Cooking & baking tips. The holiday season is filled with carb-laden treats and gluten-containing foods that can cause digestive distress and are a detriment to your mood and your waistline. Parties can be challenging for people who are gluten intolerant or those who choose to avoid grains. And just because an item is gluten-free, doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Many gluten-free items contain rice flour, tapioca starch, and the like spike insulin and cause drastic blood sugar fluctuations. Fortunately, you can re-create many of your favorite recipes with a variety of healthier options.
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Instead of: |
Replace with: |
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Vegetable oil |
Organic apple sauce, pureed prunes or coconut oil |
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Baking Soda/Powder |
Aluminum-free baking soda/powder |
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Cornstarch |
Arrowroot powder |
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Flour |
Coconut flour, almond meal, hazelnut flour |
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Margarine |
Organic, pastured, grass-fed butter |
Gluten-free Holiday Cookies. Here’s a healthier gluten-free cookie recipe for those of you who enjoy baking during the holiday season and love cookies.
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1 cup grass-fed butter (soft) |
1 – 2 tsp. pure vanilla |
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1-1/2 cups coconut flour (sifted) |
1/4 cup coconut sugar |
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1/4 tsp. stevia extract (if you like sweeter cookies) |
2 tbsp. raw honey |
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1 tsp. baking soda plus 1/2 tsp. sea salt |
2 pastured whole eggs |
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Optional: 1 cup ground nuts of your choice |
Optional: dark chocolate & chunky sea salt |
Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly. Take a small amount of dough into your hand and place a chunk of dark chocolate in the middle of each cookie. Form into a ball shape and place onto baking sheet. Sprinkle chunky sea salt on cookies before baking. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 10 - 12 minutes until set, not brown. Cool and enjoy!
Healthy Holiday Eating. Stay on track with your diet and healthy fat loss lifestyle through the holidays and you’ll prevent weight gain. Utilize the “PVFC method” found in Fat Loss Revolution when planning your meals and prioritize protein (P), veggies (V), and fat (F), and minimize the carb (C) category.
