An American Housewife

1/9/16

Healthy Flax Seed Pumpkin Bread! - Low Carb, Sugar Free!

There are two ingredients I like to cook with because I know they make almost anything they are added to moist, and will probably (more than likely) always turn out. Cocoa and pumpkin. Cocoa powder in cookies always makes the most delicious and chewy never-dry-out cookies and pumpkin does the same in breads and bars. I'm a fan of quick breads - from zucchini to pumpkin and everything in between. On my pumpkin bread I like to smear it with a bit of cream cheese icing as it is then just like a yummy pumpkin bar. But the bread is so good and so moist, you don't need to top it with anything if you don't wish to.

This bread is also very, very healthy! Ground flax seeds have a nutty taste and are a noted health-giving digestive aid. They are also high in fiber and are powerful natural cholesterol controllers. In a 2 Tablespoon serving size (13 grams) the fiber content is 1.33 grams of Soluble Fiber and 2.67 grams of Insoluble Fiber. Ground Flax seeds are a good source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids, with 2 Tablespoons having 2400 mg of Omega 3.

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 c Golden Flaxseed Meal
1/3 c coconut flour
1 c almond flour
1/4 c brown sugar substitute
1/2 c Erythritol
1/3 c whey protein powder (unflavored or vanilla)
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t Xanthan Gum
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice (or use 1 t cinnamon, 1/4 t ginger and 1/4 t cloves and dash nutmeg)
1/2 t salt
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
5 eggs
1/4 c coconut oil
1/3 c almond milk (unsweetened)
15-25 drops liquid sweetener
1 t vanilla

In a bowl place the dry ingredients; flaxseed meal, coconut flour, almond flour, brown sugar substitute, erythritol, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, spices, salt. Stir well. In another bowl place the wet ingredients; pumpkin, eggs, melted coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla and sweetener. I used about 25-30 drops of liquid sweetener but do a taste test and use what you prefer.

Combine dry and wet ingredients. Stir well with mixer or by hand. Place in a greased 9X5" loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 55 minutes or until the center is set and comes clean when you insert a thin knife or cake tester. Let cool in the pan at least 10-15 minutes before removing to cool completely. If you can wait 1 more day to eat this, I suggest wrapping in plastic wrap, then in foil, and refrigerating 24 hours. I love the flavor and texture pumpkin breads have when you do this - although it's not necessary.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Low Carb, Sugar Free, Grain Free

Having made sugar free, low carb, no grain cookies of all kinds for the past 12 years, there are some I like better than others, but I've found the brand and style sweetener I use makes all the difference. Making the same recipe with a different brand sweetener (or even a different brand almond flour) changes the taste and texture - even if it's the same 'product' - just a different company.

Sugar Free, Grain Free, Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c butter
1/4 c coconut oil
3/4 c brown sugar sweetener - minus (remove) about 2 T so it's a 'scant' 3/4 cup
1/4 c granular sugar sweetener
8-10 drops liquid sweetener
2 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 c almond flour
1/4 c coconut flour
1/2 package sugar free chocolate chips (I use Hershey's brand)

Mix the butter, oil and sugars until creamy. Add the liquids and eggs. Mix in the dry ingredients and stir in the chips. Chill the dough at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Scoop cookies into balls, flatten slightly and bake on parchment paper for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on edges and starting to brown on tops. Cool on cookie sheets for about 3-4 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cookies - Healthy! Sugar Free, Grain Free and Low Carb

This is a regular peanut butter cookie recipe without flour or grains... but I went a step further and used natural sweeteners that make it sugar free as well. The only sugar in this cookie is whatever sugar grams are in your favorite natural peanut butter.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

1 c natural peanut butter
1/2 c brown sugar substitute sweetener
1/2 c granulated sugar substitute
5-10 drops liquid sweetener
1 egg
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla

Mix in a bowl until smooth. Chill dough for easier handling and less spreading. Form balls of your favorite size cookie and bake on parchment at 350 for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets at least 3 minutes before moving to racks to cool complete. These can be more crumbly in texture than the sort with flour (especially in the summer when the humidity is high), but after they are cool I put 3 cookies each in individual baggies and keep them in the refrigerator or freezing for easy "grab and go".

1/8/16

AP article on sweeteners - Sugar By Any Other Name

Source.

I saved this interesting article back in early November but wanted to put it in my food files for reference. Some of you may find it interesting as well.

_________________________________________

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for both sides in a federal court case that's shaping up as the battle of the sweeteners.

Yet behind all the legal bluster between sugar and high fructose corn syrup are two products that are similar in their chemical makeup and effect on the human body, experts say.

Here are a few things to know about the two saccharine substances as a trial begins Tuesday.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Sugar and high fructose corn syrup both contain glucose and fructose, just in slightly different proportions.

What's commonly called "sugar" in everyday life is actually sucrose, a compound that's 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose. Fructose is the most common sugar in fruit.

High fructose corn syrup is made up of the same two sugars. But as the name implies, one type of high fructose corn syrup has slightly more fructose than "sugar" - 55 percent - and the rest is glucose. The other type has 42 percent fructose and 58 percent glucose.

