Sunflower Seeds - Who Knew?

My friend Maryam is always pouring a small dish of sunflower seeds and chomping on them. I thought it was like a nervous habit, like when people eat the shelled ones? Turns out, she knew something I didn't, or maybe she didn't, doesn't matter, she was doing something healthy and I'm all about that.

Recently I was doing some research on whole foods for helping with a hypo-thyroid issue. Turns out, Sunflower seeds are full of what you need if you suffer from hypothyroidism. In fact, they are so full of necessary vitamins and minerals, (Vitamin E, B1, Manganese, Copper, Tryptophan, Magnesium, Selenium, Vitamin B6, Phosphorus and Folate) everyone should add them to their diets. Packed with all these nutrients, they even lower LDL cholesterol.

Sprinkle them on salads. Keep a baggy in your purse for an emergency snack. Grind them up in your morning smoothie. Anyway you eat them, they are a really good addition to your new healthy you! So eat some!

A Healthy Gluten Free Version of Chocolate Chip Cookies

A client shared this with me and so I'm going to share it with you. This is a gluten free, mostly healthy version of chocolate chip cookies. I made them and they are pretty good, not grandma's recipe, but knowing that I'm not consuming a bunch of unhealthy ingredients seems to make them pretty darn good.

Ingredients
2 cups almond meal, or almond flour
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond meal, salt, and baking soda, then add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix well.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips, then drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined parchment paper.
4. Bake at 350F for 8-9 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
5. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then serve warm or allow to cool to room temperature

My tips? Use organic organic organic to optimize the healthiness of them. Also, I put in the syrup and vanilla before I put in the coconut oil (which I melted) and they didn't flatten out. I would put the coconut oil in first next time (probably tonight as I want to try it again for a dinner gathering).

My nephew said they were really good and considering he's kinda a kid, I take that as a good sign. 

Bon appétit'
Colleen