Wake Up Right: Leaving Margin

"So wake up, wake up, wake up all you sleepers, stand up, stand up, stand up all you dreamers, hands up, hands up, hands up all believers take up your cross, carry it on."

"Wake Up" All Sons & Daughters

On the relatively calm sea-shore that is my little group of lifestyle-blogging friends, the topic of Breakfasts has been frontward in our minds. Jenny of Adonis Ephemeral  spoke on the importance of starting your day off with a proper roundhouse kick of protein and fresh produce. On Instagram, Carmel , Jenny, several other friends and I have a sort of on-going breakfast contest. Who can eat the best and brightest breakfast and post a photo of it before the others. Actually, we inspire each other to new heights of healthy breakfasts and I'm such a foodie that I honestly look eagerly for Jenny's latest wacky creation. This whole conversation has got me thinking about my morning routine and why I get up two hours before leaving for work.

To someone who is not a morning person, the idea of setting one's alarm (and responding to it) at 6:30 when one doesn't have to leave the house until 8:30 is pure madness. I know. I had this conversation on Thursday night with my sister who, God bless her, manages to wake up twenty minutes before go-time and still look fabulous walking out the door. Believe me, I tried. I tried waking up at 7:30, doing a ten-minute workout, putting myself together, eating breakfast, and leaving. I even got to work on time most mornings but I was harried in spirit. I didn't feel relaxed. I felt late. I felt like there was absolutely eight-five-million things I had forgotten to do or take or remember before leaving the house. I couldn't very well meddle with work times so I began to fiddle about with my wake-up call. The magic number revealed itself: two hours.

At first it felt like an extravagance. Two hours. Who needs two hours to get ready in the morning? But I began to realize something about myself: these two hours were a strategic move. With two hours, I have leisure time. I can wake up, check the notifications on my phone, get out of bed, and get ready without stabbing my eye with the mascara wand in my haste. I have time to take a shower or if dry shampoo is all that's called for, I can spend extra time on my eyeliner. I can choose my outfit slowly (because I always forget to pick it out the night before) and read my Bible. I head downstairs at 7:30, wide awake and feeling fresh. If the weather is amenable (and I can stand many varieties of weather), I take the dog and get out for a walk. At this time of year the briskness of the dawn hour drives me to walk even faster. In half an hour I can manage at mile and a half, which is really nothing to sneeze at. I get home with half-an-hour to spare and am able to fix myself a thoughtful breakfast and a cup of tea. Favorite breakfasts include:

cranberry-almond quinoa

hummus spread on sprouted grain toast & fruit

avocado & olive oil on sprouted grain toast

plain greek yogurt with all-fruit jelly & granola

one easy-over egg on sprouted grain toast & a kiwi

halved avocado filled with greek yogurt & bacon crumbles

something brilliant leftover from last night's dinner

sliced tomato, sliced cheese, & a handful of raw nuts

"omelette eggs": scrambled eggs with mushrooms, onion, & peppers

Meat is an awesome thing to have at breakfast, but when you live in a large family, there is usually very little of it leftover outside of pre-existing meal plans. If there is leftover chicken breast or salmon or roast, I will add that to my breakfast because I like to get protein outside of dairy sources and at work, dairy sources are the main protein option.

While I eat breakfast, I will usually finalize lesson plans or get in some reading time. By the time 8:30 rolls around, I am fully awake, in a bright mental state, and feeling ready to attack whatever the day brings me. Even if it's Monday. 

The Shrinkage Diaries: and some days you'd like to kill the cat

Dear Figure,

       Today I'd like to bite nails. Like...metal ones.
       Today I'd like to throw something.
       Today I'd like to go to a Krispy Kreme and eat every raspberry doughnut on the place.
       And yes. Today I'd almost like to kill my cat.

The reason? Eh. I don't know that I have one. To quote a friend, "It must be a Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays." And as for the cat, I came downstairs this morning and was greeted by Dad very sweetly saying: "Good-morning, but your cat apparently couldn't use her litter box last night and went in the laundry basket."

Oy vay.

Yeah. Not an auspicious start to my day. I think this strange humor began last night with a chocolate craving.  I almost caved and made brownies, but I am so glad Leah wouldn't let me. Instead I went to Pinterest, and from there to one of my new favorite recipe sites: The Gracious Pantry, and oh. my. stinkin'. goodness.

Figure: I totally owned you last night. How?

