Breadless Butter Snacks! Part 1

I have always adored butter. (Yes, as one of my sisters will gladly tell you, my nickname even used to be Butter-Ball, mainly because of an incident that occurred when I was about 18 months old.)

While learning about food and discovering that whole grains are not the miracle of healthfulness that most proclaim they are, I have simultaneous learned that butter is actually extremely beneficial and important to a healthful diet. (Did I used to say things went together like bread and butter? Looks like I need a new adage.)

Of course, when you find the need to reduce, or eliminate grains from your diet, you will find that there are A LOT of bread-type recipes that are grain free, and these are obviously quite helpful, and awesome in their own right, especially as you begin a difficult transition away from the crumby, carb-heavy diet that most Americans consume.

In fact, I will be sharing some of my favorite grain free, bread-type recipes here shortly, but today I want to talk about something new. A complete freedom from your previous dependence on bread. Especially in regards to enjoying butter.

When my nutritionist first told me how important eating butter was, he pointed out to me that one of it's main benefits is that the amino acids in butter help us to absorb vitamin D. He suggested that any time I come inside from being out in the sun, I should not only drink water to stave off dehydration, but I should get myself a piece of bread and really slather it with some butter to help me absorb and use all the vitamin D that my skin had just created. Of course, this was before I started noticing the correlation between my digestive problems and grain based foods like bread.

So, in trying to continue following the doctors orders, but avoid any uncomfortable gastric problems, I decided it was time to get a little bit creative and come up with new ways to enjoy one of my favorite condiments. Butter.

Of course, one could obviously melt it into sauces, soups and over hot veggies, but I have always loved the flavor, texture and consistency of room temperature or slightly chilled butter.

Here is one of my absolute favorite ways to enjoy a snack with some soft creamy butter!

Spiced Butter Dip & Raw Carrots:

I believe the inspiration for this one came from a carrot cake craving that hit me a couple of years ago.
I began to wonder if I could still enjoy the flavors of carrot cake without the effort of baking (and of course without involving grains.) Somehow it came to me that if I made a dip out of the same spices that go into a carrot cake, then ate it with a raw carrot, it would be just as yummy. It is.

Since I've been doing this for a couple of years now, I've had plenty of time to experiment with the recipe, though truth be told, I never measure anymore, so giving you exact measurements would be iffy.
I usually will mix some of this goodness up in a small ramekin using roughly, a couple of tablespoons of soft butter. Sometimes I've also added coconut oil to the base, sometimes I don't. Then I've sweetened and spiced it to fit my current mood.

As you can see by the photos that I've taken over the past couple of years, the consistency can change depending on how much of each ingredient I add. Sometimes I've wanted a lighter flavor so I've added less honey and more coconut oil. It all depends on what I want the end result to be.

But the bottom line is, the measurements are of secondary concern. The results are always scrumptious.

In fact, last year I began eating so many carrots (Organic Carrots are available at our Costco, $5.99 for 10 lbs) because of this recipe, that I really did turn orange. Luckily, I'm so fair it doesn't really show much. You can only really tell if you look at the callouses on the edge of my palms.

I've also called it different names as time has gone on. At first it was 'Carrot-Cake-Batter dip,' but this seemed a bit misleading, and then I started to miss the flavor of ginger snaps and so I stopped adding raisins and went heaver on the ginger and the coconut sugar. (See first Photo) So then I called it 'Gingerbread dip' or  'Ginger Snap Dip.' Yet, again this seemed misleading. Because my dip does not contain batter, bread or cookies, it merely tastes like those things, I finally had to admit that Spiced Butter Dip is the most accurate name.

Spiced Butter Dip

Ingredients:
Room Temperature Butter (Grassfed would of course be ideal)
Organic Coconut Oil (Either melted or thicker, doesn't really matter)
Raw Local Honey (To Taste)
Organic Coconut Sugar (To Taste)
About a 1 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, more or less.
About 1 to 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger " "
A sprinkle or two of any of the following as desired:
      * Ground Cloves
      * Cardamom
      * Allspice
      * Nutmeg
About a tablespoon of raisins, (opt.)
A sprinkle of sea salt is desired to enhance flavors (especially if your butter is unsalted.)

Mix together and enjoy with a fresh raw carrot or two!

Bonus Note:

I've tried this dip with apple slices as well, but I prefer it with carrots. The apples with a sweet dip seem a bit too sweet for me still.

However, I have also made the same dip and substituted Cream Cheese for the butter and that is extremely tasty with both carrots and apples. Especially apples because of the flavor contrast.

It's a really good flavor combo for carrots though because it's kind of like the cream cheese frosting one finds on a carrot cake. But I still find myself going back to the butter based dip for carrots because it is truly delicious and the goal is also to be getting my butter in. Thanks to some spices and a raw carrot, this is far easier than pie.

