Friday, November 30, 2012

Guilt-Free Friday: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh my heavens.  I still can't get over how good these cookies are.  I have been eating them for breakfast.  I saved Christmas!!  This is a big deal for me!  I've been wanting to make healthier versions of traditional Christmas cookies for a couple of years now, and this year I've decided I'm just going for it, especially since Harlee is old enough to indulge in them too.  I really don't relish the thought of pumping my kid full of sugar just because 'tis the season... Especially when it's going to be EVERYwhere when he goes to grandparents' houses, friends' houses, etc.  Might as well keep it healthy at home right?  But that usually ends up not being any fun... so I'll admit I was a little nervous about this holiday season and my cookie situation.  I mean I don't want gross cookies to offer my family when we're supposed to be enjoying the treats of the season, ya know?

Well then I came across this recipe from PaleoSpirit.com.  It sounded good and looked good, and simple enough judging from the ingredients, so I thought, what the heck, give it a whirl!

Seriously classy iPhone photography again... I know, I rock.


Um, wow.  I still can't believe there's no sugar in these.  I can't believe there's not really anything bad in them, period!  They really do taste like they're bad for you!  Like the real deal - flour, butter, sugar, chocolate chip cookies!  They look and smell like the real deal, they dunk in milk like the real deal, they're as easy to make as the real deal... I'm just beside myself with happiness, this recipe gave me all the confidence I needed that I will succeed in my quest to make "healthy" but ultimately YUMMY Christmas cookies.

What's better?  These guys don't weigh on you and make you feel like you just ate something bad for you!  That and I didn't run into the issue of wanting to gobble up the whole batch.  Well, I did because they TASTED that good, but I didn't because there was no refined sugar or any other bad stuff that pretty much destroys any will power you have to stop.  Or am I the only one that's had that issue....? :-\

Anyway, I don't have a soap box to get on today, so no preachy blog about how this is bad for you and that is bad for you and this and that are better for you.  Just a bit of gushing about how good these cookies are, and the recipe!  And what a great recipe to kick off cookie baking season, too!  Enjoy! (And I know you will!)

Ingredients
  • 2 cups blanched almond flour - you need to use a good brand like Honeyville Farms, even though it's kinda pricey, otherwise they won't turn out.  Trust me.  Been there done that.
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter, if you're not worried about dairy), melted (I've had success with both)
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup, or honey - I used honey
  • 1 cup chopped pecans (optional, and more or less of them depending on your preference)
  • 3/4 cup dark or regular chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.
  4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  5. Use a small cookie dough scoop (or meatballer) or form into 1/2 inch balls and place on a parchment paper lined or non-stick cookie sheet.
  6.  Press dough down onto pan to form round disks. (The dough does not automatically melt and spread out as with regular flour, unless you're not using Honeyville Farms, in which case you're going to have a huge spread-out mess.)
  7.  Bake 8-10 minutes, a little longer if you like a crunchier cookie, but be careful, because with my experience, baked goods that use almond flour like to burn!
  8. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
 You get about 30-36 cookies out of this recipe, and they're soft and moist with a bit of crispness on the outside - perfect if you asked me! 

Friday, November 23, 2012

Guilt-Free Friday - Pumpkin Bars


Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I love this holiday – for my side of the family it’s never really been a big deal, never went anywhere or did anything, and for Justin’s side of the family, which is small anyway, we only had one place to go.  It’s so laid back, just make a dish, go to his step-grandparents’ house, eat, visit, go home and sleep it off.  Soooo nice especially when you have a little one that you don’t want to have to drag all over God’s creation (like at Christmas…).  There’s no stress of getting gifts for everyone, and what’s better than having a day for everyone to really focus on the good in life and what we’re thankful for?  I know I don’t focus on my blessings nearly as much as I should, so having a day dedicated to that is pretty nice.

I have a lot to be thankful for, that’s for sure.  I’m thankful for my husband, our little man, my job and business, all the people in my life especially all the new friends I’ve made in the past few years and the people I’ve gotten closer to in recent months, all the fun experiences I’ve had in life, and even all the difficult ones, because I’m a better and stronger person now because of them.

