Delicious Holiday Spice Oatmeal Cookies - Gluten & Sugar Free

Okay so there's no sugar in these cookies, but that doesn't mean they aren't deliciously sweet! Keep reading to find out the secret sweet ingredient that makes these Holiday cookies to-live-for!

Holiday Oatmeal Spice Cookies Gluten & Sugar Free

Talk Story Conundrum

I ran into my brother-in-love (my BF's brother) the other day at the farmers market. He's like so many folks out there, overweight and is starting to search for answers. My boyfriend has, since we've been together, dropped two pant sizes (from 36 and growing to a steady 32) and is in top-shape and the question is always, "What's the secret? What are you doing?". Most of the time he tries to share what he can with those who ask, but we realize (from experience and practicality) that there is so much information out there and what we do, as far as an eating lifestyle-- being completely different than the mainstream-- it's hard to put it in a nutshell. 

And so I found myself answering my brother-in-love's questions at the farmers market. I just ran over a couple basics like change your cooking oil to coconut oil, don't put sugar in everything, and try to avoid supermarket food! He doubted me when I suggested he use coconut oil and eat coconut (even though we live in Hawaii!) thanks to the bad press saturated fats have got. I smiled and told him, the proof is in the pudding. We both laughed. On my way home I couldn't help but think of more and more things I wanted to add to that conversation. It's occasions and conversations like this that inspired this blog, not only because my boyfriends family is immense (nine brothers and sisters alone and oodles of cousins!) all with the same issues as the mainstream population at large -- no pun intended.

It is my hopes that this blog can serve as a pathway out of suffering for many and as the shifting gears occurs to create more "nutshell" like content that can be distributed both on and off-line. If there are any specific questions you'd like to know about please ask away!

New Favorite Recipe

Hot off the presses! Or at least outta my kitchen! My new favorite recipe of the moment, Fried Eggplant Mini-Pizzas! 

MMMMMmmmm so ONO!

I love pizza, but my awareness level is such that I have a hard time enjoying restaurant pizza (don't even think about store bought!). Most resturants default to factory food, which is going to be full of plenty of nasty stuff and barely any good stuff. Besides that, I try to stay away from most breads and grains n such (with a few exceptions). Plus, I like to get as much of my food locally as possible. So, this leaves me no other choice but to go homemade using what I know are the best ingredients!

This week at the farm market I picked up some lovely eggplants, the big round dark purple kine 2 for $1! Yess! I used eggplant parmesan, bruccetta, and margharita pizza as an inspiration and created these lovely and satisfying mini pizzas!

Ingredients:

• Eggplant large round variety (1 medium sized serves 2 people)*
• Organic Raw Coconut Oil
• Grass Fed Butter 
  
• 1 Medium Clove Garlic
• Hawaiian Sea Salt finely ground*
• Organic Raw Milk Cheese
• Tomatoes*
• Fresh Basil*

*locally sourced

   

Kerrygold (all I use) is a great brand of grass-fed hormone-and-antibiotic-free butter that you can find at some of your local grocery stores and is well priced (for the quality!). Look for it at your grocery! They also make great cheeses! The general rule of thumb is do some brand/company research and find out if the cows are grass fed.

1. Soften 1 Tablespoon of butter per person and mix with garlic and salt to taste.
2. Slice the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch rounds and lightly fry/sautee in coconut oil until tender, but still firm.  
3. Remove from heat and melt the garlic butter on the top of the eggplant followed by the cheese sliced or diced tomatoes and finely chopped basil. 

 You can also add whatever other veggies you like. I think I'll use some nice black olives next time I make this! Serve with a salad or any clean meat you like! We had ours with a small handful of wild goat jerky! Yum yum!

 

This was awesome! Fatty and satisfying, but without being heavy. We used forks and knives to eat these babies due to the thickness of the eggplants. Try it soon and I promise you'll love it!

Fast Easy and Healthy Chocolates!

