You can't catch me - I'm the gingerbread man! That's what my 3 year old says as he runs circles around the house. Trust me, no one is trying to catch him. We just wait for him to wear himself out!When people find out what I do and that I have a family, they are always a little intrigued. One of the first questions I get is, "What do you do about the kids? Do they eat sweets?" The short answer is yes. The long answer is - I've been teaching them how to learn their own bodies and what refined, processed food does to it. They are motivated to do well on tests and recognize if they eat eggs and blueberries in the morning, they do better than if they ate a bowl of "O's".
However, there is that fine line I walk of teaching them and then allowing them to fall and figure it out for themselves. My oldest one has been winning the Butterfinger bar in band for most time practicing. Two weeks now, he's come home with that joyous piece of poison. Don't kid yourself - it is poison. And for two weeks now, he's eaten half and shared the other half with his brothers. Want to know how I balance it ? They get twice as much broccoli as usual at dinner, plus carrots and any other vegetable I can find!
In the meantime, we make our own gingerbread cookies using all organic ingredients. Sometimes, I can entice them to 'trade up'. Here's our recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Gingerbread Cookies:
8 oz softened unsalted butter
3/4 sugar (whole cane sugar)
1 egg
1/2 cup dark molasses (we use black strap)
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups spelt flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, molasses, vanilla and mix. Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and mix again. Add flour and mix some more. Shape dough into a disk and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch think and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350 degree Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes.
Posts
