of the pre-cooked hams. Not one of the specialty cured or canned hams. Just the standard bone in ham in the meat counter.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place ham, fat side down, in a shallow cooking & baking pan. Pour coke into pan until it is 1/2-inch deep.

Cooking & baking should take about 2 to 3 hours, or until ham can be easily pierced with a fork, basting with the Coca-Cola every 15 to 20 minutes. (Center of ham will read 140 degrees F on a meat thermometer when properly cooked.)

Remove ham from the pan and cool. Cut away rind and fat with a sharp knife. Combine sugar, mustards, bread crumbs, and enough Coke to form a thick paste.

Place ham on roasting rack in pan and pat all over with the paste. Add remaining coke to the bottom of the pan. Increase the temperature to 375 degrees F. and continue cooking & baking the ham 45 minutes longer, basting every 20 to 15 minutes until sugar-mustard paste has melted to a dark glaze.

Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before slicing.

To get yourself a free cookbook, as well as access to thousands of easy recipes, please check out http://alleasyfoodrecipes.com

Recipe Serves: 6

Ingredients for Maize Burgers Recipe

1 lb Lean ground beef

2/3 c Yellow cornmeal

1 tb Lime juice

1 Egg white

1 ts Ground cumin, or to taste

2 ts Chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Fresh jalapeno pepper *

1 tb Vegetable oil

1 c Corn kernels **

1 c Salsa

6 10-inch flour tortillas

Shredded iceberg lettuce, optional

Lime wedges for garnish

Maize Burgers Preparation

* seeded and finely chopped, or to taste (see note) ** frozen, or canned and drained The crunch of corn with your favorite salsa makes a delicious, lower-fat Southwestern hamburger served on a flour tortilla with shredded lettuce and lime wedges.

In a mixing bowl, mix lightly the ground beef, cornmeal, lime juice, egg white, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper and jalapeno. Shape into 6 large thin patties and reserve on a sheet of wax paper.

Over medium-high heat, heat a 12-inch skillet, then add the oil to coat the bottom. Place patties in the hot skillet and cook 3 to 5 minutes per side, turning once, until the meat is cooked through and the patties are a deep golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine corn and salsa and heat. In the microwave, heat flour tortillas wrapped in a cloth or on paper plates for 15 seconds on high. To serve, place a cooked patty on a flour tortilla, top with a serving of salsa and fold. Add shredded lettuce if desired.

Serve a wedge of lime alongside. Note: When preparing fresh chilies, wear rubber gloves for protection against oils that later can cause burning sensation on skin. Makes 6 servings. Cost: 80 cents per serving.

Per serving: 351 calories (22 percent from protein, 41 percent from carbohydrate, 37 percent from fat), 20 grams protein, 37 grams carbohydrate, 15 grams fat, 47 milligrams cholesterol, 301 milligrams sodium. Exchanges: 2 bread, 2 meat, 1 1/2 fat.

To get yourself a free cookbook, and access to thousands of easy recipes, please check out http://alleasyfoodrecipes.com