My inner nerd and inner baker tend to collaborate to celebrate Pi/Pie day. For the record, when Mr. Dude turned 31.4 he did get a pie. Not 10.
I’m trying to figure out what’s on the menu here, pie-wise, but may I tempt you?
Chocolate Banana Mousse Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar optional and vegan)
Chocolate Raspberry Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
Pecan Pie (GF, SF)
Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free, vegan)
Sweet Potato Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
First, quick fun stuff—I am really excited to see my new article on Mindful Eating out in Today’s Dietitian. I’m proud of how it turned out, and of course, this is a major passion of mine. I also posted on my other website on a Gluten-Free Passover, because many traditional foods are gluten-free.
And the changes…
For better or worse, I’ve always had the mindset of being wary around money. I don’t like the idea of being pushy or forcing or using people (duh) so instead overcompensate and to run too far in the other direction. I’ve had the endless debate about “monetizing” my blog. It’s such an unappealing term. And yet the idea of making money for doing what I like to do..well, that has its appeal. I would never do ads for random companies because I’d lose control of the content and the feel of my blog, and that would make me extremely uncomfortable. I tried doing blog posts for a company that will remain nameless, and yet that went nowhere because they objected to my comments that people ideally would be mostly eating real, whole foods. Sorry, certain things are just non-negotiable.
The only thing I’ve seen that I am comfortable with is the Amazon affiliate links. They’re on a few of my more recent posts. I tend to link to give my input on products and books anyway, and people aren’t charged more, I just get a few pennies when people click through and buy stuff. Maybe at the end of the year, I’ll have enough to get a gourmet chocolate bar. 
If the links make you uncomfortable, by all means, just open another window!
I’d love to hear any feedback people may have, because this is new to me. I blog because I like to, and I think this is something that will work without making me feel squicky.
And as always, I appreciate you all.
Every time I see “guilt-free” descriptions on recipes or blogs, I’m amazed and sad. I have a strong dislike of the whole guilt thing.
It just makes no sense when you think about it. Why should eating make us feel guilty? Why should enjoying food be a source of guilt? Because when we talk about “guilt-free” desserts, it usually implies there are foods we feel guilty about eating. Foods that are bad, foods that WE’RE bad for having. SINful foods. Prime example: the slutty brownies recipe that was making the rounds earlier.
Do you remember Snackwell cookies? I was talking about them with my hubby, and he had the best take on them. “Those things were gross. You’d eat the whole box, and then get desperate enough to try the cookies that came inside the box”. The only reason why people at them was they were “guilt-free”. No, I’m not saying your guilt-free cake isn’t delicious, but the mentality behind it remains the same.
Usually right after someone talks about making a “guilt free” dessert, invariably the next 
comment is: “Since this doesn’t have (sugar, gluten, fat, etc.) I had 2 big pieces!” or “so I didn’t feel bad about eating half of it!” etc.
I think that’s the problem. We eat more than our bodies need or want of foods we’ve identified as freebies. After all, they don’t count.
And we generally enjoy them less, too.
*Sigh*
It’s food.
Just food.
Not a matter of personal virtue.
Why give your power away to a piece of cheesecake? Or your scale, for that matter?
Some foods have more nutrients than others. Some foods that make you feel well and foods that make you feel poorly. Honestly, that’s a different conversation. It’s wise to eat in a way that fuels us and give us the energy to enjoy life.
So as a super-special request, please ponder it for a minute.
Think back to the last food you labeled “guilt-free”. Did you eat more simply because you labeled it as a “good” food? If so, why?
And think back to the last time you ate a food you labeled “bad”. Did you feel guilty? Ashamed? Angry at yourself? Or did you simply enjoy the tastes, textures and flavors?
You and I, we create our norms based on the ways we speak and what we see and hear from others. What think and what we say matters. Bloggers, authors, teachers, parents, nutrition professionals…our words ripple out and influence our definition of normal.
I know this may sound like making a lot out of nothing, but I wish we could stop normalizing disordered eating.
I’m getting off my soapbox now…
And happy National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Ah, soup. There’s nothing like soup this time of year, and the colder it gets, the more it needs to be creamy soup. I’m not one for faux dairy or cheese substitutes, and yet there are a lot of other creamy foods, like my Kale in Chestnut sauce and Celery in Chestnut Sauce (notice a pattern?) But this one is totally different, yet hits the spot in the same way. It’s really easy, really yummy, really nutritious soup which is perfect for this time of year.
