Spontaneous Musings

Craving Pumpkin Bread, I tried out this new pumpkin muffin/bread recipe with coconut flour. Have discovered fruit such as bananas makes a nice natural sweetener, although it does provide added moistness. So I might need to scale back on the eggs? Other than that it turned out well. I used butter in the recipe, but you can use coconut oil if butter is an issue. Coconut oil is a great butter substitute, not to mention healthier. Like butter it solidifies rapidly when cold and melts when heat is added.

http://wellnessmama.com/3655/coconut-flour-pumpkin-bread/

Pumpkin Bread and Muffins

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins

Simple pumpkin muffins made with coconut flour and pumpkin for a healthy and nutritious breakfast.

Author: Wellness Mama
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients

5 Eggs
1 cup of pumpkin puree (pumpkin only... check the ingredients)
¼ cup coconut oil or butter (softened)
½ cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
¼ cup honey or a few drops of stevia extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Put all ingredients in medium sized bowl

Using strong whisk or immersion blender (recommend!), mix until smooth and well incorporated. If batter is too thick, add a little coconut milk or water to thin, but don’t let it get runny at all.

Put into greased muffin tins or an 8x8 baking dish (a regular loaf pan doesn't work well)- For muffins, I use a ¼ cup measure to make pretty even sized. Batter will be somewhat thick. Bake for 13-18 minutes (muffins) or 20-25 minutes (bread) until lightly browned and set in middle.

Optional topping: finely grind almonds or pecans and mix with butter or coconut oil to make a crumble topping.

I've found these muffins to be moister than normal muffins, and less dry or crumbly. But they also don't rise up quite as high - there's less of sponginess to them. If you have issues with eggs - it could be a problem.

I really would like to slap the folks that think going off glutens is a great way to lose their holiday pounds. Gwenyth Paltrow and Oprah? I'm looking at you.

The majority of people who are gluten-free, ironically enough, chose the diet not to lose weight, but to actually gain some. Yes, that's right - they were trying to gain weight, because they got tired of not being able to work, or keep any food in their system. They were withering away, their bodies unable to retain nutrients. Every time they had a piece of bread, their digestive system rebelled and they'd have dirrehea. Others, like myself, would feel bloated and constipated. I had a minature snickers bar once and felt as if my chest was on fire and I'd attempted to swallow a brick. When I made the huge mistake of eating a fiber-con - which is basically all wheat, barely, oats, etc - I ended up in the emergency room, dizzy, with a severe angina attack.

Eating gluten is akin to eating arsenic. It's not something that I can willy nilly give up to oh, I don't know, lose a couple of pounds to look great in a swimsuit.

Also, you don't give up glutens just by not eating bread or cake or pie. Or avoiding anything you think might have flour in it. Gluten is in modified food starch - which is used in pharmaceuticals and medications. It is in soup. That's right, soup. It is orange juice. It is in tea. It is in root beer - yes, root beer. In ice cream. In yogurt - specifically Dannon. Most prepared foods. In almost all vegetarian substitutes for meat - such as spelt sushi and veggie burgers. It's in meat loaf. Meatballs. And many people will add it to sauces.

Finding gluten-free alternatives is possible, but EXPENSIVE. The cereal that I eat on a daily basis to ensure I get enough fiber - is about three times the amount of cereals without glutens.

Glutens aren't just wheat, barely, oats, and rye - but their by-products, such as spelt, millet, kashi, malt, cous-cous, etc.

The first six months on the diet are painful. You screw up constantly. Heck, I still screw up. Every time you go out to eat - it is an issue. And if you decide, heck, if I don't make it one just this once all will be well - you pay for it by getting really sick. And I mean really sick - as in stomach cramps, severe gastro-intestinal pain sick.

No pizza - unless you go somewhere that makes gluten-free pizza and that will probably cost you about $50 for one small pie. Sometimes, if you are lucky it's 20. The cheaper stuff is frozen and at health food stores.

So you want to lose weight? And you want to go gluten-free? Do me a favor - Advocate that your local restaurants carry gluten-free dishes. When they ask why - provide them with information on what celiac disease is and be sure to inform them that while you may be doing this to shed a few pounds, there's quite a few people out there, who would die if they ate glutens. There's no cure for gluten intolerance. It's not like an allergy - you don't grow out of it, or a diet - you can't just stop one day. It's for life.