Epicurean Narrative

A gluten-free journey

Dessert

Watermelon with Chile, Lime and Salt

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Happy Watermelon Day! My favorite fruit is hands down watermelon with chile, salt, and lime.

Thanks to my rich and beautiful Mexican heritage sprinkling chile powder, salt, and a squeeze of lime on my watermelon comes second nature to me and it’s really fun to share this special way of eating watermelon with my hubby and son. And yes, I have passed down the watermelon loving gene to my little pre-schooler. Watermelon is on the menu at least once a week.

When I sink my mouth into watermelon a flood of sweet memories surge through my soul. I flash to eating watermelon spears with chile and salt served in tall clear cups (sold on street carts everywhere in Mexico) while visiting my family in Ensenada during the heat of summer.  I also remember when I was a little girl I asked my Grandma Nonie for Agua Melon. Her eyes smiled and she said, “es sandia mija,” not agua (water) melon (melon). Watermelon translates to “sandia” in Spanish. She would sprinkle chile, salt, and lime on my watermelon and it was truly sensational. I love and miss my Grandma Nonie. She was such a good person.

Here is your free Spanish lesson: Watermelon translates to “sandia” in Spanish (not agua melon).

As we say in Spanish, disfruta (enjoy)!

 

Watermelon

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Watermelon with Chile, Salt and a lime
Author: 
Recipe type: Fruit
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Enjoy
Ingredients
  • 1 large Watermelon
  • Chile (Tajin or Chile Powder)
  • Lime
  • Salt
Instructions
  1. Slice your watermelon up in cubes or triangles. Sprinkle the Chile, Salt and then squeeze lime all over the watermelon.
  2. Serve in a bowl or platter.
  3. Disfruta (enjoy)!

 

Superfood Breakfast Smoothie

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There’s nothing like having a nourishing and refreshing Superfood Breakfast Smoothie on a hot summer day. A week ago my hubby wanted to take us out for breakfast which normally I am all about especially on a Saturday morning. But after having a record high of 100 degrees in Santa Barbara we decided to keep our breakfast choice healthy & cool. So we stayed inside!

So here is my concoction I created last week from what I foraged in our kitchen. This lovely Superfood Breakfast Smoothie is made with all organic ingredients including blueberries, bananas, raspberries, coconut milk, strawberries, chia seeds, and maca powder. And a whole lot-a-love! I added the chia seeds to add extra protein to the smoothie to help sustain my little son and my hubby at least ’til snack time.

It was so delicious that we are now making this Superfood Breakfast Smoothie a new family favorite.


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Superfood Breakfast Smoothie
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Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
This is a delicious Superfood Breakfast Smoothie that will cool you down on a hot summer day!
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 banana (I prefer frozen bananas)
  • 1 cup of raspberries
  • 1 cup of blackberries
  • 1 cup of strawberries
  • 2 tsp. of chia seeds
  • 1 tsp. of maca powder
  • 3 cups of coconut milk
Instructions
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender
  2. Blend all the ingredients until frothy
  3. Serve immediately

 

Blueberry Orange Paletas

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Blue Orange PaletaBlueberry Orange Paletas are a refreshing and healthy alternative to eating store bought ice-cream. Paletas are a Mexican fruit pop that is either milk or fruit based. This fruit based paleta recipe only has 2 ingredients, blueberry’s and orange juice.

I have been making fruit based paletas all summer long for my hardworking hubby and my sweet little one. My ultimate goal is to limit sugar intake and at the same time not deprive my family of their special desserts. My husband has a sweet tooth beyond measure and my little one now has one too. So as a Mama Bear I want to protect their teeth, there hearts, and their sugar intake. So this conscious choice of eating healthy desserts was my remedy to their exciting nightly desserts.

So as you can imagine I have been really enjoying making these healthy paletas for my family. This Blueberry Orange Paleta recipe is a tasty, healthy, and kid-friendly dessert alternative. I can serve these paletas guilt free! Especially if they want seconds!

If your looking for another wonderful paleta recipes try this!
Mango Orange Paletas 

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Blueberry Orange Paletas
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of orange juice
  • 1 cup of blueberries
Instructions
  1. In a blender add 2 cups of orange juice and blueberries
  2. Blend for 1 minute
  3. Pour into popsicle molds
  4. Freeze for 6 hours

 

Blue Orange Paleta

 

 

Blue Orange Paleta

Breakfast Fruit Smoothie

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Smoothies. When you just want a quick, healthy, and tasty breakfast. This Breakfast Fruit Smoothie is a perfect breakfast in a cup. Every time I eat or in this case, drink something I love I want to make it part of my daily or weekly ritual. So today, in true form, I am declaring that I am going to make a weekly smoothie from now on. Why? Because I love smoothies so much and I can drink them everyday! This smoothie has orange juice, raspberries, strawberries, frozen mangos, and blueberries. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! It will truly wake up your senses. Who needs coffee when you have these fine ingredients surging through your cells! Breakfast Fruit Smoothie  
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Breakfast Fruit Smoothie
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of orange juice
  • ½ cup of frozen mangos
  • ½ cup of strawberries
  • ¼ cup of rasberries
  • ¼ cup of blueberries
Instructions
  1. In a blender, add the mangos.
  2. Rinse the strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
  3. Cut off the stem of the strawberries.
  4. Add all of the fruit to the blender with the orange juice and blend for 30 seconds on high or until smooth.
  5. Pour and enjoy!

