Coocoo for cooking with coco!

I've been on a creative cooking kick lately. I was inspired a lot by the blog Chocolate Covered Katie, and yeah you bet I like this girl's style. One of my latest obsessions is chocolate oatmeal, which I tweaked a little and made "Mounds" oatmeal with coconut oil and flakes. Other favorite successful recipes have been her tofu chocolate pie and coconut milk Cool Whip. The most popular recipe is a chickpea chocolate chip cookie dough dip, which I tried yesterday without much success. I love cooking with coconut oil, because it's a healthy fat that's good for you inside and out! Plus, whenever I scrape a spoon with my fingers I just rub it onto dry spots or right onto my lips for some glossy conditioning. And it's so yummy and tropical, I just fantasize about being on a beach or an island somewhere while it's snowy and cold outside...*sigh*.

My other recent obsession is spinach smoothies...now stay with me here: the basic recipe calls for banana, frozen fruit, and a couple of handfuls of spinach. You can thin it out with water and ice cubes, fruit juice, or milk. I like to use almond or soy milk, and I like to add peanut butter for some added protein. Really you can dress it up with whatever you have in your fridge. I like adding greek yogurt and coconut oil sometimes, and I'm considering buying some of what I like to call "magic green potion", which is the blend of seaweed, wheatgrass, blue-green algae, and all of those other nutrient rich mixes. So far it usually tastes like a peanut butter and banana shake, all while I'm getting a ton of spinach in my diet! Yum!

Right now I'm whipping up a batch of "edamole" because I have lots of frozen edamame in the freezer. Basically I'm using boiled, pureed edamame in place of avocado. Now, I love avocados and eat them almost every day, but it's nice to add some variety to your diet. Plus I'm in need of a lot of protein. In addition to blending up edamame, I added some lime juice, sea salt, and the liquid from a package of tofu. Then I just mashed it up with store bought guac mix. It was so good even before I added the guac spices, I couldn't stop licking my spoon!

I'm getting hungry writing this, so I think it's time to make some lunch. Anyone have some recipes to share? I'm really enjoying my healthy cooking kick, so in addition to Miss Chocolate-Covered Katie I highly recommend Devin Alexander's Healthy Decadence recipes. Happy healthy and yummy cooking everyone!