These rich and moist coconut bars are made of not one, but three different forms of scrumptiously healthy coconut, including shredded coconut, coconut oil and coconut milk in their ingredients list.

I have Shirley at Gluten Free Easily to thank for this recipe as it is based upon her famous gluten free Crustless Coconut Pie. I'm a big fan of Shirley's crustless pie recipes. They're perfect when I'm looking for a quick and easy, yet simply tasty, gluten free dessert.

I find that this this coconut bar recipe tastes a bit like a macaroon bar. If you want to jazz up your coconut bars and get really decadent, try drizzling them with dark chocolate.

Here are some of the health benefits of coconut:

• Naturally gluten free
• Full of heart healthy fats that lower LDL cholesterol
• Anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasitic
• Reduces inflammation and promotes healthy absorption of nutrients
• High in minerals such as iron, phosphorus and zinc

It is also thought that eating coconut products speeds up the body's metabolism, helping to prevent obesity.

Finally, Dr. Mary Newport has written an article on the remarkable results she believes she has achieved using coconut oil to remediate her husband's early onset Alzheimer's disease.

In this video Dr. Newport shares intriguing anecdotal evidence on the impact of coconut oil on neurobiological function. Her findings will be of particular interest to those of us who are working on our brain health in dealing with diseases and disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimers, Parkinsons, autism, ADD, etc.

So grab yourself a coconut bar and a cup of delicious dandelion coffee (that's what I'm drinking right now) and settle in to watch the video of Dr. Newport. And be sure to let us know your thoughts in a comment below.

I really enjoy using almond flour --almonds are a superfood and highly nutritious. However, every now and then, someone requests a nut free dessert recipe for some type of gluten free baked good. At other times, folks are looking for an egg free recipe.

There are as many allergies out there as there are colors in the rainbow. This brownie recipe is for all the nut free, egg free, refined sugar free, gluten free, primal vegans in my life. You keep me on my toes! And I love it.

This recipe uses sunflower seed butter, which is actually similar to a nut butter (though nut free). Sunflower seed butter is gluten free, high protein and made from highly nutritious sunflower seeds --you didn't think I was going to use rice flour, did you?! I'm still as grain free as I've ever been since I gave up grains 11 years ago. All of the recipes on this website are gluten and grain free recipes.

These brownies are based on a gluten free brownie recipe that Amy Jelley posted on my facebook page a couple of weeks ago. Thanks Amy! Her recipe used a ½ cup of honey which is a little much for where my blood sugar is at these days; so I decreased the amount of honey and added in some xylitol and stevia. I also increased the fat and made a couple of other minor changes to the recipe along the way.

This is a very fudgey brownie --it won't seem totally cooked through when you pull it from the oven. I took mine out when the edges were just about to burn, that was how I determined it was done.

Now, a word of caution. Do not feed this dessert to your pets. Chocolate and xylitol are highly toxic to animals. Have any of you been feeding my other desserts to your pets? If so, why are you doing this? Please leave a comment and let us know!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate is easy to make, and far better than the instant hot chocolate that comes in a package, which is loaded with sugar and definitely not dairy free. Additionally, I find this soothing and healthy beverage to be a great substitute for all of the peppermint candy floating around this time of year.

I make this dairy free hot chocolate with coconut milk, and thankfully, it does not contain a coconut-ish flavor; it is a rich and chocolatey hot beverage. Use a high quality organic chocolate for a healthier and tastier result.

This Peppermint Hot Chocolate recipe is easy to make and full of nutritious ingredients --just don't tell your children!

Dark chocolate is a great treat during the holidays when we are inundated with sugary, unhealthy desserts.

Chocolate is a functional food that is both low on the glycemic index and full of powerful antioxidants.  The heart healthy flavonoids in dark chocolate lower blood pressure and decrease blood clotting.  It is also thought that dark chocolate fights cardiovascular disease, as well as premature aging and cancer.

Go ahead and get yourself some chocolate, and let us know what your favorite dark chocolate recipe is.

Nothing says "fall" like the smell of fresh pumpkin bread wafting from the oven. This lusciously moist, gluten free, dairy free pumpkin quick bread is made with high protein almond flour, and came about by popular demand.

So many of you left comments on my Paleo Bread post requesting a healthy pumpkin bread, that I was moved to make yet another Paleo quick bread for all of you.

This healthy pumpkin bread recipe can be made with roasted pumpkin or any type of roasted winter squash. To find out just how easy it is to make your own homemade roasted pumpkin (or other squash), be sure to take a look at my How to Roast Squash post.

What is your favorite pumpkin recipe? How do you prefer to prepare all of the womb like winter squash that is in abundance this time of year?

