Couscous Coconut Milk Pudding

I don't know about you, but I have never tried couscous. I have heard of it, just didn't know what it really was. So my friend and I decided to try it out by making it a couple of different ways. This pudding was one of them and it was delicious! The possibilities are practically endless. Go free and wild with this pudding by topping it with all sorts of different things. We used freshly cut up strawberries and blueberries, but try adding nuts, other cut up fruits, dried fruits, cocoa powder, and shredded coconut.

Couscous is made from semolina flour, and is slightly more nutritious than rice and pasta. it contains more vitamins and minerals than pasta, such as riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, and even more protein than rice.

Couscous Coconut Milk Pudding
servings about 4

Recipe:

• 1 cup whole wheat couscous (Israeli couscous)
• 1 + 1/3 cup milk of choice (I used coconut milk,the stuff in the can)
• cinnamon to taste (optional)
• agave syrup to taste (optional)
• toppings of your choice
• additional coconut milk if you want it not so thick

*I also tried this with unsweetened almond milk in place of all the coconut milk and it was a lot less thick but just as delicious. *

Instructions:

• In a small sauce pan bring the coconut milk to a boil.
• Take it off the heat.
• Add the couscous.
• Let it sit until the couscous absorbs all the liquid.
• Stir in the cinnamon and agave syrup and additional coconut milk if you'd like. 
• Serve it up with your favorite toppings!!

I am a little in love with couscous and you will definitely be seeing more posts about it in the near future!

Prickly Pear Smoothie

Have you ever tried a prickly pear? If you answer is no, don't worry until today I had never tried one. I have to admit that I had to look up how to cut and eat one. I found the super easy instructions for it here. I used a red prickly pear and I was so surprised at how brightly pink it was inside. I mean it was florescent, honestly I thought to myself, "this looks like paint". I loved trying something so new and exotic to me, and PINK!

Prickly pears come in various colors, from greens, oranges, and reds. They are a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and magnesium.

You can usually find prickly pears in your local grocery store in the fresh produce section.

How to cut into your prickly pear

• wash it
• cut off the ends with a knife
• now slice down the body from one cut end to the other (not all the way through)
• grab the skin and pull the skin off the fruit 

there will be a ton of hard seeds in the flesh that you can choose to eat or you can run it through food processor or blender and then run it through a fine mesh sieve. I chose to run the fruit the food processor and then mash it through a fin mesh sieve.

Prickly Pear Smoothie

• a few ice-cubes
• juice of a prickly pear 
• half a banana
• pineapple ring
• splash of pomegranate juice

I put all these ingredients in my food processor and poured it all into a cup. 

Now, you can always adjust or replace ingredients for different fruits and veggies to suit your tastes.