0 Sweet Treat Saturday (Gluten Free)

© Qalil

• 300  g. Rice flour (8 ounces)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 130 g. white granulated sugar (4 ounces plus one half tablespoon)
• 1 large egg
• 125 g. melted butter (1 stick of unsalted butter or 4 ounces)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of rose water (or just water, or in my case ALMOND MILK)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
• 10 pitted dates

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Whisk the egg and melted butter together to make it light and gradually add the dry mixture to it.

Crush the dates with your fingers and add to the mixture which should be thick enough to be manipulated with your hands.

Add the almond milk bit by bit just until the mixture is sticky enough to stick to your fingers.

Wrap the dough in saran wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, heat the oven to 375 degrees, shape the cookies with your finger and spread them on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until just brown.

The icing sugar is my own addition, but these cookies are a winner if your choice is to try something gluten free.

© Qalil

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0 Affordable Food

Valerie Everett

As the recession trudges on destroying everything in its wake, the news channels are ablaze with a term that has been used to describe different situations in underdeveloped countries.

Food insecurity

Food insecurity is the state in which people live in hunger or with the fear of starvation.  Food security, on the other hand is when all people (within a particular region) at all times, have physical, economical and social access to safe nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (fao.org definition)

The price of gas at the pump has risen by 38%  in one year (data) which means that anything that comes to us from somewhere else will cost more because of fuel prices. In the recent past, oil companies have reduced the price of gas a little to assuage the general population in the United States one in six who believe it is not the actual price of gas that increased, but the greed of oil corporations and speculators of gas prices.

There is an argument that food insecurity in the developed World arrived long before the recession and increase in gas prices. If food security means access to safe nutritious food for a healthy life, then the increasing bulge of the collective waistline of these countries is an indication that food security might be more complicated than was first imagined.

At the grocery store, healthy nutritious food, void of any harmful antibiotics and pesticides is the most expensive food and is usually one small section of the store. Many communities do not have stores with organic/non-GMO sections. More and more consumers at the store lean towards this food, opting for the "less is more" principle where nutritional value and safety trump abundance.

As a response to this need local farmers and local farmer groups have come together to provide organic nonGMO produce for their communities at prices that rival grocery store prices. If one thing was exposed by the documentary Food Inc., it was that large farms tend to be controlled by large corporations that impose unsafe food practices merely to provide the population with more food. The only way we can return to having more options and cheaper nutritious food is by returning to local farmers who have safe, globally conscious  and responsible farming practices.

Support your local farmer!

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0 Do you have Orthorexia?

Image Credits

In 1997 a medical doctor from Colorado, Steven Bratman, introduced a new word into our ever expanding vocabulary

Orthorexia Nervosa

people who develop an unhealthy fixation on eating healthy.

The word orthorexia is derived from two Greek words:

Orthos = correct or right

Orexia = appetite

According to Dr. Bratman's site, the term is meant to refer to people with an UNHEALTHY FIXATION on eating healthy.

Image Credits

Dr. Bratman claims that an uninformed view on healthy eating pushes some people over the edge that they move into extreme forms of healthy eating like raw foodisim (people who don't cook their food past a certain temperature) and as a result end up emaciated and die. He has written extensively about his views and even published a book called Health Food Junkies: Orthorexia Nervosa, Overcoming the Obsession with Healthy Eating (Amazon link if you're interested). In his book he describes his own journey through veganisim and raw foodism and how he arrived at the conclusion that this can turn into an obsession and eventually cause death to those who practice them.

Reading excerpts from the book, it becomes quickly clear that Dr. Bratman is one of those individuals whose personality lends itself to extreme expressions and at that point his argument begins to break down.

It is important to note that his emphasis is on people with an unhealthy fixation.

At a time when the World is rising up against corporations that have genetically modified the staples we have become accustomed to, this particular discussion needs to be had and questions need to be asked.

• Can eating healthy become a bad obsession?
• Are there any unhealthy practices people engage in that they believe are healthy?
• What is "eating healthy" ?

What is your opinion? Do you think that orthorexia nervosa is something we all need to talk about?

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0 I Keep Trying to Get Out!

I'm halfway out the door, stumbling a little bit when I came across this picture! How can I leave the house when images of gooey chocolate are placed in front of me. I have all the ingredients... should I stay or should I go?

Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'more Bars

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 cups milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.

2. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.

3. Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 4 to 5 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.

Find more recipes at www.bettycrocker.com.

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