New Mother’s Day Recipes and a Discount Code

We developed a few new delightfully delicious and nutritious recipes that will be a special treat for your mom. For Mother’s Day brunch, use Marion’s Cookie and Muffin Baking Mix to quickly whip up delicious Cinnamon Raisin Bread. The recipe is dairy-free, yeast-free and can easily be prepared vegan. Browse our muffin recipes for other brunch ideas, including blueberry muffins. We offer a variety of recipes that can be served at a Mother’s Day tea, including our new Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, decorated sugar cookies, and lemon bars made from Marion’s Lemon Bar Mix.

The Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin can be baked as a quick and easy bread or muffin, and can be prepared dairy-free and vegan. If you would like to make a treat for your mom with a little extra nutrition, add ground flax seeds to the muffins or cinnamon raisin bread.

As a gift for your mom or yourself, enter code 2011Mother when ordering on our website to receive a 20 percent discount. The code expires on May 31, 2011, so you can also use the discount during National Celiac Awareness Month. Lower shipping costs when ordering two or more items.

It will be a special treat for everyone who needs a gluten-free diet when the FDA approves standards for gluten-free labeling. We are proud to support and sponsor the 1in133 Gluten-Free Food Labeling Summit. On May 4, the world’s largest gluten-free cake will be built in an effort to help convince lawmakers to finalize gluten-free labeling. Please take a few minutes to visit the 1in133 website to sign the petition, send a letter, and make a donation in honor of your mom.

Happy Mother’s Day! We hope you have a delightful day with your family.

You May Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: Tasty and Smart Nutritional Choices

Staying healthy is complex and balancing nutrition with taste and food intolerances is not always easy. One of the additional challenges is the added sugar in many prepared foods and desserts.

• Why is it important to minimize our daily intake of sugar?
• Can baked goods that are better for our health (reduced sugar, low sodium and nutritious whole grains) also taste great?
• Why should we consider healthier alternatives even when it comes to delicious desserts?

To start thinking about these questions, and to contribute to an ongoing dialogue, we’re launching a series of blog posts. Look for future blog posts on reduced sugar benefits for people with diabetes, the health benefits of whole grains, and reducing daily salt intake.

Sugar Research and Resources:

• Level of sugar considered acceptable by major health organizations: The American Heart Association recommends no more than 100 calories (25 grams) per day of sugar for women and no more than 150 calories (37.5 grams) for men. For more information, visit the American Heart Association. The Cleveland Clinic recommends no more than 8% of calories consumed per day. This equates to no more than 24 grams per day if following a 1600 calorie diet.  The Cleveland Clinic link is to the general population. If you have celiac disease, make sure to disregard the recommendations for gluten containing foods.  
• Health Risks for exceeding such levels. Major organizations warn of problems such as obesity, which is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer and heart disease.  

• Why does every gram of sugar matter even if it comes to dessert? As an example, let’s take a look at what some people enjoy for breakfast: a delicious blueberry muffin. How much of our daily recommended allowance of sugar do we consume in one blueberry muffin? One muffin from a prepared blueberry muffin mix typically contains 13-14 grams of sugar, nearly half of your daily allowance if you’re a woman. A blueberry muffin bought at popular coffee shops and fast-food restaurants may contain as many as 28-38 grams of sugar, which exceeds the recommended daily allowance for women. When following the basic recipe for our blueberry muffins made with Marion’s Cookie and Muffin Baking Mix, one large muffin contains only 7 grams of sugar! This means that you can enjoy your blueberry delight and have peace of mind as you go about your day. 
• Can a reduced sugar option taste delicious? Yes, it can! There are plenty of delicious gluten-free baking mixes in the market. However, many of those include large amounts of sugar that you can’t “take out” or reduce. Others include no sugar at all or alternative non-nutritive sweeteners with a potential negative taste and unhealthy side effects. We offer one of the few reduced sugar and salt options on the market. We include just enough sugar (and minuscule amounts of natural sweeteners) to provide your baked goods with a wonderful light taste and texture. We offer you nutritional information and diabetes exchanges. And we then leave you in charge of deciding the best choices for your family’s needs.

