Allergy Friendly (Corn Free, Peanut Free) - Rice Krispie Treats

Normal people have allergies. It's amazing how common food allergies are really. 

Eh.... this video isn't that interesting.. but it makes me think!.. 
She uses some good ingredients instead of using marshmallows (consisting of corn syrup, corn starch and sometimes egg whites). 
She uses ingredients such as sunflower butter and organic brown rice, Rice Krispies cereal. Anyway, she uses a few good ingredients and has a good method of making the classic Rice Krispie treat, but it makes me think -- maybe corn syrup in rice krispies can be replaced with brown rice syrup???! I must try this little snack and I too can have what used to be an amazing treat. I bet sunflower butter is somewhat healthy for you too? hmmmm.

Sugar and its effect on our mind and body

Diana Allen, MS, CNS, is a health writer and holistic clinical nutritionist in private practice in Massachusetts. She specializes in food sensitivities, detoxification, traditional whole food diets and raw/living food nutrition. She's written many brochures and fact sheets for the Pioneer Health Education library, numerous health articles and a few books. Her short 45 page booklet, Natural & Healthy Sweeteners, a Woodland Health Series... goes into great detail the effects sugar has on our body and life. Carbohydrates and sweet foods are very valuable to our diets, as long as they come from the right source. It explains what is wrong with sugar and artificial sweeteners and helps us understand better ways to satisfy one's natural desire for sweet foods and drinks. The book also explains a bit about digestion and Low vs. high Glycemic Foods. The short book mentions the BEST natural and healthy sweeteners that are great to use for baking, sweetening tea/coffee, making smoothies, etc.. Stevia, Agave Syrup, Yacon, Brown Rice Syrup, tooth-friendly Xylitol and a few other good alternatives to sugar are mentioned. The beginning of the book explains in frightening detail the effects sugar has on our body and mind. Everyone knows sugar isn't good for you, but I think I've even a bit ignorant. And well.. sugar is addicting. I am addicted to chocolate. But there are healthier ways to cure our cravings. Sugar weakens the immune system, weakens teeth, may be the reasons people are more prone to colds and illnesses, it's a primary food of cancer cells, and has a large list of psychological effects - energy imbalances, sleep disturbances, fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, depression, hyperactivity. Diana Allen recommends reading the book Sugar Blues, by William Dufty.


I've always known that sugar is of course really bad for one's health, especially too much of it, but I've never ACTUALLY thought about it too much. One thing stated in Diana's book that REALLY seemed to make me more aware of the evilness of sugar was this:

"The pH of human blood is tightly regulated to remain between 7.35 and 7.45 (slightly alkaline). Frequent consumption of sugars and other acid-forming foods can drive blood pH into the bottom end of this range, contributing to a state of chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis against which the body must continually defend itself. One method of defense is to pull alkalizing, acid-buffering minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium) into the bloodstream from their primary storage site: BONE TISSUE. This process of "robbing Peter to pay Paul: may succeed in raising blood pH to acceptable levels but it can also lead to bone loss and osteoporosis over time, explaining the link between low bone mineral density and high sugar consumption.

In one famous experiment from 1976, nutrition pioneer Dr. Emmanuel Cheraskin and colleagues showed that drinking 12 ounces of cola caused a 50 percent reduction in immune-specific white blood cells."

The fact that calcium could be stolen from bone tissue because of too much sugar being contained, is extremely frightening. It is very important for women to consume enough calcium in their diets, so the fact that if not enough calcium is being brought in AND sugar is allowing calcium to be taken away from bone tissue, is something to think about. 
Also stated in this book is that HFCS is seen to the body as a predigested sucrose. Meaning, HFCS can raise blood glucose and insulin levels even FASTER than white sugar (I think I've maybe mentioned this in a previous post, but its frightening!). 

Anyway, this booklet is very helpful and interesting. Diana's blog Eat 2 Evolve is full of great information, recipes, and motivational advice. She speaks about whole foods, raw foods and cleansing for good health and spirit.

Menu's and other random design.

