Happy Thanksgiving!

So, somehow it got to be November and the middle of November at that. I am three quarters of the way through my third semester of my second masters (and hopefully the start of my PhD!) and I have a few new cooking clients. I feel blessed, challenged and that everything in my life is coming together. It has been a ton of work, but I’m finally starting to see the blossoms of all the bulbs I planted long ago.

Where are you in your life?

Every year when thanksgiving comes around, I get a ton of questions, concerns, anxiety, tears and rants from my clients and my community. People ask me what should I make? How do I change this recipe to make it healthier? How do I avoid this person at the holiday table? How do I get through dinner sober? Yes, I am sure that many of us have these same concerns.

Being a foodie, chef and nutritionist, I will answer the food questions first, because they are my favorites! The best way to enjoy Thankgiving is to not go into dinner hungry! Eat breakfast. Be it, two eggs soft boiled with a slice of whole grain toast, steelcut oatmeal with berries, a berry/greens smoothie and sprouts (what I had this morning, but I know, not for all of you!) or something a bit more decadent? A muffin and coffee, your favorite cereal and milk with coffee…just have breakfast, whatever it is. If you can make a healthier choice, its better, but no breakfast is better than none at all. Same goes for lunch. Usually Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t start until 4pm, many of us don’t sit down at the table until after 6pm. That’s a long day to not eat. Eat lunch. You don’t have to have a large lunch, but have something simple: a salad, a piece of quiche, a hard boiled egg if you didn’t have one for breakfast, salmon, gefilte fish (I’m Jewish, its my go to snack or lunch on a day when I know I am having a big meal – might not be yours – but seriously its pretty good – 5 grams of fat, a little carb from the matzo meal, lots of protein – perfectly balanced – and have with a bit of green salad and lemon and you are good to go) or something like that. Again, lunch is better than no lunch and a healthier choice is better than an unhealthy one…but whatever you do…eat breakfast and lunch.

Now we get to dinner, if you are cooking – use butter, just use 1/4 of what the recipe calls for. Use sugar, but use 1/2 of what the recipe calls for or do what I do – use agave nectar, brown rice syrup or another natural sweetener. This whole year I have been learning about Splenda. So far what I have learned is there is no evidence that Splenda causes cancer, birth defects, neurotoxicity etc…but the reason there is no evidence is that there have been no studies! Splenda has simply not been on the market long enough. So as a good scientist I cannot advise against Splenda, as a concientious and cautious skeptic, I’m not advising or myself using a lot of splenda. Like with everything, use a little.

I saw fresh cranberries at the farmers market this weekend. Try using them in your cranberry sauce or try using unsweetened canned cranberries and sweeten them yourself using 1/2 the amount of sugar the recipe calls for or use honey, agave or brown rice syrup in 1/2 the amount. I use whole grain pie crusts in my sweet potato pie or I forgo the pie crust altogether…especially if I know I want one slice of pie for dessert.

The best way to make turkey is to brine it. There are many recipes out there. But this one is a favorite of mine. I might go with slightly less salt and ignore what they say about kosher salt (don’t use more). I’d say 1/4 cup heaving is enough salt. I’d use a fleur del sel or a celtic sea salt (or a natural sea salt gathered from maine or anywhere else in the northeast if you are in the northeast or somewhere local to you if there’s oceans nearby!) Any healthfood store or whole foods will carry it. Many farmers markets sell local sea salt too. Bake that Turkey in a bag with some vegetables (carrots, onions, apples, oranges) at 500 degrees F (260 C – Thanks Eitan!) for about 2 hours or until a meat thermometer in the thigh reads 170 degrees F (sorry celsius folks – but the formula is Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32)).

As for side dishes, let’s have some green vegetables! and lots of them, because our plates should be 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 starch and 1/4 protein. And eat enough to fill one plate. The best thing I do at Thanksgiving is fill my plate only halfway so I can go back for seconds! I try a bit of this and a bit of that – keeping to the proportions above. I make the vegetables at my Thanksgiving feast – so I know what’s in them and I know there’s something for me to feast on and then I can try the other things. I suggest you do this too. Also if you are asked to bring an appetizer – bring a tasty tray of vegetables with a homeade dip. Here’s a great recipe for a homemade tahini based tip that is delicious and not super high fat or high calorie!