Many of our customers point out that they appreciate the wonderful tartness combined with the subtle sweetness of our Lemon Bar Mix. Others note that Marion’s Reduced-Sugar Cookie and Muffin Mix allows them to enjoy the wonderful fresh flavor of blueberries with their blueberry muffin. Whether you decide to add blueberries, chocolate chips, a banana, walnuts, carrots, etc. with your baked treat, you’ll enjoy a delicious natural taste without being overpowered with too much sweetness!

We also understand that some of our customers have a bit of a sweet tooth, and that there are those who would like to gradually adopt a reduced-sugar option. Remember, we do include you! Our mixes and the recipes on our website provide you with suggestions and options to slightly sweeten your treats. Our latest addition is our expanded lemon bar recipe with a few additional baking tips to prepare this delight slightly sweeter.

And for those interested in gradually shifting to a reduced-sugar diet, our mixes allow you the option to sweeten them slightly while gradually shifting to a healthier alternative.

For more information on what shapes your pallet, implications and pathways to a healthier alternative, see Too Sweet for Our Own Good Health: Considerations of Sugar and its Substitutes, written by Steffany Moonaz, PhD, a noted Health Behaviorist.

Treat Your Valentine with New Chocolaty Gluten-Free Recipes

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Marion’s Smart Delights® developed new gluten-free recipes for delicious muffins and cookies. You and your Valentine can rediscover your love of the rich, creamy taste of chocolate.

Dairy-Free Chocolaty Chocolate Cookies
Developed by popular demand is Marion’s Smart Delights Dairy-Free Chocolaty Chocolate Cookie recipe. This decadent, chocolaty cookie tastes incredibly delightful! Mix in a bit espresso, enjoy it with a little bit of powdered sugar on top, or make sandwich cookies filled with raspberry jam, chocolate, or chocolate hazelnut filling. Follow the ideas in the recipe or add your own creative flair to show your love.

Dairy-free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
No hard-core chocolate lover will be able to resist the taste of Marion’s Smart Delights Dairy-free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin, which combines the sweet and tender flavor of banana with the lusciousness of chocolate in a fluffy, delectable, delicious muffin. The recipe proposes using heart-healthy olive oil and offers additional suggestions on how to make this treat truly special for the ones you love. It also works beautifully as an alternative to traditional banana bread or even as a cupcake. You can add a little bit of white or rose-colored icing to contrast with the chocolate color. Add decorative sprinkles for fun, or consider lowering the sugar a bit by adding just a dab of chocolate.

White Chocolate Mixed Berries Muffins
Your Valentine will flip over the aroma of smooth white chocolate fused with fresh mixed berries in Marion’s Smart Delights White Chocolate Mixed Berries Muffin recipe. Dress these muffins up with a bit of white chocolate, add a gluten-free icing of your choice, or skip a topping all together – these muffins are delicious all on their own. A mini-version will satisfy your pallet and your waistline with less than 100 calories.

Purchase Marion’s Cookie and Muffin Baking Mix now or in select stores, and view additional recipes and nutritional information on our website.

Share these wonderful treats with your loved ones, and don’t forget to indulge yourself. Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Marion’s Smart Delights!

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts: Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Health Conscious Meals

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, which has more than 60 locations around the world, revealed a new menu to cater to diners with special dietary requests. Lifestyle Cuisine Plus is a special menu, made from local ingredients, that is available upon request. It offers appetizers, entrees, and desserts suitable for people with diabetes and heart disease. Other dietary options include gluten-free, vegan, macrobiotic, and raw. Whether you are staying at a Fairmont Hotel or attending a banquet, special computer software and training ensures chefs can meet your dietary needs.

Like Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Marion’s Smart Delights caters to many special dietary needs with allergen-free mixes and an extensive recipe collection. You can create a wide array of mouth-watering gluten-free treats like scrumptious cranberry bread, lemon bars, cookies, and carrot cake muffins.

We offer resources to help you make good nutritional choices. Read our blog post and white paper with practical recommendations by Dr. Moonaz on the risks of today's overly sweet foods and how "retraining" your taste buds can contribute to improved health. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011 filled with delicious and nutritious food!

Marion's Smart Delights Launches New Website and White Paper on the Health Considerations of Sweeteners

Lemon Bar Recipes

Our new Marion’s Smart Delights website is brimming with helpful resources and new recipes that include gluten-free, dairy-free, reduced sugar, low sodium, vegan, and allergen-free delicious and nutritious treats! You’ll find recipes using Marion’s Gluten-Free Cookie and Muffin Baking Mix and Marion’s Gluten-Free Lemon Bar Mix. All the recipes are yummy and most include nutritional information as well as diabetes exchanges. We hope this information will help you to make informed choices that support your dietary lifestyle and delight your taste buds, too!

