Healthier Rice Krispie Bars … Kind Of …
Posted: December 19, 2009 Filed under: Food Leave a comment »Okay, so one of my more serious addictions is rice krispie bars. Not those wimpy things with marshamallows, but the heavy-duty, pancreas-busting kind with a cup of white sugar AND a cup of corn syrup (plus a cup of sweetened peanut butter, and chocolate chips on top). I could literally eat an entire pan in one sitting. My mom could make these in about 10 minutes flat and I made sure to eat more than my share.
This may describe why I can no longer eat more than 3 grams of sugar without having an inflammation attack (true story).
So tonight I decided to go a slightly healthier route, and had all the ingredients handy (recipe below). Verdict: excellent, if you don’t expect them to give you that sugar bite you are used to. On the down size, they are REALLY expensive. The jar of organic rice syrup was nearly $7, plus the box of organic rice cereal, plus organic and low sugar/natural creamy PB, and the organic choc chips = $15, I guessed, for one 9×13. At first I was miffed, then I realized we really didn’t need dessert all the time anyway. They should be a treat, and at that price, they will be! But here is the recipe anyway. I recommend a lay-a-way approach to the ingredients so you can actually feed your family a meal before the cookies …
“Healthier” Crunchy Rice Cereal Bars
2 cups organic rice syrup (Lundstrom Farms is great.)
2 cups peanut butter (your choice; I like the creamy, non-stir from Full Circle)
Stir these together in a really large saucepan, and cook until just boiling. Pour over …
8 cups puffed rice cereal (organic/non-gmo)
Stir well. Press into buttered 9×13 or jelly roll pan, using buttered metal spoon. Melt and spread …
1-10 oz bag organic choc chips if desired.
Cool, cut, savor 
Snow and Chocolate Waffles
Posted: December 10, 2009 Filed under: Family, Food Leave a comment »
It wouldn’t be a snow day without something warm for breakfast, so I tried the chocolate waffle recipe from the Easy Gluten-Free Baking cookbook. Fabulous! And they were gone in no time. I can’t say the same for the piles and piles and piles of mittens, boots, hats, scarves that kept forming throughout the day. Even though the kids are older, they should sleep well. I know I am exhausted after three hours of shoveling — and much of that was while my brother-in-law was using our snowblower on our very long driveway (Yes, when we were looking at the house I DID think about this, and didn’t care. The views are just as good with 14 inches of snow!) Hubby was not available to assist … and that’s another story altogether …
About hot chocolate. There isn’t really a good substitute in our dairy-free land, but we have tried a variety of options with vanilla soy milk, chocolate soy milk, etc. Each of the kids has his/her passable favorite. I skip the calories altogether.
Gluten-free Twinkies? Yes, in this Great Cookbook!
Posted: December 2, 2009 Filed under: Family, Food, Health and Medicine 1 Comment »
In our house of sweet tooths, we are still committed to a low-sugar* diet. But I was thrilled to find the cookbook Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone at the bookstore. After looking through the photos and reading about her commitment to making GF taste like wheat, I was hooked. At home, we have had very good results with the brownies and the classic chocolate chip cookies, and are still trying other recipes. Barbone graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and even though she does not eat GF, she has been intrigued by the challenge it poses. I particularly like the recipes in the chapter “Tastes Like.” That’s where the Twinkies are. My friend, Michele, also loved the spiral binding, so the book is easy to use in the kitchen. The price was $24.95 and for us, because we have teens and pre-teens who have to take their own school lunches, it’s worth every dime.
*I also highly recommend Sugar Busters or any other great book – which you can find at your local library - about how our bodies are hurt by high amounts of sugar. (Anything more than about 33 grams of sugar a day.) You’ll be surprised at how much sugar we eat when you start counting grams. And don’t think you can dodge the bullet using artificial sweetners. Just last week at a convention of the American Society of Nephrologists (kidney docs), two researchers were presenting papers showing how only TWO diet drinks a day will decrease kidney function. Yikes! Best alternatives to sugar? Real maple syrup (not that Mrs. Butterworth’s GMO corn syrup stuff) or honey in small amounts, or stevia.
The Child Who Makes His Own Breakfast
Posted: December 1, 2009 Filed under: Family, Food, Health and Medicine Leave a comment »
This morning, child #3, the one who was the original impetus for starting the gluten-free/casein-free/low sugar diet, made his own breakfast. He is 11, and that may not seem like much, but just getting him out the door for school has always been a struggle so this was a monumental milestone.
For him, this required a good deal of planning ahead and organization. Was he on time to school? No, he was probably tardy again. But his backpack was completely ready — he’d done that the night before, after finishing his homework PAINLESSLY — he was completely dressed and his shoes were easy to find and quickly put on (not the usual only days ago). NONE of these things were happening even just a week ago, and certainly not two months ago when I first picked up the ADHD/Autism diet/cookbooks at the library.
And school is going phenomenally well. His grades have improved, his concentration is significant, he’s not getting in trouble for acting out in class, and he’s been able to attend two big social events with good result. Wow! I feel so blessed by those authors, and all the circumstances that led up to that moment, such as it was. I can’t help but wonder how far this will go, but I keep hoping for the best always, and HIGHLY RECOMMEND this diet despite the work. TOTALLY WORTH EVERY MINUTE!!
I almost forgot … he made two eggs, scrambled, with butter, done exactly the way wanted, in his time. Wunder!
(Note: We’ve found that small amounts of dairy are fine, and we are glad to keep the great nutrients from pasture-raised organic butter.)
