Christmas Cookie Roundup

It's practically Christmas Eve! I wish I had done this blog much earlier but, oh well. Better late than never, right? So, what do you do when you haven't got it together to blog something original? You re-blog other people's awesome food posts, of course.

I've had a bit of a Christmas cookie fixation lately. I love the smell of baking cookies. So cozy and cheery. I'll probably only end up making one kind this year, but if I was having a big gathering, all of these are cookies that I would want to bake.


So, here is my Christmas Cookie Roundup:


I love nutty cookies like pecan sandies and Mexican wedding cookies. Check out these low carb, grain-free pecan crescents from All Day I Dream About Food.

I haven't had sugar cookies in a really long time. They hold a special place in my heart, as my mom used to bake them at Christmas and Valentine's Day. She had all sorts of fun cookie cutters. I don't even own any (that has to change!) These almond flour sugar cookies from The Urban Poser look yummy!

Maybe you've never had pizzelles. If you like anise, then you'll probably love these delicate and pretty anise flavored cookies from Kate's Healthy Cupboard.

When I was little, my paternal grandmother always made raspberry coconut bars at Christmas. The closest grain-free recipe I've been able to find are these raspberry streusel bars from Elana's Pantry. I'd probably omit the walnuts in the topping to make them more like grandma's. And I'd use butter.

And last, but not least, are butter tarts. Butter tarts aren't well known in the U.S. but all my Canadian readers will know what I'm talking about! They're buttery, flaky little tarts filled with a gooey mix of raisins and/or currants, brown sugar, butter and often ground nuts. A little like pecan pie but more buttery and definitely less icky sweet. The same grandma who made the raspberry bars made butter tarts (that side of the family is from Ontario).

I like that this recipe from Special Diet Creations uses coconut palm sugar in place of brown sugar. Plus, she's Canadian, so she knows what a butter tart is and what it should taste like.

I hope you all have a yummy and merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

xo
-Erin

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is possibly my favorite holiday because it revolves around food, and also because I have great people to spend it with. As most of my family live in other states, we always go over to some friends' house (my mom, who lives here in Nashville, goes there too) and we have a small crowd and amazing food. It's always relaxing and fun, for which I'm truly thankful.


I thought I'd give a quick rundown of my Thanksgiving feast plans. Some of the food is Primal/Paleo and some is just gluten free, as it's a cooperative effort with a number of us doing cooking duties.

-The Bird:
My hubby is always in charge of the turkey and he always does a great job (seriously, the man can roast a bird!)

For the perfect turkey, we brine it and roast it upside-down so the juices flow into the breast. This really helps the white meat to be moist. We'll probably use Martha Stewart's turkey roasting recipe this year. We've used it before and it's simple and amazing.

-The stuffing:
While my mom is going to make traditional gluten-free stuffing, I'm also going to make this parsnip and mushroom grain-free roasted veggie stuffing (mine won't be low fat, though). I may add some wild rice cooked in chicken broth to jazz it up even more.

-The other sides:
I'm a cranberry sauce nut, so I get to make it every year. I follow the basic recipe of cranberries, water and sugar (using organic sugar) that's found on every bag of fresh cranberries, but I like to add chopped dried Turkish apricots, just a little squeeze of orange and a bit of cinnamon. The apricots nicely balance the acidity and add an unexpected touch. I've made low sugar cranberry sauce, but something about the lack of sugar seems to amplify the acidity and it ends up hurting my teeth, so sugar it is...


We're also having:
-roasted brussels sprouts that my mom will make
-blanched haricot verts with lemon zest and parmesan (so good- I need to get my friend's recipe!)
-mashed potatoes (I like the real deal on Thanksgiving. No mashed cauliflower!)
-sweet potato pecan casserole (my friend's recipe- no marshmallows or orange juice involved.)

-The desserts:
My friend is making gluten-free pumpkin pie (if I was making it, I'd do a coconut flour crust).

I'm making my apple spice cake, which I'll serve with fresh whipped local grass-fed cream. So much better than regular heavy whipping cream!
I always make whipped cream with NuNaturals Stevia NoCarbs Blend and no one knows it's sugar-free. Seriously, that stuff is good and not icky. I also use it in the apple cake, so at least one of the desserts won't be high in sugar/carbs.

I hope you all have a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving feast! Happy Thanksgiving!!

-Erin

Apple Spice Cake

Don't you just love autumn? I sure do- it's my favorite season! I'm so glad to be rid of the oppressive heat of summer (and the mosquitoes and chiggers!) and I love the way the light shifts, lending the sky a beautiful clarity.