As for dessert, don’t skip it! Just don’t eat dessert Today, Tuesday or tomorrow, Wednesday and certainly not on Friday. Feel free to have dessert again on Saturday!!!! On Thursday, have 3 small slices or portions of dessert that would equate to one full slice. Imagine that dessert will be 500 calories and that you have that budget. Dinner is about 750 and you had about 750 calories between breakfast and lunch. If you want to proportion it differently do so, but still aim for about 2000 for the day. Get up, move around, help in the kitchen, enjoy Cousin Susie’s new baby and have an amazing time! Just remember Thanksgiving is about family, friends, love and joy! Food is secondary, but you should feel free to celebrate as well! Just don’t overdo it. Also, get a walk in there, either before or after dinner! With the wonderful mild weather we’ve been having, I’d plan a long one either before or after dinner – especially if there’s family you haven’t seen in a while, its a great way to catch up! Wishing you a wonderful holiday! Thanks for reading.

Healthy food affordability: a top ten list

So I have been reading all about how healthy food is expensive and I feel that this couldn’t be further from the truth. In one of my classes a professor presented that for $1 per person a meal for four people had to be incredibly nutrient deficient…having run a restauarnt for three months on zero capital, I learned to make healthful food for very little money. I’m going to share just a few of my thoughts in the form of a top ten list.

1. Lentils (green, brown, red, black – each has a different taste and different protein content!) – I like brown the best. They are high fiber and high protein. Good easy to digest low glycemic carbohydrates. Plenty of magnesium to relieve stress.

2. Millet: a great whole grain. Less than $1 a pound, even in whole foods.

3. Kale: I’ve seen it in every supermarket in America. Sometimes it sits all by itself. Sure, organic is better, but the conventional stuff at Pathmark on 125th Street was less than $1  a bunch. I bought 10 the last time I was there.

4. Chicken legs: They aren’t always organic, but I’ve seen organic ones at Fairway for $3 for 6 chicken legs, that 50 cents a leg. I’ve also seen turkey legs for cheap as well, even organic. The legs actually have more iron and the same protein as the breast. If the chicken has been fed well, the fat isn’t so horrible as long as you make veggies the centerpiece of your meal.

5. Peaches in season. Today I saw peaches for $1.29 a pound from New Jersey. They were ripe, delicious, local and cheap! Organic ones were a little bit more, but they are in season now, so take advantage! I’ve seen them for 99 cents a lb too. Buy as you need in smaller quantities – you’ll spend less.

6. Chicken feet: I know it sounds weird, but I was at the farmers market the other day and they actually gave me the feet, get this, FOR FREE! No one wanted them! So I made a to die for soup with the feet and although there wasn’t any meat to speak of – the bones made a delicious healthy soup. I added carrots (10 for $1), celery (not much more) and an onion (28 cents), along with some dill ($1.99 – the most expensive part of the soup – for $4 I could get it all in one package with the dill).

7. Zucchini and summer squash – in season now, very cheap at farmers markets or grocery stores. Pays to buy things in season. I got 3 for $1 over the weekend

8.  Strawberries – 2 for $5, you don’t have to buy 2, I bought one pint…it last me the whole week. I had three strawberries a day in oatmeal, smoothies, on their own. I cut them in half. It pays to portion control!

9. Grass fed beef – ground. It was only about $8 a lb compared to $24.99 for steaks. I know it was good quality because I talked with the farmers on how they raise the animals.

10. Small or large size free range eggs – I got 6 free range eggs for $1.75. They were small sized. They have less cholesterol and overall fat because they are smaller. 2 eggs still made a great fluffy omelet in an 8 inch pan. Wonderful protein and fats. I had with some tat soi from the farmers market. Overall balanced meal.

See, its not that hard to do. I’ll give you some pointers on some budget menus of how to use these and other in season, wallet friendly foods in the next post. Happy healthy affordable eating to you!

