That’s why I was so excited to learn about Bohemiae Rosa. This local Czech farm has blown me away with all that they offer – grassfed beef, lamb, and goat meat, pastured chicken (which means that the chickens are TRULY free range and spend most of their time outside), eggs from pastured chickens, homemade pate, homemade bacon, homemade pickles, organically grown produce, unpasteurized honey, and so much more. They are not officially certified organic yet (the process takes 2 years), but they follow organic principles. Even better they also implement sustainable practices and think about what is best for the animal, the environment, and our own health as well.

They speak WONDERFUL English and deliver right to your door in Prague (as well as having a few distribution sites throughout the city). I’ve gotten three orders from them so far and I’ve been so happy with each of them. We’ve gotten delicious vegetables, fresh fish, tons of eggs, tasty bacon, and even some beautiful liver. I have been so excited about this farm that I decided to interview the farmer so that we all could learn more about this sustainable farm right in our backyard.

So, without further ado, here is my interview with Ingmar:

You call yourself a “sustainable farmer” what exactly does that mean to you?

Sustainable means that production methods need to include the nature of the animals, the surrounding nature and general welfare of our planet and all that live. It takes organic much further. Organic means no artificial fertilizer, no pesticides, fungicides or herbicides.

It is perhaps best to give some examples:

If you feed a cow organic feed, you can call the beef organic (it it spends a certain amount of time outside). However, the nature of the cow is that it is a ruminant: it does not naturally eat grain! Grain actually increases the acidity of the stomach, causing the cow to get ill. This can be so severe that in the US cows are slaughtered at 14-16 months, they cannot keep them alive any longer. Sustainable practices then ensure that the cows only eat grass and straw (or in winter).

Flying your lettuce or other vegetables around the world in a airplane is obviously not good for the environment, sustainable in this case means buying local (officially with 160 km of the farm).

Chickens raised in a barn with 60,000 together, on organic feed and access topasture is called organic. The nature of the chickens (bred to sit and eat all day), is that few will actually go outside the barn. Anyway, just imagine the logistics, a day has 86,400 seconds, will each chickens go out and in the barn, they would have only 14.4 seconds each to do so (7.2 seconds to get out and the same to get in). This is not something that actually happens, so the chickens rarely go outside.

Sustainable means that the chickens are raised outside in small groups of max 250 each on sufficient land and grass. They do have a chicken house where they can sleep and shelter from the rain, but they spent most of their day outside eating grubs and insects that increase the omega-3 in the eggs tremendously.

How did you become a sustainable farmer? Did you grow up wanting to be a farmer or did something happen in your life that led you to that path?

When our children were born my wife and I started looking at the labels of store bought food, and what we read scared us! We became avid readers of books and reports on how food was converted from something that was essential and healthy to something that kept long well and looked good, but did not contain anything of value. Instead we realized that much of the food available in stores was actually dangerous to eat because of the toxins etc. Along the way we also learned that the production and processing methods applied were not friendly to either human or nature in the long and short term. It was then that we decided that enough was enough and if big business could not feed us properly, we would do so ourselves. One thing led to another though and it is easy to produce too much for one family, so we decided to share our food with those people who would appreciate it.

How long have you personally been farming? How long ago was Bohemia Rosa started?

In 2003 we started looking for a farm in the Czech republic, and in 2004 we found the Statek in Otradovice. It took 2 years to finalise the purchase and another 4,5 years to renovate it and start production in earnest. So we have been farming for almost 3 years now, building up the herds and learning along the way.

What does an average day on the farm look like?

At the moment I start the day at 7 am, but in the summer much earlier than that, and finish in the evening when I lock up the hens. This is in summer at about 10 pm but in winter around 7 pm.

During the day I still spent too much time on sales and marketing, as we are still busy building our customer base. The rest of the day I organise the farm work and the food production.

How many people work at Bohemia Rosa?

We have a group of 10 very good employees that work with us permanently, and depending on need to employ a further 20-25 people, especially in summer.

What are you most proud of at Bohemiae Rosa?

That our customers love our food!

You produce your food “without using pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or artificial fertilizers.” So, I’m curious how do you control pests and produce a good yield? What types of natural fertilizers do you use and what advice would you have for home gardeners who want to grow organic produce?

Yield is a problem when you do not use chemicals. On average the yield is about 50% at the moment, but with special planting techniques, a lot of hoeing, companion planting and selection of pest resistant plants we aim to increase the yields. What we discover is that after a few years the yields actually go up because we do not use chemicals, the plants seem to develop their own resistance in absence of chemicals.

We use our own farm manure and use horse manure from a neighboring horse farm  as fertilizer. This we compost in a sustainable way for 1 year (with a minimum of heavy machinery and labor).

We actually produce sufficient volumes now that next year we will start selling our compost to the public.

You also do not use antibiotics or growth hormones on your animals and all your animals are given good living conditions. Your live stock is grassfed and your poultry is pastured. I think this is truly wonderful, but I’d be curious to hear why you personally decided to raise your animals this way?

It is a personal choice as well as concern for our health and environment and animal welfare. It is bad enough that we need meat, so we might as well make the life of our animals the best we can.

