Gluten Free Vegan Living

Sugars in My Pantry

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you know that once I changed my diet, all the white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, imitation maple syrup, imitation sugars (Splenda in particular) we pulled out of the pantry and gave away.

On the advice of our naturopathic doctor, these are the sweeteners we now use:

• Stevia — use in drinks or smoothies (be careful if you use Stevia as just a small drop can add lots of sweetener to your drink!)
• Coconut Palm Sugar — good substitute for brown sugar
• Xylitol — substitute for regular white sugar
• Pure Maple Syrup — for Gluten Free pancakes and waffles (I also use it in my baked beans)
• Coconut Nectar — my favorite on Gluten Free pancakes and waffles (Maple syrup is too sweet for me!!)
• Honey — locally ‘grown’ is the best and I use this on bread and muffins or in tea when I want a little sweetness.

You will find after eliminating and watching your sugar intake (even using the ones above) your body will no long crave sweetening and lots of the sugar foods you use to love will taste too sweet to you!

Baking Aids in my Pantry

If you want to bake your own breads, quick breads or cookies, you need to learn about different leavening agents.  Once you remove gluten from your flours, extra care and ingredients are needed to help your baked products to have the correct texture.

Here is my list of leavening ingredients:

• Gluten Free Baking Soda
• Gluten Free Guar Gum
• Xanthan Gum
• And, of course, I have baking powder and yeast (which I keep in the refrigerator to keep fresh).

One you start baking Gluten Free, you will see these special leaving agents in recipes.

If you are interested in some in depth information on Gluten Free Baking, I can recommend a couple resources:

1. Gluten Free Bread Baking Tips
2. The Art of Gluten Free Baking Tips

Jeanne, author of The Art of Gluten Free Baking, teaches classes on Gluten Free Baking (mostly in the Seattle area).  She is also coming out with her first cookbook (that I will be reviewing soon).

She also has a wonderful recipe for making Gluten Free Shelf Rising Flour:

Self-Rising Flour, Gluten-Free

1 cup Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour mix (or mix of your choice)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Do you have other sugars or baking aids in your pantry that are not listed here?  Please share them with us!

Okay, this is a blog about Gluten Free Vegan Living!  What does that have to do with Sugar?  Well, quite a bit actually.  You can eat a complete diet of Gluten Free Vegan food, but if it is filled with high amounts of sugar, you are doing yourself and your body a great disservice!

Lindsey, from one of my favorite blogs, Happy Herbivore, gives us some interesting suggestions and healthy substitutions for sugar.  Read on ….

What is sugar?

According to wikipedia, “sugar is the generalized name for a class of sweet-flavored substances used as food.” There are various types of sugar, derived from different sources. For example, date sugar comes from dates, beet sugar from beets, and the sugar most of us think of when we hear the word “sugar” comes from sugar cane.

Lisa asked, “How is confectioners sugar and brown sugar okay to eat, but white sugar is not?”

READ FULL POST

Looking for some healthy sugar substitutes?  Check out the links below: