Homemade Gifts for the Holidays

We love nourishing homemade gifts, from photo albums filled with memories to cookies baked with love, a gift created from your own hands says, “I love you.”

Here are some of the gifts we’ll be giving to loved ones this year.

Our signature granola makes a perfect gift.  Healthy and delicious, it’s great with yogurt, milk or on its own.  It looks beautiful packaged in a jar with a bow and a personal note.  See below for my favorite version, made with less sugar than our original recipe and studded with pecans and currants.

Who doesn’t love to receive cookies?  Our no-fail signature oatmeal cookie recipe, made with chocolate, cherries and hazelnuts, has been known to win hearts.  You can feel good giving this gift to absolutely anyone—while the cookies are incredibly delicious, the whole wheat flour, oats, nuts and dried fruit also make them a healthy treat for the holidays.

Another healthy treat, our Cranberry Walnut Banana Bread, looks beautiful wrapped in cellophane and tied with a bow.

And this year, we have a new edible gift to add to our repertoire—Cranberry Apple Champagne Sauce.  It’s incredible easy, low in sugar, and equally delicious on ham as it is on leftover turkey sandwiches.  Your friends and family will love this addition to their holiday table.

This is a very forgiving recipe.  Change the ingredients according to your whim or fancy.  Like it sweeter?  Add more honey or jam.  Like it spicier?  Add more chili flakes.  Don't have oranges on hand?  Use apple juice.

Sauté the apples in a little butter.

 Add the rest of the ingredients.

Simmer over low heat until the cranberries pop and the sauce reaches your desired consistency, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Package in a jar and tie with a bow.  I was too busy getting ready to leave for Maui to photograph this step—but I did give my Mom a jar before we left.        

Happy Holidays and joyful gift giving, from our hearts and kitchen to yours!    

Cranberry Apple Champagne Sauce   

Makes about 3 cups

1 teaspoon butter

1 apple, diced

1 bag fresh cranberries

Zest and juice from one orange

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

Pinch of red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon fig jam, or honey

1 – 1 ½ cups champagne or Prosecco

Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat.  Add apples and saute until the apples just start to soften. 

Add all the other ingredients to the pot.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, until cranberries have popped and the sauce reaches a desired consistency, about 20 to 30 minutes. 

Let cool completely.  Spoon the sauce into a glass jar and tie with a bow.  Give to someone you love.

Nourish Granola

Makes 45 servings ¼ cup servings

4 cups whole rolled oats

2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut

2 cups pecans

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup grapeseed oil or melted butter

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup brown sugar

2 cups dried currants

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Place two oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven.

In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, pecans, sea salt and cinnamon. 

In another small bowl, whisk together oil or butter, maple syrup and brown sugar.  Pour the maple syrup mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well, being sure to coat all of the dry ingredients with the maple syrup mixture.

Divide oats mixture among two large rimmed baking sheets and spread to a thin layer.  Place baking sheets on two racks in the oven and bake, about 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes, or until deeply golden brown.  Halfway through cooking time, switch the placement of the pans to the other rack.

Remove from the oven and pour into a large bowl.  Stir in currants.  Let granola cool completely before storing in an airtight container, preferably in the refrigerator.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

As much as I completely love summer, autumn definitely has its perks.

 Some of my very favorite things about this time of year include:

1.      Sweetpotato chili.

2.      Drinking a warm cup of my very favorite tea.

3.      Wearing boots!

 

 

4.      Making baked apples & pear crumbles.

 

 

5.      Going for long runs outside (without getting too hot).

6.      The anticipation of the holidays.

7.      Pumpkin pie, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin soup, pumpkin oatmeal, toasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin everything.

 

Since I love pumpkin so much, I’ve experimented with this particular ingredient my fair share amount of times. The reason for this isn’t only because pumpkin is a clear winner where taste is concerned. Both Lisa and I love experimenting with this ingredient because pumpkin is also a nutrition front-runner. Categorized as a winter squash, pumpkin provides the antioxidant lutein, and carotenes, which are important for vitamin A production in the body. ½ cup of pumpkin also provides more than 10 percent your daily recommended intake of potassium.

And yet another reason to love pumpkin is its ability to make any autumn meal, side dish, or dessert instantly seem more festive.

Such as in this recipe below.

 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This cookie dough can be prepared ahead of time before a Halloween or holiday event, stored in the freezer, and used as needed. And these cookies are melt-in-your mouth good. Promise.

 Makes 24 cookies.

1 cup unrefined cane sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
¾ cups dark chocolate chips

* For a fresh idea, add ½ cup grated zucchini or carrot.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix sugar, pumpkin, and butter in a large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

How cute is freshly ground nutmeg?

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

 

 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from cookie sheet and allow them to cool.

 

 Enjoy, preferably with those you love.

 

 

Breakfast Cookies

Sometimes it’s so fun to bend the rules – or even just to change up your daily routine. Like when you go out with friends on a work night, wear your hair curly instead of straight, take a walk during lunch rather than sitting at your desk, or even have breakfast for dinner. Who doesn’t love that? Wait. We have something better. Cookies for breakfast.

