From special occasions to midnight snacks, this cake can stand up to any craving. It tastes great and is great for you. Go ahead, have another slice!

Full of fresh carrots containing high amounts of vitamin A and beta-carotene, this moist carrot cake is an easy guilt-free choice. Among its many health benefits, the vitamin A found in carrots has been proven to improve vision, prevent various cancers, and protect skin from sun damage. In addition, diets rich in beta-carotene can produce results in both anti-aging and the prevention of heart disease.

An ingredient that might be new to you is the Ener-G Egg Replacer. It is an egg substitute that is made from tapioca and potato starch. With only 10 calories per serving, Ener-G Egg Replacer allows you to create egg-free baking goods without sacrificing the taste. If you have any trouble finding it at your supermarket, check their website for a listing of local grocery stores by clicking here.

Guest Author: Brittany Cines

Free radicals. Doesn’t the name alone sound threatening? Good thing we have antioxidants to protect us!

Free radicals are chemicals that are produced by the body when food is broken down, or from environmental threats such as cigarette smoke and radiation. These chemicals are dangerous to our health because they work by stealing electrons from other substances in our body, damaging cells, and leading to many diseases such as heart disease, liver disease and cancer. Luckily we have antioxidants, which work to counter the negative effects of free radicals by donating electrons. Just think of antioxidants as the good guy in our story and free radicals as the bad guy.

Now that we understand the role antioxidants play in our body, we must know where to find these saviors. Antioxidants are found in many foods that contain vitamins and minerals such as, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium, and more. While it may seem like a no brainer to just go out and buy huge bottles of these vitamins and minerals from our nearest drug store, this has not been found to be as beneficial as you might think. Instead, try increasing your consumption of foods high in antioxidants like fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, grains, tea, herbs, and even dark chocolate! Antioxidants from food can be the most effective way to slow aging and avoid many of the diseases caused by free radicals. They are the true superhero!

Sources:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/antioxidants.html
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/antioxidants/

It’s ok to be different. Really… it can actually be fun. You can follow the crowd and make boring, tired brownies or you can try our new spin using a couple of unexpected ingredients.

If you have been following The New Yummy, tofu is not a new ingredient for you. We have used it in a few recipes. Tofu is full of protein and is a great egg substitute in select recipes.

This is, however, the first recipe we have posted using puréed prunes (We used bottled baby food prunes. A much easier alternative to puréeing your own.). We are all familiar with the health benefits of prunes. Or we are familiar with at least one — they keep you regular. This is because they are high in fiber. Prunes have also shown positive effects to the cardiovascular system, help to lower cholesterol, and are high in potassium, vitamin K and copper. They are also a great ingredient to help lower the fat content of this recipe.

Let us know what you think. We bet you can’t even tell that you are eating a healthier brownie. It feels good to be an original, doesn’t it?

Make this bread and you will have one lunchbox item solved and a couple of snacks ready to go. Add a nut spread on a slice and call it breakfast. It is an easy recipe that you will feel good about serving to your family and friends.

You won’t find refined sugar in this recipe. In its place we have used apple sauce and maple syrup for sweeteners. As Brittany Cines discussed in her first post, The Truth Behind Refined Sugars, refined sugar has empty calories. Maple syrup contains manganese and zinc which are both important for a healthy immune system. Not a reason to pour it over everything you eat, but you can feel a little less guilty about eating this banana bread over others.

A special thanks goes out to a dear friend and Framily member, Judi Lapidus for suggesting that we yummy-ize a banana bread recipe. Please leave a comment below and let us know if you have any desserts or recipes that you would like us to try to make more healthy. We are up for the challenge!

1. Preheat oven to 350° F  and spray a loaf pan with a canola baking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
3. Mash bananas and place in mixer.
4. Add melted butter, apple sauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract into the bananas and mix.
5. Combine the flour ingredients with the bananas mixture and blend together.
6. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.
7. Once the center of the bread is baked enough to show only a few crumbs after a toothpick is inserted the bread is ready to remove from oven.
9. Place baked bread on a cooling rack for 10 minutes and then enjoy.

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Guest Author: Brittany Cines

If you are anything like me, you crave sweets often. Whether it’s a need for a small pick-me-up in the middle of a long day, or a little dessert to finish off a meal, I am always looking for healthy ways to satisfy my sweet tooth. But can sweets really be healthy, and what is so bad about refined sugars anyways?

Before we can begin to answer this question, we must understand how different types of carbohydrates work in our bodies, and what makes refined sugars different from natural sugars. In general, carbohydrates are essential for providing us with the energy we need to maintain our busy lifestyles. All carbohydrates are converted into glucose in our bodies, which can be used right away as energy, or stored for later as fat. However, this process can be a little different depending on which type of carbohydrate we choose to consume. Simple carbohydrates are easily broken down into quick energy, while complex carbohydrates take more time to break down, providing us with long-term energy. Specifically, simple carbohydrates come from sugars, which can be found naturally in foods, or as an added ingredient. On the other hand, complex carbohydrates are found in foods with starches and fiber.

Refined sugars are a type of simple carbohydrate in which sugar is added during a refining process. Unlike natural sugars, refined sugars provide us with very little nutritional value. Refined sugars do not contain vitamins, minerals, or fiber, like in natural and complex carbohydrates. We all know that a calorie is a calorie, no matter the source. However, refined sugars are said to have “empty calories,” lacking the essential nutrients we need to keep our bodies healthy.

I try to avoid store-bought sweets that tend to have a lot of refined sugars, such as cakes, candies, syrups, and soda. By paying attention to the nutrition labels at the grocery store, I find it very easy to limit refined sugars in my diet. Instead of buying the sugary foods that I love, I prepare yummy versions of my favorite foods at home, substituting refined sugars for products with natural sugars. In general, about 40% to 60% of our total calories per day should come from carbohydrates, in order to maintain optimal health, and replacing refined sugars with natural and complex carbohydrates can be much more beneficial to our bodies.

Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002469.htm

Sometimes things in life don’t go as planned. That’s when you need a dear trusted friend to step in and tell you like it is.

“You just need to freeze it,” said Maria as she pondered my berry mush that I had wanted to serve for dessert. With a couple of modifications, the new recipe, “The Berry Maria Frozen Treat,” was ready for primetime.

One of the ingredients that might be new to you is Acai powder. The Acai berry is one of the healthiest berries that you can find. They are extremely high in antioxidants which promote heart and skin health and have shown in studies to help prevent cancer. This berry has also been linked to everything from weight loss to boosting sex drive.

This popsicle is a great treat for anyone, especially kids. If you have trouble getting protein into them this is the perfect summer recipe. It is easy to make and no one could guess that there is tofu, of all things, inside.

The recipe makes six popsicles, depending upon the size of the molds. If you have leftover mixture use it to make a frozen slushy by adding a few handfuls of ice and popping it back in the blender.

I have been wanting to create a dessert using green tea as an ingredient. This is the first one… and it was a big hit with our photographer (my husband). I haven’t seen a photo shoot go so quickly. All so that he could eat the subject!

There have been a lot of studies conducted on the medicinal qualities of green tea. It has shown to help treat or prevent Atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, various forms of Cancer, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Diabetes, Liver Disease, and to increase weight loss. For a more detailed list of green tea’s benefits see the information provided on the University of Maryland Medical Center’s website.

This dessert is sweetened with Agave Syrup which is great to try in your tea or coffee. It has a lower glycemic index than table sugar and is just as sweet.

A couple of notes* regarding this recipe:
— When plating the dessert,  carefully insert a knife around the inside of the ramekin to break the seal between it and the firm custard inside. Then turn it over releasing the custard onto the plate. It isn’t necessary to do the “turning the custard over onto a plate” step. You can also pour the sauce over the custard while it is in the ramekin and serve it that way.
— Make the berry sauce right before serving so it is warm as you pour it over the custard.
— Don’t eat the custard without the berry sauce. Well, you can, but it just really isn’t the same without it.

Why is this the best chocolate cupcake? Because it contains NO GUILT. It is good for you and oh, so yummy. Go ahead… you can eat another one!

Avocado is an important ingredient in this recipe. It gives the cupcake moisture. The avocado is considered one of the world’s healthiest fruit, because of it contains nutrients such as vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin C. Avocados also contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help lower cholesterol and has been shown to prevent breast cancer in numerous studies.

There’s no can’t, in kanten! This jello-like dessert is light and refreshing. And would you believe… also great for your hair and nails!

Fruit aspics are referred to as “kanten’ in Japanese and Macrobiotic cookbooks. This kanten calls for the items Agar Agar and Kuzu, both of which are detailed on our Ingredients page. These ingredients might be new to you, but they have been around for centuries. We use the products by Eden that can be purchased at Whole Foods and Mom’s Organic Market. Another great resource is Gold Mine Natural Food Company.

2 cups of apple juice

2 tablespoons Agar Agar sea vegetable flakes

1 tablespoon Kuzu root starch

3 sprigs of mint

2 peaches (skin peeled and cut into slices)

pinch of salt

1. Place the mint in the apple juice and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes.
2. Remove the mint by pouring the liquid through a fine strainer into a bowl.
3. Return the mint-infused apple juice to the stove and add Agar Agar and salt.
4. Bring mixture to boil.
5. Simmer and stir until Agar Agar is melted.
6. In a small bowl, dilute Kuzu in cold water.
7. Add Kuzu into the Agar Agar mixture and stir until thick and translucent.
8. Place cut peaches into the bottom of a glass bowl. (I have used frozen organic peaches in a crunch. They just need to be thawed a little before placing in a bowl.)
9. Pour liquid mixture over the peaches and let cool.
10. Place in refrigerator until firm to the touch.
Makes enough for four servings.

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This is one of Liana’s creations and I have to admit that I have eaten almost half a pie in one sitting. It wasn’t pretty, but it tasted so good!

This Apple Crumble Pie crust contains an interesting ingredient: Cafix Coffee Substitute. Cafix is an all natural caffeine-free beverage that contains barley, chicory, malted barley, and figs. If you love the taste of coffee you will enjoy this product. It can be found in Whole Foods, Mom’s Organic Market and even Amazon.com.

Tell us what you think of the recipe after you make a pie. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Pie Crust:
½  cup spelt flour

1 cup brown rice flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon Cafix Coffee Substitute (dissolved in ¼ cup of ice water)

8 tablespoons  Earth Balance buttery spread, cubed

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons maple syrup

Crumble:
1 cup brown rice flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons melted  Earth Balance buttery spread

2 tablespoons wheat germ

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Preheat your oven to 400° F  and lightly coat a pie pan with a canola baking spray.
2. Combine all crust ingredients, except for the Cafix, into a food processor. Drizzle in the Cafix while pulsing. Mix until dough is uniform.
3. Wrap the crust dough in a plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until ready to assemble pie.
4. Combine all crumble ingredients , mix and set aside.
5. Cut apples into thin slices and place in sealed plastic bag.
6. Add remaining apple ingredients to bag and mix by shaking.
7. Remove chilled crust dough from plastic wrapping and press into pie pan until smooth.
8. Add apple mixture into the crust and distribute evenly.
9. Spread crumble over apples covering the entire pie.
10. Bake at 400° F for 25 minutes and then decrease the temperature to 375° F and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

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