By whipping up a batch of her Clean Eating Double-Chocolate Oreos. I'm not even kidding. These things...they're...they're....they are "simply too too too diveen!" For real. As my FB feed would show...

"I will NOT eat all the clean-eating oreo dough before baking. I will NOT!"

And really. It was hard not to. Sarah was a skeptic and didn't want to admit that the smell rising out of the oven was akin to ambrosial breezes from the ever-after. But seriously, girls. Who cares about eating clean. At the moment these cookies were ready to come out of the oven, I would challenge the staunchest junk-fooder to say they tasted "too healthy." These are not only the best clean-eating cookie I've ever had...they are the best chocolate cookie I've ever had. Even counting everything bad-for-you I have tasted my whole life through. For reals, people. For reals. And to raise perfection an increment higher, yesterday was the 101st birthday of the Oreo cookie! :) Perhaps it was the Dutch-processed cocoa Mrs. Vandebrooke gave us that lent these cookies such elegance. So rich and divine you could only eat one stack. You only dared eat one, for fear of what might happen to you if you experienced such grandeur over again. ;)

Whatever it was, I am never going to taste anything quite that craving-quenching in my life. Now. The recipe.

Clean Eating Double-Chocolate Oreos

Cookie ingredients: 

8 oz. almonds ground into "flour"
1 c. unsweetened cocoa
1/3 c. honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
1/3 c. coconut oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling ingredients:
1/4 c. coconut oil
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
3 Tbs. honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
1 tsp. vanilla

Step One: Blend almond flour and cocoa powder together in bowl. Add other ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Step Two: Form walnut-size balls and flatten with the palm of your hand till cookies are desired thickness. They will not rise or flatten in the oven, so what you see is what you get. Form accordingly. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Step Three: Blend all filling ingredients together in blender or food processer, and keep in fridge till thickened. You might want to add a little more cocoa if your filling is too runny, but it will firm up and thicken as it sits a moment so wait to add anything till you're certain.

Step Four: Once cookies are cool, assemble with filling between two cookies.

Makes 10-12 sandwiches

So Figure? Never again am I going to lament that I can't entirely satisfy my chocolate craving while catering to your touchy whims. Because, honestly? Even if I threw my hunt for you to the wind, I'd never find a better-tasting recipe than this.

The Shrinkage Diaries: It looks like a bird's nest...

Dear Figure-seekers!

If you would be so kind, take a look at the picture below....

This is a severely inauspicious plate of food.

Honestly. It looks like a cross between a haystack, a bird's nest, and what I used to pull out of the garbage disposal when it got clogged up. (That is, before we moved out to the country where we can't have a garbage disposal system.)

Look at it again.

It looks bland at best, I know. But this is pancit, and it is one of the stinkin' best Asian dishes there is to feed a large crowd. My first introduction to pancit was way back at the church where my Dad worked as assistant music pastor. There was a Philippino woman in the choir, and on occasion she would make pancit for us. Then a Philippino couple moved down the street from us, and she made us dinner and lo and behold, pancit popped up again. Then we moved churches and house, and I forgot all about this amazing dinner until we were at a friend's party, and there again was a huge bowl of the stuff. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was at a Narnian costume party to which I went dressed as The Lady of the Green Kirtle. I ate pancit again, and boom! Right back to memory lane. 

The best part about this meal is that it's waist-friendly, (more-so if you use chicken instead of beef) and qualifies as Shrinkage food because there's not a smidge flour or sugar, and it's packed with veggies. Also, it's gluten free, because those are rice-noodles up there, not wheat, which makes them much better. It would be awesome if you could buy brown-rice noodles, but for now these are great.

Pancit is one of those things that is great for feeding large families because it's kind of a catch-all dish. You can use any kind of meat in the dish. (We've used chicken, beef, shrimp, etc.) Really whatever you have on hand. Last night we had ground beef, and I'd never done that before. When I think of Asian cuisine, ground beef isn't exactly the first thing I think of. I knew I'd need to kick the recipe up a notch of I didn't want dinner to taste like a Teriyaki-Burger from a Japanese McDonald's.

