I've had it in my mind for some time to come up with a recipe for healthy tamales. A Christmas tradition for many Mexican families and ours was no different. Tamales are traditionally made with corn or masa, mixed with lard, filled with pork or chicken, wrapped in corn husks and then steamed. The process can be quite laborious, however, the end result is worth the few hours it takes. In my family, several of my aunts will get together and devote an entire day to tamale making. While my aunts will make hundreds in an afternoon, we will be making only a dozen or two. A couple tamales paired with my Mexi "Cauli" Rice and you have a delicious, healthy and very filling meal.

My Mexican grandmother passed away when I was in the 4th grade. Although my memories of her making tamales are quite vivid, there is no record of her recipes. She couldn't read or write and spoke very broken English, she didn't own cookbooks or have access to the Food Network. Instead, she measured with her hands and cooked from her heart. I regularly have lunch with one of my aunts, who has been able to help me with my Mexican cooking. Last week, we talked about tamale making over a burger which was just the inspiration I needed to bite the bullet and get in my test kitchen.

Step 1. Masa or Corn "Dough"

Traditional masa or tamale dough is made from masa harina, which just means corn flour. Some Mexican markets sell fresh masa as well. We are using neither as both are higher in carbohydrates than I would prefer. While the tamale filling and sauce are simply healthy protein, fats and a little vegetable matter, the masa was needing "healthifying". In order to reduce the carbs, which, by the way, I was able to significantly, I had to devise a dough that tasted similar using something other than corn flour. Imagine my surprise while wandering Whole Foods, when I stumbled on Native Forest Organic Cut Baby Corn. Not only is the can BPA-free, the corn Non-GMO, the whole shebang is <8 g carbs! The recipe as written makes enough masa for one dozen tamales. Incidentally, each tamale is 2 g net carbs, woot, woot!

Low-Carb Masa

Ingredients

• (2) 14 oz. Cans Native Forest Organic Cut Baby Corn
  
• 1/2 c.  Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Flour, Sifted
  
• 1 oz. Non-Hydrogenated Lard, Melted
  
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
  
• 1 tsp. Cumin Powder
  
• 1 tsp. Ancho Chile Powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt
  

Directions

1. Drain corn. 
2. In food processor or Vitamix, process corn until no chunks appear.
3. Scrape corn mush into medium mixing bowl.
4. With a spoon, mix in sifted coconut flour as well as spices and then finally lard.
5. Refrigerate masa until ready for use.  

Step 2. Meat Filling

While there are many different variations of tamale filling, my grandmother preferred shredded pork shoulder with ancho chile sauce. I regularly make pork shoulder roasts, as Carnitas are a staple meal around here. If you don't regularly cook shoulder roast, you've got a couple options for how to do so. My preferred method is in the pressure cooker. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a Crock-Pot as well as the oven. However, be prepared, these two methods take several more hours. If the shoulder roast is cooked properly, you will be able to shred easily with a fork. This will make enough filling for one dozen tamales with plenty leftover to accompany your morning eggs or atop a bed of lettuce taco salad style, minus the chips.

Pork Shoulder Roast

Ingredients

• 2-3 lb. Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast
  
• 1 c. Water
  

Directions

Crock-Pot
Add water to Crock-Pot. Do not trim or cut roast, instead place whole roast in Crock-Pot, cover and cook on low 8 hours.

Oven Method
Add water to a casserole dish Do not trim or cut roast, instead place whole roast in dish, cover and cook at 275°F for 8 hours.

Pressure Cooker
Add trivet to bottom of pressure cooker along with water and then the steamer basket. Trim roast, cut into large chunks and place in steamer basket. Cover cooker, bring to high pressure then reduce temperature and cook for 50 minutes. Remove pressure cooker from heat source and release pressure. 

