Monday, November 5, 2012

grain-free, sugar-free chocolate chip cookies

In my past life, I was really into baking. I loved being in the kitchen, making a mess and pulling together sweet treats. I had visions of spending afternoons with my son and my kitchenaid mixer, baking up all sorts of sweet memories. That vision was, and continues to be, one of the hardest things to let go in light of this lifestyle change. I'm just not in the financial position to get in the kitchen and experiment with grain-free baking every afternoon. As such, I have cautiously approached baking. And one thing's for sure: when baking with caution, go for cookies first! Cookies are very forgiving.

I checked out the recipe in my diet book, and then looked online for some guidance to adapt the recipe to what I had on-hand and my personal preference not to use stevia. Here's what I came up with:


Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c almond flour
3/4 c almond meal
3/4 c coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt (I add a pinch extra)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 c xylitol (scant)
10 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
1 c dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the dry ingredients. Melt the oils together, add the vanilla extract, and then add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough may be a little dry or crumbly. Form into little balls and press onto a cookie sheet. (They won't spread much, so press them into the shape and size you want for the end product.) Bake for 8-12 minutes - they're done when the edges start to brown. I usually bake mine for at least 12 minutes, but your mileage may vary.


There you have it! Grain-free chocolate chip cookies.

A few notes:
- I usually double the amount of chocolate chips I see in a cookie recipe, but in this case doubling it doesn't really improve the cookie enough to justify the added expense.
- You could cut back on the xylitol and add stevia, if that floats your boat. Or substitute honey, turbinado, or your sweetener of choice.
- The almond meal in these cookies give it a lot of texture, which I happen to like. If you want a soft cookie that melts away when you pop it in your mouth, this is probably not the recipe for you.
- One time I made these cookies and forgot the baking soda, and I couldn't tell a difference. I may leave this out from now on.
- My version of these cookies is not truly sugar free, as I use regular semi-sweet or even milk chocolate chips.

Monday, October 29, 2012

frittata all day

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. Family lore even suggests that as a baby, I was all about that first meal of the day. Before I went grain-free and sugar-free, I would have a bowl of cereal, granola, oatmeal, or grits for breakfast. On this diet, none of these options are allowed.

These days, my go-to breakfast is eggs. I prefer mine scrambled, with some cheese mixed in. Sometimes I'll shake things up and have salsa and sour cream with my eggs instead. Eggs don't have to be relegated to breakfast, though. Pull together a frittata, and you've got a great dinner or lunch, too.

Frittatas are very easy to make, and they are also versatile enough to satisfy pretty much anybody who likes eggs. Maybe it's a garden frittata kind of day, with your spinach, onions, and tomatoes. Maybe it's cold outside and you want to add loads of sausage and cheese for a filling dinner. Spend five minutes poking through your favorite recipe site to get some inspiration.

My favorite thing about frittatas is that the leftovers keep in the fridge, making it easier to cruise through the more difficult days on this diet. I've had my fair share of "gotta have something" moments that leave me rabid for something substantial and vulnerable to bad choices.

Monday, October 15, 2012

lifesaver: cassava chips


When I was stunned into a stupor after learning the restrictions of the diet I was about to adopt, I went to the local health foods co-op and wandered the snacks sections for a while. Every package I checked contained at least one forbidden ingredient. There was one product, however, that I found that fit the parameters: 

Cassava chips! Cassava is inexplicably listed as acceptable on the cellular healing diet. I decided not to ask questions about root vegetables and instead purchased about 8 bags. 

I've actually found that I prefer these chips to regular potato chips. My favorite potato chips were always the really thick, crispy, salty ones. These cassava chips are SO thick and crunchy that I just love them. 

If you want to skip the chips, be on the lookout for these at your own health foods store. The brand I usually buy is CrispRoot. I'm partial to the plain chips with salt, but my mom likes their Thai Ginger flavor. Yum!



Note: I'm just reviewing this product because I love it. No one asked me to review these, no one has compensated me for this review, and no one gave me anything.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Introduction

I've been on a grain-free, sugar-free, anti-inflammation, cellular healing diet journey for about a month now. I purchased a recipe book from Dr. Pompa, the innovator of this diet, but there's so much more than this one recipe book can offer. What follows is a compilation of recipes I've adapted from my "former life" as a terrible eater, as well as a few innovations of my own.