BOOKS, SWEETENERS, COOKIES!

My carnivorous husband as I like to call him - or the "wild boar" as our close friends like to refer to him is about to kill me! Not only have I purchased a gazillion books on subjects ranging from "vegan cookbooks" to "health myths and misinformation" to "the truth about genetically modified foods" to "unbearable stories about what really happens in slaughterhouses" to "the raw food revolution" to "juicing cucumbers, parsnips, carrots, lemons and green bell peppers for beautiful skin, hair and nails". I said on my last entry I was laughing out loud reading "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, well last night I was bawling my eyes out reading their chapter about the horrid conditions and inhuman treatment that goes on in slaughter houses. How cows, pigs, chickens, are literally abused my desensitized workers. One thing I took away from that chapter is not only are these poor animals living and eating in filthy conditions and pumped with steroids, hormones and antibiotics but they are so scared and freaked out at the time of their death due to sometimes crazy, unnecessary torture that their adrenaline levels and blood pressure are so high - that's what we are putting in our body! I know I'd rather put a beautiful organic carrot fresh from the garden in my body than that! This really made me think! More information and hard to read reports about what really goes on inside slaughterhouses, as well as exposing the greed and profit of the meat industry and how the "USDA Inspected" safety stamps on meat is just a stamp, it has never been inspected, can be read in Gail Eisnitz's book "Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry". Food for thought!

I said in one of my previous blogs we'll hit upon natural sweeteners. As healthy as I thought I was, I just threw out all my Splenda Packets. I'm not going to even go into how bad Splenda, Equal, Nurta-Sweet, and Sweet'N Low is for you. Aspartame which is in Equal and Nutra-Sweet can actually be digested by the body - recent studies show that it can result in an accumulation of formaldehyde in the brain and can cause damage to your central nervous system and immune system - lovely huh? A few great natural sweeteners out there are Agave Nectar, Maple Syrup, Sucanat (sugar cane natural) which retains it's vitamins and minerals , Turbinado (100% cane sugar), brown rice syrup, made from fermented rice grain - good for the body's mineral balance, Stevia from the stevia or sugarleaf plant - (300 times the sweetness of sugar) good for people on low carbohydrate, low sugar diet, and Truvia which is made of Erythritol (natural sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in fruits and fermented foods) and Rebiana (from the leaf which is considered the best tasting part of the stevia plant), Xylitol (from US grown brich trees), Raw Honey( I buy Really Raw Honey - easily absorbed and known as a natural laxative), and Coconut Palm sugar (like brown sugar or molasses). I'm sure the list goes on, please feel free to recommend more!!

TAKE AWAY:

A great cookie recipe that I got from Candle Cafe Cookbook's is their Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, I changed it a bit and added a lot of yummy, healthy extras...I have shared these cookies with my friends, clients, class members - they have been asking me for the recipe - here it is!!

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup brown rice flour (I used quinoa flour)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 sea salt, fine grained

1/2 safflower oil (I used grape seed oil)

1 cup pure maple syrup (I used 1/2 cup)

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 tablespoon egg replacer - 1 part flaxseeds, 2 part warm water - blended in blender

the recipe then calls for 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used 85% cocoa chocolate bar chunks and/or dark chocolate chips)

I added shredded unsweetened coconut, dried cranberries, and walnuts (can use raw almonds)...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flours, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, 1/4 cup of water, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extracts, and egg replacer and stir well to combine. Fold in handful of dark chocolate chips/choc. bar chunks, dried cranberries, shredded coconut, walnuts...
2. Spoon tablespoons of batter on baking sheet 3 inches apart. Can flatter batter with back of wet spoon.
3. Bake until lightly browned - 10-15 minutes

ENJOY!!!