polycystic ovarian syndrome and the importance of a low glycemic diet

Ever since I was 16 (or probably younger), I have suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome. Four years ago I began a dramatic personal shift toward a lifetime of wellness and weight loss and I personally waged the battle against my polycystic ovarian syndrome, beating it into submission.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome isn’t a disease….its supposedly a variation on normal…but essentially you don’t really ovulate, which to me doesn’t quite seem normal. The theory is, a woman has a whole bunch of precursors to eggs that are called “follicles” at the time just before ovulation – one of them is supposed to burst out of the ovary and get released  into the fallopian tube  (ovulation) – but hormonally in the case of PCOS there’s an imbalance and actual ovulation never happens – so your ovaries have a bunch of little immature follicles that form little cysts in the ovary.  The hormonal imbalance leads to other unsightly issues like excessive facial hair, excess body weight (and it is difficult to lose weight), in some insulin resistance and acne. You can see the little ovarian “cysts”  on an ultrasound. Its not harmful, so therefore it is usually treated with birth control – it just causes some discomfort – and you don’t ovulate – so when you want to have a baby they give you some drugs and you usually have twins or triplets…good thing for me – I’ll get it all over with at once. It sounds a bit flippant I know…because its something that bugs me for the most part the medical profession doesn’t want to address the dietary component of PCOS. I have personally and as a registered dietitian I am not allowed to speak from personal experience, but as a health coach and ordinary citizen, I can.  And I will share it here on this blog, which is more personal than professional in nature even though most of you reading will associate this with me professional and that’s ok! With proper diet PCOS  and some supplements like fish oil and maca (although diet alone will do it too) can be at bay, controlled and even in remission…but one has to be strict, relentless even…and its difficult.

Since 2005, I kept things really well controlled with diet. I followed Nancy Dunne, ND’s suggestions in her book: The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS. The amount of carbohydrates she suggests one limit herself to is a bit unnerving and I tried it for a while. Its difficult to stick to and I cheat every so often and then go back.  However, over the past year between the stress of the economy, changes in my practice, changes in lifestyle relating to new relationships I was engaged in,  the taking of a new full time position and starting graduate school yet again, many of my symptoms have reappeared: periods every two weeks, unbearable cramps,  unbearable sugar and carbohydrate cravings, the feeling that I can never be full…its kind of crazy what a few hormones can do, but they are very powerful.

I have been learning recently through my graduate work how obesity contributes to changes in hormone levels and just how important it is for me to keep my weight down , not just for cosmetic and overall health reasons, but in order to keep my hormone levels in check.  My PCOS will always be there, but 15 extra pounds and its really spiraling out of control, seriously from only 15 extra pounds…Those have got to come off! Because I seriously don’t want to go back on birth control, which feels like my only option to regulate the symptoms and of course the advice of my doctor.

Since I was 16, I was on birth control pills. They regulated my cycle like clockwork, near the third week of the month on a Wednesday, I’d stain for 2-3 days…for a number of years. I knew exactly when I’d get my period. I never really had a need for tampons, since I’d just stain for a few days. It all kind of worked itself out. I was never huge into exercise, I was always a bit chubby. In 2005 I made a huge change. I started rowing. I started dropping weight in droves. I didn’t even try. I had to change my diet in order to accommodate three practices a week, sometimes four and the bike rides to the boathouse through the Boston streets. I tried rowing in New York, it wasn’t the same. I did triathlons here to make up for the lack of rowing.

I found that low glycemic whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables and fruit smoothies with seeds were a diet that made the most sense for me. Every so often I’d have some grass fed beef along with more dark green leafy vegetables. I rarely touched anything resembling sugar or white flour, but I ate gluten free whole grains: quinoa, buckwheat, spelt. I actually felt these grains break down slowly in my body. I never experienced shifts in my energy level and I was not hungry. I didn’t want cookies or energy bars or the other things I want daily at 3pm.  I felt golden and I went off birth control. For nearly three years I had perfect periods. 5-7 days, as regular as clockwork, minimal cramping. Everything seemed to go according to plan. Then 2008 hit. I lost clients. I lost referral streams. I lost corporate gigs and all my efforts seemed to be going nowhere. I was forced to move out of my apartment and take a good long hard look at my future. I enrolled in three graduate courses toward getting a research based degree in nutrition so I could teach at a university, take insurance and always have a “job” to fall back on in nutrition as opposed to the risks associated with running a business, although I’d always pursue that on the side. I started cooking privately and focusing on that more than coaching since it paid more.  I fell in love with that aspect of things and built a robust business model for that business. I’m still learning – but I think its coming together well.

