Make Your Own: Peanut Butter Cups!

The goal of the Make your Own series is to support the Sprout Wellbeing community in choosing a few things they can "make on their own" rather than buying them pre-packaged, thus avoiding the additives, preservatives, sugar, and trans-fat associated with the processed and packaged varieties.  The Making-Your-Own lifestyle is a gradual process of adding in one new make-your-own thing at a time so I always remind people to not be overwhelmed by trying to make everything on their own all at once!

So far in the "Make your own Series", we have made our own pesto, granola bars , salad dressings, tortillas, and chips.  Since the focus of this newsletter is SUGAR, I want to give you a healthy alternative to a common treat you might crave: chocolate peanut butter cups. Just because we want to reduce sugar for our health, I don't want to leave you without some yummyness in your life! And who wouldn't love the peanut butter cup...chocolate and peanut butter together is heaven for many people! But the supermarket version has some scary levels of sugar and high fructose corn syrup. High levels of sugar will just make you crave more sugar and it is believed that high fructose corn syrup effects our body's ability to identify when we have had enough food so we never feel satisfied. Try this healthier version of the peanut butter cup sweetened with a small amount honey and you feel satisfied with your delicious treat. Note: It is important to use natural peanut butter that contains no added sweeteners...did you know that most peanut butters have sugar and high fructose corn syrup added to them?!

If you want to learn more quick, easy recipes and meal planning suggestions, register for the "Fast Food", "Healthy Pizza", and other cooking classes that Sprout Wellbeing is offering in partnership with the Moscow Food Co-op this Fall!

If you want to learn more low sugar living strategies join the "Living the Sweet Life" health Coaching Support group!

Homemade, Healthier Peanut Butter Cups – Real Whole Food Ingredients!

Ingredients

      3/4 cup of peanut butter, natural and organic (or use nut butter of your choice)

      1 tablespoons honey (or amount to taste)

      1 teaspoon vanilla (if you are making this gluten free, make sure to use gluten free vanilla)

      1/4 cup of coconut oil

      1/3 cup of chopped soaked and dehydrated nuts, or toasted (I used a mixture of chopped almonds and pumpkin seeds)

      4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate

      2  tablespoons honey  (or amount to taste)

1-In a small bowl combine the peanut butter, coconut oil, vanilla, first tablespoon honey (or amount to taste), and nuts. Mix until well combined.

2-Drop by the heaping teaspoon into cup cake lined muffin tins or mini cupcake tins. Place in freezer.

3-Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in the top of a double broiler (or, like I do, in a heat proof bowl that fits on top of a pot you have). Mix in the honey. Bring about two inches of water to a boil in the pot and place the bowl on top. Watch the chocolate carefully so that it doesn’t burn, stirring gently while the chocolate melts. When there are just a few chunks left in the chocolate, take off of the heat and allow it to melt completely.

4-Drop by the teaspoon over the peanut butter mixture and place back into the freezer. Freeze for 20 minutes. Take out, and using a butter knife pop them out. Keep in the freezer or refrigerator and enjoy!

*To toast the nuts, place in a dry pan over medium-high heat. Stir almost continually until they are starting to brown. Take off of the heat.

 

Snack Attack!

There’s no denying that everyone, at one time or another, has had a snack attack. Views on snacking differ. Some feel that snacking is bad and that eating between meals leads to weight gain. Others believe that eating many small meals and snacks throughout the day is healthy for maintaining energy levels and optimal weight. If there were one way of snacking that was right for everyone, we would all be doing it!  

To alleviate snack attack guilt, try to understand why you are snacking and what snacks work best for your body. Perhaps you snack because your daily diet is missing nutrition, or because you are eating too little at meals. You might be snacking to soothe jangled nerves when you are emotional, or to entertain yourself when you are bored. Whatever your reason, acknowledge it and start thinking about how to create a life that is nourishing and truly satisfying.

Although snacks are no substitute for loving your life, they can be great energy boosters. Many convenient snack foods are highly processed and full of chemicals, additives, damaging fats and refined sugars. When a snack attack hits you, try foods that are filling and satisfying, but also nutritious. Here are some tips:

• Snack on things that don’t come in a plastic wrapper or a box, like fresh fruit, sliced carrots and bell pepper, hard-boiled eggs, nuts and seeds, etc.
• Make your own signature trail mix, organic hot chocolate made with almond milk sweetened with agave nectar, or blue corn chips with hummus.

