For many, Thanksgiving is the official kick-off to a series of Holidays all happening approximately within a month. Passing this landmark means the eating season has officially begun!
Lots of celebrations centered around food are on the horizon, and they can be no fun for those of us with food restrictions, whether we need to be gluten free, dairy free, nut free, soy free, or on another special diet.
However, it is 100% possible to have a great holiday season without crashing your gut microbiome, skyrocketing your inflammatory parameters, and flaring up your symptoms.
And when I say “Your” I really mean your families, especially of course those loved ones who are already affected by health issues of varying degree.
I want to help you prevent a post-holiday-health crisis, so I would like to share MY very special FAVORITE Holiday-Spice Fruitcake which you can serve as a yummy dessert!
Yes, dessert!
The recipe is gluten, grain, dairy, and soy free.
Plus, it is filled with a ton of nutrients!
Many moms struggle at this time of year with what to allow their kids to eat. And it is my sincere hope this will help you avoid getting sidetracked in your child’s health.
Neither my son nor I struggle with (known) gluten and dairy sensitivities, but I try to avoid them as much as possible anyway. With these recipes, I am not tempted to fall off the wagon. I know you and your family will love it too!
But what makes this recipe so special is that it is not just delicious while avoiding most of the common triggers for food sensitivities at the same time. It also has healing properties.
Hearty & Healthy: This Fruitcake Recipe Hits All the Marks
While this Holiday-Spice Fruitcake can be enjoyed any time of the year as a dessert or snack, I especially enjoy it during the winter holidays when it’s cold and wet outside and I eat heavier, richer foods.
That is because of its warming qualities and its ability to build digestive fire, as Ayurvedic and TCM herbalists say.
Digestive fire refers to your body's ability to digest the foods you consume properly. There are many aspects to balancing one's digestion, but one way is to incorporate carminative herbs into your diet.
You can do this by adding them to your meals or sipping on carminative teas in between meals.
Carminatives are herbs with a high volatile oil content that work directly on the gut lining to stimulate peristalsis and relaxing the smooth muscle of the stomach (moving food through the GI tract).
The volatile oils increase the movement of food through the digestive system. This, in turn, reduces common GI complaints such as gas, bloating, and constipation as well as the accompanying cramping that goes along with those conditions.
They are also soothing to the digestive tract.
Carminative herbs are a perfect fit for heavier meals or for foods that take longer to digest (hello, meat and dairy), and the good news is that they're usually very flavorful, so they'll taste yummy as a tea.
The spices included in the fruitcake recipe all belong to the carminatives - cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves - and therefore have the explained properties.
My favorite TCM recipe is a perfect mix of everything—light and luscious, balanced and bursting with warm spices, the right kind of sweet that reminds you of all the festive goodness this holiday brings.
Holiday-Spice Fruit Cake
Ingredients
4 eggs*
4 Tbsp honey
1/8 cup butter
1 banana
1 1/3 cup ground almonds
2/4 cup coconut flour
2 Tsp cream of tartar
2 Tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tsp ground vanilla bean
2 Tsp ground cloves
2 Tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tsp cardamom
3/4 cup ground walnuts*
1/2 cup dried, dates, pitted
1/2 cup dried figs
1 apple
* Please check the recipe for ingredients and make sure there are no ingredients included to which you or a family member are allergic or known to be sensitive.
And that is how it is done
- Preheat the oven to 320°F and grease a loaf pan (9 x 5 inches) with butter.
- Beat the eggs in a mixer until fluffy, then stir in the honey and butter.
- Peel the banana, mash with a fork and stir into the egg mixture.
- Stir the almonds, coconut flour, cream of tartar and all spices into the mixture.
- Roughly chop the walnuts, dates and figs (in a food processor if possible) and stir into the mixture.
- Peel the apple, remove the core, cut into small cubes and stir into the mixture.
- Knead everything well into a dough. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake in the oven for 1 hour. If the bread is getting too brown, cover it with a piece of parchment paper and continue baking until the hour is full.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THE RECIPE
Again, I wish you a lovely Holiday! May all your days be filled with the abundance of health and the warmth of love throughout this holiday season and the coming year.
Yours in Health,
xx Bettina 
0 comments