Chocolate Coconut Freezer Bites

I have been so busy this week trying to get all my housework caught up from the last several weeks of history play chaos!  I haven't had much time to be creative in the kitchen, though I have had a lot of ideas playing around in my head.  Also, my sister, Sarah, and her children came up to visit from New Jersey this week, so that has been another draw on my time.  We have actually had a lot of fun this week.  We had a birthday dinner at my mom's house to celebrate my birthday which was last weekend on the same day as the history play.

Going to my mom's or my sister's is so much easier for us than for many with dietary restrictions because my mom and sister have similar restrictions, with various other differences.  I don't have to worry about whether or not we can eat the food or whether we are going to have to deal with strange looks or frustrating conversations regarding our diet.  My mom and stepdad made a delicious lentil stew while my sister baked a wonderful birthday cake for me.  It was all very nice.  The cake was an orange creme cake based on this recipe by Gluten-Free Goddess.  I think she may have doubled it in order to make it into a 9x13 cake.  It was delicious.  Since Nathan can't have oranges, and I have been really in the mood for cheesecake which I can no longer have being dairy free, I decided to try a recipe for a dairy-free cheezecake that I found in an awesome book called Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  It was soooo good.  Everyone loved it, and my nephew who has recently had to go dairy-free as well as gluten-free asked for seconds!  I did modify Ani's recipe a little and have a couple more changes I want to make for the future, so I am not quite ready to share it yet.  I will post it soon.

Elijah had his first baseball game yesterday.  My sister and her kids decided to meet us at the game.  Having everyone around us eating all the food from the snack shop is like torture when you can't eat or drink anything they have to offer.  I decided to bring our own snacks and drinks.  I made my own version of sports drink (It was very hot outside.) and my Dairy Free Cheeze Dip to go with organic corn tortilla chips.  My sister and her family had not had a chance to try my cheeze dip recipe yet, so I took extra for them.  They absolutely loved it and can't wait to make some once they get home from their visit up here.

For dinner last night, Chuck wanted MEAT!  The rest of us just felt like it was too hot to eat anything cooked, but he really felt like he wanted burgers or something.  I threw on a couple of burgers for him.  When they were done, I used my Cheeze Dip as a condiment in place of a slice of cheese.  I heated up a couple of Food For Life Brown Rice Tortillas, put some lettuce on them, added the burger with Cheeze Dip, ketchup, and mustard.  Voila!  Dinner was served!  He absolutely raved about the Cheeze Dip.  I think it's not going to be so hard to transition the family to dairy-free.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of any of these great things, but I will try to make some of this stuff again some time and add pictures.  I just really wanted to get an update on my blog since some of you might be wondering what's been up with us.

One thing I do want to add, though, is a great recipe that was inspired by Averie at Love Veggies and Yoga.  She makes these lovely Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs.  I have really been so impressed by her raw vegan recipes.  She makes such lovely, simple desserts that require no baking and minimal dishes and appliances, and with a heat wave upon us I was looking for something that would fit that description.  I decided to try her snowball recipe tonight but with a few small changes.  This is what I came up with.  They are delicious, and they sort of remind me of the Girl Scout Samoas minus the caramel (I'll be working on that).  Chuck absolutely loved them.  He said they remind him of the German Chocolates he used to get.  This was his "the kids are in bed, now, treat!"  Of course, I saved plenty for the kids to try tomorrow.  I'm sure there will be no complaints.

Chocolate Coconut Freezer Bites

3/4 c. agave (I was out of maple syrup and honey, but you could certainly use them instead)
1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
15 drops NuNaturals Alcohol-Free Vanilla Stevia
a dash of pure GF vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1/2 c. blanched almond flour
1/4 c. + 2 Tbs. cocoa powder
2 t. chia seeds

Mix the liquid ingredients together.  Stir in the dry ingredients.  Spread in a freezer-safe container to cut into "bites" or shape into balls.  Freeze.  If you froze it in a container, you may have to allow it to thaw a couple of minutes before cutting into bars, or take it out of the freezer after 15-20 minutes to cut into pieces before it completely freezes. Enjoy!

Store these in the freezer.