Raw Cacao plus Pomegranate and Acai Powders by Navitas Naturals
A sweet tooth doesn't have to lead you to a poor diet. Elizabeth Stein has tested hundreds of recipes in her work as a holisitic nutrition counselor and founder of Purely Elizabeth, and she joined us today on Whole Living to share five basic ingredient swaps that can move cakes, cookies, and brownies into the category of a healthy indulgence.
- Swap in ground flax seeds for eggs - Reduce cholesterol and boost omega 3s by replacing each egg in a recipe with a mix of 1 tb ground flax seeds soaked in 3 tb water for 3 to 5 minutes. Experiment with replacing one egg at a time to see how it works for your favorite recipes.
- Swap in raw cacao for refined chocolate - Same (or even better) taste, and raw cacao has the most antioxidants of any food on the planet.
- Swap in palm sugar for refined sugar – A 1 to 1 replacement, palm sugar is a naturally low glycemic index food (half that of cane sugar) that has potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron to boot. Don't be confused by sugars labelled as organic or natural, that's still cane sugar.
- Swap in olive oil for butter or margarine - Mild olive oil will swap 1 to 1, not impart much flavor, boost your monounsaturated fats, and lower bad LDL cholesterol.
- Swap in almond flour for refined flour - Grind up almonds and you have almond flour, which has more calories than other flours but also boasts monounsaturated fat, calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, and cancer-fighting phytochemicals. It's not precisely a 1 to 1 swap, but it is very close.
Want to take it one step further? Instead of just swapping, add healthy ingredients like oats (fiber to lower LDL cholesterol), chia seeds (boost omega 3s), and berries (fiber and antioxidants). On a future post, we'll tell you how to go all the way and make brownies out of avocados. Seriously, stay tuned!
From: Sandra Brown | 4/4/12 at 10:27 pm
Almond Flour cake posted for sadar dinner was wonderful last Easter. Have lost recipe. Made it in spring form pan. can you help?