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Happy Holidays – It’s Cookie Time!

Posted on by Linda Baldwin

Happy Holidays – it is time for cookies! Really, we weren’t kidding!

The holiday season is not complete without something sweet and cookies are too good to pass up. But, if you need a nutritionist’s blessing over your Holiday table to feel less guilty about indulging – well, here it is! There are many ways that you can make healthier cookies with ingredients such as vegan butter, finely ground nuts, gluten-free flour, and agave nectar. And even if you make your Christmas cookies with white sugar and shortening, the spices in your recipes still have healthy qualities. 

Why Christmas Cookies Are *kinda* Healthy For You

Gingerbread Cookies: Combining ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg make gingerbread cookies rich, spicy, delicious, and healthy! A true superfood, ginger improves blood flow, prevents colon cancer, reduces inflammation, strengthens the immune system, and can help fight respiratory problems.  Cinnamon helps reduce bad cholesterol and cloves are packed with antioxidants and manganese, which help you control your weight and improve your mood. Nutmeg contains trace minerals that strengthen the immune system and antibacterial properties that help protect your teeth and gums – you can even find nutmeg oil in some brands of toothpaste.

Find a healthy Gingerbread Cookie recipe using spelt flour here.

Snickerdoodles: The main ingredient flavoring delicious, soft, and chewy Snickerdoodles is cinnamon. Cinnamon reduces LDL cholesterol levels, which can help reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Cinnamon also helps fight ulcer-causing bacteria and pathogens, is an anti-inflammatory, and helps balance hormones for women.

Find a vegan Snickerdoodle recipe here.

Lebkuchen: This German Christmas cookie is made with a number of spices, candied citrus peels, hazelnuts, and almonds. The combination of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves is powerful enough to make these cookies healthier than the average circular morsel. And, when you add ingredients like flavonoid-rich orange and lemon peels, constipation-reducing dates, and good fat-packed nuts – this cookie starts looking more like a breakfast bar!

Martha Stewart’s Lebkuchen recipe here.

From all of us at Intelligent Gourmet, we wish you a Happy Holidays! We hope that you enjoy everything on your table this year – we’d love to help you with a few dishes too! Shop our Holiday Menu HERE – Christmas orders need to be placed by Wednesday, December 16th. Don’t delay!

Find these recipes and more on the Intelligent Gourmet Holidays Pinterest Board! 

6 Reasons to Jump on the Turmeric Trend

Posted on by Linda Baldwin

Health benefits of turmericWhen mixologists start making cocktails out of something, you know it’s officially become a trend, and turmeric is right there. It’s been featured on NPR as “the new green tea,” and on Dr. Oz as the cure for seasonal depression (just as effective as anti-depressant medications, without the side effects). The health benefits of turmeric span thousands of years and dozens of studies. Are you ready for the new Super Food?

“It’s literally plant medicine!” – Dr. Oz

Turmeric has been used medicinally for almost 4000 years to cure everything from eczema to allergies, and even stopping poison in its tracks.

In Western medicine, turmeric hasn’t been studied nearly as extensively as it should be, but what they’ve found so far is nothing short of amazing.

6 Scientifically Backed-Up Health Benefits of Turmeric 

  • A powerful anti-inflammatory, used for arthritis relief, bladder infections, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis to name a few. And, it’s better for you than Aspirin.
  • A powerful antioxidant which can prevent infection and cancer growths.
  • A study showed that turmeric, when combined with chemotherapy, makes the chemo more potent while decreasing side effects.
  • An effective antibacterial (but if you use it topically to treat acne or sores, prepare to turn yellow!).
  • A liver-cleanser – Curcumin, the main component of turmeric, improves liver function, allowing the liver to get rid of bad cholesterol.
  • New studies have shown Turmeric may be able to prevent Alzheimer’s, and slow its progression.

At Intelligent Gourmet, we often put turmeric in with our fresh juices. Come by and try! Apparently, everyone is doing it (or soon will be!).