I’m also thankful for my health, and all the new things I’m learning about that (and getting to share it with all of you!).  I’m thankful that eating healthy is becoming increasingly easy, too… Yesterday was a nice reminder why I’ve switched over to a cleaner way of eating.  Of course I didn’t behave – I loaded up on stuffing, my sister-in-law’s yummy corn casserole, apple pie… *groan*.  I think the only thing that was “diet”-friendly was the turkey, and I guess the green beans in the green bean casserole (although technically beans aren’t considered paleo… that’s on my list of things to look into because I happen to like green beans and don’t understand what can be wrong with them!  I’ll share when I figure it out!).  I felt pretty heavy and sluggish and foggy and disgusting after all that, but it all tasted soooooo goooood….

At least my dessert was “diet”-friendly, being gluten-free and sugar-free.  Honestly, I couldn’t tell it was any different than any other dessert.  This thing was GOOD.  And I’m actually not a big pumpkin fan – Justin eagerly awaits Dairy Queen’s pumpkin pie blizzard every year; I, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about that.  I’ll have one bite and say “meh, I’ll stick with cookie dough”.  Not sure why I decided to give this dessert a whirl, but I’m glad I did… holy cow, I was licking the spoon clean and feeling bummed when it was all gone!!




Yeah I'm taking my pictures with my iPhone.  All the other food blogs out there have really gorgeous pictures that show off not only their culinary talent but their photography skill as well.  Not me, no, I snap with my phone, plug it into the computer while I'm blogging, copy the picture, done.

Still looks pretty yummy though, doesn't it?  Oh it is.  I know sugar-free stuff usually tastes a little different, but I'm serious, this really does taste like it's bad for you... it's SOOOO GOOOD.  I don't care if it's not Thanksgiving anymore and you don't necessarily have a reason to make a pumpkin dessert - you need to make this.  It's amazing.  And now I'm thinking about taking some of the filling and mixing it with ice cream (yeah I gotta ruin a good thing...)... and a splash of homemade kahlua... (I repeat........).  Haha anyway, seriously, this is really yummy.


I stole this recipe from a blog I’ve been enjoying called PaleOMG!.  It’s been pretty helpful as I’ve been converting, and her writing style is a lot of fun to read!

These are her Pumpkin Pie Bars – I’ll post the recipe as she wrote it and tell you what I did differently.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
For the crust
  • 6 dates, pits removed (I used dried apricots because for some reason I had those on hand and not dates… not sure why but it worked!)
  • 1 cup almond butter (or a cup or so of dry roasted almonds turned into butter, which I’ll explain)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
For the filling
  • 1 (14oz) can pumpkin puree
  • ½ cup canned coconut milk (but I used almond milk)
  • ¼ cup Coconut Cream Concentrate or homemade coconut butter, melted to be just a bit soft (I found cream of coconut at Schnuck’s)
  • 3 tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted
  • 3 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon allspice
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/16 teaspoon ground cloves (don’t measure, just splash)
  • (side note – I just used two tsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of all the above listed spices)
  • pinch of salt
For the toppings
  • ½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
  • 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
  • 2 tablespoon maple syrup (in this case I ran out and used honey)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. First we will make the crust.  Technically you’re supposed to add the dates and almond butter to a food processor, but I don’t have one of those (it’s on my Christmas list!) so I just stuck my apricots and almonds into my blender, along with… 
  3. Add your 2 eggs, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt and puree until smooth.  This actually worked well in my regular old run-of-the-mill blender, and the almonds pureed into butter quite nicely with the help of the other ingredients!
  4. Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish with some coconut oil and pour in your crush. Use a spoon to smooth off the surface and level out all over.
  5. Place in oven to bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is firm and cooked through when you poke it with a toothpick. Then let cool.
  6. While your crust is baking, make your filling ingredients.
  7. Add your pumpkin puree along with all other ingredients and puree until completely smooth. Coconut cream concentrate should be incorporated in, not chunky.
  8. When your crust is cool, top it off with your pumpkin puree filling and smooth evenly through.
  9. Last but not least, make your topping.
  10. Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to a small skillet to heat under medium heat. Then add your chopped pecans.
  11. These will burn easily so be careful.
  12. While constantly mixing the pecans, add your maple syrup (or honey in my case), cinnamon, and a bit of salt and continue to stir until pecans have roasted a bit. About 3-4 minutes.
  13. Pour pecans on top of pumpkin puree filling.
  14. Set in freezer to cool for 20+ minutes.
  15. Cut and serve. Keep in fridge or freezer to keep intact and from melting.

