ELaD FAQ

Here are our most frequently asked questions about our book, Eat Like a Dinosaur (ELaD):

My family’s not paleo, will this book work for us?

Yes! We created this book for our children, but more so we created this book for the hundreds of thousands of kids out there with food allergies and intolerances. We have friends in our lives who can’t have eggs, or nuts, or wheat, or casein and we wanted something available for them to them to feel special and excited about food, rather than excluded or bummed out.

This book will help all parents (even “normal” eaters) feel comfortable cooking. You’ll be able to know your kids are having fun, helping and learning in the kitchen and eating foods that nourish them. No need to dumb down their pallet or fill them with sugar or refined carbs! ELaD makes learning and cooking food fun for the entire family!

I’m not a kid. But I still want to buy your book.

Rock on! Get your ROAR on, dude! Because these recipes (most of them) are simple (designed for kids or for parents with toddlers pulling at their pant leg) it means they make great weeknight recipes. Matt and I eat them all the time – we recommend you do too!

What’s the deal with “sugar” in the book?

People see the word “sugar” and freak out. Please don’t. We address this on page 32 of the book, as well as in this post. Now, if this philosophy doesn’t work for you – no problem, there are PLENTY of recipes without any sweeteners or choose from one that uses only honey, maple syrup or fruit. But, “unrefined granulated sugar “can be things like date sugar, palm sugar or other less processed sources. The key is to think about how much you’re eating and how refined it is. If you’re using small amounts of naturally sourced sugar, your body should recognize it much like a piece of fruit.

We hope you realize, however, that these are still treats and they shouldn’t be eaten non-stop or thought of as a health food.

I’m allergic to nuts/eggs, are there any recipes in the book I can eat?

It’s no surprise that the base of most of our baking recipes are almond and egg based. These are the staples of paleo baking. However! We wrote and tested recipes a dozen different ways in an attempt to be allergen-friendly and are proud to say there are MANY egg and nut-free recipes. Our alternative recommendation is sunflower seed butter, so if you’re also allergic to sunflower seed butter you’ll be much more limited. The good news is, our allergen charts in the back of the book will help you find recipes that you can be assured will work for your allergies/intolerances.

When do I add shortening/butter in the Red Brownie Cupcake recipe?

Oops, we didn’t mean to leave this off the instruction list – too many late nights editing. You should add this with wet, but it won’t make a big difference if you add it at a different time.

My pie crust is soupy, what did I do wrong?

Nothing! This has everything to do with a simple editing error in the book. Use 1/4 cup coconut oil instead of 1/2 cup and it should come out perfectly. Sorry about the wet crust you would get with 1/2 cup!

When I make Anytime Cookies they’re wet and falling apart, what’s the deal?

Since this recipe is based on a fresh fruit puree, the wetness of the batter is based on the juiciness of the fruit you use. If your batter is very loose, it’s likely overly wet – but that’s OK! It just means the cookies will need to cook a few more minutes in the oven in order to dry the dough out. So, keep cooking in extra 2 minute increments until the center is no longer spongy.  This will likely be about another 5 minutes.

For an example of what this looks like and how to handle it, watch Lillian from Lillian’s Test Kitchen tackle wet Anytime Cookies below!

Shop with Stacy Toth for 20% on Clean Beauty use codeCLEANFORALL20 here