Sticky Bun Cake

I have been in love with these Cinnamon Bun Muffins since the day I discovered them a couple years ago. I have made them countless times to rave reviews. Over time, I've tweaked the recipe several different ways but often following mostly as-is, using maple syrup and no nuts to make a straight-up cinnamon bun taste sensation. Lately, since I'm doing my Keto experiment, I have been playing around with using only just enough caloric sweetener to get the flavor profile, while filling out the sweetness with either Swerve or Stevia. Cute man hates this but tolerates it in some recipes but not others. When making this one, he did not notice so score one for the home team! All in all, the fewer baked things I eat, the better for my fat loss goals, but I enjoy being able to live a little without completely blowing it.

As for the caloric sweeteners, after reading about the GAPS Diet, I'm doing my best to avoid maple syrup in favor of honey. It has to do with the former being a disaccharide made out of two bonded sugar molecules, which are harder to digest, thus making it further down the digestive process to then be food for the "bad" bacteria in our guts (aka nasty beasties). Honey is considered a monosaccharide, which digests more quickly and is bio-available to us as opposed to the nasty beasties. This doesn't make 100% sense to me, because doesn't honey have both fructose and glucose aka two different sugars? Maybe they're not bonded or something; I don't really know and can't seem to find a satisfactory explanation anywhere. So, if you understand, please explain it to me. I am missing my maple syrup like crazy!

Moving on... I knew honey tasted differently, but I'm finding that it's usually not the flavor profile I'm looking for. As a result,I started looking for things in which I would purposely use honey... When I looked at this recipe again, I realized I could use the honey option and add pecans for more of a sticky bun as opposed to cinnamon bun flavor. I also adjusted it to be a cake, not muffins and changed the liquid measurements to compensate for not using the full amount of honey. I normally don't reprint others' recipes unless there is a significant change. I think I've met that threshold here, but please visit the original recipe for more inspiration and to support the author's work. I've also reviewed her cookbook on the Paleo Parents' site.  

Here is how it shaped up for me:

Sticky Bun Cake

Makes 8 servings

For the Cake

1/2 cup of coconut flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

1/4 cup of Swerve (can use 1 teaspoon of Stevia)

4 eggs

3/4 cup canned coconut milk

For the Sticky Topping

2 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter (can use ghee or coconut oil)

4 tablespoons of honey

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 cup of chopped pecans

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix all the cake's dry ingredients together.
• Add the egg and coconut milk, mixing to combine.
• Pour into a greased baking pan (like from this set or an 8 inch round)
• For the topping, melt butter in a 2 cup glass measuring cup in the microwave or on the stove.
• Add remaining ingredients and stir.
• Pour over the cake batter and swirl the surface with a knife.
• Pop the cake into the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a knife comes out cleanly when you poke it.
• Let cool a bit (if you can) and enjoy :)
• To store, you can leave it out, covered, at room temperature for a few days or put it in the fridge to extend it to a week (I hear, but never experienced it lasting that long!

Healthy Amelia

Thanksgiving Planning (Keto and Paleo Friendly)

Holiday planning when eating differently from most folks can be a challenge. However, I choose not to think that way. I, quite humbly, believe myself to be an excellent cook and only make and share items that I know almost anybody would like, regardless of dietary preferences. In other words, I refuse to serve stuff that I think of as "good for gluten free". 

I'm also over the idea of "treating" myself with foods that make me feel like crap. For better or for worse, I've become adept enough to make extremely tasty things that don't hurt me. That's what I consider a treat. If, like me, you are shooting for a Keto lifestyle, be careful with the cookie recipes. They DO contain maple syrup so they need to be limited. Just a little PSA. Also, if you can handle a few off-plan adventures of the more standard variety, more power to you. My way isn't the right way, just the right way for me.

Many foods are naturally gluten free so making them tasty isn't especially challenging (think, the turkey or sweet potatoes or green beans -- see, it's not that hard!) I've also amassed a recipe arsenal of delicious gluten free baked goodies that seam to please everybody. I dare you to find someone who doesn't swoon for the Food Lovers' Chocolate Chip Cookies. Definitely not "good for gluten free". They always disappear fast at parties (and not just the Paleo Potlucks)!