You can also try “upgrading”: 

•   If you are craving something crunchy, upgrade from potato chips to raw carrots, apples or whole grain crackers. Or try the healthier version of chips you can make yourself using these recipes..... 
•  If you are craving a candy bar, upgrade to a handful of nuts and dried fruit.Or small pieces of dark chocolate (at least 70% cacoa)

•   Instead of a cup of coffee, upgrade to green tea. 
• Instead of ice cream, upgrade to applesauce with cinnamon or try creamy plain yogurt topped with honey, nuts, dark chocolate chip, or fruit. Mix some coco powder into your yogurt for chocolate "icecream".

Upgraded snacks are high in nutrition and give you a greater sense of satiety and satisfaction; you won’t feel physically or psychologically deprived, and you’ll have plenty of energy to sustain your activities for hours.

Snacking is enjoyable and there is a wide variety of healthful goodies for whatever you’re craving, be it sweet, crunchy, salty, creamy or spicy. Dive in, be creative and enjoy your snack attack.

Make Your Own....Kale Chips and Tortilla Chips

So far in the "Make your own Series", we have made our own granola bars , salad dressings, and tortillas. This month I am providing you with "Make Your Own" recipes for one of America's favorite snacks....chips! I am providing two recipes, Kale chips (a great way to get kids to get their greens!) and tortilla chips. Both are super easy and will help you curb that crunchy, salty snack craving without all the crazy unhealthy ingredients they add to your typical chips at the store (preservatives, dyes, hydrogenated oil, etc).

Tortilla Chips 

Ingredients

    * Twelve 6-inch corn tortillas (or tortillas you made yourself)

    * 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

    * Fine salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush both sides of the tortillas with the oil. Stack the tortillas and cut the pile into sixths to make chips. Spread the chips out in a single layer on two large baking sheets and season with salt. Bake until golden brown and crisp, rotating the baking sheets once, about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve.

 

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• about one bunch of kale, rinsed and dried
• Olive oil
• Salt, to taste
• about 1 tablespoon of chili flakes (or to taste)
• sprinkling of paprika or cheyenne pepper power (optional) or any other spices....play around to find your favorite mix!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Remove the kale leaves from their tough end and inner stems. Cut longer leaves in half or preferred bite size pieces.
3. Place kale chips in large bowl. Start by tossing in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. The kale leaves only need to be lightly coated with oil. Too much will make the chips too limp and greasy. Only add about  1 tablespoon of olive oil at a time. Then sprinkle in sea salt and chili flakes.
4. Put the kale pieces in a single layer in a baking sheet lined. You can use parchment paper if you like for easier cleaning.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until crisp. About 5 minutes before they are finished, you can gently toss them in the sheet pan for more even baking. They will burn easy, be aware of how they are baking.
6. For more smoky or spicy flavor, lightly dust the kale chips with paprika or cheyenne pepper power.

Gluten-Free Family

Do you have someone in your family who needs to eat gluten-free? Your family doesn't have to give up your favorite foods, instead learn to make them gluten free! Check out this article by NursingSchools.net that offers 100 gluten-free recipes and you won't even notice you are missing the gluten!:

http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/2011/01/100-delectable-recipes-for-your-gluten-free-kid/

If you have questions about gluten free diets or would like support in achieving a gluten-free diet or would like to explore if a gluten free diet might alleviate some of your health symptoms, please schedule a free health consultation with Sprout Wellbeing. This is just one of the many areas Sprout Wellbeing's health coaching programs can support you.

Interested in a gluten free cooking class? Contact me at sproutwellbeing@gmail.com

Eat whole food! Make Your Own! Granola Bars

The Story of my Slow Transformation from a "Health" Nut to a Whole Foods Nut....

I have always been pretty nutrition conscious. Especially in times of trying to lose weight and periods of training for marathons, I was vigilant about knowing how much fat, sugar, protein, dietary fiber, and carbohydrates were in all things I ate. I bought sugar-free fat-free yogurts, whole grain tortillas, and Protein Bars. When I didn't have time to make my lunch for my office job I might have a Lean Cuisine or a microwavable soup labeled as "healthy". Oh and diet coke was definitely a staple...no sugar, no calories, what a treat! (No questions asked about what is in diet coke just relieved there were no calories!)

