I like playing around with chocolate recipes. A few weeks ago I decided I’d try to make a healthy white chocolate recipe. Just cocoa butter, honey, and vanilla.

It tasted great while I was mixing it. But then as soon as it cooled, the honey separated out! I tried melting and blending it again with the same results.

I realized that mixing honey with cocoa butter requires some sort of emulsifier. Not a commercial emulsifier; just some additional substance to bind the honey with the cocoa butter. In my homemade Paleo chocolate recipe, for instance, cocoa powder works as an emulsifier.…

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Are you looking for an easy way to add more coconut oil to your diet? Give these chocolate coconut fat bombs a try. They taste like chocolate candies, but they’re actually good for you!

You know I’m all about the simple recipes, and this one is no exception. Just combine five ingredients in your food processor, freeze, and enjoy!

What type of coconut oil should you use?

I use refined coconut oil in this recipe. Although you may assume that refined oils are automatically bad for you, this is not the case when it comes to coconut oil. The benefits of coconut oil are mostly about the fat, and refined coconut oil has the same fatty acid composition as virgin coconut oil.…

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Since I became gluten-free more than six years ago, I’ve been on the search for the perfect homemade gluten-free bread. This search became much harder when I discovered that I also can’t eat eggs. The vast majority of gluten-free breads contain eggs, so a vegan gluten-free bread is a tall order.

Several months ago I stumbled upon this recipe for gluten-free, gum-free, and vegan sandwich bread from Cradle Rocking Mama. I made her recipe (with a couple modifications) and was instantly in love. Finally, an awesome homemade vegan gluten-free bread recipe!

I’ve since made this recipe many, many times. The original recipe is too fiddly for my tastes, so I’ve streamlined it, making the process easier and requiring less hands-on time.…

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Did you know that you can make your own healthy homemade chocolate? Homemade chocolate that’s dairy-free, soy-free, AND refined sugar-free? If you’re a chocolate lover, you have got to try this recipe! I’m calling it Paleo chocolate, because it’s the aforementioned dairy-, soy- and refined sugar-free, but don’t be deterred if you’re not Paleo; this is a super delicious chocolate for ANYONE who loves healthy eating and real food.

This is not a complicated recipe. It only calls for five ingredients, and one of those ingredients is a pinch of salt. 🙂 If you’re feeling intimidated by the idea of making your own chocolate, don’t be!…

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Have you heard of Amazon’s subscribe and save program? If you’re a regular Amazon shopper, you’ve probably noticed that certain items give you the option to “subscribe” instead of just opting for a one-time purchase. If you haven’t been taking advantage of this program, you’ve been missing out! When done correctly, subscribe and save lets you save an extra 15% off all the items in your subscription.

Now, a lot of the things available through subscribe and save are things that I don’t buy, but there are also quite a few healthy living items! Actually finding these items can be difficult, so I wanted to share what healthy living items I currently save extra on by buying through subscribe and save.…

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Do you want to add a fermented dairy product to your diet, but aren’t sure whether kefir or yogurt is the better option? Both of these dairy products have their own advantages and disadvantages, and either may be a better fit for you depending on your goals and current lifestyle. Read on as I breakdown the differences between kefir vs. yogurt.

Health Benefits of Kefir vs. Yogurt

Both kefir and yogurt contain probiotics that benefit your digestive health. Kefir contains a larger number and greater variety of probioitcs. It also contains several yeast strains that benefit your digestive system.

Taste of Kefir vs.

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• Rain! We are getting rain. I’m in California, home to the long running California drought, so this is huge. We need all the rain we can get, and so far this month we’ve already had a couple of rainstorms. Keep it coming!
• All that rain has also meant that Keira’s getting to wear her new rain boats (which she insists on calling galoshes, thanks to Sesame Street), which are totally adorable.

…

The post Things I Loved in October appeared first on Whole Natural Life.

These peanut butter coconut fat bombs taste like candy, but they’re actually good for you!

Lately I’ve been playing around with even more ways of flavoring coconut oil fat bombs. I don’t know why I never tried peanut butter before, because these are awesome. They taste a bit like the middle of a peanut butter cup; although to be honest, I probably shouldn’t make that comparison because it’s been ages since I had a real commercial peanut butter cup. 🙂 But in any case, that’s what they remind me of. I think I will have to try making my own version of a peanut butter cup by adding this to one of my coconut oil chocolate recipes.…

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Are you on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet? 🙂 If you are, have you tried making yogurt in your Instant Pot?

If you haven’t, you should! Instant Pot Yogurt is great.

I’ve made homemade yogurt several different ways over the last few years, and homemade Instant Pot yogurt is hands-down my favorite method. There’s very little babysitting involved, and the Instant Pot does a great job of maintaining the temperature for 24 hours, which is something I need since I make 24 hour lactose-free yogurt.

If you don’t own an Instant Pot, you should look into getting one. It’s a programmable electric pressure cooker that also works as a rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker and a few other things.…

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Best Gifts for Toddlers

Looking for gifts for toddlers? Here are my best gift ideas for 1 and 2 year olds. Most of these will continue to be loved by older kids, too, so these gifts are definitely a good investment.

Play Tunnel: This play tunnel is a big favorite in our house. My daughter loves playing in it on her own, and it’s always a big hit when other kids come over, too. I have a small living room (and no playroom) so I love that it easily folds up flat when not in use.

Duplos: The little kid version of Legos, Duplos are great for imaginative play and developing building skills.…

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