Blogger has a great feature for bloggers called "Stats." This tracks how many people view my site, what pages are the most popular-and my favourite part-the audience. I get so excited seeing that people from all over the world view my blog-Germany, Turkey, USA, Kuwait, Thailand, Uruguay, India, and of course my country, Canada..and it goes on and on!!! Here I am in my tiny section of this huge global community, writing about my efforts to change my life and my environment through healthy, natural living, and people on the other side of the world read about it!
I can only hope that you find my blog helpful and interesting...but it got me to thinking-what about you? How do you preserve your food in Thailand? What natural housecleaning methods do you use in Germany? What difficulties do you face growing your own food in India? Do you have a blog of your own that might give me insight on my personal eco-friendly journey?
So share your story-leave me a comment or a link to show me more about your world! Or become a follower to stay updated with mine!
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Showing posts with label natural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural. Show all posts
March 13, 2011
January 25, 2011
Nature's Little Overachiever: Stevia
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Alright, if you know me, you know how I feel about fake sugars (aspartame, sucralose, you name it). They are chemically produced or altered, and they give me migraines (never a good sign)!
But I have a huge sweet tooth, accompanied by a desire to lose weight. And so begins my love affair with Stevia.
Stevia is a South American herb that has been used as a sweetener for hundreds of years. The leaves of this small, green Stevia rebaudiana plant can be 30 times sweeter than sugar. It used to be found mostly in health food stores, but now I can find it in packets at my local grocery store. It is available in a powdered or tincture (liquid) form. I have been told the liquid form can have a slight licorice flavour, but I use the powdered form.
Stevia has many excellent properties. The body does not metabolize the sweet glycosides from the stevia leaf or any of its processed forms - so there is no caloric intake. Stevia doesn't adversely affect blood glucose levels and may be used freely by diabetics.
Photo by Ethel Aardvark
I used stevia in my homemade frozen yogurt-and it worked great. A few little packets sweetened as much as a cup of sugar!
It can't be substituted in everything, as its texture is different from sugar. So meringues, icings, most cookies; anything where sugar's ability to stiffen and cream with butter is required-then I recommend using the real deal-sugar (unrefined when possible). Try it out in your coffee, on your (homemade) yogurt, anywhere you might be using aspartame or Splenda...
As the Canadian and USA governments slowly approve Stevia, you can now find it in place of artificial sweeteners in some mainstream brands. SoBe has a few of their drinks made with stevia, and the new 10Cal Vitamin water by Aquafina as has it. You'll often see the brand Purevia or Truvia on the bottle as the stevia brand.
Of course, with any new item your are introducing into your diet, do your research on stevia. The Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans have used stevia in foods and soft drinks for many years as an alternative to the artificial sweeteners. The wide use of stevia has been without any apparent harmful effects.
In 2006, the World Health Organization evaluated stevia and found no evidence that its sweet compounds, stevioside and rebaudioside A, have any carcinogenic activity. The most recent studies seem to suggest stevia is safe, but there is a lack of human research to determine long-term risks.
In my opinion, anything natural has got to be a better and healthier option than artificial, chemical sweeteners!
January 16, 2011
Make Your Own: YOGURT!!!
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Many people are surprised when I tell them that I make my own yogurt. But in reality it is cheaper than you think, and much easier than you think!
What I love about making my own yogurt is that I can control what goes into it. I can use the type of sugar I want. or leave sugar out completely. I can use fresh, organic fruit to flavour it.
To top it off, homemade yogurt is full of healthy bacteria!
Also, rather than using a thickener, I use a higher fat yogurt. Another option is to strain the yogurt (more on that later) to make a thicker, creamier Greek-style yogurt.
Some people use electric yogurt machines, but I choose to use the (much cheaper) Yogotherm yogurt maker. Really, all it does it insulate the yogurt as it ferments.
To make your first batch, you can use a yogurt starter, such as Yogourmet, shown below. After that, you can use your existing yogurt to start your next batch (much cheaper)!
The basics are as follows*:
1. Bring 1 litre of milk to it's boiling point.
2. Allow to cool to 25 Celsius
3. Mix starter with a small amount of cooled milk until starter dissolves.
4. Mix that small amount of milk into the rest.
5. Pour into Yogotherm and leave at room temp for 12-18 hours.
6. Put finished yogurt in the fridge.
*Just in case, always follow the recipe on your starter, in case it differs from mine.
But see? It is so simple! And from this you can have your morning yogurt, yogurt smoothies, frozen yogurt...and the possibilities go on!
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