Tuesday, August 20, 2013

HOMEMADE RAW CHOCOLATES AND DAIRY FREE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE DIP

There's loads of raw chocolate recipes going around on the net these days but neverthless for those of you that haven't given it a go at home I thought I'd add my little version here for you!

I supervised the boys make these today at home. For those of you who don't know me personally, I homeschool my 4 boys (aged 3, 4, 8 and 10). This was a nice teamwork activity which involved measuring (Maths), reading (Language), discussing melting temperatures (Science) and using our Thermomix (Technology).

You can make this recipe at home with or without a Thermomix. Grate the cacao butter manually with a grater or using a food processor and *melt it in a metal bowl held over another bowl of steaming hot water to replicate the methods I used in my Thermomix. The ingredients will all remain the same!

HOME-MADE RAW CHOCOLATES

Ingredients:

125g Raw Cacao butter (bought from health food stores)
20g Raw Cacao powder (more for darker, richer flavour)
50g Natural sweetener of your choice (try agave, maple syrup or honey)
a pinch of salt

Method:

Cut cacao butter into small pieces and place into Thermomix (or use grater, FP)
Place in TM on speed 6 until finely grated.
Melt at 37 deg setting for approx 3-5 mins on Speed 2-3. (*or melt as per above instructions)
(You may need to increase the temp in TM on a cooler day, set in 1 min increments to be sure you don't heat too high)
Once completely melted and in liquid form add your sweetener and salt.
Mix on low speed for a few seconds til well combined.
Add Cacao powder and mix well for approx 30 secs on Speed 3.
Pour into chocolate moulds or baking paper lined tray. You could also dip strawberries into the chocolate and leave to set on a baking paper lined tray.
Place into fridge for at least 30 mins and check before removing from mould.
Leave in sealed container in the fridge until ready to serve or eat straight from the fridge!

Options: Once you have added the main ingredients using the method above you can opt to add chopped nuts, dried fruit, a drop of natural flavours or even a little liqueur for an adults only twist.

HOME-MADE DAIRY FREE MOUSSE DIP

Use as little or as much of the raw chocolate mix (as above) as you require and add to coconut cream.
I used approx half of the choc mix and 100mls of coconut cream to serve with fresh fruit for 5 people.
Add a little more sweetener if you wish it to be slightly sweeter.

Whip in TM on speed 4 for approx 2 mins or until light and fluffy.
It will thicken more at room temperature.
Use as an addition to your favourite dessert, for a dip with strawberries, bananas or marshmallows or just eat as a dessert alone!

These are yummy and healthier than store bought, sugar-laden products but remember treats are still meant to be eaten in moderation! Enjoy ;)


Note: One batch of raw chocolate made approx 30 bite sized chocolates (like the ones above) and a shared serving of dairy free mousse dip.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

HOW CUTTING DOWN REFINED SUGAR CAN GREATLY IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH!

Last year I blogged about how I had made a conscious effort to significantly reduce the quantity of sugar my family was having in our overall diet. It's now been 12 months since we made that big change of cutting down the sugar intake in our diet! I'm so happy to report that not only have my four boys behaviour, concentration and hyperactivity levels have improved but I've lost even more weight in this time. My skin is much clearer than it was, my head less fuzzy and I suffer far less of that mid afternoon slump that I used to experience. I have the energy to power on all through the day without the highs and lows of sugar addiction running through my body!

Sugar really was my drug of choice! My body would tell me when it thought it needed it (3pm slump anyone) and my family and I were eating sugar in almost every item that entered my mouths. It would start with in the morning with breakfast cereal. A label of low sugar on a cereal packet still means sugar is in it. I was having sugar in my low fat choccy milk, sugar in my coffee, sugar in sauces, sugar added to some juices, sugar in muesli bars, sugar in chocolate, sugar in soft drinks, sugar in my dips, even sugar in the bread we were buying! No matter where you look you will find sugar in processed foods, even in things you weren't expecting! This is even more true for most low fat processed foods. They lower the fat content in a product but they put more sugar, salt or flavour enhancers in to give you the flavour boost you would find in the high fat products (cheese and plain milk are among the few products that this doesn't relate to).