But somewhere along the way the scale got stuck at a number I didn't like, my energy levels were low, and my moods were not so good. I also became interested in where my food comes from and some of the larger ways my food choices effects the world. I read some books, watched some documentaries, took some classes, became a holistic health coach, and decided that being a "health" nut wasn't healthy for me or the world! Through this process I realized that a calorie is not just a calorie and a gram of protein from a protein bar is not the same as a gram of protein from whole foods. As I began really paying attention to ingredient lists of the foods I was eating, I began to ask myself, why are there ingredients in my food that I can't buy at the store and that I can't even begin to imagine what they look like? What are all these things I can't pronounce? Why can't my yogurt just be milk and cultures, my bread be some kind of flour, yeast, maybe a few seeds, and some honey?

More and more preservatives get added to our food products so that they can last longer and longer on our grocery shelves or in trucks transporting foods all over the world (who wants to eat food made a year ago anyway?). More and more artificial ingredients get added as we request low-fat, low sugar, high protein products rather than products that are left as nature intended them. And at the same time more and more research is showing that nature knew what it was doing when it put our foods together. The fat, protein, carb balance and mixture of vitamins within whole foods is there for a reason and allows our bodies to digest the food into energy optimally and use the vitamins and minerals to make our bodies function at their best. In processing foods we are removing essential natural components from our food and adding artificial chemicals leading to disease, low energy, stubborn weight gain, cravings, and nutrition deficiencies.

For example, here are the ingredients of a Balance Bar, a bar I used to eat regularly when I trained for marathons:

Protein Blend [Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate (From Milk), High Fructose Corn Syrup, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Partially Defatted Peanut Flour, Sugar, Peanut Butter (Roasted Ground Peanuts), Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Contains Less Than 2% Of Natural Flavor, Fructose, Oligofructose, Sodium Caseinate, Peanut Oil, Soy Lecithin, Caramel Color, Fish Gelatin, Salt.

As a runner and "health" nut,  I checked that the bar had high protein content, enough dietary fiber, lower fat and sugar, but I just skipped right over the ingredient list. Now as a "whole foods" nut and someone interested in overall health of my body I look for natural whole food ingredients. High fructose corn syrup? Really? How did I miss that? Aren't we over using that in things we call "health" bars? And where could I ever buy soy protein isolate or sodium caseinate?

Now I want my foods to be whole as nature intended and without chemical additives. No more fat free, sugar free, high protein foods for me unless that's how nature made them. My new motto is: if it doesn't grow, fly, swim, or graze, I don't want to put it in my body (most of the time anyways!).

As you start checking out ingredient lists you will notice that it can be very challenging to find any whole foods in packages.  For example, I think every tortilla, granola bar and salad dressing at most stores has high fructose corn syrup or some other processed ingredient. So what do you do? Well there are lots of delicious ways to eat fruit, vegetables, beans, and whole grains all of which are whole foods straight out of the ground. But you don't have to miss out on some of your favorites that come in packages....just check labels and buy the products that have whole food ingredients ....sometimes you might have to go to a health food store to find them. Or sometimes you just have to make your own!

At first making your own may seem overwhelming and please don't try to make all your products on your own all at once. For me it continues to be an ongoing slow process to become a whole foods nut! Try one make-your-own product at a time, once it becomes a habit that fits into your life, try another one. Start with granola bars. Below is a seriously delicious taste-tested recipe for granola bars....no baking required...just make a batch for the week! Send your kids off to school with one of these and you are giving them protein, healthy fats, fiber, whole grains,  vitamins, antioxidants all from natural whole foods such as seeds, nuts, oats, nut butter, dried fruit, etc.

Are you experiencing unexplained health symptoms, low energy, cravings, or weight gain even when you feel like you are following all the "diet rules"? Try eating whole foods instead! Become a whole foods nut with me! I will continue to post "make your own" recipes in my blog and newsletter and I welcome recipes from all of you! Keep your eyes out for make your own tortillas and salad dressings coming soon.

Make Your Own Whole Foods Granola Bars:
Recipe adapted from bowlofmush.blogspot.com

    * 1.5 cup rolled oats (gluten free oats will make these bars gluten free)

    * 1/2 cup hemp seeds

    * 1/2 cup chia seeds

    * 4 tbsp sesame seeds

    * 4 tbsp pumpkin seeds

    * 1/2 cup millet puffs

    * ½ cup chocolate koala crisp cereal

    * ½ cup chopped almonds

    * 1.5 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

    * 20 unsweetened dates (pitted, chopped and mashed or cut up small by hand or in food                 processor)

    * 2/3 cup raw almond butter

    * 1/2 cup organic, extra virgin coconut oil

    * 1/8 cup organic agave nectar

    * ¼ cup organic brown rice syrup

In a large bowl, add the oats, hemp seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, millet puffs, koala crisps, chopped almonds, and coconut flakes.

