I was sitting out on my back deck enjoying the river flow by.  The sun finally came out today and it feels like summer is finally showing up.  I just drank my green smoothie, and I started to think about what my body wants now.  Apples and raisins came to mind and I found a great recipe for Apple Raisin Squares.  It only requires a half cup of sugar and you can substitute sugar with anything from agave and stevia to maple syrup or honey. If you do this, you would have to decrease liquid in the recipe.  Also try substituting some raw ingredients when you can, like raw walnuts, or make your own flour!  If that sounds interesting to you, here are some conversions to help you out.

1 1/2 pounds of wheat equal about 4 cups flour, 1 pound of oats equal about 3 cups flour, 1 pound of corn equals about 3 1/2 cups flour and 1 pound of millet equals about 2 1/2 cups flour.  Here’s that recipe:

Apple Raisin Squares

1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/4 cup corn, safflower or light olive oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups finely chopped apples, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup chopped walnuts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, oil, sugar, vanilla and apples.  Add raisins and walnuts. Stir in flour mixture until thoroughly mixed.  Pour into 2 greased 8×8 pans.  Bake for 35-40 minutes and cool and cut into squares.

Check out these substitutions for some favorite baked good recipes:

Barley flour has a mild flavor and can be substituted in pancakes, cookies and quick breads.  You can replace up to half of any wheat flour in a recipe.

Buckwheat flour is the same for substituting as barley, but in baked goods it will be heavier.

Brown rice flour is great for those with wheat allergies.  You can replace up to 1/4 of any wheat flour. Rice flour absorbs more moisture, so you may need to add more liquid.

Quinoa flour is higher in fat and tends to make a moister baked good.  Replace up to 1/2 of wheat or white flour in your recipe.

Wheat germ can make for a more nutritious baked good.  Replace up to 1/3 of flour.

Spelt flour tends to make heavier baked goods so you would need to increase your baking powder.  I look for baked goods that contain spelt flour when I am shopping for treats.  People with wheat allergies can tolerate spelt and is great for making pasta and bread.

My favorite, almond flour.  Less carbs than white flour and they help raise HDL (the good cholesterol) and lower LDL (the bad).  Using almond flour instead of wheat flour in your favorite baking recipes will result in a similar taste.  Baked goods tend to brown more quickly with almond flour, so adjust your oven temp about twenty degrees.

This one I’d like to try myself….coconut flour.  It is the highest in fiber of any flour available.  It’s gluten free and you can substitute a quarter of your regular flour with it.  Add an equivalent amount of liquid to the recipe.  If you want to only use it, add one egg per ounce of coconut flour otherwise it may taste dry.

If you are allergic to wheat, try gluten free.  You can purchase great gluten-free products at most health food stores and now a lot of grocery stores have gluten-free isles.  You can even buy gluten-free flour.  When you substitute gluten-free for wheat flour, your best bet would be to stick with recipes that have a small amount of flour.  You can make pastry dough with maize cornflour, milk powder, coconut and butter.  Replace gluten in your baking with xanthum gum, guar gum or pre-gel starch.

Instead of oil?  How about apple sauce?  It may make cakes a bit heavier, but still good.  When substituting for sugar, honey for example, will taste sweeter than granulated, so you would need less.  When substituting with maple syrup, grade B is thicker and darker and better for baking and costs less.  Use 3/4 cup for every cup of white sugar and decrease the liquid by 3 tablespoons.  Date sugar, made by grinding dates, can be used exactly the same way as ordinary sugar.  I could write a whole blog on sugar substitutes like Nutra-Sweet and Equal, but I’ll just end with this, “The final report of a seven-year study by the Ramiazzini Foundation on aspartame (also known as Nutra-Sweet or Equal) has linked it to high rates of lymphomas, luekemias, urinary tumors, tumors of certain nerves and other cancers in rats.”

Here’s to substituting some good things with even better things!

First, let me say that I’m not sure if I believe the hype on this stuff…but I have had many people ask how this really works so I figured…”Hmmm…why not blog it!”.  This technology is implemented in the Green Star Twin Gear Juicer.  I have tried to research it more as far as studies but was not able to really come up with anything.  Anyway, here is my dissertation on it!   It was like writing a really short college essay.  ENJOY!

Bio-magnetic content and special magnets within the gears of the twin-gear design supply positive ionization to the minerals of the fruits and vegetables which prolongs the freshness of your juices, therefore delaying oxidation for up to 48 hours! You can then store your healthy juice drinks for later enjoyment without fear of vital nutrients being depleted.