Raw Cacao PowderFast easy and deeeeelicous way to get your coconut oil and your cacao!! Chocolate lovers rejoice! This stuff is full of goooodies. And if you don't make it really sweet you're alll gooood!

Ingredients:

• Raw Coconut Oil
• Raw Cacao Powder
• Yacon Syrup or Honey
• Sea Salt

Mix equal parts coconut oil and sifted cacao powder (3/4 C of each in the photos). Sweeten with 1 teaspoon - 1 Tablespoon yacon syrup or honey. Add a couple pinches of finely ground sea salt. Mix with a whisk or spoon then pour into silicone molds or ice cube trays and chill till solid. ENJOY!!!

These will keep in the refrigerator or freezer longer than they'll be around!

The finished product!! Soo ono!

What's in My Ice Box?

Au'rai, so this is it, my ice box! This photo was taken last week after I got home from the farm market. Check out the details below.

A beautiful sight! Makoa's waiting in his spot, hoping to get a treat!

Juice Worth the Squeeze

Found a great article (link found at the end of this post) from the folks over at Food Matters on the subject of cleansing. I subscribe to their newsletter and check out the articles that catch my eye.

Juice cleansing is a subject that has two sides to the story, one healing and the other scary! Sadly, enough some pretty dangerous cleanses have become popular fads that are super high in sugar and involve not eating for a long period of time! I'm not here to bash the folks out there practicing or promoting that variety of cleansing or fasting, but if you are curious about juicing or cleansing there are other options.

Easy, Easy Stir-Fry under $5 per person!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, my BF and I love our food! Lucky for you we take some pretty decent photos to share our meals and our inspirations with you folks : ).

Here's a look at our Sunday supper. Nothing really special just a stir-fry that we could have whipped up on any weeknight. That's the nice thing about stir-fry can make dinner really fast if you need to. Okay so let's talk ingredients! (Click "Read more" below for the whole recipe.)

Italian Dressing - Fresh 'n' Healthy

Whether you're trying to drop a few pounds, keep your figure or make healthy meal choices you've probably tried eating more salad. But, did you know that salad can be bad for you? It all depends on what kind of dressing you use!

     

Commercial salad dressings (the kine you buy in the store - even the "healthy" kine) are full of unhealthy and fake oils, sweeteners, artificial colors, artificial flavors, flavor enhancers, preservatives and water! In addition to that, the dressings are made with dehydrated ingredients and then pasteurized leaving the end product nothing more than flavor residue with little or no trace of real food.


The solution and the way to eat healthy salads is to make your own dressing (it's easy and I'll show you how!) and only eat salads from restaurants (ask) that make their own dressings from quality ingredients (never canola or vegetable oil!)


Salad dressing is easy once you know the ratio! My general rule of thumb is: 

-1 parts acid for example

• vinegar 
• citrus juice

-3 parts fat  for example:

• cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• other cold pressed unrefined  sesame or flax oil (good used together, but keep the flax chilled and never heat it!)
• tahini
• avocado 
• buttermilk
• cream
• yogurt
• even raw egg if you have a clean and reliable local source - never use dirty or cracked eggs!).    

-1-2 parts seasoning  The amount of seasoning depends on what you want and how thick you want your texture (more seasoning = thicker/chunkier). For example:

• sea salt
• garlic
• herbs
• shoyu
• ginger
• etc.

Ingredients for Italian Dressing (for fill one 16oz. bottle):

1 Handful of Italian herbs (any of the following, the ones I use in the video are italacized):

• Sage
• Basil
• Mint
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Fennel
• Chives

1tsp Coarse Sea Salt
1 Medium Clove Garlic
1/4 C Onion (diced)
2 Parts Apple Cider Vinegar (Balsamic Vinegar or Fresh Lemon Juice are fine too)
5 Parts Cold-pressed Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1tsp Raw Honey (Buy Local)

Note: if you are going to make enough for several days do not mix in the olive oil or it will harden in the fridge. Just store the vinegar/herb mix in the fridge and add olive oil to the salad first followed by the vinegar mix. When mixing separately you want to add the oil first so it can coat the salad (give it a toss, if you've got the skills - I make a mess unless I just use my hands) then add the vinegar, if you try and add the vinegar before the oil it'll be a lil' gross and make a mess. Unless you add egg to a recipe you should be fine to leave out your dressing for a day or so - just store in a cool dark place.



