Not my mama’s biscuits

School is starting,  fall is around the corner, and as we begin to have less daylight, some of us spend less time working out, which can sabotage your fitness plan.  Even worse is the desire to feed on fattening foods during the fall and winter months.

Comfort foods come to mind. Those are the foods that make us feel good when we eat them, usually because the food is attached to a memory or feeling.

My comfort foods are definitely Southern inspired classics like biscuits, baked mac and cheese, fried chicken, cobblers and pies.  Just because they are my favorites doesn’t mean I have them often.

I suggest picking a day of the month (just one day) that you indulge in your favorite food. By choosing a day, you have something to look forward to and you’re not giving up your favorite foods.  You’re just enjoying in moderation.

However, there’s one more thing you should consider.  How about slightly modifying some of your recipes so you can eliminate some calories and fat?  I generally don’t condone altering perfectly good recipes, but I guess there’s an exception to every rule.

I say take baby steps.  Don’t change and possibly ruin your family’s recipes.  For example, I love biscuits.  Ironically, my mother didn’t learn to make them until I was an adult.  But the best part is she makes them without lard or butter.

I know, it sounds impossible and remember I’m a born and bred Southerner so I know a good buttermilk biscuit, but our friend Judy McPherson (an organic farmer and owner of the Uwharrie Farm) developed an unbelievable biscuit recipe using olive oil.

The ingredients are all-purpose flour (Or flour of your choice. My mom uses spelt and I like a mix of white and wheat flours), salt, baking soda, baking powder, buttermilk and olive oil.  If you’d like details regarding exact measurements, you can e-mail me. These biscuits are no-roll. Once you mix, pat them into shape and put them in a pan.  It’s very easy and they taste great. Please email me for exact measurements.

Check out some of Judy’s other seasonal recipes.

Here’s a guide to healthy ingredient substitutes that can aid you when cooking: Ingredient substitutions from the Mayo Clinic.

Agave good for more than tequila

Once a treasure of the Aztecs, agave nectar now is the newest choice of conscious consumers.

A sugar craving can be the hardest to satisfy, especially when you don’t want to settle for a sugar substitute.

There are many options on the market for your stubborn sweet tooth, including small portioned snacks, reduced fat snacks, low fat snacks, low sugar snacks and sugar free snacks. But if you’re like me, you choose your battles wisely and sugar always wins.

I can skimp on a lot of things, but the taste of cane sugar is not one of them.  The trick is eat a little and don’t eat it often.

I’ve always thought there would be no hope for me until a couple weeks ago when I purchased agave nectar.  I was in warehouse store and stumbled across a two-pack of organic blue agave nectar. Agave is a nectar or syrup that is harvested from a succulent plant.  Succulents hold water and other examples include cactus and aloe vera.

Although I had never used agave, it wasn't the first I had heard of it.  I have a coworker who has been singing its praises for about a month, and she heard about it from “The Dr. Oz Show.” And ironically after that, I began hearing about it everywhere, as if it was newly discovered.

Whoopi Goldberg mentioned it one day on “The View” and then Rachael Ray mentioned it on her show.

I’ve yet to get to the bottom of North America’s recent fascination with this ancient nectar.  However, agave dates back thousands of years to the Aztecs.  Aztecs are indigenous people of central Mexico who speak Nahuatl.  During the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th centuries, Aztecs also inhabited what is now known as Honduras and Nicaragua. 

Given the history of the people and culture, it’s obvious that agave nectar is not new. It’s just new to some of us.

The plant was exported to Europe and Asia during the 18th century to use as decoration.  Now, it can be found in communities from Arizona to India. The agave is commonly seen in four varieties: Agave americana, Agave angustifolia, Blue agave (also used to make tequila), and Agave attenuata.

It’s light in taste and often compared to honey, but less viscous.  It dissolves easily in beverages and can be used as a substitute for any sweetener, even in baking.

I use it in my tea and I love it.  There’s no after taste and it’s highly concentrated so it doesn't take much to do the trick. The best part about agave nectar and the characteristic that is touted the most is its low glycemic index, which means it's less likely to cause a spike in your blood sugar.  Generally, foods that cause a spike in blood sugar are heavy in carbohydrates and carbohydrates are usually packed with calories.  And you know to lose weight; you have to burn calories, so I doubt you want extra ones hanging around.

For more information about how the nectar is harvested, glycemic index and agave versus other sweeteners, visit the All About AgaveWeb site.

For more general agave information, click here.