Vegan, Gluten-Free, No Refined Sugar Coconut Cake

What? A healthy Coconut Cake Recipe? You bet! This cake is clean with ingredients that you will love.

A treat now and again does not have to be guilty or full of ingredients that are detrimental to your health. Since I am focused on my wellness and making sure my immune system stays strong, I like to make healthy treats that I can enjoy at home. This way I know exactly what is in each bite.

I am a big fan of coconut cake. The coconut flour, small amount of coconut sugar, grated coconut shreds, coconut manna (or coconut butter) and coconut oil included in this recipe really lend so much coconutty goodness to this coconut cake recipe.

Coconut offers us many health benefits. So you can have your coconut cake and eat it too! Check out this article from WebMD touting some of the health benefits you can enjoy when you consume coconut.

I not only enjoy eating coconut and cooking with coconut oil, I also use coconut oil on my skin as a moisturizer. A little goes a long way and I love how nourishing it is!

The icing for this coconut cake recipe is also amazing. It is thick and creamy and meets all of my criteria for a healthier treat that is full of nutrition!

Ingredients Needed to Make this Coconut Cake Recipe

1 ½ cups gluten free baking flour
1 cup coconut flour
½ cup almond meal or pulp
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 flax or chia egg (1 TBS ground flax/chia mixed with 3 TBS water)
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup coconut oil, melted
2 cups non-dairy milk
1 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 cups grated coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions for Making This Coconut Cake Recipe

Start by heating your oven to 350°F.
Grease two 8-inch round or square cake pans with coconut oil to prevent cakes from sticking.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add the melted coconut oil, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract, flax or chia egg and agave.
Mix until the batter is smooth.
Stir in grated coconut and walnuts.
The batter tends to be a thicker batter so when you have it mixed, divide it evenly into the cake pans and smooth out the batter before putting the cakes into the oven.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the cake begins to pull away from the sides or test with a toothpick inserted in the center. If it pulls out clean, it is done baking.
Let the cakes sit to cool for ten to fifteen minutes before carefully removing the from their pans and letting them cool.
In the meantime you can make the icing.

Ingredients Needed for Cake Icing

1 cup cashews
1 cup coconut milk kept in fridge overnight
2 TBS coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
Pinch of Himilayan sea salt
1/2 cup coconut manna
1 tbs soy lecithin
1/4 cup grated coconut to sprinkle on top of iced cake.

Directions For Making Coconut Cake Icing

Blend all ingredients except for lecithin and grated coconut in a high speed blender
Once smooth blend in the lecithin until smooth again
Refrigerate for an hour to let it firm up a bit
Keep refrigerated until ready to use
Once you ice your coconut cake, sprinkle grated coconut on top!

For more delicious, vegan, gluten-free recipes, check out the recipes page on HealthTastesGood.com.

I love pasta (must be my Italian blood). And, I love trying new ways to make pasta sauces that are new and interesting. The intention of this creamy spinach and mushroom sauce recipe was to make a more nutrient-dense sauce for my dairy-free ravioli.  Since I had two packages of raviolis – one filled with mushrooms, the other spinach, I wanted to incorporate some fresh mushrooms and spinach into my sauce. 

The addition of the fresh veggies not only added some additional nutrition, but it also served to bulk up the sauce and transform a bowl of ravioli with sauce into a delicious, healthy meal. The result was a delicious creamy spinach and mushroom sauce that took less than 30 minutes in total to put together.

Typically when I have a cooking idea, I will just wing it and do not have the foresight to jot down the specifics of the recipe. This method makes it difficult to reproduce when I hit on something really good. But this time I was smarter!  I had a really good feeling about this creamy spinach and mushroom sauce and wanted to write down the details so that I could actually reproduce the sauce making it possible to enjoy this recipe more than just this once and, now I can share it with you.

