The Accidental Vegan, Gluten Free with Cacao Nibs Oatmeal Cookie

I was recently asked to make oatmeal cookies for an upcoming camping trip. While I love to cook, I wasn't excited to get going on this project as I am not a baker.  (My older sister has the corner on that one).  I'm also not an oatmeal cookie buff.  Now if I had been asked to make chocolate chip cookies, I may have gotten a little  more excited. Nevertheless, I still wanted to accommodate the request and I set out to search for a gluten free recipe, sweetened as naturally as possible.  I ended up taking three recipes and choosing a little from each and came up with a pretty tasty cookie, if I do say so myself!  It was kind of a science experiment, which is always what makes cooking fun.  It's a tasty, chewy, not too sweet little cookie that leaves you feeling satisfied and happy.  I may be an oatmeal cookie buff after all.  

I have posted this recipe with both vegan and vegetarian ingredients and equivalents.  I do prefer using butter and the eggs but the vegan version is wonderful as well!
Here's how it goes....

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup pecan halves (toasting is optional-it adds a nice flavor)
2 cups gluten free-rolled oats, divided
3/4 cups buckwheat flour or any gluten free flour
1/2 cup Sucanat* or unpacked brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon (I don't like a whole lot of cinnamon but some people do)
1 tsp Real Salt
1 Large egg beaten or 1 tsp ground Chi seeds or 2 tsp. ground flaxseed + 2 Tablespoons water
1/3 cup organic honey or rice syrup
15 drops liquid stevia
4 Tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Heaping 1/3 cup pitted dates
1/3 cup dried cherries or cranberries (optional)
2 Tablespoons Cacao nibs*

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Put pecans along with 1 cup of oats in food processor and process until coarsely chopped with some fine powder showing. Be sure not to over process or the oils in the nuts will release.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the above mixture with the next 5 ingredients and the remaining 1 cup of oats.  Put aside.
4. In small bowl, coat the chopped dates in 1 tsp flour and toss until coated. (This prevents the dates from sticking together)
5. In a large bowl, mix together your version of the egg along with the syrup, butter or coconut oil, and vanilla extract.  Then add the dry ingredients and mix well.  Fold in cranberries or cherries, nibs and dates.  
6. Take about 2 Tablespoons of dough, roll it into a ball, and then press down on it with your hand or a spoon to flatten.  Space the cookies a couple inches apart.

Bake for about 12 minutes and then rotate the pan and bake for another 5 minutes until the cookies are golden. Remove from oven and let sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing cookies onto a cooling rack.

Sucanat: is dehydrated pure cane sugar.  It is a golden brown in color and maintains its molasses flavor and minerals.  It has less sweetening power than refined white sugar and a lower glycemic index.

Cacao Nibs: chocolate in its purest form yielding all of its antioxidant benefits. They are the cacao beans that have been roasted but not processed with alkali and are probably the best dietary source of magnesium, which is a wonderful little mineral that naturally relaxes us.  The cacao bean is also a great source of tryptophan which helps with moods. No wonder you crave chocolate when you're PMSing.

Gluten, Egg and Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie.

Makes a 9 Inch Pie

For The Crust:

•  1 cup GF certified rolled oats, processed into a fine flour OR 1 cup GF oat flour
• 2 cups raw pecans
• 2 tbsp Sucanat or Raw sugar
• 3 tbsp ground flax
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup (acts as the binder, honey may work if you prefer that)
• 2 tbsp Organic Butter or Earth Balance-soy free, melted

For the Filling:

• 2 & 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sucanat or raw cane sugar
• 1/4 cup full-fat coconut cream
• 1 Tbsp butter or Earth Balance-soy free
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp arrowroot powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves

Instructions:

Crust:

• Grease a 9-inch pie dish very well and preheat the oven to 350 F. 
• In a food processor, add 2 cups pecans and process until it starts to clump and oils start to release (about 35 secs), but don’t make pecan butter either. 
• Melt Earth Balance or butter with brown rice syrup in small saucepan.. Transfer clumpy pecan mixture into a large bowl and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Using your hands, squeeze the dough over and over to combine very well. You should be able to form a ball with it. If it's too dry add a bit more oil.
• Spoon the pecan dough onto pie dish and smooth out evenly. Press down firmly with fingers to form a crust, bringing it up along the sides. Press as firmly as you can. Prick base with fork 12-13 times. Prebake at 350F for 9-12 minutes, watching closely so it doesn't burn. Remove and cool for 10 mins.

Filling:

• In large bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and arrowroot powder.  Then add all ingredients and whisk together, adjusting spices to taste,  Add more sweetener if desired, if you know your audience needs it.
• Scoop the filling into crust and smooth.  Cover the edges of the crust with tin foil or a crust shield and bake for 50-55 minutes at 350F.  Place on cooling rack for 1 hour.  Transfer to fridge to set for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight. 

Dairy Free Whipped Cream: Whip 2 cups of Coconut Cream in a well chilled bowl with well chilled beaters until stiff.  Add 2 Tbsp sucanat or raw cane sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract, if desired.

This recipe is adapted from a great blog by Angela Liddon @  http://ohsheglows.com.  I recommend visiting this site for some more wonderful recipes that are gluten and diary free.
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Your Fork is a Powerful Tool

Perhaps The Most Powerful Tool You Have…

The most powerful tool you have to transform your health or to keep your health is your fork! Use it well and you will thrive. Use it poorly and you will more than likely suffer.  In my practice, I find that the less a person uses their fork, the more likely they are consuming foods that are high in bad fats, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, additives and preservatives, all of which are found in abundance in fast foods, chips, sodas, baked goods, and prepared and processed foods.  What your fork needs to find are foods that are “whole” and real and living.

