Political Nutrition

So here we go. I'm done ranting about DC morons. I decided to do what makes me happy today. And that is cook, and eat. Only delicious wholesome food. I want cheesecake. So referencing my earlier rant, I will not reach for a box of instant jello cheesecake. Cheesecake is sacred, as you all know. But I wanted to make special. I wanted a little Mary nuance. So here goes. Preheat the oven to 325 and line a muffin tin with twelve liners.  Start with some fresh ingredients: Crust: Hazelnuts: 1 cup, peeled, and chopped  2  tbl Swerve 2 tbl melted grass-fed sweet butter 1 tablespoon cocoa First, please remember that peeling hazelnuts is not easy, nor a perfect science. Sit down, put your feet up cause it's gonna take awhile. They don't all peel, and don't worry about it. We're not after perfection we're after deliciousness. I use a coffee grinder to grind the nuts, by the way. Combine and mash together the above ingredients and mash down flat in ...

For those who stop by my blog to feed their bellies... today it's about feeding your soul. So if your soul is well nourished... don't keep reading. I'm on a rant today. And if you find something that offends you, so be it. This is my space. My blog. And my rant. You might try to ignore what the politicians in DC are doing. It might seem to be the same old stuff. Fighting a battle that only exists in their minds. Derived from their quest for control and power. Let's keep things simple. The job of our government, as laid out by our founding fathers, is relatively simple. Provide infrastructure and security to ensure the welfare of our citizens.  Let's define welfare. Well-being. You know, a population that has the basic tools for a decent life. Food. Education. Opportunity. The right to live a decent, whole life. The ability to call a doctor if you need to. And the chance to share in the miracles of modern science such as a vaccine that can keep you in good ...

It's grain free gluten free sugar free and oh so good. Next batch we add almonds. Why? Because Halloween is all about Almond Joys. And I can't have them this year. Or can I? Make a batch of coconut filling: basically take some coconut, some sweetener and some cocoa butter or grass fed butter if you don't have cocoa butter.  Melt about 1 oz of butter per 1/2 cup of coconut and 2 tablespoons swerve. Blend and refrigerate. Now make your chocolate. about 3 oz of cocoa butter, 2 tablespoons cocoa and 2 tablespoons swerve but taste it for best results. (confectioners is best). Melt the cocoa butter and mix with cocoa and swerve.  pour into mini muffin cup liners about 1/3 of the way up. makes 12 cups.  Begin adding coconut mixture to each cup, a nice round dollop will do. Then take the rest of the chocolate and pour over each mound of coconut. Refrigerate. 

I know you've said to yourself a million times. All I ate was a salad. Really. Went to lunch with the BFF's and you were soooo good. All you ate was a salad. And you didn't touch the bread. Let's analyze that salad shall we? Croutons? yup. Creamy dressing? yup. Avocado? Of course. Swapped that baked potato for a salad last night? Was it the candied walnut with raspberry vinaigrette? Oooh, no it was the wedge with the Blue Cheese Dressing. Everyone else ate Tacos and Burritos and you went with the Taco Salad. Yep. Tortilla strips, refried beans, guacamole... uh huh. These aren't healthy salads people. These are fat traps. They are the food devil in disguise. A salad should be about the fresh organic ingredients in it. A good salad has no grains, no gluten and no refined sugars or HFCS. It doesn't have dried fruit or processed salad dressings. If you want to avow that you only had a salad... hold the croutons, use a good olive oil and balsamic vinaigr...

Brownies must be fudgy. They must be loaded with Chocolate. And they must melt in your mouth. If you are diabetic, well, they have to be sugar free and grain free too. Impossible. Well, as you know from my previous post, I thought so. But I managed a fair simulation of a good brownie anyway. Now I have Swerve. I'm not running a commercial here folks. I'm deadly serious. I have a sweetener, natural, no side effects, that allows me to have my brownie in it's most decadent form. That's it.  So, for anyone using my recipes, I highly recommend switching from the splenda to Swerve. Go back to equal equivalents to sugar in your recipes. The weight, feel, and baking qualities of sugar will come back to your confections. If you are not baking, use the Swerve confectioners to avoid granular texture. So new and improved here we go: 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, I prefer Ghirardelli but use Baker's if you like. 3/4 cup Butter (organic) or Ghee 3/4 cup Almond Flour,...

Hubby is/was a peanut butter cup addict. Could eat them by the bag full. So I wondered, how hard could it be to recreate his obsession? Considering peanuts are out, so no peanut butter, we needed something a little healthier. We went with Almond Butter, which if you haven't tried it is probably tastier than peanut butter. So this was a small batch, and would probably make about 15 candies in a mold. But he always complained about the little peanut butter cups. Said took more effort to unwrap then they were worth. So go big or go home, right? I pulled out some mini paper muffin liners. And went to work. Chocolate 2 oz cocoa butter 1.5 oz unsweetened cocoa powder  1 oz swerve sweetener (or your choice) 1/2 tsp vanilla Filling 2 tbs butter 1/4 cup almond butter 1 tbsp swerve (or your choice) Make the filling first. I did not do that and was fervently mixing the chocolate to keep it from hardening while I made the filling so bad idea. Melt the Almond Butte...

I know what you're thinking. That I'm going to say just eat what you want in moderation. Let's leave insanity aside for a moment. The reality is, I've spent decades... ok a long time... eons... eating the wrong foods for the right reasons. I am the chronic dieter who fails each and every time to lose weight and keep it off. I make yo yo dieting look like an improvement. What I will share with you is this. Over the summer, I dropped 15 pounds. I've got a ways to go, but time is on my side. We're not talking water weight. Not targeted toning. Not "Wow that was easy" weight. 1-2 pounds a week. Slow and steady like a tortoise.  I haven't given up my chocoholic ways. Too may nutritional benefits to chocolate to do so. I did give up some really stupid foods. Here they are in no particular order. Bread.  Corn. Rice. Potato.  Cereal. Sugar. Pasta. Pizza. Peanuts. Watermelon.  Grain and hormone fed meats and dairy. All whea...