I wanted to make myself and those around me a little treat last weekend. I had a hard time finding what I was looking for, so it ended up being a “two in one” version by combining two different cakes in one. You can make it vegan using margarine instead, and the almond meal can be switched to wheat, coconut or perhaps more of the gluten-free flour.
The first layer is pie dough. I didn’t use any sweetener in this one because I like the salty in contrast to the sweet filling. On top of that I put an apple crumble pie, made with almond meal for a bit more characteristic taste, and lovely oats.
“I felt high on sugar from only a small amount and would never have guessed that it didn’t contain any sugar.”
As sweetener I used powdered Stevia. And if you think that just won’t do it, let me tell you, it does! I felt high on sugar from only a small amount and would never have guessed that it didn’t contain any sugar. It may be due to my sugarless living these past months, and if so, I love it! Hopefully I’ll keep being that sensitive and won’t crave the real deal, aka table sugar.
Christmas is around the corner, so I wanted to try writing down all my favorite traditions and hobbies during the month. I’m one of those people who start listening to Christmas music in September, I would fill my home with Christmas decorations from October and bake Christmas goods every week if I didn’t control myself. I think we need these holidays to look forward to. We need the calmness it brings (to most of us) and all the beautiful decorations surrounding us. So, here’s a list of some of the things making me get into a holiday spirit;
“Take deep breaths, look at all the shimmering and sparkling on the ground, listen to the creaking snow under the shoes, and get your nose and cheeks all red.”
Lighting candles and listening to Christmas music. Every morning I start off lighting a candle on the table, making the whole room light up. If you can, choose a Christmas scented one (Yankee Candles have both high quality and wonderful smells). I then put on some classic Christmas music while sipping on a cup of coffee or tea. It’s a simple thing to do, and it will cheer you up for the rest of the day.
Consume clementines and oranges. Not only are these giving you an important C-vitamin boost, but the delicious smell will also fill your house.
Watch a Christmas series. Here in Sweden we have a Christmas calendar show on the tv and radio every year in December. An episode every evening is a cozy tradition.
Watch Christmas movies with a cup of hot chocolate. “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings,” “The Holiday,” “Christmas with the Kranks,” “Home Alone,” “The Santa Clause,” “It’s a wonderful life,” “The Polar Express,” “Love actually,” “Miracle on 34th street” are some of my favorites, to name a few.
Go for long walks. Take deep breaths, look at all the shimmering and sparkling on the ground, listen to the creaking snow under the shoes, and get your nose and cheeks all red. Your body will love new oxygen in the blood, and you can clear your head at the same time – the cheapest form of therapy.
Bake something festive. Saffron buns, cinnamon buns, gingerbread cookies, bread with apricot, fig and nuts, oat cookies or apple cake. Add frosting, cowberries, sprinkles or dry fruit for an even more special treat.
Add cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg to most of your dishes make them go from a dull to a warming and cozy meal.
Make your own mulled wine with raisins and almonds or choose a Christmas spiced wine or beer.
Make your own Christmas cards and send them to your friends and family. Getting busy with your hands to let your creativity flows is an excellent way to get into the Christmas spirit. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Use whatever paper, colors, scissors, glue and pens you have at home. Or just buy a few cards and send them, I can guarantee the receiver will appreciate it.
Try to read more books or your favorite magazines. Just let your eyes rest from the tv and computer a bit and make up the pictures in your head and escape to another world.
Have a family/friend evening at home, where you play table games, wrap Christmas presents, decorate gingerbread cookies, and walk around with your comfiest clothes eating candy.
Make your own ornaments – candlesticks, wreaths, garlands, and so on. Like I mentioned before, it’s creative and fun. And if you’re doing it with someone, it’s quite social compared to other activities.
Make your own Christmas gifts. These days, most of us have more than we need, so giving something from the heart can be more special than ever. Don’t get anxious about the amount of money you have to spend. Just writing a couple of notes with inspirational quotes or complimenting messages in a jar, can mean so much. Paint something on a canvas, stone or piece of wood. Knit, crochet or embroider something. You give your time and energy, and it’ll show. (Side note: I don’t mean that buying gifts are any less than making them yourself. But if you want to give something unique and love to use your imagination, that’s a great idea.)
Go skiing or sledding. Fun and exercise combined into one activity.
This recipe is gluten-, sugar-, dairy- and meat-free.
