Ahhhhh, grocery shopping! My favorite activity!

Ok, we’ve all done it.  Think back to when you just went gluten or dairy free.  I guarantee that at least once you walked into Whole Foods and said “Woahhhhhh.  Gluten free cookies?  They make those?!  I have to try them!” Then you pick them up off the shelf, bring them home, gobble them down, and then go back to the store to try a new flavor.  Or better yet, the new GF version of your favorite thing ever-scones!  This cycle continues, and soon enough, you’ve been so consumed with trying new products that you forget why you went gluten free in the first place-probably for your health!

Let’s be real here.  A cookie is a cookie.  While some cookies are made with wheat flour and some with rice flour, they’re still cookies.  Most GF products are packed with even more sugar than gluten containing cookies; how do you think they cover up the taste of garbanzo flour?!

We all (hopefully) know that gluten free doesn’t translate to “healthy.”  ßI hate that word.  What does it even mean?!

A cookie is a cookie, no matter its ingredients.  Now, don’t get me wrong, if you’re going to indulge, do it with a gluten free cookie, but don’t trick yourself into thinking that you’re doing your body a favor.

 

Some tips for my tackling the grocery store:

 

1.  Give yourself time.  Okay, maybe that’s just a tip for me.  My grocery shopping takes forever!  I take my time in the grocery store, looking at all of the new products, and even the old ones.  I think I’ve got every type of trail mix in the Whole Foods Bulk section memorized!  Turns out, this is a good habit! When you are in a rush, you simply grab the first item that you see on the shelf.  Take some time, explore the aisles, and select what product you really came for.

 

2.  I admit, grocery shopping is fun for me, but I also have to keep in mind that food is fuel, not a toy.  Sometimes whole foods can seem like Toys R Us; walking through the aisles, looking at the shiny packages and the bright colored-produce, and trying not to buy everything in sight.  Remember that although it’s fun to mix and match ingredients, try new things, and explore new items, food is energy, so shop accordingly.

 

3. Lastly, remember that the best things don’t come in packages, they grow on trees.  Although this post is mainly about attractive packaging and convincing labeling, the yummiest and most nutritious foods often are in not found in the aisles, rather on the perimeter of the store.

 

Even if grocery shopping is not the highlight of your week, like it is mine, do it the right way so that you don’t get tricked into buying something that you’ll regret later! 

Confessions of a Cookie Monster

I have a bag of coconut flour from Costco, so obviously I have enough flour to bake enough desserts to sustain the country of Africa for a century.  Just kidding…because when I bake a batch of 12 cookies, let’s just say they don’t last very long.  I need to work on that…

 

Chocolate chip cookies sounded like a pretty good way to use up some coconut flour to me, so I decided to go for it.  I found a fantastic recipe for grain-free coconut flour chocolate chip cookies here:

http://detoxinista.com/2013/08/coconut-flour-chocolate-chip-cookies-grain-free/

 

Detoxinista, kudos!  These cookies were PERFECT!  I’ve already made them twice!  They are soft, chewy, and perfectly sweet.  I can’t quite get mine to look pretty, (it’s a work in progress) but they’ll do.  They were so ugly that I couldn’t even post a picture of them.  But hey, it’s the taste that counts, right?! I guess I’ll just have to keep making more and more batches to practice.  And I’ll have to eat the ugly ones, of course.  Sounds like a good idea to me! 

 

Side note: These cookies are definitely better the next day, so bake them, try one (or two or three or eight) and then save the rest for the next day.  

 

I am so excited to bake these cookies again and again!

Thanks so much to Detoxnista for the fabulous recipe!

Stay tuned for more posts about coconut flour recipes!  I’ll need to use up this bag SOMEHOW! 

Food in Israel: The experiences, the things I learned, and the pics!

The experiences:

 

-There was a gluten free menu at one of the restaurants I visited -yay!

 

-One of the restaurants told me that they had a gluten free option…turns out it was a plate of rice and potatoes.  Yum.  (Ew.)

 

-A chef at a restaurant tried to convince me that couscous was GF.  I think he was a little offended when I refused to eat it….

