Food Rule 5, No Sugar Oat Cookies, and a Giveaway!

(Giveaway details at the bottom of this post)

Good mooooooorning!

So.  After yesterday's chatter about these mysterious and vague "Food Rules," I bet you're ready for something to sink your teeth into - both literally and figuratively.  Behold!  Our first Food Rule:

Over the past few months, I've been trying to eliminate excess sugar from my diet.  And that includes the Splenda I once loved with all my heart.  I've been reading too many scary things about artificial sweeteners, and if it's such a hotly debated topic in the nutrition world, I really ought not to be eating it.  But, I can't bear the thought of using real sugar and adding all those calories back into my diet.  So I did the one thing that seemed to make the most sense: I started teaching my taste buds to be ok with foods that are less sweet.  Yep.  The same way I taught my taste buds to be ok with vegetables (and then like them and then crave them and then actually love them way more than the other things on my dinner plate).  I started with ditching the sugar in my morning coffee.  Then I started digging through my pantry to see if sweeteners were sneaking onto the labels in my other foods.  Did you know that a lot of canned soups have sugar?  And that whole/real/natural fruit popsicles have sugar, fructose, and corn syrup at the top of their ingredient lists?!  It's crazy town!

After really sticking to it (I'm a baker after all, and my favorite food is cake with frosting!), I discovered some things about sugar: When I don't eat it, I'm a lot nicer.  Like, a lot nicer.  And my skin looks better.  And I don't find myself filled with an overwhelming urge to cram forkfuls of dessert into my face, like before.  I'm not doing some crazy diet or counting carbs or using a new-fangled substitute.  I'm teaching my taste buds to like foods that aren't dialed up to Holy Sugary Sweet Explosion.

Today's cookie recipe definitely fits the bill!  I mean, it's got "No Sugar" straight up in the title, even.  And if you look at the ingredient list, there is also no dairy, no gluten, and only a scant amount of added fat.  The cookies bake up similar to a chewy bar, and I really, truly love them.  When Bo first took a bite, he was expecting a sugary blast similar to my regular cookie recipes.  But after I told him, "Dude, there's only fruit sugar in those things and almost zero fat," he paused to consider them and then promptly ate 4 cookies before I could yell at him to save some for me.  I love that these cookies have an ingredient list I feel zero guilt about, and they're a perfect little snack to keep the tummy grumblies at bay.

Enjoy!


p.s.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  Details at the very bottom of this post!

         

No Sugar Oat Cookies
adapted from Blueberry Girl

1 1/2 c. (128g) regular rolled oats
1 c. (60g) unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 c. (30g) almond meal
1/2 c. (60g) nuts, finely chopped
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (60g) dried fruit (I used blueberries and raisins)
4 (425g total) ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together oats, coconut flakes, almond meal, nuts, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir in dried fruit, making sure that the pieces do not stick together.

In a separate medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, oil, and vanilla.  Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Press batter into cookie cutters and space 1" apart onto parchment paper.  (Or use a cookie scoop and flatten the balls to make them evenly thick.)  Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges and bottoms are golden brown.  Store in airtight container.  Makes about 20 cookies.

        

Ingredient Lineup:

GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate kicking off this Food Rules series, I'm sponsoring a giveaway!

What the winner will get:

- A copy of Michael Pollan's newly illustrated "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual"

- 2 bottles of my homemade vanilla extract

- 1 "Cookies for Kids Cancer" cookie spatula

There are three different ways you can enter.  That means that each person can enter up to 3 times!

1.  Post a comment here telling me one area in your food world where you're thinking of cutting back on sugar or sweeteners.  (Or post a comment telling me that cutting sweeteners is for the birds and that you really just want the pretty book, the pretty vanilla, and the pretty spatula.)

2.  Post a link to this recipe on Facebook and come back here to leave a comment telling me you did that.

3.  Post a link to this recipe on Pinterest and come back here to leave a comment telling me you did that.
     (If you need a Pinterest invite, email me: skeddy @ gmail .com)
     

Drawing will take place this Friday, 1/6 at noon EST.  And I'll email the winner right away!

