“As soon as the Thanksgiving dinner plates are cleared, I am thinking about gingerbread,” says Nutritious Life’s spice mix guru chef Charla Contreras. “It’s one of the flavors I can’t get out of my head.”
Contreras is a Nutritious Life Certified chef and health coach with a stacked resume—she’s been a private chef for prominent families, ran a meal delivery company, and even competed on Cook Your Ass Off (where she met our founder Keri, who was a judge!) and season 12 of Chopped.
So it’s no surprise that instead of just buying a box of gingerbread cookies to satisfy her flavor craving, she came up with a much more innovative solution.
Contreras’ gingerbread spice blend is a mix of antioxidant-rich, warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, and clove. It takes two minutes to make and then you can keep a jar of it handy all season long.
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Once it’s ready, the possibilities extend way beyond adding it to sugar-bomb cookies (even if those little men are super cute!).
“You can you sprinkle on full-fat yogurt, on top of an almond milk latte, in overnight oats, in your favorite bliss ball recipe, on a grain-free granola bar, or on roasted carrots all year long,” Contreras says.
And okay, there’s no science behind this, but we have a sneaking suspicion that sniffing the jar during moments of intense holiday stress will totally help get you back into a happy, festive head space.
More ways to spice up your cooking like chef Carla:
How to Make Your Own Delicious Taco Spice Mix
How to Make Trader Joe’s Everything Bagel Seasoning at Home
(Photos: Carla Contreras)