Friday, November 13, 2009 at 02:00 PM
Hello friends,
We wanted to go over some of the ingredients that we have been using in our recipes as well as provide you all with some substitutes.
Now many of these ingredients may be new to you or yes a little more expensive than SUGAR. But the health benefits out weight all that : ) We are fortunate enough that with our bakery we get to play around with these ingredients. So if you ever get the chance to play around with these ingredients we hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
At the end of the post we provide where you can get all these goodies!
Ingredient and substitution lesson with the twins:
grab a paper and pen 
Ready-
Here we go-
Coconut oil
Full of lauric acid, provides energy for the body, good fat, great for the metabolism and thyroid.
Common use: baking, cooking, face, smoothies, sauces, puddings, sports drinks, bars, any desserts
Substitutes: olive oil, soy butter (if you can tolerate soy), ghee (for non-vegans), palm oil
Yacon Syrup
Low-glycemic sugar, lower in calories then most sweeteners, taste like molasses and caramel, can improve digestive health due to containing prebiotic (which is the food for the good bacteria)
** yacon also comes in powder form
** it does have an unique flavor so it may take a few times to get used to the flavor although we LOVE IT!
Common use: replace honey or maple syrup, or any liquid sweetener (we like to use it more than agave because it has more health benefits than agave), add it to anything that you want a little bit more sweetness like smoothies, puddings, any desserts, fruit, sauces, dressings, nut milks
Substitutes: maple syrup, molasses, dark or light agave, honey
Lucuma powder
Low-glycemic sugar substitute, rich maple-like flavor, full of vitamins and minerals like beta caratone, niacin, calcium and iron
Common use: great in ice creams, yogurts, desserts, smoothies, puddings, pies, nut milks
Substitutes: maca powder, yacon powder, stevia (though will have to alter the ratio in recipes), nut flour, coconut flour, rice protein powder or hemp protein (though will need to add some other sweetness to the recipes)
Maca powder
Rich in amino acids, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals, increases energy, can help with endurance, supports the immune system and adrenal function (helps with stress) and we just love the flavor!! Gives things a malted flavor : )
Common use: desserts, pudding, smoothies, yogurt, ice cream, nut milks
Substitutes: lucuma, yacon powder, nut flour, coconut flour, rice protein and hemp powder (these will alter the taste and texture)
* we have discussed maca here before
Stevia
Zero- glycemic level, zero calorie, can improve digestion, excellent choice for those watching sugar and calories, comes in liquid or powder form
Common uses: drinks, smoothies, coffee,tea, any dessert (will have to alter the wet to dry ration), yogurt, puddings
Substitutes: although there really is no substitute if you using it for the reasons listed, although all the sweeteners list here would work, just have to alter the recipe
Dates/date paste
Natural sweetener, high in glucose (a carb for fuel), rich in fiber, full of calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, sulfur
Common uses: desserts, sauces, dressings, smoothies, puddings, snacks, bars, granola
Substitutes: dried figs, dried apricots, plus the other sweeteners listed above
Please keep in mind when you make substitutions in any recipe, not just ours, that we ask you to please use some common sense If they batter is dry add more liquid and vice versa. Example, if you use high fats nuts (walnuts) in your recipe, you can use less liquid due to the natural oil from the nuts. Or if you prefer stevia as your sweetener, whether liquid or powdered, you will need to “make up” for the volume missing, so either add more dry ingredients or liquid.
We hope these tips help, and you have any questions with using these different ingredients please email the twins at twins@pure2raw.com. We would love to help you out : )
Our favorite places to get our ingredients:
Here are some new places we have come across, we have not tried them yet, but look good!
And to continue on with our dessert theme week today is
RAW SMORE’S
Now Matthew Kenney has his recipe of this classic in his book Entertaining in the Raw. And our friend Shannon Marie has done her own twist on this dessert.
And we wanted to get in on the action…. We will see this later what we did. It is still in production. We will get the recipe and pictures to you as soon as it is ready!!!
Till next time,
The Twins
L&M
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Health, Raw Recipes, Theme Week
Tags: coconut oil, dates, desserts, lucuma powder, maca powder, raw desserts, raw smores, stevia, yacon syrup
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 08:26 PM
Well after a rough day dealing with sad family news, we did want to share our day with you. Just remember to enjoy each day and say I love you to your family and friends.
So we mentioned earlier that we wanted to talk about watermelons. Well we got one the other day and wanted to share some fun info about them.
What type of watermelon do you prefer, seeded or seedless?
In the stores and at the farmers markets you might see both kinds of watermelons. Every wonder the difference, well seedless watermelons are a hybrid of seeded watermelons. We prefer the seeded watermelons because they are more natural. Seeds are what make fruits, why do we want them without them?
Watermelons are mostly water. They do contain about 6% sugar and like some other fruits it is a good source of Vitamin C and iron. So enjoy watermelon while it is fresh!!
Did you know the rind is edible? Places like China use it in their cooking. Who knew?
Well we started our day with a red smoothie that was iron filled.
Red Iron Smoothie
Michelle enjoying her smoothie
A great smoothie for ladies during their menstruation or anyone that has low energy. We got this drink from one of our favorite books, Eating for Energy by Yuri Elkaim. It was very tasty!! The smoothie is made with strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, parsley, and lemon. So if you feel like you are low in iron do give this smoothie a try. It sure kept us going all morning baking in the kitchen.