I'm researching Menu's - design, Layout, Photography.... styles, contents (variety, how many items?), formatting/groups, Items not readily available in other shops/what will draw customers in, materials used available year round?, shelf life, cooking times, do you mention organic? Do you know its certified organic? Identify ingredients that are common allergens? list all ingredients?...
The important things to include in a good menu that will work on a daily basis. KIND OF researching, but really just looking at randomness. A few interesting things:

Lucy's Vegan Cookies at Starbucks. Allergy friendly.. Being egg free, gluten free, no milk or tree nuts. But they contain corn corn corn. and garbanzo beans, potato starch, etc.

Quarrygirl.com

I kind of enjoy the packaging of Sugar Plum Fairy baked goods. Very simple and clean with plush colors, and nice photographs. Edmundsonmartin.com Some images of their goods and brief descriptions and names are a bit helpful and interesting.. Sugar Plum Fairy Co.

http://buttercupbakeshop.com/
Hello Cupcake Identity for this bakery was created by
OrangeYouGlad Print, Web and Identity Design fresh from Brooklyn, NY.

Spelt Flour - a bit of research

"spelt flour Notes: Spelt flour contains gluten, but it's tolerated by many people with gluten allergies. If making bread with spelt flour, don't knead it for as long as you would a wheat bread--its gluten isn't as durable as that in wheat. Freeze any spelt flour that you're not planning to use right away. Substitutes: kamut flour (like spelt flour, kamut flour is tolerated by most people with wheat allergies and is good for making bread and pasta)" The Cooks Thesaurus
However, Spelt DEFINITELY is not gluten free, so those with celiac probably shouldn't have it. But it may be tolerated by SOME who have a sensitivity to wheat. Erin McKenna claims that Spelt flour seems to be okay for her. Note the following statement..

"Spelt is similar to wheat in appearance. However, spelt has a tougher husk than wheat, which may help protect the nutrients in spelt. Spelt flour has a somewhat nuttier and slightly sweeter flavor than whole wheat flour. Spelt contains more protein than wheat, and the protein in spelt is easier to digest. This means that some people who are allergic to wheat may be able to tolerate spelt. Spelt has gluten, just like wheat, so spelt is not suitable for a gluten-free diet". nutrition.about.com

Spelt has slightly fewer calories than wheat flour and higher in protein. The flour is easy to digest but is lower in fiber than regular wheat.

Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies

More on Stevia

Erin has used Stevia for 9 years.......!
Apparently it is okay to be considered a sweetener now. I saved an article out of a local newspaper about Stevia and Agave Nectar. Seems I'm pretty behind on knowing about these sweeteners. Apparently the two sweeteners are showing up in cocktails, bottled drinks and a host of other products. The article stated that "In December 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of rebaudioside A or reb-A, a derivative of the stevia plant, for use in foods and beverages in the United States, provided it is at least 95 percent PURE. Rev-A is 300 times sweeter than sugar". Pepsi uses the brand PureVia to sweeten their SoBe Lifewater products. "Agave nectar also is showing up as a substitute for the much maligned high-fructose corn syrup in products such as ketchup and barbecue sauce". The article also states that when using agave as an alternative to sugar, you should lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees because agave tends to brown more quickly. I didn't really know that. Also, when I've experimented with agave, I used the Light syrup.. next time I think I'll try using the Amber Agave Nectar, which is considered to have more of a caramel flavor which may be better in cookie recipes. Although Agave has a low glycemic index and takes a longer time to convert to glucose .. helping keep glucose steady... it's still a sugar. I'd really like to try using stevia soon. I wonder how to alter the rest of recipes. Since stevia is very strong, you wouldn't have all the dry ingredients. Less wet ingredients? stevia in a liquid form? hmmm. I'll have to figure out what to do.


A Visit to Babycakes NYC from rachaelray.com on Vimeo.

Oh, February.

