Wednesday

August 2012

Roasted Sunflower Honey Butter

A few years ago, I spent a somewhat awkward year living in Dearborn, Michigan while attending university there. I loved attending classes, seeing the diversity, bustling through the city, and going on impromptu adventures to Detroit. This doesn’t sound awkward in the least, but my failing health due to undiagnosed Celiac Disease/gluten issues complicated everyday activities to the max.

Life in Dearborn became amazing almost overnight after I was finally diagnosed and began my gluten-free journey. One of the first things I learned to love during this time was Sunflower Seed Butter. Granted, I was purchasing it pre-made back then due to being a time starved student. But that didn’t remove any of the tasty magical quality of it for me. I remember staring out the kitchen window and childishly dipping my silver spoon time and time again into the sweet seed butter; something I used to do with peanut butter back in my early youth.

Nowadays, I opt for making my own Sunflower Seed buttter for several reasons. I find that many kinds of these butters are produced on shared equipment with soy. After contacting many of these companies, I’ve been advised that they can’t rule out the potential for cross contamination–red flag! Another reason is I love to control how much salt and sugar goes into the butter myself. I am a food purest, and I think most foods contain enough natural taste and sweetness to ward off the addition of processed sugars. While I added honey to my homemade version, it was only a slight drizzle for taste and complemented the warm roasted flavor of the sunflower seeds. To me, food tastes better when I put in the extra effort to make it myself.

Roasted Sunflower Honey Butter

(Naturally free of Gluten, Soy, Peanuts, Dairy, Processed Sugar, & Legumes)

2 cups Raw Sunflower Seeds
4-5 tablespoons Virgin Coconut Oil (I use Artisana brand)
1 tsp Salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp Vanilla bean paste or Pure Vanilla Extract (McCormick brand is gluten free)
A drizzle of Raw Local Honey (to taste, more or less)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread raw sunflower seeds evenly over a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Toss them around about halfway through to ensure even roasting.

Place the roasted seeds in a food processor with the salt, vanilla bean paste (scraped from the inside of a vanilla bean) or vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Process the mixture for about a minute, then continue to add the rest of the coconut oil while the processor is running. Adding more or less oil to reach the desired consistency might be needed. Add in the drizzle of honey last. Scrape down the sides of the processor a few times to make sure all the seeds are ground down to a creamy butter.

Enjoy with a childish air, and a silver spoon.

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Monday

July 2012

My Number One Health and Beauty Tip

Okay, it’s time to spill some secrets. My number one health and beauty secret is…Coconut Oil! I eat it, use it in baking, cooking, and I use it topically on my skin. I believe it’s the main reason why I’m 99.9% breakout free. I don’t remember the last time I had a super pesky blemish. I use it to prevent premature skin aging as well. And of course, it’s way better than synthetic chemical laden skin products while being naturally free of gluten, soy, peanuts, legumes, and other common allergens. (If you’re sensitive to tree nuts, especially coconut, obviously this is not a good alternative for you).

While I can’t speak for the “health benefits” of these individual products, I can say that Coconut Oil in general has amazing antiviral, antifungal, antiparasitic, and anti-aging properties. Even though it contains saturated fats, it’s not the kind you need to be worried about. Coconut saturated fats are medium chain fatty acids that are not stored as fat by the body, but rather used for ready energy. Read more about the health benefits of coconut here. I’ve also reviewed Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil in an earlier post.

My top pick brands: I’ve personally tried these brands and checked for cross contamination issues with soy, gluten, peanuts, and legumes. These get my stamp of approval.

Artisana 100% Organic Coconut Oil
Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil
Jarrow Formulas Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil
Olivio Coconut Spread (I don’t use this topically, just for cooking)
Now Foods Certified Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Blemish free, the natural way.

Have you tried Coconut Oil? Did you notice any improvements to your health? I feel it has also helped me heal from long term undiagnosed food allergy induced damages.

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Tuesday

June 2012

From a Gluten-Free Nutritional Standpoint…

Snapshot of Snacks at Starbucks (contains gluten and other allergens).

Not all Gluten-free or Allergy friendly processed foods are created equal. I’ve found that some pre-packaged gluten-free products are just as devoid of nutrition and quality ingredients as the traditional and glutenous processed junk that lines grocery store aisles in excess.

I’ve been meaning to sound off on this for awhile. Now I’m not saying that that all pre-packaged gluten-free (or top 8 allergen free) cookies, cakes, breads, or snacks are bad. There are certainly some amazing brands out there that cater to our health and taste buds. And even the so-so brands are great in moderation. Let’s face it, it’s nice to indulge. But what I see so often in the gluten-free community is the feeling of wanting to replace what’s been lost–sugar laden, bad fat filled, white-floury, processed crap! And filling the void until the main source of food consumed is processed, high in sugar, low in nutrients, and unnatural.

Too many food companies are now catering to this dopamine addiciton in my opinion. My personal experience with being diagnosed and needing to go gluten free was a journey of needing to heal myself. What my malnourished body was crying out for after all the damage to my stomach and intestines was real solid nutrition–something that isn’t always found in processed foods. When you have Celiac Disease, the last thing that is going to heal your nearly non-existant villi is this junk.