My fellow gym rats were delighted when I brought these Paleo friendly, high protein, gluten free snacks to the gym last week. The consensus? These gluten free power bars hit the spot.

Made with healthy, high protein almond flour and nutritious goji berries, the gang wolfed these down, then asked for more. I promised them I would post this recipe for gluten free power bars and so here it is.

First though, a bit about goji berries. Goji berries (also known as wolfberries) are a superfood, slowly gaining attention and popularity in this country.

Research shows that berries are superfoods and that eating berries such as goji berries, blueberries, cranberries, and strawberries can be beneficial for your health.  Berries contain powerful antioxidants and other compounds that can boost the immune system and lower cholesterol; further, it is thought that the nutrient properties in berries can prevent cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.

Goji berries in particular have compounds rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene and B vitamins.  These compounds are thought to have anti-aging benefits and boost immune function. Incidentally, goji berries have been used for centuries in Traditonal Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Dried goji berries tend to be a bit...dry. So I like to plump mine up before I use them by placing them in a bowl and pouring a bit of boiling water over them. This brings out their juicy goodness, makes them easier to digest and simply prevents them from being too hard.

When you plump your gojis, let them sit in the hot water for 10-15 minutes until the water is mostly absorbed, then discard any remaining water (there won't be a lot).

Here are some more Paleo friendly bars that you may also like:
-Spicy Power Bars
-Cherry Vanilla Power Bars
-Apricot Power Bars

This dairy free peanut butter protein shake is a great way to start the day.  I like to drink it before I go to the gym --the protein (about 50 grams) gives me energy during my entire workout, and then some.

I've been on a major peanut butter kick lately, in fact, this is my third gluten free peanut butter recipe in the last week or so.  Earlier, I posted my Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies, after that I posted my classic gluten free and vegan Peanut Butter Cookies, and now this here shake.  I'm in Texas, y'all, hence my new accent.

We're in Waco for my son's Little League baseball tournament.  The thermometer says it's 107°; in reality when we're driving around, it's closer to 112°.  The team could care less though.  They've been hoping to make it to regionals since they were 10 year olds (they're 12 now).

Our summer has been filled with baseball and not too much else --the team has practiced 2-4 hours every day.  We won the district tournament, then went on to capture the state tournament, so we are now the official Colorado State Champs.

This week we're here for the regional tournament.  If we win, we'll go to the Little League World Series (an international competition), though between you all and me, that's really a long shot!  We're just trying to make it through the heat at this point against all of the amazing teams from the South.  Here's a picture of our team.

Earlier this week I squeezed in a day at Jen Yu's amazing workshop Food and Light here in Boulder.  I learned so many incredible photography and food styling techniques from Jen, Matt Wright, Diane Cu and Todd Porter.  I also met many wonderful people and spent time chatting with Averie from Loves Veggies and Yoga and Manisha from Indian Food Rocks.

It's been busy, busy as you can gather from the above, so I've been relying on quick and easy gluten free breakfasts such as my:

• Protein Powder Pina Colada
• Gluten Free Granola
• Gluten Free Porridge

Enjoy the shake!

This Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream is the perfect refreshment for a hot summer day.  Since every child in the neighborhood seems to be at my house at present, bouncing on our trampoline, it is going to make the perfect afternoon snack in a few short minutes.

It's fun (and super easy) to make dairy free ice cream from coconut milk.  Low in sugar, and high in protein and good fat, I feel great about feeding it to the gang.

You may notice there are raw eggs in this recipe.  If that does not work for you, feel free to come up with your own fix for it.  Given that I test every recipe numerous times before I post it here, it's just not possible for me to test your substitution questions.  And unfortunately, the only way to get the answer to those types of questions is to do an actual experiment --if you do try substitutions, please be sure to stop back by and leave a comment letting us all know if it worked!

If you are looking for gluten free recipes, be sure to check out my recipes page, it may contain just what you are looking for.

Here are some more dairy free ice cream recipes from other food bloggers:
-Fresh Mint Ice Cream (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Vegan, Cane-Sugar-Free) from Sally of Aprovechar
-Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream (Dairy-Free and Vegan) from Alta of Tasty Eats at Home
-{Dairy-Free} Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream from Alice of Savory Sweet Life

Summer is definitely here and our house is the place to be.  The neighborhood boys congregate on our trampoline --with the sprinklers aimed at it for a good cool down and a great deal of healthy fun.

With all of this activity I keep the food flowing morning, noon and night.  From the time they arrive until dinner (sometimes a bunch of them stay for the evening meal too) I am setting out munchies --snacks, lunch, etc.  They really are a hungry bunch of rascals.

