Hi Loves!


Okay so I know most of you are wondering why is this Portuguese chick trying to mess with Caribbean recipes. Well my boyfriend is half Trini and I love to cook for him, but lord knows I ain't got nothing on his mamas cooking. From time to time I try to make some of his favourite dishes but try to put a healthy mix on it.


Trouble is I don't really know what anything is suppose to taste like. Unfortunately I always have to wait till I'm done, pray for the best and then wait to get his feed back on. Generally my experiments taste really good. But when I cook Caribbean dishes I never know what flavours to look for or what it is suppose to taste like.


For our 2 year anniversary I decided to cook a Caribbean style home cooked meal. I made some of his favourites, jerk chicken, rices and peas and for dessert I made coconut sweet bread.

I didn't feel guilty or horrible about the main meal. The jerk chicken isn't a killer on calories and as for the rice it was a pretty clean recipes. What really hit me was when I was making the sweet bread. Boy oh boy, the amount of butter, sugar and fatty yummy goodness involved made me realize that Rick is going to love/hate me for this one.


All of a sudden it was like a light bulb had gone off. "DUH, HEALTHY RENDITION THIS BAD BOY". So I did :)


I will post the link to the original recipe below if anyone would like to try it. It's DELICIOUS. I just wanted something similar I wouldn't feel to bad about having. Because even when I am having a treat I will try and make sure its still sum what healthy, or clean.

Healthy Rendition : Caribbean Coconut Sweet Bread

Ingredients

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Coconut milk
1/2 Water/ Coconut Water
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Egg
3 Cups Oatmeal Flour
1/3 Cup butter
1 Coconut , Grated
1 Tsp Angostura Bitters
10 Chopped Prunes
1/3 Cup Chia Seeds
1/3 Cup Cranberries
2/3 Cup Crushed Pecans
2/3 Cup Crushed Walnuts


Step 1) Mix the coconut, egg, butter, brown sugar, 1/4 of water, vanilla extract and bitters together in a bowl.

Step 2) In a separate bowl mix together all dry ingredients ( flour, chia seeds and baking powder)

Step 3) Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Add coconut milk and remaining water.

Step 4) Mix  in dry fruits and nuts.

Make sure you don't over work the dough. You just want everything to mix in together.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45-60 minutes. I generally check it at 45 minutes and use my judgement based on how it looks. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

This goes really well with a hot cup of coffee or tea!

Below is the link to the original recipe. Its DELICIOUS!