Thursday, February 23, 2012

Organic Paleo Friendly, Sugar Free, Low Carb, Gluten Free, Nut Free and Paleo Friendly Coffee Creamer


I am so excited to share this with you guys! This is a super easy recipe for home made organic coffee creamer. It is Paleo diet friendly, and is also gluten free. It includes minimal ingredients and it is completely budget friendly. It will take about 5 minutes to make. Did I mention yet how great this is?!? ; )

This week my hubby and I were discussing some health topics...mainly about our consumption of sugar and junk food and how it was effecting our weight, budget and ultimately our children and their behavior and health. We decided to cut back on most of the bad stuff. I say most because we want to be careful about making this the "law" of our family if that makes sense. We don't want food and pursuit of health to become some kind of idolatry for us. 
1Timothy 4:8 "For bodily discipline profits little, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also the life to come"
God is more interested in the health of our spiritual lives than the health of our bodies. However, since our bodies and sprit are somewhat tied together it is of some value to take good care of our bodies. Being over weight, chronically sick, suffering from headaches, fatigue, hyperactivity, auto immune diseases and the list can go on and on...this is not the way God intends us to live. And most of these things stem directly from our diets and either being toxic or deficient. I heard a sermon the other day from Mars Hill Church which said a great portion of Jesus ministry was in fact physical and as wives we minister to our husbands and kids when we take care of their physical needs. Anyway I could write a novel on this topic so I will move onto the recipe already! Hehe :p 
This is the coffee creamer I have been using for years. Of course cutting out sugar means I have to toss this stuff. (But I will not give up my morning coffee you hear?!?!) I always made the mistake of assuming that because something was from Trader Joe's or Sprouts it was healthy. WRONG! This stuff is nothing but yummy tasting chemical junk. Goodbye Shamrock Cow.
Time to bust out those ingredients: 
I can of organic coconut milk 
Stevia (either powder or liquid)
Vanilla Extract
One of the things I love about this recipe is how versatile it is! Here are some ideas of things you can add to customize your creamer:
organic coco powder for chocolate creamer
pumpkin pie spice for pumpkin flavor
hazelnut stevia or hazelnut extract
cinnamon powder and vanilla extract
almond extract 
Now take our your kitchen mixer and add your can of coconut milk. Put your mixer on the lowest speed (you want to blend your ingredients, not whip! If you want to make this repice into whipped cream that is also an option here just make sure your milk is fully chilled and whip your little heart out :) 
I chose to add organic half and half to thin out this mixture. Coconut milk can tend to be pretty thick. If you are on a Paleo diet or dairy/lactose intolerant you may want to exclude this ingredient and dilute with almond milk instead but for the rest of us it will greatly improve the consistency of the creamer.
 Now, when you are mixing your ingredients in the kitchen mixer add as much stevia and extract as YOU like. I added one teaspoon of vanilla and one packet of stevia. (Coconut milk is naturally sweet but surprisingly has less than one gram of sugar per 1/4 cup serving which is pretty negligible) I also added a 5 drops of my hazelnut stevia. Taste your mixture as you go and sweeten it the way you like. 
Pour your creamer into some kind of reusable container, I used a glass mason jar. Add to your coffee and enjoy the sweet creamy yumminess! Add as much or as little as you want..I make my coffee blonde; just like my hair ; )  One thing I used to hate about going sugar or carb free was that I longed for my creamy morning coffee! So this is the BEST fix! This creamer will keep for 7-10 days. I'm pretty sure you could make this in large quantities and freeze it for later use as well.
The can of coconut milk cost about 2 bucks. You can purchase stevia packets for also around 2 bucks a box...most of the other ingredients I used most people already have on hand at home. You can enjoy a weeks worth of healthy organic coffee creamer for less than 3 bucks a batch! :0 

So there ya go... ENJOY your coffee all you Paleo people, Diabetics, Celiacs, Atkins Dieters, Vegan, Sugar Free, Lactose and Dairy intolerant, Nut Free and Organic People! :D  

Just to clarify the NUT FREE description if it is a concern for any of you, "coconut milk" might sound like it contains nut, but coconut is not actually a nut but a drupaceous fruit :) 

  
  





4 comments:

  1. Can't wait to try this! Where do you find the flavored stevia?

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  2. @ glutenfreeshawna, it is from Amazon! They have vanilla creme, hazelnut, chocolate and rootbeer!
    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_11?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=vanilla+stevia&sprefix=vanilla+ste%2Caps%2C198

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  3. I guess that link didnt work : / Just go to Amazon and search Vanilla Stevia and Sweet Leaf will be the first to come up : )

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