Fast Fun Tip: While rummaging around for the best chili recipe for Dad, I had stumbled across a website that I can't find now. The guy writing the article mentioned that most of the time we don't "brown" ground beef, we "grey" it. In short, we put too much meat in the pan at once and it basically boils in the fat without ever gaining that awesome "browned" flavor. This time I took my pound of ground beef and did it in three separate chunks, smushing the ground beef into patties, sprinkling a bit of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, salt, and minced ginger over the top, then flipping the patties and breaking them apart. This is THE BOMB and allowed me to impart a vague Asian flare to the ground beef which was lacking beforehand.

Okay. So now that we've established how you have to cook your beef if you are using beef, we can get on with the real recipe. Again, it's a "per your own taste" thing, so the measurements for spices are going to be rather ambiguous. I change it every time depending on what we have on hand and what flavors I'm feeling. 

Pancit

• 1 head cabbage
• 1 red bell pepper
• 12 carrots
• 2 onions
• 3 tbs. minced ginger
• 4 ribs celery
• garlic
• 1 lb. ground beef (or other meat, chopped)
• 1/2 c. soy sauce (and a bit for serving)
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 1/4 c. rice vinegar
• 1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• red-pepper flakes
• olive oil or sesame oil
• peanuts
• 2 packages rice noodles (we use Mai Fu)

1. Start by slicing up all vegetables sensibly. The idea is not chunky--it's long strips to match the noodles. I left my carrot round just because they'd go farther, but onions, cabbage, and peppers can be cut into strips. Toss all veggies in a bowl together.
2. Brown the ground beef per my instructions further up the post. Set aside.
3. This is going to get majorly messy, and this recipe feeds a lot of people. A whole lot. Like...twelve of us with leftovers. So you'll need three skillets on the stove. Pour a bit of olive oil into the bottoms of the pans, and sautee leftover ginger and a spoonful of garlic in each man till golden. Divide the veggies into the three pans, and sautee for ten minutes until the vegetables are tender. Dash all your soy/vinegar/worcestershire sauces over the vegetables and continue to cook. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes. When vegetables are done, cover and let steam while you work on the noodles.
4. Rice noodles are really cool because you don't boil them. Your first step will be to pull the noodles apart and put them in the bottom of some great big bowl. Then you will boil a kettle-full of water (a couple quarts) on the stove. When it is at a rolling boil, pour the water over the dry noodles, cover the bowl with a tray of some sort, and let steam until noodles are tender.
5. Drain your noodles, and mix the noodles, beef, and vegetables together. Add more soy sauce to taste, and mix well. This will kill your arms. You may have to chop up the noodles a bit in order to be able to stir.

Serve on plates and dig in! This is a wonderful meal for a party because it's pretty cheap and goes a really long way. Plus, it is delicious, and easy to throw together; you really can't go wrong with seasonings. At different times I have sprinkled in tons of different spices, drizzled a bit of molasses, dabbled in some clam juice...anything you have on hand. Take my word for it. 

Try this recipe next time you are having an Asian-themed party or just a great big family get-together. It's delicious, and everyone will want the recipe. Then it will be your turn to tell them you pretty much did it on the wing, because with pancit you can't go wrong. Plus, your figure will thank you for making life easy.

The Shrinkage Diaries: When the Wallet's Shrinking but you're not

Dear Figure,
       Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
^ Do you hear that? It might look the wail of a small mosquito, but actually, it's the sound I made all this past week as our pantry emptied, we waited for checks in the mail to be able to stock back up, and the choices for healthy eating dwindled. I mean, really. Okay. So I know I haven't been religious in my NOTHING FLOUR and NOTHING SUGAR this past week, but I have been exercising and I have been eating mostly none and none. Yeah. Valentine's day threw me off.
        But anyway, I was sitting on my bed yesterday around lunchtime reading up on Alexsander Solzhenitsyn and generally lost in Communist Russia when Mama poked her head through the door and informed me that she was working on school with the younger ones, and would I be so kind as to fix something alive for lunch because she couldn't eat any more "dead food" if she was a POW in Stalag 13. Or maybe it was "I would throw up if I had to eat any more popcorn." (I've heard it both ways.) I was just stuck in Russia, remember.

"We have...cucumbers, cabbage...some onions...oh! and chick peas."

And then she went downstairs, and Figure? I felt you dancing in high glee because you thought I would have to make something wretched like cabbage soup. I mean anyone who has seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will remember...

"Oh. Well....nothing goes better with cabbage than cabbage!"