Do you ever supplement with grain for your live stock and under what circumstances?

Our sheep, goats and cows are only grass-fed, but our pigs and poultry get grain as part of their diet. We never deviate from that rule as it is bad for the ruminants but also bad for us. Grain has a deleterious effect on CLA in ruminants (this is a good fatty acid, that keeps the animal lean), and thus on us. In effect, feeding grain makes the animal obese by removing the level of CLA, great if you want to produce meat fast and are not concerned about health, but a no-no if you want the best for yourself and others.

What do you do when one of your animals gets sick?

We usually separate them from the herd or group so they have more rest and are able to feed at their leisure (but always in view of the other animals). A common problem with pigs is that they misstep and strain their ankles. In this case the vet sometimes gives them a shot of codeine to alleviate the pain. This goes out of their system within 6 hours by the way). When they get a cold the vet gives them a cocktail of vitamins, which is harmless but makes the animal feel much better.

Sometimes in summer poultry or rabbits get affected by coccidiosus, to which they will build up a natural resistance. It the worst case we will feed them medication and when better, process them into dog food.

What goals do you have for Bohemia Rosa and how would you like to see it grow in the future?

What really surprised us is that many of our customers want fruit, vegetables and dairy, all organic of course, next to their meat. So we have already expanded our gardens with an extra 1,5 ha for next year and will plant even more fruit trees in spring. Many customers have also expressed concern about the slaughterhouse we use. We know it to be a good one, but still have decided on building our own so we will be able to get organic status on the slaughterhouse as well. An additional benefit is that we can slaughter more often in smaller batches, so we can sell most of our meat fresh instead of frozen. Hopefully the slaughterhouse will be ready in spring. Having a slaughterhouse on the farm also does away with live animal transport, which is stressful to the animals. We will be one of the very few organic slaughterhouses in the Czech Republic.

I know that at this time you don’t offer dairy, is this something you might offer in the future? Do you know of any good grassfed dairy farmers who sell raw (unpasteurized) milk?

I just had a talk with the health and veterinary inspection last week about this, and they told me that we can sell raw milk, as long as we make it clear that the risk is with the customer. Having calculated the cost per liter I hope that the customers are willing to spend 50-60 kc per liter however, and this will leave only a few crowns for ourselves. Anyway we have decided that we will test the market, as soon as we have purchased the milk cows.

Cheese production requires large investments in facilities and if the milk sales come through in sufficient volumes than it is something that we consider as well.

And last, a more specific question that I’ve personally been wondering, Is your honey pasteurized? Or raw? Do you offer Royal Jelly, Bee Propolis or Bee Pollen at all?

Honey is one of the fastest selling products we have, and all the Royal Jelly etc are now used in expanding the number of bee hives. Out honey is not treated in any way, we take it out of the hives, remove the honey from the frames by centrifugal force and put it straight into the jars. The additional benefit for hay fever sufferers is that this way they build up some resistance to pollen (as these are now naturally in the honey).

Is there anything else that you would like me and my readers to know about Bohemiae Rosa?

We work hard at making good food for our customers and obviously sometimes still make mistakes when selling it. We have had issues with wrong labels, no labels, wrong prices and quantities etc. Please forgive us if we do. We offer a 100% guarantee when you complain, so please let us know when something is wrong up that we can correct it.

Our farm is open to inspection by the public and we also have a small hotel, so please visit us at least once to see for yourselves how we do things for you J

I loved doing this interview and learning more about Ingmar and Bohemiae Rosa and I hope you enjoyed it too. After my husband read Ingmar’s response all he could say was “We need to be friends with them.”

Well, Ingmar, we love your philosophy about food and we’ve loved all of the food we’ve tried from Bohemiae Rosa! Thank you again for taking the time to share with us about Bohemiae Rosa. I hope that my husband and I can make it out to Bohemiae Rosa soon, to meet you in person, and see your beautiful farm for ourselves.

Personally, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

PS – I was not paid or compensated for doing this review/interview, this is just my honest opinion and I genuinely am completely excited about this beautiful farm.

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This soup is GREAT for when you are sick or for when you want to avoid getting sick! Here’s why…

Homemade bone broth:

We all know that chicken soup is wonderful for a cold, but did you know the main reason is because of the broth? Bone broth/stock contains tons of essential minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Not only is it loaded with these and lots of other minerals, these minerals are also in a form that the body can easily absorb. Broth/stock also contains gelatin, which has been found to be helpful in the treatment of various diseases. It also aids in digestion, which means that instead of spending energy on digesting difficult things, your body can spend energy fighting whatever little illness you are struggling with.

PS – Here’s a little trick for you: add a little vinegar to the water when you make bone broths/stocks to help extract the calcium and improve the nutritional value of your stock.

Onion:

Onions have been used for their healing powers for centuries all over the world. According to this site “Early American settlers used wild onions to treat colds, coughs, and asthma, and to repel insects. In Chinese medicine, onions have been used to treat angina, coughs, bacterial infections and breathing problems.” Onions are rich in a number of minerals and vitamins – Shallots and Green onions, in particular, contain high amounts of vitamin A and antioxidants. All onions have antibacterial and antifungal properties, which makes them truly perfect for when you are sick. Onions can help break up mucus and aide the immune system.