Best solution to cutting down sugar (let's face it, cutting it out completely is near impossible) is to eat as many homemade foods as your time will allow. I found the easiest way to the cut the time factor down and make a multitude of things from scratch was using my Thermomix. Go google it is you've never heard about it. You certainly won't run out of things to read about this incredible machine! If finances won't stretch far enough to purchase a TM (don't forget their payment plans) then you can choose to use standard food processor (FP) to make most of my recipes. You may have more washing up to do swapping between your FP and other cooking devices, it may take slightly longer to prepare the dish or you may need to buy certain items in their milled or ground forms (eg: buying almond meal instead of making your own), you may need to replace your FP or blender more frequently than I would my TM but in the end you can still use your cheaper machines to replicate my healthy eating ideas and recipes listed on my Blog and Facebook page (also listed under 'Angies Healthy Kitchen).

There are many refined sugar alternatives but I'll just briefly explain the ones I regularly use in my kitchen.

I'm a big fan of Coconut Sugar. It is a 'sugar' produced from the sap of cut flower buds of the coconut palm so can sometimes be called Coconut palm sugar as well. It's been used for thousand of years in the South East Asian regions, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines. Here are a few of the reasons I love using it:
  • It has a beautiful caramel flavoured taste and gives a rich, smooth flavour. I use it for making my healthy style Hot chocolate drinks, for making custard for my boys (tastes like caramel yogo snack, but healthy), in baking or sometimes when cooking an asian inspired meal.
  • It has a low GI (glycemic index) of 35 (Honey has a GI of 35-58 whilst sugar has a GI of 60).
  •  It has a high mineral count, a rich source of potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron. It also contains Vitamin B1, B2, B3 and B6. When compared to brown sugar, coconut sugar has 36 times the iron, four times the magnesium, and over 10 times the amount of zinc.
  • Use it anywhere you would use brown sugar or when you want a rich flavour. You don't need a lot of this to pack a punch!
Another of my favourite natural sweeteners is Agave Syrup (sometimes called Agave nectar). Agave syrup is produced from the nectar of a mexican cactus. This stuff seriously tastes awesome and whilst it is a fructose sweetener it's still a great alternative to refined sugar. One of the best reasons I love using Agave syrup is because it is so sweet you really don't need a hell of a lot of it. Here are some other reasons you should try using it:
  • Agave syrup has a low GI (glycemic index) of between 10 and 19, significantly lower than other sweeteners. Honey has a GI of 35-58 whilst sugar has a GI of 60.
  • Low GI carbohydrates, such as agave syrup, can prevent your blood-sugar levels from rising too high, which can lead to high triglycerides and an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart problems.
  • Agave syrup has a consistency similar to honey yet it is not quite as viscous (sticky) so it is easily dissolved into things such as baked goods and yoghurt.
My other favourite natural sweetener is Pure organic maple syrup. Maple syrup comes from the sap of the Maple tree, grown in abundance throughout Canada.

  • It contains significant amounts of zinc and manganese, as well as amino acids.
  • Compared to honey it has 15 times more calcium and 1/10 as much sodium. I also find like agave it is considerably sweeter than sugar and full in flavour that you often need less than you would normally would need using sugar.
  • Maple is great with yoghurt, on cereal (not that I eat those anymore), in hot or cold drinks you make at home and of course on pancakes!
Raw honey is a great alternative for spreads, in smoothies or baking. I don't tend to use a lot of it as it can be quite sticky to work with and it doesn't dissolve as nicely into things as agave does. It has plenty of nutritional and medicinal advantages over refined sugar though so worth looking into if you want to make some changes in that respect.

Another alternative worth considering is Stevia. Stevia is also a natural sweetener but it is made from the leaf of the stevia plant. It is considered to be approx 300 times sweeter than sugar so very little is required. Stevia contains no calories and therefore has no effect on blood sugar levels, making it suitable for diabetics. I find that Stevia has quite a bitter aftertaste. It is for this reason I use only a small amount of Stevia to help reduce my overall sweetener content. I know of some people who can purely replace all their sweetened products with stevia but unfortunately the aftertaste means I am unable to do so. Still don't discount using this product in addition to other sweeteners to lower their total content and therefore reduce your overall caloric intake.

My recipes that you can find on my blog and Facebook page (by the same name) will often list agave syrup, maple syrup or coconut sugar as my sweetener. Feel free to use honey instead (or sugar if really necessary) but keep in mind the reason I avoid sugar as much as possible is because it is easy to eat too much of it collectively over the course of a day and can be quite addictive in the long term! I steer clear of artificial sweeteners altogether as I don't believe anything that has such a long chemical-based chain of ingredients can be a good thing. There seems to be more research to be done into the area of artificial sweeteners and there are already many countries who have banned their use. Everyone has their own theory on health matters, what you read here on my blog are my own. You ultimately choose the way in which to live your life!