Biomagnetic technology explained:

· Inside each gear mechanism is a section of magnets in series side by side. The magnets alternate positive and negative charges. With the twin gears’ side by side design they work together to produce a positive charge which keeps your juice fresh and lively for much longer periods than usual.

· The next level inside the magnetic assembly consists of special bio-ceramic particles protected by a stainless steel housing. Intense infrared technology creates bio-ceramic activity which then gives off positive ions.

· The magnetic assembly in the GS-1000 along with the bio-ceramic material work together like a team recharging each other continually.

· When the twin gears of the machine turn together, the magnet fields and bio-ceramic activity steadily produce the positive ions which are retained within your juice.

· The addition of these ions gives juices a longer life by helping to preserve vital minerals and nutrients.

· This constant activity reduces oxidation and retains the freshness!

Check out the Green Star Twin Gear Juicer if you want it!

Enjoy and Be Well,

Juicy Josh

www.877myjuicer.com

Recently I’ve been reviewing the basics and here’s some more info that you newbies need to know (and possibly some that have experience will get something out of it to… in other words, no matter who you are, keep reading for God’s sake).  A month or so ago I gave you the lowdown on the three basic categories of juicing and their benefits; Greens, Vegetables and fruits.  In this article, we’ll look at the differences and benefits of the two basic juicer types, Centrifugal and Masticating, and we’ll give a little attention to juicing enthusiast’s preference, the Twin Gear juicers.

Centrifugal Juicers

Centrifugal juicers are the old faithful and they’ve literally been around for decades.  When I was a kid I remember my mom whipping me up a tasty batch of carrot apple juice with an all stainless steel unit identical to the Acme 6001. I always thought it looked like a robot.  Anyway, not much has changed over the years and with good reason.  These juicers are fast, effective and affordable.  Centrifugal juicers work by using a flat cutting blade on the bottom of a rapidly spinning basket. Food is quickly shredded by the cutter and flung out to the sides of the basket. The high centrifugal force passes the juice through tiny holes in the basket and through a spout. In some like the Omega 4000 the pulp is spun off and collected in a separate container. The juice produced by centrifugal juicers is excellent but the extraction process—higher revs and resulting motor heat—incorporates  more oxygen which oxidizes the juice destroying more enzymes and therefore diminishing the health benefits a bit as well as reducing the shelf life.  So drink immediately if possible.  These juicers are great for most fruits and vegetables but because of the nature of the cutting process, centrifugal juicers do not break down leafy green vegetables very well so if you’re looking to juice wheatgrass or other greens, you’re better off with a masticating juicer.  View a Selection Here

Masticating Juicers

Mastication means to “chew”.  So masticating juicers like the Healthy Juicer (which is unbelievably easy to clean) use a slow rotating single auger (or boring tool) to literally crush and chew the produce into juice and pulp.  The pulp is squeezed up against a mesh strainer so the juice is extracted while the pulp remains behind and gets ejected. Masticating juicers are more efficient than centrifugal juicers in that they yield more juice from the same amount of raw food. They also run at much lower RPMs, so the foam and oxidation is much less, therefore producing juice that is more nutritionally dense and has a longer shelf life.

That said the biggest problem with masticating juicers is the speed.  Many people who make the switch, either because they want to begin juicing wheatgrass and leafy greens or they’re just going for a healthier alternative, get a bit impatient with the time involved compared to their old centrifugal model but it’s really a question of commitment to a healthy lifestyle.  My preference is a centrifugal juicer for most stuff and a manual masticating juicer for the green stuff.  View a selection Here

Twin Gear Juicers

Ok, so finally we come to the elite sports car class of juicers, the Twin-Gear or, if you want to sound hoity toity, “Triturating” juicers.  I guess the sports car metaphor doesn’t really work because although these guys will produce the highest yield and most nutritional juice, they’re no faster than single auger juicers.  Anyway, Twin-Gear juicing is also a masticating process but instead of a single auger they ­­­­­­­­­­­­use two stainless steel gears with very close separation that turn in towards each other crushing the produce between them.   The juice is then passed through a screen and the pulp is ejected similar to the masticating juicers.  Twin-Gear juicers like the Greenstar 2000 have an incredibly powerful motor so you can literally juice anything.  At the same time they have the lowest RPM and therefore the most nutritious juice with the least oxidation.  They tend to be more expensive but you’re paying for quality.  View a selection Here

Happy juicing!

Be well,

Juicy Josh