However, I gained weight and my periods are all out of whack. I blame three things I brought back into my diet: 1) dairy 2) sugar and some non-whole grains and 3) caffeine…all three addictive substances…all three cause more stress instead of less and all three things I consume now on a regular basis. Dairy is easy to give up…for the most part, except in the form of butter it makes me sick to consume it anyway…except from goats, and its very expensive, so easy to reduce consumption. Caffeine, is a bit harder – but if I bike to work in the AMs and I have herbal tea, I can easily go without. Sugar is the hardest!  I’m working on giving up sugar – but its everywhere. Requires so much label reading…also I need time to make my own meals again…bring things to work…really consume things only made in my own kitchen and resist that chai in the AM or that cookie or granola bar in the PM…having fruit on hand…even dried fruit, nuts, apples, dark green leafy vegetables and grains as a snack…just breaking up my meals into fives or sixes as opposed to threes. Back to smoothies for breakfast, back to waking up an hour earlier and doing yoga or going for a run. Also I am eating more meat than I have eaten in a while…I’m experimenting more with plant based protein, that kind of diet seems to work for me given some red meat – but very little chicken or turkey…two things that are deadly for me energetically.

I’m supposed to do the marathon in less than two months. I’ve not been running and I am in the worst shape of my new life, despite some pretty amazing thigh and calve muscles from all the biking and running I have been doing lately – even though I’m not in my prime. I’m wondering if I should just shoot to speedwalk the whole thing just for the experience and plan to finish in 6 hours…perhaps I’ll just run every three miles and wakl a mile or something like that…and train for 2011 (I am too late for 2010 unless I do the lottery!)…there’s just so much you can do in life. I really wonder how people make room for it all…I really applaud mothers for how they do.  I don’t want to drop out despite my mother’s prodding and everyone else I know telling me I’m doing too much. I think I’m personally happiest when doing a million things…it actually gets me focused. My brain sort of works at ludicrous speed…for any of you spaceballs fans out there…I hope all of you find something that makes you feel alive as much as running does for me and allows you to focus in on all the other things and get them done…and sleep too!

quinoa and lentils

I love Indian Dal. I don’t have patience to make it. I want to share a recipe I made up last night which is my variation on Dal complete with greens to even out the meal:

1 cup (1/3 cup red, 1/3 cup green and 1/3 cup french) lentils (soaked 12 hours will reduce gas factor)

3/4 cup of Quinoa (not neccesary to soak)

2-3 handfuls mesculun salad greens or dark leafy greens of choice (braising greens best) in bite size pieces

1/3 cup of chicken or vegetable broth

2 cap fulls of yellow curry powder (roughly two tablespoons)

a few shakes of garam masala

1/2 inch slice of butter (omit if  not consuming dairy)

1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil

Boil 2.5 cups of water. when boiling add lentils and cook 15 min on medium. Add quinoa and cook 10 minutes more until quinoa puffs up. In last 2 minutes of quinoa cooking add curry powder, greens and chicken broth. Stir a few times to incorporate flavors. Cover pot and let steam cook greens. After 2 minutes, stir again, add butter and/or sesame oil, remaining spices, salt and pepper to your taste and melt in butter. Simmer on low until all liquid absorbed or moist. Add more broth if starting to dry out.  Serve immediately with lemon and chopped parsley or cilantro.

makes 2-3 servings

luscious organics cafe

I am excited that I just put my first press release together for my new cafe. www.sobelwellness.com/luscious-organics-cafe.html. I want to share a copy with you all and I’d love if anyone could help me get this into time out or other fun publications that are looking for health oriented restaurant and food options. I am hoping to kick off a lunch and dinner deliver service to wall street analysts (those who still have jobs) and other people in the downtown area that are looking for a healthy alternative to take out Chinese, pizza and sushi.

An enticing new healthy oriented organic café, juice bar and lunchtime take out opportunity has just come onto the downtown New York scene and diners throughout the city looking for an intimate environment that is more similar to a posh loft-like living room than a typical restaurant are invited to sample the unique sights, sounds and tastes of Luscious Organics, a vegetarian organic café and juice bar, conveniently located in the Atmananda Yoga Studio, at 324 Lafayette Street, on the border of SoHo and the Central Village one block south of the world famous Bleecker Street. The space is a downtown gem, an urban oasis for all things healthy and holistic offering classes, workshops and now an incredible new café and juice bar where you can have a juice, enjoy a full meal or order a healthy lunch to pick up or be delivered to your office.

From the moment you enter into the inviting surroundings at the newly re-managed restaurant, the holistic experience begins. Floor to ceiling windows, high ceilings, warm inviting lighting and the intimate environment of your living room and beautiful communal table are a beautiful complement to the subdued red-shaded lamps, elegant multi-colored floor to ceiling curtains and dark wood flooring throughout the studio that surround the open kitchen and juice bar just one block from SoHo, New York, NY.