Roasted cauliflower is a staple here, and every now and again I forget and buy 2 caulis. They do freeze okay, but the texture isn’t quite as wonderful, so I got intrigued by the idea of cauliflower soup. For the veggies, Trader Joe’s sells containers of pre-chopped carrots/celery/onions, so the work involved is pretty non-existent, which is my cup of tea.
Oh, and speaking of non-existent work, Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl shared a list of 100 easy recipes.
I love Pacific because they’re organic, gluten-free & don’t use GMOsRoast a head of cauliflower with at least a ½ head of garlic. This can be done ahead or frozen.
Heat the olive oil over med/med high heat, and add in the veggies and thyme. Let them brown, 5-6 min and stir occasionally. They’re done when they are crisp-tender.
Meanwhile, puree the cauliflower mix and almonds with 3 cups of broth. Obviously this is simple in a Vitamix. If you’re using a food processor instead, using almond flour instead of whole almonds is probably a good idea.
Add puree into the pot with the browned veggies. Stir, add more broth, salt and pepper as needed.
That’s it! Simple, yummy, creamy soup. I was amazed at how satisfying and filling it was. My buddy Shirley of GFE & All Gluten-Free Desserts commented how much it looked like pot pie filling, and I bet it could be used well there, too.
I’m submitting this to Diet, Dessert and Dogs, who hosts Wellness Weekends. I’ll also submit it to Iris’ 5 ingredient Mondays.
It’s Random Acts of Kindness Week! There’s very little that has brought more happiness and joy into my life than sharing and receiving kindness with others. So to celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of Sharon Salzberg’s book, The Kindness Handbook. (See below.)
To enter, please share a story about a time when you were touched by kindness.
I’ll go first. When I was 21 and just moved to Berkeley, I suddenly developed a mouthful of cavities. I went from only having 2 to having 13 within less than a year because of a weird medication reaction. When I found out, I was completely overwhelmed. I was scared, I was confused, I couldn’t afford it, and I wanted to curl up in a little ball with my favorite stuffed animal from when I was 4. So I did the only logical thing…run the 2 or 3 miles home, hysterically crying the whole way.
A few blocks from my apartment, a homeless man stopped me. “Honey, I don’t know what’s wrong, but I promise, it’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.” I stared at him, totally confused. He repeated it a few times.
He was minus a few teeth, he clearly hadn’t showered in quite some time, and presumably had enough to worry about already, and yet he went out of his way to offer ME kindness.I don’t think I answered him because I was so surprised. When I calmed down, I went back to find him and thank him, but he was gone.
It really illustrated that it doesn’t matter what someone has (or doesn’t have), we all have gifts to give if we choose to. Any day, any time, any where. It made a difference for me in that moment, and I appreciate that he went out of his way.
I’d love to read about a time you offered kindness or you received it. Please leave me a comment below, and I’ll choose one randomly between now and Feb 20th for the book, the Kindness Handbook.
UPDATED: Congrats to Derva for winning the book!
When it gets cold, I go for cozy foods. Here are some of my wintertime faves:
Food:
Celery in Chestnut Sauce (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
Coconut Curried Greens (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan option)
Kale and Beef in Chestnut Sauce
(GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free)
Kale Pesto (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
Sniffle Stew(GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free option and vegan)
Drink:
Chocolate Chai (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
Dessert!
Bittersweet Chocolate Chestnut Fudge (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
Cinnamon Roasted Walnuts (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
Chocolate Raspberry Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
E’s Cake (Chocolate Hazelnut Torte)
Sweet Potato Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)
Wanna hear something funny? When I first started my blog, I intended it to be an even mix of meals, breads, soups, desserts, etc. that mirrored how we eat. When I re-did my recipe index, I realized that notion bit the dust a few years back, and surprise, surprise, it seems like my blog is brought to you by the letter C and the word chocolate. Not that I don’t love chocolate, but I’d kinda like to balance things a little more. Just cause.
Then again, as I look at my very un-photogenic, super-yumtastic stew, maybe part of my decision is because dessert photographs better?
So here’s a simple/easy meal that I absolutely adore. There’s something lovely about chestnuts. Whether that’s celery in chestnut sauce or Bittersweet Chestnut fudge, it’s just comfort food to me. I use the flour from Nuts.com, I’ll be entering it for Iris’ 5 ingredient Mondays—she tweaked the rules, and now it fits.