The Christmas spice
During the fall I’ve been testing out different recipes every Saturday. When you don’t consume that much gluten, sugar, dairy and meat, it can be a little bit tricky sometimes, to say the least. BUT… the more you practice and experiment, the better you get and the more you learn. We can all agree on that, right? It’s actually not that hard to be healthy, take care of your body, but at the same time eat delicious food.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (can you hear it), so in this blog post I wanted to share a recipe that includes some classic Christmas flavors, at least here in Sweden. It has a red color to it. It makes the food look golden yellow. It’s expensive. Usually you only need around 0,5-1 gram per dish. Can you guess what it is? Ah, who am I trying to fool? You’ve already seen the header by now. The answer is saffron. The magical saffron.
Risotto + Saffron = perfect marriage
Risotto is also one of my favorites, so combining these two is a great idea! In this recipe I’ve been using vegan parmesan. During the years I’ve tested most of the vegan cheeses. Some are ok, some are great, and some are not that great, with a “plastic” feeling to them. This parmesan is one of my favorites, though. And I would use it on everything if I didn’t control myself. A good quality pasta, with homemade pesto, topped with this parmesan… oh my, you have to try it! Super duper superb!
This saffron risotto is easily made with a lot of taste from the wine and cheese. However, I must say that if you want to, you can use more broth with a splash of vinegar instead of wine, and another cheese with a little bit of character. Go with what you like and have on hand. The saffron itself is the one that’s going to make the whole dish! Have a lovely day, Bon appétit!
From an ethical and moral side of the story, I would wish everyone to become vegan or vegetarian. I was a strict vegan for several years only because I was thinking about the animals and was willing to do everything in my power to consume less. The thought of killing an animal was unbearable. “If you can’t kill the animal, don’t eat it” was my philosophy. I can’t hurt a fly, so it’s not hard to see where this story will end…
However, as time went by, my health didn’t become any better. I was doing everything right in all the areas around eating, sleeping, exercising, and so forth. Then my focus leaned towards gut health. I came across Candida and started to look into that more. What it was, how you get it, why you get it, how you feel if you have it etc. There’s so much information, so many stories out there. You can read for days about the same stuff, so sooner or later your brain will become overloaded or exhausted.
Too much sugar promotes Candida.
There’s only one of you
All bodies are unique. We have different prerequisites, are born in different places (under different conditions), our mineral and vitamin foundation varies and our hormones shift during different days. So, to compare ourselves to others is like copying a haystack. My heart tells me that everyone should be vegan. But my brain says otherwise, at least until you’ve been checking or correcting imbalances in the body.
Some areas you need to look into, before I would recommend a diet are;
Are you female or male?
How old are you?
How much body fat do you have?
How much training experience?
Are you deficit in any of the essential minerals or vitamins?
Do you have regular periods?
How is your gut health?
And then a full-body exam with liver tests and so forth.
From there, I could get a better picture of what’s going on in your body and recommend what I think would be suitable for you right now. So, my message to you is: don’t go on a diet that doesn’t feel right for you. Don’t do something only because your closest friend succeeded with that specific diet. If you try something and it doesn’t feel right or make you feel worse, switch to another.
One of my favorite breakfasts is porridge with walnuts, banana, oat milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Different food affects us differently
To give an example. If you start the ketogenic diet it may feel great initially, but then worse or like it did before you started the journey. Hormones and the shift between them often cause that, and research has shown that the Ketogenic diet can raise estrogen and cortisol levels in women (link to article), so it all comes down to your starting point in those areas. Maybe the diet doesn’t fit for you as well as it does for your boyfriend’s hormones.
Another example is a vegan or vegetarian diet. If you have a sensitive gut like leaky gut or not enough good bacteria, there’s a chance your body can’t absorb all the nutrients. It may raise some of the minerals while others get suppressed. For example, the body has a really hard time absorbing zink so things like cereals and a lot of fiber may not be for you (phytate in some fiber inhibits zinc uptake).
A tasty swap, replace pasta and rice for beans.
I would suggest you do some research before you start something long term. Make sure you have checked with your doctor before. And if you can, your hormones, minerals and you’re your overall health. Due to the fact, that there’s no “one solution fits all”, is the reason why I give different tips and talk about what’s been working/is working for me. But in the end, it’s your body, so you know what’s work best for you.
I also want to point out that a “diet” doesn’t have to be something that makes you lose weight. It’s not what it’s all about! When I say diet, I mean a long term eating style that makes you feel as good as you can and deserve — a way of living for optimal health.
