Just Like Commercial Lemon Iced Tea

Hooray! I've recreated the flavor of commercial lemon iced tea in my kitchen, without the excess sugar. I am in love with this drink! After years of "just water for me, please," it is a huge treat. I make this every day now. What a tasty way to stay hydrated!

2 teabags or 2t loose black tea (fair-trade and organic)

1 capsule NOW sunflower lecithin (contents only; discard shell)

1/2t salt

20 drops NOW liquid stevia (organic)

dash lemon flavoring (I use frontier)

2t lemon juice

Brew one cup of very strong tea; let cool. Combine tea with other ingredients and blend until white and frothy. Pour into a half gallon jar and fill to the top with water. Enjoy!! 

Sprouted Brown Rice Tortillas

This week I set off in search of a cheap, organic, sprouted, homemade-with-love, gluten free, low-glycemic, lowfat tortilla recipe and.... didn't find one. So, I made one up. And it worked! Huzzah. 

These are replacing Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas in my diet. They are a lovely product, but I knew a homemade version

could be cheaper, healthier and better.

No further ado, as I must go to bed, and really want to post this tonight. It is a generous serving for one, but you could probably make it last two meals. Or make little ones and toss them in the dehydrator after stovetop cooking, to make crackers. Enjoy this recipe!! 

2T sprouted brown rice flour

2T sprouted millet flour*

2T sprouted buckwheat flour*

1t psyllium husks (not powder-- I understand you would only need to use a rounded 1/4t of the powder, but haven't tried this myself)

1/4t salt

3T water

Heat seasoned cast iron skillet on the stove (do not add any oil). In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Stir in the water, a tablespoon at a time, with a fork. Divide and roll into 2 or 3 balls. One at a time, place the ball of dough between pieces of parchment paper. Roll out through the paper with a rolling pin. Place the whole thing, paper and all, in your skillet. Safety note: stay right near the stove to keep an eye on things no matter what! Flip tortilla in the parchment paper after a couple of minutes. Then, once it is apparently fully cooked, remove it from the parchment paper to brown a little. Repeat rolling and cooking steps with remaining ball(s) of dough. 

Scrumptious if I do say so myself!! And at least as flexible as the Food For Life Tortillas, if not more flexible. :) I ate them on their own tonight but burritos are in my future now.

p.s. Full disclosure: I do not yet have sprouted millet or buckwheat flours. I ground hulled unsprouted raw buckwheat in my blender, then unsprouted raw millet, to accomplish this recipe. I did use sprouted brown rice flour from the bulk foods section of my coop. I'm sure this will work with sprouted millet and buckwheat flours. I'm going to start soaking those grains tonight, so I can sprout, dehydrate and grind them. I will report back with an update later. In the meantime, these flours are available pre-sprouted and ground here: http://www.organicsproutedflour.net

P.p.s. I'll leave you with an image of my kitchen, when I am in mad scientist mode. Many thanks to my partner for patience and photography. :) 

Note added in August: finally got my millet and buckwheat sprouted and dried. Tried this recipe again. My goodness, it was wonderful! Chewy, flexible, moist. Delicious. Instead of dividing into 2-3 balls, I kept it in one piece for a regular-sized tortilla. 

Note added 9/18/14: I just double-checked that this recipe serves one for a THM E meal. It came out at 33.75g net carbohydrate, which leaves a little room for 1/3c beans in your burrito. Yaaay! 

Instant Gratification Chocolate Tootsie Roll Pudding

Move over, post-it notes. I have made the most wonderful accidental invention. I was making a smoothie one day, did things in a slightly different order, and ended up with (...drumroll...) chocolate pudding! And please don't tell me because I think it is a HUGE dessertey treat but it is (whispered) fuel pull!! Other fine qualities: except stevia, ingredients can be bought at any grocery store at affordable prices, contains 20g protein. 

So, without further ado, lets get started! 

3/4c very warm tap water (not scalding or boiling)

2T gelatin

1-2T presweetened cocoa powder (combine 1c cocoa powder with 1/2t stevia; great in any recipe!)

