Whole Girl
Page 11
¼ cup sustainable palm shortening
¼ cup monk fruit maple-flavored syrup*
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
FILLING
3 Tbsp arrowroot flour
½ tsp coconut flour
¾ cup fresh lemon juice, strained to remove seeds
½ cup + 2 Tbsp classic monk fruit sweetener*
2 Tbsp fresh lemon zest
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk Powdered sweetener, for topping (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line the bottom and sides of an 8 × 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
2. To make the crust, combine the coconut flour, arrowroot flour, and sea salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until combined. Add the palm shortening, monk fruit syrup, egg, and vanilla extract, then mix until a dough forms.
3. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the dough (for ventilation). Bake the crust for 20 to 22 minutes, or until crisp to the touch and light golden in color.
4. While the crust bakes, make the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the arrowroot flour, coconut flour, and a few tablespoons of lemon juice. Add the rest of the lemon juice, along with the monk fruit sweetener, lemon zest, eggs, and egg yolk.
5. When the crust is done baking, remove from the oven and immediately pour in the filling while the crust is piping hot. Place the pan back in the oven, then lower the oven temperature to 325°F. Bake for 17 to 21 minutes, or until the very center of the filling is just set and springy to the touch.
6. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 2 hours to completely set. Slice into 16 squares using a sharp, non-serrated knife. Sprinkle with powdered sweetener, if desired, and serve. Store leftover bars in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
*If you’re not worried about the recipe being low sugar, you can replace the monk fruit maple-flavored syrup with pure maple syrup and the classic monk fruit sweetener with maple sugar.
Brownie Sea Salt Cookies
Sometimes when you’re mad at the world, the best thing is to make a batch of chocolatey cookies. And eat them. These are crispy around the edges, soft and fudgy on the inside, and filled with melty, gooey chocolate.
YIELD: 16–18 COOKIES
Ingredients
1 cup tahini
2 large eggs
⅓ cup coconut sugar*
¼ cup cacao powder
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup*
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup dark chocolate chips, plus more for topping*
Flaky sea salt, for topping (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, except for the chocolate chips. Whisk slowly at first, to beat the eggs. Whisk a bit more vigorously, just until all ingredients are smooth and combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips using a rubber spatula. Don’t overmix the dough.
3. Scoop the dough using a 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop or a very heaping tablespoon and place the dough balls at least 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. If not all the cookies fit on 1 sheet, bake them in 2 batches. Flatten the balls out a little bit with the palm of your hand.
4. Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until just done in the center. Let them cool for 1 minute, then serve. These cookies are best eaten the day they’re made, but leftovers may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
*To make this recipe sugar-free, replace the pure maple syrup with monk fruit maple-flavored syrup and the coconut sugar with golden monk fruit sweetener, and use stevia-sweetened dark chocolate.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Be Young
Flipping into Freedom
I was at a birthday party on the beach when I met a woman with the most unique personality I’ve ever encountered. Although she was in her twenties, she seemed like a young child. She did cartwheels across the sand. She belted out show tunes. Most amazingly, she didn’t seem to notice or care what other people thought about her. Her energy was so incredible and infectious that I began to sing along with her. I couldn’t stop wondering, Who is this?
As it turned out, she was Haley Lu Richardson, a deep and fascinating person. She’s also a successful, hardworking actress. We talked about a lot of things, including her approach to life. I realized why Haley seems so young. It’s not only the cartwheels or songs but also that she’s not at all self-conscious—just like a young child.
If you observe preschoolers for a few minutes, you’ll notice that they don’t hide their feelings. If they feel curious, they ask a question. If they’re sad, they cry. If they feel joyful, they skip and jump. They’re too young to be self-conscious yet, so they don’t worry about how people perceive them.
Haley has learned that life is more fun if she doesn’t spend energy worrying about what people think of her. That way she’s free to do the things she loves, all out.
Another fantastic benefit of letting go of what other people think is that it has a ripple effect. Haley points out that when we don’t feel self-conscious, “it makes other people feel comfortable in themselves.” It lets our friends know that they can be goofy and express their young sides, too. That explains why at the beach I was completely comfortable singing show tunes with a bunch of strangers around.
Be Bored
When was the last time you actually had nothing to do? It’s probably been a very long time. Maybe you were four years old, waiting in line with your mom at the grocery store. While you waited, you hopped up and down, fidgeting, wishing you had something to do.
Now, thanks to technology, we always have something to do. If we have to buy groceries, we fill the time standing in line by texting or checking Snapchat. This might appear to be a good thing. No more boredom!
