Carrot and Almond Kheer

There's just a week left of 2020! Who is ready to say Goodbye to this year and say Hello to 2021? 

We are going to take the next 7 days to reflect and think about our goals for next year. This year has been tough on everyone.  Thank you for your continued support. 

Check out this quick and easy kheer made with carrots and almonds. It is gluten-free and not much sugar. 

Ingredients

- 200g (or 7 oz) of carrots

- 1 cup of milk

- 25g or slightly less than 1/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 6 to 7 cardamom pods, seeded and powdered

- 2 Tbsp Almond flour (or use 7 to 8 almonds, soaked and skin removed)

- 3 drops of Vanilla extract

Instructions

• Wash and peel the carrots and then slice them into 1/2" thick pieces. Place them in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 4 minutes. Transfer the cooked carrots into the blender*, add milk, sugar, cardamom powder, almond flour, vanilla extract, and blend into a smoothie consistency.  

• Pour into a microwaveable bowl and heat it for 2 to 3 minutes depending on your microwave until the kheer (pudding) bubbles up. 

• Serve hot. 

Quick Tips

- We used the Vitamix blender and blended the ingredients on Smoothie mode; about 90 seconds. 

- For a creamier taste, you can use whole milk or 2 Tbsp of heavy cream. 

Gluten Free Diwali Sweets - Badam Burfi (Almond Treats)

Are you excited about Diwali as much as I am??

🪔 Diwali, the festival of lights, is just days away. Every year, we celebrate this holiday with family and friends, yummy dishes, and desserts. 🪔

🪔 This year, it will be a bit different because of COVID-19. We are only celebrating within our family and keeping the group small. However, I'm still planning to make yummy dishes to enjoy the festivities. 🪔

My sister and I 💓 classic Indian sweets like Kaju Katli or Kaju burfi which is made with cashews. I never thought 🤔 about making the nutty burfis at home. 

Almond Burfi

My mom decided to give it a try. Instead of making Kaju burfi, she made Almond burfi. She also wanted to make a sweet that is easy and requires few ingredients and calories 😀. 

Costco to the rescue 👍! She found Almond flour at Costco and made the sweet without making the flour herself. Read below to see how easy it is to make this yummy dessert. 😋

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups Almond flour (we used Kirkland brand)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup room temperature water
• 1/4 cup Mavva/Kova (milk powder) optional if not use 1&1/2 cups of almond flour
• 6 to 7 cardamom, seeded and powdered
• 1 tsp of ghee (clarified butter)
• 4 to 5 pistachios, finely chopped 

Procedure

1) Heat water and sugar and cardamom powder in a medium non-stick saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. 

2) Slowly add the almond flour, mavva, and ghee and stir continuously until the water is absorbed and the mixture is not sticking to the fingers when tested. It took about 9 minutes until the mixture came together. 

3) Remove from heat and immediately press the burfi dough onto wax paper evenly that is rubbed with ghee to help make it non-stick. Make sure there aren't any bumps. Use a rolling pin gently to press down and adjust to even sides to a rectangle shape.

4) Then, sprinkle the pistachios all over pressed burfi dough and press them down gently with the rolling pin. We evened out the edges so we could cut burfi dough into diamond shapes (as shown below). 

5) Cover the cut burfis with wax paper and put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to set. Then place the burfi pieces onto your favorite plate or serving dish and enjoy! 

🪔 From my family to yours...Diwali Mubarak 🪔

Quick N Easy Desserts - Mango Mousse

Summer is here and everyone is in the mood to party and making plans for a party. Every party needs to be planned. Whenever my mom and I plan parties, we brainstorm ideas for the menu as per the occasion and the company. Sometimes when the menu has a lot of dishes, we make sure the dessert is simple enough so we don't stress out. 

My favorite part of every meal is the dessert! I will sometimes even eat the dessert before the actual meal if I can't wait. 

Mango and mousse is always well liked, so why not put them together? We searched online and found a couple of different recipes for Mango Mousse. We combined the recipes and below is the result of our efforts.  

Serving size: 1/2 cup / Serves: 12 to 14 people 

Ingredients 

- 1 can mango puree 

- 1 can condensed milk (14oz)

- 1 packet, 6oz orange gelatin

- 10 oz whipped cream

Procedure

Dissolve gelatin in one cup of hot water and mix until it dissolves. Next, in a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together gelatin mixture, mango puree, condensed milk and whipped cream. Then pour the mixture into a clean air tighter container or glass baking dish. Cover with the lid or aluminum foil. Let it set in the fridge overnight. 

Once it was set, we scooped it into single serving cups and garnished it with Cool Whip and sliced strawberries. You can also top the mousse with chocolate chips or shavings and/or other fresh fruit. You can't go wrong with toppings. 

You'll guests will come back for more...