The Clif C Bar is a different sort of portable food sporting a double layer of fruit and nuts and made from a handful of recognizable ingredients – basically fruit, nuts and sea salt. The bars are lightly baked and then sprinkled with nuts and a hint of sea salt to make the flavors dance.

Let me repeat my criteria for choosing a healthy granola/power/energy-type bar:

1. I want all ingredients to recognizably come from nature. The less processed these are, the better. I want to be able to pronounce and identify everything listed.

2. The fewer ingredients, the better. Don’t junk up my snack bars with a lot of extra stuff. Don’t add MSG or gluten fillers to my granola bars. Don’t add protein where it doesn’t occur naturally. And, please, don’t give me “artificial flavors,” because synthetic flavors are a huge turn-off to my taste buds.

These C-Bars are bursting with flavor– real flavors, not “natural or artificial flavors” concocted in a laboratory tube. They’re not so dense that they sit heavily in your stomach like so many other power bars.

Here’s an example of the ingredients in the apple Clif C-bar: Organic Dates, Almonds, Organic Apples, Macadamia Nuts, Organic Apple Juice Concentrate, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Organic Cinnamon, Sea Salt (Real Salt®), Natural Vitamin E (Antioxidant).

Mmmmm… look at all of those yummy real foods!

Best of all, perhaps, is how friendly the C-Bars are to those with food allergies and/or food sensitivities. You won’t find any wheat, gluten, corn, eggs, dairy, etc., etc., etc. in these beauties.

My only problem with these bars is that they are soft and can get smooshed beyond recognition when tossed into a crowded purse during an outing. Then you basically have to lick the bar off of the wrapper to eat it, not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it can get sticky.

Be sure to try all the flavors of Clif C-Bars: apple, blueberry, rasperry, cherry pomegranate (our favorite!). Thanks to Alex over at Clif Bars for the free samples he gave out at the MS Walks!

©2010 Effortless Eating. All Rights Reserved.

Banana Amaranth mini muffins

If you’ve followed my blog you know that while I’m not the greatest of bakers it’s mostly because I have a hard time following a recipe “as written”. With baking, not following the directions to the letter can often end with inedible results.

But not today. Today I translated a regular recipe for banana bread into something that is gluten-free, wheat-free, tapioca-free, rice-free, dairy-free, and lower in fat than the original to boot.

And it’s a delicious recipe. I think my kids each ate 9 of them already.

So then I made another version that is wheat-free but not entirely gluten-free (it uses spelt flour), that is perhaps even a tad bit better, though the jury is still out. Since my son is sensitive to wheat but tolerant of spelt, it’s one of my favorite alternative flours to use.

I needed to make a lot of banana bread because Door-to-Door Organics produce delivery service was kind enough to sponsor my presence at the Land of Nutrition at the Denver and Boulder Walk MS events this month with beautiful crates of organic apples, strawberries, and bananas to distribute to hungry walkers. Most were eaten at the event, but a week later I was still looking at more than a dozen organic bananas getting browner by the day. To me, that says “banana bread.”

Or rather, mini-muffins this time. So much fun to eat!

Ever since we discovered my son was sensitive to wheat through the MRT test, we have gone wheat-free in our household. It’s really wonderful that there are so many wheat-free products on the market these days that cater to those with problems digesting gluten (Celiac’s disease). It makes it easier than ever to find wheat-free alternatives to many packaged foods.

Banana Spelt mini muffins with chocolate chips or cashews

Unfortunately for us, my son is also sensitive to the most common substitutions for wheat in baked goods, namely tapioca flour, corn flour, and potato starch, which puts a lot of those products off limits to us and makes successful baking that much more challenging.

Spelt has some gluten since it is related to wheat, but in much smaller doses. Because it does have some gluten, it is one of the easiest non-wheat flours to bake with. I often add a little xanthan gum and arrowroot starch to my non-wheat flours when baking to give the dough that stickiness that gives baked goods structure.

While my son used to be sensitive to eggs, we eliminated them for a while and have been able to add them back in for baked goods. To make this recipe egg-free, see my egg-free egg-substitute post.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Banana Bread or Mini Muffins
makes 1 loaf or about 48 mini muffins

1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup safflower oil (or other oil)
1 cup sugar (or other sweetener)
2 eggs (or egg substitutes)
1/4 cup coconut milk (or other dairy or dairy alternative)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (not “flavoring”)
3 bananas
1 cup amaranth flour or spelt flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour (name notwithstanding, buckwheat is not related to wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum powder
Optional add ins: 1/2 cup nuts, chocolate chips, coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream applesauce, oil, sugar, and eggs together.

Add milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas and blend.

Mix remaining dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then add to bananas and mix well.