1 cup of chestnut flour, divided
1 lb free range beef stew meat
2 TBSP olive oil
1-1.5 lbs kale, depending on the size of your pot
4 cups organic broth (I love Pacific)
A handful fresh thyme—5-6 sprigs
Salt and pepper to taste
Pat down the beef with paper towels. Heat the olive oil. Dip the beef in ½ cup of chestnut flour and brown the beef chunks. (you can skip this step, but do it if you have time) Add in the broth and thyme and dump the chestnut flour that you used for dipping into the pot. When it’s boiling, stuff in as much kale as you can…when it cooks down, add more. I often have to add in more water at this point. Simmer for 1.5 hours or until the beef is tender, stirring very occasionally. Add in the remaining ½ cup of chestnut flour and stir well. Once you’ve done this step, you must keep stirring or it will burn on the bottom. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Enjoy!
For me the last few months have been a bit of a roller-coaster, and I was hearing the same from a bunch of blogging peeps around me. We’ve all got our “stuff” sometimes. I definitely see the toll it takes. We all face losing things we love and it can be overwhelming.
I’ve found that healing is often through community, through connection. Sharing love helps pain and stress loosen its grip, even a little.
So, I’d like to invite you all to a semi-impromptu, semi informal conference call phone chat on Feb 2nd at 2pm EST. I’ll be leading a metta (lovingkindness) meditation, we’ll chat bit, and Iris of the Daily Dietribe will join us and lead a meditation, too, unless her sister’s new little one decides to arrive early.
Y’all wouldn’t have to share your own personal stuff or have meditation experience of any kind; it could just be a shared peaceful space to connect and breathe. And of course, it’s fun to actually hear people’s voices after emailing with them for ages.
If you’re interested in joining us, email me and let me know your timezone and I’ll send out an email. We’ll be doing this through Freeconferencecall.com, so it’s free, you’d just have to pay for long-distance charges.
~One kind word can warm three months of winter.
Japanese proverb
We’ve gotten a lot of adorable visitors lately. No, the foxys aren’t back, but our back porch is still full.
These pics may take a minute to load, but the full sized versions are so much cuter.
Genghis mindfully contemplates food…good thing little chip has the safety of a door!
Once we put up the bird feeder, we got many more visitors. G is taken with all of the birdies (AKA flying tasty cakes) The funny thing is that he thinks I’m going to intercede on his behalf, which is really a hoot. He’s also most enamored with the brightly colored birdies. Maybe they’ve got more antioxidants?He was also very specific about his Christmas request: Mom, I want THAT one!
Sorry, buddy, no squirrels for you.
Most of the squirrels seem oblivious to the cats…
Sometimes it feels like…somebody’s watching me…
We’ve also got a new squirrel who (literally) knocks on the window with a nut in his mouth. He/she’s a shameless little beggar, and it drives the cats wild. As DH put it, “The local squirrels love our bird feeder, and don’t seem to care about our cats at all. The reverse isn’t so true.” Every now and then, G forgets his surroundings, pounces and smacks right into the glass (we try not to snicker too loudly)
Here Houdini goes stalking:
The squirrel was totally disinterested in Hou. In fact, he kept jumping to different perches so he could see inside and better make his case for more bird seed.
I do feel badly for the guys, because I think the furry and feathery friends are an insult to their cat-liness. But I also adore watching the birds and the squirrels. It definitely relaxes me, and I take more breaks to watch, which is a plus!
Ah…heavenly hazelnut butter. On one hand, this is a non-recipe kinda recipe. On the other, I’ve both burned the hazels and had them under-toasted and it’s easier to do it *right* when you know what right looks like. I wish this could be scratch and sniff, too…
Okay, toast the hazels on a cookie sheet at 350 for 16-20 min, shaking the pan half-way.
When they’re ready, they should look like this—papery linings puffed open.
Put the hot hazels in a paper lunchbag for 10 min or so. When cool enough to touch, shake off most of the papery stuff. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
Put them in the food processor with a big pinch of coarse sea salt. Grind for 5 minutes or 
until SMOOTH, scraping down a few times. Spoon into a ball jar, and do your very best to avoid spooning into your mouth in the process.
Voila! Add in a drizzle of maple syrup for a sweet treat, use it as a filling for chocolate hazelnut butter cups (!!) mix w/cocoa and sweetener for your very own faux nutella, or just plain eat it up by the spoon. It’s also a necessary part of Hazelnut Cookies.
I’m posting this to 5-ingredient Mondays over at the Daily Dietribe. Why? because when time is short and I’m not very hungry, apple and nut butter is on the menu for quick and easy nights. So delicious.
I’m also submitting this to Wellness Weekends at Diet, Dessert and Dogs. Hop on over and check out all the good stuff.
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