Flashback Friday

If you are wondering what to do about that enormous candy stash your little ones will collect tomorrow, here is my post from last year that will give you a few ideas on how to cut down on sugar intake:

Tweak the Treats!

Today seems to mark the official beginning of our season of special treats. Whether you participate in this holiday or not, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and more are right around the corner, and there will be goodies o' plenty at every turn. So, what does this healthy livin' mommy think about all of the sugary treats?

Well, tonight we will be attending an event at our church, and there will be plenty of candy involved. I cannot hope for my little one to say "no thank you" to all of those yummy sweets. Of course I want to limit her sugar intake, but I want her to enjoy herself.

When it comes to special days like this, birthday parties, etc, I don't fret too much. It is only one day, and since I am doing my best all throughout the year to keep nutritious, healthy food in our diets, I can shrug my shoulders and let my kiddo have a good time. But do I want my three-year-old consuming all of her giant candy loot? No way. So here are a few ideas to help parents put a lid on the candy intake!

• Buy their candy! Let your kids choose a handful of their favorites and "buy" the rest from them. Set a price of 5 to 25 cents per piece of candy, depending on the size of their collection (and their age). Then let them put that toward a special toy or other item they've had their eye on. OR instead of using cash, buy them out with stickers or other fun stuff!

• I read about one mom showing her kids "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and then allowing them to keep a portion of their candy, and offering the rest to "the Great Pumpkin" (in reality, it's daddy, who hauls the loot off to work on Monday morning!)
  

• Make a trade! Let your kids keep a few pieces in their bag, and trade the others for some healthier options. Here are a few ideas for replacements that are not necessarily "healthy", but are a better alternative to the more common treats filled with hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial flavors and colors.
  

1. Fill a small bag with trailmix, carob chips, raisins, pretzels, or one of their other favorite snack foods.

2. Yummy Earth organic lollypops (my daughter's favorite)

3. SunSpire's natural candy bars and Sundrops- colorful "m & m"-like chocolate treats

4. Cliff Kid Organic Twisted Fruit

5. Annie's Organic BunnyFruit Snacks
(can all be found at Whole Foods and other health food stores, and Amazon)

These are just a few ideas to make your holiday a little bit healthier, but just as SWEET!

Here's to your health!

Tweak the Treats!

Today seems to mark the official beginning of our season of special treats. Whether you participate in this holiday or not, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and more are right around the corner, and there will be goodies o' plenty at every turn. So, what does this healthy livin' mommy think about all of the sugary treats?

Well, tonight we will be attending an event at our church, and there will be plenty of candy involved. I cannot hope for my little one to say "no thank you" to all of those yummy sweets. Of course I want to limit her sugar intake, but I want her to enjoy herself. When it comes to special days like this, birthday parties, etc, I don't fret too much. It is only one day, and since I am doing my best all throughout the year to keep nutritious, healthy food in our diets, I can shrug my shoulders and let my kiddo have a good time.

But do I want my three-year-old consuming all of her giant candy loot? No way. So here are a few ideas to help parents put a lid on the candy intake!

• Buy their candy! Let your kids choose a handful of their favorites and "buy" the rest from them. Set a price of 5 to 25 cents per piece of candy, depending on the size of their collection (and their age). Then let them put that toward a special toy or other item they've had their eye on. OR instead of using cash, buy them out with stickers or other fun stuff!
  

• I read about one mom showing her kids "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and then allowing them to keep a portion of their candy, and offering the rest to "the Great Pumpkin" (in reality, it's daddy, who hauls the loot off to work on Monday morning!)

• Make a trade! Let your kids keep a few pieces in their bag, and trade the others for some healthier options. Here are a few ideas for replacements that are not necessarily "healthy", but are a better alternative to the more common treats filled with hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial flavors and colors.
  

1. Fill a small bag with trailmix, carob chips, raisins, pretzels, or one of their other favorite snack foods.

2. Yummy Earth organic lollypops (my daughter's favorite)

3. SunSpire's natural candy bars and Sundrops- colorful "m & m"-like chocolate treats

4. Cliff Kid Organic Twisted Fruit

5. Annie's Organic BunnyFruit Snacks

(can all be found at Whole Foods and other health food stores, and Amazon)

These are just a few ideas to make your holiday a little bit healthier, but just as SWEET!

Here's to your health!