Get ready for deliciousness! Here is the recipe.  While you are preparing the sauce, cook the ravioli or pasta in a separate pot.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare Creamy Spinach and Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Base of sauce:
1 TBS coconut oil (for sautéing onion)
1/2 yellow onion – chopped
4 cloves of garlic – chopped
1 TBS Earth Balance
1 cup vegetable broth
1 can diced tomatoes (or 4 fresh, organic tomatoes – chopped)
1 container plain coconut milk yogurt (or other plain dairy free yogurt of preference

Seasonings:
2 TBS Nutritional Yeast
sea salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp sweet basil
2 TBS olive oil

1 package of organic sliced mushrooms (any type – I used white)
1 large clamshell container of organic baby spinach

1 Package Kite Hill Spinach Ravioli (or for gluten-free use your pasta of preference)
1 Package Kite Hill Spinach Ravioli (or for gluten-free use your pasta of preference)

How to Prepare Creamy Spinach and Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Melt the coconut oil in a large pot

Add the chopped onion and sauté until soft (you may need to add a little water to the pot to ensure the onion doesn’t burn)

Add the garlic and sauté another couple of minutes

Add the Earth Balance and mix it with the garlic and onion until melted

Add the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes and coconut yogurt

Stir until well combined

Add in all of the seasonings

Stir until combined and incorporated

Add the mushrooms and let simmer for about 10 minutes

Add the spinach slowly, mixing it into the sauce as you add it

Cook until the spinach is wilted

Add the cooked ravioli or pasta to the sauce and mix to combine. Serve immediately and enjoy!

For more delicious plant-based recipes, check out our recipes drop down on HealthTastesGood.com

Vegan Cheesy Roasted Broccoli and Potato Soup

Prep Time: About 60 minutes total
Serves: 4 generous bowls of soup

When the weather gets chilly, I, like many of us, gravitate toward warmth! And, it is the perfec time of year for a hearty, delicious soup. Enter vegan Roasted Broccoli and Potato Soup.

This Cheesy Roasted Broccoli and Potato Soup is rich, creamy and features vegan cheese flavors and textures that, to me, closely simulate the original without the dairy.

The ingredients in this recipe are clean and nutritious. The most time consuming part of preparing this Cheesy Roasted Broccoli and Potato Soup is, of course, the chopping of all the veggies.

Once you have the veggies chopped, the rest is a breeze.

Roasting the veggies allows for an easy cooking process and it also adds great flavor.

Ingredients Needed for Cheesy Roasted Broccoli and Potato Soup

4 yellow potatoes peeled and sliced
1 onion sliced
4 crowns of broccoli trimmed and cut into florets
A couple of tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil for roasting 
Sea salt and black pepper to taste for roasting
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
2 TBS nutritional yeast
8 cups vegetable broth
1 cup shredded vegan cheddar (I like Violife)

How to Prepare Cheesy Roasted Broccoli and Potato Soup

• Preheat oven to 400°F, 
• Line a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Arrange potato slices, sliced garlic and onions on the baking sheets and season with olive oil. Brush to coat the veggies evenly.
•  Add sea salt and black pepper to the veggies to taste
• Roast the veggies in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, watching to be sure they don’t start to brown too much (a little browning is great and will add a lot of flavor!)
• When the veggies are done, take out of the oven and prep the broccoli florets in the same manner.  Roast the broccoli for about 25 minutes in the oven.
• While the broccoli is roasting, put the roasted potatoes, garlic and onion and seasonings into a soup pot with the vegetable broth and simmer for about 15 minutes. 
• After 15 minutes, use an immersion blender to blend puree the veggies into the broth you have a smooth and creamy soup. 
• Add the broccoli to the soup and give it a few more pulses with the immersion blender to chop up the broccoli, but leave some chunks!
• Stir in the vegan cheddar shreds until they get nice and melty.
• Serve with a little shredded vegan cheddar shreds on top, if desired.

For more delicious, nutritious vegan, gluten-free recipes, check out our recipes page at HealthTastesGood.com.

I have been seeing some delicious-looking recipes for chocolate chip cookies posted by other on Instagram recently. Drooling over the pictures got me craving the old toll house cookies I used to love so much. But, I did not want all of the sugar, butter and gluten for which the classic recipe is famously known. I got to work replacing the ingredients I didn’t want to use with more wholesome plant based, gluten free, cleaner elements.

What I got was admittedly different than the classic, but the cookies were actually really delicious, light and I can honestly say – healthy!

I was going to use Earth Balance to replace the butter, but I have been watching old episodes of The British Baking Show on Netflix and recently saw an episode featuring a vegan week. The bakers used coconut butter to replace the butter in their recipes and got fantastic results. I do use coconut butter quite a bit, but never really replaced it for butter in a recipe. I didn’t want the cookies to be too fatty or oily, so I cut the coconut butter with apple sauce and it worked pretty well! The taste and texture were very good, although differed from what it might have been had I used regular butter or even Earth Balance.