 

The things I learned:

 

-I learned that in Israel, ordering a small decaf coffee means, “Please give me coffee with milk.” Let’s just say that when I re-ordered I had to be very clear that all I wanted was coffee…without milk.  I think they thought I was an alien. 

 

-The gluten free products in Israel are absolutely incredible!  The bread is the fluffiest GF bread I’ve ever had in my life.  Greenlight is the main brand there; their bread products and baked goods are fantastic!

 

-Dairy alternatives are just not a thing in Israel.  There was soymilk in ONE of the 5 hotels that I stayed out throughout the trip, and it was nowhere else to be found-not in coffee shops, not in restaurants, etc.  Someone has got to get on that….

 

The pics:

 

Breakfast in Israel is incredible.  I love eating vegetables for breakfast, which is just not normal here!  In Israel, I could eat salad in the morning to my heart’s content!  Every hotel had a huge buffet with so many options! A typical breakfast for me was a plate of eggs, fish (sometimes), a few types of salads, and some fruit. 

 

Lunch and dinner for me, considering that I don’t eat dairy or red meat, were pretty much always chicken and veggies.  This lunch was from a food court!  I had grilled chicken, salad, pickled carrots, and pickles.  The chef cleaned the grill for me when I told him I needed a GF meal.  Where in America can you find a healthy GF meal at a food court?!

The food in Israel was absolutely incredible!  It was a huge part of my trip. Although I did miss out on some things because of gluten and dairy, I have a list of things that I am going to try to make GF and DF at home! Stay tuned for that post! 

Good Airplane Food? That’s a first!

Okay, let’s get over the paradox and focus on what was so great about the meals I was served on the airplane. 
First of all, I didn’t even know that a gluten free meal was an option on the plane. Last time I flew to Israel, my method was simply eating around everything that had gluten, asking lots and lots of questions, and in return, of course, receiving some pretty sassy comments from the flight attendant.  My personal favorite was, “We can’t guarantee that this is gluten free, but you should be fine!”
But this time around, I guess I filled out some form somewhere and checked a box that said I was GF. A flight attendant woke me up from my nap saying, “Moriah? Seat 52G? You ordered a gluten free meal?” The half-asleep me took the meal and muttered out a “thank you.” I woke up and took a look at what was in front of me:

 

My full name, seat number, and the words “gluten free meal” were a label on the tray. (Bonus: this meal was kosher meat meal, so I didn’t have to worry about dairy! Yay!)

I opened up the hot entree and was pleasantly surprised to find chicken, roasted veggies, and roasted potato. It was delicious!  Also in the meal was a rice cake with hummus, a small salad, and some fruit salad.
For the first time ever, my airplane meal was actually edible-and delicious! I was so impressed with the way that El Al handled gluten free food.

After the meal, they came around with coffee. I automatically said, “no thanks” because coffee without milk is simply yucky (in my humble opinion) and coffee creamer, as fake and artificial as it is, usually contains dairy.
But then I had a light bulb moment!  The coffee creamer had to be dairy free (because of the meat we had been served)! I enjoyed my coffee; (a decision that I regretted, considering that I had originally intended to sleep on this 14 hour flight….)  I just couldn’t resist the parve creamer temptation.
I am so grateful for the way that El Al airline handled my food!

For breakfast on the flight, I was served an egg atop a bed of spinach, squash, mushrooms, and carrots, fruit salad, orange juice, and a rice cake with earth balance (vegan butter) and jelly. (I was also served strawberry yogurt, which I gave to my friend.)
Happy tummy from airplane food?!  This is definitely a first!
I am so impressed with the way that the airline handled everything regarding GF food: the options, the labeling, and the food.  Not having to worry about getting glutened on a plane was a huge relief! 

DF/GF Traveling

Dear Flight Attendant,

No thanks on the pretzels.

Oh, and hold the bread with that meal.

Wait, does the sauce on the chicken contain flour?

Lots of love and sorry for being “that annoying person on the plane”,

Moriah and the rest of the GF people on the flight

Traveling GF can be a little bit stressful; you never know what restaurants will be in the airport, you never know what they’ll serve on the plane, and you never know who, in a foreign country, will understand you when you tell them what you can’t eat.