Getting smarter about what we eat.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

So many of us desire to trade a dependence on salt and sugar for an appreciation of fresh, naturally flavored whole foods. Our mixes can help. They contain a miniscule amount of natural sweetener* and just enough sugar for good texture. If you love the natural sweetness, that’s great. But the mixes also let you add some of your favorite sweetener or other ingredients to satisfy your sweet tooth. You can even reduce your dependence on overly sweet tastes by using less and less extra sweetener with our mixes so you can gradually accustom your palate to more subtle natural sweetness.

“Adjusting your taste buds” is a great way to improve your health. That’s why we’re delighted to let you know that a new white paper is available on our website – the first of many free resources we’ll be offering to stimulate discussion on health, nutrition, and related topics. This new report, Too Sweet for Our Own Good Health: Considerations of Sugar and its Substitutes, is written by Steffany Moonaz, PhD, a noted Health Behaviorist.

Carrot Cake Muffins
and Marion's Cookies

Can changing your taste buds change your life?

Perhaps! Did you know that sweet tastes actually increase your appetite and motivate you to eat more? This may be true even if the sweet taste comes from zero-calorie sugar substitutes. Though non-caloric sweeteners have value for people with diabetes, simply trading sugar for non-caloric sweeteners may not result in weight loss. Plus, over-stimulation of sugar receptors also prevents mature taste preferences from developing and allowing you to get true “sweet tooth” satisfaction from the subtle natural flavors of more complex and nutritious foods.

Since excessive use of sugar is associated with obesity (which affects 30% of American adults), and other serious illnesses, Dr. Moonaz suggests that one effective way to improve our health is to slowly but surely “un-sweeten our palates.” Her new guide, written exclusively for the Marion’s Smart Delights website, offers a wealth of scientific insights about how our bodies respond to sugar and calorie-free (non-nutritive) sweeteners. She also offers helpful guidance on how you can gradually “re-train” your taste buds to get sweet satisfaction from foods that are far lower in sugar (and sugar substitutes) and far higher in nutritional value.

Dr. Moonaz’s report shares important findings on the impact of an excessively sweet diet and is brimming with practical advice, including how to:

• Gradually de-sugar your diet and develop a greater appreciation for natural foods’ sweetness, texture and complexity of flavors

• Nurture your child’s natural sweet tooth: starting from before your baby is born or from whatever age they are right now

• Sustain healthy habits when you and your children are away from home

• Choose the right sweeteners if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes or want sweeteners with a low-glycemic index

• Take advantage of doubly good alternatives to sugar that add natural sweetness plus vitamins, minerals and fiber and boost immunity

• Fool your sweet tooth with healthy add-ins like shredded carrots, chopped walnuts and raisins



Muffin Recipes

Marion’s Smart Delights baking mixes can assist with the much-needed unsweetening of our palates.  Here is a quote from Dr. Moonaz.

“The combination of both nutritive and natural non-nutritive sweeteners makes Marion’s Smart Delights baking mixes appropriate for a wide-range of individuals. The combination reduces the overall carbohydrate load for those who need to monitor their intake.”

Click here to read the entire white paper.

Marion’s Smart Delights mixes also contain GF whole grains, which are healthier than refined grains and very important for those with, or at risk for, diabetes and all of us! Additional fiber-filled foods can also be added to recipes, including GF whole oats, flax seeds, and chia seeds.

Marion’s Smart Delights will continue our search for healthier products and resources. We are always looking for feedback from our customers, so please continue to share your insights and suggestions.

*The Natural Sweeteners used in Marion’s Smart Delights include Luo Han Guo, a low-glycemic, low-calorie Chinese fruit, and Inulin, which is a natural fiber extracted from chicory roots.

Introducing the Only Gluten-Free Lemon Bar Mix on the Market

We are so excited about it! We would like to offer you a few baking tips and illustrations of what is still to come when using Marion's Lemon Bar Mix.

The luscious lemon bars made with this mix are not only delightfully delicious, they are also deliciously light! At Marion's Smart Delights, we use less sugar and salt so you can enjoy this healthy treat while experiencing the mouthwatering contrast of the tangy lemon with the sweetness of the sugar.

