Banana Raspberry Swirl Sundae (Dairy Free)

This is wonderful guilt free treat that whips up in minutes. So easy and so good. It is dairy free as well. I can never have too many raspberries and the bonus is they are so good for you. :) YUM! You can double it if you want to make more.

Ingredients

1 frozen banana chopped up
4 T Raspberry jam or  Raspberry Chia Jam

Directions  serves 1

1. Blend and pulse the banana until all blended.
2. Scoop into dish and swirl in the raspberries. Enjoy!

Raspberry Freezer Chia Jam

I love being able to enjoy raspberries all year long. The store bought Jam just not capture the same flavor. The great thing in this recipe is you don't even cook the berries so they taste really fresh. So good. I enjoyed this on pancakes the other day. The chia is a perfect thickener. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 lb raspberries fresh or frozen or any kind of berries

2 1/2 T chia seeds

3 T honey more if you want it sweeter

Directions

1. In a blender pulse berries leaving slightly chunky. Pulse more for smoother consistency. 

2. Add chia and honey and pulse a couple more times.

3. Pour into air tight containers that are freezer safe and put in fridge. Leave a little room on top for expansion. 

4. When ready to use take out of freezer and enjoy. 

Raspberry Banana Sorbet (No added sugar)

I am down to the last couple of days until my youngest son Derek goes to serve a mission for our church. I am soo happy for the growth that he is going to experience serving others. It will bless his whole life. It is not to say that he is not taking a piece of my heart with him. This is hard. I will miss him so very much. He is a great son and friend to me. My husband reminds me parenting is the art of letting go. It is not easy. I knew this day would come when I became a Mom 30 years ago. He has grown up to be a wonderful young man.

It has been really fun to create a lot of frozen fruit treats. A lot of them have no added sugar. Which makes them even better. This is guilt free and refreshing goodness. the tartness of the raspberries is balanced out by the natural sweetness of the bananas. Fast and easy to make which makes it even better.

Ingredients
1 C almond milk
1 C frozen raspberries
2 Frozen bananas chopped in chunks

Directions

1. Pour the milk in first and then the raspberries and bananas into the blender.
2. Pulse and stir until it is all creamy. Serve or put in freezer to harden.
3. Store in airtight container in the freezer. Enjoy!

Raspberry Jalapeño Jelly

I was looking for cooking inspiration at the store yesterday when I saw a jar of Raspberry Jalapeño Jam. I usually like Jalapeño jelly, and the idea of combining it with raspberries sounded particularly exciting. But, as usual, I don't buy things without checking the label first. Waa waa--the first ingredient listed was sugar. So I decided to make my own. 

This turned out to be easy to make and especially delicious. We poured some over cream cheese and ate it with some whole grain crackers. I'm still snitching bites as I write.

Ingredients
1/2 C water
1 C frozen raspberries
1 to 1 1/2 jalapeños (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 T honey
dash of salt

Greek yogurt cream cheese and  whole grain crackers

Directions

1. Slice the jalapeño in half. We left in the seeds and didn't feel like it was too spicy. If you don't tolerate spicy things well, only leave in half of the seeds. If you like it spicy, add in 1 1/2 jalapeños and leave in all the seeds. 
2. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan. Turn on medium heat until you get a low boil and then reduce heat to low, stirring frequently.
3. Continue to stir frequently until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Serve over cream cheese with crackers. 

Healthy Raw Bite Size Raspberry Bars

Like I have mentioned here before. I love raspberry. I have been eating them fresh and they are wonderful. It is nice to eat them all year long thanks to being able to put them in the freezer. So I recently saw a recipe of raspberry bars posted that looked delicious, but I thought I could cut the calories, and maybe get a similar taste. So I cut out all the butter and sugar.This is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy them, and enjoy the fact that you are eating less calories too. :) Would love to hear how you enjoy eating raspberries?

Ingredients:  
1/2 C almonds
3 T coconut oil
1 to 1 1/2 T honey (depending on your desired sweetness)
1 C unsweetened coconut flakes
1 C old fashioned oatmeal
1 tsp almond extract or vanilla
3 T raspberry preserves (I blend up raspberries and add a little honey)       
unsweetened shredded coconut to roll them in

Directions: 
1.Blend in the blender the nuts till the mixture is a fine mixture.
2. Blend in the honey and oil. Till all combined.
3. Blend in the coconut, oatmeal, almond extract or vanilla. Blend till all combined
4. Fold in the raspberries, and then roll them into balls.
5. Roll into shredded coconut. (*variation you could roll in powdered sugar before the coconut) They are that easy and you didn't have to heat up your kitchen. :)
6. Store in airtight container in the fridge.