I avoid bad fats, sugar, wheat, gluten and harmful additives in my recipes. I use Pam spray or a generic equivalent for baking, or in skillets to give the exact same appearance of crispy fried foods. I use flours other than wheat for breading. I use a small amount of unsweetened applesauce to replace the fat in desserts. You can't taste it. Sometimes I also use a small amount of fat-free sour cream or dairy-free replacement in some desserts. You can't taste it.

The flours I use are whole grain brown rice, spelt, millet, quinoa, oat, and potato starch (not potato flour).

I use whole grain brown rice instead of white rice because white rice has been stripped of all nutrients and altered from its natural state. Even the white rice that has been "enriched" by adding back a few vitamins is still not good for you. Stone ground brown rice flour is gluten-free, natural and contains 100% of the natural nutrients and fiber contained in the whole grain and has no detectable flavor. As a flour, its color is an off-white. There are no known allergies to rice and it is easily digested. Brown rice flour is a major ingredient in many of my recipes. I choose to use this wonderful flour in the brand of Bob's Red Mill because it is soft and fine. Other brands I tried were gritty and grainy like sand, and made my recipes gritty. If you cannot find Bob's Red Mill where you live or prefer not to order directly from their website, you will need to find another brand of brown rice flour that is milled fine, and doesn't have the texture of sand.

I use spelt flour in combination with brown rice flour in many of my recipes. I use Bob's Red Mill, but you may use any brand you find available. Spelt is low gluten and is a superior and easily digestible grain that dates back 9000 years to antiquity in Europe and the Near East. It has a mild flavor that does not interfere with the flavor of the recipe. Spelt is a non-hybrid primitive, distant relative of present day wheat. Most people with wheat sensitivities have no problems with spelt. I don't. Only people with Celiac Sprue disease cannot have spelt, and for them I have another flour as an option. Spelt has high water solubility, so its vital nutrients are quickly absorbed into the body. It is lower in calories and contains more protein and crude fiber than wheat.

I also use millet flour in a few recipes. It is gluten-free, lower in calories, a great source of protein, thiamin, iron, fiber, and is easily digested. It has a mild flavor and a cornmeal-like texture that is soft and fine. I use Bob's Red Mill brand and have also used Arrowhead Mills brand. You may use any brand you find available.

Another flour I use is quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), and it is an ancient, supergrain flour. It is gluten-free, contains iron, fiber and is the only grain that is a complete protein. Quinoa has been cultivated for centuries by Inca tribes in the Andes Mountains of South America. Now grown in Colorado, it is becoming known for its versatility and nutritional profile. Quinoa, as with all the flours I use, is organic and stone ground. It has a unique, wonderful flavor. I feel really good after eating this healthy flour.

I use oats in some of my cookie recipes in combination with other flours. I use quick oats, and put them in a mini food processor for 30 seconds to produce oat flour. Oats are lower in calories, nutritious, and high in fiber. They are good for the digestive system, heart, and help lower cholesterol. People who are sensitive to wheat, usually have no problems with oats. Only persons with Celiac Sprue disease, cannot tolerate oats.

I also use a small amount of potato starch in my muffins and cookies. While not technically flour, it comes packaged like flour and is found in the section with organic flours. The bag will say "potato starch" and NOT "potato flour". These are two different products. Potato starch is gluten-free and is produced from whole potatoes, is a complex carbohydrate, and the calorie content is extremely low. I use Bob's Red Mill, but you may use any brand you find available. While eating whole potatoes will make my arthritis symptoms worse, using potato starch does not.

Instead of refined sugars, I use honey in all of my recipes. Artificial sweeteners were not a consideration because they can be harmful when consumed on a regular basis. I decided against some currently popular other sweeteners because some people feel that they have an aftertaste. I do not Stevia because the FDA in the United States has not approved it as safe to use as a food ingredient. It can only be sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Honey is the best and by far the most nutritious sugar substitute, and is 100% natural, meaning it hasn't been altered in a manufactured way. This is important to our bodies. I us honey from clover because it's mild taste doesn't interfere with the taste of my recipes. The National Honey Board reports that honey contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. It is also a complex carbohydrate, the good carb, and is fructose, the same as fruit. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so less is needed per recipe.

Honey is great for sustaining blood sugar levels, giving us energy and keeping us feeling good. Sugar causes highs and lows, making us feel bad in many different ways. Sugar also ages you. Manufactured and processed foods can cause wrinkles. In a book I was reading by the renowned Andrew Weil M.D., he talks about making a milkshake for his diabetic niece when she wanted something sweet. Among the ingredients besides milk were bananas, and.... oh yes.... honey!

