Milks Of All Forms! (It's Dairy Substitution Time!!!)

This is by far my favorite topic when it comes to nutrition. Dairy Substitutes. We are lucky in this day and age that there are so many options. In the 70's, those vegetarians/vegans didn't have too many places to turn. We have it easy!

Ok!

Let's tackle the biggest product first: milk.
There are SOOO many options:
1- Soy Milk
2- Rice Milk
3- Hazelnut Milk
4 -Oat Milk
5- Hemp Milk (yes, you read right)
6 - Almond Milk (my personal favorite)
...and there is an exciting new option from a company that claims they are the only ones producing it
7- Coconut Milk drink!!!!!!

{NOW, rewind to my 2nd blog. I SAID THIS. I said that I created my own coconut milk concoction that works as a great substitute because its thick like milk. I just found out about this product A WEEK ago. (I should've acted on it!)}

Most of the milk options are wonderful AND Healthful too! Soy Milk is the only one that has its issues, but I'll tackle that in the months to come.

Let's go to spreadables. Where does one turn if butter is no longer an option:
1- Jam/Jelly (tried and true)
2- Hummus/Tahini
3- Canola Oil solid spread (hard to find. Only in natural food grocers)
4- Honey (indeed!)

Ok, making fantastic progress here. I hope you are all taking vigorous notes!
Yogurts:
1-Soy yogurt
2- Coconut milk yogurt (from the same company that makes the coconut milk drink)

Sour Cream:
1- Guacamole
2- Soy sour cream

Cheese:
1-Rice milk cheese
2-Soy milk cheese (some brands of Soy cheese actually still contain small amounts of dairy, so be mindful to read ingredients.

I would like to say that dairy from Goats and Sheep are far easier to digest than the dairy from cows. So if you are not ready to eliminate cheese from your diet, try taking baby steps by purchasing Goat Cheese and/or Pecorino, which is sheep's milk cheese. I used to sprinkle grated pecorino on my pastas like parmasian. It honestly tastes better. I dare you to call me on it!

Dairy deserts:
1- Soy ice cream
2- Coconut milk ice cream (you guessed it, from the same company as the above coconut milks)
3- Raw Cacao
- This means in a chocolate bar form
- And it means as a chocolate powder to mix with your choice of nut milks.

If you have questions on specific products that you'd like to substitute for a non-dairy version OR questions on the brand names to the food items I have listed, just write a response, I'll answer all questions within a week...and with much love.

Good Luck

~Turmeric

p.s. This concludes the Month of July series on Substitutions. Next month will be tactics and strategies to adopt a new way of eating (trust me, I did NOT get this way over night)

Answers to the Food Coloring problem

As I wrote on my blog in March, Food coloring is basically in everything....edible and non-edible. I will not write a long list as I have done these past weeks of acceptible substitutes because there are too many.

What I will do is insist we all read labels. Whatever product it is: a loaf of bread, candybar, oatmeal, pasta, jam...whatever; read the labels. Food coloring is snuck into everything.

Companies that keep good practicing standards when it comes to food use food as food coloring. Natural food products with a reddish to purplish hue use extracted colors from beets. A yellow, orange, or brownish hue is usually attributed to annatto, which is a spice.

As you continue on your personal exploration for a better, healthier you, you will find those companies that "naturally" color their food.


I wish you health,
~Turmeric

Answers No. 3

Where to go to avoid Enriched, Bromated and Bleached items.

Get out of regular supermarkets. You can't find what you are looking for there.

1) For breads go to an organic or natural foods grocer. Some great grains include Spelt, Kamut, Oat, Buckwheat and Bulgar Wheat.
2) For pastas, do the same. Plus, there are non-flour options for pasta like Rice pasta, Spinach pasta, and Quinoa pasta.

Get ready to chow down, y'all

~Turmeric

Sugar Answers!

Where does one turn to get a little sugar...

Sugar!

But you don't want the white stuff; that highly processed and bleached concoction is unfriendly to the human body but there are plenty of other options.

- The closest to white sugar in taste and feel is Cane Sugar or Turbinado. This is solidified liquid cane extract. It is natural and has not been bleached.