Right now I'm seeing an explosion of pumpkin recipes across the internet, but let's take a moment to focus on another seasonal produce treat: apples. Growing up in Michigan, one of the top apple producing states, I always think "apples" when I think "autumn". Apple cider, apple spice donuts and the smell of fresh apples at roadside farm stands.

I don't really get to indulge my apple obsession here in the South and many of the varieties I love like Northern Spy, Winesap, Cortland and even decent MacIntoshes are harder to find or unavailable down here, so when I noticed a "free apples" sign on a neighbor's apple tree, I was so excited! Of course I picked a bunch and I knew I had to come up with some kind of apple cake recipe.

This is really just a variation on my original vanilla cake recipe, but the flavor is very different and even the crumb texture seems a bit different (maybe because of the spices?) It makes a lovely breakfast treat or, with the addition of some fresh whipped cream, a homey dessert. It would also be fantastic with pears or even a combo of apples and pears. I can see making this at Thanksgiving.

Apple Spice Cake

Preheat oven to 350º

2 medium apples, peeled and sliced (I prefer softer baking varieties)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup + 2 TB coconut milk (canned)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup palm sugar (or other sugar)
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
Scant 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon clove powder

Stevia (I like NuNaturals NoCarbs Blend) to further sweeten- judge by tasting the batter. I always make sure the batter is slightly sweeter than I want the final product to be. Some of the sweetness bakes out.

Note on sweetener amount: you can further reduce the sugar and use more stevia, but I recommend using at least a little of some type of real sugar, since sugar contributes to a good crumb texture.

1. Sauté sliced apples (preferably in butter) until softened and set aside. This step isn't vital, but sautéing the apples gives them a nice flavor and texture, so I don't recommend skipping it.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk and vanilla extract.
3. In another bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, salt, spices and baking soda.
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet with a whisk or mixer and mix well. Add stevia to taste.

Pour batter into well greased 9 inch round pan or 8x8 square pan and arrange the apple slices on top and slightly press them into the batter to make sure the edges are flush with the batter. This prevents the apple slices from curling. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for 28-30 minutes and enjoy the heavenly scent that fills your kitchen.
Allow to cool for an hour.


Enjoy!

-Erin

Adventures in Breathing

If you've read my blog in the past, you may have seen me mention proper breathing as being integral to health and healing. How many of us even pay attention to how we breathe, let alone use specific types of breathing to further our healing?

My own history with breath work has been with traditional Qigong belly breathing. It was amazing how hard it was to take a proper deep belly breath when I first learned it. I had no idea how shallowly I was breathing before that.

Lately, I've added another type of breathing into the mix: alternate nostril breathing (or Nadi Sondhana), which is part of the yogic Pranayama tradition.
I'd vaguely heard of it in the past, but it never interested me until I read about the benefits of it in Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life by Dr. Claudia Welch. She comes from a Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda background. This is a seriously great book, as it gives real, practical context to things like yin, yang and energy flow and how they impact our health and hormones.

In the book, Dr. Welch discusses alternate nostril breathing as a powerful tool for brain balance and hormone balance, both of which I am striving to achieve right now. She even gives accounts of her patients having hot flashes and insomnia cease after implementing the practice.


Here are some of the alleged benefits:

-Improves brain function and brain balance. Deep breathing oxygenates the brain and alternating between each nostril activates both hemispheres. Favoring one nostril can also be used to activate the opposite hemisphere.
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-A calmer mind. Who doesn't need that?

-Improves sleep. Breathing through the left nostril is said to especially activate a parasympathetic response and quiet the mind so your busy brain doesn't keep you awake and your body can relax.

-Regulates and balances hormone production through balancing the yin (feminine) and yang (masculine) energy in the body. For those who think that sounds wacky, consider that TCM medicine uses this as the premise for increasing fertility and balancing hormones and it has a great track record for getting the job done.


There are other benefits, too, but those are the big ones that appeal to me. Also, it's FREE, so how can I possible pass up trying it, right?

So far, I've only done a few short sessions, but it definitely has a profound effect on my mental clarity and it induces a nice, calm state. It also helps to clear my sinuses.


Here's a short video demonstrating the technique. She doesn't mention pausing between inhales and exhales, but it's really beneficial and quieting to the mind to pause between breaths. The usual pattern is to inhale for 4 counts, hold for 12 and exhale for 8. Long exhales really calm the mind and body and induce a powerful parasympathetic response.




Now, take a deep breath and enjoy!

-Erin