Garlic:

In our household we consider garlic the king of the spice cupboard AND the king of the medicine cabinet as well. This popular food is incredibly beneficial for health and overall well being. The benefits of garlic truly deserve a blog post all their own, but for now let me just give you the short story. Garlic contains substances which are potent anti-viral, anti-fungal and antibiotic agents. They stimulate the immune system and aide in fighting off a variety of diseases. Garlic has even been found to be effective in treating antibiotic resistant diseases.

PS – A little tip, if you leave the garlic at room temperature for about 15 minutes after you crush/chop it you will trigger a chemical reaction in the garlic that maximizes the health benefits.

Simple Onion and Garlic Soup:

3-4 quarts of homemade bone broth
6 (or more) onions (use a variety of different kinds to maximize the flavor and health benefits)
3 (or more) cloves of garlic, sliced
2 (or more) cloves of garlic, crushed
1 additional clove of garlic for each person you are serving the soup to
Cut the onions however you want. I like to mix it up, by chopping some, slicing some and quartering some. I think this gives the soup more texture which I like. But, if you want to just chop them all that will work great too.

In a large pot sauté the onions until they are soft and just a bit translucent. Then add the sliced garlic and sauté for another few minutes until the garlic is just softened. Next add in the bone broth and crush 2 (or more) cloves of garlic into your soup. Allow this to cook for a bit (especially if your broth was cold).

Just before serving add one crushed clove of raw garlic to each bowl, and then pour the hot soup into the bowl. Serve with sliced green onions to garnish and homemade bread to dip.

This is a very simple soup, there’s not a lot of substance to it, but served with some warm bread it can make a wonderfully warming meal for a cold winter day or for whenever anyone in your family is sick or wants to avoid getting sick. In fact I think I will make up another batch this weekend.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

I’m entering this post in the following Blog Carnivals:
Fight Back Friday
Food on Friday
Click on the links to enjoy lots of other great posts. Enjoy!

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Here is my strategy for staying healthy while flying transatlantic flights:

• Make sure you are well rested before your trip begins.
• Stay hydrated! Planes can be very dry and dehydrating, so make sure you drink plenty of liquid and that your baby is also drinking often. Side note: having your baby drink can help with the pressure in their ears when flying as well.
• Wash your hands frequently. And if necessary use an Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer (I usually avoid using anti-bacterial stuff, but I think a long flight like this is one time when a little anti-bacterial sanitizer might be a good idea).
• Use natural wipes to wipe down surfaces (like the tray table in front of your baby on the airplane).
• Take your probiotics. Whether it’s a pill form or just drinking lots of Kefir making sure that you are filling your body with good bacteria can go a long way to helping you stay healthy while traveling and fighting off little bugs you may come into contact with. Breastfeeding your baby can provide them with good probiotics, as can giving them a little bit of yogurt (if they are old enough and tolerate milk alright).
• Eat well. Don’t succumb to the allure of fast food and junk food just because you are on vacation or traveling. Make good healthy choices. Enjoy your food. Have dessert – but keep things in moderation and don’t go overboard. Make sure you are still getting lots of vegetables and fruits and good healthy fats.
• Have an emergency care kit handy with some things to help you if you do get sick. Mine includes Echinacea, Zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D, and Super Silver.
• Spend some time outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Sunshine can help readjust your body’s clock if you are dealing with jet lag, it can also provide your body with vitamin D which supports your immune system. And who knows what good things are in fresh air. I recently read a report of a study that showed that there are beneficial bacteria on trees and plants that make people feel good.

Well, those are the things that we do when we travel. Here is a wonderful and thorough post about natural remedies for staying healthy while traveling. It’s another great resource that I know I will keep in mind and reverence while traveling this summer.

What do you do to stay healthy while traveling? How do you keep your children healthy while traveling? Do you have any additional bits of advice?

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Today I thought I’d share with you what real food I plan on bringing on our 16 hour trip.

For the Baby:

• Breast milk – of course J
• Cooked Carrots and/or Potato – cut into smallish strips (think French fries) that he can hold and naw on without making too much of a mess.
• Green Peas –I will put these into his mesh lined teething feeder because I worry about him choking on them.
• Apple – I will probably put pieces of these into his mesh things as well.
• Quinoa Coconut Teething biscuits – ok, so this is something I plan on trying to make and I’m sort of playing with a recipe in my head, but I’m not sure if it’ll work out or not. If it works and he likes them I’ll be sure to post the recipe on the blog soon.
• Cooked chicken pieces – torn or cut up into small pieces that he can safely eat.
• Goats milk/Goats milk yogurt – if I can find these in the London airport during our layover then I’ll give him one or the other of these things, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to find them and I don’t want to hassle with bringing liquid through security so I won’t bring them from home.

