Sweet and Savory Treats for Memorial Day and the 4th of July

When we first came to the USA, about 10 years ago, one thing that truly struck us was the patriotism of Americans. In our small town here in Michigan so many houses have the American flag hoisted in their front lawn. In the Philippines, we only do this, if at all, during our own Independence Day and after that, the flag goes back to the closet and won't be taken out again until the next year. But here, it's there pretty much the whole year through. 

Nutella Chocolate Chunk Cookies

By this time, if you follow our blog, you already know that we love Nutella. Not that we eat it on a daily basis, however, when we buy a big jar on occasion, I make sure that a portion of it is used or converted into something yummy! After all, who really can resist a recipe that has Nutella in it?

Coconut Lemon Bars

Of late I have been having some Coconut obsession of some sort. That means I crave anything coconut and love to incorporate coconut in any recipe I think it may be suitable. Of course, there are a gazillion recipes for Lemon bars and using coconut in it is probably not a novel idea but it just popped into my mind last week when I was contemplating on what to do with the bag of lemons I bought from the grocery. This was when the brilliant idea of adding coconut to the mix came into my mind.

Broccoli Bacon Salad with Raisins and Almonds

The first time I have ever had this wonderful American salad was in our church potluck. I wasn't much of a salad eater when I first came to the US. We only had one type of salad in the Philippines and that was always made with iceberg lettuce and always with a thousand island dressing. For us, vegetables were always cooked with meat so eating it raw (which is better really!) wasn't typical at all. It's only recently I believe that we've had more exposure to different types of salad, well at least for me.

Salted Chocolate Hills

I have attempted to make some snacks for hubby and myself that are healthier and do not contain all the bad stuff that comes from processed food. After some trial and error, I was finally able to make these coconut chocolate almond balls that were really delicious and great for nibbling when your stomach is grumbling. Now, I could have easily just named these as Chocolate Almond Balls or something like that  but hubby had a better idea. 

When he saw what these little chocolate balls looked like (quite dark brown), he said it reminded him of the famous natural wonder in the Philippines called Chocolate Hills in Bohol. Please find below the photo of what the Chocolate Hills look like. From a distance these tiny cone-shaped hills look like chocolate-covered mountains especially during the dry season when the grass has thinned out. He then told me why not name this particular dish - Chocolate Hills as they sort of look like them. Perhaps I need to work more on shaping these little mounds into cone-like structures so they look quite similar to the Chocolate Hills. In the meantime, I thought this should do. What do you think? :)

These little nibbles are a great snack as they are not overly sweet (you can adjust the sweetness to your taste) and has a great contrast of sweet and salty flavors. Since I only used natural sugar such as honey or maple syrup as sweetener, it's actually good for you. Also, these are completely gluten-free, raw, vegan and truly delicious! Enjoy each yummy bite!

Photo credit here.



Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups shredded dried Coconut
1 cup Almond Flour
3 oz dark Chocolate (70-80 %) or 1/3 cup raw Cacao Nibs*
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

1-2 Tablespoons Honey
1-2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

*As Cacao Nibs are unsweetened (not sweet and slightly bitter), you may have to increase the amount of honey or maple syrup by an additional 1-2 Tablespoons or  to taste.

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients and pulse in a food processor until well-blended. Continue to process until it has a paste-like consistency (a little sticky). Shape into balls by using your hands or use a rounded tablespoon to shape them into hills. Or, if you're not bothered about shaping it just eat with a tablespoon!

Enjoy these yummy snacks!

If you wish to print the recipe, there's a print-friendly icon at the end of the post. Click on the "remove images box" for easy printing.

If you like what you see and would like to receive new recipe updates, we'd love you to subscribe to our posts or join our site. Needless to say, we'd love you to like us on Facebook too where you can get more recipes and updates. Thanks and happy browsing!