Slim Down Lifestyle

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Phoebe Chongchua in All Recipes, Breakfast

Even though in San Diego, right now (mid-October), it’s warming up and expected to hit the high 80s in the next couple of days, I still crave fall foods like pumpkin bread.

But I’ve missed pumpkin bread since I went gluten-free again, and this time for good (read about my health issue that convinced me to do it in this post). You can’t go into Starbucks and simply order a piece of their pumpkin bread because it’s not only filled with gluten but it also has a ton of sugar and that’s another thing I’m carefully watching.

My A1C (blood glucose) level has fluctuated since I got sick from Subacute thyroiditis earlier this year. Thankfully, my thyroid has made a complete recovery so I wasn’t one of the 15 percent of people who developed hypothyroidism after having thyroiditis and then needed thyroid replacement hormones.

But, the illness was a HUGE wakeup call that brought me back to eating more plant-based and avoiding foods that can irritate my digestion, cause inflammation, high blood glucose, and even conditions like Leaky Gut. Who wants that?!

But let’s face it, every now and then you still want to be able to eat what everyone else is eating–especially around the holidays. But you don’t want the awful health issues that come after eating the food everyone else is eating.

Finding healthy food substitutes is what keeps me eating clean and feeling great!

I’ll admit that they don’t always taste exactly the same BUT, as my taste buds changed and I got used to eating less sugary foods, the natural sweetness and goodness of the replacement foods tasted great and, in many cases, even better than the other manufactured foods.

A large part of this is because when you’re not loading your food with sugar, gluten, and dairy, you actually feel better after consuming it and YOU DON’T OVER EAT!

The food also doesn’t have that addictive quality because it’s made fresh and with ingredients that are healthier for you.

However, I’ve found when you’re first getting started with subbing out one food for another, you have to get creative and you have to have patience.

I’ve tried some recipes that looked delicious and the reviews online were good but when I followed the recipe precisely, I found it barely edible.

Maybe that was just my taste buds or maybe the recipe really wasn’t good; either way, the point is, take the recipes you find here on The Plant-Based Diet or anywhere else and make them your own by adding or subtracting ingredients… just aim to keep the ingredients healthy.

So, this pumpkin bread recipe is one I like but, when I make it again, I will try making it with other gluten-free flour to see how it affects the taste and density of the bread. Also, note that I use a lot of spices, so if you don’t like that, you can decrease the spices, but if you do, after baked, the flavor may be too weak.

Gluten-free flour varies and it will have a big impact on how the bread turns out. I’m sure you’ve had really bad gluten-free bread before. It’s challenging to make it right. So experiment and see what delights your taste buds.

And what I love most about this recipe is that if you dress it up with vegan ice cream, a balsamic glaze, and some fruit, it makes a delicious dessert.