Ch-Ch-Chia!

Ugh. I have a cold. Or a virus. Or a trojan horse. I don't know. One of those.

I hate being sick. My head is fuzzy and stuffy.

But on the other hand it did give me a lot of time for one of my other favorite pastimes. . . Knitting.

 I love to knit. I taught myself how to knit from a book I bought when I was 14. So, recently my mom asked me to knit her a hat, like the one I made for my sister. We went, bought the yarn, and I got started knitting. It took me about 3 days to finish the hat. It had a little brim that curls up, and a knit flower on the side. She loves it, and it keeps her warm during the winter. Now my dad and other sister both want hats. I was having a really difficult time finding a pattern for my dad's hat. So I found a unisex pattern and started working on it. When I finished the hat and sewed it off, it looked ridiculous. I realized it looked like a girl-y Rastafarian hat. Cool for a girl. Weird for a middle aged guy. So next my mom tried it on, but she is so small that no matter how she tried, it slid off her head. Now my sister Eden tried it, and LOVED it. So now I am up to my ears in knitting requests from my family. But I don't mind, like I said, I love to knit. I'll post pics when I'm feeling better. Then you guys can tell me what you think!

Okay, so you all know I'm trying to lose weight, but what you don't know is that my father is too. He only has a little bit to lose, like 10 or 15 lbs, but he unfortunately has an achilles heel. Biscotti. I started making biscotti because I thought it would be good to have something in the cupboards for my family to snack on. My dad tried one biscotti and he was hooked. No matter what flavor I baked, he ate them up, he is like a biscotti addict. The middle of last week I baked up four different flavors of biscotti. My pantry was stocked. On monday I checked the pantry and found that there was only eight biscotti left. My dad and youngest sister had eaten them all!! Thats about ten biscotti a day! I was shocked. Now my dad says I need to hurry up and feel better so I can make more. Hahaha. So here is my favorite type of Biscotti. And bonus it's actually healthy for you! Boo-yah!

This is not the best photo sorry! Still working on my photography skills.

Chia Coconut Biscotti

3/4 c. Amaranth Flour

1/2 c. Tapioca Starch Flour

1/2 c. Chia Seed Meal

1/2 t. Xanthan Gum

1/2 t. Salt

3/4 t Corn-Free Baking Powder

1/2 c. Spectrum Organic Shortening, cholesterol free

1/2 t. Vanilla

1 t. Imitation Coconut Flavoring ( I use McCormicks because it is Corn-Free)

1/2 c.Sugar
3/4 c. Splenda ( you can try replacing all of the sugar with Splenda, that is my next step)

4 Eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a square cake pan with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
3. Mix together the flour, chia, xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
4. Beat the butter until creamed, then add sugar and flavorings. Beat the eggs in one at a time.
5. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.
6. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. To cool, place damp paper towels on loaf and cover with aluminum foil and let cool.
8. When cooled wrap loaf in foil and freeze for a couple hours or overnight.
9. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and cut down the middle into two loaves, then slice each half as thinly as possible.
10. Lay out  on a cookie sheet covered with a silpat or parchment paper, and bake for 15-25 minutes.
11. Take the cookies out of the oven as soon as they start to brown, don't wait until crispy. They will completely crisp up later.

This recipe makes about 60 biscotti. FYI these are 47 calories each.