Turkey and Mushroom Meatball with Olive Cream Sauce over Sweet Potato Pasta

I'm constantly tip-toeing the line between healthy food and food that others actually want to eat. For the record, my friends do like the food I create, but they also crave those classic fatty comfort dishes...especially during these blasted cold months.

In this comfort dinner redo of classic spaghetti and meatballs, swapping sweet potatoes for pasta may seem completely out in left field, but when quickly sauteed in a touch of butter these faux 'noodles' are delightfully chewy and satisfying.  Yes, I did say butter; once in a while a touch of high quality butter really does the trick (though ghee, olive oil or coconut oil would all work as well.)

To take the sweet potato linguine a step further I tossed in a garlic cream sauce made from cashews. I know it sounds weird but if you haven't tried making cashew sauces, you really need to. Cashews are the new bacon ... not quite. But they create an amazing base for desserts, mayos, dips and so much more.  My olive cream sauce has a bite from the raw garlic, but the salty spicy combo shines against the buttery sweetness of the 'spaghetti'.

Five Spices Pumpkin Soup with Orange Pepper Cashew Cream

Pumpkins are a dime a dozen this time of year, hence the many of them adorning my counter tops right now. I've been playing with a crazy number of recipes that you will be seeing here soon.

Since our biggest eating holiday is coming up next week, I'm going to post a simple pumpkin soup recipe first. In this soup I used a touch of Chinese Five Spices to give a little flavor twist over the typical pumpkin soup. It's an interesting mix of cinnamon, clove, pepper, fennel and anise. It marries quite well with meats but you'll find it sweet, savory and complex in this soup. If you haven't tried this spice blend before, you may find yourself become immediately addicted to it and find yourself putting it on everything. It's quite concentrated so a little goes a long way.

Orange Pepper Cashew Cream tops the soup in a creamy, non-dairy way. If you haven't made a creamy, dairy substitute out of cashews before, now is the time to try. It's super simple, just add cashews and water and blend.

Instead of ending your Thanksgiving meal with a pumpkin, perhaps this is the year to start with it. Pumpkin 5 Spices Soup with Orange Pepper Cashew Cream, a deliciously healthy pumpkin soup.

Nutty Snack Bar

Recently I led nearly 20 people through a detox resulting in healthy glowing skin, weight loss, reduction of inflammation, improved digestion and happier attitudes among a plethora of additional benefits. During this detox we gave up all processed foods; it was important to cook most, if not all, of our own food.

Healthy, homemade snacks became important as we noshed on clean foods like carrots, hummus and avocado. Towards the end of the detox I yearned for something that is a little bit like a treat and I wanted a snack I could take with me on the go. That's when I tossed this recipe together and it really hit the spot.

These bars come together in a snap. Use whatever ingredients are in your pantry and cut them to whatever size works best for you. I like to make little bite-sized pieces for when I'm at home, but I cut some into a bar size to take on the go with me. Always remember moderation is key with all foods, these tasty little snacks can become addictive so it's best to portion them out

Great for a work or school snack, perfect for a plane trip or during a long sports day, these Fat and Happy Snack Bars will keep you going without gluten, dairy or refined white sugar.

Grilled Corn with Ancho Chile Pepper Cashew Cream and Citron Salt: An Elote Experiment

Elote, the ever popular Mexican street fare that is seen both on a stick and served in a cup with a spoon. Is it the golden charred corn or the the scrumptious toppings that lures peckish patrons in?  Honestly, the corn just becomes a vessel for the creamy mayo, crumbled cheese and lime. But just thinking about the juicy corn nibbles rolling down my forearms makes me want to lick them now.

It's in my DNA to tweak recipes so you know already my version is going to have a twist or two. First enter twist one - their are sad people out there who can't (or don't) eat dairy. It's torture to watch your friends slobber over their dressed up corn while you push around your naked cob. Until now. With the help of raw cashew it's a snap to make a dairy free cream. It sounds daunting, I know. The idea of  'soaking cashews' sounded challenging, difficult and not all that yummy, quite honestly, when I first heard about it. But once I finally worked up some ambition to give this a try, I've learned cashew cream is pretty simple. The hardest part is to remember to soak them before you need them. Add in chili pepper, garlic and some fixings and the results are sorta magical.

Twist number two- a package of Citron Salt landed in my mailbox as a strange ingredient. What if lemon replaced the typical lime in the Elote? The pale yellow nodules created  perfect harmony with the corn and pepper cashew cream, not to mention adding a real nice little crunch too.

A Fat and Happy Elote experiment gone right. Oh, did I mention how much healthier my version is?

Cashew Cream Soup: Avocado and Pepper

Recently I've found that singeling cashews out of the nut mixture can is not the only way to enjoy them. It's true. Raw cashes are now synonymous with sweet, fluffy dessert toppings as well as savory creams.

You may also be asking why? The simple fact is that not everyone eats, or can tolerate, dairy. And why live a life of creamless soups and desserts when you don't have to?

You may also be intrigued by this, but have concerns with how daunting the process is going to be. Turns out, the process is really quite simple. I'll admit, I was initially hesitant and it took a bit before I finally soaked my first cashew. But I haven't looked back since. Soaking cashews involve covering them with water overnight and then rinsing them before blending with water. That's it! Vary the texture through amounts of water and length of blending. Add a bit of sweetener and vanilla for dessert or leave plain to use in place of classic milk and cream.

Below I've given you the makings for two base soups: a Creamy Avocado Soup and a Creamy Pepper Soup. You can also combine them to make a Creamy Avocado Pepper Soup. Also listed are numerous additions that can be added to either, ultimately giving you ability to make hundreds of soups. Perhaps they should be called Creamy Transformer Soups?

Bite the bullet and test out the cashew phenomenon with either of these ultra simple, Fat and Happy Cashew Cream Soups. It will be the beginning of a new relationship.