- Honey is another fantastic option. Not only is it very sweet, but there are health benefits to consuming honey. Personally, I use a raw honey which is solid in room temperature. Buy pesticide-free when possible.

- For a lighter sweet taste, there is Agave. Agave is a liquid syrup from the Blue Agave plants of Mexico (also known for making tequila!). Agave works just like honey and is fantastic as a 'syrup' for flapjacks.

- Lastly, there is Stevia. Stevia comes from an Andean plant that has been used for centuries by the Natives of that region. It is amazingly potent where a small fraction of what you would use of sugar is needed with Stevia. Stevia has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years.

Those are my recommended options for sweeteners. Below are substitutions to the avoidances I listed in February.

1) Instead of diet cola, DRINK WATER BITCHES! I'll tell you another thing, if you have Type II Diabetes and you get your health act together, you can have your disease under control so that you can drink juices again.
2) Instead of sugar-free snacks...DON'T BUY SNACKS WITH SUGAR.
3) There are aspartame-free chewing gum at natural food grocers
4) There are natural toothpaste and mouthwash at natural food grocers.

Later Sweeties!

~Turmeric

ANSWERS!

Now, it would not be becoming of me to bash all this food without delivering to you answers directing us where we can turn to combate the lack of these foods.

This blog will give you answers to the absence of Hydrogenated Oils

I had previously listed some of the following food items that contained Hydrogenated Oils:
1- Margarine
1- Vegetable Oil
2- Breads
3- Peanut Butter
4- Baked goods/frosting
5- Crackers and such

Here are the answers following in numerical order.

1-I don't advocate the use of dairy, but when in need, just use plain old Organic butter. As much as dairy is not good for us, it is far better than margarine. I use a non-dairy canola spread from a great company that does not use GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). It looks like margarine and has the same type of container but is completely "whole". :)

2-Instead of Vegetable Oil, when cooking in high heat, use Coconut Oil. Coconut Oil is full of saturated fat; this is a good thing! Because if it wasn't, during the heating process, the chemical bonds would turn toxic. Plus, the saturated fat in Coconut Oil is Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT) which act more as a carbohydrate (giving you energy) than a fat. Coconuts are also naturally anti-viral and anti-bacterial. I know a couple of people who could stop taking ulcer medication because they began to consume 1 coconut item a day; that action kills off the bacteria in the stomach lining that creates the ulcer to begin with. Coconut products aid with hair growth, nail growth, hair shine, and creates a glowing complexion. There are 2 types of Coconut Oil; Refined and Unrefined. The Unrefined kind smells like and gives off a flavor of Coconut. The Refined is more-or-less flavorless.

Organic Canola Oil is a runner up to cooking under high heat.

If sauteeing in low level heat it may be alright to use Organic Olive Oil. Personally, I use Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil for non-cooking scenarios like to dress salads or keep pasta from sticking.
There are an array of other oils that exist [Grapeseed, Peanut, Avocado, etc.] but none that stands up to high heat like Coconut Oil.

3-If you walk into any Organic or whole foods grocer, you will find PLENTY of breads to choose from. (I have yet to see sliced bread from a conventional grocer without hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient.) My grain of choice is Spelt, but there are a plethora of grains to choose from: Oat, Wheat, Rye, Kamut, Quinoa...

4-I'm sure that at least 99.9% of us do not own a peanut grinder to make our own peanut butter. But dont' fret! There are plenty of options at whole and organic grocers. I don't like to name brands, but there are quite a few. Additionally, at these grocers you can find other nut butters: Hazlenut, cashew, walnut etc. Personally, I go with Almond Butter. It's my fav!

5- Just like the above 2, you can find ready-made cupcakes and cookies and pastries at whole grocers and none of them have hydrogenated oils and taste MUCH BETTER! We can also find cake mixes in these grocers so we can prepare cakes at home with out those devil oils.

6-Crackers too are easy to find at alternative grocers. Addtionally, just like breads, we can find an array of different grain crackers: Rice, Quinoa, Spelt, Rye etc.

Happy Hunting,
~Turmeric