Gluten Free Sweet Potato Brownies

Makes 15 brownies

While everyone else is posting pumpkin pie and stuffing recipes, I'm posting chocolate recipes!! This might seem strange at first, but when you understand the benefits of raw cacao and organic chocolate, you might change your mind.  Chocolate is one of the highest food sources of Magnesium, which many have called the magnificent mineral.  Magnesium has over 300 mechanisms in our bodies and has powerful natural relaxing properties and who doesn't need more of that as we step into the holiday season!

 3 small sweet potatoes (about 2 1/2  cups)

 20 medjool dates-pitted

 1 cup of almonds (ground until a course flour consistency)

 3/4 cup of buckwheat or brown rice flour 
 1/4 cup succanat or coconut sugar (brown sugar if you're in a pinch)

 ½  tsp Real Salt

 1/3 cup of raw cacao/or organic coco powder

 2 tsp vanilla extract

 ¼ cup of pure maple syrup
 20 drops Liquid Stevia

 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
 2-4 tablespoons lite coconut milk 

Start by pre-heating the oven to 350, then peel the sweet potatoes. Cut them into small chunks and place into oven for about twenty minutes.  Once they are perfectly soft and beginning to fall apart, remove them and put them a food processor with the pitted dates – process until it forms a nice creamy mix.  Add all the remaining liquid ingredients (use just 2 T. of the coconut milk) and process.

Put the dry ingredients into a bowl, mix to blend.  Add the sweet potato mix and stir well. If the batter is too dry and the dry ingredients will not hold together, then add an additional 1-2 T. of coconut milk.

Pat mixture into a baking dish lined w/parchment paper and cook for about twenty minutes, until you can pierce with a fork and bring it out clean. Remove the tray and allow it to cool for about ten minutes – this is really important for time to stick together! Remove the brownies from the tray, wait another few minutes before cutting them into squares – then dig in and enjoy!

Aloha, a healthy lifestyle inspired brand has some more great healthy recipes over here https://aloha.com/mag/recipes

Something else to nurture yourself with during this season is a once a week nice hot epsom salt bath with lavender oil.  The epsom salts are full of magnesium that will help relax those aching muscles, sulfur to detox, and the lavender oil will sooth your mind. I hope you will gift yourself with a little bit of time to experience and enjoy this little slice of heaven.

Easy Savory Gluten Free Chia Nut Bread

Savory Chia Nut Bread

This hearty, savory, dense bread can almost be a meal in itself.  It takes 5 minutes to throw together and about 25 minutes to cook.  It's a no brainer and packs a lot of fiber, good fat and protein as well as wonderful flavor. I hope you will try it!!!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats, ground into a flour *
• 1/4 cup raw buckwheat grout, ground into a flour *
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp Real Salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 cup currents or chopped raisins
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 F and for easy clean up line a 9-inch square pan with two pieces of parchment paper, one going each way.
• Add rolled oats and buckwheat into a high-speed blender or food processor.  Blend or process until a fine flour forms.
• Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir until well combined. Stir in dried fruit and water.  The mixture will be  watery and runny at first, but it will thicken up fairly quickly due to the chia seeds.  Place mixture into the pan and smooth it out evenly with moist hands or a spatula.  You may want to lightly sprinkle the top with a course salt. 
• Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes or until firm to the touch.  Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes and lift out and place on a cooling rack.  
• Slice into 4 squares and then each square in half on the diagonal.

I love topping it with a little bit of arugula and a thick spread of goat cheese.  It's like biting into a little slice of heaven.

Make a sandwich with avocado, and navy bean hummus in the middle and you have an easy lunch.  Just add a piece of fruit and your body and mind will be satisfied for hours.

*Note: you may substitute the oat flour with brown rice flour and you can always purchase the oat flour and buckwheat flour already ground and ready to go.  And I prefer the currents over raisins.

Dairy alternative

The questions that I most often get asked when I put my clients on a dairy free, gluten free, and soy free eating plan for 30 days are, what am I to drink on my cereal, or use in my shakes?  And how can I live without cheese or yogurt?  What can I use instead of cows milk, if I can't use soy milk.  
Well, here are what I think are the best alternatives:  Goats milk and cheeses and nut milk and cheeses.  Trader Joe's has quite a nice variety of goat's and sheep cheese these days, so I hope you will check them out.  Farmer's Markets also have  great cheeses but sometimes at pretty steep prices.

A little bit about goat's milk.  The protein in goat milk is easier to digest than cow's milk protein, so easier on the stomach. The fat content is a little bit higher than whole milk but the type of fat mainly, CLA (Congugated Linoleic Acid) is very healing to the digestive system and may help ward off estrogen driven cancers as well. 

If you don't like the taste or the idea of goat's milk then nut milks are a great alternative.  Below are recipes for a quick 30 second version and then the more traditional version.  I would recommend making your own nut milks, if possible, as the ones available in the stores are often full of sugar and chemicals and besides, it can be easy and fun too!

30 Second Nut Milk:  Use this if you don't have time or don't feel like making the real McCoy.

Serves 2

2 heaping tablespoons raw almond or cashew butter
2 cups filtered water
Pinch of Real* Salt or sea salt
1 Tablespoon Sucanat**  or raw honey (optional)
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

The Real McCoy Almond Milk Recipe:

Serves 2-4

1 cup raw almonds, soaked 4 hours or more
4 cups filtered water
1-2 Tablespoons Sucanat** or raw honey (optional)
Pinch of Real Salt or sea salt
A few drops of natural almond or vanilla extract (optional)

In a high power blender, blend the nuts and water on high speed for about 2 minutes, to make sure the nuts are thoroughly blended.  Strain the milk through a nut milk bag or multiple layers of cheesecloth twice for smoothness.  Rinse the blender cup and place the milk back in it with the remaining ingredients.  Blend to combine thoroughly and taste for sweetness.

**Sucanat is a sugar that has been very minimally processed. It is cane sugar that has been dehydrated, not heated and it maintains it's molasses content, as well as vitamin and mineral content.