Elana's Pantry | Gluten Free Recipes and more

Umeboshi Plum Vinegar

I keep umeboshi vinegar on hand at all times. It has a delicious tangy flavor.
I use this salty condiment on salads, chicken and fish to lend a discrete, Asian flavor to my dishes.

Click on the photo to buy your own mouth puckering bottle.

Dagoba Chocodrops

Have you heard? Chocolate is good for you! Dagoba Chocodrops are made with 100% organic ingredients and are fair trade certified.

These chocodrops have a high cacao content (73%) and are quite flavorful with just a hint of sweetness.

Dagoba organic chocodrops are small (dime sized) discs. Use them in your favorite cookie recipe or have a handful with nuts as a quick pick-me-up, afternoon snack. Delicious!

Splenda: Sweet Smoke and Mirrors

In a recent email, my dear friend Pat said, “I am curious to know what your opinion of Splenda may be? It is the only non-caloric sweetener that doesn’t make me feel like I have to brush my teeth after ingesting it. Will it kill me slowly?”

Well Pat, a couple of years ago, one of my favorite magazines, The Ecologist, wrote an in-depth article on Splenda. Its manufacturer McNeil Nutritionals claims that Spenda is “made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar,” however, according to the Ecologist article, things just aren’t that simple.

Yes, Splenda is made from sugar (sucrose), however during the manufacturing process, a bunch of other things are added as well. One of them, is a chemical warfare agent, phosgene.

While I’m no scientist, this doesn’t sound all that appetizing.

The manufacturers of Splenda claim that their product is a chlorocarbohydrate, nothing to brag about, as this puts it in the category of chlorocarbons which also contain such notorious poisons as PCBs. Of course, they also claim that Splenda remains virtually intact as it passes through your digestive system and that it is not metabolized by the body. The manufacturer states that this has been proven in numerous studies. Who did those studies? Yes, the manufacturer itself!

Given such factoids, I can’t recommend Splenda. I do suggest agave nectar, or for a non-caloric sweetener, astraya stevia .

Stevia

I adore agave nectar, however, there are times when I want something sweet and don’t want to increase my blood sugar level. This is when I reach for stevia, an herb 300 times as sweet as sugar with a glycemic index (GI) of 0.

This low glycemic, low carbohydrate sweetener is widely used in Japan. In the U.S., the sugar lobby has long fought to ban this miracle sweetener; it is currently classified as a dietary supplement, though not as a food additive. Take note, that in Japan, stevia accounts for 40% of the sweetener market and is used in everything from colas to candy.

Stevia comes in various forms. You can buy it as a tincture or powder. The only drawback to stevia? It sometimes has a slightly bitter, licoricey aftertaste.

I tested at least half a dozen stevia products and found astraya stevia to have the best flavor and to be reasonably cost-effective. To purchase astraya stevia, click on the image of the bottle.

During these chilly days and nights, I enjoy a few drops of stevia in a piping hot cup of tea!

Agave Nectar

Sweetness is the first taste we experience in life, the primal taste of our infancy, of mother’s milk.

For several years I researched delicious, healthy alternatives to sugar that held up well in the baking process, yet did not substantially raise glycemic index levels. Enter agave, the nectar of the agave cactus plant –a golden liquid readily available in health food stores.

I prefer agave because as you can see below, it is lower on the glycemic index (GI) than other sweeteners:

sugar (95)
honey (77)
maple syrup (54)
agave (26-40)

Agave also has a very neutral flavor, unlike honey and other natural sweeteners.

There is a range of purity in the available agave nectars on the market. Most people agree that the finest, purest agave is manufactured in Jalisco, Mexico. Agave from this region is renown to have no added fillers or sweeteners.

Volcanic brand agave is from Jalisco. This brand is touted by the Oprah doctor, Mehmet Oz. According to the manufacturer, Volcanic blue agave has a (GI) of 26. Volcanic is pricey, about two to three times more expensive than other brands. To purchase Volcanic blue agave, click on the image to the right. Or…

Madhava is a more readily available, less costly brand of agave. You can find it at most health food stores. When I contacted Madhava’s manufacturer/distributor (Nekutli/Colibree), they were very helpful and forthcoming, responding to all of my questions immediately. According to Nekutli, the glycemic index of Madhava agave is under 40; this is still well below the GI of sugar. To purchase madhava agave nectar, click on the bottle to right.

In all of my recipes, I use “light” agave nectar, as opposed to amber or dark, as light has a more neutral flavor than the other options, and most closely resembles sugar in taste when added to baked goods.