 Enjoy!  I promise you will :).


Oh, and UPS just showed up with my Amazon shipment of "healthy" Christmas cookie ingredients!  Whoop whoop!  Yep, that's the extent of my Black Friday shopping.  Have stuff shipped to my door.  Planned that out well!  Stay tuned, I've got a LOT of good Guilt-Free Friday posts coming up!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Snot, Snot, and More Snot...


It’s everywhere.  Everyone is congested or drippy or goopy or hacking or some form of pleasantry in that category.  So what are some good ways to boost the immune system naturally and help fight off all this gunk, or prevent it all together?

I read somewhere that a cold left untreated lasts 2 weeks, but treated with medicine lasts 14 days… Yeah pretty much.  So basically all we can do is relieve symptoms and keep it from snowballing into something much worse, and just ride it out.  I’m still on a quest to learn more about the common cold, but in the meantime I have learned ways to relieve it.  I’ve also found ways to stave it off, but, alas, sometimes there’s just no avoiding those pesky germs!

I’ve already shared my love of essential oils with you, so you probably have some ideas of what those can do, but to recap along the lines of today’s theme, Peppermint and Eucalyptus are wonderful for the common cold.  Some ways to use it are:
  • Dripping a couple of drops into a pot of boiling water, tenting a towel over your head and the pot, and creating your own mini-sauna as you breathe in the oil-infused steam.  Aaaahhhh hello open sinuses!
  • Rubbing the oils on your feet before you go to sleep at night is great too, as your feet have larger pores and absorb the oils’ healing properties quickly.
  • Mixing it with coconut or olive oil and rubbing it on your chest, like homemade Vick’s (only without the petroleum jelly!  Score!).
  • Drip a drop of [therapeutic grade!!] peppermint oil in hot tea and breathe in the steam and sip away – the peppermint is wonderfully soothing on the throat.  Mix a little raw honey in that tea for added benefits (which I'm getting to in a moment!)
  • Drip a few drops of each into your bath water and soak.  I do this for Harlee all the time!  Benefits both of us as I sit with him and breathe it in too.

There are plenty of other ways to help your immune system along too.  Some good tips to prevent a cold for adults that have worked for me are taking a bunch of echinacea, vitamin C, pau d’arco, and garlic.  Goldenseal is another good one, which I need to get more into, but all my friends in the natural community swear by it just as much as echinacea and vitamin C.

Echinacea is pretty commonly used – usually people know what I’m talking about when I mention it whether they try to go the more natural route with their lifestyles or not.  Here’s an excerpt from herbs.org that explains how beneficial Echinacea is:

Echinacea increases the "non-specific" activity of the immune system. In other words, unlike a vaccine which is active only against a specific disease, echinacea stimulates the overall activity of the cells responsible for fighting all kinds of infection. Unlike antibiotics, which are directly lethal to bacteria, echinacea makes our own immune cells more efficient in attacking bacteria, viruses and abnormal cells, including cancer cells.
Echinacea facilitates wound healing, lessens symptoms of and speeds recovery from viruses. Anti-inflammatory effects make it useful externally against inflammatory skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema. It may also increase resistance to candida, bronchitis, herpes, and other infectious conditions.
Wonderful, wonderful stuff :).

Moving along, I’d have to worry if you don’t know anything about Vitamin C, but as a little refresher, among a lot of other health benefits, it’s most important job is boosting your immune system, plain and simple.  It comes naturally from fruits and vegetables, too, yum!

Pau d’Arco, what’s that?  It’s a pretty strong immune system boosting herb that I found out about when I was dealing with my chronic yeast infection issue.  It’s anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious, and a great aid for detoxing.  I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re pregnant or nursing – it’s really really powerful stuff – almost too harsh for baby.  But I’ve recommended it to quite a few people who have reported back that it’s helped them out, especially for avoiding getting sick during cold and flu season.

Garlic is amazing.  Here’s an article about some scientific research done on how and why garlic works so well.  I’ll help sum it up too though.  It’s a powerful antioxidant, and it’s a natural antibiotic.  What’s cool about garlic as an antibiotic, though, is that the bacteria in the body can’t develop a resistance to it like they can against pharmaceutical antibiotics, so it can work over and over again!  That and it’s not killing all your good bacteria, like pharmaceutical antibiotics do, as I explained in a previous post.

