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Replacement for Traditional Cookie Baking


CaGirl

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I have to disagree with you a bit, MeadowLily. Hopefully I can explain myself well enough you can understand where I'm coming from.

 

The suggestion that we should buy our friends/family/coworkers coconut shreds, aminos, oil, and vinegar...just doesn't work for me. Everyone is in a different place, and you giving them a gift that, honestly, most wouldn't even know what it was, let alone how to use it without significant amount of research is rather crass. If you have a paleo pal then absolutely, by all means, get them the expensive coconut aminos so they can have Asian-inspired foods. But giving, say, your mailman a bottle of coconut aminos for Christmas (especially if you don't include a recipe card with your favorite recipe using it...but honestly, even then!) is just plain wrong.

 

The problem is that you can't make someone care any more or less about what they're eating. It's why the Hartwigs say you should never try to force someone else into doing a Whole 30, why you shouldn't just tell every random stranger about the program. They'll tune you out, ignore you, avoid you in the future.

 

Giving someone a "Whole 30 compliant" ingredient like you suggested isn't going to work for, say, my mother. She 100% will. not. try. new. foods. Even if I make them for her in her house and everyone else eats it in front of her, she won't try the parsnips in my roasted veggie medley. If I bought her coconut aminos they'd go into a shelf in her pantry and only get used when I visit every few years (which might be nice, but is 100% no the point of a Christmas gift). It won't make her try a Whole 30, won't help to spread the word about the program in a positive manner, and will actually probably do more harm than good.

 

Christmas is about treating others nicely, giving them things that they will appreciate. A sugar/salt scrub would be nice, as was discussed above. A delicious candle would be nice. Even a Paleo treat, which you can give them and actually join them in eating (since I'm guessing, for most of us, we don't get to eat the treats other people have like 99% of the time) would be fabulous. Bonus points - if it tastes good, they might ask for the recipe and maybe you can get them to stop eating one of their less-healthy treats and instead eating one that's more-healthy. It's not perfect, but if your Paleo cookies inspire Aunt Edna to make gluten-free cookies with dried fruit and a touch of honey instead of her "starts with 1.5 cups of butter, adds 1.5 cups of brown and white sugar" chocolate chip cookies, isn't that a win? And you're still keeping relationships alive to be further influenced by you in the future.

 

TL;DR: the holidays, even according to the Hartwigs, are a time to relax and not worry about being 100% compliant if you haven't made a deliberate decision to do a Whole 30 over the holiday. Love those around you where they are, not where you think they should be. And please, don't waste your money buying expensive Whole 30 ingredients for those who wouldn't appreciate them. Save the money and buy them for yourself and laugh during your next Whole 30 about how much you enjoy having (insert item here).

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Oh, MrsStick you said it all! Let's not make our dear ones feel bad about themselves on Christmas eve, just so we can one-up them with our superior nutrient intake.

 

Besides I enjoy baking and I get a lot of pleasure out of making traditional Swedish saffron buns and ginger bread from scratch with my daughters, even if I don't eat it myself. I don't think it is the few homemade cookies on a Sunday in December that are derailing our friends' and relatives' health. It is more likely to be the cheap extra value pack of processed cookies eaten in front of the TV at night.

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My husband had a coworker that made christmas ornaments and gave them out each year.  They were darling.  I don't know if she got them in a kit or just came up with them herself.  I really enjoyed them because you never knew what she would make.  It's festive and lasts a lot longer than cookies.

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