This year, we are teaming up with our delightful neighbors for a combined Thanksgiving with a smattering of friends and family. We wound up enjoying a double feast last year by having a second meal on Black Friday with them. This year, we're just combining on the actual day for full effect. As a result, we haven't worked out the details yet. I have no idea what others plan to bring yet. Last year, the neighbors made a Turducken. Perhaps that'll happen again? If not, I can roast a Turkey like nobody's business so I didn't even bother with a recipe below. Those recipes can be found anywhere. Alton Brown's Brined Turkey is awesome sauce.

In the meantime, me being me, I've been trolling the internet for new and fun recipes plus reinvented old standbys to have at the ready, should they fit into the larger scheme of things. I've also found a few things that maybe wouldn't be necessarily right for the main meal, but will be awesome to complement the leftovers. Here's what I've got!

• First up is Stephanie O-Dea's Green Bean Casserole and Savory Sweet Potato Bake -- I would use my dual crockpots for this. Perfect if we wind up going over to the neighbor's for the actual meal.


• What's Thanksgiving without Stuffing? I have not actually tried this one out yet, but it look's incredible: Paleo Parents's Pork Stuffing Casserole from Beyond Bacon. I am loving that you don't have to first bake a loaf of bread. This is ingenious, time saving, and tasty-looking to the extreme! Triple Treat! This is happening no matter what. If others want to bring regular stuffing, that's cool. But I NEED this. 


• And what's stuffing without cranberry sauce? I did this sugar-free one last year and no one was the wiser! Totally going there again: Healthy Living How To's Cranberry Sauce. 


• The magic sauce that brings it all together has to be the gravy. I'm going to use Mama and Baby Love's Gravy (one of several holiday recipes listed in that post). I'm thinking of getting this mini slow cooker to keep it warm (it would also be fab to have for fondue. Just saying...)


• Last but not least, The Food Lovers' Pumpkin Cookies are always a fall hit. And they're easy.


• I'm thinking that the Stuffing Meatballs from Practical Paleo and My Heart Beets' Thanksgiving Bread would be fun to go with leftovers. Those two things layered with a bit of turkey with cranberry sauce on the side? Yes, please. This may actually happen in advance of Thanksgiving. What can I say, I'm excited! 

Gingerbread Pear Cake from Paleo Sweets and Treats

If you're in the US, what do you have planned for the big Turkey Day? And if not, what are some of your favorite holiday recipes? 

Ketosis - an experiment (high protein breakfast recipe)

Since starting this ketosis experiment, I’ve been a bit unsure about the amount of protein to eat. On the one hand, I was inspired to try this out because of Jimmy Moore’s recent posts about nutritional ketosis. He’s going extremely low carb and keeping his protein pretty low, too. I think he’s doing something like 85% fat. I know I wasn’t going to emulate that, but to simply keep my carbs under 50 grams total per day. My original breakdown had me eating a pretty large whack of fat and not a whole lot of protein. I had some good advice from my friend Jen, who urged me to up that to make sure I’m sparing muscle as I lose fat. I was still holding on to the fear that maybe too much protein would convert to glucose and knock me out of ketosis. The jury is still out on that one and it doesn’t look like it is probably the big deal I thought it was. Also, I just wasn’t naturally gravitating to eating as much protein as I thought anyway.


Still kind of confused, I listened to a podcast about protein (great timing – thanks Jimmy!) The expert on there recommended eating a minimum of 30 g of protein per meal for everybody. He said it didn’t much matter how big you are or what gender because that amount is has more to do with blood volume than body mass, which doesn’t vary that much across people. So interesting and so not what I thought. He did not think that the calculations based on body size were necessary. That minimum was good for all, although people who work out a lot would need more for repair. Listening to him speak, it made a great deal of sense so I’m going to try this. It happens to work well within the macronutrient amounts/percentages I’ve been using as my goals – Carbs: 48g/10%; Fat: 114g/70%; Protein: 95g/20% (this is within the framework of a 1900 calorie max, which I rarely even approach, by the way – it’s been in the 1550-1750 range).

The goals are great, but I’m usually short of this on my protein – a bit at lunch and definitely at breakfast. Dinner usually comes close to or hits the mark of 30 grams at a meal. As a result, I’m going to change things up a bit more, focusing first on breakfast. The first step is to stop with the Bulletproof Coffee in the morning. I’ve been getting a bit of protein in with it, but nowhere near the 30 gram level. I’m going to switch to a protein centered breakfast and build the other components around getting 30 grams in during that meal. I have a feeling that this change alone will put me on the right path. I’m also looking forward to stopping the caffeine again. I’m just not feeling all that great lately and I think it’s the caffeine, as much as I hate to admit it. How many times I need to go down this road in order to learn this lesson I’ll never know. Progress not perfection, I guess! A long holiday weekend is the best time to let it naturally get out of my system when I can sleep in and rest as much as I want.

