Sweeteners During Pregnancy

Fortunately, I have not had a big sweet tooth during my pregnancy. I haven't even craved chocolate! Still, I make the occasional baked good and use a sweetener every morning in my smoothie. Here is some info on your options which every pregnancy person must consider. (There is also a chapter on this subject in Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven)

Honey
A full vegan will already be avoiding this. Pregnancy adds additional considerations because honey is a raw product and could contain bacteria harmful to a fetus. (Same thing with cheese and some other foods which need to be highly pasteurized for safety). 


Agave
This had been my go-to sweetener for my morning smoothie but ALAS, must be avoided during pregnancy. Agave is made from the same cactus from which we get tequila and could cause contractions* so it's a big no-no. However, once I am to term and it is safe for me to go into labor I might have some. At the moment, I could go for some vegan ice cream but every brand I've found uses agave as a sweetener. Drat!

*A lot of these claims I have read might not be supported by a lot of research. More often than not, these ingredients have just not been tested enough to say their effect on pregnancies one way or the other. For me, if there is any risk or chance of risk, I avoid it. 

Stevia 
Stevia is an intense sweetener that comes in a few forms. You can buy it as leaves or processed in a powder or liquid. Only a few drops provide a lot of sweetness! I tried this when I found out I am pregnant and nixed the agave, but can find no research on its effect on pregnancy, so I have discontinued use. I might come back to it when I am not pregnant. 












Evaporated Cane Juice

I buy this in bulk. It has a slightly brown color because it isn't whitened. 

Maple Syrup 

Unfortunately, this is an expensive sweetener. Be careful if buying this from the store that it is 100% maple syrup, NOT corn syrup!

Santa Cruz 

Here is what I use in smoothies now in place of a sweetener and cacao.  This stuff in amazing! It's like vegan organic Hershey's syrup and I find it in the big box grocery store. The sweetener is invert sugar and there are only four ingredients (sweet!) Using this makes my smoothie seem like a milkshake and makes me happy when I can't have other summer frozen treats!












Other Safe, Yummy Bets:

• Sweeteners labeled "low glycemic index" are a plus!
• Sugar from veggies: peas, brown rice, beets
• I have not tried this, but folks use fruit sugar by reducing into a syrup
• You can find vegan powdered/confectioner's sugar, brown sugar, and so on
• Blackstrap Molasses- added bonus of iron! 

No-Nos:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup- you know better!
• Bleached or chlorinated granulated white sugar (probably also processed with bone char)
• Anything that does not come from a plant. If it was made in a factory from manufactured chemicals, it is bad news. Truvia, splenda, sweet n low, aspartame, and so on. Highly processed and possibly carcinogenic. Give your baby the good stuff!

Another note on sugar:

Don't overdo it. Insulin spikes are no good for baby and pregnant women are susceptible to gestational diabetes which is extremely dangerous for mama and baby. Limit yourself and try to get your sweet fix from fruit, juice, juice popsickles!

Add your own sweeteners in the comments!

Product Review: Garden of Life Raw Protein

In my past few smoothies, I have used Raw Protein instead of my usual hemp protein. I purchased at Whole Foods. 

Raw protein is made from the sprouts of a variety of grains, beans, and vegetables. 

It packs a lot for the punch! Tons of vitamins and probiotics as well as the protein. I feel the same amazing energy after my smoothie with Raw Protein as I did with hemp protein, though there could be other benefits I just do not realize. 

The thing that I do not like about Raw Protein powder is the taste. It has a very malty, chalky flavor that does not agree with me. Because of that, I will finish what I have but not purchase again. I do hope that you will give it a try! I am going back to hemp. 

Is there another vegan protein powder I should try? 

Recipe Review: Quinoa Burgers

We love making this recipe that I found on Savvy Vegetarian . com

It is a multi-step process.

1. Soak quinoa. This gets rid of the bitter layer. It also may sprout them for extra goodness. 
2. Rinse. I use a small pasta strainer.
3. Cook for 15 minutes.
4. Mix all ingredients.
5. Put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Cooling overnight makes it form patties well BUT it does make your hands very cold.
6. Form patties.
7. Fry patties.
8. Let oil absorb.
9. NOM!