To keep them fueled between meals, I've been making up batches of these super healthy, natural popsicles from Amy Green's book Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free: 180 Easy and Delicious Recipes You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less.  I made a big batch of these frozen treats last night and they're already gone today.  Amy's popsicle recipe is absolutely genius!

Why do I like to serve these popsicles to my boys and their friends?  First, they contain high protein almond butter, second, they're full of anti-oxidant rich unsweetened cocoa powder and finally, they're fruit sweetened.  Here's my version of Amy's recipe, I hope you like it as much as the boys and their friends did.

These Paleo pops make the perfect snack.  Amy's book has plenty of other mouthwatering and healthy gluten free recipes.

Some of her recipes are very similar to mine (such as her Pecan Pie Crust), whereas other recipes are quite different.  Amy uses ingredients such as quinoa and oats which I avoid (given the Paleo diet that I have followed somewhat closely for more than a decade; this diet excludes the use of grains as well as seeds derived from grasses, so quinoa and oats are a no-no for me, I actually cannot digest them).

Back to Amy --her book has more than 180 quick and easy gluten free recipes to enjoy.  Today I'm giving away 1 copy of Amy's book, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. To be entered leave a comment below before 10pm (MST) tonight, June 28th, 2011. I will pick the winner at random using Random.org. This giveaway is open to everyone everywhere.

The winner of yesterdays giveaway for a copy of Triumph Dining's Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide and Gluten-Free Grocery Guide is Harry!

Update: this giveaway is now over and the winner was Ary!

I originally posted this date sweetened, gluten free muffin recipe the year before last in my Great Agave Debate post.  Because it was part of something so much bigger, it kinda got lost in the mix.  I'm re-posting it because I think it's an easy, super tasty, healthy recipe that will please both agave lovers and haters alike.

For more information on agave, please check out my Great Agave Debate post and all of the amazing reader comments and debate that follow it.  Meantime, everyone, enjoy these purely fruit sweetened coconut flour based muffins!

I loved Joy the Baker's awesome post on coconut flour; her accompanying recipe for Coconut Waffles looks obscenely good (I can't wait to make it myself).  If you haven't been to her site, be sure to check it out.  Joy is an amazing writer with true wit and an outrageously good sense of humor.  Her recipes are pretty darn great too!

Way back when, in 1997, during the dark ages of gluten free, I was diagnosed with celiac disease.  Now, 14 years later, this disease has had a devastating effect on my family --my mother has celiac, my sister has it, even my 12 year old son was diagnosed with celiac when he was 3 years old.  On the other side of the family, my mother-in-law lives with celiac disease.  This disease has been a scourge on my loved ones.

Celiac is a serious disease, many in the medical community think of it as a gateway auto-immune disorder --something that can lead to thyroid disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and even cancer.  This is why the gluten free diet is so important for people that have been diagnosed with celiac.  You can't be on a "low gluten" diet.  If you have celiac you need to be 100% gluten free every single day of your life.  Thankfully, in my house we are.

While the gluten free diet is paramount for people that have celiac, some people are in the habit of saying that eating gluten free is such a challenge it will ruin your life.  I'm here to tell you that's not the case.  Most wholesome natural foods are naturally gluten free.  Think veggies, fish, poultry, meat, fruits, nuts, seeds and a whole lot more.

That's why I'm so pleased to be a part of Diane's blogging event called 30 Days to Easy Gluten-Free Living.  Here's how Diane summarized the event:

"I often read how difficult it is to live gluten free.  How gluten free tastes terrible and you’ll spend tons of money.  Some people talk about it like it’s a death sentence.  Well we’re here to tell you they are flat out wrong.  They are exaggerating to get you to buy their products. We are going to show you in 30 different ways over 30 days how living gluten free is easy, tasty and as inexpensive or expensive as you want to make it."

This super quick and easy power bar recipe is my contribution to Diane's fabulous event.  If you're taking mom out for a hike this Sunday, pack these gluten free, vegan, high protein Cherry Vanilla Power Bars for a yummy Mother's Day, energy boosting snack.

I just want to take a moment to thank Diane from The W.H.O.L.E. Gang for organizing this amazing event.  Diane is a very inspirational person and blogger.  She is a social activist who brings people together and educates the public at large.  Frankly, I just don't have enough good things to say about her!

Here are some more yummy gluten free power bar recipes you may like:
-Melissa’s Mile High Energy Bars by Melissa from Gluten Free For Good
-Chocolate, Cardamom and Coconut Power Bars from Naomi of Milk for the Morning Cake
-Popeye Protein and Fruit Bars from Shirley of Gluten Free Easily