This is my first time traveling to a foreign country being both gluten and dairy free, so here’s what I’m bringing with me:

Packed lunch:  I hate dealing with airport food.  I don’t like eating in a rush, I don’t like the limited options, and I don’t like “settling” for my best option-which may just be lettuce on a plate with some vinegar.  Since I don’t know what to expect, I’m definitely bringing a lunch to eat on the plane.

Bars:  For that awkward moment when my tummy rumbles and they hand out pretzels 😦

Agave: To keep in my purse for coffee.  These little packets are perfect for on the go!  Nothing to do with being GF or DF, but this way, I can avoid those tempting bright-colored little packets of aspartame and refined sugar at the coffee shop.

Almond Butter:  Well…just because you can never go wrong with nut butter!

I’m leaving on a two-week trip in just about 24 hours and haven’t started packing, so I’m going to stop blogging and get to it.
Stay tuned for a post about what worked and what didn’t (if anything) regarding food on the trip!

I can’t wait to return to Israel and indulge in my favorite food in the world!  It’s about to be an amazing two weeks!

(I’m looking forward to not being judged for eating salad for breakfast!)

last friday night, yeah we danced on tabletops….

Haha, totally kidding.  I spent Friday night in my kitchen.  Baking.

It was a LOOONNNNNG week, and after school, I ran to the gym, and then came home to bake.  Baking is like retail therapy; I always feel so much better after I’ve created something delicious.
Okay, I really shouldn’t actually be calling it baking because everything that I made last night was completely raw.  Two fabulous concoctions were created in my kitchen on Friday, and both were 100% paleo, vegan, raw, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, peanut free, and refined sugar free.  Woahhh.

I actually only intended to make one delicious creation last night, but it turned into two.  More on that later.

If you’ve read this blog before, you know that I’m completely obsessed with Hail Merry’s Miracle Tarts.  Obsessed is an understatement.  I’m addicted.  Last night, I figured I would try to make my own.  (Okay, I’m gonna be honest…I tried this a few weeks ago and it was a TOTAL FAIL.)  I don’t even know what went wrong, but I decided to try again.

Success!  Still not the same as Hail Merry’s, (I don’t think anything can match up) but they’re pretty good for starters!

I used mini muffin pans so that I could make bite-sized tarts…but my portion control plan was utterly unsuccessful. I ate like 7 of them.  And licked the spoon.  Oops.  Somehow I’ m not guilty at all.

I can’t take credit for this amazing recipe; I found it here.  http://www.buddinglotusbody.com/nourish/mini-gluten-free-chocolate-tartes/

I used the chocolate mint recipe and omitted the mint extract.  (Although I’m sure it would be fabulous with it.)

The only ingredients in these tarts are: almonds, cocoa powder, agave, coconut oil, coconut milk, and a pinch of salt!
How perfect is that?!

The tarts turned out fabulously delicious:

I’m definitely making these again!

So…here’s where the second dessert comes in.  I had too much of the filling, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not fit it into the tarts.  Although eating it with a spoon was a totally valid option, I opted for a different plan.  I made salted caramel brownie bites!

The top layer is equal parts dates and raw macadamia nuts (with a pinch of salt) and the middle is the tart filling! Simply throw the macadamias and dates into the food processor, spread out thin on plastic wrap, freeze until firm, cut into squares, spread some chocolate tart mixture on, and viola! You will not be disappointed.

Try these recipes out…everyone deserves a treat.

I hope your Friday night was as fun as mine…..

