health nut

Most of you who know me know that in the past years I have turned into a total crazy health nut/monster.

 Anyways I read the book the Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin and it pretty much changed my life forever. My mom read it too and she, my dad, and I try to follow the healthy lifestyle that Rubin lays out in the book. I do this not just to be healthy, but also for existing allergies and sensitivities that I have to food. Basically I don't eat dairy, gluten, and eggs. People are always shocked and horrified and say "that must be so limiting!". When you think about it, though, that still leaves a whole host of delicious and healthy foods! I eat a ton of meat including beef, chicken, and fish but excluding pork and shellfish (scavengers, ew!). We buy local grass-fed beef and are currently looking for somewhere to get chicken at a decent price. I also eat tons of vegetables, the more the merrier. It's been great this summer because we were able to get a lot of local and organic stuff at the farmer's market. We also got local honey there, which is a great alternative to sugar in tea, coffee, and baking and also helps with seasonal allergies. I eat tons of nuts, and love soaking them in warm water and salt for 8 hours (3 days for almonds, draining them a couple times a day) then roasting them at 150  until they're dry (which takes hours and hours, but they're so delicious!). I can also stomach goat dairy products, which are now carried by pretty much any grocery store, so I eat a lot of goat cheese, yogurt, and use the milk in my tea and coffee. I do eat some grain products like rice and quinoa, but not very often. We try to eat sweet potato instead of white potatoes, and we usually have them a couple of times a week. Basically, I eat TONS!

Today I made gluten, dairy, egg, and sugar-free (as in refined sugar free, there is plenty of natural sugars from the dried fruits) pumpkin muffins. I was going by memory from an ordinary pumpkin muffin recipe, and using up some ingredients we had in the house.

They're not super sweet, but I like them. The spices give them a bit of kick, and though crunchy on the outside, they're nice and moist inside. Since they're a treat though, next time I would use another 1/2 cup of dates, and not boil them for so long, because it took too much of the sugar out. The only reason I boil them is to soften them so they can be blended. If you put them in the blender with the pumpkin and the oil you might be able to get away with not boiling them.

1 cup dates
2 1/2 cups flour ( I used 1/2 cup all purpose gluten-free flour, 1/2 cup quinoa flour, 1 cup coconut flour, and 1 tsp Xanthan gum which I think was too much)
1 cup grapeseed oil
1 cup raisins - soaked for 10 minutes in warm water
3 eggs (or for me, 3 tbsp. flax seed and 9 tbsp. warm water)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
14 oz pumpkin

Boil the dates in water, drain, then shove them in the blender with the pumpkin. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then mix together, fill your muffin tins and bake at 400 for 15 minutes or so-ish.

Enjoy with chai tea and honey goat cheese. yum yum