For Bryan and I:

• Quinoa Trail Mix Protein Bars – this is another recipe that I’ve been playing with in my head and will try out for this trip, but as of yet I don’t know how they will turn out. Again if this one turns out I’ll post the recipe soon.
• Raw Cut up Veggies – we usually bring carrots and some bell peppers and sometimes sugar snap peas as good snacks.
• Sandwiches made on homemade Sourdough English muffins – I’ll probably put slices of chicken, cheese, avocado, arugula, tomato, and cucumber on our sandwiches. This will be a great lunch for us during our flight to London.
• Homemade Sourdough bagels with homemade cream cheese – I love bagels, so this is a favorite snack for me and an easy thing for on the plane.
• Sourdough crackers – if you couldn’t tell from the last two I’m trying to use up my sourdough starter before we go.
• Dark Chocolate – I will probably avoid this since Thaddeus doesn’t seem to do all that well with me eating chocolate and breastfeeding, but my husband likes this as an easy relatively healthy in-flight snack.
• Apple – Apples are great because they don’t get overly mushy (like peaches or pears or banana or strawberry, all of which we’ve tried unsuccessfully on a plane before). We’ll probably take one or two apples and share them between the three of us.

So, what are your favorite real food snacks while traveling? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

This post is my contribution to Two for Tuesdays Blog Hop this week. Check out the link for lots of other great posts and don’t forget to add your own link as well!

This post has also been entered in the following blog carnivals:
Tuesday Twister
Mom’s 30 Minute Blog Challenge
Both are great carnivals that are worth checking out!

photo by Beth Stedman

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I had originally planned the theme for this week’s Yoga and Prayer class to be strength, but instead today I felt like I needed some fun. So, I changed plans and made the theme Playful Balance, something I felt like I needed this week.

Sometimes we all just need to move our bodies in playful fun ways. We need to dance, and wiggle and laugh. But, I was also feeling like I needed some deep focus and balance with everything going on, so I wanted a sequence that would release a bit of stress and be fun, but would also challenge my sense of focus and balance.

So, here is roughly what we did today (in the spirit of playfulness things got changed a little along the way).

• Easy pose with focused breathing

Circle, [fill in name of each person], Lord God, surround her with joy.

• Mountain Pose
• Circle ankles and wrists
• Shake it out
• Hip Circles
• Short free form dance/stretching
• Mountain Pose
• Standing Forward Bend
• Downward facing dog
• Sphinx pose
• Three-legged Downward Facing Dog (lift right leg in down dog)
• Extended side angle pose (w/ right foot forward)
• Warrior II right foot forward
• Reversed Warrior II with right foot forward
• Mountain Pose
• Standing Forward Bend
• Downward facing dog
• Sphinx pose
• Three-legged Downward Facing Dog (lift left leg in down dog)
• Extended side angle pose (w/ left foot forward)
• Warrior II left foot forward
• Reversed Warrior II with left foot forward
• Mountain Pose
• Tree pose on both sides
• Mountain pose
• Warrior I right foot forward
• Warrior III left leg up
• Mountain Pose
• Warrior I left foot forward
• Warrior III right leg up
• Mountain pose
• Half Moon Pose with right leg up
• Mountain pose
• Extended Hand-to-big-toe pose with right leg lifted
• Lord of the Dance Pose with right leg lifted
• Mountain pose
• Half Moon Pose with left leg up
• Mountain pose
• Extended Hand-to-big-toe pose with left leg lifted
• Lord of the Dance Pose with left leg lifted
• Hero pose
• Head to knee pose right leg extended
• Gate pose right leg extended
• Child’s pose
• Head to knee pose left leg extended
• Gate pose left leg extended
• Child’s pose
• Bharadvaja’s Twist on both sides
• Savasana

Circle, [fill in name of each person], Lord God, surround her with joy.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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First, start off by soaking your oatmeal. Here’s a short helpful article about why it’s important to soak oatmeal. And as a bonus, here’s a wonderful post from one of my favorite bloggers about why boxed cereal isn’t healthy for us and why soaked oatmeal is a better alternative.

Here are the basic directions for soaking oatmeal…
Soaked Oatmeal:

• 1 cup Oatmeal
• 1 cup Water
• 1 Tablespoon whey, yogurt, or Kefir (you can also use vinegar if you have a problem with milk)

Mix everything together and allow it to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. NOTE: you can easily double or triple the ingredients for this recipe.

How I make Regular Hot Cereal Oatmeal or Oatmeal Gruel:

• Soaked Oatmeal
• Enough water to cover

Place oatmeal in a pan with enough water to cover and simmer until it cooks down to desired thickness.

Baked Oatmeal:

• 3 cups soaked oatmeal (not cooked yet)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cups milk
• 3 Tablespoons cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup or unrefined cane sugar/Rapadura
• a pinch of unrefined sea salt

Optional Add-ins:

• Nuts or seeds of your choice
• Dried Unsweetened coconut
• A mix of dried fruit
• Fresh fruit – apples, peaches, blueberry’s, cherry’s, or whatever else  you want
• Ground flaxseed
• Ground Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves (or other sweet spices of choice like ground ginger)

Beat eggs a bit and then add in all the other ingredients and mix well. Place all ingredients in a greased baking dish and bake at about 350 degrees F (or just under 200 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the top is slightly golden. Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey and some yogurt or cream.