But if I made something wretched like cabbage soup, it would appear that your bet was winning, Figure, and you were convincing me that eating healthy tasted like...dishwater. Perhaps it was the influence of Communist Russia that sent me to Google, but I sat down at the computer and typed in "raw salad cucumbers cabbage" not expecting anything to come up. But something did. Something from a Russian cooking website (the sterling truth) and I decided to try it...and what came out was absolutely delicious.

But to feed eleven or twelve people off of a cabbage salad while all right for Charlie Bucket & Co. is a little weak and wimpy and giving-uppish. In all my digging I found that we did have some carrots so I thought to myself, I thought: "Aha. Let us make hummus  out of the chick peas. Oh...but we don't have lemon juice, do we?"

No lemons. Not a juice anywhere. Not even lime juice, which works in a pinch. But I wanted hummus. I really wanted it, and I sat there for a moment, thinking rather harder than usual. Then the proverbial lightbulb came one and I decided I'd outwit our pantry.

No lemon juice?

No problem.

Instead I used red wine vinegar and a generous sprinkling of lemon-pepper seasoning. The result was Mediterranean in the extreme, and an awesome coupling for the Russian Cabbage Salad. Lunch was delicious, healthy, and unique and what's even better--built off a pantry and fridge as emaciated as Alexsander Solzhenitsyn after leaving his Gulag Archipelago. Below I've posted the Salad Recipe for you readers who are also standing victorious over your Figures! :) (I would have posted the hummus recipe too, but that'll have to wait for another post because I deleted the picture I took, and I hate "blind" recipes.)

Russian Cabbage Cucumber Salad

• 1 head cabbage
• 2 cucumbers
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tbs. vinegar
• 2 tbs. olive oil

1. Slice the cabbage in thin slices, then sprinkle with salt and knead (like bread dough) till the cabbage begins to look a little juicy.

2. Slice cucumbers into quarters, then slice quarters. Slice onion into thin slices. Mix into cabbage.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar (adding more to taste if desired) and mix 'er up.

Makes rather a lot 

Things like cabbage and cucumbers are really cheap in the scheme of things. The other day Mama and I were discussing the fact that Hispanic food and potatoes are always really cheap (though not particularly good for you) because the Irish and the Mexican cultures aren't known for having an overabundance of extra money. But you don't have to have a diet based entirely off of cheap corn and potatoes--there are vegetables that aren't exotic (like carrots, cabbage, cucumbers...even some peppers) that will be fairly easy on the budget, and very easy on your waist, so try buying those instead of more potatoes. :P

                

          With a temporarily stocked pantry at last,

                                                                 Rachel

The Shrinkage Diaries: Almond Joy Truffles

Dear Figure,

     The start to this week has been most wonderfully heartening because despite the fact that it has only been a week on the quest to you, I did think Sunday that I caught a glimpse of you lurking about. Mama further pleased me by stating that my body seems to respond nicely to Shrinkage efforts and she could tell after one week that I was on the right track and that I was gaining a waist. Yippee. I've foiled all your attempts thus far at eluding me.

      But at certain times in a girl's life, she craves treats, and when she is trying to find a Figure (yes, in spite of the buckeye brownie she chose to eat on a coffee date), she goes on a track to find the best recipes. And sometimes she decides to fling caution to the wind and completely change a recipe so it doesn't look a thing like the original. Thus, Figure, I have outwitted your schemes to make me crave chocolate, and I now present for you and all other Shrinkers, the Clean-Eating Almond Joy Truffle. 

Clean-Eating Almond Joy Truffles

• 3/4 c. almond butter
• 1/2 honey
• 1 3/4 c. rolled oats
• 1/4 c. unsweetened, flaked coconut
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. cocoa
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. coconut oil
• 60% cocoa chips for dipping

1. Warm almond butter and honey

2. Mix other ingredients together, then add the almond butter and honey and roll into 1" balls.

3. Chill for a little while you melt chocolate chips with the additional teaspoon coconut oil. Remove from fridge and dollop chocolate on tops of truffles.

4. Cut a few raisins into triangles and poise on top of truffles.

Makes approximately 30 truffles

Figure...these things are killer. Seriously. They taste just like Almond Joy bars, and certainly don't leave you wanting for anything else. I managed to exercise every day last week. What is hilarious is that I didn't mean to exercise Sunday, but I worked myself into a rather bad humor and decided to dose myself with one of my fierce, wonderful walks on which I pray aloud and come home cheerful as you please. I ended up walking at least a mile and a half or so, which made me laugh when I realized God had managed to change my attitude and help me with Shrinkage all at once.

