Loving This Christmas Season (and Rice Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies)!

What a difference a permanent job makes! It has been a couple of years since we have had that luxury and it really has put us at ease – we are so enjoying this Christmas season. No more being on edge, even in the back of our mind, waiting for the other shoe to drop. After an amazing Christmas party last week (see After the Big Party – I was wrong by the way. Ryan’s back never did start hurting), we spent a carefree week meeting new friends, helping someone (see So Much Generosity, Community and Gratitude!) making gobs of ornaments (I am addicted to making these: 32 Borax Crystal Ornaments Later - Tips), and we enjoyed Ryan’s second work Christmas party today, targeted at the whole family. The magician was awesome, the crafts were cute, and Colson even sat on Santa’s lap for the first time. It was a riot. We have always been up front that Santa Claus is a great story but it is his family and friends who so carefully and lovingly give him gifts. Colson really got a kick out of Santa and of course asked for a Wii.

Now we are home, I am making rice flour cookies (my first ones) and more ornaments, Colson is at his friend’s house watching a Christmas movie and Ryan is making Harry Potter wands on his lathe for Colson’s friends.

Why rice flour chocolate chip cookies??? Those aren’t on the Whole 30! Because we were at the Christmas party today and there were gobs of cookies there. We didn’t have one and no one complained…but Colson would like some cookies for Christmas, so I gave it a try. And they are good! Of course that is relative. I don’t think I have made a cookie using sugar in two years. Usually I use honey and a nut flour – and make it toxic by cooking it. I just need to face the fact that cookies are toxic, no matter what kind, and be ok with that occasionally. I used to be able to fool myself that honey was a better sweetener, but it all spikes insulin and produces inflammation, so honey or no honey, we are temporarily hosed when we eat cookies.

What does make these cookies less bad than the ones at the party? The rice flour. If you have been following along, you know that wheat jacks with Ryan’s cholesterol and makes Ryan’s and Colson’s faces swell. Thanks to the Whole 30,  we are so overstimulated by sweet things that I was able to cut the sweetener in half and my teeth are still vibrating (and my immune system has crashed for a few hours and my DNA are temporarily mutated). And now that I have had chocolate I will be up later this evening because chocolate messes with my sleep because it energizes me. Maybe I will watch that Dr. Palevsky video finally.

You know…why did I make these damn cookies? That’s right, my kid wants a cookie that is kind of like a “normal” cookie during the holidays. Talk about the new normal – a tasty yet grainy, half sweetened chocolate chip cookie makes him happy. That wouldn’t have happened last year.

If you are curious, go to this link for the recipe: Gluten Free and Casein Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe ...

Note that I replaced the xanthan gum with tapioca starch (and I think you could use arrowroot powder too), used butter instead of shortening, cut the sugar in half and used honey in half of that half, and used white rice flour in place of sweet rice flour.

Now back to those crystal ornaments. I just created another cool new design and am out of Borax so I will be off to the store shortly.

Happy Holidays!

Comments

[Alyssa]

I agree that white rice cookies are much better than oxidized nut cookies! That recipe looks pretty good, although I might use some arrowroot or tapioca starch in place of some of the sweet rice flour since it says it's a thickener. Also, have you thought of using dates or other dried fruit to sweeten instead of sugar? I know it's still sugar, but at least it's more of a whole food! Not sure what it would do to the texture though...

[Laura Combs]

Alyssa - so glad you are reading! I will try dates and see what happens - and some more tapioca.

Thanks!