You can mix your ingredients in a food processor, mortar and pestle or even a blender! The trick is to get the seasoning into a paste or mush before adding any liquids (unless you're using a blender then you'll need liquid to blend).

Action!!

Lucky you live HI!  It's summer time and the plums are going off mauka!

Second weekend of plum season I went with my brothers to Koke'e and found plenty plums and even scored some blackberries - blackberries being the most healthy of the two and they stay choke all up in Koke'e!

Get out and go hiking and gather some ono, FREE, and healthy snacks.

Connect with the 'aina and your 'ohana!!

Hele mauka!

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Avocado? In pudding?! Wha? 

I know, I know, I know! Trust me it's ooono! 

The avocado give the chocolate pudding an oh-so-ono fattyness that you gotta taste. You can make a simple basic chocolate pudding for a couple bucks and some change or less! 

Not all fat is gonna make you fat. Actually, the right kinds of fat will actually help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight and help you prevent all kine of diseases. (I'll be covering more on this issue on other posts on this blog).

In the video I show you what and how to make a basic version and a next-level version with some ono additions that are great for you! This pudding is totally guilt free! (Unless you eat the whole thing by yourself and don't share! - I always feel a lil guilty when I do that.. hahaahah:-D)


Basic Ingredients:  

• avocado
• banana
• cacao powder 
• water/fresh coconut water
• sea salt

Optional Ingredients:

• coconut butter 
• shredded coconut
• chia seeds
• hemp seed nuts  

About the ingredients:

• Avocado is a superstar nutritious good for everyone - is loaded with good fats that your body needs. Great for anyone with any kine heart problems like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. The fat also will help your body absorb other nutrients too. Cost about $1-3 at farm market depending on time of year and size. Always a chance you can gather or receive these for free if you are lucky!
• Banana stay good for the heart too an supposed to soothe ulcers. 
• Coconut water is similar to our bodies chemistry and is easliy absorbed which makes it good for stay hydrated, removing toxins, and even for pass kidney stones. Hoy!
• Cacao (whole chocolate) is pretty much a miracle food with more reasons to eat it than I can even list! Besides from being full of the feel-good-love chemical PEA and being an aphrodisiac is good for the heart, bones, and full of antioxidants (which protect your cells/body against "rust"/damage). Just be aware it is a mild stimulant, for those of you who don't consume caffeine try not to eat too much at night (unless you are planning on stayin' up ;-). (BTW the kine chocolate you find at the checkout in the supermarket or gas station stay choke with sugar which cancels out any good chocolate effects. So go for the primo kine).
• Coconut get good fats which actually can help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight and provide long lasting energy. Good for soo much check out the link. Plus, if you live HI get plenty coconuts around for free! Au'rai
• Chia Seeds are full of good fats and don't go bad like some other seeds. Also, they hold moisture and help keep you hydrated as well as slowing down the release of sugar into your bloodstream (which is good for diabetics - don't mean you should use that as an excuse to eat more sweets!). They gel when wet and help keep things gently moving through your digestive system.
• Hemp Seeds are mild tasting lil buggahs that get plenty more good fats that your body needs and are not gonna make you fat and a complex protein mix = good!
  

The coconut water, banana and avocado get plenty potassium which is good for the heart and for help with muscle cramping. The hemp and chia seeds provide some protien and the avocado, coconut, hemp and chia seeds provide a good dose of fats making this pudding one good snack for eat after one work out! Yesss!