Step 3. Soften Corn Husks

Corn husks are easy to find in the Mexican section of your local grocer. They will cost you about $5 for a bag large enough to make several batches of tamales. The corn husks are softened in hot water, making them pliable enough to wrap your tamale in. It is best to start soaking the corn husks while you are working on your ancho chile sauce. It's real simple, count out your corn husks plus a few extras and put in a large stock pot. Cover with hot water and place on burner at medium-high heat. We're not boiling the husks, just keeping the water hot and the husks softening. The husks will float to the top of the water, so weigh it down with a plate or a lid smaller than your pot. The husks should be soft and pliable in about 30 minutes or so.

Step 4. Sauce

Ancho chile sauce is what my grandmother used to flavor the shredded pork. It gives it a lovely red hue as well as heat. I enjoy a little heat in my Mexican dishes, but if I want my kids or husband to enjoy them, I have to keep it to a simmering. This sauce is quite mild as written, however if you want to turn it up a notch or so, just add more of the reserved seeds.

Ancho Chile Sauce

Ingredients

• 3-4 Dried Ancho Chile Peppers
  
• Water
  
• 1 Organic Garlic Clove
  
• 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
  
• 1/8 tsp. Ground Cloves
  
• 1 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt
  
• 1 tsp. Ground Cumin
  
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
  
• 2 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  
• 1/8 tsp. Ancho Chile Seeds
  

Directions

1. Remove stem and seeds from peppers by simply slicing across the top and down the middle.
2. Reserve some of the seeds to add back in for "heat".
3. Place peppers in small saucepan and cover with water.
4. Bring to boil and then remove from heat. Let sit 15 minutes.
5. Add softened peppers, spices and 1 cup of soaking water to blender and process until smooth.
6. Sprinkle in 1/8 tsp. of seeds, process and test for heat.
7. Pour sauce back into saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and whisk in olive oil.
9. Pour sauce over cooked and shredded pork. Mix thoroughly. 

Step. 5 Assembly & Steaming

Let's do a quick recap before the final step of assembly and steaming.  At this point, your masa should be in the refrigerator, the pork is cooked, shredded and swimming in sauce. The corn husks are softening in hot water and you are now starving! Let's assemble. First things first, remove corn husks from water one at a time and gently dry off with a towel. Spread with masa, fill with meat, fold and place in steamer or pressure cooker seam side down. Steam for 45 minutes or pressure cooker for 15 minutes. 

Now, before I could share this recipe with YOU, I had to test it out on my Dad, after all he is where I get my Mexican heritage from. I called him earlier in the day to tell him I had a special dinner prepared for him. I knew, if my low carb tamales passed his taste test, then they are most definitely blog worthy. He polished off a plate of three tamales along with some Mexi "cauli" rice giving it two thumbs up! That my friends, means a lot to me as he grew up eating authentic Mexican food. Special shout out to my Dad who is following my directive and eating low-carb. He lost 10 lbs. in just four short weeks. I am proud of you DAD!

My friends Stacy and Matt, aka Paleo Parents, are hosting a Valentine's Day Recipe Round-Up. Click on the link below and we can all drool together over the beautiful healthy recipes. In the meantime.....The Paleo Parents, Stacy and Matt, are phenomenal role models of healthy living. Together they lost a combined 180 lbs in ten months following a paleo diet and have completely changed their life. In addition they are raising three adorable boys with this healthy approach to life. Please take some time to explore their beautiful site and while you are at it like their Facebook page as well!

Share the healthy love this Valentines' Day by making these healthy Not Sugar Cookies for your friends and family. While you can certainly make substitutions, like butter for the coconut oil or coconut sugar for the erythritol, the original recipe is dairy-free and sugar-free, including the frosting. They are also low-carb and could be considered primal or even paleo. All three of the boys, my handsome husband and our two teenage sons, give these their stamp of approval.

