It's easy as cake (and tastes as good too) to whip together this banana chocolate chip muffin recipe fit for a king - or at least, healthy enough to keep him fit since there's not a pinch of butter, sugar or eggs in them!
It goes without saying that they're great for the kids and daddy too. Butter and eggs contain saturated fat, while refined white (cane) sugar supresses the immune system, not to mention having a high glycemic index, which causes the kidney to over produce insulin, which can lead to diabetes and weight gain.
And the replacements for these ingredients have a thing or two going for them as well: canola oil is a fabulous healthy fat and one of the few food sources rich, specifically, in omega 3 fat. Then there's honey, which contains a spate of antioxidants and other healing properties. Here's the recipe, so get going!
Buy organic ingredients when you can:
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 cup spelt flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 baking powder
4 extra ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbp white vinegar
1 cup chocolate or carob chips, grain sweetened
Mix wet into dry, divide into 12-cup muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Eat in large bites!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Butter Me Up: Soy and Sunflower Seeds as Alternatives to Peanuts
A classic sandwich that my four-year-old boy N happens to be obsessed with these days is PB&J. He would eat two slabs of bread with nut butter and a smear of jelly for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let him. And why not? I've considered the nutritional value and determined that PB&J is not so bad, especially if you make sure the PB is organic (peanuts are sprayed with chemicals too), or taken out altogether (replaced by a non-peanut based nut butter), and you look for J that has no added cane sugar.
Now, why change things up, why mess with success and eat nut butters that are not made of peanuts? Aside from the allergy issue, peanuts may contain aflatoxins, according to Dr. Thauna Abrin, my sister, a naturopathic docor and contributing author to my book. Eating aflatoxins, which are caused by fungal growth, can cause a number of health conditions and diseases, according to the FDA. In addition, peanuts also contain mold, and are so not good with people with candida/yeast in their body, according to Dr. Thauna. People who have been on antibiotics, birth control pills, consume high sugar levels or have low immune systems are predisposed to developing high candida levels in their bodies, and should therefore avoid eating peanuts.
In today's day and age, the gamut of alternatives to peanut butter can be found at your local healthfood store. IM Healthy's soy nut butter is an all-time favorite of mine, and the perfect replacement for PB since N's preschool is nut-free. Soy nut butter contains a solid 7 grams of protein in one serving (2 tbsp), not to mention notable amounts of fiber, calcium, potasium and phosphorus.
A die-hard soy nut butter fan for a decade, I recently thought that it would be good for N to mix it up a bit - literally - by trying another type of nut butter that isn't soy-based (soy is argued to be potentially harmful to boys/men becuase it contains a receptor that acts like estrogen in the body), and one that may offer some different or additional nutrients. So I decided to give him sunflower seed butter, a fluffy, if not milky tasting nut butter. While it contains slightly less protein (6 grams a serving), it has more fiber (4 grams a serving) and vitamin and mineral contentm with notable amounts of vitamin B 6and folate, plus magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper and manganese.
By comparision, peanut butter contains 8 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and notable amounts of vitamin E, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese.
Of course, all nuts are packed with omega 6 fatty acids, whereas soy contains higher levels of omega 3 fat - providing a nice balance for the omega 6 fat, which can inhibit absorption of omega 3 if eaten in larger quantities than the daily recommended amount.
Now, why change things up, why mess with success and eat nut butters that are not made of peanuts? Aside from the allergy issue, peanuts may contain aflatoxins, according to Dr. Thauna Abrin, my sister, a naturopathic docor and contributing author to my book. Eating aflatoxins, which are caused by fungal growth, can cause a number of health conditions and diseases, according to the FDA. In addition, peanuts also contain mold, and are so not good with people with candida/yeast in their body, according to Dr. Thauna. People who have been on antibiotics, birth control pills, consume high sugar levels or have low immune systems are predisposed to developing high candida levels in their bodies, and should therefore avoid eating peanuts.
In today's day and age, the gamut of alternatives to peanut butter can be found at your local healthfood store. IM Healthy's soy nut butter is an all-time favorite of mine, and the perfect replacement for PB since N's preschool is nut-free. Soy nut butter contains a solid 7 grams of protein in one serving (2 tbsp), not to mention notable amounts of fiber, calcium, potasium and phosphorus.
A die-hard soy nut butter fan for a decade, I recently thought that it would be good for N to mix it up a bit - literally - by trying another type of nut butter that isn't soy-based (soy is argued to be potentially harmful to boys/men becuase it contains a receptor that acts like estrogen in the body), and one that may offer some different or additional nutrients. So I decided to give him sunflower seed butter, a fluffy, if not milky tasting nut butter. While it contains slightly less protein (6 grams a serving), it has more fiber (4 grams a serving) and vitamin and mineral contentm with notable amounts of vitamin B 6and folate, plus magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper and manganese.
By comparision, peanut butter contains 8 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and notable amounts of vitamin E, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese.
Of course, all nuts are packed with omega 6 fatty acids, whereas soy contains higher levels of omega 3 fat - providing a nice balance for the omega 6 fat, which can inhibit absorption of omega 3 if eaten in larger quantities than the daily recommended amount.
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