Saturday, November 30, 2013

Surviving the Christmas Season

I assume you survived Brown Thursday aka Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and are prepared for today, Small Business Saturday. So we are going to talk surviving the Christmas Shopping, opps, I mean Christmas cooking, baking, eating season.

Of all the holidays to navigate for folks who are on diets, have allergies or are gluten sensitive, Christmas seems the most designed to break hearts and resolve.

That would be me on my fire engine and the special elf from my childhood before elves were used to prompt good behavior. 

I loved Christmas growing up. Such a season of anticipation of goodies. A huge box of Christmas cookies and candy came every year from my Nanny. It was stored in the cold garage until my mother's HUGE open house around mid-December. So, so, so hard to keep from sneaking out and sampling. There was peanut butter roll, chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge,  coconut kisses, fruit cake cookies, date nut cookies and a huge fruit cake. I know I am forgetting something but those were my favorites.

I will be sharing some of my adaptive recipes in the coming weeks but wanted to share, as baking and making season starts some tricks I've learned to make some of the old recipes a little healthier or non-allergenic!

For pulled candy recipes: Instead of corn syrup use cane syrup or Lyles Golden Syrup. It can be found on Amazon and at speciality grocery stores.  Note: I don't use brown rice syrups any more due to the reports about high levels of arsenic in the processing.



For fudge and other recipes that use confectioners sugar: I have gone corn-free. Even if you don't have allergies, reducing the corn in your diet is a good thing. Most organic confectioners' sugars use tapioca. You can also pulverize granulated sugar and starch in your processor.  Add two tablespoons of tapioca or arrowroot starch per cup of sugar and grind to a fine powder.

For breads like pumpkin or banana: Substitute Pamela's baking mix for flour and leavening. 

Search the web for adapted recipes. No, it's not your favorite Aunt's strudel but you may find something that evokes the memories, if not the actual cookie, candy or other holiday favorite.  

More and more traditions are going organic. Trujoy candy canes are the only organic candy canes out there.




Focus on the scents of Christmas, not the calories: Can't eat Hershey's candy cane or chocolate mint kisses? Find a mint chocolate coffee or tea.

Reward yourself for staying on your diet or within your restrictions.  As I navigate through meals and parties, I am going to reward myself for staying away from things that aren't good for me by getting a kindle novella or book I really want. Ruthyand Virginia have books I am allowing myself to read because I made it through Thanksgiving. Click on their names to reward yourself.

So, what special treat do you make during the holidays? Any you have had to adapt?

13 comments:

  1. Adaptation. That's what life is all about. This is the first Christmas I can decide how much or how little I want to make. This new freedom is an adaptation as well. Thanks for the shout out about the brown rice syrup processing, though Julie. I had forgotten about that. We do want to be around for next Christmas....

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  2. Well I'm gobsmacked about the brown rice syrup!!!!!!!! :-0

    I ran across a frosting recipe using mashed potatoes on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook site. I'm going to be adventurous and try it out!!!!!!!

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  3. Pretty scary about the arsenic. I think a lot of it has to do with everything in moderation. Less sugar all around is the best bet!

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  4. Here's a good report explaining the arsenic is rice issue. http://consumerreports.org/cro/arsenicinfood.htm

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  5. I am tired of being good. No more, until December 1. :)

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    1. Ha! Yep, I know the feeling. For me, my next cheat is my birthday!

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  6. Y'all be sure to warn people LOL! I once made the healthy sub of using pumpkin in the cke mix..hd to tell my dad when he'd eten about half the batch..he wasn't use to fiber. Also another weight watchers recipe makes black Ben brownies and supposedly You don't taste the bens buth the fiber and grassiness re till there and no one thinks they'll need beno eating brownies...

    And I had no idea all these syrups existed!

    Susanna

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  7. The main change I'll be doing will be cooking vegetarian while my sister is here visiting. Other than that, I'll have free rein. I have a couple of covered dish (potluck) parties this week. Need to decide what I'm taking and make a grocery trip Monday. For one, I know I'm taking crock-pot meatballs (the ones Mindy, I think, shared on here--with chili sauce and grape jelly). Maybe I'll just take that dish to both events. Will just double up on the ingredients. Keep life simple. :)

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    1. I miss crock pot meat balls. I'm out the door to get ingredients for GF fruit cake. Yes, really!

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    2. Julie, know you probably can't use frozen ones. But can't you make your own with pure meat, or with rice flour? Of course, that's a lot more work! :)

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    3. Actually, it is the grape jelly and chili sauce that I can't have because of the corn! I have great work arounds for the meatball but I wonder if organic jelly and just Franks hot sauce might taste similar.

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    4. Gosh, I forgot about the corn! That does make it tougher.

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  8. Aw, thanks for the shout out on the book! And I LOVE THE PICTURE of you on your fire engine! SO CUTE.

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