I did see you Figure. I really did. And this T-shirt showing less lumps is witness. Boo-yeah. Stay tuned, Figure, for more shockingly amazing recipes which include Peach and Chocolate-Banana Froyo recipes!

    Chasing after you with a club and my awesome truffles,

                            Rachel

The Shrinkage Diaries: This Means War

Dear Figure,
     I woke up this morning feeling very fine indeed, and with all the best intentions in the world of continuing on my happy road to health. After all, the when the sky is filled with fluffy, tangerine-colored clouds, who's to complain? Certainly not me. I got up and I did my arm exercises, courtesy of the Marines.

Yes. Laugh. Do.

They are called "Sungods" and "Chainbreakers" and, having never clapped eyes on a Marine whose arm muscles I didn't admire, I figured it couldn't hurt to try it out myself. I've done every day for nearly a week, and I am not too sore. I can't decide if this is good or bad. Does it mean I've got more muscles up there than anyone could guess from the look of it, or does it mean that I'm just not Marine-material? I suppose time will tell. A week is certainly not time enough to form Hawkeye-esque biceps and triceps.

I went down to breakfast, thinking that I would make something yummy. But there was a scheme afoot: the pantry is trying to hide you, dear Figure, from me! We need to do the grocery shopping and the only thing (pretty nearly) to be eaten were bagels. Lots of bagels. And I love bagels. But you would be proud of my dedication, Figure, and my ingenuity because do you know what I did instead? I invented a new breakfast packed with protein and potassium that I liked enough to toss into my repertoire for Shrinkage Breakfasts! I sliced a banana down the center, slathered it with All-natural peanut butter, and bedecked it with exactly six Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips. This is yummy. This is nutritious. This fits the bill exactly, so I was happy. And to all the rest of you Vegans and Raw-foodists, this could easily be adapted to your diet!

I thought I'd snap a picture of the shadow of a figure I happen to possess right now, so as to document it's shrinking state till you, dear Figure, come to be. I thought it'd be nice to post a photo once a month of your progress in becoming a Proper Figure. I don't anticipate any Willow-Wandishness from you, but a nice Lumpless curve would not go amiss.

I was further tempted in my day of Shrinkage by a seductive, quad-layer chocolate cake that the whole rest of the family was partaking of. This is a very good chocolate cake (I know from experience) and if you knew just how good, you would certainly applaud me for my tenacity in resisting. I've been looking upon lots of lovely Figure-aiding things to cook on Pinterest, and I can't wait to write about them in the future. For now, I'm girding up my strength to resist further battle: I am off to a 21st birthday party where there will undoubtedly be more cake and ice-cream, and possibly lots of other fattening things. I will try to find the things I ought to eat, but if for some horrid reason there was none of it, then Moderation! (And Zumba and Just Dance 4 afterward, which is already scheduled and therefore very convenient to the Shrinking Me.)

Between teaching English Lit and cleaning the house for church, I did our work-out video (more on that in a later entry), and was careful to position myself directly in front of the TV so my head was balanced on Teresa Tapp's body. This enviable position is usually taken by Mama or Anna, but I got it today. Do you know what happens if you don't get this spot? You're stuck staring at yourself while exercising in the double glass doors. One side deludes you by making you look tall and slender, and the other is a horrifying picture of yourself if you failed Shrinkage and went quite in the opposite direction. With those two options before oneself, who would choose the chocolate cake?

I will have you, Figure, whether by hook or by crook, so don't gloat.

It's so unbecoming.

Yours,
      The Shrinking Me

The Shrinkage Diaries

One of my goals last year was to start exercising more. I was pretty consistent with that, but this one of my goals this year is to kick that into a higher gear. I want to start exercising often. Like pretty much everyday. And I want to switch the majority of my diet to no-flour-no-sugar instead of doing it in spurts. See, I feel so much better when I eat this way and exercise that I have no idea why I ever go back to sloppiness. Of course I know I won't always follow this regime to perfection--in fact, I love the way my Mama goes about her health. She says that eating healthy is its own reward system, and works great because if you do want some chocolate cake one day, at least you know you've eaten healthy so many other days in a row it's not such a biggy. She's always told us that diets don't work. And it's really true. I know a guy right now who is "mining for muscle" by going on some crazy diet where all he eats 6 days a week is coffee with a little butter in it. Literally. Sure he's going to lose weight, but once he's done with this coffee-kick, he'll gain it back. The idea is to change your lifestyle. Mama has taught of us girls this maxim, and I am really planning on working at this this year. All of us girls are, really, and Anna (who has the head-start on the rest of us, not being plump) is probably the most consistent. :D

But you know how discouraging it is when you sit there on Pinterest scouring the site for inspiration and all you can find are pictures of super-fit women doing things like this:

Like, "Oh!!!! SARAH! If we just stand on tippy-toes while we brush our teeth we'll go skinny!!!"