SWEET NOTHINGS

Sugar producers argue their product is more natural and that high fructose corn syrup is as addictive as crack cocaine. Corn refiners counter that sugar producers are just trying to make up for market lost starting in the 1970s, when the cheaper high fructose corn syrup came on the market.

Corn refiners lost a bid to change the name high fructose corn syrup to "corn sugar" when the Food and Drug Administration ruled in 2012 that sugar was a solid, dried and crystallized food, not syrup. But the government has yet to take a stand on which sweetener, if either, is more nutritionally beneficial.

Roger Clemens, a University of Southern California research professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical science who has studied sugars, says the human body treats both the same and there is no appreciable difference between the two when it comes to caloric value or metabolic effect.

"They are equivalent forms of sugar," he says. "It's all about perception."

SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

Neutral experts in the debate between sugar and high fructose corn syrup say it all boils down to semantics and marketing.

Public opinion that once favored high fructose corn syrup has now tilted toward sugar.

Most recently, a third sweetener called agave has risen in popularity because it's believed to be more natural - but the chemical make-up of the sap from the agave plant is "chemically and metabolically almost the same as high fructose corn syrup," Clemens said.

SUGAR BY ANY OTHER NAME

The trial isn't likely to end the debate or wipe away confusion about sweeteners.

Sugar listed on packaging goes by many names and all of them mean one thing: a sweet taste.

Maltose, dextrose, sucrose, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey or a variety of fruit juice concentrates are all ingredients that indicate sugar is in a food product.

WHEN SUGAR (OF ANY TYPE) ISN'T SO SWEET

Eat too much of any type of sugar, of course, and you'll be in trouble.

High consumption of sugar, agave or high fructose corn syrup over time can lead to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Some studies have shown that high fructose corn syrup causes fatty liver disease when fed to animals in experiments, but that's when it accounts for 25 to 35 percent of the animal's daily caloric intake - an amount a human would never consume, Clemens says.

"It goes back to the old mantra: balance, moderation and variety are the keys to healthy living," he says.

_______________________

Natural Sweeteners

12/30/15

Homemade Chicken, Spinach and Feta Sausages

If you are a regular reader of An American Housewife, you know I don't really follow recipes, and I often just make things up. This is a good example of yet another wild hair idea I had.

I wanted to make my own chicken and spinach sausages. And I love feta cheese with spinach and chicken so, there was my plan. I would make my own chicken, spinach and feta cheese sausages!

I made this up as I went along and 'taste tested' it at 2 different points which I recommend you do too.

To taste test - take some of the mixture when you think are pretty happy with it - and form a small patty. Cook it in a pan on your stove top and then taste. Do you think it needs a little more salt? Garlic? Add. Taste test again.

My Homemade Chicken Spinch and Feta Sausages

4 - 4 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cubed
1 - 1 1/2 lb. fatback, cubed (I found this at Walmart - it adds the moisture you need in this recipe)
1 T ground coriander
2-4 t salt (start with 2 and adjust after you taste test. I like to use 3)
1 T garlic, minced
3/4 c feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 c spinach (I used frozen, chopped style)
1/4 c olive oil
Optional: dash or two of a lemon, garlic mixture of your choice brand or lemon pepper)
Meat Grinder
Casings of your choice

Follow the directions on your meat grinder. Grind the chicken, fatback and spinach into a large bowl. Add the rest of your ingredients to the ground mixture in the bowl. Mix well. Taste test by cooking a small patty of your mixture on the stove in a bit of oil. Adjust the flavorings to your liking and test again. When you are happy with the cooked taste of your sausage, continue.

Attach the stuffing tool per your grinder's instructions. Attach the casing onto the stuffing tube per your grinder's instructions and your casing instructions regarding whether your casings need to be rinsed first, etc. Re-feed the chicken now ground and seasoned, into the machine and form long tubes per your casing instructions being sure to secure the end first so your sausage doesn't come out! Be sure not to overstuff, you want to leave room to twist and form sausages.

I don't have the little wires to form sausages, so I used the 'twist it' style. Holding the rope in small sections in my hands like a tiny jump rope, I spin the sausages a couple times away from me to twist the ends. This forms a sausage. Now I moved my hands down a little more and holding the first twist in my left hand, and squishing the sausage up about an inch on the right, I placed my fingers there and I spun another chunk of the sausage, but this time spinning towards me (the opposite way).

Continue moving your hands down small sections of the sausage rope, alternating spinning the 'jump rope' away from you and towards you, which forms the twists between the sausages. Make sure you are squishing enough room between the sausage links (about an inch) to form the twists.

I let the ropes set while I finished stuffing another casing. You could store them as is, but I wanted to cut mine apart and seal them in groups of 3 or 4 in individual food saver style bags in the deep freeze. I snipped them apart, and only had 2 open up on me that I had stuffed a little tight and had to redo. You could probably par-boil them at this point, let them cool complete and freeze them, or use them right away. I sealed mine, and put them in the deep freeze. When I make them, I put them in the refrigerator to thaw and then put them into 2 inches of water in a pan on the stove to pre-cook them - then finish them on the grill or under the broiler. We don't have to serve anything 'with' these as a condiment - they are so good all by themselves. We have them plain with a side dish or serve in a bun like a brat or a hotdog.