Saturday, November 26, 2011

Substitue Saturday: coffee creamer

Most creamers you buy in the store are made from oil & chemicals, yuck! They are full of artificial flavors, and even worse, hydrogenated oils. I found a few alternatives you may enjoy. 

1) Coconut milk creamer- a great option for dairy sensitive people.

2) I was very exited to see this! Coffee Mate has caught on to the "natural" trend & has come out with a new creamer with only 4 ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, & natural flavors. No more artificial stuff! It comes in 3 flavors: vanilla, caramel, & sweet cream. I have not tried it yet. Have you?
3) Make your own! I found this blog on Pinterest, which has homemade recipes for several yummy flavors. I want to try this!

Substituted so far...
  • Stevia or xylitol FOR: artificial sweeteners 
  • Cane sugar FOR: high fructose corn syrup  
  • Honey, maple syrup, molasses, agave, or fruit juice FOR: all refined sugars
  • Bragg's Liquid Aminos FOR: Soy Sauce
  • Peanut Butter w/ only peanuts & salt FOR: old school PB 
  • Fruit spread FOR: jelly or jam 
  • more natural coffee creamer FOR: the regular, store bought stuff

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Recipes I've tried recently

Either my crazy pregnant appetite or my new addiction to Pinterest is to blame for recent cooking sprees. Just wanted to share in case you're looking for something new to try. Clicking on each picture should take you to Pinterest where you can then go to the recipe.

Egg salad. This was pretty good & definitely healthier than most!

Pumpkin smoothie:  If you like pumpkin, you should like it. I did add a couple drops of Stevia, because it's not very sweet. K loved it for his breakfast.
Microwave coffee cake in a coffee mug! This is amazing. It's quick & easy & very tasty. I did sub plain yogurt for the sour cream & used whole wheat flour. If you're NOT pregnant, it's enough for two people. ;)

BBQ Pockets. These were also a hit. I would leave out the brown sugar next time, because they were a little too sweet. Not very healthy, but yummy.

Quiche: This was very tasty! I left out the onions & want to add mushrooms next time!

Creamy chicken pockets- Wow, these were the best! I can't wait to make them again. Again, not the healthiest, but very tasty!

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! I just attempted these, and they are wonderful. More like a bread than a cookie but still good.  I had to cook them a little longer- 13 min- or they were a little too doughy.
This is supposed to taste like cookie dough. It doesn't really, mostly because of the texture. But I like it. Not sure if I could eat a whole bowl, but it's really not bad for being healthy. I used maple syrup for the sweetener.










Saturday, November 19, 2011

Substitue Saturday: Sour cream

Sour cream isn't too bad, but there is something even healthier... plain yogurt. I always try to substitute yogurt when a recipe calls for sour cream. Personally, I have never had a problem substituting it straight, but some people swear you need to add a Tbsp. of corn starch, because yogurt is thinner than sour cream. You could avoid this problem, as well as add extra protein if you use Greek style plain yogurt instead! Yogurt has beneficial probiotics which help with digestion and immunity and has less fat & fewer artificial ingredients than sour cream!

Substituted so far...
  • Stevia or xylitol FOR: artificial sweeteners 
  • Cane sugar FOR: high fructose corn syrup  
  • Honey, maple syrup, molasses, agave, or fruit juice FOR: all refined sugars
  • Bragg's Liquid Aminos FOR: Soy Sauce
  • Peanut Butter w/ only peanuts & salt FOR: old school PB 
  • Fruit spread FOR: jelly or jam 
  • plain yogurt FOR: sour cream