Yeah.  Not inspiring. So I thought I'd start a blog series about our quest for health and fitness, starting from now. It's going to be painfully funny, very sarcastic, often informative, and always cheerful. Because everyone knows the Road to Shrinking is fraught with peril...and chocolate cake.

The Shrinkage Diaries: 

The sometimes successful, always hilarious journey toward a figure

I'll post funny stories, inspiring tips, recipes, updates, guest diary-ists, and pictures. Just keep an eye out for updates. I've put up a page where I'll link to each entry in The Shrinkage Diaries. And hey, if you'd like, take the photo and stick it up on your own sidebar, linking to the Shrinkage Diaries page! 

I am so excited about this, and can't wait to kick it off for real! :D

Curly Girls

I am going to be leaving for a week without internet and cell-phones to counsel at a camp in the NC Blue Ridge mountains, starting Sunday. So I'll be off posting for a week, but there'll be lots of pictures and things come the return!

One of my dear friends, Rachelle, has been what she calls a Curly Girl for years. This means her hair has a certain measure of wave/curl and she takes care of it with a certain system she describes here on the YLCF website. It intrigued me. Really? Washing your hair with nothing but water? Putting gobs of conditioner in and not rinsing it entirely out? NEVER USING A HAIRBRUSH? It sounded extreme, but intriguing. After all, my own hair is always in a dubious state of frizz...maybe I should try it! I tried washing my hair with only water this morning, and then putting in conditioner. *sigh*.

 I am skeptical at best. I know it'll probably take repeated attempts for my hair to wake up and smell the coffee, but I really do want to try this at some point. Probably not right before I've got to be around people for a solid week though. ;)

Here are links to the whole Curly Girl spiel. What do you think?

Curly Care
Curly Styles
Curly Shopping
Curly Handbook
Curly Concoctions
Curly Cutting
Curly Kids
Curly Links
Curly Tweets
Curly Stories
Curly Q's

Are you a Curly Girl? Have you tried this hair-care regime?

Capering and Cookery: Almond Loves--without flour or sugar!

For a long time I've needed to commit to a variety of Shrinkage Plan, but I don't like the idea of dieting. It seems so...pie-crust-ish. You know, easily made, easily broken and all that lovely Mary Poppins stuff. A change to your diet though--now that's different because it means you are actually eating healthy. Not depriving yourself of essential things like natural fats and oils and all that.
That being said, I decided to go off of wheat flour and sugar for a time. I am allowing myself to still eat some honey/agave nectar and that sort of thing, but no traditional cane sugars or wheat flours. :) I plan to depart from this mantra now and again--it's not a forever and always sort of change...just a most-of-the-time one. :)
But I'm a baker after all and it's next to impossible to not want to bake something "sweetbutteryan'delicious" as my little sister would say. I certainly don't intend to deprive myself forever of all things amazing. :D
So I set out to find a recipe that would not take hours of work, and yet would not include flour or sugar. And I found it! They are little macaroon-like cookies called Almond Loves and are perfect for gluten-free people as well as anyone who wants a cookie but doesn't want to get plumpified eating them! :]
I've shared the recipe below and I hope you'll try it out some time and tell me what you think!

Almond Loves

• 1 3/4 c. whole, blanched almonds

• 2 egg whites

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil

• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

• 1/8 tsp. ground ginger

• 1/8 tsp. ground mace  

• A dash of almond flavoring

• 1/4 c. all-fruit jam (I used raspberry :)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with nonstick spray or parchment paper
2. In food processor or nice blender grind together all ingredients except jam till a smooth (ish) paste forms. (I added a little unsweetened coconut, but that is only optional)
3. Drop teaspoonsful onto the cookie sheets. With a wet spoon make a little "thumbprint" in the tops of each cookie, then dollop the jam inside.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly golden.

Makes about 20 macaroon-sized cookies