Ulog4 – Cooking, cleaning and errands today – how does coconut lime chocolate sound?

Oh what a terrible u-logger I am so far! Will I ever manage to ulog every day? Getting back on the horse today, and we shall see…

I know I’m a celebrity and you are my fans (lol) but even so there are limits. So let’s have just a quick run down on my day, but mostly look at some recipes.

The weather isn’t great in Wellington this weekend, with rain and heavy winds, but I did get out this morning into the (very) fresh air, to buy some new undies (kiwi-talk for knickers) and visit the library. My plan is to take some time this weekend to cruise out on front of the heater with some books, while it pisses down outside. Ha! Hope springs eternal…

As well as being not a very tidy house person, I’m not a very tidy computer person. I have so many systems for keeping things organised, but they only work if you actually do them. For example, I MEAN to check and empty my junk mail folder every day. But if I miss even one day, that’s basically the end of it, till it gets to 1000 and I panic a little. Today there are a mere 780 items. But my Outlook wouldn’t open this morning, and I suspected it was because my hard drive was too full. So first job was moving some files to a backup drive, and deleting some others. That took a couple of hours of computer time, while I did other non computer jobs, and periodically gave it more instructions.

The fairy godmother is still on holiday

The last Fakebook update was her visit to the Niagara Falls about a week ago, so she might not be too far off coming home. Nevertheless, we need to make at least a modicum of effort to keep things clean. So Little Roo had a good workout today, with periodic visits to his dock for a recharge, or occasionally yelling out for an emptying. I found him asleep under the bed at one point, and another time had to rescue him from some blind cords that I forgot to move, and that he got tangled up in. I think we’re gradually getting the hang of what needs to be moved before setting him loose. We still love you, Little Roo!

We haven’t finished the cleaning by any stretch of the imagination, but we have put away two weeks of washing, cleaned the shower and the toilet, and done some kitchen jobs. @sift666 started off cleaning in the kitchen, which led to sorting out our fruit bowl and a fridge full of surplus fruit.

Why have we got too much fruit?

As well as our business selling natural foods and supplements, and being a drop off point for raw milk, our porch is a drop off point for a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm. As a thank you for letting them use our space, we get a free bag of organic fruit, which we never quite finish.

So we got distracted from the cleaning by setting up an assembly line to stew some fruit for the freezer. @sift666 peeled and I chopped. In the end, about 15 apples, 4 pears and a kiwifruit ended up in the stockpot, along with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger.

As some of the fruit went in a lot earlier than the later bits, we ended up with a mix that was partly soft chunks, and partly puree. The spices enhanced the natural sweetness of the fruit, without being overly spicy, and without having to add any extra sweetener.

Once it cooled, we ended up with 10 containers of stewed fruit for the fridge and freezer.

Each container is about a cup, and equivalent to about 2 pieces of fruit. Some of it will be mixed with homemade yoghurt for @sift666’s breakfasts and some will be used for making muffins similar to these ones.

You promised a chocolate recipe!

Yes, I did, and I’ve saved the best for last. One last story before I get to it. I received a parcel the other day from my sister, @andysantics48, with a sample of her comfrey and plantain healing salve, which I’m testing out on some patches of itchy skin. But it also included a bottle of food grade lime essential oil which was excess to her needs. So my mind has been turning over yummy things I could make with lime, like a raw cheesecaky mousse or lime flavoured chocolate.

I had originally been planning to make a sugar free / Paleo / keto version of this Whittakers chocolate bar, which is one of my favourites.

Image Source

But the plan changed to be lime and ginger instead, with a hint of coconut. So here’s what I did.

Ingredients

• 160gm / 1 cup Healtheries Dark Chocolate Baking Bits (sugar free, sweetened with stevia) – or whatever your favourite cooking chocolate is
• 40gms / 3 Tablespoons creamed coconut or coconut butter (EDIT - I tested some alternatives for if you can't get coconut butter, see here)
• 1 capsule NOW ginger root powder, which is about 1/4 raised teaspoon if you’re using ground ginger from a packet
• 10 drops food grade lime essential oil
• (optional) 1 teaspoon orange peel granules - I use this brand

Method

Dead easy. Just melt the chocolate and coconut butter together in a double boiler – or a bowl over a pan of hot water - stirring occasionally, till smooth. Stir in the other bits. If you want fancy chocolates like in my picture, spoon it into chocolate molds. Otherwise, just line a tray with baking parchment and pour it in. Refrigerate till set, then either take out of the molds or cut into pieces and store in the fridge. They will melt a little if they get warm, so eat them straight from the fridge.

I put about a teaspoon into each mould, to make them smallish, and it made 30.

The verdict

I was a bit concerned that it might be a little too spicy, but @sift666 said it was perfect and the best chocolate he’s ever eaten. If you want to go less spicy to start with, increase the chocolate to 200gms and the coconut butter to 4 Tablespoons.

Right, it's nearly 7.30, time to get some dinner on the go. Salmon fillets, with baked yams (already just about cooked) and steamed brussels sprouts. Though I won't be having the brussels sprouts, yuk! I might have some peas instead.

Then it might be time to put our feet up and watch a movie.

Thanks for reading

Images by @sift666 or @kiwideb unless otherwise stated.

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