Merry Christmas – and Let There Be Cookies!

Posted on by Linda Baldwin

Snickerdoodles with cardamom

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I know that Christmas just isn’t complete without something sweet, and cookies are too good to pass up! But, if you need a nutritionist’s blessing over your Holiday table to feel less guilty about indulging, here it is. While you can make healthier cookies using anything from vegan butter, to finely ground nuts, gluten-free flour, and agave nectar – even if you make your Christmas cookies with white sugar and shortening, the spices in them still have very healthy qualities. 

Why Christmas Cookies Are Healthy For You (kinda)

Gingerbread Cookies

Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg combine to make gingerbread cookies rich, spicy, delicious – and healthy. A true superfood, ginger improves blood flow, prevents colon cancer, reduces inflammation, strengthens the immune system and fights respiratory problems brought on by winter colds. Cinnamon helps reduce bad cholesterol; cloves are packed with antioxidants and manganese (which helps you control your weight and improve your mood); and nutmeg contains trace minerals that strengthen the immune system, and antibacterial properties that help protect teeth and gums. You can even find nutmeg oil in some toothpastes.

Find a healthy Gingerbread Cookie recipe using spelt flour here.

Snickerdoodles

The main ingredient flavoring delicious, soft and chewy Snickerdoodles is cinnamon. Cinnamon reduces LDL cholesterol levels (which, in turn, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease), fights ulcer-causing bacteria and pathogens, is anti-inflammatory, and helps balance hormones in women.

Find a vegan Snickerdoodle recipe here.

Lebkuchen

This German Christmas cookie is made with a number of spices, candied citrus peels, hazelnuts and almonds. The combination of cinnamon, ginger and cloves is powerful enough to make them healthier than the average cookie, but when you add ingredients like flavanoid-rich orange and lemon peels, constipation-reducing dates, and protein and good fat-packed nuts, this cookie starts looking more like a breakfast bar you’d find in a health food store! If, that is, it weren’t for all the sugar.

Martha Stewart’s Lebkuchen recipe here.

Enjoy everything on your holiday table this year, and we at Intelligent Gourmet wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Find these recipes and more on the Intelligent Gourmet Holidays Pinterest Board! 

5 Exotic Superfoods You’ve Never Heard Of

Posted on by Linda Baldwin

Tokyo farmers market

Ancient cultures, Eastern cultures, native cultures – they all have so much to offer with their traditional foods and we are discovering more of them every day. This year, have a little fun with your healthy food and try some of these wild, fun, and freekeh superfoods!

Yes, I said Freekeh.

5 Exotic Superfoods You’ve Never Heard Of

1. Freekeh – This ancient Middle Eastern dish is made from green wheat that has been roasted. Compared with other grains, it has four times as much fiber and has a low glycemic index, making it ideal for dieters and diabetics.
2. Kukicha twig tea – Literally made from the sticks of the kukicha plant, this green tea has towering levels of antioxidants and has an alkalizing effect on the body. Curative bonuses include reducing bloating and easing nausea.
3. Cupuaçu – A pulpy tropical fruit that has both antioxidants and essential fatty acids, the Cupuaçu might show up in your face cream before it appears in the produce section of your grocery store. That’s because it nourishes, repairs and regenerates skin cells.
4. Fenugreek – Often used in Indian and Asian cooking, this herb just might contain the cure for the common cold and relieve sore throats. It’s also been claimed that it may improve diabetes symptoms, menopausal symptoms, and menstrual cramps.
5. Jerusalem artichokes – You’ve seen them, thought they were ginger, and when you found out they weren’t, you wondered “what do you do with these?!” Don’t let these unusual roots intimidate you. You can cook them just like you would potatoes or parsnips, though they taste like a nutty, crunchy artichoke. Boil, sauté, bake or steam – or eat them raw – and enjoy this rich source of inulin, vitamin C, fiber, potassium and magnesium.

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