There's lots of folklore and misconceptions regarding honey. I have found that not only is honey not harmful, but it is very good for a wide variety of health problems. I have read that it shouldn't be given to babies under 9 months old. But the same can be said of many foods that a young baby's digestive system isn't ready for yet.

There's a big difference in the "quality of calories" in natural or unnatural ingredients. The quality of the natural calories in honey is superb. I can eat honey, feel great, and not gain weight. I can eat the same amount of calories in sugar (empty calories) and I will feel yucky and gain weight.

Because most of my recipes contain baking powder, I use aluminum-free because clearly, consuming aluminum cannot be good for us. I have found it in the brands of Rumford and Bob's Red Mill. Some of my other ingredients are unsweetened chocolate in the forms of cocoa powder for baking and in baking squares, fruits, real maple syrup and nuts for my desserts. I mostly use walnuts because they are the healthiest. If you are allergic to nuts, you may use pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, or even raisins and other dried fruit as substitutions. I use lean meats, fish, poultry and vegetables for meals. Real chocolate is actually good for you. It's the sugar that's harmful and addictive. I sweeten dark chocolate with honey. What a difference! For those who want to curb their appetites, eating a small handful of nuts, such as walnuts, 30 minutes before meals, will do the trick.

My recipes are perfect for people who need or want gluten-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, free of bad fats, corn-free, dairy-free, and additive-free. If I use cornstarch in a recipe, arrowroot may be a substitution. If I use milk, rice milk or soy milk or goat's milk may be used instead. If I use fat-free sour cream, dairy-free Tofutti (soy) sour cream, or rice sour cream may be used. Egg substitute may used for those with egg allergies. You may replace cheese with goat cheese or your preference.

Most people, I believe, would agree that it's usually not emotional eating that has caused the epidemic in weight gain and related health problems. Instead it's the fattening and addictive qualities in sugar, high fat, white flour, and additives. Emotional eating problems wouldn't be a problem if non-manufactured foods were eaten. I developed my recipes because there were no alternatives available that tasted as good as the bad foods. I promise you that my Main Dishes, Soups, Desserts, Muffins, Cookies, Chidren's and Breakfast recipes are just as delicious as their artificial man-made counterparts. By eating a variety of my recipes in 3 meals plus snacks daily and in reasonable portions, you'll feel satisfied and your health and weight will turn around for the better. You won't need to count calories and limit portions. You can reasonably "Eat All You Want." With my recipes, you can have several cookies instead of one, or have that extra piece of cake. While man-made foods cause you to crave more, using the natural ingredients in my recipes, you will feel really satisfied after eating reasonable amounts.

In developing my recipes, it was not a simple matter of taking a conventional recipe and substituting another flour for white flour, or substituting honey for the sugar, and so on. It didn't work that way at all. I usually had to use 2 or more organic flours to get the same effect as white flour. The amount of honey was always less than the sugar, and liquid changed the balance of the flours, eggs, and so on. It was really quite difficult to overcome. But I was determined, and succeeded.

Cookie recipes were the most difficult to create. That's why there aren't any in my first dessert cookbook. It was really hard to make a delicious cookie without using fat, oil, sugar, white flour or harmful additives as replacements. Unsweetened applesauce as the fat replacement in a cookie just didn't work. The ingredients I finally developed, not only made really tasty cookies, but made the healthiest cookies I've ever seen.

In making my recipes, I keep things simple by only using a spoon and a bowl to briefly hand mix the ingredients. A few of my recipes require a mini food processor or perhaps a small grinder to grind nuts, chocolate squares or quick oats. I don't use any complicated kitchen gadgets. My physical disabilities were severe enough that I couldn't stand upright long enough to use and then clean gadgets or equipment. Able-bodied people tell me they are really happy to be able to quickly mix up a recipe using only measuring cups, a bowl and a spoon. Also, most of my baked recipes are formulated to fit in an 11x7 glass baking dish. This size will accommodate small or larger families and is only one piece of equipment used for many recipes.

Do you think that using organic flours and honey will be more expensive? Well, I found that not going to the pizza place or fast food place just once, will easily pay for the flours and honey. We've always known that it's much cheaper to cook from scratch than to buy already prepared foods. Once you make my recipes once or twice, it becomes second nature. You will be amazed at how much better you'll feel by avoiding bad fat, sugar, and wheat most of the time. The flours I use, plus my other ingredients can be found in supermarkets with nutrition sections, and in health food stores. If a favorite store doesn't carry something, just ask the manager, and they will.

If you have any questions that I have not answered, don't hesitate to e-mail me anytime at marygcookbooks@sbcglobal.net or maryglenda@noweightgaincookbooks.com.
I'm here to help.