How to Eat Clean (No matter your situation) Part 1

There are so many little gems I wish to share with you all. Little things I've learned that have added to the joy, ease, and enjoyment of my relationship with food. It's difficult to decide what I should share first, especially because so many of them go hand in hand with others.

Still, because I keep thinking of it, and it is actually a more recent personal revelation for me, I think I will share with you what I've discovered about one of my new very favorite foods:

Cabbage.

Red or green, cooked or raw, I have come to adore it! This crisp, nutritious, amazing veggie has truly surprised me with it's versatility.

Yes, I know. It sounds strange. When I was a little girl, the first thing that used to come to mind when I heard that word, was a line from an old movie where a man comes home from work and tells his cook that he could smell that cabbage she is cooking from a block away and she responds simply with, "Cabbage has a cabbage smell."
I do not even think I really appreciated the scene or really understood why they spoke that way about the vegetable. I had never really noticed cabbage having a specific smell, but it was also very rarely on the menu in my childhood home. Still, the line stuck in my head, and still comes to me sometimes, though not as much . . . because now . . . Now cabbage and I have gotten to know each other, and I have formed my own ideas and opinions that relate to cabbage, things from my own experience and not some fictional movie characters' experiences.

Firstly, however, I believe that I ought to to give credit where credit is due, and tell you that if not for my darling husband and his family, I might never have realized how much I love cabbage. While it was never a staple in my own family, it was a regular thing for my husband. Everyone in his family loves boiled cabbage and his Dad, my awesome father-in-law, even tried a cabbage based diet a few years ago, in an effort to lose weight. (Pretty successful effort, I might add.)
Also, because of my husband's experience living in Ukraine, and loving Ukrainian Red Borsh so much, I also found that when stewed with other vegetables, cabbage becomes something altogether wonderful. It absorbs and enhances other flavors, and the texture is a very pleasing softness that melts in your mouth. So much better than even the best noodles, IMHO.

Now as to raw cabbage, while it used to be that the only way I'd ever had it was in slaw or Chinese salad, because of this awesome raw tacos recipe that I found on Pinterest, the idea of using the leaves as tortilla substitutes opened my mind up to many other possibilities.

For instance; chips.

Last month, in the midst of all the Christmas preparations, I found myself suddenly missing salsa. Costco has a very good organic, sugarless salsa right now, and it was nice in the cabbage leaf tacos and other recipes that I had been using it in, but I kept thinking how much I missed just enjoying the plain salsa by itself, like with the old chips and salsa type snacking from bygone days.
Finally, it occurred to me on Christmas Eve day, as I was busy in the kitchen making homemade clean chocolates for our stockings, that I had both cream cheese and salsa, and wouldn't it be fun to try one of those cream cheese trees that I'd seen on Pinterest. It seemed like a perfect snack to have out on the table for the family while we worked on various preparations for the following day.

I didn't have chips of course, but it somehow came to me that I still had the last of a head of cabbage left. All those crisp, tightly packed little leaves did not tear off in large pieces like a tortilla shell, but they did rather resemble the size and crispness of chips.

Of course, cabbage does not offer exactly the same experience as a salty, dry, crumbly, corn chip . . . Obviously the flavor is more mild, less contrasting, and what not . . . Still, the the fact remains that it worked, and although it was a different experience, it was still a delicious one.

So, my tip for today is, when one has a desire for some yummy, healthy dip, but no desire for GMO-corn chips, or hydrogenated potato crisps, perhaps you can indulge in the glory of your awesome homemade dip without using a vehicle that is not worthy of it.
Use cabbage chips!

Easy, affordable, awesomely good for you, not to mention . . . Tasty!

Just think of the possibilities, the internet is full of clean versions of all your favorites . . . Clam dip, Ranch, Guacamole, Bacon herb & cheese, bean dip . . .

Even if your not missing a particular dip, it's still a great way to use the leftovers of a head of cabbage. Or using cabbage chips can be a great way to make a small amount of other leftovers go a little further. Use that leftover chicken curry, Spanish rice or chili as a dip for your cabbage chips, and a small amount of leftovers with a fair amount of chips becomes a nice little meal, tasty, fun to eat, and high in iron, thanks to the 'chips.'

Hope this tip was helpful . . . Even if you think you don't like cabbage, it seems to get better and better.
I confess, the first time I tried raw tacos, there was a slightly bitter aftertaste, yet haven't noticed this ever since. Maybe it was a coincidence and I just happened to have a bitter cabbage, but I'm thinking that it's more likely that my taste-buds have adapted to the flavor of cabbage so that it is only mild and pleasant to me now. I've even begun to call cabbage my daily bread. . . .

And speaking of bread, I believe my next post will be tips on how to enjoy more butter in your diet with yummy snacks that do not involve bread. Yes, that's right! Breadless Butter Snacks! Stay Tuned!