(No-Bake) Coconut Lemon Meltaway Balls

The proverbial phrase "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is usually used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude when one faces adversity or misfortune.
But lemme just say that I wholeheartedly hate that phrase.
Why should I make lemonade with your stupid lemons life?
You want me to open a lemonade stand on the street selling lemonade 50¢ a cup. Nah, it's not an option — I’m not 0 years old anymore.
Maybe I can consider becoming a lemon magnate. I mean if the product cost is zero, I can retail lemons for a considerable profit. That’s business 101.
But it all depends on the amount of lemon you're giving me life...

(Paleo) 1-Minute Chocolate Brownie In A Mug

I love me a good mug cake for many reasons.
The first obvious reason is that they are so quick to make — meaning that you don’t have to set aside a whole afternoon for baking when you’re in the mood for a brownie.
Another reason is versatility. There are sweet mug cakes, there are healthier mug cakes, there are protein mug cakes, there are savory mug cakes, the list in endless.
But my number one reason I love mug cakes is portion control.
My healthy living means I can eat almost anything, still I can’t eat everything I want all the time.
So when I want a cookie, a cinnamon roll or a cupcake, it’s a lot easier to make a single serving mug cookie/roll/cupcake than an entire batch of cookies/rolls/cupcakes.
I don’t feel deprived but at the same time I’m skipping the temptation to smash an entire tray of brownies in one sitting.

3-Ingredient Fudgy Chocolate Blender Brownies

Fudgy brownies or cakey brownies?
A question that has plagued many throughout time and that has sparked lively debates around kitchen tables, potlucks, and bake sales.
I know that opinions are opinions, but as far as I’m concerned I believe that the only way to make a brownie is a fudgy one.
If you want chocolate cake, make a cake.
Just don’t ask me to believe that your airy and light chocolate dessert is a brownie. That’s just chocolate cake, actually it’s a non-tall chocolate cake cut into squares (or a squared too short cake.)

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls

A great many people rightfully find the “make your energy bars at home” trend both unnecessary and incomprehensible.
Why spending (read this as wasting) time making like 100 bars when you can just buy the one you want in a easy-to-carry single-serving package?
I totally get it.
But I believe that there’s a time and place for everything and for me that time and place (currently trying to save a few bucks) is right now.

(Paleo) Apple Pie In A Jar

The world of pie making abounds in legend, myth, tradition, and even cautionary tales.
Cracking the code on how to make the perfect pie crust is almost as complicated as solving the Sphinx's riddle or untie the Gordian knot.
Pie scientists will tell you that it’s all about the crust. Sure there’s the gooey sweet fruit that fills the cavern of your pie, but the best filling in the world won’t save a poor crust, turning an otherwise tasty pie into dishonorable failure.
It has to substantial enough that it doesn't sog-out from a juicy filling, but tender enough that it flakes in your mouth into buttery shards.

Easy Salted Mayan Chocolate Pots de Crème

Look, I know all too well that January is the time for resolutions.
I get it, I totally do.
You just signed up for a gym membership?
Good for you.
You swore off carbs, sugar, and all edible food like substances (aka junk food)?
Even better.
I’m all for new year resolutions and I love the notion of a fresh start.

3-Ingredient Chocolate Fudge with Sea Salt

Now that we are 6 days away from Christmas, I finally got into the holiday spirit. About time right?
Decorating the apt, shopping for friends and family, and changing the playlist to some Christmas music.
I have to be completely honest here, nothing puts me in the holiday spirit quite like the seasonal sounds of festive holiday music.
So I thought it would be cool to share my top five Christmas songs [drumroll please]:

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies (Paleo and Vegan)

For many in America Christmas season begins as soon as the turkey, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie have digested.
Often, the very moment our self-induced food comas begin to subside, we grab our coats to make our way to a few big box stores or to haul the big boxes of Christmas decorations in from the garage.

(Paleo) Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

As Gary Jules sang, it’s a mad, mad world.
Everyone seems to be on the move. They are either coming or going. It’s easy to get caught up in the rush and it’s tempting to pile more on your plate than you can handle.
It’s become the norm to juggle an extra volunteering gig or job when you don’t even have the time to catch your breath.
I personally pride myself in being able to be occupied on a regular basis: work, blog, training, social life, helping sis with the kids, etc.

Immune-Boosting Blueberry Smoothie

There are many aha moments in September when you can tell summer is over and fall has begun.
The leaves are turning yellow, red and brown, the air chills and the days get shorter, the Instagram feed is filled with snaps of pumpkin spice lattes, your favorite shows are no longer repeats, and a symphony of sniffles on public transportation begins.
Which can only mean one thing: we need to start worrying about colds and the flu (sigh!)