30 grams of protein during the first meal of the day will be a challenge for me. It is not natural for me to eat that much in the morning, period. But I think it’s worth a try, so I’m going for it. To make sure it happens during the first week, I’m going to make the following recipe that I will make in a casserole pan and cut into six pretty large portions. It’s going to be A LOT of food for me, but we’ll see how it goes. I’ll put the nutrient breakdown below as well so you can see how it fits into the context of my overall eating plan.

Sausage, Egg, and Spinach Bake
Serves 6
Each serving contains: 393 calories, 4g carbs, 29g fat, 30g protein

12oz loose breakfast sausage (US Wellness Meats)
1 onion, coarsely chopped (I used red)
2 cups frozen spinach
18 large eggs
Salt, pepper, seasonings to taste (I used a mixed seasoning from Trader Joe’s plus sea salt)
1 tablespoon butter or ghee


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown up the sausage in a large oven-proof casserole pan on medium heat, breaking up the pieces as you sauté. When cooked through, empty the sausage into a large mixing bowl. Using the same pan, now greased from the sausage, add in the chopped onion. When the onions become translucent, add the frozen spinach and cook, stirring often, until thawed and most of the excess water has evaporated. Empty the contents of the pan once again into the mixing bowl. Let the contents of the bowl cool a bit for 5 minutes or so to prevent the eggs from starting to cook right there in the bowl. Use the cooling time to add the salt and spices of choice to the mixture as well as to add butter or ghee to the casserole pan you used to cook the sausage and veggies, using the residual heat to melt the fat and a pastry brush to coat the sides a bit (or grease a casserole dish, if your pan is too small).

Once cooled, push the contents of the bowl to one side and add the eggs on the other side (this just makes it easier to whisk the eggs). Whisk the eggs until fluffy and then incorporate the rest of the mixture before pouring the whole bowlful back into the casserole pan or into the greased casserole dish. Place the pan/dish in the oven and bake until solid, about 30 minutes. The eggs may puff up a bit, but will go back down when you take it out of the oven. Cut into 6 evenly sized pieces and enjoy your 30 grams of protein for breakfast!

Ketosis - an Experiment (treat edition)

You'd think that keeping total carbs below 50 grams would completely nix the idea of treats. But where there's a will, there's a way! For the most part, I do shy away from sugar based as well as artificial sweeteners. But I've come to realize that a little can go a long way and that having a bit of a treat to look forward to does have a positive psychological benefit. I mostly use Stevia to satisfy the sweet taste, but will also sometimes add a very small quantity of maple syrup, honey, or even regular sugar to things to give them a more authentic taste, without adding significant carbs (under 5g per serving does not bother me or spike cravings).

I should also mention that I've decided to stay mostly dairy free (except butter and ghee). As exciting as it was to think about eating cheese and heavy cream again, I realized that I'm better off without it and don't really miss it right now. I still deal with seasonal allergies which is a sign that my gut is still not completely healed. I suspect my inconsistency with dairy may be playing a part.

So far, I've come up with several treats that I've been enjoying all the while staying comfortably in ketosis. The first is this amazing recipe for Caramelized Coconut Chips from Melissa Joulwan. It is incredibly simple, fast, and more delicious than it has any right to be. Seriously, folks. I am addicted. It has the slightly crunchy appeal of popcorn with the additional saving grace of being super filling. I make it by the half cup and that is perfect for satisfying the snack monster without derailing my experiment. Win-win!

Second up is a crustless key lime pie recipe that I made in tiny 4oz jars subbing a dropperful of stevia for the honey. The dominant tart taste from the freshly squeezed key limes really made this turn out great even with only using the stevia.

My next attempt was chocolate mouse. I did use a tablespoon of maple syrup in edition to a few drops of stevia, to give it a more decadent taste. Keeping the portion small kept the amount of actual sugar eaten per sitting quite negligible. I made half the recipe linked above, and split it into 3 little jars. Using the top layer of cream from regular full fat coconut milk really makes this taste rich and the portion size turned out to be just right. I love how real, healthy fat like that in coconut, is so satisfying and self limiting. It's truly impossible for me to eat too much - a few bites and I've had enough. It's amazing! Another plus is that it really did take less than 5 minutes.