Fine print: Giveaway open to US shipping addresses only, so if you live somewhere else, you'll need to regift these prizes to a best pal living in the US.  This giveaway isn't sponsored by anyone or any company.  It's all out of my pocket and, as my Dad used to say - the goodness of my pea pickin' little heart.

Food Rules: Not Your Typical Resolution Plan

January's most popular four-letter word has got to be "diet." Followed by a string of other four-letter words I'm not going to type here :)  But the basic story is that diets are rarely fun.  We do them out of necessity, and we generally feel a little spiteful and resentful because of all the things we're giving up.  And my problem with diets is that the second I stop actively dieting, the weight I've lost just goes back on.  I love food way too much to be very successful at limiting myself to "diet foods" for a long period of time.  So, over the years, I've learned that if I want to trim down, I absolutely have to add exercise into my regimen.  And really, adding in a sixty minute workout versus spending my entire day obsessing over calorie count is actually an easier tradeoff, right?  On top of the awesome calorie burn, working up a good sweat does sooo many good things for me:  It makes me nice, zaps away anxiety, gives me pretty muscle tone, and makes my sleep so very restful.  What I'm trying to say is that I won't be posting a lot of super-restricted recipes here this month.  I'll be sticking to my usual fare of meals that are heavy on the veggies and not terribly decadent with the calorie count.  And, I've assembled a collection of fairly healthy recipes up there on the new Healthy Stuff tab.

But!!  What I will be Resoultion-ing here is a new series around Food Rules.  Have you seen the movie "Food, Inc?"  It really makes you pause to consider where your food came from and the things that are put into it as it's processed.  With all the cancer that has popped up in my family and all the disease and poor health you see on the news every night, "Food, Inc" really inspired me to be more diligent about eating whole foods - those less processed and with fewer additives.

So, each week I'll be posting a couple of new Food Rules from Michael Pollan's book (Food Rules: An Eater's Manual) that I'm trying to adopt into my lifestyle.  Some will be decently easy, others will definitely require some rearranging of how I shop and eat.  But all are in the name of cleaning up my diet and being a healthier version of me, no matter the size printed on my jeans.

Let's Do This!

p.s.  Be sure to check back in tomorrow, because I'm hosting a GIVEAWAY of Michael Pollan's book, plus a couple of other nifty items!! :)

Friday Fun: 30 Second Organic Air Freshener

This looks so easy - why hadn't I thought of it already??  The directions and photo are straight from Re-Nest, a fun site for all kinds of home pretties and such.  Definitely let me know if you try this out and what your favorite fruit/spice combos are!




30 Second Organic Air Freshener
from Re-Nest


Materials
2 (or more) pieces of leftover, inedible fruit parts - e.g. apple core, orange peel
1 sprinkle ground, sweet-smelling spice - e.g. cinnamon, nutmeg, dried vanilla powder
Oil spray
6-inch piece of wax paper, tin foil or small, oven-safe ramekin

Instructions
1. Enjoy delicious apple or other fruit of choice. I highly recommend Pink Ladies right now.

2. Take inedible waste- apple core, orange rind, banana peel- and put on piece of foil or wax paper- folding up edges of paper to make a little well that will keep the waste from leaking out.

3. Spice and Oil: Sprinkle with cinnamon, or other fragrant spice. You can feel free to go crazy here (vanilla extract, cardamom, etc). But remember you're feeding your nose not your mouth, so keep it simple. And quickness is key: This isn't Martha Stewart's 2 weeks potpourri primer. Then liberally mist oil spray to prevent burning.

4. Put in 200 degree Fahrenheit oven until you smell the lovely and all-natural apple/orange/[insert your fruit here] pie-like fragrance. Keep on warm as long as you desire full force of scent. The smell will last for a couple hours even after you turn off oven; just don't open the door.

The New Dirty Dozen

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) just released their updated annual list of the "Dirty Dozen" varieties of produce that have the most potential impact from pesticides.  It's a highly contested list; farmers and the United Fresh Produce Association claim that the annual list misleads consumers and is a scare tactic.  The EWG advises consumers to purchase all of the "Dirty Dozen" varieties organic.  And then there are people like me - I can't afford to buy all organic produce, and although we try to shop our local farmers market, I do end up purchasing fruits and veggies at the regular old grocery store. Just last night, I just picked up some non-organic Fuji apples. 