Let’s Talk Milk

Ok, let’s talk milk.
Ponder this: we are the only species who drinks milk post lactation. Having just learned in depth about evolution in my biology course, I know that it takes A LOT of time for a population to evolve. So, to make it simple, adult humans weren’t, and still aren’t, built to digest lactase (milk sugar). Our bodies produce lactase (the enzyme needed to break down lactose) when we are babies, but this production stops when we reach adulthood. Some people may be able to eat dairy as adults as be fine, but something tells me that it’s not really the best thing for my body. Additionally, I find it weird that we drink cows’ milk; aren’t we supposed to drink the milk from our own species?!
For whatever reason you may choose to cut dairy out of your diet, I’m sure that you’ve tried a couple of dairy alternatives in your day. I certainly have. Here’s what I have to say about them:
Soy Milk: This was one of the first milk alternatives.  Soymilk was around back in the day when a dairy free diet was “weird.” I, personally, don’t like the soy-ish aftertaste, but I’ll be honest, when I’m at Starbucks and it’s my only option, I’ll totally put some in my coffee. 
Rice Milk:  This option was created shortly after soymilk. Here’s bottom line: I don’t think it’s great. The sweetened variations of rice milk taste lovely, but drinking rice-y water laden with cane syrup doesn’t sound like too much fun to me. If rice milk is your only option, then by all means give it a try. However, it’s not that nutritionally beneficial and doesn’t taste that great, so I choose to stay away.
Almond milk: Now we’re talking!  I LOVE almond milk!  It’s so creamy and delicious!  It’s perfect to add to coffee, tea, smoothies, okay, basically it tastes good on/in everything.  (It also works very well for chia pudding…..)
Almond milk is by far my favorite milk alternative! I always have (multiple bottles of) it in my house and use it for multiple uses on the daily. It’s creamy, nutty, and perfectly delicious.
Cashew milk: I usually just have cashew milk for a treat. I bought cocoa cashew milk from Whole Foods one time and it was DIVINE.  It was a total impulse buy, however somehow I don’t regret it at all…! Due to its thick and creamier-than-almond milk texture, cashew milk is better to use in something like a smoothie rather than in coffee.  A glass of cashew milk on it’s own is definitely a treat!

Coconut milk: Coconut milk is creamier than almond milk, but not as thick as cashew milk. It doesn’t have the nutty flavor that almond milk offers; to be honest, it tastes like water.  When I use coconut milk, I usually use it in baking, because it has a subtle coconut flavor.

There are SO many options to choose from for someone who is in search of a dairy alternative. Although this multitude of options may seem intimidating on a grocery store shelf, I encourage you to give them a try! There are pros and cons to all of them, but they each have unique qualities that make them useful and delicious on their own or in one of your recipes.
And, if you’re interested, give the whole “dairy free thing” a try. You never know what your body might be able to do when it’s not working hard to digest something that it’s not meant to.

Sweet Potatoes for Breakfast?

Sweet potatoes for breakfast? Okay!

You might be thinking that this should be included in my post about the most important meal of the day, but no.  This deserves a post of its own.  I used to not like sweet potatoes.  At all.  But all of a sudden, something changed.  Now I love them!  I usually eat them for dinner, but lately I’ve been hearing all about people eating them for breakfast.  So I decided to give it a whirl.

This morning’s breakfast was a sweet potato topped with a hard-boiled egg, avocado, Daiya vegan cheese, and salsa.  

 

It.  Was.  DELICIOUS.  The sweetness of the potato mixed with the savory flavor of the cheese and the spiciness of the salsa was divine!  This breakfast filled me up and was a great start to my day.  (It was great pre-work out fuel!)

After this breakfast, I’m officially obsessed with sweet potatoes.  They are so versatile-you can even use them for baking!  Try using cooked sweet potato instead of canned pumpkin in my “everything but gluten, dairy, refined sugar, grains, and the kitchen sink muffins” Try a sweet potato for breakfast in the morning, like I did; add cheese, nutritional yeast, avocado, an egg, salsa, or greens. 

If you don’t have time to steam a sweet potato, you can pop it in the microwave for seven-ish minutes. (But first, stab holes in the skin with a fork.) This is a quick and easy way to get breakfast ready. 

So let’s talk nutrition, shall we?  You know that gorgeous orange color that sweet potatoes have? Think beta-carotene. I’m no medical professional, but I do know that you need this stuff in your body.  If you look up the nutrition stats for a sweet potato, you’ll find a long list of micronutrients with high percentages next to them-score!  Just one sweet potato has over 1000% percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin A.  Woah!

So try a sweet potato for your next meal, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even just a filling snack.  You’ll thank me later; I promise. 

