Recipe for a Healthy Real Estate Agent: Nancy Addison’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Anyone working in real estate will tell you for a fact that the job requires good health. It’s next to impossible to keep up with the demands of the work without the physical stamina, mental acumen, and positive outlook that come with health and fitness.

Meet Dallas’ Nancy Addison, a real estate agent who has found healthy eating to be the key to her success in resolving issues and providing the abundance of energy she needs to be a go-getter in the fast-paced world of residential sales. In fact, in addition to being a successful agent with Allie Beth Allman & Associates, Addison is a nutrition expert. She has written a number of books on the subject to help others seeking the right foods to maximize their health. Here’s her story, along with a gift from Addison — a recipe for the vegan, chocolate chip cookies she makes for her real estate open houses:

Nancy Addison was raised in a Park Cities home on cooking that was conventional and thought to be wholesome at the time. In reality, it was anything but healthy. Her interest in nutrition began when she was a young mother and a number of issues came to the forefront. An overdose of penicillin as a child had left her anemic. Two pregnancies in quick succession led to extreme weight gain and triggered diabetes. Her father was diagnosed with cancer. An awareness of abusive farming practices and ecological concerns began to trouble her. When all these things came together, Addison began researching healthy eating and experimenting with a plant-based diet. The improvement she saw in her own health and vitality convinced her to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, but she’s the first to say individuals should consult with a doctor to ensure they are getting adequate nutrients on any diet. “What’s right for me might not be right for someone else. Everyone should find what makes them feel best,” she notes.

Initially, she was a stay-at-home mom who managed a busy household. That included renovating two historic homes: one, a circa-1915 Park Cites house; the second, a four-story, 6,000-square-foot Swiss Avenue-area house dating to 1908. Once her children were ready for college, she launched her real estate career, leveraging the many contacts she had made through volunteer work and the expertise she gained in home renovation to quick success. Her third transaction was the sale of a $4.8 million Preston Hollow home that brought recognition and a strong following.

Her experience in designing, working with architects, and overseeing her own renovations was invaluable when she made the leap to helping others to see potential when they looked at homes. She credits the length of time she’s been in Dallas with her broad knowledge of the market, especially the historic areas of Dallas. “I do everything from small condos to single-family houses to business office spaces,” said Addison. This year she closed homes in Preston Hollow, the M Streets, and North Dallas.

Along the way, she has continued to study and gain dietary-related credentials. The inspiration for her first nutrition book came about when her she realized that many of her children’s friends had adopted vegetarianism, but not in a good way. “They were eating vegetarian, true, but it was junk food”, she notes. Her response to the need she saw for better information was How to Be a Healthy Vegetarian; The Healthy Vegetarian Guide and Recipe Book, published in 2012. Other books have followed, as she learned more and developed recipes to suit healthy diets for children, weight-loss, and diabetes patients.

Nancy Addison’s Nutrition Books: 

• How to Be a Healthy Vegetarian, Second Edition
• Diabetes and Your Diet (which is Gluten Free, Vegan, Raw)
• Raising Healthy Children; Health and Nutrition Information, Recipes, and Resources (which is not all-vegetarian) 

 

She practices the lifestyle she preaches. A vegetarian for more than 30 years now, her pantry and refrigerator are filled with whole grains and seeds, nut oils, and fresh produce — much of which comes from a backyard organic garden. She uses natural, nontoxic cleaning supplies, soaps, and cosmetics. Her books include lengthy source guides to help others implement the lifestyle she promotes. Her interest in healthy lifestyle fits in nicely with her work in real estate. “It is easy for me to look at a home, see what needs to be improved (de-cluttering, adding some color, cleaning it up, all adds to making people’s lives healthier and happier) on for selling it quickly and easily. It is actually holistic to have your home be in sync with your health. It reflects your life,” said Addison. Her books are available on Amazon. Regarding real estate, you can reaching her on her website.

Open houses she hosts include home-baked vegan, gluten-free chocolate chips cookies made from a recipe that she graciously shares with us today:

Vegan/Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

These high-protein, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies have a rich and hearty flavor. The recipe makes approximately two dozen. 

Ingredients:

1     cup pure, extra-virgin, organic coconut oil

6     tablespoons unsweetened organic applesauce (or pureed sweet potato)

2     tablespoons  pure vanilla extract

1     and 1⁄4 cups raw date sugar (or fine-grain xylitol)

2     cups organic, sprouted garbanzo bean flour

1     teaspoon baking soda

1     teaspoon unrefined sea salt

1     and 1⁄2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1     cup organic bittersweet chocolate chips

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

(Line baking sheets with parchment paper.)

1. In a large bowl, mix oil, applesauce (or pureed sweet potato), vanilla, and sugar together well.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, sea salt, and xanthan gum.
3. Using a rubber spatula, slowly add dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and stir until grainy dough is formed.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
5. Using a teaspoon, scoop cookie dough onto the prepared baking pans. Space them about an inch apart. Using a fork, gently press cookies down slightly.
6. Bake cookies in the center rack for about 15 minutes. Check the bottom of a cookie to see if it is lightly brown. When the bottoms are lightly brown, they are ready.
7. Take cookies out of the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, and then transfer each cookie to a cooking rack to cool completely.
8. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

NOTE: If using xylitol, be aware that like chocolate, xylitol is toxic to pets. This recipe is an excerpt from the book: Raising Healthy Children by Nancy Addison. The book provides sources for hard-to-find ingredients.