NEW True Food Shoppers' Guide

Here's a helpful guide I found that you might like: The True Food Shoppers' Guide to Avoiding GMOs--just updated for 2011. Go HERE to download a free PDF and there are also instructions to getting it as an APP for your iPhone or Android.

Here's a small excerpt:

GRAINS, BEANS & PASTA

Other than corn, no GM grains are sold on the market. Look for 100-percent wheat pasta, couscous, rice, quinoa, oats, barley, sorghum, and dried beans (except soybeans).

Non-GMO

Amy's
Annie's
Bob's Red Mill, organic line
Casbah (Hain-Celestial)
Dr. McDougall's Right Foods
Eden certified organic grains
Fantastic Foods
Field Day
Ian's Natural Foods
Kamut
Lotus Foods
Lundberg Family Farms
Organic Planet
Rising Moon
Seeds of Change (organic meals)
Sensations
Sunridge Farms
Trader Joe's store brand
Vita-Spelt pasta
Whole Foods 365

May Contain GMO Ingredients

Betty Crocker meals (General Mills)
Knorr (Unilever)
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese meals
Near East (Quaker Oats Company / Pepsico)
Pasta Roni and Rice-A-Roni meals (Quaker Oats Company/Pepsico)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Ginger Cookies

These are a combination of my favorite cookies and boy are they good. They keep well too -- store in a covered tin and they'll keep for a week or more (if they last). They freeze well too.

Chocolate Chip Ginger Cookies
Makes 3 dozen

1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon nondairy milk (rice, almond, soy, etc.)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry or unbleached white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
1 cup nondairy chocolate chips
1/4 cup natural granulated sugar (for rolling)

In a large bowl, beat margarine and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses and water. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking soda, and spices. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined. Fold in chocolate ships. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until you are ready to bake.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are firm and tops begin to crack. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Ginger Pear Cake

Had some pears, some ginger, and came up with this treat that was a big hit with the family. I think it would be yummy with apples, peaches or plums too . . .

Ginger Pear Cake
This European style cake is spiced up with chunks of ginger and topped with pear slices. Serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream (or dairy-free alternative below) if desired.

2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup butter or non-hydrogenated margarine, melted
1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger
1 pear, cut into thin slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8-inch cake pan. Sift the flour and ground ginger together. Stir in the sugar and crystallized ginger. Add the beaten egg and melted butter. Stir just until combined. Press batter into the prepared cake pan. Arrange the pear slices in a spiral on the cake and press them gently into the batter. Bake about 40 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and middle is set. Cool before serving.

Makes 8 servings

The following dairy-free whipped topping is from Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love.

Whipped Cashew Cream
Makes 2 cups
Cashews are amazingly creamy and make a wonderful, thick topping similar to whipped cream.

1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup rice milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the cashews in a blender and grind them into a powder. Add the rice milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and process until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until cold and firm.

Homemade Holiday Gifts

This year the girls made beauty baskets for their friends. Homemade lavender-orange hand cream made from almond and coconut oil; body mists in a variety of flavors like tangerine-clove, rosemary-lemon, geranium-orange (just water and essential oils which they call "perfume"; and wintergreen lip balm. Very fun gifts that are fairly easy to make. They decorated lunch bags to put their beauty products in.

We also made a bunch of Millet-Crunch Granola using the recipe from The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook. I made 4 batches (2 at a time) to make 10 gift bags.

Here's the recipe:

Millet Crunch Granola
This healthy granola makes a great topping for fruit or yogurt. You can even eat it alone for a crunchy snack.

2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup uncooked millet
1/3 cup honey, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or maple syrup
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 250ºF. Place rolled oats and millet on baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. In small pan, melt sweetener, tahini, and water together over low heat. In large bowl, toss oats, millet, and seeds with tahini mixture until completely coated. Spread on unoiled baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes. Stir once or twice during baking. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Makes 8 servings

Variation: Add 1/2 to 1 cup dried fruit to cooked granola and store as directed. Do not bake fruit.

Caryn Hartglass It's All About Food

I was on the radio show It's All About Food on November 24. We had a great discussion about eating whole foods, nutrition for kids and families and a whole bunch of other things related to eating more healthfully. If you're interested, you can listen or download the podcast here.

Check out this post for books that promote healthful eating.

Borders gives $15 gift cards for public schools with any purchase

Stop by any Borders bookstore Saturday, Dec. 4th or Sunday, Dec. 5th and get a free $15 gift card for www.donorschoose.org to donate to the public school of your choice. Even if you prefer to buy your books from independent book stores, you can still stop by and get a cup of coffee or a bagel and get the gift card.

If you don't have a favorite school registered in the DonorsChoose program, please donate your $15 card to Nipomo Elementary School. We have so many low-income and English second language kids and for many, the school library is the only place they have access to books. Due to budget cuts, the library is getting no money at all to purchase materials . . . these 500 book-loving students would really appreciate your help.

Note: if you don't see the projects to donate, it's because I just set them up last night. They should be available by the end of next week . . . so hold on to your gift card :)

Happy December.