Tips and Tricks for Eating a Rainbow Everyday

The other day, somebody asked me if I recommend any seasonings to add to vegetables to make them more appealing.  They said they were trying to incorporate more vegetables into their diet and they didn’t know how.  And that’s when I realized that I’m abnormal in that I LOVE vegetables.  I mean, come on, we’ve all heard “You can only have dessert if you finish all of your broccoli.”  or, “You’ll only grow big and strong if you eat your carrots.” I think it’s an instinct for parents to enforce the importance of eating vegetables to their child.  Why?  Because they’re healthy and we need to eat them!  I definitely didn’t love vegetables as a child as much as I do now.  I will always remember the moment when I found out that my mom had been putting cauliflower in my mashed potatoes for years…I was so disappointed.  But now I’m so thankful.  Funny how that happens, huh?!

We all know that we need to eat vegetables every day in one way or another. They are a host of fabulous micronutrients, fiber, and all of that good stuff.  And hey, they’re delicious!  For those of you who find that eating vegetables is a chore, here are some ways that I recommend incorporating vegetables into your daily diet. 

 

1. Smoothies!  Although I’m not the biggest fan of smoothies,  (I like to chew my food) they are a great way to hide some veggies.  You can disguise a whole handful of spinach in a smoothie and not even know it’s there! (Well, the green color might give it away, but don’t let that discourage you!  You won’t be able to taste a difference.)

2.  Make veggie noodles!  I have this fantastic tool-it’s kind of like a cucumber peeler-and it makes ribbons of vegetables.  Instead of eating pasta, I like to eat veggie pasta!  I use this tool to create zucchini noodles, carrot noodles, and cucumber noodles!  This is a great (and paleo) replacement for pasta and is a delicious way to eat some veggies.

3.  Chop them up really tiny!  I absolutely hate the texture of squash, but if I chop it up really small, it’s hard to find! If the texture of vegetables is what throws you off, add tiny pieces of veggies to anything-sauces, soups, or even eggs, and get the health benefits of vegetables without the texture. 

4.  Make a veggie omelet! Yum!  Some of my favorite omelet ingredients are mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, kale, and bell pepper.  Just give the veggies a quick sauté before you add the eggs to the pan.

5.  Learn to eat veggies plain and raw.  I know this may sound obvious, but eating vegetables in their most whole, raw, and natural state is the best way to get all of the health benefits that they offer.  Vegetables each have their own unique and wonderful flavors that are hidden so often by sauces, dressings, dips, and flavorings.  Try them on their own and discover how delicious they are!

 

Try these suggestions, and find what works for you.  Using whatever method you choose, be sure to eat your rainbow everyday! 

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Everyone’s different, especially when it comes to breakfast. Some would say it’s the most important meal of the day, while some don’t even bother to eat it. Some go for smoothies, and some go for salads! Some don’t feel like eating right when they wake up, and some could go to a buffet and get their money’s worth!
I, for one, always eat breakfast. (Let’s be honest, I’ve never skipped a meal!) I usually like to stay away from anything sweet in the morning. Unless I’m about to work out, I don’t like a rush of carbs that leaves me feeling jittery. That’s a gross feeling first thing in the morning. A typical breakfast for me is a hard boiled egg, raw spinach, avocado, and some Daiya, which is vegan cheese. If I’m feeling like it, I’ll have a piece of fruit as well.

This breakfast is the perfect balance of protein, fats, and carbs and leaves me feeling full for a few hours.
On rare occasion, I feel like having something sweet in the morning, which is when I turn to something like Linwoods flax. Whenever I make chia pudding, I love to top my pudding with the cocoa and berries Linwoods flax seeds. 

It’s a combination of flaxseed, cocoa, and dried strawberries and blueberries. It adds some more protein to the chia pudding, and tastes amazing! Linwoods also has other combinations, such as flaxseed, almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, and Q10. These are all great additions to sweet breakfasts-they’ll add some protein to the mix, which will hopefully help you avoid the sugar-rush feeling. Try Linwoods flax on your next breakfast food…it’s especially yummy in smoothies!  For not-so-sweet breakfast eaters, try sprinkling some plain flax seed onto salads or eggs! Add a subtle crunch and lots of protein and omega 3s!
I love to eat so much that all meals are equally important to me, but I agree that it’s so important to start the day off the right way with something that’s good for your body. Remember, breakfast is the first fuel your body receives in the morning. Would your car run if you dumped some sugar-laden pancake batter in the gas tank? Nope, didn’t think so! Do breakfast the right way!!