You might remember my earlier blog post on healthy kid's b-day parties and WHY have healthy kid's b-day parties. So my latest dilemma... my soon to be 12 year old kid wanted an Oreo cookie birthday cake. First of all I asked: "Why Eli? I have never purchased Oreo cookies for you!"
Bottom line is he wanted what he wanted.
Truth of the matter is there is not one ingredient in an Oreo cookie that was ever meant to be:
- in your digestive tract being digested and
- sent out into your blood stream being delivered to
- every cell in your body to do
- all the processes to nourish your cells so you have a
- healthy body!
Nature did not mean for our body cells to be poisoned by packaged food's synthetic ingredients. Ouch, Paula, really? My healing advice comes into question on occasion: "She is so strange, too harsh, very severe, too tough..." But really, the truth is the truth, our bodies were not meant to be poisoned.
I am all about moderation; moderation in foods that were meant to be part of our cellular metabolism. There is no way, in my mind, to be moderate about that which was never meant to be a part of our cellular being.
For just 2 weeks, try feeding your body with 100% whole food, every snack and meal. I guarantee you will feel like a whole new person: alive, vibrant, clear headed, sleep well, etc. Then, after 2 weeks of whole food eating, go back to your regular diet, 100%, for a day or two. You will be aghast at how lousy processed food leaves your body feeling.
Whole food eating is not about what you are removing from your life, junk food, but what you are inviting into your life, vibrant health. Let me know how it goes.
So, back to that Oreo cookie cake. I started off with the basics. I do not measure ingredients, just throw in the bowl, so I am giving my eyeballed estimates. Thank my Mom, that is how she cooks. I learned through observation.
- real butter, from grass fed cows grazing in the Finger Lakes of NY - about 3/4 cup
- 3 pasture eggs from Maria of Deep Root Farm, wicked orange yolks. Lots of good nutrients. Use the whole eggs.
- local milk from some sweet, grazing, local goats - 1 cup
- *oat flour I ground from gluten-free oats - about 1 1/2 cups
- Sucanat unrefined, real brown sugar (Available at the Potsdam Food Coop & Nature's Storehouse, Canton) - 1/2 cup
- organic vanilla - 1 Tbsp.
- baking soda - 1/2 tsp or less
- baking powder - 2 to 3 tsp.
*gluten free flours will make a shorter, denser cake. If gluten is Ok in your diet, use whole spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour. Whole food cakes, made with 100% whole grain flours, will be heavier, denser, and shorter cakes. When you get used to this denser, more flavorful, manner of creating in the kitchen... the "fluffy" refined food versions will be tasteless and boring.
The below Newman cookies are made with wheat flour and therefor contain gluten.
I caved (What else is a Mom to do? He is so damned cute.) and bought Newman's Own Organics Newman-O's Creme Filled Chocolate Cookies.
Original Ingredients:
Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour, Organic Powdered Sugar (Organic Sugar, Organic Corn Starch), Organic Sugar, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Canola Oil (Expeller Pressed), Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Unsweetened Chocolate, Salt, Natural Flavor, Sodium Bicarbonate (leavening), Soy Lecithin (an emulsifier)
I took one row of the cookies, scraped the creme filling out, crushed the wafers, and added the crushed mess to the batter.
The "Oreo" cake after baking:
Tomorrow I shall slice it in half to make 2 layers and fill the center with frosting. Then I will slather the whole thing with the rest of the frosting.
Frosting:
- 2 eight oz. packages of Organic Valley Pasture Raised whipping cream
- 1 eight oz. package of Organic Valley Pasture Raised Neufchatel cheese
- 2 Tbsp. local, dark maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp. organic vanilla
- the second row of Newman-O's, scraped and crushed, added to the finished frosting
The final, third row, of Newman-O's will be cut into 1/2 rounds and placed on top of the cake.
Happy Birthday Eli! Much LOVE, Mom
Or, as my boys call me...
Teaching whole food eating, cooking, and baking classes: I volunteer teach cooking classes through the Sustainable Living Project, Local Living Venture. Sign up for their emails to be notified of upcoming classes. I also do small groups at my home, just ask. pyoumell@gmail.com