Not Sugar Cookies
with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe by Healthy Living How To

Printable Recipe

Prep Time: 90 minutes (includes chill time)
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Makes: 28 Cookies

Per Frosted Cookie:
90 cals, 8g fat, 3g carb, 2g fib, 3g pro

Ingredients

• 1 c. Homemade Unblanched Almond Flour
  
• 1/2 c. Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Flour
  
• 1 tsp. Rumford Aluminum-Free Baking Powder
  
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
  
• 1/4 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt
  
• 1/2 tsp. NOW Guar Gum Powder
  
• 1/8 tsp. NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract Powder
  
• 1/2 c. Smart Sweet Non-GMO Erythritol Granules
  
• 3 Large Organic Cage-Free Eggs, Room Temp
  
• 1 tsp. Organic Vanilla Extract
  
• 1/3 c. Coconut Oil, Melted
  
• 1 Recipe Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
  

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, scramble eggs, vanilla extract and coconut oil.

3. Add wet to dry and mix well with a spoon. With your hands form dough into a large ball and chill for 30-45 minutes covered.

4. Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper and cut into desired shapes. With a spatula, transfer cutouts onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

5. Bake at 350º F for 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Completely cool, then pipe with almond cream cheese frosting. 

6. Store cookies in freezer or refrigerator. 

Recipe Notes

We invested in a Vitamix this past summer and ever since, I've been making my own almond flour. You can certainly use store bought almond flour in this recipe. The presentation could be improved with a blanched almond flour, if that's important to you. If you haven't used guar gum in your baking, it is recommended by those in the know when baking without gluten. I keep some on hand and throw it in recipes when I remember. Not everyone is on the same page when it comes to baking with erythritol, and because I haven't put up my own post yet regarding it's health safety, I am sending you to Mark Sisson's post regarding this sugar alcohol. Personally, I like to keep the carbs low, which is why I use this alternative sweetener. There are a few different brands of this sweetener on the market and I recently switched to a verified non-GMO source. It's slightly below freezing here in Minnesota, and I kept these cookies in my garage overnight. They soften up just right in about ten minutes at room temperature. Finally this recipe was inspired by it's unhealthy counterpart, The Best Rolled Sugar Cookie as well this healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie.

There is no doubt in this day and age, our bodies are subject to more toxins than ever. Toxins are in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the medications we take and in the water we drink. Toxins cause irritation, harm and destruction in the body if left unchecked. Detoxification is the body's way of removing and metabolizing these dangerous compounds. It is a process the body does naturally without us even knowing it. However, the capacity of the body's detoxification process is not endless. By encouraging the body to efficiently flush out toxins, we will not only boost our health and well being, but also strengthen our immune system and prevent disease.

Our toxic burden is a result of the toxins we are exposed to and our body's ability to naturally detox. The more toxins we are exposed to the harder the body has to work at eliminating these toxins. The list of toxins that could potentially harm our bodies is virtually endless; many start their day with a hot shower, the water is contaminated with pollutants, the soap and shampoo is full of chemicals, the toothpaste has flouride, from there we may have breakfast where the food has been treated with pesticides and genetically modified. We haven't even left our house, yet we have been exposed to toxins that can potentially cause ill-health. While it is impossible to abolish our exposure to all toxins, we can reduce unnecessary exposure as well as improve our body's efficiency and ability to eliminate them.

When metabolic waste from toxins builds up in our body, we get sick. It is important to enhance our body's ability to detoxify and get rid of the waste, meanwhile minimizing our exposure to toxins. This is imperative for excellent health, as many of today's modern diseases are related to toxicity. 

A detox bath is one of the easiest healing therapies that can be done to facilitate and enhance our body's natural detoxification process. The skin is the largest detoxification organ in which toxins can be drawn out through via sweat. Typically a detox bath is made with Epsom Salt also known as magnesium sulfate, which not only draws out toxins, but also has health benefits of its own.