So, what does this mean to me?  I'm going to continue my regular shopping habits (because I think that eating any produce is better than no produce!), and when possible, I'll purchase the "Dirty Dozen" items from my farmers market.  If those items aren't in season, I'm not going to sweat it too much.

Are any of you going to change your shopping habits because of the updated list?  What are your thoughts on buying organics?

Images courtesy of ewg.org

The New Food Guide

We all grew up learning about the Food Guide Pyramid, remember that thing?  I distinctly remember having school quizzes on the foods that belonged at each level, and the numbers for each.  Fast forward a couple of decades, and the USDA has released an updated version of the Food Guide, and this time around, it's in the shape of a plate. 

At first glance, the logo seems cartoon-ish and simplistic, but the more I look at it, the more I really like it.  The graphic makes it so easy to visually portion out meals to fit.  And I really like that it recommends that half my plate be filled with fruits and veggies.  Lately, I've been trying to eat less meat, so that there's room for more fruit and veggies in my diet.  It's not a huge transition for me, but Bo certainly does not like the idea of less meat.  And that blue "Dairy" piece up in the corner is something I do not have in my diet at all.  I'll just have to picture it tan-colored so that I can replace it with my calcium fortified almond milk. 

What do you think about the new food guide?  Easy?  Fantastic?  Plain silly?  Did any of you ever plan your meals according to the old pyramid?  (I never did!)

Apple Treasure - Etsy Treasury

Etsy is one of my favorite places to shop online. They have all kinds of things handmade, custom and vintage. If you have a little time I would really suggest that you check it out. I created this Etsy treasury for this weeks theme and it can be viewed and is clickable here. On the front page there is an option to Pounce...this is what I do when I am bored. Just pounce through the latest items sold. Surely you all would like that...just looking through everyone's shopping bag as they went past you in the mall?

Apple Vinaigrette Dressing

(Tip: this cruet was only 98 cents at Walmart)



I decided to rebel and not use apples as a typical recipe ingredient, haHA!  Ok, so I'm not kidding anyone by calling myself a rebel, but still.  I'm a bit of an apple snob with 90% of my relatives living in Washington state, so now that I'm living in the South, I have the hardest time buying apples when they don't have those little WA state stickers on them.  One day, I'll get over my issues (maybe), one day.  So I opted instead to try and come up with a copy-cat recipe for Panera's Fuji apple vinaigrette dressing.  I love that stuff, but I really wanted to be able to whip it up at home, and without any funky additives.  The results are super yummy, hurrah!  This dressing isn't identical to the restaurant version, but we loved it enough to make it be our stand-in here at home.



Enjoy!

Apple Vinaigrette Dressing

1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil

6 Tbsp. apple juice concentrate

4 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

3 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar (or white wine vinegar with a pinch of sugar)

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. sugar, or to taste

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl.  Keep refrigerated and shake well before serving.

Lettuce, Cucumbers, Carrots, Tomatoes, Apple Slices, Candied Pecans, and Feta

Apple Cake

I don't bake too often and when I do it is usually something I whip up from a box mix.  However, we had lots of apples left around the house and I was in the mood for something different.  I flipped through some cookbooks and came across this delicious sounding After-School Apple Cake in my FamilyFun Cookbook.  I found out it was so bad to bake from scratch and the result was a yummilicious treat.  And as a bonus I managed to snag some good pics as I went!

Ingredients:
6 apples (Cortland, Braeburn, and Empire work well)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

2.  Peel, core, and slice the apples, set them in a large bowl.

3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the oil, eggs, and sugar.



4.  Add the baking powder, flour, and wheat flour and blend until combined. 



5.  Pour the batter over the apples, gently stirring until the apples are just coated.





6.  Pour this mix into the prepared baking pan, arranging the apples in an even layer.



7.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.



