When making holiday cookies and treats this year, a few grocery swaps can dramatically change the quality of ingredients that are going into your body. And you don’t need to make everything from scratch!
For example, here’s how to make peppermint brownies without polluting your body with artificial color Red 40, corn syrup, titanium dioxide (linked to cancer) and other nasty processed ingredients found in conventional mixes:
- Start with an organic brownie mix, such as Julie’s Real, Madhava, or European Gourmet Bakery brands. Since they’re organic, they won’t be filled with artificial flavors and corn syrup. They’re also made with organic ingredients that haven’t been sprayed with Roundup weedkiller (carcinogen) and other synthetic pesticides.
- Frost your brownies with organic frosting, preferably made with healthy coconut oil, such as Simple Mills or Miss Jones brand. This is a much better option than conventional brands made with processed palm oil, artificial dyes, and flavors. If the frosting is vanilla, you can add a few drops of Peppermint Extract to give it that festive taste.
- Decorate with crushed organic candy canes, like Yum Earth or Thrive Market brand - which are colored naturally and without any Red 40 found in most candy canes.
Another example is sugar cookie dough. It's really easy to make at home with this recipe, but there are some pre-made organic brands available:
Here's why you want to stop buying Pillsbury and Betty Crocker:
- They are made with Enriched Bleached Flour - which is an extremely processed form of flour heavily treated with chemicals in the factory.
- The wheat isn’t organic, so it can contain residues of synthetic pesticides like Roundup (glyphosate) that is used as a drying agent on some conventional wheat crops. This herbicide is strongly linked to cancer - so you don’t want that in your food, do you?
- Since they’re not organic, the sugar, corn syrup, and other ingredients are likely from GMO crops - which are designed to withstand heavy applications of synthetic pesticides too.
- The leavening contains Aluminum - which is linked to an increased risk of Alzheimers.
Safely decorate your cookies with a few more swaps...
Instead of buying traditional food dyes made with artificial colors derived from petroleum, you can color icing with freeze-dried produce powders or natural colors made from real food - like red made from beets! You can also buy
natural sprinkles without artificial colors, such as Supernatural brand.
We clearly need to keep sharing the truth, because artificial ingredients are EVERYWHERE this time of year. Please share these posts on social media or forward this email to your friends:
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