Baked Oatmeal French Toast Style:

Here’s a fun way to reheat baked oatmeal after it’s been in the fridge. Get a frying pan hot and add a little bit of butter or coconut oil. Cut a piece of Baked Oatmeal and sear it in the pan with the butter/oil until its warm and slightly browned on each side. Serve with maple syrup. It’s so yummy!!

Oatmeal Breakfast Cakes:

• 2 cups cooked oatmeal (you could use soaked oatmeal that hasn’t been cooked yet as well, but I like to make this with the cooked leftovers from another morning)
• 2-3 eggs
• ½ cup milk (you could also use cream or buttermilk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional – but it does add a great flavor)
• sprinkle of cinnamon (optional – I used nutmeg instead because cinnamon gives me a bad headache, but cinnamon would be really great in these)
• pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together and spoon onto a hot frying pan with butter or coconut oil (just like you would for pancakes). Cook until golden brown on both sides. Serve with pure maple syrup, a drizzle of honey, jam, or fresh fruit.

Oatmeal Scramble or Fried Cereal:

Use the recipe for the Oatmeal Breakfast Cakes but instead of spooning cakes onto the pan and cooking them like pancakes, pour some of the batter into a hot frying pan and scramble like you would for eggs. You can take this off the heat when the oatmeal mixture is just slightly golden and the consistency of scrambled eggs or you can cook it until brown and a bit crispy. You can serve it warm or you can spread it out on a paper towel and allow it to cool and drain a bit. You can serve it as a scramble and top it with some maple syrup, or you can serve it as cereal with milk or yogurt (I recommend yogurt) and dried fruit. It’s sort of a weird way to have oatmeal, but I really liked this one.

Soaked Oatmeal Granola:

• 2 cups soaked oatmeal
• ¼ to ½ cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup Unrefined Cane Sugar or maple syrup

Optional Add-ins:

• Nuts or seeds of your choice
• Dried Unsweetened coconut
• A mix of dried fruit
• Ground flaxseed
• Ground Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves (or other sweet spices of choice like ground ginger)

Mix all ingredients together. Spread the mixture out on a cookie sheet and bake at roughly 100 degrees C until it’s dried up and turned a nice golden brown. Allow it to cool and then serve with milk or yogurt. You can also top this with fresh berries for a summer feel.
If none of these ways to cook oatmeal tickle your fancy check out this WONDERFUL recipe for Whole Wheat Sourdough Oatmeal Bread from Sarah at Heartland Renaissance.

Enjoy!

Rejoicing in the journey-
Beth Stedman

This post has been entered in the following carnivals:
Two for Tuesdays
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Tuesday Twister
Delicious Dishes Party
Click on the links and check out all the other GREAT food posts from around the web.

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Alright, so here’s the post all of us sugar fiends have been waiting for. If we shouldn’t have HFCS, or artificial sweeteners, or refined white sugar, what can we have? Well, here’s the list. I broke it down with a little info about each one.

Before we jump in though, it is important to note that even these natural sugars can be overdone and end up being detrimental to our health. These sweeteners are still sugar sources and sugar isn’t really good for us. The great thing about these sweeteners is that they contain vitamins and minerals that ARE good for us. So, enjoy them without guilt, but enjoy them in moderation (something I’m personally still working on… so, trust me, we are all in this boat together!)

Better Ways to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth:

Honey:

This one is obvious and for me it was the one I was most comfortable with when I first started looking into natural sweeteners. But, as I’ve looked into natural sweeteners and honey more I’ve learned that not all honey is created equal. Honey carries the flavors and nuances of the flowers used to make it. This is a wonderful thing about honey as it can vary quite a lot in taste and different tasting honeys work well in different types of dishes. I also learned that darker honeys are higher in antioxidants than lighter colored honeys which is good to note as you are choosing which honey to buy.

The most significant thing I learned though is that in order for honey to be truly healthy it SHOULD NOT BE HEATED. Most store bought honeys in America are processed and pasteurized. This destroys the enzymes which give honey it’s most significant health benefits. According to Ayurveda (an ancient science of health and medicine which originated in India) honey even becomes toxic when heated. I’ve never seen a study done by modern science which proved the toxicity of heated honey, but I tend to think that doesn’t mean that this ancient belief isn’t accurate. Either way, honey DOES loose important enzymes when heated, thus losing some of its health benefits over other natural sweeteners.

The take away from this is that it’s best to by RAW honey. Honey that has not been heated over 117 degrees F. Raw honey is the healthiest form of honey for you and is packed full of amylases http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amylase and other helpful enzymes. When cooking it’s a good idea to also avoid heating honey as much as possible and especially avoid using it in high heat cooking.

As for substituting honey in recipes:

1 cup sugar = roughly ½ cup honey (reduce the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup)

Maple Syrup:

Maple Syrup is another natural sweetener that many of us in the states are very comfortable with. And it is a great substitute for sugar because it’s full of healthy minerals which many of us don’t get enough of in our normal diets – minerals like zinc and manganese. But, again, not all maple syrup is created equal. Many of the maple syrups you find in stores aren’t really maple syrup at all – they are just artificial maple flavored substitutes. So, the first thing to look for is pure 100% maple syrup.