The texture was not as gooey, and the cookies needed help flattening, which I did with a fork before I popped them in the oven, but I am proud to say that I can safely consume these babies without veering off my anti-cancer diet. These cookies are clean, wholesome and crave-worthy.

The bottom line is that even though they were different than the classic and I needed to double the cooking time to about 20 minutes, I feel good enough about this version of the recipe to post it and encourage you to give it a try!

If you have any suggestions that may enhance these chocolate chip cookies, please share your thoughts!

Ingredients Needed for Super Clean Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups gluten-free flour blend (I used Flour Farm)
¼ cup Cassava flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
½ cup coconut butter, melted
½ cup coconut sugar
2 TBS Yacon Syrup
2 TBS Agave Nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 chia eggs
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Lily’s with no sugar)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (Optional. If omitting, add 1 to 2 Tbsp. of all-purpose flour.)

How to Prepare Super Clean Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375° F

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use coconut oil to grease the cookie sheet so cookies do not stick.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Using a mixer, beat together the apple sauce, coconut butter, coconut sugar, yacon syrup, agave nectar and vanilla extract in large bowl until well combined.

Add the chia eggs, mixing well until well combined.

Add the flour mixture slowly mixing until well combine.

Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using.

Dole out the batter using about a tablespoon full for each cookie. I used my hands for this part and made small balls that I then flattened with a fork once the cookie balls were spaced out on the cookie sheet.

Bake the chocolate chip cookies for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and the texture stiffens up a little bit. These cookies taste better if they are a little bit firm.

Cool the cookies for 10 minutes before moving them.

Enjoy these nutritious, clean, wholesome snacks!

More more delicious, clean recipes, check out our recipes page on Health Tastes Good!

Prep time: About 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 4-6

Please note: this is not a gluten free recipe. Phyllo dough needs gluten in order to stretch out to a paper thin consistency.

I love vegan Spanakopita. I grew up eating Lebanese food. My grandparents came to the United States from Lebanon as youngsters so I got a great dose of the culture and food of Lebanon growing up. My grandmother was a fantastic cook and could make a meal out of nothing in no time. While my grandmother did not make spanakopita, as it is more of a traditional food from Greece, she often made fatayer, a hand held, triangular-shaped spinach pie made using thicker dough. I have always liked spanakopita though and thought I would try making a vegan version.

This recipe produced a delicious spanakopita! And, it is an easy, relatively quick recipe to put together.

Phyllo dough is paper thin layers of dough. When putting this recipe together, for every two layers of dough, brush with olive oil and stack another 2 layers on top, brushing each set with olive oil.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare Vegan Spanakopita

For the Filling

16 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, stems removed
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 chia eggs (4 tablespoons of chia mixed with 1 cup of water)
1 package Follow Your Heart vegan feta cheese crumbles
2 tsp dried dill weed
black pepper to taste
2 TBS lemon juice
½ tsp sea salt

For The Dough

16 oz package vegan phyllo dough (The Fillo Factory makes a great vegan dough)
Enough extra virgin olive oil to coat layers of dough

How to Prepare Vegan Spanakopita

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Thaw the spinach and drain well by squeezing excess liquid out by hand.
3. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the remaining filling ingredients. Stir until all is well-combined.
4. Unroll the sheets of phyllo dough to get it ready for assembly.
5. Brush the bottom and sides of a large baking dish with olive oil.
6. Line the bottom of the baking dish with two sheets of phyllo allowing them to cover the sides of the dish. Brush the layers with olive oil.
7. Keep adding more sheets of dough, two at a time, and brush them with olive oil. Repeat until three quarters of the phyllo is used.
8. Take the spinach filling and spread evenly over the phyllo.
9. Top with two more sheets, and brush with olive oil continuing to layer the phyllo sheets, two-at-a-time, brushing each set with olive oil, until you have used up the entire box of phyllo.
10. When you get to the top, finishing layers, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with a few drops of water (not much).
11. If there is excess dough hanging over the side of the baking pan, fold the excess over on top of the spanakopita. Brush the folded sides of dough well with olive oil.
12. Score the Spanakopita into squares without cutting all the way through. You can also leave the cutting for after it has finished baking.
13. Bake in the 350 degree heated oven for one hour, or until the phyllo crust is crispy and a golden brown color.
14. Remove from the oven. Finish cutting the spanakopita into squares and serve warm.

