Gluten-Free Anise Biscotti

Sugar-free vegan biscotti infused with anise. Start dunking.

Sugar is taking a beating these days. Have you noticed? Studies left and right are accusing this sweet-talking Romeo of seducing us to a life of ruin and heartache. They've applied the words toxic, and poison. Is it really as bad they say? I'm not certain (and I'm not convinced they are, either; my sugar loving grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 93). But this I do know. Super refined corn sugar (aka HFCS) scares me. Not only because it cajoles our livers to convert the fructose to belly fat, but because it doesn't agree with me. Period.

I knew this the first time I drank a margarita that made me balloon and bloat like a pregnant Demi Moore (and while I concur that Demi was superbly gorgeous in all her fecund glory, in all honesty, I do not desire to emulate such a look- or frankly, such a fertile state- at my tender age of post- let's say- fifty). So I took a gander at the label of margarita mix to be sure it was gluten-free. It was. But the second ingredient? High fructose corn syrup.


Continue reading

Gluten-Free Chocolate Biscotti Recipe- a cookie for grown-ups

Gluten-free sugar-free chocolate biscotti.

I was seriously jonesing for a crunchy coffee treat this week. But what could I make? Eating lower carb and lower glycemic means I'm eating no sugar, white flour or starches. The sweetest thing I've eaten in a month was the half of a frozen banana I tossed yesterday into a berry breakfast smoothie. Tasty, yes. But not exactly the chocolaty crisp indulgence I was daydreaming about.

As a side note to those of you following my posts on lower glycemic eating and wondering about sugar cravings and the South Beach Diet, I can report that Phase 1 is worth the two week tough love/low carb approach because it does reset your sweet tooth and diminish your gotta-have-it-now cravings for refined carbohydrates. And that's a big plus. It also banishes the carbohydrate bloat that many of us with celiac disease experience when we eat gluten-free starches. And that is a big plus. Pulling on a pair of jeans with a little room and give in the waist feels kick-ass great.

It is, however, very difficult to manage Phase 1 with multiple food allergies.

Where the unencumbered soul might eat one of Kalyn's delicious mini-quiche muffins or eggy casseroles for breakfast and Slow Roasted Tomato Hummus for a mid-afternoon snack, this intrepid gluten-free goddess was stuck popping cherry tomatoes. I admit up front- it was a humbling and hungry two weeks on a program where you are not supposed to go hungry.

My other disappointment was not losing as much weight as I had hoped to shed on the strict Phase 1. I lost two pounds. Upon deeper investigation I discovered that the stringency of Phase 1 works most dramatically on a different body type than I happen to inhabit (I'm a tall pear shape; if you're an apple body style you'll see more dramatic results in Phase 1).

So I've switched to Plan B.

Continue reading