The other concern I learned about is that some maple syrups are processed with formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals. In the US it is now illegal to use formaldehyde in processing, but other processing concerns have yet to be addressed. Organic maple syrups are held to a higher standard, though, making this a good example of when it’s worth buying organic.

1 cup sugar = between ½ and ¾ cup Maple Syrup (reduce the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup)

Maple Sugar:

This sugar is made by evaporating the liquid out of maple syrup. I haven’t tried it, but it’s supposed to have a very nice maple flavor without being quite as strong as unrefined cane sugar. It is, however, pricey (which is why I haven’t tried it!). So, if you can afford it and want to check it out, go for it! If not then there are lots of other options.

1 cup sugar = roughly 1 cup maple sugar

Rapadura/Sucanat (Unrefined Cane Sugar):

Rapadura and Sucanat seem to be essentially the same thing although there may be slight differences in the processing. From what I could learn Sucanat is the brand name that first sold whole, unrefined cane sugar in the US. That’s basically what these two sweeteners are –unrefined cane sugar. There are a lot of other unrefined cane sugars on the market, but these two seem to be the least processed.

Here’s what Heidi at 101 Cookbooks says about choosing a cane sugar:

“I generally look for cane sugars that are moist and similar in appearance to brown sugar with a fine grain echoing the size of standard white sugar grains. More often than not they’ll have some combination of the following words on the packaging: natural, raw, unrefined, whole, and/or unbleached.”

One of the great things about these sugars is that they are fairly easy to use and substitute.

1 cup sugar = a little less than 1 cup unrefined cane sugar

Turbinado and Raw Sugar:

Ok, so these sugars are better than white sugar, but basically not as good as unrefined cane sugars like Rapadura and Sucanat. The reason being, that they still undergo quite a lot of processing. Oh, and they are not really “raw”. They do contain more nutrients than white sugar though and are a better choice than refined white sugar. Although if you are going to use a natural sweetener instead of white sugar I would say, why not go all the way and use rapadura or some other higher nutrient sweetener.

1 cup sugar = 1 cup Turbinado/raw sugar

Molasses:

Molasses is a byproduct of making white sugar. It contains most of the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are removed from the sugar during processing. It is particularly rich in iron. Molasses has a strong, concentrated robust flavor, which can add depth to many baked goods.

An interesting thing to note about Molasses is that it comes in different grades depending on which boiling of the sugarcane it comes from (first, second, third, or fourth). Blackstrap Molasses is from the last boiling and is thus very concentrated in flavor and nutrients. It’s worth it to buy organic when buying blackstrap molasses because of how concentrated it is.

1 cup sugar = 1 and 1/3 cup molasses (reduce the liquid in the recipe by 5 Tablespoons)

Sorghum:

This is syrup made from sorghum grains. It is very similar to molasses and is in fact called molasses or sorghum molasses in some parts of the U.S. Like molasses it’s a good source of iron, calcium and potassium. Also like molasses there are different types and grades of sorghum, varying in color and flavor from light to dark. It can be a great substitute for corn syrup.

1 cup sugar = 1 and 1/3 cup sorghum syrup (reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/3 cup)

Coconut Sugar/Palm Sugar:

Coconut sugar is a sweetener made from the coconut flower. Palm sugar is made from the palm flower. These two sugars are often used interchangeably – sometimes a sugar made from the coconut flower will be called palm sugar for example. You can get it in dry blocks, as a paste, or in granulated form. The flavor can vary a bit depending on the process used to make it and the form it is in. Generally it has a lighter flavor than cane sugar and other stronger sweeteners.

Coconut sugar is full of minerals and nutrients and most significantly it has a low glycemic index. So, it might be an acceptable sugar for diabetics. You can read more about the glycemic index of coconut sugar and the minerals it contains here.

I couldn’t find a conversion for how much coconut sugar should be used in place of white sugar. I would probably guess it’s about a 1:1 ratio but I have no idea really. Does anyone else know??

Stevia:

This sweetener has been widely used in Japan for the past 30 years and seems to be gaining some attention in the US now as well. Although it’s availability is currently restricted in the US. It is really an herb and you can just use the ground dried leafs, but you can also get it as an extract. Supposedly, it can have a bit of an herby taste.

The great thing about stevia is that it is very low in calories and does not negatively affect blood glucose like sugar does. It’s even said to have various health benefits – for example reducing high blood pressure and aiding in weight control. The extracts can be up to 300 times sweeter than white sugar, so a little bit goes a long way.

Because stevia comes in a variety of different forms I’m going to just direct you to this chart for conversion information.