8.  When the cake is cook, cut into small squares.  Makes 16-18 pieces.

An Apple A Day

Dear Friends, 

I am honored to write this guest post on "apples" for the women who write "From Blah to Ta-Daa"!  My name is Cristy and I have my own blog entitled "So Many Kids, So Much Fun".  www.somanykidssomuchfun.blogspot.com.  I am a stay-at-home mother of 4 (Lillian, age 11, Andersen age 8, Harrison and Malcolm age 6 who also happen to be identical twins!).  I strive to see the positive in all situations, remain calm, have fun and then I blog about how well (or not) it's working for me!  I plan to guest post again soon.  Thank you again, ladies!

Popular Apples of New England
Top (l to r): Cortland, Empire, Golden Delicious
Bottom (l to r): Eastern Red Delicious, Granny Smith, McIntosh

Everyone has heard the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."  While this notion has been around for a long time, it still holds true, somewhat.  Nowadays, we use the Food Pyramid (http://www.foodpyramid.gov/) as a guide to promote and maintain wellness.  The Pyramid states that you actually need 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day.  So, a modern version of the adage may be more along the lines of "An apple (or five) a day keeps the doctor away (plus don't forget your grains, proteins and dairy)"!

Did you know that apples lower blood sugar?  They have a lot of soluble fiber, which slows down the release of insulin into the bloodstream.  They also have Vitamin C and potassium.  If you don't peel your apples, you get the added benefit of Quercetin, a flavonoid contained in the skin.  Foods rich in flavonoids have been known to lower the incidence of lung cancer in a Finnish study published in 1997!

No doubt, they are healthy.  They are also versatile, convenient and delicious!  Wash them and pack them in your kids' lunchboxes.  Eat them straight off the tree, peel them and bake them into pies, press them into yummy cider and apple juice, bake them into a cake, make applesauce or apple crisp!  The possibilities are endless.  The varieties are also many. 

I live in Massachusetts, one of the many states where apples are grown locally.  Some examples of typical kinds of apples that I see for sale in my grocery store (pictured above) are Cortland (my personal favorite, red with some yellow streaks, great for cooking and eating whole), Empire (a cross between a McIntosh but sweeter and a Red Delicious but more tart; wonderful after a meal or for use in recipes) and Golden Delicious (another "all-purpose" type of apple). 


Then there are Eastern Red Delicious (firm, sweet and best eaten fresh on its own, or deliciously sliced into a salad, for example),  Granny Smith (green and tart, working beautifully for baking and eating raw) and McIntosh (red and green, does best when mixed with a firmer apple for pies, but is fine if used on its own for applesauce.  Of course, it always tastes good as a snack too!).

One of my most anticipated activities in the fall (other than first craving then consuming apples ice-cold out of the refrigerator or drinking cider glass after glass) is going apple-picking with my family!  First, we choose a crisp, fall day with a bit of a nip in the air for our adventure.  Then, we drive out to one of the fruit farms.  We live in central Massachusetts, so we have our "pick" of places to go!  We've been to many, but we have a few favorites of course, such as one nearby that offers a breathtaking view of a hill with all of New England's foliage colors abound.  Upon arrival, we take a hayride out to the orchard and start picking!


My husband took these pictures about three years ago.  My kids have grown  a lot since then, but this is the best set of apple-picking photos we have!  We cherish them so much, we have copies framed in our kitchen, which, by the way, has an apple theme.

Above:  (left) Harry works hard to select the perfectly-sized apple.  (right) Malcolm has a little fun!
Below: (left) Andy spots the right one and climbs up a ladder to get it! (right) Lilly examines her fresh apple that she just  hand-picked.

(left) Apples in their natural habitat; (right) Malcolm and Harry tiredly leaving the orchard for the day.

My children, who not only have picked apples with us on many occasions, have also gone on field trips with their schools!  They are expert apple-pickers and have taught their parents well too!

Some tips from my "pros"  include:

-    Find a wonderful-looking apple on the tree.

-    Then, cup your hand underneath it and gently lift the apple.

-    Next, twist the apple so that the stem comes loose from the tree without damaging the tree's branch.

-    Do not select apples that have fallen on the ground.

-    Make sure you stop by the farm stand for some cider and a slice of apple crisp or pie.  Of course, don't forget the whipped cream or ice cream on top!  (My daughter likes to have both!)