 While having cookies first thing in the A.M. may not sound like a recommendation from registered dietitians, we promise this recipe delivers both a tasty and nutritious result.

 Our breakfast cookies are packed with whole grains, fiber, good quality protein and a little touch of satisfying sweetness. It’s is a good way to start your day.

 Another added perk? These keep so well in your freezer. So, on those mornings when you push the snooze button one too many times, you can still grab a breakfast cookie, zap it in the microwave for about 20 seconds, and start your day on a happy, balanced note.

Here’s the recipe.

Breakfast Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

1 ½ cup old fashioned oats

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

¼ cup almond meal

1 cup flaked coconut

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup dried fruits of your choice, coarsely chopped (I used dried tart cherries)

1 cup mixed nuts, chopped (I used chopped walnuts & pecans)

3 ripe bananas, mashed
¼ cup canola oil

¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

 Place coconut flakes on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 2-3 minutes until slightly browned.

 In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, almond meal and toasted coconut.

Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a second medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, canola oil, apple sauce and vanilla.

Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and fold together until thoroughly incorporated.

Add dried fruit and mixed nuts to mixture. Stir until evenly combined.

Spoon heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven, allowing the cookies to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy, preferably with those you love.

More Comfort Food

We’re a little ashamed to admit this, but we want to be honest with our readers (and, let’s face it—we’re only human, and sometimes-irrational women) -- this week has been filled with quite a few tears followed by uncontrollable spurts of laughter.

Waking up on Sunday morning, we plopped ourselves on the sofa in our PJ’s with our morning cups of coffee in hand, turning on something that makes everything right in the world again.  CMT’s country music videos.  Don’t judge us.  And we also cuddled with the cats.  Thank you, estrogen.

So, with that out of the way, let’s talk about food, shall we?  

Comfort food has continued to play an essential role in our menu this week.  With our emotions running high and the weather taking a sudden turn from sunny and glorious to rainy and overcast, we’ve been in need of some meals to nourish the soul.  With Lisa being a southern girl from Kentucky and McKenzie being a northern girl from Canada, our ideas of comfort food are different, to say the very least. 

When McKenzie’s feeling homesick for Alberta, she craves steamed carrots from her Grandma’s garden, paired with good old-fashioned meat and potatoes.  When Lisa envisions a meal at Granny’s house in Kentucky, it’s a big bowl of pinto beans with a hearty serving of warm cornbread.  McKenzie’s first taste of cornbread wasn’t until about four years ago when she sampled it at Big Sky Café in San Luis Obispo (and Lisa doesn’t even consider it cornbread – cornbread shouldn’t be sweet!), and her first taste of biscuits and gravy wasn’t until about three months ago at Emmer & Rye in Seattle.  Shocking, right? 

For McKenzie’s fellow Canadians, probably not.  For Lisa’s fellow Southerners, it’s appalling.  So, for a special comforting Sunday brunch, Lisa cooked up her own version of biscuits and gravy.  While it may not sound like the kind of meal dietitians would normally recommend, it was just want our bodies needed – and our portions were reasonable too.  For extra nourishment, the biscuits were made with whole grain flour and flaxseeds.  See, we really are dietitians.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

Makes 6 large biscuits

1 cup whole wheat bread flour

1 cup white bread flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

1 teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup kefir or buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, flax seed and salt.  Pulse a few times to blend.  Add the putter and pulse until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.

Pour the flour mixture into a mixing bowl and add the kefir or buttermilk.  Gently stir with a wooden spoon, just until moistened.  The dough will be loose.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3 – 5 times, just until the dough comes together.  If you knead the dough too much, the biscuits will be tough.

Press the dough out into a disc, about 1 inch thick.  Cut the biscuits to your desired size (we use the rim of a drinking class to do this).  Place the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.  Brush the tops with melted butter, if desired. 

Bake the biscuits until golden brown, 15 – 18 minutes.  Serve warm, with sausage gravy.

As if that comfort meal wasn’t enough, we’ve been giving Martha Stewart a run for her money in the baking department.  Nothing is quite as comforting as a house that smells of freshly baked cookies or a warm pie out of the oven.  We love baking at home because we know exactly what we’re putting into the recipe, and subsequently, our bodies.

These are our favorite cookies.

Chocolate Cherry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

Make 12 large cookies or 24 small cookies

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon sea salt

10 tablespoon (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

½ (packed) dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean)

1 cup old fashioned oats

½ cup dark chocolate chips

½ cup chopped dried cherries

¼ cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts of your choice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. In a large separate bowl, beat butter and both sugars until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips, cherries, and walnuts.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheets.  Bake cookies until edges are light brown, about 16 minutes. Cool on the cooking sheet for about 5 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

Another great thing about baking at home is you can portion out an appropriate serving and freeze the rest or give the extras away.  What neighbor or friend doesn’t appreciate homemade goodies? 

Lastly, we’re firm believers in allowing yourself to have a treat now and then. If you banish all indulgences from your diet completely, you’ll be more likely to binge on them when you finally give yourself the go-ahead.

Our social calendar continues to stay busy this week, including fish tacos and chicken tortilla soup later tonight.  Hopefully, we can maintain our composure long enough to share more of our healthy tips and stories with you.