While wandering the cookbook aisle at my local library about two months ago, I came across this amazing little cookbook, The Healthy Coconut Flour Cookbook by Erica Herwien. I loved all the photos on the cover and then I read that it contained more than 100 grain-free, gluten-free, paleo-friendly recipes for every occasion. So I had to check it out. I brought it home and couldn’t believe how many recipes I wanted to try. After renewing the book twice I decided to buy my own copy.
I never really intentionally cooked with coconut flour before so I looked forward to exploring with it in my kitchen.
First let me share a few health benefits and why it might be something you might want to incorporate into your recipes:
It’s naturally high in fiber ans low in carbohydrates (let’s face it, we need that especially with all the yummy temptations over the holidays every little bit helps.)
It’s better for our blood sugar because the fiber content in coconut flour is low in digestible carbohydrates so it doesn’t have the same effect on our blood sugar compared to other carbohydrates such as wheat grains and rice.
Typically when we eat carbohydrates they are broken down into glucose that can cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, which forces our body to work hard to respond to it. This quick rise causes stress on the body and over time, high blood sugar levels can lead to or complicate some of our big health concerns such as diabetes, heart disease, weight gain and our overall health. But with coconut flour you don’t get that sugar spike and the high fiber makes you feel full and cleans out the residue before leaving the body.
So using it as an alternative to traditional all purpose flour is a great thing. It also is a great alternative for that small percent of people that have gluten intolerance.
So today I tried making the Chocolate Banana Bread recipe from the cookbook. It is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free and paleo-friendly. I am lactose intolerant so the fact that the book includes ways to remove the dairy makes me happy.
I couldn’t find my smaller loaf pan so it came out more of a long wide shape. I also tried a new dark chocolate brand which I used the food processor to shred it. Well I had three tasters including myself. Leao, who is working from home, said he liked it but wanted more banana flavor. Apollo and I loved it. I liked the moist inside with a slight crisp to the edges. It pairs well with my Honeybush tea from Numi. It’s perfect for the drab rainy day we are experiencing today.
I will try to write posts as I try some of the other recipes in this book. I hope they are all just as yummy as this one. I also noticed that I didn’t feel sleepy after eating it. So I didn’t get the normal sugar spike like many desserts and breads tend to do to me.
If you do use coconut flour let me know what you think.
Have a blessed day!
Belinda
I’ve been busy with little projects here and there and trying to wrap up some things so I didn’t get to sit down yesterday to write. But let’s celebrate the New England Patriot’s winning the game yesterday. It was a real nail biter all the way down to the last minute I pretty much paced the floor and yelled at the TV for the last 30 minutes of the game.
Thanksgiving was wonderful and we spent it with my in-laws. My mother-in-law is one of the most amazing cooks that I know in both taste and presentation. As you know I had just come off of my cleanse so I was able to enjoy the meal fully. Even though I did indulge in a few glasses of wine and some pie I still approached it very mindfully and think that this time around a lot of my habits that I took from the cleanse will stick.
Of course we stayed over my in-laws for several days and played games and talked each night. Some of the games that we like to play is Skipbo which is a card game and we also like to play a dice game called Greed. Apollo introduced us all to Bananagrams. Which is a fantastic word game with letter tiles similar to Scrabble. I love Scrabble and word games in general so this was great. We also brought some DVDs and watch the classic Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. But the most important thing is that we were all together and I don’t take this time for granted.
We also played Old Maid and guess who was the Old Maid? Me!!!! Why do I always lose that game?
Hello!! It’s Silhouette Sunday and I have been playing in my craft room for hours today and just enjoying the sound of my machine making magic while I assemble these beauties and select papers for other projects. In fact, I was having so much fun, that I am just now sitting down to share with you my project.
With Thanksgiving complete, I thought I would start on my holiday cards and fun home decor projects for the winter months. Today’s cut file came from the Silhouette Design Store which if you haven’t heard, all designs are 50% off for a limited time. That’s a steal!! So I am loading up on files in my wishlist.
I was attracted to this card because it is a shaped card. I like how it’s shape silhouette’s the scenery. I also like that it requires very few color papers so I could cut and quickly get to the assembling.
The picture doesn’t do these cards justice. They are so cute. I hate to part with them!!
I will be delivering them to Apollo’s class tomorrow so they have a fun surprise before heading off to the Thanksgiving holiday. I will be back next week to share with you another Silhouette. I have amassed so many cut files and created so many of my own, that I have ample amount to share.