Political Nutrition

Seriously. I have had some success lately with chocolate and baking and well, dessert in general. But it was really gnawing at me that if you can make a flourless chocolate cake, then a low carb one should be a natural. Right? Make that gluten free too, grain free and sugar free as well... yeah, I know what you're thinking. Same here. Just wasn't happening. Always ends up more of a torte, and often while I can devour a torte, my friends and family are a bit overwhelmed with superdark chocolate confections. I just hadn't achieved that perfect balance, until now. Per DJFoodie's  recommendation, I took a recipe from Atkins ... which used sucralose, then I subbed in my go-to sweetener... Swerve . The thing about Swerve is that it acts just like sugar when baking, and doesn't make your stomach feel like a soccer team has taken up habitation in your gut. Best thing? Doesn't have the glycemic spike of many artificial sweeteners. They might be calorie free, but they can...

So expecting a dark and stormy Saturday, I put on my baking apron and waited for the sun to disappear behind the angry clouds. And waited. And waited. But alas, it's another happy sunny day with no sign of rain. Yet. So what to bake? I've had a few somewhat snippy, possibly angry, messages lately from blog readers wondering why nothing new is coming out. My blog is dry. Just like my surroundings. So I promised myself, a new recipe for today. I just don't know what that is. It'll be healthy, that much I can tell you. Hubby asked "do you have what you need?" Of course I do.  It's just an idea of what to do with them I don't have. I was thinking Pecans though. I have a whole bagful. Fudge could be in order. Or not. Maybe I should go savory today. Big pot of soup. Or chile. Or some wild new salad combination. Nah.  I'm just really out of zip. I'm tired. It's sunny. I have no motivation. Hang on. I do have motivation. Today is the da...

Always trying to improve upon a necessary breakfast food, here's another tweak to the muffin. Some of the ingredients are not ordinary staples in your pantry, I understand that. But if you live a grain free life, and eat low carb foods, these are new pantry essentials that will turn a low carb diet into a fabulous new way to eat. Diet is an ugly word. It's restrictive. It is something you can go "on" and "off" which is awful for you. Just learn to use a few new kitchen essentials and you won't miss a thing. Except maybe corn. Cannot help you there. Remember, if you are unfamiliar with some of the ingredients, send me a note and I'll let you know where to find them! Now, muffins aren't fussy. So you can make these in a bowl with a mixing spoon, no fancy electric mixers or dough paddles required. Just a few minutes to whisk and stir. 1 cup peanut flour 1 cup less 3 tablespoons almond flour 3 tablespoons maca powder   2 teaspoon...

Can I just tell you how sick I am of people flaunting their cinnamon buns on Pinterest? If you are gluten, grain and sugar free it's really an impossible situation.  Oh sure I've seen others with their recipes that require you to soak your hands in oil to prepare the dough and others that ask you to do the impossible... like level 9 baking skills required... it's just not for me. I need something relatively foolproof. I'm not cake boss.  Let's not even talk about walking through an airport and the smell of those cinnamon buns following you everywhere to remind you that life is a bit unfair sometimes. But wait! It's the smell yes... but that smell is just old fashioned Cinnamon and butter. And HELLO? We can have cinnamon and butter. And Pecans too.  Hmmmm. I've made Cinnamon Bun Muffins and they were darn good. True. But then I made this awesome pound cake last week and I realized, a few tweaks here and there, I might be able to have somet...

Yeah, just to be different. No, it's not really tall. It's short. And fabulous. And quite a learning experience when going gggfree. For example, and this has nothing to do with it being gluten, grain or sugar free, never hold the batter bowl in one hand when pouring into the cake pan. Just saying, it could slip. And the batter could end up well, everywhere. Like I said, just putting it out there. It's true however that this is a seriously delicate cake to make. The cake is flourless, in a way. My grandmother would grind up the hazelnuts until they were virtually a flour. Me, I get mine at nuts.com already ground into flour. Then I buy another bag of blanched nuts to chop for the top. Hey, it's Easter Sunday and I don't participate therefore I can be as punny as I want to.  So. Start with a cake that is fabulously low carb and.. oh this is a biggie... it's Kosher for Passover too. How perfect.  Cake: 1 cup Hazelnut flour 1/2 cup Swerve 6 Egg...

My favorite snack cake growing up was a Funny Bone. Wrapped in silver foil, like a Ring Ding, but shaped like a Yodel, and filled with this awesome peanut butter cream. Truth? It wasn't real cream, or real peanut butter, and who knows what kind of crap was used to make the most horribly delicious food ever. A few years ago I had an awful craving, actually... more like 10 years ago. I haven't eaten sugar in close to nine years. But back to my story. I went online, and to my utter delight, Gristedes in New York would ship me as many boxes of my childhood obsession as I wanted. I ordered like 7 boxes. I wanted my husband to try them. I wanted my girls to experience the sugary rush of awesomeness. Back then, I had no idea it was so deadly. And now I do. But it doesn't mean I gave up my love of Chocolate and Peanut butter cakes rolled in chocolate. Carolyn, over at AlldayIdreamaboutfood.com, had this great layer cake with peanut butter frosting and ganache. She also had a ...

So I was looking for an easy fudge recipe when instead I happened upon a recipe that sounded equally fabulous. Chocolate Pecan Pie Muffins. Really, huh. I thought could they be as good as as my favorite recipe blogger makes them sound? Yep. They could. But not without a hitch or two. Totally my fault. First, I was impatient. So where she said, very clearly, eggs at room temperature, I figured, not important. Guess what, it is. Because when I tried to cream the butter and eggs, it looked like a bad accident. Curdled beyond belief. Had to toss it out. So, if you try this recipe, follow the directions. Carolyn, who writes the fabulous blog I found these at, and who creates unbelievable recipes, is quite good at providing accurate instructions. Follow them.  Here's my take (pretty much the same as the original) Ingredients: 2 eggs at room temperature. Don't use cold eggs. Please. 1 stick (1/2 cup) organic butter, softened 1 Cup Almond Flour, sifted 3/4 c...

It's amazing how some of our most cherished comfort foods are really horrible for us. Really really horrible. And even knowing this, we somehow crave them.  Your basic burger and fries for example. I am just not into a veggie burger, with apologies to my veggie friends... I just am not. And somehow, eating a bunless, tasteless burger with kale chips just doesn't send me.    So I gave in. Buckled under pressure. And served up a good old burger and fries for supper. So yum. But how you wonder? Must be 100 carbs on that plate. No my friends, only a handful. I don't know, 3? See these fries are made of Jicama . A fabulous replacement to the potato. Actually it technically is a tuber, and known as a Mexican potato. So it counts. It's glycemic load is negligible. The bun. Oh the bun. I've heard people speak of this magical bun. Known as the Oopsie bun. Somebody's wonderful mistake. You'll find it here at YourLighterSide . I believe that's t...

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. 

Work Study is an integral part of many students' lives. It helps them financially get through school, and is an opportunity to gain some incredible job skills. Oh I know there are a bunch of yahoos in DC who want to deeply cut funding for work-study. But I'm a big fan. It's a damn good program. But seriously... my daughter's first year assignment? The main Dining Hall. Now you might think woo hoo. She gets to clear off tables and wash a few dishes. But this was a hell of a lot more than that. First, the dining hall was in her dorm. One floor down. So early morning shifts were no big deal.. roll out of bed and slide down those stairs. Secondly, she was in the kitchen. Yep. Learning valuable life skills that she brought home with her. Now this is where it pays off. I got a deep fat fryer for my birthday. Now don't get started on the whole "that's not healthy" thing. Because now that we're eating real food, fat is our friend. Not in ridiculous am...