What I want you to know about having a child with brain cancer

What I want you to know about having a child with brain cancer.

Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate Cremeux

We found this recipe in Food & Wine magazine last month and immediately considered its adaptability. Thanks to Lily’s Sweets divine sugar-free dark chocolate we made an incredibly smooth and satisfying dessert that Max loved mixed with curcumin and probiotics. It’s a recipe that’s great for those using a low-carb, low-glycemic diet or those just in the mood for a rich pudding. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups heavy cream or coconut cream
1 1/2 cups almond milk
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup ZSweet
2 teaspoons kosher salt
9 ounces Lily’s dark chocolate, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan, bring the cream and milk to a simmer. Remove from the heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and salt. Gradually whisk in the hot cream. Transfer the mixture to the saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is slightly thickened and coats the back of the spoon, about 5 minutes.

Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl. Add the chopped chocolate and let stand until melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk vigorously until smooth, then pour the crémeux into a shallow glass or ceramic dish. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the crémeux and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours or overnight. Spoon the crémeux into glasses, top with sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings and serve.

Recipe adapted from the original found in Food & Wine magazine: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/bittersweet-chocolate-cremeux

RECIPE: VEGAN CARROT OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP GRANOLA BITES

This recipe is inspired by the original found at 101 Cookbooks. This was one of the first recipes we started modifying after Max was diagnosed and home from the hospital. At that time we were still using agave nectar and we subbed sweet potatoes for the carrots. This time around I made quite a few more substitutions. We use Brazil Nuts, almond flour, ZSweet, Lily’s Sweets’chocolate, and even added chia seeds. The whole family devoured these vegan cookies as soon as they were cool enough to eat. I think we’ve stumbled upon our new granola bar! Sugar-free, anticancer, and all around awesome, these treats are back on our list of regular goodies.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup organic almond flour, finely ground
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup organic gluten-free rolled oats

1/2 cup organic raisins
2/3 cup chopped Brazil Nuts (for selenium, antiangiogenic properties)
1 cup shredded carrots or sweet potatoes
1/3 cup ZSweet (endorsed by Dr. Andrew Weil)
1/2 cup unrefined (fragrant) organic coconut oil, warmed until just melted
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

¼ cup of chia seeds

DIRECTIONS:

·      Preheat oven to 375F degrees and spray one non-stick mini muffin pan with coconut oil.

·      In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and oats. Add the ZSweet, nuts, chocolate, and chia seeds.

·      In a separate bowl add the warmed coconut oil, raisins, carrots, and ginger. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

·      Drop into the mini muffin tin and compress. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 15  minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.

·      Makes about 1 dozen granola muffins.

— Audra, Max’s Momma

FIERCE FOODIES RECIPE: SUGAR-FREE FRENCH FUDGE CUPCAKES

Meet Adrianne, MaxLove Project Board member and Super-Mom to Beckett and Cael. Last weekend we were at back-to-back St. Baldrick’s Foundation events and Adrianne took in our daughter, Maesie, along with her two boys for the weekend. Her youngest son Cael just turned two and they had a birthday party for him on Saturday night. We were expecting to talk with Max about how we wouldn’t have any cake and instead we would get some of his sugar-free goodies when we got home. But, to our absolute surprise, Adrianne made Max-friendly cupcakes, not just for Max, but because she wanted to explore sugar-free cooking for her boys. Amazing! The anticancer journey is also a great foundation for family wellness, no matter your situation.

The cupcakes are an amazingly dense and fudgey kind of chocolate brownie. It’s a virtually flourless recipe. We’re going to try them this weekend for Maesie’s birthday. We’ll try subbing in almond or coconut flour and see what happens. We also found a grassfed butterfor those of you who do consume dairy. If you don’t, we’d love to hear about a vegan version. I’m going to try adding Acai as well. For chocolate we’ll be using Lily’s divine sugar-free (stevia and erythritol sweetened) chocolate. Instead of chips I’ll simply chop up the chocoalte bar.

Cael (above) and Max (below) were enthralled. The chocolate cashew icing was sugar-free and dreamy as can be! Yum! What a treat for our Mr. SuperMax! Thank you, Adrianne! You are such a wonderful friend.