Marion’s Lemon Bar Mix is allergen-free and easy to prepare. You can make a heart healthy version by using olive oil instead of butter. They can even be prepared vegan. Plus, with 5 grams of whole grains per serving, you can satisfy your sweet tooth while working towards your recommended daily amount. It’s hard to imagine a more delightfully delicious way to consume 5 grams of whole grains than luscious lemon bars!

Traditional Preparation Method
Note: Marion’s Lemon Bar crust mix is the slightly larger pouch with the words “mix” imprinted. Marion’s Lemon Bar filling is the lighter pouch with the words “filling” imprinted in small letters. Follow the recipe on the box, paying special attention to these tips.

Mixing and Baking the Crust
If you use a flat beater you will arrive at the firm dough consistency. As per recipe on your box, you will need to flatten the dough and prick multiple times to avoid the gentle crust from slightly lifting from the pan during baking.

Alternative Way to Prepare the Crust
Use a wire whip attachment on your mixer. When mixing all crust ingredients, blend until dough is a loose, crumbly texture. Drop crumbles into pan and use finger tips to loosely spread mixture towards edges. Do not press firmly. No need to prick with fork. Simply bake for 10 minutes.

A crust mixed in this second fashion will turn out a little thicker and perhaps a little bit more crumbly, which is likely preferable to many people. So it is all up to your preferred choices.

Fold in Lemon Juice
Be careful when mixing the lemon juice with the filling. Your lemon bar mix includes the most innovated salt-free baking powder on the market. Making the best of this wonderful ingredient requires you to GENTLY mix for a few seconds or fold in the lemon juice with the lemon filling. If it is mixed longer, the result will be a more mousse like structure than some of you may be used to. Use care in folding the lemon juice in instead of mixing it longer. The benefits are certainly worth it: a truly low sodium delight and delicious baked good.

We also understand that some of you are looking for heart healthy, reduced calorie and/or vegan options. We will be offering several alternatives for you to choose from on our website.

Heart Healthy Margarine Alternatives
As suggested with the above traditional recipe you may of course substitute butter with dairy-free and/or a vegan – 0 cholesterol 0 trans fat margarine. Our suggestions will include choosing a low fat margarine or margarine with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as well as 0 trans fats.

Heart Healthy Vegetable/Olive Oil Alternative
For those of you who want to take the heart healthy approach a step further we suggest substituting heart healthy olive oil in place of butter. Our website will have recipes which will offer the additional benefit of further reducing even these heart healthy fats.

Vegan Alternative (Extra Low Fat and Lower Calories)
We are working hard in our kitchens to give you vegan options. In fact, we are working on not one but two versions for substituting eggs so you get to choose! In the first version, we propose a delightful tofu and lemon soy yogurt combination as substitution for eggs. The alternative proposes using starch based egg replacer and unsweetened applesauce. When it comes to the crust you can opt for either a vegan margarine or the olive oil.

As always we have your special health needs in mind! Yes, this is not your regular lemon bar, but it tastes like one. You are enjoying a gluten-free, low sodium reduced sugar delight!

We think of you as our extended family. We know some of you are on reduced cholesterol, reduced fat or reduced calorie food plans. You will be able to compare and select the best recipe for your needs from our website in the near future. For those of you that need treat options that are approximately 100 calories, we did not forget about you. In the near future you will see these options too!

Our website is "still in the kitchen cooking," and soon you will be able to buy Marion's Cookie and Muffin Baking Mix and Marion's Delightfully Delicious Lemon Bar Mix online. Our products can be purchased at some markets in Northern Virginia, with more stores coming soon. They are sold at the Lebanese Taverna Market in Arlington and Nourish Market, also known as Kennedy's Natural Foods, in Falls Church and McLean. For additional information, email Marion’s Smart Delights.

Carrot Cake Story: Can You Use Marion’s Cookie and Muffin Mix to Make Carrot Cake Muffins?

That’s what a friend of mine wanted to know, and he brought me his favorite carrot cake recipe. He doesn’t need to follow a gluten-free diet, but he does love desserts and has become interested in limiting the sugar and salt in his diet. He also wanted to find a delicious way to eat more of the “good stuff” -- like whole grain, walnuts, and carrots. So, was there a way to make that yummy carrot recipe healthier and lower in calories by substituting my Cookie and Muffin Mix for some of the ingredients?