We had some bakery orders today, but when all done we had lunch. We wanted something that would give us energy for our cardio day at the gym. We had some sprouted quinoa that we plan to make a raw pizza crust with later in the week, so thought we would make some raw quinoa pilaf. We sprouted the quinoa because we always eat buckwheat, so we are trying to incoporate quinoa. Got to get variety in the diet, right? Yes!
Quinoa is typically called a grain but it is actually a seed and is similar to spinach and swiss chard. It contains about 20-30% protein, so if you have family or friends that are worried you are not getting enough protein being vegan just eat more quinoa. It is also very delicious cooked, if you prefer.
Sprouted & dried quinoa
So we took about 3/4 cup srouted quinoa and dehydrated it till a bit crispy.
Salad toppers
Then placed into a bowl and stirred in chopped scallions, lemon grass, juilienne cucumber, fresh lime zest.
Juilienne Cucumber
Yacon Sauce
The sauce we poured over the quinoa was fresh lime juice, nutritional yeast, turmeric, paprika, sea salt, yacon syrup.
Raw Quinoa salad topped with Natural Zing's Black Sesame Seeds
Then placed the quinoa over mixed greens and poured over our dressing and topped with more lime zest and black sesame seeds. It was simple yet had lots of flavor. Lime and lemongrass are 2 of our favorite flavors, so together it was pretty good. Next time we might tweak the recipe a bit.
We did some work around the place…organizing, cleaning…then time for cardio at the gym. Today our workout was walking up hill.
Warmup:
5 mins – 4.0 at 5% incline
5 mins – 4.0 at 8% incline
Climb
10 mins – 4.0 at 10% incline
10 mins – 4.0 at 11% incline
10 mins – 4.0 at 12% incline
10 mins- – 4.0 at 13% incline
10 mins – 4.9 at 15% incline
Cool Down
5 min – slow walking till heart rate decreases
We got back home and still had energy so we did some jump training (we used to do these exercises for volleball, great for the legs), ab work, handstands, and pushups. By now we were starving, so we made a yummy post workout shake.
Post Vega workout shake
Had some more cleaning and organzing to do then packaged up some gluten free vegan and raw goodies for the grandparents. It was surprise!! Cannot wait to hear from the tomorrow.
Don’t you just love surprises?? We do!!
After dropping off package at Fed-ex, we came back in got right back into the kitchen. Made 2 rounds of raw cheez crackers and 2 rounds of raw herb crackers. Two very popular items at the farmers market. All trays are full in the dehydrator. Place smells amazing! Very hard to resist eating them : )
We ended our day with a green peach smoothie. Okay well we actually ended our day with a raw cacaco cherry cupcake with coconut butter frosting…YUMMY!!! Chocolate just makes everything better.
Raw Cacao Cherry Cupcakes
So yummy!!
We will leave you with this…
Till next time
The Twins
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Raw Recipes
Tags: Eating for Energy, lemongrass, Natural Zing, quinoa, raw cupcakes, Vega, watermelons, yacon syrup, Zico
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 08:10 AM
Figs with raw caramel sauce
We love fresh figs and there are starting to pop at the farmers markets and at Whole Foods. Dried figs are available year round but nothing bets the fresh taste of a fig. Fresh figs season usually runs from June till September, but this depends on where you live and where the figs are coming from.
Some benefits of fresh figs:
- good source of potassium, which helps control blood pressure
- promote a healthy bowel function
- alkaline which helps regulates PH levels of the body
- high in fiber, so can aid in weigh loss
- low in sugar, although dried figs have high in sugar
Figs range in color and texture depending on the variety you get. The two most popular kinds of figs that you probably see in the stores are Black Mission and Brown Turkey.Black mission are blackish in color with pink flesh. Here is a picture of black mission figs:
Brown Turkey have purple skin with red flesh. Some other ones you might come across are calimyrna (greenish-yellow skin with amber flesh), adriatic (light green skin with pink-tan flesh), and kadota ( green skin with purplish flesh). If you live in California you are lucky because more variety is available.
When choosing fresh figs look for ones that are plump and tender, have a deep rich color, free of bruises, and are not mushy. You can also smell the figs, you want a sweet fragrance not sour. They do not have a long shelf, so try to eat them 2-3 days of purchasing.
There are many things you can do with fresh figs. Last night we sliced up some fresh black mission and topped it with a simple raw caramel sauce. Okay, our version of caramel sauce. In a bowl mix :
- coconut oil (we use Artisana from Premier Organics)
- yacon syrup (we use Navitas Naturals)
- cinnamon (we just recently received samples from Singing Dog’s Red Ape Cinnamon)
Mix till well combined and the pour over figs. Enjoy!
Another ways of enjoying figs are eating them plain as a snack or throw into your smoothies. You can slice them up and put on salads, porridge, and oatmeal. If you eat goat cheese, they pair well. As add them to your quinoa dishes, they will add a bit of sweetness to your meal. For bakers, you can make bars, cakes, tarts, and muffins. This week at the farmers market we will be selling fig cupcakes…yum.
I hope you can start incorporating figs into your diet. Please share what creations, we would love to hear what you come up with.
Have a great day
The Twins
Lori and Michelle
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Raw Recipes
Tags: black mission figs, coconut oil, figs, yacon syrup
