Hippocrates said “”Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” Maybe, there’s some truth to that. What do you think?
Recently, we had Ricki Heller as a guest on #VeganFoodChat to learn about candida and how it affects the body. Wow, was she ever a bounty of information and resources? Of course she would be! Ricki is a anti-candida superhero!
You may be wondering, “What’s candida?” Yes, it’s the name of a Tony Orlando song from the 70s. However, it’s not as lovey-dovey as you may think, the candida we’re referencing. Candida is a yeast that keeps digestive tract balanced. It promotes “good” bacteria to help your body run smoothly. However, candida yeast lives on sugar and other naughty things. When the yeast grows wildly, your body gets out of whack. You can become sick, developing allergies, skin conditions and other ailments. No one wants that!
In her newly released book, Living Candida-Free (available here), vegan blogger, instructor and PhD, Ricki Heller with Andrea Nakayama, shares a 3-stage program to help us get our bodies on the right path to optimal wellness. Ricki, herself, has suffered with the negative impacts of candida overgrowth and follows a strict anticandida diet. While the diet may seem highly restrictive in giving up sugars, gluten, yeasts & more, it doesn’t have to feel that way. With easy recipes from oven-dried tomatoes to chocolate chip cookie truffles (WHAT?!?!?!), we all can feel satisfied and good about what we eat by consuming more plant-based whole foods.
Living Candida-Free gives strategies to maintain an anticandida diet, such as curbing cravings and how to make this way of eating long term. Ricki and Andrea share tips in substituting ingredients, reducing exposure to molds in our food (like mushrooms) and buying staple goods to keep in our pantry. With any diet, we all need to plan, be mindful of our food and do the best we can!
We really appreciate a book like this, especially one with so many recipes that it’s hard to say “there’s nothing I can eat.” It’s a great way to kickstart your journey towards optimal health.
Remember those truffles we mentioned? Here’s Ricki version of a chocolate chip cookie truffle covered in chocolate (if you like). It’s raw (who doesn’t love raw cookie dough) and yummy. But wait? Didn’t we say that an anticandida diet is free of sugar? Well, YES and so is this recipe. Give it a try, check out the book and let us know what you think about Living Candida-Free!
- 1 cup (240 ml) well-cooked and drained chickpeas or white beans
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) coconut sugar (see note)
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) smooth natural seed or nut butter (I use almond butter)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract, or 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla powder
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.5 ml) pure stevia powder, or 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) vanilla or chocolate-flavored pure liquid stevia, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) coconut flour
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (37.5 ml) unflavored or vanilla raw protein powder (pea or rice)
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) plain or vanilla unsweetened almond milk or other allowed nondairy milk or more, as needed
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) homemade carob or chocolate chips (page 205) or cacao nibs
- 1/4 cup (30 g) raw cacao powder
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) coconut oil
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 to 1 ml) pure stevia powder, or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon (1 to 2.5 ml) pure liquid stevia
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) vanilla powder, or 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- Make the truffles: In the bowl of a food processor, process the chickpeas, coconut sugar, seed butter, coconut oil, cinnamon, vanilla, and stevia until very smooth. Add the coconut flour, protein powder, salt, and milk and process until the mixture comes together in a very soft dough. Stir in the chips by hand; don’t process again.
- As a snack, you can eat the dough right away.
- For truffles, scoop about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the dough at a time and place on a cookie sheet.
- Freeze until just firm, then roll into balls. For un-coated truffles, store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze. If coating in chocolate, return the truffles to the freezer while you prepare the chocolate coating.
- Make the coating: Place a medium-size metal or heatproof glass bowl over a small pot containing about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of simmering water (be sure that the bowl is big enough to cover the pot, and that it isn’t actually touch-ing the water). Place the coating ingredients in the bowl and stir frequently until everything is melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the pot and turn off the heat.
- To coat the truffles: Place a ball on a fork and dip into the chocolate, allow-ing any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Tap the fork against the top of the bowl so that excess chocolate drips through the tines and back into the bowl. Slide the ball off the fork and back onto the cookie sheet, and repeat to coat the remaining balls. Return the cookie sheet to the freezer to chill just until firmed up. You may repeat the dipping process for a thicker chocolate coating. Store in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. May be frozen.
- Note: For Stage 1, omit the coconut sugar and use more stevia, to taste.
Thanks so much for sharing your review and the cookie dough truffle recipe! I so enjoyed chatting with everyone on the twitter party, too! I hope your readers enjoy the truffles.