Christmas parfaits, paleo

"We love this fluffy white stuff."

Really cold temperatures ought to come with snow, don't you think? That's what I've been thinking for about two weeks of below normal temperatures and no snow. Be careful what you wish for! Today, we received three inches of snow.

 

The snow pups were about as excited as I've seen them. Nika, the malamute, raced around the house at 6 a.m. and jumped on everyone's closed bedroom door to wake them up and share the good news!

Paleo Christmas Parfaits

Misha and Nika wanted us to share in the fun of romping in the snow. Freezing cold temps and snow can really help work up an appetite. Good thing I had made some Christmas Parfaits. Yes, I realize it's a little early for Christmas but the tri-color parfaits remind me of Christmas.

Here's what you need:

1 can full-fat coconut, divided (I used Natural Value with no added starches or thickeners, and comes in a BPA-free can.)
1 ripe avocado
Juice of 1 lime
1 T. gelatin from grassfed cows
vanilla stevia, to taste
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
homemade cranberry sauce

Tri-color parfaits

 Here's what you do:

Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan.Sprinkle the coconut milk in the saucepan with 1 T. of gelatin. Allow to set for about one minute. Then, heat the coconut milk to a boil while whisking constantly to dissolve the gelatin. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Pour off half of the coconut milk into a small bowl. Pour the remainder of the milk into your food processor and blend with the avocado, lime juice, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, pinch of sea salt and stevia, to taste.

Divide the avocado-coconut milk mixture among 3-4 parfait cups to make the green layer. Put the cups into the fridge to firm up the green layer.

In the meantime, prepare the white layer. Use the remaining coconut milk-gelatin mixture. Stir in 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract and stevia, to taste. When the the green layer is somewhat firm, spoon this white-layer mixture on top. Return the cups to the fridge.

Now, prepare your cranberry sauce. I use one package of fresh cranberries, 1/4 cup water and stevia, to taste. In a small saucepan, boil the uncovered cranberries in water until they are popped, soft and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in stevia. Scoop the cranberry sauce into a container and place in the fridge to chill.

To serve the parfaits, spoon on cranberry sauce to create the red layer in your Christmas parfaits.

Recipe contributed to:
 http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/12/11/paleo-aip-recipe-roundtable-6/#more-7899

http://wholenewmom.com/traditional-tuesday/chocolate-caramel-cups-cranberry-pistachio-white-chocolate-fudge-pumpkin-pie-gummies-diet-affects-mental-health/