— Audra, Max’s Momma

FRENCH FUDGE CUPCAKES RECIPE

8 oz. sugar-free chocolate bar, like Lily’s or Coco Polo
1 1/2 oz. (3 squares) unsweetened chocolate bar
10 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cup Z-sweet (granulated)
6 tbsp. flour
3 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (Try to use the lowest sugar version you can find. We just found sugar-free peices from Coco Polo but if you can’t find this, go for a product that’s as close to unsweetened as you can get. You can also chop up Lily’s **amazing** sugar-free cholcolate, which is what we’ll do.)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter cupcake pan.
2. Melt sugar-free (or semi-sweet if you have to) chocolate bar, unsweetened chocolate bar, and butter over low heat.
3. In mixing bowl, mix Z-sweet, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until blended.
4. Add flour until just mixed.
5. Add the melted chocolate to the remaining ingredients.
6. Add chocolate chips.
7. Bake 18-22 minutes.  Tops of cupcakes should look done, but toothpick inserted should come out with streaks of chocolate

FROSTING:
2 cups raw cashews
3/4 cup water (more when needed)
unsweetened cocoa powder
vanilla
powdered Z-sweet
cinnamon

This is an imprecise formula.  Just keep adding/mixing in Vita-Prep until you get the taste and consistency you want.

The Fierce Fiber Five

As I said yesterday, fiber is boring. But it’s also an awesome super-nutrient that is the foundation of a healthy anticancer diet for kids and adults alike. So, to take things up a notch, I’m going to drop, right here and now, our MaxLove, original Fierce Fiber Five. These are the fiercest fiber foods out there, guaranteed to make any kid forget that fiber is something old people worry about it.

In order to make it on this list, a food or product must either be a high-fiber plant or meet the minimum 10-1 carb-to-fiber ratio that is now considered to be the standard for a healthy carb-based food. Now hold on to your hats because you’re about to be hit by the Fierce Fiber Five:

 

5. Popcorn! There is not a child on this earth that does not love popcorn. It has 3 grams of fiber per serving (and a nice 5-1 ratio of carbs-to-fiber) and with a little organic butter and salt, it’s heaven. 

4. Sweet Potatoes (red yams)! A medium sized sweet potato has 4 grams of fiber to 33 grams of carbs. They’re also the easiest thing in the world to prepare. Wash, drizzle with olive oil and salt, bake at 400 degrees until the skin starts turning brown and caramelizing (40 minutes or so), and your done. They’re so good that we have to limit Max to one sweet potato at a time.

(Picture from leitesculinaria.com)

3. Pasta! That’s right, I said it. Now, I’m not talking about any old pasta. We searched high and low, near and far, to find a good tasting, non-wheat (that’s a story for another post) pasta that met the 10-1 rule. And we’ve found a great one in De Boles’s Organic Oat Bran Pasta. 5 grams of fiber in a serving (with a 7-1 carb-to-fiber ratio) and the kids love it. If you’re ok with wheat, then whole wheat pasta has an even better fiber to carb ratio.

2. Chocolate! What? Chocolate? Yes, chocolate. Of course, it’s important to find an excellent sugar-free chocolate sweetened with good sugar alternatives like erythritol and we’ve found two (Lilly’s and Coco Polo). Full of anti-oxidants and fiber, they only thing keeping you from devouring entire bars is your pocketbook. This chocolate, ranging from $4-$6 a bar, isn’t cheap.

1. Coconut milk ice cream! Out of all the new foods we’ve found on this journey with Max, coconut milk ice cream (sugar-free, of course) has been the most important staple. Not only does it have a lot of nice health benefits, it’s full of fiber. In fact, it has the most fiber on this list at 10 grams per serving (with better than a 2-1 carb to fiber ratio). We’ve used it every day for well over a year to mix with Max’s supplements. Unfortunately, only one company makes sugar-free coconut milk ice cream: So Delicious. And like the chocolate, it’s not cheap. But it comes in five different flavors (chocolate, vanilla, mint chip, toasted almond, and butter pecan), and after all this time, Max still loves it.

Something to consider for families currently going through chemotherapy: between the coconut milk ice cream, chocolate, and a generally high fiber diet, Max stayed very “regular,” if you know what I mean, through out most of his treatment. 

– Justin (Max’s Dad)