I said in one of my previous blogs we'll hit upon natural sweeteners. As healthy as I thought I was, I just threw out all my Splenda Packets. I'm not going to even go into how bad Splenda, Equal, Nurta-Sweet, and Sweet'N Low is for you. Aspartame which is in Equal and Nutra-Sweet can actually be digested by the body - recent studies show that it can result in an accumulation of formaldehyde in the brain and can cause damage to your central nervous system and immune system - lovely huh? A few great natural sweeteners out there are Agave Nectar, Maple Syrup, Sucanat (sugar cane natural) which retains it's vitamins and minerals , Turbinado (100% cane sugar), brown rice syrup, made from fermented rice grain - good for the body's mineral balance, Stevia from the stevia or sugarleaf plant - (300 times the sweetness of sugar) good for people on low carbohydrate, low sugar diet, and Truvia which is made of Erythritol (natural sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in fruits and fermented foods) and Rebiana (from the leaf which is considered the best tasting part of the stevia plant), Xylitol (from US grown brich trees), Raw Honey( I buy Really Raw Honey - easily absorbed and known as a natural laxative), and Coconut Palm sugar (like brown sugar or molasses). I'm sure the list goes on, please feel free to recommend more!!
TAKE AWAY:
A great cookie recipe that I got from Candle Cafe Cookbook's is their Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, I changed it a bit and added a lot of yummy, healthy extras...I have shared these cookies with my friends, clients, class members - they have been asking me for the recipe - here it is!!
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour (I used quinoa flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 sea salt, fine grained
1/2 safflower oil (I used grape seed oil)
1 cup pure maple syrup (I used 1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 tablespoon egg replacer - 1 part flaxseeds, 2 part warm water - blended in blender
the recipe then calls for 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used 85% cocoa chocolate bar chunks and/or dark chocolate chips)
I added shredded unsweetened coconut, dried cranberries, and walnuts (can use raw almonds)...
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flours, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, 1/4 cup of water, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extracts, and egg replacer and stir well to combine. Fold in handful of dark chocolate chips/choc. bar chunks, dried cranberries, shredded coconut, walnuts...
- Spoon tablespoons of batter on baking sheet 3 inches apart. Can flatter batter with back of wet spoon.
- Bake until lightly browned - 10-15 minutes
ENJOY!!!
I am so happy to hear you have taken artificial sweetners out of your life, they are not good for you and the more you learn about them the more you'll see links to lots of health problems. I'm evan happier to hear you talking about the state of animal's used for food. Have you read all of slaughter house yet? EVERYONE should read this book. It is very powerful and very important, even if you are not an animal lover. The treatment of animals and workers is outrageous! Not to mention the condition of health the animals can be in and still be slaughterd for food.
ReplyDeleteI read excerpts from "The Slaughterhouse" and could not believe what I read! The conditions and treatment of these animals, like you said are horrible and these factory workers don't care and either does big business. I truly feel we are all duped and need to start taking our own health into our hands - if you are going to eat meat - which I don't think I'm going to eat beef or chicken again - then go to a farm and know who you are buying it from. You really can't trust anybody but yourself when it comes to your health. Thanks so much for your comment!!!
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