In separate bowl combine mashed dates, almond butter, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, and coconut oil.

Add date mixture to oat mixture. Scrunch the mixture with your hands until evenly and well combined. The mixture should easily stick together when you press it with your hands.

Line a baking dish or baking sheet with plastic wrap and then press the mixture into the dish firmly until even. Cover tightly with more plastic wrap and then place the baking dish in the freezer for a few hours.

Remove slate of granola from the pan by flipping it upside down on a work surface, it should slip out easily because of the plastic wrap. Cut the granola bars into slices and wrap each one individually in plastic wrap or wax paper and store in the refrigerator.

Who Needs Sugar When Nature Gives Us Sweet Potatoes and Yams?

Sweet potatoes are on everyone’s mind this season. They seem to go hand in hand with the holidays, and fortunately, eating these and other sweet vegetables needn’t be limited to this time of year. Cravings for sweets can be greatly reduced by adding sweet vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, yams, parsnips, beets, squash, turnips and rutabagas to your daily diet. Sweet potatoes elevate blood sugar gently rather than with the jolt delivered by simple refined carbohydrates, so there’s no energy crash after you eat them. Sweet potatoes are a good source of fiber, vitamins A, C and B6, and come in a variety of colors. At the grocery store, the things called yams are actually a variety of sweet potato so try them all! Much higher in nutrients than white potatoes and especially rich in vitamin A, sweet potatoes offer a creamy consistency that is satisfying and soothing. They are healing to the stomach, spleen, pancreas and reproductive organs and help to remove toxins from the body. They can increase the quantity of milk in lactating women and can lessen cramps and premenstrual symptoms. If you don’t have any sweet potatoes in your kitchen, go out and buy some (organic and local if possible).

Having a craving for french fries? Just peel and chop sweet potatoes into fry strips, mix in olive oil and spices like cayenne pepper, paprika, sea salt, and cumin, and bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees until browned on the outside and tender on the inside, mixing every 10 minutes or so.

Having a craving for sugar? Bake whole sweet potatoes (skin on) in the oven at 350 degrees until tender when pricked with a fork. Then scoop out center from the skin and sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy as is or whip in food processor for a creamier version.

Like to make lasagna? Use sweet potato slices instead of noodles as you layer! Best lasagna I ever made! Email me for the recipe.

You can also substitute Sweet Potatoes into your mashed potato recipes!

For a more elegant presentation of the sweet potato, try the recipe below and for more healthy holiday recipes, register for the Healthy Holidays cooking class this Saturday Dec 11th 3-6pm.

Sweet Potatoes with Lime and Cilantro 
This recipe is an eye-opener for those who find sweet potatoes cloyingly sweet or those who are tired of eating them smothered in marshmallows and brown sugar. Japanese sweet potatoes, with their pale flesh and delicate flavor, are a treat if you can find them.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 sweet potatoes
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
2-3 limes
olive oil or butter (real butter, no margerine! Preferably clarified butter called ghee
salt (optional)

Directions:
1. Wash the sweet potatoes and bake them whole, in their skins, at 375 degrees until tender, about 40 minutes.
2. Wash and chop cilantro leaves.
3. When sweet potatoes are done, slit open the skin and place on serving plate.
Season with salt and dots of butter or a sprinkle of oil, if you like, then squeeze fresh lime juice all over, and shower with cilantro leaves.

Healthy Dessert/Snack Recipe: Boondoggle Bars - The Deceptively Healthy Cookie

Boondoggle Bars - The Deceptively Healthy Cookie
The data is in, people like boondoggle bars (even though there is nothing bad for you in them)! In fact, so many people requested this recipe at the lentil festival that we had to put it on our blog! These are a mix between a cookie and a health bar, but even kids like them! Feel free to add variety with different flours, nuts, and sources of moisture such as apple sauce, yogurt, bananas....really all you need is too have the right wet ingredients to dry ingredients ratio to make a cookie dough consistency. So if you are eating no dairy, feel free to substitute other wet ingredients for the yogurt and egg. See below for ideas. Have fun experimenting to make your own favorite variety of Boondoggle bar....share your creations on the blog!