Carob Pudding With Sprinkles!

I adapted this recipe for raw pudding from one I found on Ani Phyo's site. My daughter said it wasn't sweet enough, so after a little tweaking, I created a pudding to suit her little pallet. This pudding can be made with carob chips, carob powder, or raw cocoa powder. The cashews are a great source of fiber, protein, and other nutritents, such as copper and magnesium.

My little one likes it topped with colorful sprinkles. We choose Let's Do... Sprinkelz. They are gluten free, contain no artificial ingredients, and are colored naturally with extracts of seeds, vegetables, or fruits. They are delicious. Who doesn't love sprinkles?!

I top mine with finely shredded organic coconut and carob chips. The consistency of this pudding reminds me of frosting. This would be a great and healthy alternative for those with lactose intolerance, dairy allergy, or a vegan lifestyle. I bet it would be great on vanilla cupcakes. I'll have to try it out and let you know!

Carob Pudding

1 cup raw organic cashews

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup pitted semi soft dates

1 tbs agave nectar

1/2 tbs coconut oil

2 tbs carob chips, carob powder, or raw cocoa powder

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

That's it. Easy, yummy, healthy. The trickiest part is getting every last bit out of your blender. For this part,use a rubber spatula or spoon. Serve chilled with your favorite toppings.

~Turn this recipe into a carob-coconut pudding by simply adding a little more coconut oil to enhance the coconut flavor~

*High speed blender recommended. For best results, try the Vita Mix.

Here's to sweet...and healthy treats!

Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

This post is dedicated to my dear friend, Nanci, who has known me almost as long as my own sister. I have great memories of sleeping over at Nanci's house as a kid. We started a little tradition of baking a carrot cake every time I came over. Her mom always had a Betty Crocker cake mix stocked in her pantry. We'd get the mix all ready and then stir in a can of chopped pineapple. I remember it being moist and delicious-especially the whipped cream frosting!

When I realized I was hyperglycemic, I gave up flour, refined sugars, and starchy foods. I had pretty much given up on the idea of baking...until I stumbled upon Elana's Pantry, a wonderful gluten-free cooking blog. I don't have a gluten alergy, but the recipes on Elana's blog are a great match for me. She uses coconut flour and almond flour, which are high-fiber flours that are low in digestible carbs. AND her sweeteners of choice are low-glycemic as well.

Last night I had a carrot cake craving, so I made carrot muffins, one of my favorite recipes from Elana's blog. I have made a few changes to her recipe to make it a bit more like the carrot cake I grew up loving. What I love most about this recipe is that it is healthy. First of all, I recommend everything coconut-coconut water, coconut oil, coconut flour...more on this later. Coconut flour is high fiber, high protein, and gluten free (click here to find out what makes this flour so special). The carrots are a great source of the antioxidant betacarotene, which helps reduce the risk of cancer, heart attacks and cataracts. And the nuts add even more protein, fiber, and other nutrients.

Coconut flour is a bit tricky to bake with and I don't have much time to experiment. Lucky for me, Elana has already done all the work. Here is my adaptation of her muffin recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground

1 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
6 eggs
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave nectar (can also be substituted with yacon syrup)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups carrots, grated
1/3 cup finely chopped nuts (I like to mix macadamias and pecans)
1/3 cup "macaroon" coconut (very finely shredded)
3/4 cup canned or fresh crushed pineapple

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg

2. In a large bowl, blend together eggs, oil, agave and vanilla
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet, then fold in carrots, nuts, coconut, and pineapple
4. Grease a muffin tin with grapeseed oil and then dust with coconut flour
5. Pour batter into each greased muffin cup about 3/4 full
6. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes
7. Cool and serve

(makes about 16 muffins)

*You may notice that I have doubled the ingredients in Elana's recipe and I am not calling these "mini muffins". With all of the added ingredients in my version, I recommend using a regular size muffin tin-and if you use a silicon muffin mold, you can skip the greasing part. I have one and I love it. Just let the muffins cool, and they pop right out!

I have mostly given up dairy, but I just cannot resist topping these delicious muffins off with Elana's recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting!

Cream Cheese Frosting

¾ cup heavy cream

1 cup cream cheese

¼ cup agave nectar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Whip heavy cream until stiff
2. In a separate larger bowl, whip cream cheese until smooth, then blend in agave and vanilla
3. With a rubber spatula, gently blend whip cream into cream cheese mixture

*My vegan readers may enjoy Elana's vegan Coconut Cream Frosting. It is very yummy, but a bit of a challenge to make in warmer climates.