But it’s actually really bad. That time we had as kids waiting with nothing to do was a gift, and now we’re missing out on it. When we constantly check our phones, it literally prevents us from having new thoughts. I mean, when have you had a great idea about anything while you were scrolling through Instagram? Being “bored” lets us be alone inside our heads, which gives us the space and openness we need for inspiration.
Many successful creative people, such as the acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, swear by having nothing to do when they need inspiration. When a person tells him they want to be a writer, Gaiman says, “Great, get bored.” The more time a writer spends sitting quietly, the more ideas they’ll get for plots and characters. It’s a paradox: the more we do nothing, the more we get done!
To recapture the imagination of young children, I like to take a “boredom break”—an opportunity to stop whatever I’m doing and just be. Here’s how:
1. The next time there is a lull in your day—in the car, waiting in a line, before bed—resist the urge to reach for your phone. Instead, take a little time to do absolutely nothing. Sit or stand still. It will feel awkward. That’s good! Breathe deeply. Even a few seconds of this can help open up your mind.
2. You can also do any monotonous, nonstimulating activity. Here are some of my favorites:
Lie outside and stare up at the sky.
Sit cross-legged and focus on your breath.
Go for a quiet walk.
Do some stretching.
It doesn’t have to take long! And believe it or not, we all have plenty of spare time. We all spend at least an hour (or four … or six) each day on our phones. You have plenty of time for a boredom break even if you take just ten or twenty minutes out of your daily phone usage. Getting bored is so vital for our creativity and well-being, we can’t afford not to do it!
Q&A
Q: I tried being bored. It was impossible to just sit still. After ten seconds, I had to check my phone. How am I supposed to do nothing?
A: Being bored is not only hard, it can actually be scary. Sometimes doing nothing in silence feels like torture. There’s a reason for this. Research shows that between our exposure to the hyperspeed of the Internet and our constant phone-checking, we have physically rewired our brains. It’s now difficult for us to just sit still and not check.
But if we take a little time, we can retrain our brains to be comfortable when we’re doing nothing. To help remove the temptation of your phone while you’re taking a boredom break, you can:
Time it. Set a timer for twenty or thirty minutes to make sure you have a solid chunk of time with nothing to do. Use something other than your phone, such as an egg timer or a watch, so you’re not relying on your phone to keep time!
Buddy up. When you’re ready for your break, swap phones with a friend or sibling. That way you won’t be able to check your phone because someone else will have it.
Break away. Shut off your phone. Place it in a drawer in your room, or anywhere that’s not easily accessible. Go elsewhere for your break, such as outside for a walk. This way you’ll have no choice but to be bored.
MINDFUL MOVEMENT
JUMP ROPE
As kids, we didn’t jump rope to get in shape or do our daily cardio. We did it because it was fun. We need to get back to that playful enjoyment of moving our bodies. When you do this exercise, don’t worry about getting your heart rate up or doing the perfect workout. Just pretend you’re back on the schoolyard and have some fun with it!
1. Jump rope.
Mint Chocolate Cookies
My all-time favorite kind of Girl Scout cookies, hands down, is Thin Mints. It was rough when I went gluten-free and couldn’t have them anymore. But now we can all enjoy them again.
YIELD: 28–30 COOKIES
Ingredients
COOKIES
1¾ cups + 2 Tbsp blanched almond flour
½ cup cacao powder
2 Tbsp coconut flour
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
⅓ cup sustainable palm shortening, melted
½ cup monk fruit maple-flavored syrup*
1 tsp pure peppermint extract
COATING
1½ cups finely chopped stevia-sweetened dark chocolate*
2 Tbsp sustainable palm shortening
½ tsp pure peppermint extract
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cacao powder, coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the palm shortening, monk fruit syrup, and peppermint extract. Using a rubber spatula, stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until smooth. Form the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on a flat surface (such as a chopping block). When the dough is done freezing, place it on the parchment paper, then place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough.
4. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to ⅛-inch thickness. Using a round cookie cutter about 1½ inches in diameter, cut the dough into about 30 disks. Transfer the disks to the parchment-lined cookie sheet.
5. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time. Bake the first sheet for 10 minutes, then rotate and bake for another 10 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Then bake the second sheet the same way. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack for 15 minutes, to crisp up.
6. Make the coating: melt the chopped chocolate and palm shortening together in a small heatproof bowl in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring the mixture until smooth, or in a double boiler (“Double Boiler DIY”). Stir in the peppermint extract.