(Paleo) Coconut Lemon Chia Seed Muffins

Cooking is an art, baking is a science.
A sad truth.
While I will comfortably fuss and fiddle with a savory recipe. Playing with muffins or cookies? Not the wisest idea.
Fact is, there is minimal room for improvisation in baking.
Take cocoa for instance.
Do you know that it's safe to substitute natural cocoa when Dutch-processed cocoa is listed in a recipe but it's not possible, however, to switch cocoa types the other direction?
Oh, baking, you cruel, precise science.

(Paleo) Cinnamon Roll In A Mug

The process of perfecting a recipe is largely trial and error.
It requires understanding the basic ingredients (coconut flour, what have I done to you?) and the variations for different situations (i.e., coconut flour needs more liquid and eggs than other flours), then tasting them against one’s experience in actual use.
Make, taste, smell, notice, change, repeat.
This is my mantra when it comes to perfecting recipes.

(Paleo) Very Berry Ice Cream

I wrote the last post while sitting in a café in Berlin, this time around I’m in the lounge in Munich airport waiting to board.
Like many, I have a love/hate relationship with airports. Now, I know many people have a hate/hate relationship, but I definitely can see more the benefits.
Take Munich airport for instance. It’s gorgeous. Most glass and an open design, there are stores and restaurants a plenty. There’s free unlimited Wi-Fi with a powerful signal (JFK when will you ever learn?) It also offers travellers armrest-free seating and quiet rest areas with reclining seats. Super comfy. What possibly could you want more?

Raspberry Cocoa Smoothie

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that people have strong opinions about the combination of fruit and chocolate.
I don’t judge, I mean, I have strong opinions about pretty much everything, such as the combination of chocolate and cayenne pepper (sometimes), whitefish salad sandwich (no thanks), pillow fight in Union Square (once is more than enough), and how many rounds of Candy Crush it is acceptable to play back-to-back (non-stop, what kind of question is that?)
What I’m saying here, is that pretty much the only thing I don’t have uncompromising views on is the combo of fruit and chocolate.

Ginger and Vanilla Bean Apricot Compote

Do you know the difference between jams, jellies, preserves, conserves, marmalades, fruit butter, and compotes?
If you don’t, let me walk you through it.
Let’s start from jams.
Jams are made from fruit that is chopped or crushed and cooked with sugar until the pieces of fruit are soft and lose their shape.
Jellies instead are made from juice, or better yet fruits are crushed and cooked to extract their juice. The mixture is strained through a fine mesh fabric to remove fruit solids. As a result jellies have a bright, crystal-clear consistency.

Honey Roasted Plums with Thyme and Olive Oil

The heatwaves are coming and we all know it.
When it gets hot outside the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven.
My apartment is always hot during summer months and turning on the oven would make it the hottest place on the planet.
Not really, obviously, but that’s what it feels like when it’s 100 degrees outside and the oven is cranking at 400 degrees for half an hour.
I have A/C (not central, just a window units) so I can cool the apartment down, but I feel it’s a total waste of money — I don’t know about yours, but my electric bill is bad enough already.
That being said, I don’t completely avoid the oven during the summer, but I try not to use it as much.

Easy Paleo Strawberry Crisp

Ever seen those runners during a race who so effortlessly can drink water out of those tiny paper cups without spilling a drop?
I'm not one of them.
I can’t even count how many races I’ve completed in my life: Ironman, Triathlons, marathons, half-marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks, etc.
Not a single time I managed to drink from those paper cups.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Chocolate Ganache

Sometimes a guy just needs a cupcake.
I don’t care if cupcakes are considered the height of femininity. If they are manly as a bag full of rainbows. With all their beautiful decorations, dainty, sparkly, tiny, fierce, and fabulous — hours spent to get each exactly right even knowing that they will be eaten in a couple of bites. I don’t care if cupcakes are “ars gratia artis” [see David? I know my latin!] which can be translated — in the syntax MGM employed — as “art for the sake of art”.
Sometimes a guy needs a cupcake, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

3-Ingredient Strawberry "Ice-Cream"

In grade school, my teacher taught me to use quotation marks to mark a dialogue.
A quotation is something somebody once said somewhere.
But with the introduction of sarcasm in our lives, quotation marks have found a whole new purpose. They’ve become the body language and facial expressions of the written word and they can make any word sarcastic or ironic.

(Paleo) Almond-Chocolate Skillet Brownie

What do you hate with a burning passion?
I know hate is a strong word, but what infuriates you the most?
I have a couple of favorites.
For instance, lately I’ve been having huge problems with my phone’s autocorrect. It’s been acting up on me and I have the distinct feeling that it’s trying to sabotage me.
The other day I tried to type “welcome back” to my friend and it corrected to “suicide neck” (what is a suicide neck btw?)
Also it changes “well” to “we’ll” and “their” to “they’re” all the time. So small but so infuriating.
I know the savvy thing to do would be to turn the autocorrect off.
But I have this love-hate relationship with it. Half the time it works, half the time it butchers everything. That good half is the only thing that keeps me from turning it off.