1T almond meal

dash lemon flavoring (I use frontier)

dash vanilla

10 drops liquid stevia

1/4t salt

4 or more ice cubes

Place very warm water in blender. Put on cover and turn on. Carefully lift up cover and gradually pour in gelatin. Mixture will turn white and frothy, and smell strongly of gelatin. Don't worry, just let the blender keep running while you get the other ingredients assembled on the counter. 

Add remaining ingredients except ice cubes and allow blender to run until the mixture looks creamy and uniform. Add ice cubes two at a time. After either four or six ice cubes, your mixture will start to look very thick (if it doesn't, keep adding ice cubes until it does). Turn off blender immediately (otherwise you'll get shredded jello). Pour into your bowl-- yes, you get to eat all of this deliciousness!!! :) 

Nutritional information: 3g carbs, 5g fat (7 if using 2T cocoa), 20g protein 

Variation: Blackberry Green Tea Pudding (FP)

Necessity was the mother of this invention. I slept maybe four hours last night and have an important business meeting this morning, so I brought out the Matcha powder for wakefulness. The result is super... wouldn't have thought it could be as delightful as the original but it totally is. Yum. 

Omit chocolate and almond meal. Add 2t Matcha powder. After adding first two ice cubes, add 1/4c (or less) frozen blackberries. Pudding will probably set immediately; if not add one more ice cube. This is a fp recipe, too, and it is even lower fat than the original.... there is no source of fat in this recipe. 

Variation: Decadent Thin Mint Pudding (S, not fp)

Use 2T chocolate, 1/2t salt, 20 drops stevia, and substitute peppermint oil for the lemon oil. 

Variation: Lovely Lemon (FP)

Omit almond meal and chocolate, add 2 t lemon juice. Beautiful white fluffy cloud of yum! 

Variation: Egg Nog (S)

Omit cocoa, almond meal, and lemon extract. Add cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, 1/4 c coconut milk, 1 pastured egg yolk and extra vanilla. This is the most scrumptious of all!

Chocolate for a Happy Brain

It has been unpardonably long since I developed this wonderful recipe. I truly apologize for not sharing it with you before now! While on vacation, I took the time to reread the book Trim Healthy Mama. I am so glad I did; I learned a lot! One of the things I zeroed in on this time around was their emphasis on hormone-related anxiety and depression for women, along with very concrete superfood suggestions of how to alleviate them. 

For the last two years (!), I've not been as cheerful as I usually am. I know depression can be a real monster, and thankfully it didn't totally debilitate me. However, it rang true that my hormones needed support as well, so when I read in Trim Healthy Mama about traditional superfoods that addressed both of these challenges as a duo, I was thrilled. As soon as I got home from my trip, I started making this recipe every day.

Anyway, almost exactly one month after eating my daily antidepressent chocolate, I turned to my sweetie and said, "I feel like myself again!" This brighter mood has persisted. It is not to say that my life circumstances are perfect now, but I am facing them with an attitude of appreciation instead of despair.

So now, I'd like to welcome our guests of honor (sound the trumpets!): Maca Powder and Brazil Nut Protein Powder!!! The book Trim Healthy Mama recommends selenium and Maca for supporting brain and hormonal health, and brazil nuts are rich in selenium, so i developed this recipe.

Brazil Nut Protein Powder Chocolate 

2T coconut oil

2T brazil nut protein powder

1T presweetened cocoa powder (to make, combine 1/2t pwd stevia per cup of cocoa powder)

1t Maca powder

Keep a small plate in the freezer. When ready to make, melt coconut oil (I put it in a metal measuring cup right on the stovetop, but you could do a double boiler). Mix dry ingredients well, and whisk thoroughly to combine with melted coconut oil. Pour onto frozen plate and return to freezer for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy! But only once a day. More than that, and you get too much selenium. :)

P.s. Here is some information about Maca from the Livestrong website: "A 2006 study published in the "International Journal of Biomedical Science" also found maca to have an antidepressant effect on rats. It also slightly sedated the rats without affecting their cognitive function. The scientists attributed these results to the balancing effect maca had on sex hormone levels. They found that rats given maca had decreased levels of cortisol and adrenaline, which are stress-inducing hormones. They conclude that maca is useful in correcting physiological symptoms of menopause in women." 

Note on May 1st, 2014

If you would like to make this without stevia, use unsweetened cocoa. After melting coconut oil and removing from heat, add 1T coconut butter.