I love the taste and simplicity of Larabars, but I've never been able to eat them--most are sweetened with dates, and they're glycemic index is over the moon! Zzzzzzzz. No sugar for me!
I read on the interwebs (here and here) that they're now owned by General Mills..and although they still claim they're GMO-free, their parent company supports the effort to keep GMO labeling off their products...so no General Mills products in my house! I even gave up my beloved Smuckers peanut butter for the same reason. *pout*
In comes experiment time! I've seen lots of "Larabar" type recipes floating around the interwebs lately, so I decided to try my own.
This isn't a recipe--you can easily find those elsewhere. I just wanted to share that they're pretty easy to make and you can make them without dates. I ended up sweetening mine with Stevia and using just a bit of water or cream to make them stick together. I drink tart cherry juice at night (for inflammation) and that works great too. FUN EXPERIMENTATION TIME.
Chia Seeds! Use whole or grind them up.
I decided I like them ground. My little coffee grinder works perfectly.
Raw almonds!
Almonds ground in my mini food chopper.
Almonds ground in my coffee grinder. I think I like them super fine.
Raw pumpkin seeds.
Ground pumpkin seeds in my mini food chopper.
Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate. If I use this, it doesn't need stevia to sweeten.
After you mix it all up, dump it out on a plate.
Use your hands or a piece of plastic wrap to shape into bars or balls or just eat it with a spoon!
Child approved.
I hope you try it! Happy mixing!
I love to experiment--especially when the amount of leftovers awaiting us in the fridge and freezer gets to critical mass. Or something like that.
I don't eat out anymore, and so the hubs and kiddo don't get to very often either, and we ALL really miss good ol' Springfield "Chinese" Cashew Chicken. Alas, that's a huge no-no for me anymore.
So after several days of leftover pork, chicken, and beef dishes, I figured my little family would like something new. So I fried up some cauliflower rice and made a pretty convincing "cashew sauce" (Sans cashews--just cuz I didn't have any), and I made these yummy little fried...things.
I threw all the meat and veggies from the fridge together and added eggs and fresh-ground almond flour. It took a little experimenting to get the right thickness so they wouldn't fall apart when I fried them, but we were all quite pleased with the turnout!
Sorry, no pics of the entire meal...I've been trying to NOT take pics at the table lately. Celia glares at me when I do. :)
 Batter made with leftover meat and veggies + eggs + almond flour. |  Fried fritters in my little shallow skillet with peanut oil. YUMMY YUMMY FRIED THINGS. |
A big part of eating healthy and making over EVERYTHING is not consuming prepackaged foods--and that includes condiments--a general rule is to just avoid preservatives altogether. Convenience just isn't a part of eating healthy these days. The good news is that the taste of homemade food is always worth the time it takes to make it. (I'm lucky that I love to cook!)
I've been experimenting with chia seeds, so I thought I'd throw a spoonful into the ranch dressing I was whipping up to go on our sandwiches. It turned out GREAT. It's similar to adding poppy seeds--except you're getting in some awesome nutrients with the chia seeds. I loved the texture.
Remember, you can add more or less seasonings to suit your own preferences. This is just a small recipe that I mixed up to spread on sandwiches. You wouldn't want to make a big batch, because, unlike the store bought stuff that's full of msg and sugar and who-knows-what-else, it won't last long in the fridge (which is a GOOD thing!).
I used a mix of half and half and lemon juice to make the base. Additionally, you could just use sour cream (Daisy brand makes a sour cream without additives--go with the regular, full-fat version, and avoid low-fat items--they have to replace the fat with something, and it's usually worse for you than the fat--your body NEEDS healthy fats. I promise.)
Chia Seed Ranch Dressing
Measurements are approximate--I didn't measure; just eyeball it.
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Half & Half (OR Heavy Whipping Cream)
Mix together in a small bowl. It should immediately start getting thick.
Add...
1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds (ground works fine too)
1 Tablespoon Chives (fresh or dried)
1/2 tsp parsley (fresh or dried is fine)
1/2 teaspoon garlic or onion powder (or both)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Let sit for at least 5 minutes. The chia seeds will start absorbing some of the liquid and it will get thicker.
Use immediately or you can store this in the fridge for up to 3 days or so.
| This week I'm on a chocolate slushy kick (i.e., OM NOM NOM).
My trusty old blender wasn't cutting it when it came to adding ice to my smoothies, so I got a Ninja Master Prep. |  
{Affiliate Link} | I'm in love. We're pretty much going steady, and it's only been 4 days. *swoon*
I've been making my eggnog (recipe here) and my freezer chocolate (recipe at the end of this post here), and then dumping them in the Ninja together with a bunch of ice.
YUM. I'm a fan of textures, so the chocolate bits--which are just like hard shell chocolate--are so divine.
Of course, you could go with straight vanilla or any other flavor too. I've been collecting quite the assortment of extracts lately. :)  Slushy Chocolatey Wonderfulness When I find a new recipe I love, I have a tendency to make it over and over for a week. Or a couple of weeks. Or a month. Whatever. Thankfully my hubby puts up with my healthy endeavors. :)
 A quick microwaved chocolate muffin I whipped up! I've been on this healthy-eating journey for 3 years. I never expected I'd have such a restricted diet--let alone that I'd ENJOY it so much. What started out as merely an attempt at escaping a life of migraines (read about that here) has turned into, not only a new eating style, but an ever-evolving, and completely new lifestyle. Not only do I care what I eat, but I've learned how and why I care about it.