I call it party quinoa because of all the colors. I am not sure which ones are whole grain. I buy organic in bulk.

What We Love About Quinoa Burgers:

• They keep well, if you don't eat them all right away!
• Delicious. 
• Eat with a bun for a hearty meal or without a bun for a light meal.
• Quinoa is awesome- a seed though it resembles a grain, it is the only grain/seed that is a complete protein.

Quinoa burger mixture with plain white quinoa.

What We Are Iffy About:

• Frying them. All the oil is not the best health-wise and hot oil is dangerous and scares me. It is a two-person operation. Maybe they could be baked for a similar result?
• Time-consuming to make!!! 

Other Notes:

• If you are gluten-free, use potato starch instead of conventional flour.
• We save and reuse the oil each time until it gets groddy. Let it cool and then store in a mason jar. 
• I eat mine topped with hummus and spinach. Mmmmm!

This was Ian's, topped with tomato sauce and spinach. Made with red quinoa.

What kind of 'burgers' do you make? Bean, lentil, veggie, walnut? How have you gotten around using all this oil?

Whole Foods and Blog Title

Happy Weekend!!!!!!!!

Today, I drove two hours to receive a pre-service teacher award (yaay!) but we got lost and were forty minutes late (boo). Then, on the way home we took a wrong exit and ended up near a Whole Foods so I went for the first time ever. I'll get into it more later, but now I live in a very VERY rural place. Where I used to live had no Whole Foods but two large organic stores that are not chains and one is a cooperative.

So, yeah! Whole Foods! It was packed with people! Unfortunately, it was not packed with many actual whole foods. The produce was mostly out of season. It was a grocery store that happened to have mostly organic items but not like the kind of organic store I am used to. Very few bulk items. A little bit but not much local.

Also, Whole Foods was not very vegan friendly. I was expecting for it to be peppered with vegan choices clearly labeled, or else have a vegan section. Neither. I was really hungry and wanted to eat in the little cafe area, but it looked like the only vegan option was salad. No thanks. I asked the bakery if they had any vegan options and I was SOL. So disappointing!

Still, I am really happy with some of the freezer finds!!! I always read great reviews on vegan blogs but am not able to get these items for myself because I don't want to order food online that requires refrigeration. I will show you some of these soon when I chow down. Among them are flavors that are new to me of Coconut Bliss and So Delicious. I try to do mostly homemade food, but since I have so little time in the evenings, I am a sucker for something I can just heat up.

Have you been wondering about the blog title? I will explain the sub-heading. Back when I very first starting reading vegan blogs, I kept seeing the name of this restaurant pop up that is two hours away from my house. I decided to tell my hubby/partner about it at a time when I was REALLY sleep deprived. Sober, but ridiculously tired. So, I began to tell him about the "blegan vogs" I've been reading. The name stuck.

I never once pulled an all-nighter in undergrad, but it is a way of life now that I am getting my master's and dual teaching certification in 11 months. It all ends June 4! Ian has been keeping me fed and sane.

Photography by Jim Jarrell 

Sprouts!

Not the eating kind- the beginnings of an awesome balcony garden.

Hubby/partner and I got excited at the end of a week of warm weather, in seventies, and began sprouting seeds and setting plants out on the balcony of our one bedroom apartment. Biiiig time fail. Then, we have had two continuous weeks of thirties and forties including snow. We pulled almost everything inside and saved most things.

Squeezing sprouts and plants on the stovetop, of course.

The problem is indoor space and sunlight. We keep everything in the bedroom while we are at work where they sort of get sunlight. When we are home and the sun is down, they are on the kitchen counters where the cats do not go.

Strawberries we bought as small plants. A little blossom!

I will do another post about our sprouting methods because we tried about five ways, some successful and some cumbersome.

Can't wait for summertime veggies and herbs and kitty treats!

 

Our garden at my parent's house in 2009 which was brutally eaten by deer