Banana-Chia Chocolate Chip Cookies
Is it breakfast? Is it dessert? Tastes kinda like banana bread and Manischewitz chocolate chip macaroons had an amazingly delicious love child.
Raw Vegan Key Lime Pie
Let’s see…One…two…three…Yup. Including mini versions, I have made 14 of these pies in the last week.
Vegan Caramelized Pineapple Tart
Okay. I admit it.
I am officially kind of a nerd.
Last Tuesday night was another meeting of the Austin Food Lover’s Book Club aka “My Favorite Night That I Look Forward to Every Two Months”.
Beautifully photographed by the lovely Mrs. Summer Huggins. See more of her fabulous photos on her Flickr photostream.
BBQ Bison Meatloaf and The Best Sugar Free BBQ Sauce EVER!
I know it’s not like me to post something made with red meat, but I can’t help it. This was uh-may-zing and I had to share it with you all. Besides, after learning some new information about the health benefits of eating local, pasture-raised, grass fed buffalo versus any other meat (including chicken), I’m sold on making it a regular part of my diet.
Vegan Curry Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
This weekend was the very first Austin Food Blogger Pot Luck and it was amazing. I’ve met and chatted with so many of the local bloggers on Facebook and Twitter and already felt like I had known them forever. Except, you know, that whole thing about not actually ever having met them…
Chicken Makhani in the Crock Pot
As you may or may not know, I am obsessed with my Crock Pot. It has been a key player in my life over the last several months and has helped immensely in keeping my belly full of amazing nutritious meals with little effort on my part.
Natural and Healthy Low Carb
The more I learn about nutrition and the ways that foods have an effect on our bodies, the more absolutely amazed I am that most of us still manage to function on a daily basis. I’ve recently delved into some new information that allows me understand the health conditions of this country like I never have before.
The fact that, according to the CDC, over TWO-THIRDS of our country is overweight or obese is appalling. The American Cancer Society now estimates that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will have some form of invasive cancer in their lives. In 2007, it was estimated that 23.6 MILLION (!) people in this country have diabetes, 90-95% of those being type 2 diabetics. These statistics are staggering! And, yet, to some degree they are of little surprise when one considers what children are being served in school lunches and the fact that healthy fruits and vegetables make up only 10% of our daily caloric intake as a nation.
We are a country that is increasingly fueled by white flour, white sugar, white potatoes, and white rice with a boatload of preservatives and chemicals thrown in. Combine this with a basically sedentary lifestyle and is it really any wonder that we are so ill?
In my never ending quest to keep up with the latest science involving food, I ran across a book that had me immediately intrigued. The book is called “Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease” by Gary Taubes. Mr. Taubes has spent the better part of the last 15 years as an investigative journalist covering public health issues and spent over five years researching the information that went into this book. The information is pretty incredible. Among other things, he discovered that:
- Dietary fat, saturated or otherwise, was not the cause of heart disease
Consuming refined carbohydrates may very well be the cause of Alzheimer’s Disease and cancer
Obesity is caused by excess fat accumulation, not overeating
Consuming excess calories doesn’t make us fatter - carbohydrates DO.
To read a great synopsis about the book, check out this article written by Taubes himself.
There was so much great information backed by science, that Luke and I decided to give a Low Carbohydrate Diet a try. For the last 6 weeks, we have cut out all grains, high sugar fruits, and starchy vegetables, including potatoes, most winter squash, and sweet potatoes. We’ve been eating about a pound of greens a day, lots of nuts, seeds, and coconut, and small portions of animal protein at most meals.
I’ve got to say, I’ve never felt better. I’ve struggled with mild acne since the age of 12, and it is gone. Our energy levels are up, excess weight is coming off and we are building lots of new muscle with just two simple weight workouts a week. It really is incredible. What is different about the diet we have chosen versus other Low Carb diets is that we are emphasizing healthy, natural foods and sweeteners and using vegetables as our main source of calories. Most Low Carb diets emphasize loads of meat and cheese and eggs, but that’s just not an adequate diet no matter how much weight you lose.
I’ve been experimenting with Stevia and Erythritol as sweeteners, and have had several successes that I hope to share with you all soon. In the meantime, please check out this book and these great Low Carb and Grain Free Blogs:
Elana’s Pantry
Cindalou’s Healthy GF/DF Kitchen
Healthy Indulgences
Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried
A New Rachel for the New Year
Sorry for the way too extended absence. The truth is the holidays overwhelmed me more than I ever expected them to. Making several fancy holiday meals for clients and my family, and the fact that I made everyone’s gifts this year only added to the inevitable busyness of the holiday season.
Gingerbread with Meyer Lemon Glaze
This mornings’ conversation went something like this:
Me: “Am I bad person if I eat Gingerbread for breakfast?”
Luke: “Hell bad or just Pergatory bad?”
Me: “No, seriously. Is it terrible if I just have sweet bread for breakfast?”
Luke: “Well, it’s possible you may only be subjected to an eternal void instead of hell…”
With the threat of actual damnation cast aside, I scooped up an amazing cup of tea and a big slice of this gingerbread and stuffed my face.
Easy Homemade Salsa
Breakups are, no doubt, one of the toughest things we are destined to go through at some point in our lives. But, after some time and upon reflection, one can look back and be thankful for some lesson that was learned from that person or something gained from the experience as a whole.
In the case of my last relationship, I am thankful for this salsa recipe.
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