A RAWlly Good Sweet Tooth Satisfier

On a recent trip down to Maryland to visit my oldest friend, (oldest, as in we've known each other for 42 years, since we were 8), I discovered that she's immersed herself into the organic world in an effort to heal a bunch of sypmtoms that have plagued her for a couple of decades. She fed me 'mock chopped liver' made from lentils and green smoothies with spinach, pea shoots & chlorophyll. The lentil liver was actually not bad on crackers but the green smoothie was a little too extreme on the green for my taste and my delicate digestive system.  I gave the thumbs up, though, to a little sweet snack her teenage daughter had made and they are my latest favorite sweet tooth savior.

Savoy Truffles, (recipe from RAWvolution).
They are healthy, organic & so easy & quick to prepare.  (image coming soon)


Combine these ingredients in a mixing bowl:
2 cups finely ground raw almonds
1/2 cup carob powder
optional - 1/3 tsp sea salt
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup agave nectar
2 tbs olive oil. 
Mix it all together until smooth.  Then take small amounts and roll into small ping-pong balls in the palms of your hands. The recipe says to serve as is but what I like to do is stick them in a plastic bag in the freezer for a little sweet tooth craving quencher at the ready. Defrost for a minute and they are perfect.

Option: I've also made them with ground raw cashews instead of almonds.


(Thank you Michele & Lori Koenick for introducing me to these yummy little babies!)

Fudgy-ness Without Pudgy-ness

Fat-Free Brownies - A Chocoholifix
My daughter and I baked brownies from a fat free, all natural mix ~ No Pudge! Fudge Brownie Mix. The ingredients listed are: pure cane sugar, unbleached wheat flour, dutch cocoa, egg whites, cornstarch, wheat gluten, salt & baking soda. The instructions say to only add fat free vanilla yogurt, (no egg yolks or oil). Many lactose intolerants can tolerate yogurt but if you can't, you can sub applesauce, non-fat sour cream, silken tofu or soy yogurt in place of yogurt. We tried the original and cappucino flavored mixes and followed the recipe adding Light & Fit non-fat vanilla yogurt. The cappucino flavored ones contain coffee and have a mild coffee taste. We both agreed, though - we liked the original ones better. Brownies don't need any additional flavoring - why mess with perfection? (I think the added caffeine from the coffee was too much for me too). They bake up in 30 minutes and truly are fudgy, moist and delicious. You would never guess that they are fat-free. On the box is offered a single serve option where you can simply add 2 tbs of mix for every 1 tbs of non-fat yogurt and microwave for a minute to have a serving for one. This way you don't have to make the whole box and have them call your name with temptation as they rest on the kitchen counter. Love that! Two thumbs up for the No Pudge!

The bottom line: these are great tasting and are fat-free and can be made dairy free for those with lactose intolerance. Caution: cocoa powder's chock full o' stimulants (caffeine & theobromine) which are IBS aggravaters to some.

I Want My Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies? But for the most delicate of stomachs, traditional buttery Toll House cookies are as good as poison. Seriously, they might as well be labeled with an evil skull & cross-bones. I need my cookie fix though!! I'm a true cake/cookie-aholic and I knew I had to come up with something that gave me less guilt and was safe and easy on me 3 hours after eating. So I did some experimenting and came up with a recipe that works. I use subs for sugar, butter & white flour and the chocolate is dairy-free. It took a little getting used to the whole wheat flour taste, but the cookies taste great - even my kids and their friends like them.

Carole's Chocolate Chip Cookies
non-dairy, no white flour or sugar and the kids really like them!
Recipe makes 6 dozen small cookies

What You Need
2 1/4 cups all purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup softened Earth Balance natural buttery spread
3/4 cup granulated no-calorie Truvia* (15 packets)
1/2 cup Ideal Brown* no calorie sweetener
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs or egg whites
1/2 cup water
1 12 oz package semi-sweet non-dairy chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life brand)

The Process
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt, Truvia & Ideal Brown in a bowl.
In a mixing bowl, beat Earth Balance & vanilla until creamy.
Add eggs & beat.
Add water & beat.
Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, mixing between additions.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Place on shiny ungreased baking sheet in small rounded amounts.
Bake for 6-7 minutes. They'll be soft but that's ok.
Remove cookies from baking sheet & let cool.

The bottom line: You get to eat chocolate chip cookies with a lot less guilt and your insides will not rebel against you.

*Note: Truvia and Ideal Brown are artificial sweeteners used to keep the calories & rise in blood sugar down. Ideal Brown contains xylitol which can be an IBS trigger. If you're sensitive to it you can leave it out and use more of the Truvia instead. Truvia is made with stevia & erythritol which is less of an intestinal irritant.

p.s. Ghiradelli makes milk-free chocolate chips too and many brands of dark chocolate chips contain no dairy.