Breakfast Cookie...No Sugar, No Dairy, No Eggs, No Gluten

So I stumbled across these little morsels on Pinterest the other day.  They looked good, but I have to admit that I was a little skeptical because they contain no sugar.  Yep, that's right.  No chocolate.  No peanut butter.  How could they possibly be good?  Well, let me tell you, they are my friends.  Little ooey gooey morsels of yum.  AND, they are great for a little "breakneck breakey".  That's another word for breakfast according to a friend of ours.  Anyways,  just add fruit to the side of your plate and maybe a little greek yogurt and you're good to go.  My oldest LOVES them.  The youngest, well, he is a super healthy eater but when you use the word "cookie" he expects sugar.  I never should have used that word.  I think he thought the dates were chocolate chips.  He is my child that's for sure.  Can you blame him?  I would take chocolate chips over dates any day.  So here's the recipe...with my substitutions.  I only had two ripe bananas and I try to avoid canola oil.  You can substitute the oil for plain applesauce (just use less), pumpkin puree (my choice) or even coconut oil (although it can sometimes be all you taste).

No Sugar Breakfast Cookies

Adapted from Blueberry Girl In Oz

1 1/2 cups regular rolled oats (I used Gluten Free)
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup mixed nuts, finely chopped
1 cup dried fruit (I used 1 cup of chopped dates)

3 ripe bananas, mashed (I used two and 1/4 cup of pumpkin)
1/4 cup canola oil (I omitted and used 1/4 cup organic pumpkin puree)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, almond meal, mixed nuts and coconut flakes. Stir in allspice and cinnamon. Add dried fruit and stir until well and evenly mixed. Make sure the dried fruit do not stick together in big batches.
In another bowl, combine canola oil, mashed banana and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until well combined. 

Take a large cookie cutter and press spoonfuls of the batter into it. Remove cookie cutter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. ( I just used my cookie scoop but this will work too)

A Journey.

So our family has been on a little journey.   A few years ago I found out I had a gluten allergy as well as a dairy allergy.  The day I gave those things up my life improved.  But oh how quickly we forget.  So like human tendency, as soon as I was feeling better, I slowly started eating gluten and dairy daily.  So now I haven't been feeling so great.  I wake up sore, tired and cranky.  Then my youngest, my baby, who rarely gets sick, started getting recurrent strep infections and tonsillitis.  This has been going on for the last 7 months.  So we took him to our naturopath in hopes of getting to the bottom of it and treating what's going on instead of removing his tonsils.  The result?  We found out he is allergic to eggs and oranges as well as gluten.  This is major.  He drinks orange juice daily and usually got some form of gluten and egg daily.  We also found out that he has a yeast infection in his stomach (from all the antibiotics).  These things are weighing his immune system down so that is why he can't get rid of the strep.  We're trying to be balanced though and if he needs his tonsils removed we'll be on board.  We just hope we don't have to go that route.  It will take a few months to see hoe his body responds.  So far so good.

Finding out these results has had a tremendous impact our family.  I'm forced now to avoid these things too which is good since I too have an allergy and we all feel better.  I'm learning to cook with egg substitute and my sweetheart of a husband bought a bread maker with a gluten free setting and I have been making the most delicious gluten, dairy and egg free bread ever.  We don't eat a lot of bread, but it's a must have for almond butter sandwiches for school.   And this year there school has banned sugar!  YAY! No more junk, no more candy.  We bring our child's own snack and they have water bottles instead of germy drinking fountains.  This could not have happened at a better time because last year they were given unhealthy snacks and candy everyday.  Now I'm on a mission to make healthy gluten & dairy free lunches everyday and get creative with it.

On a side note, despite the debilitating heat we have had ALL summer, our little garden did really well.  I haven't watered it since we got back from Cali and yesterday I pulled off a few tomatoes as well as a cucumber and we have more growing.  Yay me!  I put a lot of peat in the soil this year and made my own blend so I think maybe that's why it's doing so well.  The peat is holding the water.  That means a bigger garden next year because my Whole Foods bill just went up a little ;)  I'll post some recipes soon :)

Gluten Free Ginger Spice Cupcakes

Yesterday, during snowpocalypse, the kids and I made the most delicious cupcakes!  I'm always skeptical about gluten free mixes because they can be really grainy depending on the types of flour used.  I prefer Pamela's over Bob's Red Mill and I've tried Gluten FreePantry and it was ok.  I used Namaste this time around and they were so good.  They kind of taste like those ginger muffins from Jason's Deli you get at the salad bar.  Anyways, YUM!  We also made a home-made buttercream icing that was delish!  Today we're about to deliver some to some friends down the street.  We can't eat all of them!