Honey

The first thing about sweeteners that we'd like to establish is that eating less sweetener of any kind is better for you. You will be healthier if you eat less sugar. End of story. I've been trying to cut down on using sweeteners in my cooking, and I feel like it's helping. And when I eat less sugar, I don't feel like I crave eating it as much. It's cyclical. I recommend gradually cutting down the amount of sugar and sweeteners in your diet, no matter what sweetener you choose to use. (I think eating a special treat now and then is ok too)

I prefer natural to artificial sweeteners. Honey has been my sweetener of choice as of late. I like it because I feel it is sweeter, so I can use less of it than sugar in my recipes. I choose raw honey, which is less processed than other honeys.

Honey has been shown to have some antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties to it. Some people believe that eating locally-grown honey also helps with allergies, but that hasn't been proven scientifically. I also believe that your body better processes natural ingredients (like raw honey) better than processed ingredients (like white sugar), not to mention that is better for the environment.

When choosing honey, make sure you buy your honey from a good source. You want to be sure that you are getting a pure honey.

When substituting honey for sugar in recipes, lower cooking temperature 25 degrees, since baked goods brown more quickly with honey. I usually substitute 1/2 or 2/3 c. honey for 1 c. sugar. Also you can decrease the amount of liquid in your recipe by 1/4 c.

Other options for natural sweetners.

• 100% Fruit Juice
• Molasses
• Pure Maple Syrup
• Date Sugar (Ground Dates)
• Dried Fruit
• Stevia
  
• Brown Rice Syrup
• Agave Nectar
• Coconut Sugar
  

image from here

Healthy Power Bars in a Ball

This is for some of you that are looking for something healthy to eat during the holiday week end. The other option is eat it after the weekend after you are sick of the candy. =) This is loaded with lots of great nutrition in one ball. It could be a great snack, quick breakfast, or alternative for dessert.

I had a free sample the other day of some kind of "Healthy" bar that felt like it was going to break my teeth. There are a lot of "Healthy treats" or "Power bars" that are not healthy--read the labels. I am finding it is a lot cheaper and safer to make my own. I like all the textures in these balls. I hope you enjoy it as well. The nice thing is when you eat ones of these, it is very satisfying.

Ingredients

3 C Dates
4 C 6-grain rolled oats or oatmeal (the oatmeal would make it gluten free)
1 C Unsweetened coconut
1/4 C Chia (optional)
1/4 C Ground flax
1/4 C Cashews, chopped fine
1/4 C Almonds, chopped fine
1/4 C Sesame seeds
1/4 C pumpkin seeds
2 T Peanut butter
1/2 C Coconut oil
2 T Cinnamon (other spices could be good too)
1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

1. Put dates in a bowl with enough water to cover them. I have some harder dates so I left them in about 20-30 minutes.

2. Drain water into another bowl and pour dates into a blender and blend. You want it to be a paste when you are finished. You can use some of the water you drained off to help make the paste if your dates did not absorb enough. Add a little at a time. You don't want it to be runny. The goal is a thick, smooth consistency.

3. Then pour the date mixture and all the remaining ingredients into the bowl. Mix until all combined. Roll into balls. The recipe made 28 balls. Put them in the freezer to harden on a cookie sheet. I freeze the ones I can't eat right away in zip lock bags.

Feta vegetable Dip

This is a great dip that my daughter introduced me to. Every time I serve it, it is enjoyed by all. Avocados are 3 for$1 a lb. at Sunflower market till Wed.. Or price match that price at Walmart till Wed. They have the good fat in them. You can adjust the recipe to your preference.

Ingredients:

3-4 Avocados cut in pieces
7-8 Tomatoes cut in pieces
1/4 to 1/3 C of Purple onion cut in pieces
3/4 C Feta Cheese Broken into small pieces
1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Stir gently if you want the avocado to stay in pieces and not get mushy. I have done it both ways. Both ways taste great. It was a great way to use more of my Roma tomatoes. :)Yum!

Whole Grain No Knead Foccacia Bread

It was fun to make a whole grain Foccacia, and have it turn out great ! This is what the dough looked like after it had rested for 10 hours. The rest part is suppose to add to the flavor to the bread.
This is the step after the bread has raised. I then put Italian spices and olive oil on it.
This is the finished product. It was fun to use the green onion and Roma tomatoes from the garden. I was pleased that the tomatoes didn't make the bread soggy. I drained off the juice from the tomatoes after I chopped them up.

1 2/3 C Warm Water
1 1/2 C Spelt flour Mixture *
1 C Whole Wheat Flour (If you want to keep it gluten free use all Spelt Mix)
1/2 C white flour 
1/4 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Salt
Olive Oil
Italian seasonings
Toppings such as 5-6 Green onion chopped, 5-6 Roma Tomatoes chopped, Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese

1. In large bowl combine the Water, 2 C Flour, yeast and Salt. Stir until all moistened. Then cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature. 12- 24 Hours. I did mine for 10 hours it turned out great.

