Saturday, March 16, 2013

Conundrum and a {small} Recipe Round-up

Seems like there's always a holiday or a special occasion out there that we celebrate with candy. From the number of posts I've seen from people wondering what to do about friends and relatives who won't respect their food choices, I'd guess I'm not alone when I sometimes feel guilty for not allowing my kids to "cheat" on their diet to partake of the cupcakes, donuts, candy and such that come into their Sunday School classes, and it must be even harder when your child is in school!

Growing up, I had a sort of middle-of-the-road mom. She was real concsienctious about how much sugar and processed junk we had. We were the kids who brought our lunch from home, didn't eat doritos, barely knew what soda was, never tasted chocolate milk ... dessert at home was 2 oreos, or applesauce with mini marshmallow smileys. I felt wierd and left out. At the same time, I was kinda jealous of my friend Mavis. She had a real cruchy mama! She ate bean sprouts sandwiches on homemade whole wheat and really enjoyed it! They had an enormous patch of sunflowers in their backyard with a group of beehives in the middle of it, and a honey spinner in the basement. It was so cool!!

I guess I say that to say I understand both sides of the argument personally. I thought when I grew up I was NOT going to be the mom that limited her kids to 1 Kool-Aid at a party... turns out I am that mom. And worse! I have my kids on GAPS, for crying out loud!. It's for their own good, and they know it, and they understand it -- to a degree. That doesn't make it any easier on them when their class is having Krispy Kreme and they have to turn it down to eat the banana I packed for them! For the most part that doesn't happen, and generally the snack is animal crackers or something that they don't have much trouble turning down for a Larabar. But what about those parties? What about those ball games in the summer when everyone around them is sucking on a lollypop? What about EASTER??? No jellybeans, or Cadburry Cream Eggs, or Recees Peanut Butter Eggs?

We've really never been an Easter Bunny family, but we've always had a few chocolate eggs or maltballs and jellybeans in a bowl on the counter for easter, and generally we have a spring-like dessert of some sort, whether its a lemon cake or something else light and yummy. So I've been doing a lot of thinking about what to do for Easter treats. Of course I don't want to go overboard because even with these recipes that can be good for you -- full of gelatin and butter and other goodness, they also have honey. And while honey has wonderful healthful properties, it is sugar. But I've been searching the web and I've come up with what I think are some pretty good options, and I thought I'd share them with you, maybe you can make healthier choices this Easter season, too and feel better about the sweet treats you're sharing with your kiddos!

Let me preface this list by saying that chocolate is NOT legal on GAPS intro, but small ammounts once your digestive symptoms have subsided are allowed. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride had this to say on her website gaps.me:
“Cocoa is SCD illegal. However, I find that many people can start having it occasionally on the Full GAPS Diet, once the digestive symptoms are gone. Find pure organic cocoa powder. Mixing the powder with some honey and sour cream makes a delicious dessert, and you can add it to your homemade ice cream or cakes. After trying it for the first time, observe your patient for any reactions. Cocoa is very rich in magnesium and some essential amino acids and, unless your digestive system is not ready for it, there is no need to avoid it.”
Also, the peanut butter cups recipe uses her recipe for GAPS legal chocolate, which seems a bit complicated and requires purchasing cocoa butter (which I'm really interested in trying, actually) but for the time being, we have found that using unsweetened bakers chocolate and adding about 1-2 T of honey and 1t of vanilla per oz of chocolate makes a delicious dark chocolate that hardens quite nicely at room temperature. ;) And almost ANY of these recipes would be delish if dipped in chocolate, methinks.
Happy Easter and happy treat making :)
Cinnamon Buns from The Urban Poser
Homemade Marshmallows from the Mommypotomus
Gummy Candies from the Mommypotomus
Coconut Almond Candies from GAPS Diet Journey
Salted Caramels from Diary of a Small Town Earth Muffin
Lemon Bars from Gutsy
Peanut Butter Cups from Nourishing Our Roots