Seated at either the juice bar or a real dining seat at one of Luscious Organics’ dark wood communal tables, accented with highly contemporary, white dishes, flatware and tall vases of fresh lilies, enjoying the scents of fresh herbs and spices wafting from the kitchen, you know you’ve come to the right place to sample the delicious fare of health supportive vegetarian organic cuisine. You don’t even realize after a while that there’s no meat, very little dairy and eggs and that everything coming out of this kitchen is fresh, minimally processed and wholesomely delicious.

The Luscious Organics menu embraces the culinary style of health and the yogic lifestyle. The menu highlights the bold fresh flavors of nearby Chinatown, the union square greenmarkets and other sources of local produce that support community agriculture and local farm eggs characteristic the New York Hudson Valley and surrounding farms in upstate New York and Pennsylvania. Savor such dishes as velvety butternut squash soup with local greenmarket pears, heartwarming lentil soup with fresh market root vegetables, lightly stir fried bok choi with black sesame ginger glaze, braised Brussels sprouts, sesame and honey accented Asian cabbage slaw, tarragon infused spinach quiche accented with local farm fresh goats cheese, coconut brown basmati rice, orange walnut quinoa with ginger and orange rind, lime-chili marinated tofu with fresh vegetables and many other delights. Complete your meal with one of the tempting hand-crafted desserts, many of which are gluten free and naturally sweetened without refined sugars prepared fresh daily in the kitchen. Top off your meal with a delicious cup of chef and owner Meredith Sobel’s proprietary “Creative”tea, a mix of teas, fruit flavors, fresh ginger and chai spices that captures the whimsical creative yet inspirational nature of her cooking and her personality. And as Meredith herself, the knowledgeable owner of Luscious Organics greets you with a warm smile, you are immediately captivated by Luscious Organics’ thoughtful, savvy service and the love that is freshly infused into each and every dish.

The relaxed sophistication of the dining room of this café in New York, NY flows into the adjoining yoga studio where you can stop by and take a class. There are classes in the early mornings, midday and many in the early and late evening to accommodate a variety of schedules. Take a class and stay for dinner or pre-order you meal to go and it will be packed and ready for you to take with you upon finishing your class. Our express yoga, chill and lunch service will be kicking off in the New Year and will include an express yoga class and to go lunch which you can enjoy at your desk after class. There are two showers in the studio to accommodate your midday needs.
Luscious Organics is situated off the living room of the Atmananda Yoga Studio in downtown Manhattan in the area of Soho. Luscious Organics is open Monday to Wednesday from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Juices and Smoothies available some Thursdays. Dinner is served at approximately 7:30pm-9pm. Selected weekend lunch service will also be available twice a month. A website will be available shortly with detailed weekly hours. Interested guests are encouraged to call 646-209-4519 for a recording of weekly hours or email lusciousorganics@gmail.com. Weekday lunch take out or dine in service is available by order only and all orders must be placed by 10:00am. To order lunch or to make a dinner reservation, please call 646-209-4519 or email lusciousorganics@gmail.com. Complimentary delivery service is available in the downtown area and will be expanded throughout Manhattan shortly. Call for more details. Seamless web service will also be available soon.

About the Atmananda Yoga Studio
Discover a beautiful New York oasis of all things organic, health oriented and focused on connecting your mind to your body. The calming, sophisticated space includes dramatic 14-foot ceilings. For more information or to make a lunch or dinner reservation, please call 646-209-4519 for the café directly or 212-625-1511 for the studio or visit http://www.atmananda.com. The studio and café are located at 324 Lafayette Street, between Houston and Bleecker Streets, on the 7th floor. Take the #6 train to Bleecker Street or the B/D/F or Q trains to Broadway/Lafayette and exit at Lafayette and Houston. Walk one half a block north to 324 Lafayette Street. The café’s website will be up and running soon. For immediate cyber-information, please visit www.sobelwellness.com/luscious-organics-cafe.html.

vegan baking, gluten free cookies and en masse cooking

So I have been experimenting with gluten free baking. What’s the deal with gluten anyway? So many of us are inflamed and on top of it have poor digestion. My body is so attuned to eating that if I go one day eating a non-whole foods diet, I get a bit ill. Most of us however walk around stressed, overworked, underpaid, underloved and our blood is literally boiling, and we don’t even realize it. Eating non-plant based fatty foods from animals that have not been eating a quality diet, or fats that are highly refined as well as excess sugars and foods that turn quickly to sugar once ingested (high glycemic foods) doesn’t help reduce inflammation, it actually increases it. Eating a plant based diet rich in whole unaltered grains (i.e., not ground into a flour and not removing the fiber – whole grain flours are better than non-whole grain – but once a flour you are already starting to lose some of the whole gain goodness). The problem is, sometimes we want something a bit sweet. Inflamed and all. I would love a piping hot bowl of pumpkin soup sweetened with agave, but sometimes I either don’t have the pumpkin on hand or I don’t want to cut them up (thanks to my super heavy vegetable knife, its a bit easier, but sometimes I feel like I need a cleaver or a machete, which the people who run my cafe said we have somewhere, oh boy!).