But wait, there’s more!  Garlic contains a phytochemical called “allicin” which is released when the garlic is chopped or minced or chewed, and this protects your body against bacterial infections among other ailments.  Allicin is especially effective against enterococci (a strain of strep) and staphylococcus, which can be difficult bacteria to battle!  Oh and get this, a study was done at the National Cancer Institute in the US which showed that garlic can both slow the growth of cancer cells as well as cause abnormal cells to self-destruct.  Wow!  Check out this article to learn more about garlic (oh yes, there is more!).  Surely it can help fight against the common cold.

What I like about garlic is that, obviously, you can cook with it!  Incorporate it into most, if not all, of your meals during cold and flu season for an easy boost to your immune system.  There are other great herbs you can incorporate into dinner too that are also great for your health.  Thyme is antibacterial, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and is an antioxidant.  It’s also beneficial for treating bronchitis.  Sage is anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and a great detoxifier for the blood.  Hmm… throw in some chicken broth, veggies, and chicken and we’ve got the ingredients for a great soup for anyone under the weather!

Need something sweet after that soup?  Try honey: it fights colds and respiratory infections, is great for allergies, and according to Dr. Cass Igram, D.O. in The Survivor’s Nutritional Pharmacy, "Raw honey is exceptionally effective internally against bacteria and parasites. Plus, raw honey contains natural antibiotics, which help kill microbes directly. Raw honey, when applied topically, speeds the healing of tissues damaged by infection and/or trauma. It contains vitamins, minerals and enzymes, as well as sugars, all of which aid in the healing of wounds."  Click here for some great honey remedies!

One last suggestion before I wrap this up, and it’s a simple one: fresh air.  One of the biggest reasons we get sick during the winter is being cooped up inside hiding from the cold and breathing in each other’s germs.  Every time we exhale we release toxins from our bodies.  Staying cooped up inside just creates an environment of old, stale air and all the germs and toxins we release from inside.  Oxygen is vital for our bodies – our cells need it to develop and function at a healthy level.  When we stay cooped up inside, we’re depriving our cells and our bodies of that very important element.  One thing I’ve found that helps at home is every morning I open the window wide and let the air in while I go about my morning routine of making the bed, brushing my teeth, etc.  I leave it open for about 10-15 minutes or so, enough to get some good fresh oxygen in, flush out our stale air, but not freeze us out in the winter.  I try to open up the rest of the house in intervals, too, to freshen up all the rooms.  It’s a very simple thing to do, but helps tremendously!

I hope that provided some good tips for cold and flu season.  Feel free to leave a comment to share some of your own home remedies for beating those germs!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Guilt-Free Friday: Pancakes


So I was craving pancakes Sunday morning.  I was lying in bed thinking about the days when I wasn’t aware of what carbs and gluten were doing to my body and I’d hop out of bed and whip up a batch and enjoy them with my fake syrup and then lay around feeling happily bloated all morning (happily only because it tasted sooooo goooood…).  Ah, those were the good ol’ days… Okay not really.  I’m really okay avoiding all that stuff, and honestly it’s been a very fun challenge finding alternatives like pizza and pasta!  I can honestly say I don’t miss any of that stuff.

It’s been really rewarding, too, because THREE TIMES in ONE DAY I got comments from people that I’m “looking good” or “losing weight”.  I got all excited when I heard this, thanked them graciously, and said I’m really happy to hear that because I haven’t really been doing anything, so I had no clue if I was or not!  I haven’t been on a scale in several weeks either so I have no clue what my progress has been…  But I got to thinking – “I haven’t been doing anything” was an honest statement, but not all together true… I HAVE been doing something, it’s just become easy and second nature now that I don’t FEEL like I’m doing anything.  Yay!  That’s a huge breakthrough!

No way was I going to ruin my progress by making the old school pancakes!  So off to the wonderful worldwide web I went in search of a paleo pancake recipe, hopefully calling for ingredients I had on hand.  All from the comfort of my bed (what was I doing before my smart phone came into my life?).  I found the perfect recipe on a blog called Paleo Table.