Another good one that hits the chocolate spot is the fat bomb. I'm still perfecting this one - I keep forgetting to add a bit of salt since I use unsalted ghee instead of the salted butter called for. I think that will round out the flavor. I am really looking forward to my new chocolate powder, cocoa butter, and vanilla I ordered. I am imagining all sorts of yumminess I can create with those! If I'm going to be this low carb, some quality ingredients DO make a big difference.

Last but not least, I made some homemade jello using Great Lakes Gelatin and brewed herbal tea, sweetened with a little stevia. Since the ingredients are all carb free and almost calorie free no less, I made these in larger jars. I made two each of orange and apple flavored teas. I'm always looking to get more gelatin in for joint health and gut healing, so this is a big win for me.

My first week of intentionally eating a ketogenic diet has been much easier and less stressful then I would have imagined. I think the transition was helped by the fact that I was really only going from a low carb (75-150 grams per day) diet to a very low carb diet (under 50 grams). Not being completely dependent on sugar to begin with made a big difference. However, as small a change as this may seem, I think it's a critical one for me. Keeping carbs at this level has completely evened out and stabilized my appetite as well as gotten rid of the intrusive cravings. Though by no means an "easy" lifestyle, it does feel sustainable for no other reason than it keeps food more in its rightful place instead of dominating my thoughts and life to a large extent as in the past. I am still the foodie I've always been, loving to cook, try new things, and share my creations with others. But I'm starting to feel more focused about it now that I feel like I'm running the show instead of my cravings.

This Week in Food

Being away in San Francisco, it was interesting to see how I handled being out of my routine, food-wise. It went rather well, surprisingly! The place where I was staying offered in-room breakfast that you could pick. So... I picked an egg, bacon, and sausage for each morning. It was perfect! I cannot say enough about HomeAway.com, by the way. I found this great place in a great location for a great price! They had this cool gadget which poached my eggs and had space to heat up the pre-cooked breakfast meat. This went a long way in starting me off on the right foot each day.


I did also bring along a carton of Quest Bars, which I relied on during the days when I was out and about. I still have some lingering “issues” with food. Even though I no longer have the crazy blood sugar crashes, I do get a bit panicky if I don’t have something on hand, just in case. The bars aren’t Real Food and aren’t something that I plan to incorporate into my daily eating, but they were terrific for traveling. The sweet taste did spark some carb cravings, though, so I’m not sure if I will go this route again. As for carbs, I did eat some white potatoes, rice, and rice noodles during the trip (a medium to large serving about once per day, usually at dinner). I also ate a little more chocolate than usual. With all the walking I did, it wasn’t anything to really worry about. The only issue for me is the slippery slope factor. I didn’t go crazy with the carbs at all and start stuffing my face but I did notice an increase in my overall appetite while including them. As a result, I’m going to pull back again and stick to veggies, nuts, and some grain-free baked treats for my carb sources for now.

It always helps to have a plan, so I’m back at it! Since this is a weird week after coming back from the trip, we’ve been using up what we have in the freezer: lots of meat/seafood plus frozen vegetables. Not very creative, but definitely good and filling. I am looking forward to hitting the store over the weekend to get myself prepared for a bit of a more varied menu. As usual, I don’t assign things to specific days. This plan is to take us through the next couple of weeks.

To make over the weekend for quick grab and go lunches and dinners:

Chicken Salad/stock from a whole chicken
Butternut Squash Soup (using some of the aforementioned stock)
Burgers made with BBQ spice (bought in San Fran)
Baked Wings painted with melted butter and sprinkled with seasoning blend and salt
Curried Meatballs
Brown Rice*

Easy weeknight dinners to cook on the fly:

Taco Salad
Orange Chicken with broccoli
Pan seared sirloin steak over salad
Salmon with green beans and almonds
Shrimp cocktail with ketchup and a side salad

Breakfast items

Eggs to poach in my new microwave poacher
Bacon (have on hand from US Wellness Meats)
Hot Chocolate (almond milk, coconut oil, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and stevia + mini blender = filling and delicious)

Snacks

Homemade trail mix with assorted nuts, raisins, and coconut flakes
Salami
Hot dogs
Hard boiled eggs
Chips and Salsa*

Treats

Peanut Butter Cashew Butter Squares
Chocolate Chip Muffins

*For Cute Man

Sweet Treats - Part Two

The homemade peppermint patty and peanut butter cup bites I mentioned yesterday turned out amazing! What a fun treat. I sort of took in the ideas from both recipes and smushed them together to make creating them at the same time more efficient.