2. Stir in the remaining 1 C of flour, until all mixed in. I may have used a couple Tablespoons less than it called for. You don't want your dough too dry.

3. Line a 15 x 10 X 1 baking pan with parchment paper. Brush paper with olive oil

4. Put Olive Oil on your hands. Get the dough out of the bowl, rub the olive oil on to the dough off your hands. Then press into pan. I used a small roller I had to help roll it out. It was a very easy process.

5. Then let rest until nice and puffy. 1 to 1- 1 1/2 Hours. I did it less maybe 35 min. I wanted to get it done faster. It got puffy pretty fast. It will depend on the temperature of where it is raising. I put mine in my upper oven. While the lower oven heated up.

6. Heat the oven up to 400. You want the oven nice and hot.

7. After the dough puffs up. I pocked indentations in the dough with my finger tips, to make pockets for the olive oil. Then brush on the olive oil. Then I shook on the Italian spices.

8. I then cooked the bread about 10 min. then I put on the vegetables. I shook on some salt and pepper too. Then I cooked it about 10 min. Then I put on the Parmesan Cheese. Then let it cook till it was lightly golden, about 10 more minutes. Times are approx. You can try your own favorite toppings.

It was a easy process. Especially the mixing part. It is fun to know that I can make whole grain Foccacia. Hooray! Success!

*Spelt Mix I had ground 5 C Spelt 2 C. Kamut 1 C Brown Rice 1 C Oat Groats. I make extra and store it in my freezer till I need. It is best freshly ground. I like the convince of having some ready to go when I need it.

Barley Pilaf

This was a nice side to the salmon we were eating for dinner. It was fun way to get the grains in with the meal. Doing something different than your normal brown rice. It tasted good as well. Easy!

3 C Warm Water*
1 1/2 C Barley Hulled*
1 T Chicken Seasonings
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Whole onion chopped small pieces
1 Small can of mushroom pieces (drained)
3/4 C Grated Carrots *Optional
4 Green Onions chopped in small pieces (The green part adds nice color)
1/4 C Finely Chopped up Almonds or Slivered Almonds

I used my pressure cooker (You could cook on the stove. Boiling water first or in a Rice cooker) I poured in the water, Barley, Spices, Mushrooms and Onions. I set it on 17 min on high pressure. Then let it sit 15-30 min. Before I opened it. Then I added the green onions and the Almonds.
Serve!

*You could replace some of the water with Chicken or vegetable broth.
* I didn't do the carrots this time.
* (Pearled Barley would cook faster but not as much nutrition. )

Healthy Date Apricot Bars

This is very yummy! I loved the way it tasted sweet,without adding a lot of sweetener. It had a good healthy taste to it. It could be eaten as a dessert, or for breakfast etc.. There are lots of possibilities. :)

1 C chopped dates
4 Apricots chopped (I had some in the freezer) *
3/4 C water
1 1/2 C Rolled Oats
1 C Wheat flour
1/2 C Unsweetened shredded Coconut
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 C Honey
1/3 C Coconut oil or butter

1. In a small saucepan, combine dates, water and apricots. Cook mixture until it comes to a boil. Reduce to medium heat simmer, uncovered for about 5 min until all soft and combined. It will be a nice thick mixture. Set aside.

2. In bowl combine oats, flour, honey, coconut, baking soda, salt, and cut in the coconut oil, until it is all blended. Pat half of it into a 8-in square greased pan. Drop date mixture on next. Gently pat remaining flour mixture on top. Bake at 350 about 20 min or till golden brown. Cool and cut into bars. Yum!


* Dried apricots should work also.

My daughter said it tasted like oatmeal with brown sugar on it.

9 Grain Bread

Doesn't that dough look great?

1 1/2 c. uncooked 7 grain cereal
2 c. hot water
1 c. wheat flour
2 T honey
2 T coconut oil or oil of your choice
1 tsp salt

1. Stir together and let sit till water cools, to lukewarm. Then stir in 2 T. Yeast. Let sit till it starts to sponge about 15 min.

2. Then add :

2 eggs
4 c. spelt flour
1 T gluten powder

3. Knead together with your machine, for no more than 4 min. (Spelt flour does not perform well when it is over-kneaded.) Let double in the bowl. I rubbed some oil on it. Cover with a towel.

4. Punch down and form into loaves. I made one 2 lb loaf and about 6 rolls. Let rise until double.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 to 25-30 minutes, depending on the size of your loaf and your oven. It smelled so good while it was baking. One of my children even mentioned that. The taste was wonderful. Enjoy!


*I used a 7 grain mix I have that has Rye, Barley, Millet, Quinoa, Amaranth, Buckwheat and Oat Groats that I ground into flakes. You can find a variety of grain cereals already flaked.