Grease loaf pan or mini muffin tins well and bake for approximately 20 – 50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

©2010 Effortless Eating. All Rights Reserved.

Bloating, gassiness, explosive diarreah, constipation, headache… these can all be symptoms of lactose intolerance, particularly if they show up within 1- 12 hours of ingesting a dairy product.

Lactose intolerance is not fun, to say the least. It’s particularly common among Mediterranean, Asian, African and other dark-skinned people, but can affect almost anyone.

It’s worth noting that mammals didn’t evolve to digest dairy products after weaning, and the human mammal is the only one to continue to drink milk as an adult. Really, lactose intolerance should be no surprise to any of us.

Still, life without cheese makes me feel deprived. Evolution didn’t account for the development of cheese.

Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy

Most lactose intolerant people simply avoid dairy products whenever possible. We can also take the lactase enzyme to help digest milk products on a food-by-food basis, but for me, even though lactase will ease the discomfort of digestion, I don’t believe it does everything it needs to because I notice a direct  correlation between when I consume cow’s milk products and weight gain in my own body.

Not so with goat milk products. Go figure.

Although goat’s milk has only slightly less lactose then cow’s milk (4.1% to 4.7%), something is different enough that many lactose-intolerant people don’t have a problem digesting it. Hooray! This discovery has opened up a whole new world for me and my family because we can have cheese again!

Some cheeses from Mt. Sterling Co-Op Creamery

The coolest part is finding how many products are now made with goat milk. Besides the typical soft Chevre log, we’ve found excellent Cheddar, Country Jack, and Mozzarella. Even our local Costco carries slices of unnamed goat cheese. Look for yogurt made from goat’s milk, too.

Colorado alone has more than 50 goat farms, dairies, and creameries. One of my favorites is the Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy — their cheeses are so delicious and special. Here’s a fun article about a program that puts prisoners to work on goat farms and then the goat milk goes to Haystack.

Mt. Sterling Creamery out of Wisconsin has wonderful harder goat cheeses, too.

(Do you get my newsletter? I send out a new Glorious One-Pot Meal recipe every other week exclusively to subscribers, and today’s recipe includes goat cheese!)

©2010 Effortless Eating. All Rights Reserved.

My friend, Nonna Joann Bruso, publishes an informative little e-zine about raising healthy eaters called “Baby Bites.” In her latest issue she lists all the ingredients that make up the “natural flavors” in a strawberry milkshake. Let me reprise it here for you:

Amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Bleeeeeeech!

Why oh why do companies think they can improve on nature by substituting natural foods for a  compound of more than 50 chemicals and derivatives? You’d think it would be a lot more work to develop this mixture than it would be just to do something really radical, like blend up some strawberries?

But even more horrifying to me is the utter lack of regard for the consumer of these chemical mixes. These ingredients include petroleum byproducts commonly used in products like nailpolish, tanning oils, perfumes, etc… Some of these ingredients, like butyric acid, are known to be cancer-causing, yet they are still included in this “natural” strawberry flavoring.

Even vanillin is synthesized in a petrochemical plant in China or Louisiana to mimic the flavor of real vanilla. Without the real vanilla, of course.

You can argue that you might receive a really small amount of these substances in a single strawberry milkshake. Maybe. But add up all the things you might be eating every day that contain artificial or “natural” flavors and colors, and that’s a lot of toxins to accumulate in your body. Soda pop, snack cakes, cheese-flavored crackers, maple-flavored syrups, mainstream ice creams, cereals, juices… need I go on?

My goal is always to stick to whole foods as much as possible to avoid these hidden killers, but when I do purchase prepared foods I look for labels that list fewer ingredients where all of them are easily identifiable. Unfortunately, the FDA allows companies to hide that ugly list above under the catch-all ingredient of “natural flavors.”

Now you know, though, and you won’t be fooled so easily.

©2010 Effortless Eating. All Rights Reserved.

I like Izze’s because they typically have an ingredient list of fewer than 5 items, I can identify all of them, and they taste delicious. They are basically 70% fruit juice and 30% sparkling water. Perhaps best of all, unlike most of the mainstream sodas, they don’t contain high fructose corn syrup but still give you that satisfaction from a sweet, bubbly beverage.

I’m always surprised to learn how much soda people drink regularly, and a bit horrified when I see people walking around with massive quantities of soda, like the mega 32-oz. fountain drinks sold at convenience stores. High fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and colors, caffeine… most mainstream soda pops are a toxic mix of chemicals created in laboratories. And we ingest them willingly.

Last year, during Oprah’s weight loss drive, Dr. Oz’s very first weight loss recommendation was to cut out soda. Two weeks later, there were callers claiming to have lost 14 lbs. simply from eliminating soda from their diet!

