Berry Bowl with Coconut Whipped Cream

It's my pleasure today to introduce Carrie Forrest, a talented foodie and blogger, and the author of Carrie On Living. Carrie used to follow a plant-based vegan diet for over three years but facing some health issues, she transformed her diet to paleo eating.

Greetings! I'm Carrie and I blog over at Carrie On Living. It's such an honor to be asked by Martina to guest post today. I want to share a bit of my story and then present my yummy Berry Bowl with Coconut Whipped Cream recipe.

I won't go into too much detail here, but I've had quite the health journey, having been diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and then thyroid cancer in the recent past (my cancer is now considered "cured," as I had my thyroid and the cancerous tumor removed). I've had a lot of metabolic struggles, too, with both eating disorders and PCOS.

I followed a plant-based/vegan approach for 3 1/2 years before I ultimately decided that such a strict diet was not supportive to my mental or physical health. However, I still have to respect my ongoing food sensitivities and ethical beliefs, so I pretty much eat "paleo" now, without consuming dairy or gluten, and including minimal grains and legumes in my diet.

I adore being a food blogger, though, and it's been an honor to share my ongoing health journey with my readers. I find so much inspiration from the blogosphere, and of course Martina's blog and app are fantastic and I want to eat all of her food! :)

Since I've been including a lot more fat in my diet since I stopped being vegan, I've been playing around with coconut milk, and this Berry Bowl with Coconut Whipped Cream is one such recipe.

Nutritional values (per serving)

Ingredients (makes 4-6 servings)

• 4 cups fresh berries of your choice (see notes below)
• 5 fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk, chilled (14.1 oz can yields about 200 g / 7.1 oz creamed coconut milk)
• 1 whole vanilla pod
• 1 teaspoon birch xylitol

I used a cup of raspberries (120 g / 4.2 oz), blackberries (145 g / 5.1 oz), blueberries (150 g / 5.3 oz ) and strawberries (145 g / 5.1 oz) when calculating the nutrition facts. When looking for ingredients, try to get them in their most natural form (organic, without unnecessary additives).

Instructions

1. To make the berry bowl, chop the berries into bite-sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Mince the fresh mint leaves and toss to combine. Set the berries and mint aside while you make the whipped cream.

2. Open the can of coconut milk and use a spoon to scoop out the hardened coconut into a large mixing bowl. Discard the liquid in the can or save it for another use.

3. Use a paring knife to cut the ends off of the vanilla bean. Then, slice the bean length-wise and use the edge of the knife to scrape out the vanilla seeds. Add the seeds to the coconut cream and discard the pod.

4. Using a hand mixer, slowly beat the coconut cream and the vanilla seeds together. After about a minute, add the birch xylitol for sweetness. Continue to mix the coconut until it becomes fluffy, like whipped cream. Serve the cream immediately on top of the berries, with extra mint leaves for garnish, if desired.

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Raspberries, fresh
1.1 g	0.2 g	0.1 g	11 kcal
Blueberries, fresh
3 g	0.2 g	0.1 g	14 kcal
Blackberries, fresh
1 g	0.3 g	0.1 g	10 kcal
Strawberries, fresh
1.4 g	0.2 g	0.1 g	8 kcal
Mint, fresh
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Coconut cream, creamed coconut milk (organic, unsweetened)
1.5 g	1.2 g	11.6 g	110 kcal
Vanilla extract, powder (vanilla bean)
0 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Xylitol (natural low-carb sweetener)
0.4 g	0 g	0 g	2 kcal
Total per serving
8.5 g	2.1 g	12 g	156 kcal

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