Agave:

Ok, this one has some controversy around it. I have never used Agave syrup, but I was definitely familiar with it and thought of it as a healthy natural sweetener. I’m realizing lately that might not be the case. Since many people have written very detailed and helpful articles on this topic already I’m going to just direct you to them to learn more about Agave syrup:

• Sally Fallon on Agave Nectar: “High Fructose Agave Syrup”
• Is Agave Worse Than High Fructose Corn Syrup?
• The Good, The Bad, The Agave
• Agave Nectar: Good or Bad?
• Agave Nectar, the High Fructose Health Food Fraud

Date Sugar:

Ok, this isn’t really a sugar at all, it’s just a dried fruit. It is made by grinding dehydrated dates. It contains all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals of the fruit itself. To me this seems like the purest, most unprocessed choice for a natural sweetener. It has a sweet rich flavor, but it isn’t always a good substitute for sugar because it clumps and doesn’t melt. It’s also expensive, so…

1 cup sugar = roughly 1 cup date sugar

Fruit:

Ok, if you want the healthiest way to satisfy your sweet tooth this is probably it. Have an apple, a pear, some fresh berries, a peach, plum, tangerine, orange, banana… Oh, the list of yummy sweet fruity goodness goes on and on. You can use fruits to sweeten recipes or just eat them on their own. Bake or dehydrate them to intensify their flavor and sweetness.
The above list of natural sweeteners is of course not a complete list of natural sweeteners, but hopefully it gives you a start and introduces you to the wide variety of sweet flavors available.

If you want to try using a natural sugar, here are some recipes to get you started:

HONEY:
Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Honey Hibiscus Lemonade
Baked Custard

MAPLE SYRUP:
Parsnip Dumplings with Maple-Balsamic Sauce
Maple Syrup Scones
Nikki’s Sweet Potatoes

RAPADURA:
Not Your Typical Macaroon Cookies
Apple Banana Muffins/Cupcakes
Gluten Free Almond Cookies

TURBINADO:
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies
Sparkling Ginger Chip Cookies
Blackberry Limeade Recipe

MOLASSES:
Molasses Custard
Old Fashioned Gluten Free Gingerbread
Old-Fashioned Blueberry Cake

SORGHUM:
Blender Gingerbread Pancakes
Sorghum Pecan Pie
Baked Apples

COCONUT/PALM SUGAR:
Yellow Plum Sorbet
Pumpkin & Coconut Pie (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
Coconut and Raw Cacao Pudding

STEVIA:
Blackberry Kefir Smoothie
Lady Apple, Grapefruit and Crème Fraiche Salad
Better Barbeque Sauce

AGAVE:
Gluten Free, Sugar Free Almond Butter Cookies
Red Quinoa Bread
Amazing Black Bean Brownies

DATE SUGAR:
Purple Sticky Rice Tart
Gluten Free Spice Muffins
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Tart

PS – None of these recipes are from me, so check out the great sites they come from and take a look around while you’re there.

Well, I hope this post is helpful for all of you who love your sweets as much as I do. If you are interested in some further reading on this topic, see the list bellow.

Today may you find true deep satisfaction from the sweetest things in life – a child’s laughter, a shared kiss, the hug of a friend, and whatever else makes you smile the sweetest of smiles.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

Further Reading and References:

• A Few Favorite Sweeteners
• My Favorite Natural Sweeteners
• Whole Can Sugar: A Better Way to Sweeten
• Are Natural Sweeteners Good for You?
• Sugar Part 2: Best to Worse
• Maple Syrup vs. Sorghum Syrup
• Should we Buy Organic Maple Syrup?
• Q & A: More on Natural Sweeteners
• A Guide to Natural Sweeteners
• The Cook’s Thesaurus: Sugars
• Is Truvia Healthy
• In My Kitchen: Coconut Sugar
• Palm & Coconut Sugar
• Organic Coconut Sugar: Low Glycemic Natural Sugar Substitute
• Agave and Stevia: All Natural, Unsafe, or Unhealthy?

This post has been entered in the following blog carnivals:
Wholesome Whole Foods
Friday Food
Food on Fridays
Fight Back Friday June 18^th
Vegetarian Foodie Fridays
Please visit these great links to find LOTS of other blogs all about food.

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OK, now on to some FUN.

I finally got a chance to read all of the wonderful Two for Tuesday links posted so far (the linky is still open so if you are still interested in participating go HERE and add your real food blog post). We had so many people participate already!! I was blown away! And a little overwhelmed. But, It was so much fun to read through these posts and meet so many new bloggers. I can’t wait for next week.

So, as I was reading I thought it would be fun to do a little Award Ceremony here at the blog – maybe I’ll even make it a weekly tradition.

So, now, please, allow me to roll out the red carpet, turn on the bright lights and introduce you to my own personal stars from this week’s Two for Tuesdays Blog Hop.

