The Hypo Foodie

Would you like to have a quick, simple, almost non-cooking snack that's always ready? I simply love energy balls especially on a busy day on which I travel a lot. The reason being that, even if I'm driving, I can get fast energy in one or two bites. I would gladly hand some of them to those people enraged at the wheel. Have you noticed there is more of those people on the roads around meal time? I would argue that lots of them are hypoglycemics and don't know it!

Ingredients :

2 cups pumpkin puree,

1 cup ground almond,

2 cups pitless dates,

½ tsp ground cloves,

1 tsp ground ginger,

1 tsp ground nutmeg,

1 tsp ground cinnamon,

1 cup sugarless caroub chips,

2 servings protein powder ( either chocolate or vanilla ) *,

1 cup pumpkin seeds.

½ cup chia seeds.

Instructions :

Put dates in a pot with a little water. Warm over medium heat and stir until you get a puree.

Mix all other ingredients together and add date puree.

Form little balls with your hands.

Store 2 to 3 balls in containers to pick up on the go.

Refrigerate or freeze ( when I leave for the day, I pick the frozen ones and they are always thawed and good during the day ).

* My protein powder contains a small amount of sucralose. It is very difficult to find sugarless protein powders on the market, mainly because they are always sweetened with either artificial ( sucralose, aspartam... ) or natural sweeteners ( stevia, agave nectar ). For hypoglycemics, it is important to watch the amount of sweeteners ingested, because for some the body reacts to it as if it was normal sugar. As for me, I find that if it is accompanied by a good dose of protein, the result is pretty much the same as eating a fruit. 

No « short and unsweetened » blog of mine would be complete without my Granola recipe. It is what I eat every morning, so I cook it in large batches and keep it in the fridge. I’ve developed an unsweetened super healthy version so I can either add the sweet stuff knowingly and sparsely, or have a salty type of snack anytime of the day. I make tons of variations on the theme depending on my whims and intended flavours or on the goodies (nuts, grains or dried fruits; the adult version of marshmellows in the bowl of cereal) available. Here is the basic recipe to which I sometimes adjust the quantity of liquids if it’s too dry. I strongly recommend getting silicon baking mats for this recipe and many others to reduce the fat content and spare time on the scrapping of dirty pans. Have fun playing mix-and-match with all the add ons you wish, as I will only list the ones I use frequently. Over time, I find that the best ratio for these is no more than 3 types of nuts or seeds and 2 types of dried fruits. More than this and it doesn’t really feel like your eating granolas…

Ingredients for a batch of approximately 12 cups of granolas:

• 1/3 cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin cold pressed one;

• 3 to 4 eggs depending on their size;

• A total of 4 tbls. Mixed spices among cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg to your taste;

• 2 tbls. Vanilla extract;

• 2 tsp. Salt;

• About three cups of mixed nuts and seeds among almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, hazelnuts;

• 8 cups of rolled oats ( the coarser the better because of fibber content );

Extra ingredients added in each servings for versatility and measured sugar content: 

• Dried fruits to taste among raisins, cranberries, apricots, dates and/or homemade “veggifruit” ( see previous post );

• Chia seeds ( I don’t put them in the mix to be baked because they tend to stick to the pan and most of it gets washed away, which is a total waste of perfectly edible food).

Instructions:

- Mix the oil, spices, salt and eggs together in a very large bowl.

- Add the nuts and stir.

- Add the oats and give it a final mix.

- Spread as evenly as possible on 2 baking trays lined with either slicon mats or parchment paper.

- Bake in the oven at 350 F for 30 minutes, giving it a stir in between each 10 minutes.

- take out and let cool before you refrigerate.

Would you like to have a nutritious, economic and environment-friendly boost in the morning? That’s veggifruit!

Veggifruit on homemade yogourt and chia seeds.

Around harvest time, I used to cook my own apple, pear or peache sauces. Then after some time, it struck me that these fruits, when ripe, hardly need to be cooked to make good sauces. Besides, as the cooking process breaks down some of the nutrients in it, not cooking it preserves its “ live” benefits.  As a final step towards this recipe, I set out to add more vegetables to my meals, and since I never could manage to eat a salad in the morning, I decided to make “ veggifruit”.  It’s basically fruits and vegetables that I like together reduced to a sauce consistency with a chopping machine. I usually make good batches of which I freeze the amounts I can’t eat in a week.

Why is it environment friendly? Because it reduces waste and if you do have to buy a countertop machine, I recommend only a good chopper and skip the mixer and/or juicer; it does it all. I’m not the liquid-smoothie type in the morning, as I like to have an all-in-one meal complete with carbohydrates and proteins. Besides, when I make smoothies or shakes, I always make more than I can drink, and end up wasting because it doesn’t preserve long. The veggifruit, I add one quantity at a time in either my morning granolas or in a muffin recipes that calls for fruit. That way, there’s no waste of mushy un-appealing leftovers. You don’t have to do the same, but I always keep the skins of fruits or vegetables that I eat because most of the nutrients are contained in it and throwing it in the garbage is, for me, a sad waste of good stuff and money*. Don’t buy vitamins, just keep the vitamins there are already in your food!  

In short, there’s another “short and unsweetened” staple versatile food!

*Wether I buy organic or non-organic fresh produce, there is an evident need for a good washing to cleanse whichever is used to preserve it or anything that may have contaminated the skin. I don’t buy a special type of soap. I use water, a brush and dish soap: if it’s safe for the plates we eat our meals in, it’s safe for the food itself! I’ve been in places of the world where eating uncooked vegetables or fruits is hazardous, and even washing it in water isn’t safe ( as the water itself isn’t drinkable). The food available to us in north america is ten times more sanitized, I humbly think there’s no reason for us to refrain from eating it in whole, skins and leaves included, provided it is washed. 

I will not list the precise quantities as you can never go wrong as long as you use  things that you like. Just use what you have on hand and experiment if you are not sure which mix you like best. For those of you who have a juicer, there’s a fantastic way to re- use the byproducts, and you don’t even need to chop it! Just make sure everything is well washed.

Ingredients:

Base fruit; apple, pear or peach.

Vegetables; kale, beets, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, parsley.

To spice it up: fresh ginger if it’s your fancy.  You may also add the zest of any citrus, it’s terrific. To preserve the mix longer, add a little lemon juice.

Instructions: chop it all together! It’s that simple. I shouldn’t have bothered to write it, right?