Recipe #12 - Holiday Cookies

Holiday Cookies - Before & After

My friend was in a quandry.  She started a low carb nutrition regimen right as the holidays began.  A smart move, in my opinion, to avoid holiday waist inflation!  ;-)  But her usual holiday MO was to make copious quantities of baked goods to give away.  And in the process, much cookie dough was also consumed.  What to do?  This one is for you, friend!


Ingredients for the cookie base (vanilla shortbread)

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 7 packets stevia powder
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) room temperature salted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For almond cookies:  add 2 teaspoons almond extract

For pecan sandies: add 3/4 cup chopped pecans & roll dough balls in powdered xylitol (Ideal Confectionary Sweetener) before baking & do not press cookies

For chocolate cookies:  add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

For snickerdoodles:  add 1 teaspoon almond extract + 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For chocolate chip cookies:  add 3/4 cup sugar-free chocolate chips or 3/4 cup raw cocao nibs

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners (makes ~20 cookies).  Combine all ingredients using a fork. Form dough into balls using two teaspoons (form 'quenelles' for you chef wannabes). Bake for 7 minutes. Press the dough balls down lightly with the back of a spoon to fill the bottom of the muffin cup (makes a nice round cookie).  Continue baking for another 17 minutes or until just browned on the edges.

Inspiration recipe: http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/recipes/recipe-cookie02.html

Recipe #11 - Spaghetti Squash



Spaghetti Squash - before & after


I have my dear college roommate from junior & senior years to thank for this recipe.  She introduced me to this unusual vegetable.  It looks like any old squash on the outside but cooks up into a crispy noodle facsimile which you pull out from the shell.  Amazing!  I typically serve it with bolognese sauce, but spaghetti squash noodles would work with almost any sauce, even including a chow mein/ lo mein preparation.  The recipe to prepare the noodles is this simple:

1) wash the outside of the squash
2) slice the squash in half across the shorter diameter
3) use a spoon to scrape out the seeds & stringy gunk from the middle
4) place the squash cut side down in a microwave-safe dish, then fill the dish with water 1 cm deep (that's 1/4 of an inch, y'all)
5) microwave 4-7 minutes (depending on size of the squash) on full power
6) carefully remove the squash from the dish (it's so cool - the water gets 'sucked up' into the squash cavity while cooking, & the dish will look dry when you take it out; but when you pick the squash up, the hot water gushes back out of the squash into the pan)
7) use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti squash strands, fluffing any chunks to separate the 'noodles'

Carb-Face & Gout

Carb-face: before carbs & after!!!

It happened to me!  I can still hardly believe it!  I got a raging case of carb-face on Thanksgiving day after waking up from my post carbalicious luncheon nap.  The corner of my left eye swelled up like a tiny water balloon because I had been lying on my left side, which ironically is supposed to be better for circulation & blood return to the heart - a habit I picked up during my pregnancies (see links below for more info on SOS - sleeping on side).  Evidently, my face inflated due to post-carb binging water retention, which then pooled into the dependent  (ie hanging down) portion of my face during my snooze!  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/the-benefits-of-left-side-sleeping/  http://www.babyzone.com/askanexpert/sleeping-positions-pregnancy


What is carb-face?  It is the bane of all Hollywood starlets as well as many regular folk.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1168651/Could-Hollywoods-beauty-gurus-turn-Anna-Richardson-starlet-just-weeks.html  Carb-face is a catchy way to describe bloating that shows up, especially in the face, after consuming a large amount of simple carbohydrates (sugar, white rice, pie, cornbread stuffing, etc!!!).  Some doubt that it is real but now I am a believer!

Why does carb-face happen?  We expect bloating after having a lot of salty foods or sports drinks but not so much with sugary or starchy foods.  In a nutshell, insulin acts on the kidneys to retain sodium while dumping potassium.  This link to a research abstract describes this in technical lingo: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2676669

In fact, the following review article abstract explains something that I had also observed during my low carb sojourn: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9377725  The effect of insulin on the kidneys is such that uric acid is not cleared as effectively from the blood. http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/268/1/E1.abstract  Increased uric acid concentrations can lead to gout (joint pain due to uric acid crystal formation in the synovial fluid). http://arthritis.about.com/od/gout/a/gettoknowgout_2.htm   I used to suffer with joint pain in my hands, which weakened my grip & things constantly slipped out of my hands, and in my bunions, which felt like an icepick stabbing into my feet.  When I went low carb, absolutely unexpectedly, my chronic joint pain disappeared.  I had been to the point of consulting my doctor who then referred me to a rheumatologist.  But before I made the appointment with the specialist, I noted the disappearance of the pain.  It does come back after cheating with high carb treats but it resolves again when I eat clean.  This link is to a blog by a DO (osteopathic doctor; they go through a slightly different medical school program than MDs but go through the same internship & residency programs to practice medicine & gain specializations) who explains the phenomenon in a more understandable way than the more technical papers & abstracts: http://www.nemechekconsultativemedicine.com/?page_id=1364

This uric acid retention also tends to promote kidney stone formation: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/539022  Kidney stones are supposed to be exquisitely painful, something I hope never to experience myself!

Some may think that one is vanity driven to be concerned about carb-face.  But carb-face may be a surface indication of more insidious, health-damaging processes occurring inside your body - arthritis & joint disfigurement and kidney stone formation.  It's not vanity to want to protect your mobility and renal function!  Check out the Lance Armstrong Foundation website for info on how to beat carb-face: http://www.livestrong.com/article/251123-how-to-burn-facial-fat/