“The Recipe I am most likely to make THIS WEEK” Award:

Sourdough Pockets… at Real Food For Less Money

“The recipe I think my husband would most enjoy” Award:

Fully Dressed Scones… at Etherwork.net

“The recipe I love, but I’m most intimidated by” Award:

Steak Tartare… at A Cook’s Library

“The recipe I would most like to modify and play with” Award (for example making it with soaked flour or natural sugar, or substituting one ingredient for another because of allergies):

Danish with Lemon Ricotta Filling and Kumkwat Jelly… at Cooking for My Peace of Mind

“The post that made me laugh the most” Award:

Strawberry Shortcakes with Balsamic and Black Pepper Syrup… at Eats Well With Others

“The Ingredient I’ve Never Used Before” Award:

Agua de Tamarindo… at girlichef

“My favorite Pictures” Award:

Do These Tacos Make my Butt Look Big??… at Sweet Life

“My favorite Summer Time Recipe” Award:

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream… by Heartland Renaissance

“My all around personal Favorite” Award:

Sausage and Swiss Stuffed French Toast… at Food Renegade

There were SO many more wonderful recipes contributed this week. So, please go check out all the others, HERE. With Lobster Rolls, a Banana Date Shake, Moroccan Pea Soup, and so many other wonderful recipes contributed you really won’t be disappointed.

Hope you all enjoy this weeks Two for Tuesday as much as I did. Join us next week and maybe your blog will win one of my awards. Oh, and just to keep you on your toes the awards may be totally different next week… hehe. ENJOY!

Rejoicing in the journey-
Beth Stedman

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I used to eat a lot of Top Ramen in college. I know now how horrible it was for my health, but at the time I had no money and no time and Top Ramen was super cheap and easy. It has now been years since I had Top Ramen, but sometimes it still sounds good to me. This soup doesn’t really taste like Top Ramen, but when I’m craving some Top Ramen this is the soup I make. It’s really pretty simple and easy, it’s definitely cheap. It just tastes warm, and comforting, and hits the spot when I want a broth and noodle soup.

Ingredients:

Bone Broth (I use homemade chicken broth – it isn’t hard to do and it’s cheaper and better for us than buying store bought chicken broth)
2-3 Onions
2-3 cloves of Garlic
Mushrooms (I used maybe 12 mushrooms)
1 package long, thin rice noodles
Green Onions for topping

Place onions, garlic and mushrooms in a large pot and sauté them in a little bit of butter (or coconut oil) until soft. Add as much Chicken broth as you desire – more broth will make it soupier, less broth will make it more like a noodle dish. Simmer for maybe 10 minutes or so and then add the rice noodles and cook them for however long the package says they need. Serve sprinkled with green onions. That’s it! Maybe not as easy as Top Ramen, but still super simple!

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

This post has been entered in Real Food Wednesdays blog carnival. So, go say hello to Kelly The Kitchen Cop and check out all the other Real Food Wednesday links.

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Alex at a Moderate Life
Heather at girlichef
Michelle at Health Food Lover

Here’s a quick review of how to play along with us:

1. Write a post having to do with real food.
2. In your post, add a link back to THIS PAGE (or any of my fellow blog hosts Two for Tuesday posts for this week) and add one of the badges below (if you want).

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3. Add URL for your POST (not your blog home page) to the list using the Linky bellow (or the Linky on Alex, Heather, or Michelle’s site).
4. Leave a comment too and let us know what you are contributing this week.
5. Hop around and enjoy all the great content gathered in one place!!

Alright, on your, mark, get set… LINK, LINK, LINK!!

Here’s my contribution to today’s Two for Tuesdays: Stuffed Bell Peppers and/or Stuffed Zucchini

These two meals have been staples for us over the past few years. They are what I cook when I just don’t know what else to make for dinner. This is a super easy recipe that doesn’t require a lot of thought. It’s simple and warm and yummy.

You can easily make it more interesting, by adding various seasonings to it, chopping in some green onions, or tomato, or add a little freshness by shredding some carrot and celery root and other veggies into it. Really this recipe tastes great on its own and I often make it without adding anything, but it’s also a great base recipe if you want to play around and get creative. Enjoy!

Ingredients for the Stuffing:

• Ground Meat (1 package)
• Cooked Rice (I use maybe 2-3 cups or so – sometimes more sometimes less) (NOTE: you could also use quinoa, or another grain in place of the rice if you want)
• Onion (I use 1-2 onions)
• Garlic (I use 2-4 cloves)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Sauté the meat, onion and garlic until the meat is cooked. Mix the ground meat mixture with the cooked rice. Add a bit of unrefined sea salt and pepper.

For Stuffed Bell Peppers:

Cut the top off of the bell peppers and take out the seeds. Stuff enough of the ground meat and rice into each of the peppers to completely fill them. Place standing up in a baking dish and put in an oven preheated to about 350 degrees F. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the bell peppers start to soften. Remove them from the oven and top them with fresh mozzarella cheese. Place them back in the oven until the mozzarella has melted. Serve warm with a side salad.

For Stuffed Zucchini:

Open up the zucchini by cutting it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and a bit of the middle section. Drizzle with olive oil and place in an oven preheated to about 350 degrees F for roughly 15-20 minutes. Then stuff the hollowed out middle section with the meat and rice mixture and place back in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Once the zucchini is very soft top with mozzarella cheese and place back in the oven long enough for the mozzarella to melt. NOTE: You do not have to pre-cook the zucchini before adding the filling, but we like our zucchini really soft so I usually do.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

This post has been entered in the following carnivals:
Two for Tuesdays
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Tuesday Twister
Click on the links and check out all the other GREAT food posts from around the web.

And, of course, LINK UP to Two for Tuesdays!

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