More on Agave Syrup...

OK, so I am hearing more and more about this controversial sweetener. My understand is, that when this was first introduced, it was in fact a good alternative to table sugar. However, it became popular so fast that a lot of companies make it highly processed now- why not more and faster is best right? BUT I have heard that there still are some makers of agave with integrity. So- here's my suggestion if you love your agave: call the companies. Ask them if it's truly raw organic agave syrup or if it's processed. Not that hard right? The brand I used to use, Wholesome, is to my knowledge one of the companies that makes it highly processed.

I liked this article too:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/is-agave-good-or-bad/

And this goes for any product. If you buy Kashi crackers and you're questioning the canola oil... call them and ask about it! Better to know for sure what is in our food then to ignore or even deny ourselves of it if it's fine in the long run.

Just a journey... I learn something new every day. :)

Just A Journey....

I always say that healthy living is a journey. It is just so true. You learn as you go, making necessary changes to meet the current needs of your family. Every day is another step! Recently, I have been learning about sweeteners- as you know. Sucanat has come up several times in the last few weeks and today I finally sat down to research it online. It looks like a great alternative to brown sugar, which for us is great because my Hubby is not a huge fan of brown sugar. Enter- sucanat! So here is just one more journey in our life of healthy living. Trying it out. Stay tuned.

Change Can Be Sweet....

Ok, so I have gone through my recipe collection and made necessary changes in hopes to mostly discontinue the use of agave nectar. Not 100%, but mostly. So I am now experimenting with raw honey, sucanat and stevia, and of course there is the easy way out- cane sugar! So, I obviously have not made all of these recipes in the last 2 weeks, just figured out the conversion. So I am asking that if you try anything using the new stevia, honey or cane sugar suggestions, please comment and let us all know how it worked for you! I have had much success with honey- however, for some reason, not with my banana muffin recipe! And I tried a new recipe today trying to come up with an accurate conversion for honey into stevia.....did not turn out sweet enough....I will continue experimenting and keep all of you posted on good and bad results. I appreciate your patience, as the Boheens can only eat so many muffins! My freezer is stocked! :) I am also learning that Sucanat is a good subsitute for brown sugar.

I am very excited for this push to try out stevia. I had wanted to a long time ago, knowing it was one of the best natural sweeteners there was! Agave was just easier....so here's to the push! And may all our muffins be delish.
:)

Learning About Stevia...

Found this conversion chart so now I can start my experimenting!

Sugar Amount........................................1 cup/1 Tbsp/1 Tsp

Equivilent Stevia powdered extract..1 Tsp/1/4 Tsp/a pinch to 1/16 Tsp

Equivilent Stevia liquid concentrate..1 Tsp/6-9 drops/2-4 drops


Honey works great too, just cut it down a bit (about 1/2 cup to every cup sugar). Also learning about Sucanat... seems like a good substitution for brown sugar (use the same amount).

Agave Nectar Highly Processed???

So recently we have been doing some deeper research on agave nectar. What we found is not what we were hoping for. This product has seemed to represent itself in a deceiving way, seeing that it is raw agave right? Wrong. The process in making this sweet syrup is very involved, making it not very raw at all! It is so processed and hydrolyzed, it becomes high in fructose, which is one of the worst ways you can get sugar! Ugh!

So where to go from here... well, we will be experiementing with Stevia and also using plain ol' good raw honey for sweetening. As far as agave goes, I am going to try to discontinue using it. I will say, however, that if you are diabetic, I would probably still recommend agave over Splenda or Nutrasweet. And if this news makes you want to go back to white refined sugar- don't! Use raw cane sugar instead.

More details to come. Bear with me as I make this transition!