I haven't posted in a looong time! Unfortunately I don't feel like I have any good images or anything real great to update. I spent a few days last week trying to make the PERFECT cheesecake. I've made cheesecake before, but this time I wanted to make it 3 inches tall/thick... Picture perfect. I wanted to make cheesecake that was very pleasing to the eye and tasted, well... PERFECT.  the ideal, nice thick slice of smooth, but somewhat cake like cheesecake.  First, I made a couple of not so perfect cheesecakes. I hadn't made cheesecake too many times and I had my first cheesecake that cracked. TERRIBLY. So I read techniques on how to not have cheesecake crack...


Tips for keeping cheesecake from cracking:

• Always mix the cream cheese and other ingredients first. Mix well in order to get the air out.
• Add the eggs LAST. One at a time. Mix gently, just until blended. Do not overmix. (The eggs are what often causes air to get into the batter. Air pockets form into the batter... resulting in a cheesecake that cracks!!)
• Always use a waterbath while baking cheesecake. This allows the cake to bake at a lower temperature and allows even baking throughout the entire pan. The temperature is kept more even. (Cheesecakes often crack because of a change in temperature, uneven baking, or baking TOO FAST. A waterbath also helps the edges from baking more/faster than the center). To do this, Wrap the bottom and sides of your springform pan with foil (the outside of the pan) Be sure to use the extra wide foil, so you can use one large piece of foil to cover the whole outside of the pan, and not have any leaks (this would result in soggy crust! which I had happen my first time. oops! Sometimes I don't use my brain). Do 2-3 layers of foil to be sure that water will not get through. Place your springform pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with water. Only fill it half way up the side of the springform pan.
• It is important to bake cheesecake on a low temperature (300 degrees - 325 degrees) and very slowly.
• It is also important to grease both the bottom AND sides of the spring form pan. Greasing the sides allows the cake to pull away from the edge of the pan, instead of pulling away from the center of the cake... which would result in cracking.

After a few tries (yeah a FEW), well actually four.. I made a cake that cracked and then continued to make cheesecakes that were not perfect. And I get mad if things aren't perfect (which they never are really). Anyway, after experimenting and learning.. I made the PERFECT cheesecake. Baked it very very slowly for an hour and a half. Waited for it to cool and set for a few hours, and then I decorated it with strawberries, chocolate and strawberry sauce. It looked beautiful and was just the right texture for my liking. Well it looked perfect... but then.. my dessert stand that I made just happened to break right then. My cheesecake tumbled over and went into my toaster. PERFECT. I didn't even get a picture. I did save a bit that went on my counter and put it on a plate (which looked like a bit of a mess, but still tasty). I took the plate to 7-8 of my guy friends who were hanging out, they scarfed it down in 30 seconds and kept saying it was so amazing. So at least it tasted good. Next time.. I will have the perfect cheesecake! :) I bought supplies and am anxious to make cheesecake very soon.


Last night I spent time making a airplane shaped cake for my friends birthday. Not too happy with the results though. I didn't have time to freeze the cake in-between, making it easier to frost. It was hard keeping crumbs from being seen, and well it just wasn't going too smooth. After a few hours, through temperature changes and sitting at my friends, the icing kept drooping off. It was very disappointing. Not only was the icing sliding off ... the cake just looked really childish. Not happy at all. Ehhh. Actually I hate typing about it right now. I'm so mad and can't believe I spent so much time on it. I guess I learned a bit. I've made cake that I've carved into shapes before.. But not like this one. I layered several pieces and carved the shape.. so that was an experience. I made the base out of foam core. I thought this could be cool.. but I rushed it. I worked till 8pm and tried getting it done in the same night. Not happy. I think I'm going to go back to making cheesecake and back to coming up with cookie recipes for the time being! And maybe work on more design work. I'm creating a mini calendar (5x8''?) with some of my baked good images! Pretty simple, but I think it will look nice on good paper. Just a way to use my images and also my design.