My good friend came over with her kids as I was making these.  We planned to make homemade Kahlua after the pancakes, and the pancakes were definitely a wonderful precursor to our mission (which, by the way, the kahlua turned out AWESOME, but it’s not exactly good for you so I won’t be sharing that recipe here, as it’s a bit out of the scope of this blog… but I’d happily admit it’s good for the soul!).  She said they were the best she’d ever eaten!  I had to agree… All three of our kiddos scarfed them down along with us!

They were even better with melted butter and maple syrup… mmmmmm…

They look mouth-watering and delicious even with the crappy quality of the photo I took with my phone!

Which brings me to a quick little spiel about butter and syrup.  With either of those, I’m talking about the real thing.  I’ll start with butter.  The alternative that most everyone uses is margarine, which is basically just processed chemicals and vegetable oil made to resemble butter but with less saturated fat and cholesterol (so it’s healthy for your heart, supposedly).  Unfortunately the stick margarine has trans-fats, which are really really bad for you (in a nutshell, consuming trans-fatty acids can lead to deformed cellular membranes, which can increase cancer risks, promote inflammation, and speed up degeneration in tissues).  Butter, however, is a natural product – its fatty acids are similar to our bodies’ fatty acids, so it's easier for our digestive systems to figure out what to do with it.  It’s higher in saturated fat and cholesterol, though, which is why margarine has been more attractive to people.  But, what we don’t realize is that even though the oils that go into margarine are unsaturated, they become more saturated as they’re processed to turn into a harder spread.  Even though margarine doesn’t contain cholesterol, it still stimulates your body to make cholesterol when you eat it, so it’s really not as “heart healthy” as it comes off!

This information was taken from an article written by Dr. Andrew Weil, if you’d like to read more – it gives you a history of margarine and how it originated (kind of disgusting, I’m glad it’s come along as far as it has!) and a bit of a chemistry lesson on each product.  Ultimately, if you have to choose between one or the other, he suggests going with the real thing – butter.  And I agree.  It makes more sense.  But I also agree that it should be consumed in moderation.  It may be the natural choice, but that doesn’t make it entirely healthy… just a lot less detrimental to your health overall than margarine!

Maple syrup, however, has some big differences between real and fake.  Here are the ingredients in Aunt Jemima’s syrup: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.  Here are the ingredients in organic, grade B maple syrup: ORGANIC MAPLE SYRUP.  Hmmm…. Which would you rather consume?  If you’re still undecided, how about we look at the nutrition facts?  Aunt Jemima: ¼ cup contains 120 mg of sodium, 52 mg of carbohydrates (32 mg of which are [refined] sugar), aaaannnndddd that’s it.  The real stuff?  The only thing that’s the same is the carbohydrates, except the sugar isn’t refined, otherwise it contains the minerals calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron; the vitamins B2, B5, B6, niacin, biotin, and folic acid; and it also contains amino acids which are building blocks of proteins.

Need I say more?

Now go stock your fridge and pantry with REAL food, not stuff that’s been chemically altered to resemble food, and enjoy the health benefits!

And now for that recipe!

Ingredients
Dry
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 packet Stevia
Wet
3 large eggs, room temperature*
4-5 Tbsp full-fat coconut milk (I used almond milk as that’s all I had on hand)
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (again with the REAL thing!  Why eat “imitation” vanilla?  Imposter!  Do your body a favor and consume things it can recognize!)

*You can quickly bring whole eggs to room temperature by setting them in a bowl of very warm tap water for about 5 minutes.

Preparation
  1. Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, forming a well in the center with a spoon.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, 4 Tbsp milk, honey, and vanilla.
  3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well with a spoon. If the batter is dry, add 1 Tbsp coconut milk.
  4. Let batter sit for 5 minutes.
  5. Coat cooking surface with coconut oil.
  6. Set griddle to 300 degrees or warm skillet over medium heat.
  7. Scoop 1 Tbsp of batter onto prepared griddle. Repeat to make small pancakes.
  8. Cook 2 minutes on first side or until bubbles start forming around the edges. 
  9. Flip and cook 1 minute on second side or until center is cooked through.
  10. Keep cooked pancakes warm in a low oven (170 degrees F).
  11. Garnish with honey, pastured butter, fresh fruit, or raw maple syrup.  Enjoy!

By the way, these freeze really well, so I recommend going ahead and making a double batch - you'll be glad you did on those mornings you're feeling rushed and need something quick to pop in the toaster and take with you on the go!