But I can understand how hard it might be to go cold turkey if you are a soda addict. I love alternatives like mixing fruit nectars with sparkling water, or if that’s too much effort, reach for an Izze!

©2010 Effortless Eating. All Rights Reserved.

What I love about stir-frying is that you can toss just about anything in a wok and it will be tasty.

What I hate about stir-frying is that it entails so much precision cutting before you start cooking, and then constant attention from the cook once the frying starts. I would prefer not to be on my feet and focused on cooking for that long — hey, I have MS, you know?

But, sometimes you just gotta do it to get the foods you love made from trustworthy and acceptable ingredients.

I began by softening a package of Thai Kitchen Stir-Fry Rice Noodles in boiling water. These have two items on the ingredients list: rice, water. Perfect for a gluten-free meal.

While I prefer to use fresh Extra-firm tofu for stir-fries, the package I pulled out of the fridge expired two months ago — eeeuuww! Luckily, I like to keep a package or two of Mori-Nu Silken Extra-Firm Tofu in the pantry for just this kind of tofu emergency. I opened and squeezed the tofu, then sliced it into bite-sized rectangles. I set the rectangles in a dish and added a quick marinade with one of my faves: Annie’s Naturals Shiitake & Sesame Vinaigrette.

I sliced mushrooms, asparagus, carrots, and a half of a zucchini that was left over from a previous meal.

I heated up my cast iron wok and put in some Grapeseed Oil with a splash of sesame oil. I’ve been cooking more frequently with grapeseed oil these days instead of canola oil and have been really happy with most of the results, especially when frying. (It didn’t do so well in our Rice Krispie treats — they turned out too soggy.)

The sesame oil adds a depth of flavor, but cooking in sesame seed oil alone can be too intense. I like to mix it with another oil.

I rolled the tofu cubes on a plate covered with Sugar In The Raw and set them carefully in the wok. I flipped them as they carmelized, then transferred them to a waiting plate. I know that you’re supposed to cook the meat first when stir-frying, but I think next time I’ll cook the tofu last. I had to wipe little bits of burnt tofu out of the pot later on, which bugged me.

Carrots went in next, were fried, and replaced with asparagus in 1″ lengths, and then the zucchini and mushrooms.

Finally, I took the drained and rinsed noodles and added them to the wok with the fried tofu and some more of the Annie’s.

At the end, it needed just a dash of sea salt to bring out all the delicious flavors, and everyone cleaned their plates. A yummy meal that you can prepare much more quickly by pre-cutting the veggies (wish I had that kind of forethought or pre-planning capabilities!).

©2010 Effortless Eating. All Rights Reserved.

Among many other things, we’ve been eliminating eggs from my son’s diet as we work to cure his chronic constipation. We’ve seen amazing results since beginning this in May, so I’m thinking this is a valid track.

Unfortunately, it does not seem to be easy to get great results in baked goods without eggs, and I haven’t had a lot of good results so far. Luckily, I’m getting some good advice on egg-free baking from readers of my own and other blogs.

Lisa commented on my post with her own egg substitute recipe:

“We’re always egg free in our household since both my husband and my daughter are severely allergic to them.

I’ve found that 1T of Arrowroot or Tapioca starch mixed in with 1T Rice Oil (or the oil of your choice) and water to make 1/4 cup = a great egg replacer for baking. It doesn’t add a leavening, but fulfills the “binder” function of the egg while not weighing things down.”

Thanks for the great tip, Lisa! I’m going to try it with arrowroot, since tapioca is on our elimination list, too.

I also learned that while using ground flax seeds works as a substitute for eggs, particularly in baked goods, I haven’t been adding them correctly.

I had already discovered that using 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds along with 3 tablespoons of water would work as an egg substitute, particularly in baked goods, but what I didn’t know was there is a technique to making this work.

Over at Elana’s Pantry, Jess commented:

“For each egg to be replaced, blend in a blender/food processor 1 tablespoon flax seed with 3 tablespoons water until the mixture is thick and creamy. I haven’t actually tried it that way, but I have heated that ratio in a saucepan until gooey (about 2 minutes on low, stirring constantly) with fantastic results in many recipes.”

Huh. Who’d have thought you had to combine the flax seeds together with the water before adding to the recipe. Not me, though it does seem logical now.  I mean, I thought it was weird to just toss in the ground flax seeds and then pour some water into the mix and leave it like that. No wonder I couldn’t see just how it would come together and act like an egg. And then it really didn’t anyway.

So now I know why, thanks to Jess.

I love how the internet enables this whole exchange of ideas to occur. It’s a pretty cool world we live in.

…

©2010 Effortless Eating. All Rights Reserved.