Happy Fam­ily Day! Hope every­one is enjoy­ing this beau­ti­ful sunny day!

I started my day with a packed spin class; what a great way to start the day. After a much needed hot shower, I sucked back a frosty pro­tein shake and a big bowl of steam­ing steel cut oats. Yum!

Yes­ter­day, I spent some time in the kitchen, exper­i­ment­ing with some gluten-​free recipes. I had recently read a few arti­cles about using almond but­ter as a sub­sti­tute for flour in baked goods recipes. At first I was a bit skep­ti­cal but I fig­ured why not try my hand at a few ideas and see what hap­pens. With the help of my daugh­ter, we came up with a gluten and dairy-​free “cookie” recipe, using brazil nuts (a great source of sele­nium), raisins, prunes (a healthy sub­sti­tute for fats like but­ter or oil), and eggs (the per­fect food). The result was a deli­ciously soft and tasty treat. I didn’t add any sugar or sweet­en­ers but you can cer­tainly add any of those to your lik­ing. Today, I’m plan­ning on play­ing with a muf­fin idea using bananas and coconut. Stay tuned.…

Have a won­der­ful day, everyone!

Almond But­ter Raisin-​Nut Cookie

Ingre­di­ents:

¹⁄₂ cup plus 2 T almond butter

2 eggs, beaten

¹⁄₄ tsp gluten-​free guar gum (I bought mine at The Bulk Barn)

¹⁄₈ tsp salt

¹⁄₄ tsp pure vanilla extract

¹⁄₄ tsp bak­ing soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¹⁄₄ cup finely chopped prunes (dates would work here too)

¹⁄₄ cup raisins

¹⁄₂ cup toasted, chopped brazil nuts (you can use wal­nuts, macadamias or almonds)

In a mix­ing bowl, com­bine almond but­ter, prunes and eggs.

Add guar gum, salt, vanilla, bak­ing soda and cin­na­mon. Blend well.

Add raisins and chopped nuts and blend thoroughly.

Roll into golf ball-​sized cook­ies and bake for approx­i­mately 13 – 15 minutes.

Let cool on rack. Keep in well sealed con­tainer or freeze in reseal­able freezer bags.

Yield: 12

These would be great for a pre-​workout energy boost or between meal pick-​me-​up.