This “favorite” recipe was a little unusual and I admit I was a little skeptical, but also intrigued. We were both amazed with the scrumptious results. Now, I must say that given all the carrots, walnuts and raisins we added, these muffins are not as light and fluffy as other muffins made with my Cookie and Muffin Mix. Still, topped with that little bit of tasty cream cheese frosting, they looked lovely, smelled wonderful and, as my friend with the sweet tooth noted, he did not even miss the extra sugar. Some of you had a chance to enjoy these carrot cake muffins last weekend and have asked for the recipe. So, as promised, here it is below.

Also, I’d like to add this note for our friends with diabetes: Since a good rule of thumb is to keep desserts to less than 100 calories, consider using mini muffin pans and adjust the cooking time. More nutritional information about the muffins appears below the recipe.

And yes, the muffin uses heart healthy olive oil. Nonetheless, I will be back in my kitchen developing a reduced-fat alternative as well. Come back to our website for further details. And in the meantime while our website is “still in the kitchen cooking,” enjoy our other recipes.
Carrot Cake Muffins Recipe

First, read the General Recipe Tips. Then, enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients:
- 1 box Marion’s Gluten-Free Cookie & Muffin Baking Mix
- 2 large eggs or equivalent egg replacer
- 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup of light Olive or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup of raisins
- 1 ½ cup grated carrots
- 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts

Directions:
- Line baking pan with paper cups or spray with GF baking spray.
- Grate and measure 1 ½ cups of carrots /about 2 medium size carrots.
- Chop and measure ½ cup of walnuts.
- Measure 1/3 cup of raisins.
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Place Marion’s Cookie and Muffin Mix in a bowl; add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder as well as chopped nuts and mix with whisk.
- Add egg and vegetable oil.
- Mix (with electric mixer) for 10 seconds at low speed and 1-2 minutes at high speed.
- Add chopped carrots, vanilla extract and mix for 30 second to 1 minute a medium speed.
- Using a spoon or medium size ice cream scoop, fill baking cups about ¾ full.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes depending on your oven. Do prick test after 20 minutes.
- Makes 12 delicious delightfully large muffins or 14 medium size muffins.

Nutritional info per large muffin: Calories: 256, Carbohydrate: 23 grams, Protein: 3 grams, Fiber: 2 grams, Fat: 18 grams; Diabetes Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1/2 Fruit and 3 Fat

Regular Reduced Fat Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:
- 8 oz of Philadelphia reduced fat cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons of margarine
- 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions:
- Mix ingredients together and decorate the carrot cake muffins.

A word about nutritional information and diabetes exchanges: Whether you have diabetes or are simply concerned about nutrition and weight control, nutritional information and diabetes exchanges help you make informed choices for fitting delicious treats into your meal plan. That’s why our future website will offer this information for the majority of standard recipes.

A word about the “good stuff” in these carrot cake muffins: At 68 grams, our large carrot cake muffins are a bit larger than the usual FDA serving size. Still, they are a bit lower in calories than most muffins you would purchase in a coffee shop or store. They also treat your taste buds to delicious flavor while treating your body to lower amounts of sugar and sodium, 8 grams of healthy whole grain per serving, and all-natural ingredients, and they bake with heart-healthy fats. As an extra touch for a very special breakfast or brunch, you may enjoy adding the cream cheese icing or a tablespoon of your own favorite reduced-sugar cream cheese.

Additional variations and suggestions:
• For moister muffins: Add 4 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce to the dough before baking.
• Vegan and low-cholesterol version: Replace the 2 eggs with 3 teaspoons of chia/salba seeds. (This reduces the calories per 68 gram muffin by 10 and results in a 0 gram Cholesterol delight when enjoyed without icing).
• Cut the calories in half: Make 24 mini muffins instead of 12 large muffins.
• Make ahead: These muffins freeze well for you to enjoy whenever you like.

Suggestions for enjoying iced muffins:
• Use half of the cream cheese icing recipe adding 50 calories per muffin. The little mini muffins in the photo were decorated with such half portion which was sufficient to experience the pleasure of the contrast of the soft cream cheese melting in your mouth against the wholesome muffin with nuts carrots and raisins.
• Replace some of the sugar with ½ portion of cream cheese icing with your preferred sweetener.
• Use your favorite low fat icing available in the grocery store as an alternative.