And a few Valentine's Day goods. I didn't have much time and steered away from fancy sugar cookies.. But everyone loves Peanut Butter Blossoms. I did before my peanut allergy really hit me! I shouldn't be baking with peanut butter, but most people love these cookies and they are super easy and fast.. So I wanted to make them. 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Egg Free)

My third take on the perfect egg free chocolate chip cookie recipe. These turned out very very good! I messed around with the same chocolate chip recipe, this time melting the butter and sugar together, in order to dissolve the turbinado sugar. I also altered the rest of the recipe quite a bit. Well, actually I suppose this is a completely different recipe. I used turbinado sugar, but didn't use any brown rice syrup. I'll have to experiment with brown rice syrup more, but for now... these are AMAZING Egg Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. Super soft and chewy. And they look lovely. I gradually added things while making the dough, hopefully I remember correctly the measurements of ingredients for the next time I make these. Because I will DEFINITELY make these again. 

My first test batch of these cookies ended up with the bottom of the cookie way too hard and crispy, and the top was left TOO soft/chewy and doughy. So I added a bit more flour and then tried to bake them on the next rack up. They turned out perfect! When these cookies are still somewhat warm, they seem oddly doughy yet, but once they cool and sit for an hour or so, they set very well and are great. Very very soft though. They kind of melt in your mouth... but it's a good thing. I used large real milk chocolate, all natural Guittard Chocolate Chips. YUUUUM! 

I'm going to bake some more and try to take some better pictures soon, so you can see the soft chewyness of the inside of the cookie. 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

So these didn't turn out well. They don't have a terrible appearance at least. However, I need to continue to experiment and alter this recipe. I think I may know how to make it work better. I used just a bit of turbinado sugar and also brown rice syrup. Something I definitely did wrong was not mix the sugar with the wet ingredients. By not doing this, the turbinado sugar was left in the larger crystals.. not allowing them to desolve. You can see and even taste/feel the texture of the sugar crystals. My cookies also turned out very hard. I'm thinking adding applesauce to the recipe may help add moisture and soft/chewyness. Also, it is said that Turbinado sugar is more moist than regular sugar, therefor if it was better desolved into the batter, maybe it would make the cookie more moist. I'm also not sure about the brown rice syrup flavor. Definitely need to experiment more. However, ONE of my friends said he actually thought this cookie was "solid" and said he prefered his cookies on the harder side and thought they were great.. He was very serious. But neither I or others agree.

However, the ingredients I used were very similar to that of my favorite store bought chocolate chip cookies by Back to Nature (Yeah I know! But they are sooo good! and HFC free, and all natural. And easy to satisfy my cravings while I continue to be frustrated and experiment with my own baked goods that I can eat). Anyway, these packaged cookies are made with brown rice syrup as a sweetener and they are perfect. I will continue to experiment.. I think I might try some altering right away tomorrow! We'll see what happens.

Egg Free/Vegan Banana Bars

Egg Free Banana Bars!

These turned out very well. VERY yummy! However, you know how if you over mix batter.. sometimes the product becomes a bit rubbery? I think I overmixed a bit. But they are still very good. However, they pretty much just taste like banana bread. Which is okay I guess. Banana Bread is amazing. But maybe for the consistency of a bar, they could be more dry and cake or cookie like in texture. I used turbinado sugar instead or refined sugar and some nice over ripe bananas! MMmmmmMMMmmMm! And I just had to add chocolate on top.

Miniature Cupcakes!

It's February. I'm going to pretend this is the beginning of my New Year and start fresh. I think this is a perfect start :)
In my spare time, when I have nothing else to do... I like to take pictures of cupcakes! <3 

One day I found some pretty plates and vases/candle holders at an antique store and glued them together with epoxy to make dessert/cake stands! Here is one stand, but I made three. The other two were made with fancier, antique plates with gold candle holders. They add chic elegance to my pink decor in my apartment.  Anyway.. I had fun today making cute little cupcakes in-between constructing 250 wedding invitations. Such pretty sprinkles! I can't wait for Valentines Day!

These were made with egg. But miniature cupcakes are so perfect. Just the right size.. not too much. And they are so darn cute. Next on my list are some egg free banana bars! I've been craving this for daysss.

250 Wedding Invitations. Done. Printed, all 5 pages rounded, punched and grommeted.. with tassels my mother made.