And so you’ve become an expert at reading ingredient labels. Now it’s time for the easy part; reading nutrition labels in combination with ingredients. Look for processed foods that include wholesome grains instead of more “white flour” like plain rice flour or potato flour. Check out whole grains, natural ingredients, and organic products now and then. Here’s a few more detailed things to look for when navigating healthier (but just as tasty!) GF processed foods:

DO: (in moderation)

Real Food Colorants (one example: beet juice colorings instead of “Red40″ or other synthetic colorants)
Healthy Gluten-free Whole grains (whole grain brown rice, wild rice, brown rice flour, almond flour (if you can tolerate nuts), coconut flour, amaranth, sorghum, quinoa, or buckwheat flour).
Alternative Sweeteners to White Processed Sugar (some examples: Small amounts of stevia, agave, or raw local honey).
“Good” fat content–monounsatured fats found often in olive oil, avocado, almonds, etc.
A SHORT INGREDIENT LIST! — A good rule to follow here is if you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it. Or if it’s over 5 or 6 non-organic ingredients, don’t eat it.
Organic, Whole Ingredients (I love some of the Organicville Products. The Pasta sauce is soy free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free, egg free).

My Hearty Wild Rice dish is a great alternative to White Rice.

DON’T: (or limit to rarely)

Baking mixes or processed breads, snacks, etc. that mainly use “white” flour such as white rice flour or potato flour. These really don’t do much for you in the nutrition department. Stick to the healthier choices listed above. In my opinion, the healthy ones taste better in baking anyway.
High Fructose Corn Syrup, Raw Sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice and any other form of highly processed/unnnatural sugar in high quantities.
Artificial ingredients or products that use GMO’s. When you’re healing and living with a disease or allergies, you really want to limit your intake of these natsy buggers.
High Transfats or Saturated fat content (exception: The saturated fat in Coconut milk or Coconut based products is generally seen as acceptable because of the medium chain fatty acids that are used immediately by your body for energy instead of being stored as fat in the system).

These are just some of the Do’s and Don’ts that have helped me heal along the way. Try not to get into the habit of treating your disease or allergies emotionally or mentally with unhealthy foods. Instead, heal your body which will help heal your attitude and emotional damage much more easily. Of course though, the best source of food you can eat will never be processed–it will be straight from the garden or the tree! Food (fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds) in it’s natural state can never be fully replaced. You’re really not giving up anything when you show your body some much needed love.

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Monday

May 2012

Food Allergy Awareness Week 2012

I’m happy to share with everyone that this week, May 13-19 is Food Allergy Awareness Week! I love that there is an entire week dedicated to this important and life changing topic and am ecstatic to see all the buzzing in the blogosphere, mainstream media, and food allergic communities. This week, I’ll be posting completely allergen free (free of the top 8 allergens) to increase awareness.

The Food Allergy Initiative is a great place to visit if you’re looking for additional resources about food allergies and Celiac Disease. I’ve posted a great 30 second video from the FAI below that really brings to light the severity of the food allergy issue, and the search for a cure. And though this clip features childhood food allergies, it rings just as true for the estimated 3 million Americans living with food allergies today.

Life threatening reactions can be extremely scary and happen in a matter of seconds. It’s important to spread awareness around your schools, workplace, and to family and friends of the dangers of anaphylaxis. Education and understanding is the first step to founding a safer world for the food allergic and for finding a cure.

Due to the understanding of what exactly was happening to me during a sudden and severe allergic reaction, my boyfriend Yan saved my life on a few different occasions by making sure we could get to my medicine as soon as possible. He quickly drove me to the Emergency Room and Urgent Cares several times where I was able to ride out my reactions with medical staff on deck.

Do you have a food allergy or life threatening food allergy story?

How do you plan to spread awareness during Food Allergy Awareness Week?

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Sunday

March 2012

Self Sustaining Spring

This spring, we at Sprinkles and Allergies are challenging ourselves to be more Self Sustaining. Take our challenge for Self Sustainable Spring at Sprinkles & Allergies by planting at least one herb, vegetable, or fruit plant this spring. Join us and share your progress! We’d love to know what you’re doing to make a greener spring. Know where your food comes from by growing some of it yourself.

Our indoor garden is preparing for an outdoor move very soon. The usual whispers of spring were anything but quiet this year. Explosions of blossoms, birds, buzzing, and furry creatures started weeks ago here, which is much more than I could have hoped for in previously notorious bitter cold February and March. A mild winter means a wild spring–a time for initiating self sustainable gardens, compost, and overall renewal. Though we live in a small apartment, it’s still surprisingly doable, mostly thanks to our large bay windows and balcony. We love breathing in the fresh wisps of spring.

We’ve been growing Basil and Arugula from the seed for about a week and a half now. I can’t believe how much the Arugula has shot up in such a short time. This week, we’ll be planting some broccoli and parsley to go along with the other plants since our Kale tree seems to be on the fritz after the winter months.

Above, our Arugala is thriving but tending to lean more towards the sun. We’ll be moving it outdoors to the balcony soon where it can grow stronger in the full sun. Below, our baby basil are starting to peek through the moist soil.

This plant has special meaning to us.

Over a year ago, Yan surprised me with a beautiful flowering plant called a Kalanchoe. The day he got it for me marked the first month of our relationship together. This little tree-like gem has been through a lot, even having been knocked clear off our balcony and ripped out of the pot during a nasty thunderstorm last summer. Today it still grows strong and is beginning to show signs of blossoming again for the spring. I think we’ll need a bigger planter for it soon as it’s been growing out of control lately! The flower meaning of Kalanchoe is endurance and lasting affection. When asking Yan if he knew this today, he said “Well…uh…of course!! That’s the reason I got this one! Yeah!” Nice try Yan

Here’s a short video of our small indoor garden. I find tending to it to be full of meditation and relaxation while connecting back to the simplest roots of things.