During a splurge (vacation meal) at my mother's 80th birthday party, a discussion came up as we ate chocolate ganache with our dessert.  My sister-in-love, Sally, told us how easy it is to make ganache.  Right, Sally, easy for you!  Sally makes her own truffles and throws them out if they present with the least imperfection.  Anyway, Sally said you just heat heavy cream until it's hot, and then add your chocolate and stir until it melts.  The ganache is then warm and ready to be served over ice cream or another dessert or to be eaten by the spoonful.  I've experimented since then with my own homemade Advanced Plan chocolate from Maximized Living's Nutrition book.  It was good with organic whipping cream, but I like it even better with coconut milk.  I now add generous portions of organic unsweetened shredded coconut and raw nuts.  I then pour it in a pan and let it set in the refrigerator to be sliced later.  The result is a nutritious guilt-free, sugar free chocolaty splurge.  Sally was right.  It's easy.

Dr Janet's Chocolate

¾ Cup coconut oil

2 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. Stevia

¼ C Swerve or Xylitol

¾ C cocoa powder

¾ C full fat coconut milk

½ - 1 C unsweetened coconut shreds

½ - 1 C any combination of raw, unsalted nuts

Extra coconut oil for coating pan

Prepare an 8 x 8 pan by coating with coconut oil.  Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan on low heat.  Stir in the almond extract, stevia, xylitol and cocoa powder until smooth.  Turn off the heat.  Taste and add more stevia or xylitol to taste.  The mixture will be the consistency of liquid chocolate.

In a separate small saucepan, heat the coconut milk until hot (not boiling).  Turn off the heat and pour the chocolate mixture into the coconut milk slowly while stirring.  The mixture will become thick like pudding.  Add the coconut shreds and nuts right away and stir to coat with the chocolate mixture.  Pour into the prepared pan, cover and refrigerate for several hours.  When ready to serve, cut into pieces and enjoy!

I get asked for the recipe for my Teriyaki Almonds a lot.  I enjoy giving loved-ones and friends gifts that include them.  I usually put a label on the jar that says, "Janet Early's soon-to-be-famous Teriyaki Almonds".
Kimberly Roberto recently told me I needed to take out the "soon-to-be" part.  Thanks, Kim!  So, here it is.

Janet Early's Famous Teriyaki Almonds

• 4 Cups raw almonds

• 1 cup Liquid Aminos or Organic Tamari sauce

• ¼ cup – 1 cup balsamic Vinegar (This is an option - do not use if heating oven  

            above 250°F– the nuts will burn)

• 4 Cloves mashed and chopped garlic (or 2 t. garlic powder)

• 2 “ finely peeled and ground fresh ginger (or 2 t. ginger powder)

• Dash – ¼ tsp. Stevita (optional)

• Dash of Cayenne powder (optional)

Mix together Liquid Aminos or Tamari sauce, garlic, ginger, and optional balsamic vinegar, stevita and cayenne powder in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Add the almonds to the bowl and toss with a large spoon to coat all the almonds.  Put the bowl in the oven, turn the oven to 350°F for a few minutes, or just until preheated, and then turn the oven OFF.  Leave the bowl in the oven for 1 – 3 hours (can also leave overnight).  Toss the nuts to coat with sauce four or five times.  Taste-test the nuts occasionally.  When they are full of flavor, it is time to dehydrate or roast them.  First drain off the liquid using a strainer.  You can throw away the liquids, or keep in the refrigerator for a week or two and use to coat a second (probably smaller) batch of almonds.

Dehydrate the drained nuts in a dehydrator for 12-24 hours (taste-tests will tell you when they are crispy enough to call done), or place parchment paper on cookie sheets, cover the parchment paper with the drained almonds and bake in 250°F oven. Stir the almonds every 15 minutes or so, and taste-test until crispy.  You can speed up the process by increasing the temperature of the oven, but watch them carefully and stir more often so they do not burn. 

Note on dehydrating or baking your almonds:  Food that has not been heated above 150°F, maintains the live enzymes present in raw food.  There are numerous benefits to eating live, raw food.  For this reason, I have dehydrated my almonds most of the time and usually don’t let them soak for  1 – 3 hours in an oven that has been preheated to 350°F.  Instead, I will soak them for 24 – 48 hours in an oven that has been turned on for 1 – 3 minutes only.  Recently it has been pointed out that almonds in the U.S., even when labeled, “raw,” have been pasteurized.  I’ve been thinking that the live enzymes in almonds have already been destroyed, so lately I’ve been using the quick method outlined above.  Feel free to try it either way.  This is a hard recipe to mess up. 

Serving option:  The almonds are good served as is, or mixed with other nuts and large coconut flakes for a trail mix.  The jars pictured above, behind the almonds are filled with my latest trail mix featuring my famous teriyaki almonds.