-    When you get home from your day in the orchard, store your apples in the refrigerator to maintain orchard freshness!

(left) Apple Crisp fresh out of the oven!; (right) Apple Crisp a la mode!

Here is one recipe for apple crisp that I make.  My kids can do a lot of it on their own now too.  Serve it hot, with whipped cream or ice cream (or both!) and you'll be in apple heaven!

Apple Crisp

Makes 6 servings
Preparation: 20 minutes
Baking: 25 minutes

You will need:


8 McIntosh apples

1 lemon, juice of

3/4 cup raisins (optional)

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp water or apple juice

Topping:

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1.    Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a 9-in square pan or baking dish.

2.    With a knife, peel, core and thinly slice the apples.

3.    Place the apple slices in a large mixing bowl.  Add the lemon juice, raisins, flour and cinnamon.  Stir until the apples are well coated.

4.    Place the apple mixture in the greased square pan.  Add the water or apple juice.

5.    In another mixing bowl, stir together all the topping ingredients.

6.    Press the topping evenly over the apple mixture.

7.    Bake for 25 minutes or until the apples are soft.

Whipped Cream:

Pour a small container of cold whipping cream into a bowl.  Beat with a whisk or electric mixer until soft peaks form.  If you like, you can add 1 tsp sugar just as the cream starts to thicken.

Cookie Week: Peanut Butter Balls

(And just like that, you can't get rid of me, ha!)  I know that these aren't technically cookies, but my family is really big on making Christmas candy instead of cookies.  I have an arsenal of recipes that were handed down from my grandma, but a few years ago, my bestie and I came up with this recipe for dipped peanut butter balls.  We gathered a bunch of different recipes, hacked them up, and out came these babies.  And they're so darn yummy, that we didn't bother to change a thing.

Seeds of Change: Apple Cake

Happy Saturday, everyone! Today, Mellisa and I are subbing in for Beth, so we decided to make the same recipe and then post what each of our families thought of it. Mellisa and I both thought that a good addition to the Food Revolution theme would be a from-scratch cake with fruit as the main ingredient.

The Apple Cake recipe came from my gramma; we grew up calling her "Sugarcane," so I've left her name in the recipe title. It makes me happy seeing it there :) The Caramel Sauce recipe I picked up years ago from a friend, and I've used on it everything from cheesecake to brownies to ice cream. It's so easy to whip up, and I love that everything in it is measured with 1/2!

Bo and I rate the Apple Cake a 5 Spoons, the Caramel Sauce a 5 Spoons, and the combo of the two together a 5 Spoons. But honestly, we mostly ate the cake right out of the pan, straight up!

Enjoy!



When Sara and I were hashing out the details of this post...I fought her a bit. I was literally terrified to make a cake from scratch. I am making a ton of changes as far as what my kids are eating - but I am just realizing that there are changes that I need to make with my mind set too. You see the fact of the matter is: If Betty Crocker is not on the box - then I don't trust that I can make it.

But tonight...I did! I just told myself that what's in the box that I add eggs, oil and water to - is what I am putting in the bowl minus all the additives. It's just gonna be raw ingredients.

Not only did I get 6 apples in my cake - but I KNOW WHAT"S IN IT!! I didn't put one thing into my mixing bowl that was unfamiliar. It was a very exciting night in the Rock house.

The Cake was fabulous - and truthfully - it was a bit more work. But seriously not enough more work that I won't try it again!

Thanks so much Sara for sharing your Gramma's apple cake with my family.

Hubby and I give it 5 spoons - I am taking this cake with me today to my family's Easter Celebration. I can't wait to see what they rate it too!

Sugarcane’s Raw Apple Cake
4 c. diced apples
2 c. sugar
½ c. oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix apples and sugar in a large bowl. Add the oil, vanilla, and eggs. Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Bake in greased 9x13 pan for 50 min or until done. Serve with warm caramel sauce.


Caramel Sauce
½ c. whipping cream
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. granulated sugar
½ c. butter
½ tsp. vanilla

In small pan, combine sugars, butter and whipping cream. Bring to boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve warm, but it will thicken upon cooling.

Cake ingredient lineup:

Just mix the batter until combined: