Salt and sugar! Who doesn't love them! BUT WAIT!!! And... that's where we all get frustrated. How many times have we hesitated or just plain turned down salt or sugar in our diet because of all the bad press we have heard? Refined, processed sugar and salt, are NOT healthy choices. Thank goodness we have natural alternatives - just as the Good Lord designed our bodies to enjoy! (pssst, there is the key - God designed our bodies to metabolize certain molecules - the ones He designed of course. Not man's ideas.)
Let's start with some basic information on salt! As we talked in class, natural salts are fantastically good for you! Most natural salts are actually lower in sodium content than processed table salt - and also contain a surprising amount of minerals and trace elements that are missing from our diets. And the flavors!!! I really encourage you to take a stroll through a whole foods market, organic food department, or the bulk bins at Green Acres and pick up a sampling of the flavors of salt. Hawaiian black salt, Real Salt, grey sea salt, Red Hawaiian salt, Applewood Smoked salt, Himalayan salt - and on, and on. Each salt with a unique mineral make up, and FLAVOR!!!
Remember - make sure you are adding salt in the end of the cooking process. There is wisdom in the old adage "all good things in moderation." But have fun - black Hawaiian salt against the white background of a fresh baked potato is visually as fun as trying a new flavor!
If you would like to dive into some written materials for more info, below are some great resources:
A cool website with salt resources galore!
A book - all about salt!!!
Salted A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes by Mark Bitterman.
Sugar - well, there are entire BOOKS devoted to the subject, and a plethora of web sites shouting out the dangers of sugar. Here is one place where the information is correct. You really do want to avoid processed sugars. In fact - for years scientists have noted that the white foods (white flour, white sugar, white fats) in combination are very heavy players in arterial plaques and heart disease. Not to mention, our lovely ideas for the sheer number of "healthy", non-fattening sweeteners. Most of these chemical wonderments require severe chemical processes of bleaching, refining, granulating, powdering, and sugar alternatives is mind boggling.
I will share with you the golden rule of sugar: If God didn't make it that way - avoid it.
Natural sweeteners are healthy - when used in moderation. Honey, molasses, and sucanat are our favorite sweeteners. These sweeteners are VERY easy to use and can be used in place of sugar quite easily.
Sucanat is a fantastic natural sweetner which retains the molasses and trace minerals found in the sugar cane. Sucanat is a dehydrated cane juice - not processed at all - with all the natural goodness still in there. Sucanat can be used 1:1 in recipes. If your cookie recipe calls for 1 cup of granulated sugar, try substituting with 1 cup of sucanat. Your cookies will take on a natural richness - thanks to the molasses in the sugar. You will find that cookies made with sucanat are very rich in flavor and very satisfying. You won't eat the whole plate mindlessly as your taste buds will be quite happy after just one cookie! Now that is the natural intention of sugar :)
I am including several links - which explain in more sugar and natural sweeteners in more detail. I encourage you to follow the links, and try some alternatives to processed sugars our tongues and brains have become accustomed to - even addicted to!!!
This first link is a great video about Natural Sweetners from the Weston A. Price foundation. I encourage you to look around this website. There is a TON of good and reliable information here.
The next links also take you to Weston A. Price - to a couple of articles that explain the dangers of processed sugars.
Enjoy experimenting with new flavors in your cooking this week! Try some new flavors and eat healthy at the same time!
Heather and Jennifer
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