Holiday Raw Food Dessert: Low-Glycemic Amaretto Truffles

Ho Ho Ho – we’re doing it!

With these special resources in hand, you’re sure to keep your blood sugars steady and your waistline in order.

I have a new recipe I can’t wait to share.

This weekend I co-taught a class about how to make delicious party foods.

Karen Osborne came up with a fabulous dessert recipe called Ambrosia Amaretto Truffles.

Since I just led a group of over 100 people through a blood sugar balancing program, I am keenly aware of the need for yummy, festive dessert recipes that are low-glycemic. All of our dessert recipes are sweetened with whole foods, but even things like dates are not well tolerated by people with blood sugar imbalances and candida issues.

So I took Karen’s recipe and made a few changes to it so it would be friendly for folks concerned about diabetes, insulin resistance, and candida overgrowth.

Low-Glycemic Amaretto Truffles

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup coconut butter
• 1/4 cup lucuma powder
• 1/4 cup carob powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground vanilla beans
• 1 tablespoon almond extract
• 12 drop Sweet Leaf Stevia extract (chocolate flavor if possible)
• 1/4 cup almonds, ground to a powder
• 1/2 cup almonds, ground to a powder or 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut for snowball truffles (Note: This is used to roll the truffles when formed. You can roll half in coocnut and half in almonds if you choose)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except the 1/2 cup ground almonds or coconut.
2. Process in a food processor or stir together until smooth.
3. Form a teaspoon of dough into a ball.  If it’s too “gooey” add a little extra ground almonds to dry it a bit.  Continue forming balls until all dough is used.
4. Roll balls in ground almonds and or coconut.
5. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or freeze for at least 1/2 hr.

This low-glycemic dessert version was as big a hit as the traditional truffle.

The traditional version of the recipe, an 18-page recipe guide, and 2 1/2 hour video from the class are all available for purchase:

Click HERE for Party and Potluck Nibbles that Nourish!

http://www.drritamarie.com/go/potlucknibbles

Party and Potluck Nibbles that Nourish

There are many who treat entertaining as an art. Carefully decorated dinner tables and meticulously planned meals can be the talk of friends and neighbors for years to come! Now that the holidays are just around the corner, you may have more parties to go to, potlucks to attend, or your own guests to serve and delight.

Which leads to the inevitable questions…

What do I bring?
What should I serve?
What can I make that’s both healthy AND will make people happy?

Rather than always wondering what to do for such events, you can load up with light-on-the-waistline raw food party and potluck dishes for your guests and hosts! These fresh, finger-food recipes, all part of our Raw Food University series, will not only delight the eyes and reward the taste buds of your friends and loved ones, they will also nourish them with nutrition!

All dishes are made from completely from living foods: 100% gluten-free and dairy-free! There are no sugars, no processed oils, no grains, and no cooking!

You can listen to an interview with Dr. Ritamarie and Chef Karen Osborne as they talk about making fun and fresh holiday dishes you can serve at your next party or potluck:

You’ll be surprised when you discover how quick and easy all of these raw food Party and Potluck nibbles are to make! Join us and ensure your next holiday party is one that’s memorable, healthy, and healing!

Dr. Ritamarie’s Thanksgiving Day Celebration and Recipes

Each year, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day with my husband’s family.  This year there were 37 of us present, ranging in age from 14 months to 97 years.

I wish I could say that the past 26 years I’ve been involved in the celebrations has influenced the food choices of the group, but sadly it has not.

The majority of the food served is loaded with processed grains and sugar.

Each year, up until this year, I would make a sweet potato dish, sweetened with dried apricots and topped with pecans.  Each year there has been so much left over as our guests opted for the sugar sweetened yams instead, that this year I opted not to make them.  They were not missed.

I have also made a cranberry dish each year, using fresh cranberries, raisins, pears, and oranges.  Each year there was a huge quantity left over as people favored the sugar sweetened cranberries,  and I would get tired of eating them for days to some.  This year I made a small quantity only and there were still leftovers.

Next year I may opt out of the cranberries as well.

Personally I’m happy to eat the veggie appetizers with garlic dill dip,  salad with a yummy dressing (sesame garlic ginger this year), and some steamed or sauteed vegetables.

My desserts are usually a big hit, but this year all I made was a low-glycemic coconut carob mint “candy”  because I’ve been avoiding sweets.  I didn’t make enough to share, just enjoyed them myself because I figured they were no match for all the store bought sugar drenched pies served along with a homemade marble cake, my mother-in-law’s recipe.

As I watched my family members fill their plates with all the sugar, starch and meat with fatty gravy (store bought, not even home made), I wondered HOW can I make a difference.  The vegetables were eaten in tiny amounts by most.  My husband, kids and I ate a lot more vegetables that everyone else in the room combined.

How do I reach the masses with the message that this food is destroying their health?

