October 22 is national nut day. To get in the spirit, the curator of our account shares a recipe recipes and explains how healthy can taste good too.
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When I was growing up in Durango, the family would gather around the table and read the labels on the back of food packages. Mom mastered the blind taste test. One time she brought home two bottles of chocolate syrup, Hershey’s original and Santa Cruz organic.
Hershey’s: High Fructose Corn Syrup; Corn Syrup; Water; Cocoa; Sugar; Contains 2% Or Less Of: Potassium Sorbate (Preservative); Salt; Mono- And Diglycerides; Xanthan Gum; Polysorbate 60; Vanillin, Artificial Flavor.
Santa Cruz: Organic Invert Sugar, Organic Cocoa, water, Organic vanilla extract, salt, Xanthan gum.
Then she’d give us two spoon fulls of chocolate syrup. Which one taste better? What is the difference? In this case Santa Cruz won. It tasted more like chocolate. In comparison, Hershey’s, tasted sweeter and had a thinner consistency.
This way of judging food has stuck with me. What’s in it? Is it good for you? And does it taste good?
It’s how I learned to give healthy foods a chance because they can taste good too.
The gluten-free movement is polarized. The healthy, telling us of the sin of gluten and the rebels, who refused to touch anything just because it says gluten-free.
I tried going gluten-free for a month. Not all of it tasted good, but I did discover some delicious new foods. I also discovered new ways to use nuts and seeds as if it were a whole new food group.
Even now that I’ve gone back to eating gluten I still eat these foods because they taste good. So in celebration of national nut day I give you a favorite discovery: Almond butter muffins (you can also use peanut butter.)
Almond butter muffins
These muffins are proof that things at are good for you can taste good. They make great snacks or quick breakfast.
Ingredients:
½ cup Almond Butter (or nut butter of your choice)
1 large ripe banana
1 egg
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Blend ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in a blender until smooth. Pour into oiled mini muffin tens. Bake for 9-10mins. Let cool for 5min. Enjoy.