Stay Tuned for Detoxification Part II : Healing Foods

It's the morning after Christmas, enjoying a cup of coffee as well as the silence. Ahhhhh, the silence, there is something to be said for sitting quietly and just being. The early morning hours are usually my favorite time of the day, it's my time of reflection, journalling and prayer. On the days when I start my day differently, I always feel it. This time is my time, it's where I find my joy, peace, hope and strength. 

Being truly healthy is the balance of our physical, mental and spiritual health. As a society we tend to emphasize physical health by focusing our energy on eating right and exercising but neglect the other parts of our being. This lack of balance shows up as marked differences between success in one are of our life and feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction in another area.

In my own journey to better health, I have found tremendous emotional and spiritual healing in the practice of silence, just being. This purposeful activity is my time to:

As 2011 comes to a close and we anticipate a new year, I suggest making a new commitment to yourself. Instead of starting a new diet or making a resolution to lose weight, how about a resolution to be healthy, healthy in mind, body and spirit.  

Written by: Tom Nikkola – Life Time Fitness, Director of Nutrition & Weight Management

Many of the articles on the Life Time Weightloss site, and information in our weight management programs, clearly show why controlling weight is not just about counting calories or moving more. A new article published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (EJCN) provides further support to this position. Even though the article is published in a prestigious journal, you shouldn’t expect it to make many headlines. If the authors’ perspectives were acknowledged publicly, it would mean changing public health recommendations and would go against much of the advertising found in the food industry.

The research review is titled Obesity and energy balance: is the tail wagging the dog?[i]  One of the major themes in the review is the point that rather than looking at lack of activity (sloth) or overeating (gluttony) as causes of obesity, it’s quite possible these may be results of something going awry with our metabolisms. In other words, we don’t get fat just by eating more and moving less. What’s making us fat, also gives us an insatiable appetite and makes us lethargic.

The premise behind the calorie balance equation is that if the calories we burn each day are less than the calories we eat, we gain weight. Yet, when people consciously decrease calorie intake, weight loss is frequently less than would be predicted — cutting back on calories does not result in expected weight loss.

In addition, when people move more, by adding structured exercise programs or engaging in other regular activity, they technically burn more calories. Yet, research shows this rarely impacts weight loss with any significance. However, studies do show people who eat lower-carbohydrate diets lose more weight, even without counting calories. The impact can even be greater when these individuals add exercise to their program. If weight loss occurs by lowering carbohydrate intake without reducing total calories, there’s more than calorie counts affecting weight loss or gain.

As long as we continue focusing on controlling calories, foods often containing processed carbohydrates and artificial ingredients will be viewed as appropriate for weight loss nutrition programs. But the evidence doesn’t support this. Instead, these low-calorie, low-nutrient food products could be one of several reasons we’re gaining weight.

Insulin
So if it isn’t just excess calories that are causing the obesity problem around the country, and the world for that matter, what is it? One obvious answer the EJCN experts referenced is constantly high insulin levels. It’s only been in the past few generations as humans that we’ve had access to granola bars, processed breakfast cereals, crackers, and other pre-made, processed junk food.

In fact, when was the last time you saw an advertisement for fresh vegetables or fruit? It’s probably been a while, yet fruit juice is advertised everywhere, making people think it is a sufficient replacement for whole foods.

These modern foods drive up our blood sugar. Elevated blood sugar causes high insulin. In fact, some people can disrupt their hormones so that their insulin levels will be elevated even if they haven’t eaten much carbohydrate in a while. They may also secrete much more insulin than necessary. Aside from leading to a lot of other health problems, elevated insulin shuts down the body’s ability to burn fat. Even on a low-calorie diet, if insulin is too high, fat won’t be burned efficiently. Instead, the body may use its muscle tissue for energy. Translation: Someone can lose some scale weight, yet their body fat remains at unhealthy levels. Even people who appear thin in street clothes may have a very high percentage of body fat.