Maybe I’m naive, but I thought it was common knowledge that sugar and white flour are harmful, cause hormone imbalance, diabetes, heart disease and cancer?

I’m scratching my head, and thinking.

I care about these people and hate to see them suffer.

In the meantime, I want to share with you ideas for creating holiday celebrations that focus on the people connections and offer foods that delight and nourish.

Here are a couple of delicious recipes I made for Thanksgiving this year , including a sugar-free cranberry gel.

Thanksgiving Raw Food Recipes

Garlic Dill Dip

(variation of recipe in Healthy Holiday Traditions)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• 3/4 cups water
• 1/8 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Blend nuts, lemon juice, water and salt
2. Put mix in a bowl and stir in dill and garlic.
3. Add more dill and garlic to taste if needed.

 Sesame Garlic Ginger Dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sesame tahini
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/8 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 slier of fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients.
2. If too thin, add extra tahini, if too thick add water.

 Cranberry Orange Relish

(variation of recipe in Thanksgiving Feasts)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 orange, peeled
• 1 pear
• 1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Process everything in a food processor until smooth
2. Add extra raisins if you prefer a sweeter relish

Spicy Cranberry Blood Sugar Balancer

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cranberries
• 1/4 cup coconut cream (Artisana)
• 2 teaspoons konjac powder (http://www.konjacfoods.com/product/1.htm)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1 sliver ginger

Directions:

1. Process all in blender or food processor until smooth
2. Add stevia if desired for sweetness

Staying Warm with Raw Foods: Hot Soup with Steamed Vegetables

Gluten Free Raw Foods Recipes to the Rescue: Healthy Habits Lead to Happy Hormones

Gluten free diets have been lauded for every thing from autism to eczema, asthma to ADD.  But have you ever considered that gluten may be wrecking your sex life?

Can such a tiny little protein as gluten, found in all your favorite breads, pastas, desserts and breakfast cereals really create havoc in so many parts of your body?

The research overwhelmingly says YES!By destroying your hormones and the glands that produce them, gluten leaves no body part unscathed, even if your symptoms are confined to a few select areas.  The problem is, much of the damage caused by gluten is silent, until you reach a critical threshold, them fall apart.

Magic Moments Candies

This is especially true of gluten induced osteoporosis.I’ve seen it happen over and over again.So what’s the solution?  Is there a magic drug or herb or procedure you can do to cure the damage gluten creates in your body?

The good news is, the answer doesn’t require any drugs, radiation or special surgical procedure,it’s not dependent on hormone replacement or herbal remedies.

It’s not something that acupuncture or chiropractic can cure either, although both can be helpful in repairing the damage.

In fact the solution is absolutely free.

The answer is at the tip of your fork, your most powerful healing tool.

Drum roll please.

The solution is to stop eating gluten, which means no more bread, pie, cookies, crackers, bagels, croissants, breakfast cereal….

YIKES.   So, what’s left to eat?

Asian Salad on a Bed of Sprouted Lentils

Enter the wonderful world of raw foods.

You think all that processed CR_P is good, what until you taste the real thing.

And no, I don’t mean connect to the awesomeness of a carrot and make love with romaine lettuce – although eating food straight from nature is in fact the ideal.

What I mean is the magic that happens when someone who really had a knack for flavors and textures and bringing out the delicate essence of fresh whole food turns the ordinary into the extraordinaire.

Take for example the photos sprinkled throughout this article.  They are the foods we make in Eating for Hormone Balance.  Let’s face it! your hormones need and want lots of produce…cruciferous vegetables, sea vegetables, sprouts, high quality fats,   They’re thrown off by white flour, white sugar, processed fats, preservatives and hormones in your foods.

Happy Hormone Collard Wraps

We’ve figured out how to take the best of science in terms of hormone research and blend it with the best foods and herbs that nature has to offer.

By using all whole, raw and living foods, completely gluten and dairy free, we create masterful hormone boosting and balancing dishes that taste great.

We leave out all the top 5 allergens, so people with food allergies have a safe haven for clean food.

Here’s what we’re making

There’s still time to register for Eating for Hormone Balance.

Attend in person and get to eat the foods or attend online and get to watch real-time and get your questions answered.  In either case you get a video after class…fully indexed by recipe plus a recipe guide, all digital documents!

Learning to make delicious foods that nourish and protect is worth the investment at any price.

Register for Eating For Hormone Balance Live class or Web cast and get videos FREE

Dr. Lindsey Berkson, author of Safe Hormone, Smart Women  and 14 other books on hormones and health, believes that nutrition is the first line of defense in keeping your hormones safe and balanced.  Watch as she makes a hormone balancing green drink.

Creamy and Filling Green Drink with Dr. Lindsey Berkson

Learn a full range of delicious hormone balancing recipes from Dr. Ritamarie and Team

Eating for Hormone Balance

Chipolte Orange Mango Kale Chips