Be Still My Heart: Gluten-Free, Low-Carb, Choc-Peppermint Cookies

One of the hardest things about being celiac and diabetic is that most gluten-free products are made with rice, corn, potato, or other such high-carb flour. And for those who struggle with insulin resistance, our food options become even more limited.

Recently I have gone on a manic search for something to satisfy my sweet tooth without endangering my well-being. And my experiments have finally paid off, for I have discovered one of the most beautiful things in the world—a gluten-free AND low-carb cookie that tastes absolutely AMAZING.

I used a plain, grain-free cookie recipe from Dr. Pompa’s book, “The Cellular Healing Diet,” and tweaked it in order to get this delicious result: Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies.

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour
• 3 Tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 10 Tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup  xylitol
• 1 teaspoon stevia
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (a good quality brand from Whole Foods—less processed sugar = less carbs)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the almond flour, coconut flour, cacao powder, sea salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Melt the butter with stevia and xylitol.
4. Mix grapeseed oil and peppermint extract with melted butter.
5. Stir wet ingredients into the dry.
6. Mix in the chocolate chips.
7. Form 1-inch balls and press onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

 

Don’t they look yummy?! (Okay, I’m not the best food photographer.) If you end up making 40 cookies, one is about 4 grams of carbohydrates. 4! A gluten-free cookie from the store of similar size runs about 18 grams. And I don’t know if this is personal preference or because of the ingredients, but I find these taste best refrigerated as opposed to fresh out of the oven or room temperature. Cold seems to bring the flavors out more. So there you have it. Happy baking!

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Adventures in Homemade Cat Food

While I was on my quest for health through diet change these past few months, I decided my cats’ diet needed a complete makeover as well. I’d thought about making my own cat food in the past, but it always seemed like a daunting task. And dry food was so *easy*. I guess my brain needed a challenge though, during my writing/blogging/life hiatus, so I dove into research and found a recipe written by a veterinarian. (Dr. Lisa Pierson’s website has very detailed info on the subject.)

So I bought a meat grinder and the handful of necessary vitamin supplements, and proceeded to make a batch of homemade cat food. Mhm, doesn’t that look appetizing…

I thought my eldest kitty would be the picky one who would refuse to transition, but it turned out the younger one—who had up until this point consumed everything with vigor—downright refused to eat the new food. I tried various tricks to entice her, but she was stubborn.

One recommended trick for picky eaters is to sprinkle some ground up kitty kibble on the new food. So I tried grinding up my cat’s normal dry food…with a full plastic bottle, then with a hammer, and finally I resorted to sticking the food in a baggie and running over it with my car. Can you believe it took four times back and forth before that stuff was 70% crushed?! Oh my god, how is that digestible for my poor kitties? If I’d had any second thoughts about sticking with this diet change, seeing how resilient those pieces of cat kibble are banished them.

And, as it turned out, little Nika only required about two weeks of tricks and bribery consisting of treats waved in front of her nose and then jammed into the meat before she willingly gobbled up her entire meal. Now she can’t wait to eat her food…

Say ‘yum’

My darlings have been on their new diet for a month and a half now and are still happy and energetic as ever. Actually, even a little more so. My older cat’s fur, which used to be so coarse and brittle it could stab through skin and clothes like a javelin (no joke), is beginning to soften. And knowing I’m no longer feeding them byproducts and nasty chemicals gives me a little more peace of mind.

Anyone else thought of going homemade when it comes to pet food?

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Clap Your Hands For Cheesecake Pancakes

Last week in my comeback post, I said I wasn’t sure whether I’d blog about my quest for health through diet considering most of my experience was an epic failure. However, I’m happy to share a few gems I discovered along the way in the form of recipes. First up, cheesecake pancakes! These delightful pancakes are super low in carbs (about 1 pancake = 1g!), and they taste fabulous.

Ingredients

• 2 large brown eggs
• 4 oz organic cream cheese
• 1/8 -1 tsp stevia (depending on brand and concentration)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (cinnamon is great for blood sugar control, so I get a bit liberal with how much I put in)
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 dash salt

 Note: With the amount of work and clean-up involved in this process, I made a double batch, which yielded 8 pancakes from 8 oz of cream cheese. But then, I’m also a fan of leftovers. However, because of the slow cook time and how runny the batter is, I had to do one pancake at a time, and the entire double batch took me two hours! I am not a kitchen person, so yeesh.

Directions

1. Separate egg whites from egg yolks and beat egg whites with electric mixer.
2. In a larger bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. (I will note that the original recipe doesn’t specify electric as it does for the egg whites, but I used one anyway. It didn’t quite work except to make the cream cheese nice and smooth and stuck in the beaters.)
3. Add egg yolks, stevia, cinnamon, salt, and flaxseed into cream cheese and beat together.
4. Add egg whites. (Not all of the cream cheese blended well, but ended up at the bottom of the bowl, so you might want to follow up with a fork or manual whisk.)
5. Heat Cast Iron or Stainless Steel pan over medium low heat. Grease lightly. (I used Grapeseed Oil cooking spray and sprayed the pan before each pancake.)
6. Use 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side. (Really, I think it took longer than that, but I wasn’t timing myself, just eyeballing it. The important thing is not to turn the heat up so you avoid turning the butter/oil into bad fat.)

And voila! I think they taste just dandy with butter, but you could add fruit, jam, or even syrup. Just keep in mind that if you do, they won’t be low-carb anymore.

For recommended ingredient brands, see the original recipe at Dr. Pompa’s website, cellularhealingdiet.com/cheesecake-pancakes/

Note 2: While I haven’t tried this, a friend of mine made a similar recipe using a blender rather than a beater. I imagine it might go about smoothing the batter more easily.

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Hello World, I Missed You

First off, I would like to apologize for my long and unexplained absence these past few months. I had some serious health issues back in January and had to step away from social media while I dealt with it. I didn’t announce a blog hiatus because I was hoping it would be a short break. But one month turned into two, then three, and despite my most valiant efforts (hello, raw plant food diet), things just kept getting worse. I didn’t want to blog about my endeavors, because honestly, who wants to read about the “healthiest diet in the world” actually making someone sicker?

However, I am happy to report that things are finally starting to get better. One reason being I abandoned the raw plant food diet after discovering literature on how there are certain types of people it’s NOT healthy for. No one size fits all…gee, what a concept. I’m not sure whether I’ll go into more detail in later posts about my experience, though I’m sure it could help a small percentage of people who fall into the same category as me. But it’s been a difficult road to endure, and I’m not going to claim to be a health food expert.

At this point, I’m trying to ease back into the world of social media—and writing. My muse suffered greatly these past 4 1/2 months, and I know it will take some patient nurturing to bring her back to health too.

The good news is that before my world came crashing down, I had actually finished Elemental Magic 4! I’ve just been holding off on the release until I could give it proper attention. So watch for Unbridled Magic very soon, and sign up for the newsletter if you haven’t yet.

And to those still here with me, thanks for sticking around. 🙂