Pumpkin-Apple Bread

I decided to try something new today. :) I have been a rut using some of the same grains. So today I used soft wheat. ( I had got it a while back and never used it. Not high in gluten) I also tried out buckwheat flour. I was happy with how they performed. :) It doesn't have to be fall to use pumpkin. I love pumpkin bread!

2 C Buckwheat flour or Wheat
2 C Soft Whole Wheat or Hard Wheat
1/2 C Sugar (I Used Sucanat It was not sweet )
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin spice
2 eggs
1 C buttermilk (I used reg, milk and added 2 Tbsp. of vinegar. Let it set while I got flour mixed)
2 apples cored and grated
1 C pumpkin
powdered sugar (to dust loaf with)

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease 2 9x5 pans.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Beat wet ingredients together add to dry mixture. Mix just until moistened. Do not over mix. (I pulsed the chopped apples and milk in the blender till the apple was in small pieces. It was a quicker process, then grating the apple : )

4. Pour into pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean. Around 1 hour.

5. Cool on cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar.

6. I think these quick breads tasted the best the 2ND day. :) My daughter said a great addition would be 1 C. Dark Chocolate chips. I agree with her. I will try that next time. You could use a cream cheese spread too. The texture was wonderful! No fat or oil in it. except the fat in the milk.

* I got the Soft White Wheat as a healthy alternative to white flour. I am happy so far.

wholegrain low gluten tortillas

My friend Jeanie told me about making tortillas at home. I got excited about it because I have been disappointed by the taste, the price, and the ingredients in the so-called "healthy" ones. So I bought an All pro electric tortilla maker and tried it out. It took a few attempts :( but practice paid off. My family was pleased with the outcome this time. It tasted good and was healthy as well. These were even low gluten. I am not an expert, but I am having fun. I have new respect for the ladies that make them at Cafe Rio. :) Thanks, Jeanie!

2 C. whole grain flour (I ground 5 c spelt 2 c kamut 1 c brown rice and 1 c. oat groats) or Wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 T olive oil
1 C. warm water

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together, in medium bowl.

2. Add oil and water. Mix till combined. Knead lightly. I put oil on my hands and added a little bit of flour.

3. I let it sit in the bowl for 30 min.

4. Form into walnut size balls. I put oil on my hands again, and rubbed it on the ball. The thing that made the difference today was keeping the dough really moist. Roll out and bake on a griddle or pan or a tortilla maker. Everyone likes their tortillas a little different. Be patient with it. Fill them with your favorite fillings. :)

Multigrain Energy Bars

• 

1C. Chopped almonds (food processor)
1/2 C. Sesame seeds
1C. 7 Grain rolled oat Cereal (You can buy in bulk in healthy food stores.)
4 1/4 C. Old fashioned oats
1/2 C. Sunflower seeds
1/4 C. Flax seed (ground) *Optional
1/4 C. Chia (ground) *Optional
1 C. Honey
3/4 C. Water
1 C. Dried cherries (or dried fruit of your choice)
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2 C. Natural peanut butter
1/2 Unsweetened coconut
2tsp.Vanilla extract


1. Toast the oats, 7 grain rolled cereal, almonds chia,flax and sunflower seeds in oven at 300 degrees. Stir often till light golden brown.
2. Put cherries in a food processor chop into pieces.
3. Mix oat mixture and dried fruit together, till completely blended.
4. Then add oat mixture to water, honey (I heated the honey), and peanut butter, add coconut , salt and vanilla. Mix till all blended. 5. Firmly press into a jelly roll pan. Compress to make it all level. You can use a spatula. Allow to sit till firm.
6. A great healthy snack. I loved the peanut butter flavor. You could add chocolate chips too. :)

Soy Sauce Alternative

Post Edit--Thanks to Jodee, I realized that the soy sauce serving size is 1 Tablespoon, which means that the soy sauce actually has a little less sodium than the liquid aminos. But she also notes that liquid aminos is still a great natural choice and that she often dilutes it since it has such a strong flavor. That's probably a good idea even if you use soy sauce!


Does anyone else hate how much sodium is in soy sauce? I love a good Chinese meal, but I can't get over how bad the sauces are for me. Here's the nutrition facts of soy sauce:



920mg in 1 teaspoon? Goodness gracious. Thankfully, I found a substitute. Here it is:




Liquid Aminos. I was able to purchase it at my local health foods store. But wait till you take a look at the nutrition facts.



Now, take note that the serving size is different. The Liquid Aminos says 1/2 teaspoon is a serving while the soy sauce says 1 teaspoon, but even still, the sodium content in the Liquid Aminos is 1/3 what is in soy sauce. Even better, my family and I can't taste a difference between the two!

Now that's what I call a healthy choice!