For more amazing vegan recipes, check out HealthTastesGood.com.

(Adapted from Thrive Market Recipe)

This is a great recipe for gluten free fig cookies that I adapted from Thrive Market’s recipe (link above).

I veganized it and reduced the sweetener. The cookies came out so good. The dough was light and tasty.

The fig filling is infused with the taste of orange, which is really refreshing. Plus the infusion of the orange reduces the need for much additional sweetener.

So, I lowered the amount that was in the original recipe and used lower glycemic Yakon Syrup to reduce the glycemic load even more.

The result was delicious!

Ingredients Needed for
Gluten Free Fig Cookies

For the filling
1 cup fresh figs, remove the stems and cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons Yakon Syrup or Agave Nectar (Yakon is lower glycemic)
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of half an orange
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the dough
1½ cup Flour Farm gluten-free flour blend (or GF flour of preference)
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup Earth Balance, broken into small pieces

Instructions For Making Gluten Free Fig Cookies

For the filling
Place figs in a NutriBullet or other small blender/processor.
Pulse until the figs breakdown into a paste (only takes a few seconds).
Add remaining filling ingredients and pulse until smooth (a few more seconds).

For the dough
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
To a large bowl add gluten-free flour, coconut flour, coconut sugar, and salt.
Mix to combine well.
Add the Earth Balance and crumble it by hand into the flour mixture.
Continue crumbling until well combined with flour mix.
Add the apple sauce and work it in until a dough forms being mindful not to overwork.
Remove ball of dough from bowl and place in between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll the dough out in between the parchment into a large rectangular shape making sure it is even in thickness all around.
Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough lengthwise into strips that are approximately 4”.
Place the fig filling mixture into a small ziplock bag and cut a small hole into one of the corners to make a piping bag.
Starting with the first strip of dough, carefully pipe the fig mixture down the middle of the strip. Spread the fig mixture with a knife evenly on the strip to coat it.
Repeat with remaining strips of dough.
Carefully fold the fig covered strips in half and cut into cookies by cutting the pastry strips into squares about 1½” in size.
Move the cookies onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake the fig cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly before handling.

Enjoy!

For more amazing gluten free, plant-based recipes, check out our recipe categories on HealthTastesGood.com

Earth Designs Studio Artist Portfolio

For a peek at our healthy, plant based, gluten free recipes, check out our recipes page on HealthTastesGood.com

This three bean salad is a simple dish that is easily made gluten-free with Jovial Casava Orzo. It is a satisfying meal with a healthy dose of protein.

This tasty dish can be put together in less than 30 minutes. Serve it warm or cold. Either way, it is brimming with flavor.

The flavors of the three beans together along with the fresh, tart taste of lime, vinegar and other ingredients come together nicely.

If you want the flavors to have time to marinate and meld together, make the three bean salad with gluten-free orzo several hours before serving. You can serve cold and let the salad rest in the refrigerator overnight until ready to serve.

Makes the perfect side dish or can be served as the headliner.

Here is the simple recipe:

Ingredients Needed to Prepare Three Bean Salad with Gluten-Free Orzo

1 box Jovial Grain Free Casava Orzo (or other gluten-free pasta of preference)
1 can organic Black Beans
1 can organic Garbanzo Beans
1 can organic Kidney Beans
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 TBS olive bruschetta or diced Kalamata olives
Juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1-2 TBS White Balsamic Vinegar
2 TBS Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

How to Prepare Three Bean Salad with Gluten-Free Orzo

Cook the pasta to package instructions
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to combine
Can be served immediately or refrigerate for a while until ready to consume. Flavors will meld together nicely.

For more delicious plant-based, gluten-free recipes with zero refined sugar, check out our recipes page on HealthTastesGood.com

Vegan, Gluten Free

Prep Time: About 45 minutes total
Makes about 6 servings

This vanilla sponge cake makes a light, fluffy dessert that is perfect for any summer celebration. These mini cakes are versatile and can be used for any dessert parfaits. I have also used this mini vanilla sponge cake recipe to make a large cake that I layered in a large parfait dish. It is a delicious, guilty-feeling dessert, without the guilt.

