Almond Coconut Rice Pudding

Should you include coconut milk in your child’s diet?  YES!  Coconut milk has:

• Electrolytes, potassium, vitamins, minerals.
• It is low in sugar (2 grams vs 12 g in cows milk)
• It’s dairy free (for those lactose intolerant)
• Vegan/ gluten free
• There is no need to buy “light” coconut milk. The saturated fat in the coconut milk is being found to be beneficial to heart health, rather than harmful!

We love dessert recipes that also include foods that provide nutrition.  Using brown rice in this recipe provides B vitamins, and fiber.  The almonds provide protein, and fiber as well as minerals.   It is subtly sweet with the honey and so it trains your kids to like things that are a little bit less sweet.  When you buy pre-packaged sweets, they are usually loaded with sugar and a lot of times make you feel sick after you eat them!  Using real whole foods for your desserts doesn’t leave you feeling that way.   A lot of times when we are craving certain foods, it may be because your body really is craving nutrition!

This is also a great recipe to use when you have leftover plain rice.  Just mix the rest of ingredients (minus the water) with the rice in a pot and heat it up until most of the coconut milk has been absorbed.  Make rice once and use it again!  We love when you can use a food for 2 meals.  It saves time, money and is a good way to live your ‘cooking life’.

We love to add slivered almonds on top for that yummy crunch, and also we sometimes add shredded coconut.  It is fun to experiment with different textures and flavors.  We will usually set them out and let our kids add their own toppings!

Try this yummy dessert next time you are craving something sweet, and want to feel good after you eat it!