You'll need:

Two loaf size pans
Parchment Paper
2 cups Enjoy Life semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup cashew butter (can use peanut or almond butter)
1 Tbs Maple Syrup (can use honey)
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 tsp Organic peppermint oil
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 dropper Liquid stevia extract

Here's what I did:


Line both loaf pans with parchment paper. Heat chocolate chips in a small saucepan stirring continuously until it's all melty-goodness. Spoon a bit of the melted chocolate to cover the bottom of each pan and put in the freezer to harden (you should have about half the chocolate left after you do this). Meanwhile, stir the syrup into the nut butter in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the coconut oil, coconut, stevia, and 1/2 tsp of the peppermint oil. When the chocolate has hardened (took about 10 minutes), take out of the freezer and smear one pan with the nut butter mixture and the other with the peppermint mixture. Put the pans back in the freezer to firm up this layer (another 5-10 minutes). Take the pans back out and add the final chocolate layer to the nut butter pan and return it to the freezer. Add a 1/4 tsp of peppermint oil to the remaining chocolate, then use it for the final layer of the peppermint version. (Yes, there's added mint in the top layer of the candy but not in the bottom layer. It just worked out well logistically to use the same pan with the melted chocolate and just add the flavoring at the very end. Between the minty-ness of the filling and the final layer, it's plenty!) Put the mint version back in the freezer one final time. When both are hardened, take out and cut up into bite sized pieces. Share with love!

A Return to Whole Foods (the concept, not the store!)

While catching up at Cheap Healthy Good, one of my favorite food sites, I came across a link to this post about Nourishing Traditions, a cookbook that focuses on getting back to cooking in well, more traditional time honored ways. I was pulled in right away.

Since starting on my path to Intuitive Eating (IE), I’ve been happily making peace with food. As a result, I’ve indulged in much more food of the processed persuasion, just because I *can*. Most of that has been the Trader Joe’s type of processed but not all of it. I definitely don’t like focusing on so much convenience food. There has to be a balance. I realize that it was necessary stage of my healing to swing the other way first, though, so I’m not judging my food choices or anything. I just am finding myself looking forward to cooking more whole foods and putting more effort into my cooking and general food prep.

I’ll actually be participating in an upcoming study that will examine how an IE lifestyle focused on mostly whole foods coupled with moderate strength training affects overall health. It will be a two year commitment and I’m super excited to participate. But that hasn’t started yet – I’ll post more about that when it begins next month and throughout the study.

My head is already starting to get back to craving “real” food that I prepare myself, though, so there’s no reason to wait. I’m coming at this from a place of excitement, not one of trying to “eat healthy”. I will not completely abandon all play foods, not by a long shot. I plan to continue incorporating them into my daily intake, focusing on making my own versions as well as treating myself to the occasional processed items from time to time. It’s not all or nothing. I’m focusing on ADDING more whole foods, not in trying to deny myself anything. I think that psychological distinction is key for me.

In any case, I came across the Nourishing Traditions book just when I was ready to embrace it. I hopped right over to Amazon and downloaded it to my Kindle. I’ve only just begun reading it (yes, I’m actually reading a cookbook!) and have discovered that it’s much more than just a book of recipes. It catalogues all the different ways we have been mislead when it comes to “nutrition” in the media. So many studies have been twisted to say what the researchers wanted them to say. Others were just ignored because they didn’t prove what they wanted them to. I’ve come across some of this before but it never ceases to amaze me. The author advocates a return to not only eating more whole foods but to draw on more traditional ways of food preparation as a way to combat some of the damage we’ve done to ourselves with all this fake food.

I will be working my way through the fantastic info in the book as well as trying out some recipes. I will periodically post about how they turn out and what I’m learning in the process. And lest you think that I’ve completely abandoned my focus on personal finance, I will be noting any savings that come from buying and cooking my own food on a more consistent basis.

Please chime in with any advice or experience you may have to share about cooking and eating whole foods. I’m not completely new to the concept (I’ve always loved to cook) but am coming at it from a whole new perspective. I welcome all input!