Whole, Living foods not only taste better, they make us feel better and are part of preventing disease. When we give our body Living, real food, it has the raw materials that it needs to heal and protect itself.  Mounds of scientific evidence points to the power of food as medicine. These “medicinal” foods are simple and are what our bodies need to make us sparkle and feel alive!  

 We can treat and prevent most chronic illnesses with a whole, organic, real, unprocessed diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, small omega-3 containing fish like sardines and herring, and lean grass fed animal protein. These are basically,foods that our ancestors gathered and hunted.  We have not evolved much over the past years and our bodies basically need the same nutrient rich food for fuel and optimal health. Whole, real, living foods are our first line of defense against disease, including autoimmune disease, cancers, depression, ADD, heart disease, diabetes and the myriad of other chronic diseases that we suffer from because we do not feed our bodies what they need.

So, how can you easily tell if a food is a Living food?  It's actually very simple.  It will spoil or change at room temperature in 7-10 days. (the exception is a dehydrated food) The fact that the food is changing means that it is still living and full of enzymes that our body needs to operate at a peak level.  An example of this: Tortillas and breads should become moldy in about 7 days at room temperature.  If they don't, they are no longer a living food but have been made inert with added preservatives, chemicals and/or heat.  Dead foods do not help to keep our bodies energized and disease free and they "dumb" us down.

Foods to Avoid Forever:There are certain foods that should be avoided forever.  They are not meant for human consumption.  These are Frankenfoods that have been created by food scientists that benefit the food industry's pocket book, not you!  They can be found in abundance in your friendly big grocery store chains, and in the myriad of fast food establishments.

Go into your kitchen: Look through your cabinets and throw away anything that contains ingredients on the list below. And when you go to the grocery store, make sure to read the ingredient labels of all foods you purchase to avoid reintroducing these substances into your home and diet.

1. High-fructose corn syrup (and corn syrup) This is a manufactured byproduct of corn (which 90% of is genetically modified in the US) and is a marker of poor-quality food, and has more harmful effects on your health than regular sugar. This sweetener is metabolized differently than sugar, through the liver and can actually cause a fatty liver and liver damage, in much the same way that alcohol can.  Take a look at your Wheat Thins, Breakfast bars, cereals, ketchup, BBQ sauce, even your peppers in a jar to see if this sweetener has been added.
2. Trans Fats.(aka as hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oil)  Do not be fooled by packaging that states there are zero trans fats or the nutrition label that says zero trans fats.  You must read the ingredient label to see if there is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in the product.  These fats are used to extend the shelf life and add creaminess and texture of baked goods, peanut butters, etc but these fats have been proven to cause heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. New York City has banned trans fats, and I hope you will too.  (Read your Skippy and Jiff peanut butter ingredients.  Take a look at your Mission Flour Tortillas.)
3. Food additives, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners:  The average person consumes pounds of these compounds every year. Aside from being harmful themselves, they bring with them many other poor quality ingredients. Stay away from the following:
4. Artificial Sweeteners:Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), saccharin (Sweet n’Low), sucralose (Splenda), acesulfame-K (Sunette, Sweet-n-Safe, Sweet One) What can you do instead?  How about using a little bit of Stevia which is a natural herb or even a little bit of Inulin which is a mildly sweet powder that the beneficial bacteria in your gut gets nourishment from and grows.  A couple of other sweetening ideas include, sucanat, and raw local honey.

• Any food additives:Potassium bromate, propyl gallate, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, monosodium glutamate, maltodextrin (you will be surprised at how many products have this little sweetener and interestingly enough, it is not counted as a sugar).

I always encourage eating as much organic and grass fed as your budget can bear, but even if you do nothing else, simply by eliminating foods with any of the above ingredients in them, you will go a long ways toward improving your health and the health of your loved ones, as well.

It really is simple.  Just start eating whole real, fresh, organic (when you can), unprocessed food and watch how you look and feel so incredibly much better!

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.

Our tastebuds can change

As I was throwing together a spinach salad the other night, I picked out a leaf and popped it in my mouth and could not believe how sweet it tasted.  And I thought to myself, I wish everyone else could taste what I am tasting.  I know, I'm strange but that is what happens when we side step processed foods which are full of sugar and salt and start eating real food.  Our taste buds change and all of a sudden we are able to taste the slight sweetness of a piece of lettuce. Now, don't get me wrong, I am no angel nor a purist but compared to the average American, I probably eat about 75% less sugar and salt than most Americans. 

Our taste buds have been hijacked by the big food conglomerates such as Coca Cola, General Mills and we need to get our taste buds back.  So,  I would like to invite you to do a fun little experiment. and track how many grams of sugar you consume over a two-three day period. This could be a really fun thing for your kids to be a part of as well. To track the amount of sugar in all of your foods including fruits and veggies, you will have to use the internet for the items without labels.  My favorite source is myfitnesspal.com or there are many others to choose from and have apps available for the iphone. 

1. Here it the drill, track your sugar intake for at least 1 day but preferably 2-3 days to get an average. 
  
2. Next, look at your main sources of sugar intake and see how you can cut your intake of sugar to 100 grams per day without using any sugar alcohols (xylitol, erythritol, sobitol) or sugar substitutes other than stevia.  That means no splenda (aka sucrulose), aspartame, or truvia (it has erythritol, a sugar alcohol in it).  If the label says no or low sugar and it tastes good, more than likely the item has one of these artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohol in it.  You have to read the ingredient label.  

3. After you have determined how many grams of sugar you consume, then try eating only 100 grams per day for seven days and notice how you feel and how your food tastes.  This is a great way to get awareness and of getting back to the basics and eating more like our ancestors ate.  

Have some fun with this!!!