Chomp, Chomp Away!

A while back, our daughter became a little obsessed with chewing gum. Well, at first she was imitating a behavior she’d seen. One night at dinner she took a bite of her food and…CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP. Her face was so adorable. Daddy and I glanced at one another, not quite sure what was going on. Our neighbor down the street babysits for us once in a while, and now that I was thinking of it, I couldn't recall a time I had ever seen her sans chewing gum. Ding! That must be where she got it.

“Mommy, look! I’m chewing gum.” Yep. She’s three going on twelve alright. For awhile my husband and I just ignored it. But when it escalated from food to obsessive paper chewing (toilet paper, drawing paper, a torn corner in the book I was reading!), we gave in and offered the real deal.

Thankfully I had some Spry gum on hand in the cupboard. This gum is made with xylitol, and is one of many Spry Dental Defense Products. Since it is sugar-free, has no artificial ingredients, and is actually recommended by dentists, my only concern was now a question of where I might be finding abandoned lumps of chewing gum around my house! To my surprise, our little one is quite responsible with her chewing gum habit. Now I can feel great about allowing her to have fun with this special treat, while fighting cavities at the same time.

I recently read an article in Healthy Living by Dr. Lon Jones, the physician who pioneered xylitol's use in a nasal spray for allergies, asthma and sinus problems, as well as middle-ear infections. Wow! I knew it had a reputation for helping fight cavities, but this is great news. Studies have confirmed that xylitol fights off pathogens in the nasal passages, promoting sinus and respiratory health. I also learned that xylitol not only reduces cavities in children and adults, but also actually starves the bacteria that cause cavities.

So what xylitol products are in my cupboard? In addition to the gum, my little one likes the mints and Sparx candies, I occassionally use granulated xylitol as a lower glycemic sweetener, and now we are using the Xlear nasal spray. For more details on the many benefits of xylitol, visit http://www.xclear.com/ or call 877-599-5327.

Here's to sweet and natural health defense!

Coconut Bliss-A Sweet Addiction

What better way to start this blog than to post my original To Your Health. I hope to keep things simple with this blog, to introduce people to some of my favorite products, offer practical advice, and inspire people to choose a healthy lifestyle. Cheers!

I often get questions from people about health products. People bounce things off of me, I guess, because I am "one of those". I am into preventative health care practices,like chiropractic and massage, I shop at the health food store, etc. But I am not a vegetarian! Not that there is anything wrong with that....it is just funny, because people often assume that I don't eat meat. I gave up processed sugar and starches years ago for health reasons, so people are a little shocked to find that I love a good burger (on sprouted grain bread, of course!).

So I decided to include a little healthy section in my blog as a way to share with others, some tips on healthy living and some of my favorite products. This first To Your Health is dedicated to my friend, Vanessa, who stayed with us for a few days recently. While eating a bowl of my new favorite ice cream, she asked if I had blogged about it. When I said "no", she (while licking her spoon) said, "You have to blog about it. The world needs to know about this." Okay V, it is pretty safe to say that the entire world is not reading my blog...but to the few who do, I bring......

Coconut Bliss! This is the best non-dairy ice cream I have ever tasted. And I have tried a lot. Now, I don't have a problem with dairy. But I do have a problem with sugar. I tend to be hyperglycemic, so I avoid processed sugar. It is very difficult thing to do, but just so necessary for me to even function...without chronic fatigue and headaches, etc. And I am just healthier for it in the long run. Anyway, I have yet to find a sugar-free dairy ice cream that doesn't have a chemical sweetener in it. And lots of people are allergic to dairy. I mean, we are the only species who drink the milk of other animals.

Coconut Bliss is all natural and very yummy. It is definitely not low fat, but since it is made from coconut milk, it is rich in nutrients and healthy fat. It is sweetened with agave nectar (a delicious, low-glycemic syrup) and is perfectly creamy and smooth. Finally! My ice cream addiction will no longer be my demise! I can eat as much as I want.

If you want to try this yummy treat, you can find Coconut Bliss at Whole Foods and other health food stores. My favorite flavors are Vanilla Island, Mint Galactica, and Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge.


Here's to your health!