So instead, I turn to whatever else is available…and then I pay for it. Yesterday I was preparing a miso soup, greens stir fry with bean casserole. Pretty healthy right? I also was planning to sell these gluten free ginger snaps made with sorghum flour and rice flour. I am not sure what sorghum is, but they were pretty good. However, no one wanted dessert and I was stuck with an open bag of cookies. There are all kinds of rules I am learning about selling things that are open and how long they can last, so basically, I can’t sell them. So then I got stuck with them. And they were really good, too good. Often times though these store bought cookies are a) super expensive and b) sugary. I’ve been experimenting to see what I can sell in my cafe. Despite training under a pastry chef, pastry and dessert has never really been my thing. I mean I love to eat it, but its so much more of a science than cooking, which is truly an art.

Many of my cafe and catering clients however love vegan baked items and want them, so I am experimenting with vegan baking. I do a lot of vegan cooking in the cafe, although I am not a vegan and despite 20 years of avoiding eggs, I do love my organic brown eggs, especially when I get them from Traditional Nutrition Guild or the Union Square Farmers market and they are all different colors with the speckles. Its amazing. I still don’t quite understand what makes an egg brown, white or any other color for that matter. I do understand the taste difference between a fresh organic egg and a store bought one. But I am trying other things: egg replacer (I feel like this stuff is unnatural and nothing more than cornstarch, so I am still looking for something more natural), applesauce, honey (some vegans don’t like me to use it). I’d love any feedback from vegans who are as natural as possible and have ideas for me. I can do gluten free baking, but vegan baking has been incredibly difficult. I tried vegan quiche as well and it didn’t quite come out right.

This morning I poached an egg and enjoyed it with curry powder and two slices of gluten free bread made from flax, tapioca flour and cornstarch. I think the fact that its made with corn starch, delta glutalactone (what on earth is that?) bothers me a little…but I am not yet baking bread myself. This is also a yeasted bread. I think a bowl of brown rice or quinoa or whole grain cereal from Bob’s Red Mill is still a better choice for my carb intake. Otherwise that bag of gluten free cookies is going to be calling my name.

Whole Grain Cookies

On the episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay that I went to see taped yesterday, I stood next to a woman in the studio audience discussing cookies.  I discussed with her that I was a specialist in making not only foods, but also desserts safe for diabetics but not using artificial sweeteners. She mentioned that she used whole grain flours instead of white flours when preparing cookies.

Being nearly gluten free and mostly wheat free myself I’ve experimented with quite a few cookie ideas. I pretty much gave up the idea of eating cookies or resolved to feeling like crap when I decided to have one. I discovered some interesting Kashi brand cookies – they are ok, but I think they still contain wheat. Dr. Cracker makes spelt crackers and I’ve seen spelt cookies which have not bothered me…but the other day I found an interesting cookie in the health food store. It is called “World of Grains”.  They have whole wheat which sort of stinks for the gluten free bunch – but they are also made with quinoa – great for diabetics and anyone else looking to increase whole grains in the diet. I absolutely adore quinoa and I am so glad its made its way into cookies. The World of Grains cookies really need to make a gluten free variety, but until they do, if you are diabetic, the blueberry ones have 8 grams of sugars (evaporated cane juice) in 6-8 cookies that come in a single serving pack. Multigrain only has 6 grams which is pretty good. They have 3 grams of fiber per serving which is good too.

I still prefer to bake my own. I like oatmeal cookies and I like to use almond flour with agave. I can’t say I’ve baked a lot of cookies in recent years – but with grain free chocolate chips, butter and almond flour one might be able to do something interesting. I’ve definitely done a great peach crisp with those ingredients and trust me, no one in my cooking class knew it wasn’t white flour and brown sugar. The pastured raw butter probably didn’t hurt