Leptin
Another possible suspect in the battle against body fat could be the hormone leptin. Leptin is a hormone that signals us that we’re full. When leptin levels are elevated following a meal, we should get the sense to stop eating. Studies show leptin is elevated in many obese individuals, which means they may become leptin resistant the way they become resistant to insulin. The body keeps secreting the hormone to say, “Hey, you don’t need to eat anymore.” Yet, the brain doesn’t get the signal. There are many theories around this phenomenon, including the idea that processed foods may block leptin signaling.

Healthy Bacteria
The balance of good and bad bacteria may influence not only the nutrients we extract from our diet, but they may also influence the amount of caloric energy we derive from our foods. There is emerging evidence that certain bacteria can increase the caloric value we receive. Simply having more of the right bacteria may allow us to limit the calories we get from the foods we eat. Probiotics may become one of the most recommended nutritional supplements in the near future, as additional research begins supporting their use.

Fructose
Looking specifically at our diets, the authors discussed a couple likely factors in weight gain. The first is the fructose content in a diet. While the total sugar consumed by the average American is outrageous, fructose is a sugar that’s metabolized quite differently than other sugars.  The body’s ability to properly manage blood sugar becomes more disrupted from this sugar than others. If this causes elevated insulin, again the body becomes limited it its ability to burn fat.

In addition, because of how fructose is metabolized, it doesn’t give the body the same sense to stop eating either. As a result, people may consume far more calories from fructose-containing foods than they would from other sugars. High-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, sucrose (often labeled as “natural sugar”), agave nectar and many other “natural” sugars have a significant amount of fructose. Even if the label suggests the product is “natural” or seemingly healthy, be sure to check the ingredient list.

Macronutrients
The authors also acknowledged the importance of where daily calories come from. The majority of support in this area is for higher-protein, lower-carbohydrate, higher-fiber diets. However, this is not what you find in the majority of foods at the grocery store. Instead, high-carb, low-fat, low-protein foods are generally the types of food found in ready-to-eat packaging.

At some point in the near future, public health professionals and the food industry are going to have to admit that convenience foods dominate grocery store shelves — and that no matter how they’re fortified or modified, they do not support health or weight management.

Sleep
Finally, the EJCN review covered sleep and its effect on weight gain. Studies show those who don’t get enough sleep tend to gain more weight. Again, if weight management was about calorie-burning, you’d think that being awake would burn more calories and help with weight loss — but that’s not the case at all. Missing out on sleep actually disrupts the metabolism in many ways and it’s one of the first things we address with clients. Getting enough sleep also helps in stress management, another factor in a healthy metabolism.

Summary
I’m glad I paid for the full access to this journal article as it was a thorough review of many of the areas we must address if we’ll hope for success in reversing the obesity epidemic. Seven out of 10 people weigh too much. The answer is not to count total calories and move a little more!

Based on the research in the EJCN review, and many other studies, the answers actually seem quite simple:

• Get a regular lab assessment on your body’s metabolic chemistry to see if any issues need to be addressed.
  
• Eat real food: plenty of vegetables and other plants which provide a ton of nutrients.
  
• Eat enough protein with each meal, each day.
  
• Stop looking at fat as bad.
  
• Get enough sleep every night and manage stress.
  

Simply revising your diet to high-quality food and lowering carbohydrates can reduce or eliminate extra sugar, improve the balance of good bacteria in the gut, support better sleep and stress levels and help control insulin. Maybe it’s time we stop the madness of looking at weight loss as simply eating less food and start eating better food.

We also have to admit that some people have metabolic dysfunctions that must be addressed before they start focusing on their diet. As we always say, weight management is more than just calories in, calories out.

This article is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations in this and other articles is at the choice and risk of the reader.

[i] Wells JCK, Siervo M. Obesity and energy balance: is the tail wagging the dog? EJCN. 2011 July. Advance online publication. Doi:10.1038/ejcn.2011.132

Filed Under: Articles, Weight Loss, Exercise

A new study states exercising 15 minutes a day can add 3 years to your life. My handsome husband Tom, weighs in on this! Enjoy the video!