Have a happy, healthy and hot New Year!

I’m sitting in my office (also known as Starbucks) thinking about the new year. I’m super excited for 2016 and I hope you are too.  Here’s what I won’t be doing…I won’t be starting the year with any type of detox or crazy dietary changes.  Not that there is anything wrong with hitting the reset button from time to time.  I’m just not convinced that January 1st  (or Monday the 4th) is the best time to do that.

So here’s what I will be doing in 2016…wearing more pleather and listening to boy bands.  Oh, and I’m going to continue to work on building and maintaining healthy habits.  In my case, sleep is something I really need to work on.  I also want to focus more on resistance training, to stay in the best shape possible.  But it has to be fun (and involve good music). So of course I will share my adventures here on the blog.  While I love DIY skincare, I know that’s not everyone’s thing, so I’ll be road testing some safe and natural products and sharing my opinion.  I’ll continue to share easy recipes, as well as beauty and travel tips, to help you feel happy, healthy and hot.  If there is something you would like to see in the upcoming months, please leave a comment…I’d love to hear from you!

To help you celebrate 2016, here’s a new treat (new to me, anyway) that really rocked my dairy-free world.  I have seen this on many different paleo/primal/whole foods websites and cookbooks, but never tried it until now.  I was inspired by Michelle Pfennighaus of Find Your Balance, who posted a recipe for eggnog pancakes with dairy free spiced whipped cream. Michelle has a great blog if you are looking for easy, healthy, family friendly food.  My blog is not so family friendly.  It’s more like PG-13.

Anyway, I was finally inspired to try making whipped cream out of coconut milk.  This stuff is crazy amazing.  Seriously.  I have no idea why I waited so long.

Coconut Milk Whipped Cream (vegan, paleo, dairy-free)

1 can coconut milk

Liquid vanilla stevia to taste

Put the can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight (or longer).  When you are ready to make the whipped cream, carefully open the can.  The milk should have separated into a solid and a liquid.  Carefully pour the liquid off.  You can use it anywhere you might use coconut water (maybe the blueberry spinach smoothie from my Talk dirty to me post!)

Scoop the solid white part into a mixing bowl.  I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer with the whisk attachment, but a hand mixer would also work. Start whipping, slowly at first, until it becomes fluffy.  Then add the vanilla stevia (or sweetener of your choice) to taste.

This will not increase in volume as much as traditional whipped cream does.  It will be a little more dense and rich.  Use it on fruit, to top your coffee (that was blended with collagen, of course), or on anything you like.  Use your imagination!

Here’s to a happy, healthy and hot New Year!