Gluten Free, Sugar free, and lactose free spinach brownies. All because I love my hubby!

     For those of you who don't know, my husband has been struggling with a yeast overgrowth in his body for the past 3 years or so also known as Candida.  At first when the problems started to arise it was really frustrating to say the least because we had no idea what was going on.  He just kept getting this itchy rash on his finger that later grew and before we knew it, both his hands began to break out with it.  We took him to the Doctor and they gave us a cream but had no idea how to diagnose his condition.  The cream made it go away for a short time but didn't fix the problem.
    As the problem came back we talked to more doctors/health professionals and we were guided to the answer of it being a Candida overgrowth and that medicine could not cure his condition, only serious diet restrictions could.  So for the last year and a half my husband has been on the Candida diet.      The question I am asked more than anything is, "What can't he eat?" and I often respond with, "it is easier to tell you what he can eat".   It is actually more restrictive than a gluten free diet because he can't have corn, fruit, dairy, or sugar.
    He can eat:   Grains-Brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, also he can eat seads, and some nuts.  Meat-most meat and he can have eggs but no hotdogs, sausage, or pork.  Fruit- Lemons, limes, tomatoes.  Vegetables-All dark greens, onions, peppers, garlic.  No starchy or sugary vegetable like peas or carrots.    Sugar- xylitol and stevia.  Dairy- yogurt, kefir, butter.  We use coconut milk alot in place of milk.  He can have most seasonings as long as sugar or starches aren't added.
     Tonight for family home evening I was looking in my Deceptively Delicious Cookbook at the brownie recipe (I have been craving brownies like crazy this pregnancy and I decided to go for the healthier choice this time) and I realized that I could probably convert this recipe into a Weston friendly one!!  Here is the recipe I ended up making (based off of the Deceptively Delicious recipe):
                                             *3 oz (I measured an 1/8 c. 3 times) baking cocoa
                                             *6 drops stevia
                                             *1 cup spinach puree (steam spinach and then puree)
                                             *1/2 C. Xylitol
                                             * 1/4 C. cocoa powder
                                             *2 Tbsp. butter
                                             * 2 tsp. vanilla
                                             *2 large egg whites
                                             *3/4 C. buckwheat/brown rice flour mix (I grinded it myself, I am not sure if you can just buy it in flour anywhere).
                                           *1/2 tsp. baking powder
                                           *1/2 tsp. salt
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Coat an 8x8-inch pan with Olive Oil cooking spray.
      Melt butter then add 6 drops stevia and 3 oz baking cocoa until well mixed.  In large bowl mix together the chocolate mixture you just made with spinach puree, xylitol, cocoa powder, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth and creamy.  Whisk in egg whites.  Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt with wooden spoon. Pour batter into the pan and bake at 35 to 40 minutes.  Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.

       

Yummy!!! Sage and I had a fun time making this for Daddy.

I drew this beautiful shirt on Weston because he has a habit of coming home from work and taking his shirt right off... Men.

                                   Love,
                                        Becky joy