 

Blueberry Orange Juice Smoothie

Mango Orange Paletas

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The warm breeze, salty air, my child’s laughter, chirping birds, ocean waves lapping against the shore, and floral scented Mango Orange Paletas, are some of the ingredients for a wonderful summer day. Mango Orange Paletas are one of my favorite go-to summer treats that I like making for my family.

Here in Santa Barbara, you can easily find delicious paletas in any Mexican grocery store and most taqueria’s. And, if you know where and when to look, you can find vendors selling paletas at nearby parks and neighborhoods. My little Sky Bear loves these sweet cooling treats especially on hot summer days.

Traditional Paletas are either fruit based or milk based ice-cream. The original Paleta recipe, includes a simple syrup, however, too much sugar for my 2 1/2 year old is a recipe for pure fussiness. I attempt to make a conscious effort in our family to really limit sugar intake in our diets. Sky Bear LOVES his ice-cream, as any kid would, or most adults for that matter, and I have given in to his oh-so-sweet plea for “just one more” ice-cream and have witnessed him spiral out. And it is no bueno. With paletas, he can have as many as he would like and I don’t have to worry about excess sugar, since the recipe is mango and diluted orange juice. It was fun playing a food alchemist, turning these mangos into healthy and yummy Mango Orange Paletas. Disfruta!

Paletas

 

 

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Mango Paletas
Author: 
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 3 cups of mango chunks
  • ¼ cup of orange juice
  • ½ cup of water
Instructions
  1. In a blender, add mango chunks
  2. Blend for 30 seconds-1 minute
  3. Add blended fruit to your popcicle mold
  4. Chill for 6 hours
  5. Remove the Paletas from mold and serve!

 

 

Clafoutis

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Clafoutis is one of my favorite french desserts and it can be eaten for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. It has a sweet bread pudding like consistency and it’s super delicious. Clafoutis is a sweet french dessert from Limousin region in France. It is made with dark cherries and it is very much like a crepe and flan. Original Clafoutis is made with cherries but any stone fruit can be used for this recipe.

Clafoutis

I was introduced to this recipe about a decade ago, by a dear friend, who is French. She hosted a beautiful dinner soiree and invited all of her good friends to enjoy a beautiful meal, some good wine, and great conversations. I was helping in the kitchen with some of the preparation and helped make clafoutis with plums. I learned how to make this dish eventually, but have since adapted the original recipe to make it more heart healthy for my little toddler, Sky Bear.

ClafoutisAs with most recipes, I attempted to make a healthy version of cherry clafoutis. I substituted unbleached flour with whole wheat flour, making it a little bit denser than the original but it still had that moist pudding like texture and it is still very delicious. Bon apetit!

Ingredients:
2 1⁄2 cups of milk
6 eggs
1 tsp. of vanilla
1⁄4 tsp. Of salt
1 cup of whole wheat
3 cups of cherries, pitted and halved
Powdered sugar for garnish

Oven at 350 degrees.
Mix ingredients and blend in a mixer for 1 minute.
It will have a consistency of watery pancakes.
Pour into a buttered skillet
Bake for 45 minutes or until done.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar
Serves 6-8 for dessert or brunch

 

Yogurt & Honey with Raspberries

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Have you ever had freshly picked raspberries? My husband, son, and I went on a day-trip to our first family raspberry picking adventure and we were able to have endless amount of freshly picked raspberries right of the raspberry bushes. There is this adorable little stand, Santa Barbara Blueberry Farm, in Santa Ynez Valley, right off of HWY 101 in between Buellton and Santa Barbara, where you pick your own berries. Blueberry season had just ended and we went in the middle of raspberry season which is from mid August to the end of September.

My son, Skyler loved the experience. Big open field with raspberries for days!  It was a dream to watch him run as fast as he could and pick any raspberry he wanted. It was pure freedom for his little spirit.

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We picked a whole pail of raspberries in about 1 hour.

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After my recent raspberry picking adventure with my family, I wanted to make something super simple and healthy for breakfast. Inspired by raspberry picking, I made yogurt, honey, with fresh organic raspberries. We LOVED it!

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Yogurt & Honey with Raspberries
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Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Treat yourself to a simple yogurt, honey, and raspberries.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Yogurt
  • 2 TBSP's of Honey
  • 1 cup of Raspberries
Instructions
  1. Rinse Raspberries and pat dry.
  2. In a bowl, mix yogurt and honey. I used a food processor to make it silky smooth.
  3. Spoon yogurt into serving bowls and top with a generous amount of raspberries.