I'm not at my goal weight. I do have a goal weight, but I imagine that goal will change the closer I get to it. During my first year of very strictly following the Atkins diet, I lost over SIXTY pounds. I stayed on the first "rung" for over 6 months (which is drastic, but recommended if you have a LOT to lose). After that, I faithfully "climbed the ladder" and slowly began to add more carbs to my day, and then a larger variety of foods back into my diet. As expected, weight loss slows as you move up the ladder. So after the initial weight loss, I assumed I would move into slowly losing the rest, as I continued to follow the plan.
Not quite.
What I didn't realize, was that part of how amazing I felt during that first year was due to the fact that I never cheated, and by doing so, I had removed GLUTEN from my diet. When I began adding back "regular" foods, and yes, the occasional "cheat," I would feel like I'd been hit with the flu every time.
After more research, I decided to exclude gluten. Bingo.
I had been tested for Celiac disease, and that test was negative, so I didn't even consider this could be an issue. But I'm happy to report that I quickly learned that if something bothers me, I AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Going gluten-free isn't a fad diet that you try for a couple of weeks. You won't lose weight just by going gluten-free. And you definitely should avoid most pre-packaged gluten free products. Even though they may be GF, most of them are still full of sugar and starches.
Basically, if you really, truly want to be healthy--really, really healthy--you're going to have to learn to cook, or get yourself a personal chef. Just sayin'. :)
__ This is the recipe I use for my sandwich bread--which is wonderful! I had really missed eating good ol' sandwiches!
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup whey protein powder
1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
1 container Daisy cottage cheese (NOT low-fat)
1 dozen eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or real butter)
1 tablespoon erythritol OR 1 tsp Truvia
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all the wet ingredients together in a blender, mixer, or food processor. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. You should have a mixture the consistency of pancake batter.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper--make sure it covers the sides as well. Fill each sheet with approx 1/3 inch of batter and spread it out so it's even. (If you don't want to get parchment paper, you can try non-stick coconut oil spray, but it's so much easier to remove from the pan with the parchment paper.)
Bake approximately 20-25 minutes--you want the top to develop a medium to dark golden brown color.
Remove from oven and cool. I use scissors to cut it into equal size squares. After completely cool, store in plastic bags. Keep in fridge or freezer.
Yields 2-3 dozen "slices" depending on how thick you pour the batter and how large you cut each piece.
 Crummy phone pic of my sandwich :) _ Variations
I make this "plain" version so I can use it for sandwiches or sweet cream cheese spreads, but you can add any flavors or spices you want. Sometimes I add spinach, Parmesan, and onion powder. Sometimes I add a few packets of Truvia and some cinnamon.
Notes
I have tried other methods of baking this, but the parchment paper on a cookie sheet is the best method so far. Using a bread pan didn't let it cook on the inside and I ended up with mushy bread.
You can pan fry these very thin to make wraps.
The cottage cheese adds salt, so unless you're doing a savory version, you won't want to add salt.
You can skip the almond meal and use all coconut flour. Don't skip the whey protein powder and psyllium husk powder though--these two ingredients give it a nice firm texture.
You can also omit the sweetners, but I think it gives it a more authentic "white bread" taste. Using the erythritol also adds to the texture and helps it brown nicely.
Feel free to share with the links below! Thanks!
I came across the BEST wrap recipe EVER this week! I absolutely love Maria Emmerich's blog! I made my first batch last night and had WONDERFUL little sandwiches! (Please forgive the yellowy pics, my kitchen lighting is less than ideal!) They're made with just a few easy ingredients, with a base of coconut flour and psyllium husk powder. Mixing them together was super easy and the whole process didn't take long at all! I cut these out with a cup--they made perfect little "sliders" with some all-natural cold cuts, muenster, and lots of spinach and Duke's (sugar-free!) mayo. YUM!
I came home tonight and made a double-batch. These are definitely a new staple around here! Find Maria's great recipe on her blog here: http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/2012/02/sandwich-wraps-and-gluten-free-junk.html
I haven't posted on my low-carb blog in a while. I was very busy over the holidays with a ton of orders. I did manage to stay "on plan" but just enough not to make myself sick.
Since the beginning of the year I've been doing my version of Atkins Induction--I'm not actually back to induction or counting carbs, I'm just being very conscious of what I eat and am avoiding excessive *anything.* Cutting out most sweeteners ((Diet Pepsi, you are next!)).
I'm now totally gluten free--and it's SO great. No more puffy face in the mornings. That right there is a great reason to be GF! Now that I'm off gluten though, any tiny bit that sneaks into my body wreaks havoc for several days. The longer you're away from it, the worse it treats you. I really love this, because I have absolutely no urge to have a "cheat day," because it sets me way off track, and I end up feeling completely miserable. No amount of indulgence is worth that kind of time! This also means I'm completely avoiding any type of restaurant setting. The last "take out" meal I had was a salad from Subway--stupid me--did not even occur to me that they were chopping my veggies in the same spot they place the bread. Lesson learned! Good thing I like to cook!
I tried what I thought would be "okay" bacon this week from Mama Jean's. BAD IDEA. Just one little bite and the hidden MSG attacked my brain and gave me a migraine for the rest of the night. This time it was hiding in "spice extractives" -- it makes me so crazy mad that even a health food store carries such junk. I wish MSG was illegal!
Hopefully, I'll carve out some time to share some of my current staples and recipes soon. It's all a very long learning curve. I'm back down 10 more lbs from the end of last year, so I'm very happy about that. And despite my back issues ((I'm really an 85 year old woman in disguise)) I'm feeling pretty good!
More later. Hopefully!
 Gluten Free Tacos ((Low Carb/No tortilla shells for me. I had mine on lettuce.))
|
RSS Feed