7. Dip the cookies into the chocolate coating one by one, using a fork, then set them back onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet to cool. Place the sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes, then serve. Store cookies in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
*If you’re not worried about the recipe being low sugar, you can replace the monk fruit maple-flavored syrup with pure maple syrup and replace the stevia-sweetened dark chocolate with regular dark chocolate.
Chocolate-Glazed Cake Doughnuts
These are right out of a neighborhood doughnut shop, with their fluffy cake, classic chocolate glaze, and colorful sprinkles. They’re low in sugar and high in protein. So you can eat wholesome food that makes your body feel good without missing out on a favorite childhood treat.
YIELD: 15 DOUGHNUTS
Ingredients
DOUGHNUTS
1½ cups blanched almond flour
¾ cup arrowroot flour
¼ cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
5 large eggs
⅔ cup pure maple syrup*
½ cup full-fat coconut milk
¼ cup coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing
1 tsp vanilla extract
GLAZE
1 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate*
2 Tbsp natural sprinkles (optional; not Paleo)*
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 3 nonstick doughnut pans with some coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, maple syrup, coconut milk, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until combined. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes, to thicken up slightly.
3. Pour the batter into a plastic baggie, then snip off the tip of one corner of the bag. Pipe the batter into the doughnut pans, filling each well almost all the way up and not covering the holes. If you don’t have a plastic baggie, you can spoon the batter into the pans.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the doughnuts are golden brown and spring back when touched. Let the doughnuts cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then flip the pans upside down, the doughnuts should fall right out. If they stick to the pan, run a butter knife around the edges to release the doughnuts.
5. To make the glaze, melt the chocolate chips in a small heatproof bowl in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring the mixture until smooth, or in a double boiler (“Double Boiler DIY”).
6. Dip the smooth side of each doughnut into the melted chocolate, then top with sprinkles, if desired. Let them sit for 30 minutes, to let the glaze set a little bit, then serve. If you would like the glaze to be completely solid, let them cool for 2 hours before serving. Store leftover doughnuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
*To make this recipe sugar-free, replace the pure maple syrup with monk fruit maple-flavored syrup, use stevia-sweetened dark chocolate, and omit the sprinkles.
Gooey Nutty Marshmallow Treats
These bring back memories of eating Rice Krispies Treats, but they’re made with far better ingredients. These use homemade honey marshmallows and no grains! While these do not have the same texture as the original (more chewy than crunchy), they evoke the nostalgia—and taste amazing.
YIELD: 24 TREATS
Ingredients
4 cups finely chopped unsweetened coconut flakes
4 cups finely chopped cashews
1 cup water, divided
3 Tbsp unflavored grass-fed gelatin powder
1 cup honey or pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp sustainable palm shortening, melted, plus more for greasing
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp sea salt
Instructions
1. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 × 13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, grease it generously with palm shortening, and set aside.
2. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Pour the coconut evenly onto a cookie sheet. Toast the coconut by letting it bake in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirr
ing occasionally, until golden brown. Mix the cashews with the coconut on the cookie sheet, then set aside.
3. Whisk together ½ cup water with the gelatin in the large bowl of a stand mixer and set aside. If you don’t have a stand mixer, combine them in a large bowl and use a handheld mixer.
4. Whisk together the remaining ½ cup water and the honey in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the honey-water mixture to a boil. Let it boil for 12 to 15 minutes, or until it reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer.
5. Turn the mixer containing the gelatin mixture on low. Slowly and carefully pour the hot honey-water mixture down the side of the bowl while the mixer runs. Once it is all in, turn the mixer to medium-high and let it whip for about 8 minutes, or until the mixture becomes very fluffy, white, and triples in volume.
6. Pour in the melted palm shortening, vanilla extract, and sea salt, and whip just until the shortening is combined. Do not overwhip or the marshmallow will start to solidify. Swiftly fold in the toasted coconut and cashews, 1 cup at a time, until everything is combined.
7. Scoop the mixture into the parchment-lined baking dish and smooth it out with a rubber spatula. Do not pack it down. Refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, to set. Using a non-serrated knife, cut into 24 squares and serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Be Grateful
Year-Round Thanksgiving
There is one emotion that has transformed my life: gratitude. As I’ve worked on feeling grateful more often, it’s changed my entire outlook. I’ve gone from paying attention to negative things to seeing the positive in almost everything. A lot has been written about the magic of this emotion.