Banana Cookies

I got this recipe from Chet Day's newsletter, and I like it, so you might too! I invited you to visit his website as well.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
2 cups mashed ripe bananas
4 cups oatmeal (soak them!)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup applesauce
Cinnamon to taste (about 1/2 to 1 tsp)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl till everything is uniformly moist. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. The dough will not spread, so flatten it to desired cookie thickness. Bake for 15 minutes. Eat warm or after cooling. Store in an airtight container.
For a variation, you can substitute the nuts with just about anything: raisins, dates, or if you want to be less healthy maybe some chocolate or carob chips.

This is part of Real Food Wednesday.

Skippy Truffle Cookies

I love this recipe, I found it in the back of the cupboard, cut out of a newspaper or something. Here it is, and I'll revise it further down:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1: Oven - 350

2: Mix all of the ingredients, with the chocolate chips last.

3: Use an ungreased baking sheet. Scoop into slightly rounded teaspoon fulls.

4: Bake 9 minutes.

Supposedly makes 4.5 dozen very small cookies.

They turn out puffy for me every time, which I love!

That's a pretty good recipe, and it's nice because it's gluten free. I was in charge of making some cookies for an event, and so I didn't want to play with the recipe too much. But I did just a little bit. I decided to experiment with stevia. Stevia has a distinctive flavor, so I didn't want to use it as the only sweetener. So I halved the brown sugar, and added a 1/2 teaspoon of green leaf stevia powder (I find it cheap at a place called Good Earth Natural Foods my LHFS) plus some white flour to make up for lost volume. Anyways, unfortunately they were a hit, and they were all eaten.

The next time I make them for me and my family, I'm going to play with it even more. Here's what the new recipe will look like.

-1 cup natural peanut butter - you can probably find a machine where it turns peanuts into peanut butter before your very eyes, for a better price then any peanut butter in the store. At least in my case. If after you've mixed it all together, it doesn't seem the right consistancy, then add some (preferably organic and grass fed) butter or coconut oil. Since we aren't using creamy peanut butter full of hydrogenated vegetable oils, it might be less creamy.

-1/2 cup sucanat - it's a good replacement for brown sugar
-1/2 teaspoon green stevia powder - it's the most natural form of stevia
-1/2 cup flour - when I try it, I'm going to use soaked, freshly ground whole wheat flour, but the first time I did it I used white flour, just be safe. Freshly ground flour it supposed to have high phytase levels. You could also try coconut flour or something to keep it gluten/wheat free, which would be great. I'll probably be experimenting with this one.

-1 large egg - preferably pasture raised.
-1 teaspoon baking soda.
-1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips - try to find organic, or else it might very well be GMO.

Then follow the directions above and enjoy!!!

THIS POST IS PART OF FIGHT BACK FRIDAY, a new one TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY!!! AND REAL FOOD WEDNESDAY!!!

Real Eggs and finding them

Real Eggs

Let me define real eggs first, in case you don't know. Real eggs are eggs that were collected from hens who:

1 - Were free to roam around a pasture
2 - Ate what ever they could find, including bugs
3 - Had plenty of space
4 - Were happy, like chickens should be

Nutrition

According to Food Renegade These eggs contain:

* 1⁄3 less cholesterol
* 1⁄4 less saturated fat
* 2⁄3 more vitamin A
* 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
* 3 times more vitamin E
* 7 times more beta carotene
* 4 to 6 times more vitamin D


Where do you find such novelties?

Well, you can try www.localharvest.org, www.craigslist.com, or www.eatwild.com for starters. None of those websites ended up working out for me. Where I found my eggs is from the classifieds section of www.ksl.com. That's the most popular news station in Utah (where I live). But chances are you don't live in Utah, so go to the Classifieds section of the most popular news station in your state/area. Or try your local chapter: www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html#locallist. I contacted mine, and she was pretty helpful and nice. They can help you find real food.

Raw Eggs

If you do get your hands one real eggs, make sure they come from healthy hens! If they are from healthy hens, then they won't have salmonella, and you can eat them raw! According to Dr. Mercola the chances of eating a contaminated egg are 1 in 30,000. And raw eggs are really good for you. They are still a 'live' food. Just throw them in a shake. Eat several a day if you have access to that many eggs. Eggs are so good for you.

You can also try keeping hens as pets, if you are permitted in your area. One day I will try this, but that is not this day.

UPDATE: HERE IS A GIVEAWAY!

Corn is Everywhere

Corn converts quickly to sugar and so it is best avoided. It is also a grain, not a vegetable. Grains are harder to digest, in general. Avoid eating too much corn. Corn is everywhere!:

*High Fructose Corn Syrup (avoid is completely), even worse is crystallized fructose which is supposed to be healthy, but it has a higher concentration of fructose than HFCS!

* The obvious (corn, corn starch, corn meal, corn syrup, etc)

* Corn Derivatives (it's a long, long list of chemicals, too long to reproduce here)

* Basically any ingredient that doesn’t specify it’s food source. (For example malt can be from corn or barley. Vinegar… guess what the cheapest source is.)

* Scented things like perfume, candles, air freshener, etc

* Cleaning supplies including laundry soap

* Fruits and vegetables (Many are coated with corn wax or oil or washed with water and citric acid. This includes many organic. It makes them shine.)

* Iodized salt (Corn is the glue that makes the iodine stick)

* Dairy products (Any milk with vitamins (most have A and D) use a corn derivative to help them “stick”. Plus most US milk is corn fed and it does pass through with the protein intact. Grass fed is best!)

* Meat (Most wrappers are dusted with corn to prevent them from sticking. Also any added colors or flavor solutions often contain corn.)

* Eggs (Corn oil rubbed on the shells, which are porous, so it can get through)

* Bread (Besides the obvious they can be cooked on corn meal so it sticks to the crust… and not labeled as containing corn)

* Medicine (Cornstarch is used as a filler in a lot of pills and capsules)

* Gasoline (A lot is now 10% or more ethanol.)

* I believe a lot is also GM

So, don't over do it on corn.