Make Your Favourite Recipe Healthier!!

Do you have a favourite cake, cookie or casserole?  Your most treasured comfort food?  Does it make you cringe when you gobble down a second portion because according to the "powers that be" it's full of artery clogging ingredients?  Or is it full of nothing but empty calories?

There is a way to modify your recipe so that it becomes more nutritionally dense.  I was more than shocked when the flavour factor of my prized Banana Chocolate Cake was bumped up after I altered the ingredients.  I now NEVER make it the "old fashioned" way!

How can a cake be healthy?  I am proposing that you still shouldn't sit down and eat a whole cake folks.  It's still cake for heavens sake!  However by increasing the amount of fibre and decreasing the amount of sugar, using organic ingredients and substituting gluten free options your "family favourite" can still be delicious and certainly more "nutrifying" for your body.

Here are some suggestions....

Substitute organic whole spelt flour for wheat flour.  That increases the fibre content as well as all of the nutrients that are lost when we remove the grain's seed coat.  Spelt flour also has less gluten and is therefore easier on the digestive system.  For a gluten free option use brown rice flour. There are tons of different flours out there.  You can even experiment with grain free flours by grinding up almonds, filberts or other nuts.
Tip:  It may be challenging if the thing that you are making has a dry consistency already because rice flour results in a "short" dough therefore your end result is more crumbly.  With my cake which is moist and dense to begin with the results are fabulous!

Work with your sweetener.  White sugar has been shown to have detrimental effects of your teeth and pancreas.  Artificial sweeteners are a whole other bag of tricks.  Right off the bat I decrease my sugar by 25% and potentially work down from there.    The easiest thing to do is to buy an organic cane sugar and use as little as you find palatable.  To get more adventurous look for a sweetener that is more natural like honey, maple syrup or that has a lower glycemic index like rice syrup, stevia and the newest arrival coconut sap!!
Tip:  All sweeteners have a different "sweet factor".  For instance honey is sweeter than conventional table sugar so therefore you don't need as much.  With the liquid sweeteners it adds more moisture to a recipe containing rice flour to counterbalance the "shortness" effect.

Use a healthier fat:  Remember that fat doesn't make you fat by default!  We need fat for our brain, for our skin, for our hormones and neurotransmitters (substances that allow cells to talk to each other).  It's still not good to eat fat by the pound but fat is essential in our diet and there are better choices out there.  When baking there are times when I use BUTTER!!!  It's delicious and in moderation with an active lifestyle I have the belief that the spiritual experience of eating a butter cookie outweighs all else.  What are some other options?  Olive oil has had tons of press but there are other less know oils that are worthy of attention.   Grape seed oil which is really light in the flavour department is produced right here in Canada.   Coconut oil is extremely beneficial both inside and out - it can be massaged into your skin with great benefits.  All of the nut and seed oils although expensive are ideal for raw applications like salad dressing and bread dipping.
Tip:  for the liquid and moisture factor that fat provides you can substitute ingredients like applesauce and mashed banana while the healthy fats can be provided by adding nuts and seeds to your recipe for instance walnuts, pecans, sesame or the latest and greatest... hemp seed.

My biggest suggestion is get creative.  Sometimes your creation might not look so pretty but rarely is it inedible.  You can always cover it with a yogurt or sour cream substitute for whip cream.  ;)

Send me your modifications!!  Post them in "Comments".  I love to learn from others' creativity!!
I'll answer question as best I can.Happy cooking!

Here's what I did...

Sheryl's Famous Banana Chocolate Cake 
***My substitutions are in the column on the right

Original Ingredients                        Substitutions
1 cup white sugar                               3/4 cup organic sugar
1 cup mashed banana                         same
1/2 c butter                                        1/2 cup organic butter
2 eggs                                                2 omega eggs
1 1/2 cups wheat flour                        1 1/2 cups organic brown rice flour
1 tsp baking powder                           same
1/2 tsp baking soda                            same
1/4 tsp salt                                         1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips              1/2 cup bitter sweet chocolate chips
                                                         1/2 cup pecans


1. Cream butter and sugar
2. Add beaten eggs and mashed banana
3. Separately combine all dry ingredients and fold into wet
      Don't over mix.
4. Pour batter into pan - I usually use a bundt.
5. Bake at 350'F until top springs back and tooth pick comes 
     out clean - around 40 minutes


Enjoy!!!

Flat tummy? Kitchen Sink Salad to the Rescue

Have you seen that google ad at the side of your screen?  "Magic Steps to Flat Tummy"?  I have a hard time believing in short cuts to well balanced health.  Very often when we do some strange, extreme fad we pay the price down the road thus the term yo-yo diet.

Something that I have been experimenting with is increasing the amount of  raw veggies that I'm incorporating into my diet.  I'll tell you what is magic - the phyto nutrients that veggies contain!  Veggies with a hard focus on greens (radicchio, endive, rocket, arugula etc etc) supply all sorts of nutrients and are high in fiber and water to keep the colon happy and healthy.  For me that has lead to a noticeably flatter tummy!

You can start by getting creative with your salads!  On top of the usual bed of greens punch up the flavour quotient by adding berries or chopped apple.  You can go in another direction with pungent veggies like onions, radishes or raw shredded beets.   Top it off with a good quality protein - nuts, seeds or cheese.  The "icing on the cake" is a good quality oil - olive or grape seed - and some lemon juice or a flavoured vinegar and a handful of fresh herbs. 

Make sure that it's balanced with all the components - protein, fat and carbohydrates - to satiate your appetite and hold you until your next meal.

Bon appetit!

How to Successfully Build New Year's Resolutions

It’s that time of year again!!  With January 1^st comes that inevitable New Year’s Resolution.  Have you ever made a pledge to lose weight or give up your favourite sinful food?  How’s it working for you? 

Research has shown that the human brain doesn’t effectively process a negative.  Think about it… how do you NOT DO something?  It’s much more straight forward to DO something.  When we say “don’t gain weight!” the brain gets confused by the “don’t” and just hears the part about the weight.   It’s much more efficient to build our goals as positive statements.  Instead of “losing weight” try Gaining Health.  Now the brain starts to search for ways to be healthy!

Step #1 to getting to a destination is to figure out where you are right now.  An assessment is the only way to have a baseline for comparison down the road to make sure that you’re on the right track.  Let’s be honest - the truth can hurt. 

Look at your before picture as a motivator.  Checking in regularly (but not obsessively) by actually seeing your progress with your own eyes on charts or in pictures can keep that motivation high.  That leads to the perseverance which enables you to arrive at your target.

A great tool can be found at the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s website.  It’s a FREE 12 week, interactive program that gets you started and helps keep you focused.  By the time heart month rolls in around this February you could be a third of your way to your finish line!! 

Start your assessment HERE.  It’s a wonderful first step!

Look for step 2 in next week’s post.

By the way… Happy New Year!  ;)