Fat free Christmas Cookies – Almond Cinnamon Stars

Christmas Cooking doesn’t have to be full of Saturated Fats

When I grew up we celebrated the four Sundays before Christmas (Advent Sundays) by lightning the candles on the advent wreath and my mother setting out one big plate of traditional Christmas baking. They were usually an assortment of cookies and treats rich in chocolate, marzipan and yule tide spices. If you’ve ever visited or come across German Christmas celebrations you will most likely have had your taste of ginger bread, cinnamon stars, dominos, caramelised almonds etc along with gluhwein, egg nog and other Christmas festive drinks. read more

Sugar-Free Gluten-Free Granola

Why Make your Own Sugar Free and Gluten Free Granola?

Granola is usually readily available to buy in most supermarkets. You pay a premium and it might be harder to get if you want Sugar-Free Gluten-Free Granola. To get granola that doesn’t contain fats that are usually added in the manufacturing process you most likely have to make your own. Granola is surprisingly easy to make though. And if you like crunchy granola all you have to do is bake your flakes in the oven for 15 minutes and then add it to your mix of seeds, dried fruit and nuts. In most recipes for home made granola the flakes are toasted with the use of some kind of vegetable oil to either bind the flakes together or to avoid them from sticking to the baking sheet. This can be avoided by using a liquid sweetener like honey. In order to keep your flakes from sticking instead of using oil, you can use a non-stick material to line the baking sheet. i tend to use a reusable teflon sheet. You can also use paper baking sheets or a non-stick baking sheet made from silicon or something similar. Either way, there is no need to use oil, This granola recipe is perfect for people who follow anti-inflammatory diet or a special MS diet. read more

Anti-Inflammatory Foods and MS

Why am I writing about Anti-Inflammatory Foods and MS?

There are two reasons why I want to talk bout this in today’s post. First and foremost because MS is an inflammatory disease and therefore I deduce that any recommendations regarding anti-inflammatory disease dietary recommendations apply to people who suffer from MS too. The second reason why I want to look at these recommendations is to investigate whether the OMS diet can be seen as an anti-inflammatory diet too.

Harvard University Medical School suggests that people with chronic inflammatory disease have the chance to make a healthy choice by choosing to eat the right types of food to reduce their risk of illness and avoiding foods that accelerate the inflammatory disease process. It seems to me, they too recognise there are foods that have an adverse effect on inflammatory responses in the body. Likewise there are foods who have the opposite effect. This corresponds to the OMS programme. (For more information on the science behind the OMS programme, please refer to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis by Prof. George Jelinek.) read more

Apple Crumble – nutritious sugar free breakfast for winter mornings

Apple Crumble is something most people associate with dinner and dessert. I made some last night as a matter of fact. As I was making it I thought these are the perfect ingredients for a delicious and nutritious sugar free breakfast for a winter morning. So I made some extra portions to eat either cold or reheated in the microwave for the morning. This particular apple crumble is gluten free, dairy free and very low in fat. I use cold pressed rapeseed oil. Cold pressed rapeseed oil has the same characteristics as cold pressed olive oil. It has a different flavour though and I prefer to use it instead of olive oil for sweet dishes like this crumble. If you prefer you can use cold pressed olive oil instead. read more

Festive Cooking – my thoughts on making the switch to a new diet when many traditional ingredients are no longer an option

Festive Cooking during November and December

Thanksgiving and Christmas in many parts of the world are about festive meals and thereby festive cooking. The festive season is coming up and with it come many, many traditional foods and recipes that we associate with Thanksgiving and Christmas. The shops are full of sweet and savoury foods and dishes. If you are following a healthy or special diet that is gluten free, dairy free and free from meat except fish or seafood and most important free from saturated fats, lots of the products and foods that are for sale or on offer in restaurants or are handed out lets say at parties etc might not be for you. You might even wonder what you are going to have on the day of celebration as your new, traditional meal. When on a pescatarian, dairy free diet the traditional turkey or goose dinner is no longer an option. read more

Lotte Wild

Eat healthy, be well!