Ingredients Needed for
Mini Vanilla Sponge Cakes

¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
⅘ cup unsweetened plant milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¼ cup agave syrup
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup almond meal
1 ¼ cup gluten-free flour blend
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda

Ingredients Needed for Whipped Cream

2 cans whole coconut milk refrigerated overnight. Check out the link for a detailed explanation for making coconut whipped creams.

Berries
1 pint organic blueberries
1 pint organic strawberries
1 pint organic raspberries
Or 3 pints of your choice of berries

How to Prepare Vanilla Sponge Cake with Whipped Cream and Berries

Cake Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place the unsweetened apple sauce in a large bowl
Add the plant milk to the apple sauce and stir to combine
Add the apple cider vinegar, agave and almonds flour
Stir well to combine
Add in the gluten free flour blend, baking powder and baking soda.
Stir well to combine. Add in a little bit more milk if the batter seems too dry
Grease a muffin tin with coconut oil
Add a couple of tablespoons of batter to each tin
Bake in oven for about 15 minutes until risen and a toothpick poked in the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes
In the meantime, you can prepare the whipped cream by removing from refrigerator and scooping out the solid coconut milk from the top of the cans.
Add to a mixing bowl with agave syrup and whip with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy
For serving
Add a sponge cake to a dessert dish
Top with berries
Finish off with a scoop or two of whipped cream
Enjoy!

For more delicious, vegan, gluten-free recipes, check out the recipes page on HealthTastesGood.com

What is the driving force at the core of your actions?

Have you ever thrown that thought around? It is actually quite important to recognizing who we are at our core. The thing that drives us. The part of us that makes us act. The force within that causes us to react to daily situations in our lives.

Knowing what drives us is not always something we recognize. It took me well into adulthood to acknowledge that what drives me and affects me to my core are usually fear, anxiety and anger. And, while these might be considered negative emotions, I found a way to harness the potentially damaging thoughts that accompany these emotions and turn them into action.

Learning to do this actually became a prominently positive force in my life when I was diagnosed with cancer. It was the fear. It was the anger and it was the anxiety that drove me to take control of the steering wheel and drive myself into wellness.

Connecting to what drives us can be an epiphany in our lives. Turning what may be perceived as negative emotions into a driving force can actually turn things around for us and create laser focus from which we can work to attain our goals.

Our underlying motivation can be any range of emotions that are at the core of what drives us. Not all of our driving emotions are negative. We can also be driven by love, joy, compassion and other more upbeat feelings. These feelings can be turned into motivating action as well. But, it is the negative feelings that are more likely to do us damage if we don’t try to convert their negative affects into positive actions.

Twisting the negative emotion into a positive reaction may take some navigating. I have learned over the course of my adulthood that making the most of my negative energies and converting them to more productive actions keeps me from feeling stifled, stuck and unproductive. The good news is that with some practice, it is possible and it does get easier. The trickiest aspect of harnessing your driving force may be recognizing what it is that is currently driving you. Today it might be fear, tomorrow love, next week anger, next month compassion.

The following resources explore ways we can harness our fear, anxiety and anger into positive action. Reframing our negative thoughts into thoughts that create positive action is so important to our wellness and healing, especially if you are dealing with a disease like breast cancer.

What drives you? If you don’t know, you may want to give it some thought. Learn how to train the
“monkey mind” into a wave of positive energy that moves you forward. You may just possibly change your life as a result. Flipping your emotions into useful tools is vital to our well being. Keeping our mental energy positive will aid in healing our bodies.

Harnessing Your Fear Into A Positive Driving Force

5 Sure Fire Ways To Transform Fear Into Action
A Simple Process to Turn Fear Into Power
Transform Fear Into Courage and Action

Harnessing Your Anger Into A Positive Driving Force

How to Channel Your Anger Into Productive Action
Turning Anger Into Action
Rage On: A Use Case for Anger
5 Remarkably Powerful Ways to Turn Your Anger Into Success

Harnessing Your Anxiety Into A Positive Driving Force

7 Creative Ways to Turn Anxiety Into Productivity
How to Turn Anxiety Into Action
How to Turn Worries About the Future Into Action Right Now

For further helpful Resources, recipes and more, check out our other posts on HealthTastesGood.com