It looks like you're new to The Community. If you'd like to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Login Here Signup Here Signup using Facebook
thecavsman
Raw Newbie
OK so I drink a lot of tea some weeks, and on those weeks I use agave, so I’m feeling kind of cheated to find out it isn’t raw. I don’t mind a minor ingredient that I don’t eat much not being all raw, like maybe an olive in something. Let’s be honest, you can’t control anything and being 99.8% raw is good enough.
But I still want to find good substitutes for the ingredients in the things I make and will make. I am also helping my mother and little sister go raw this weekend and we are going to spend a few hours making things for them to eat this week on Saturday. Here is a sample recipe:
http://www.derekandsara.com/raw/index.php?itemi…
Now that recipe requires both agave and almonds – do you think it would work as well and have the same consistency as agave if I used “Really Raw Honey”. I know the stuff is expensive, but it is what it is. I just want to make sure the pie is still worth making or if the different consistency will just ruin it. And what about making pie crusts? – any suggestions on what works best besides almond?
I know there is a similar key lime pie recipe here, but I think it takes agave, too.
Oh and one more thing (I know it’s a lot) – do I have to have a VitaMix in order to make it smooth enough? What about a decent/good blender and leaving it in long enough?
Comments
Hi, i think you can use raw honey with no problem at all (perhaps you can find different types ones stronger than other, if you do just choose the softer).
I use hazelnuts to make some desserts and they work find.
I have not a vitamix, so i take my time, sometines i use my gringer before my blender, and finally there comes out pretty good (more job perhaps, but can be made).
Good luck!!
I agree with anngoingraw. things to do: use a coffee grinder on the dry nuts, OR soak them a while before blending them. if you do those things it can work without a vitamix. for pie crusts, i think walnuts would work nicely (walnuts and dates are a heavenly combination). Really raw honey will work. it has the same consistency as agave, but it does have a little more flavor. buy SUMMER honey or wildflower honey, not fall honey (if possible) so that it won’t have as much flavor. honey is a little bit sweeter and stickier than agave, so i’d suggest using just a tiny bit less (you can also taste and check texture as you go).
Oh, also, soak the dates for 1hr before making the crust. it’ll be much easier! good luck, that recipe looks delicious!
Lots of people get things smooth with cheapy blenders. Start out in small batches if it’s thick.
Good news…There are sites that sell 100% RAW agave (see links below). Yacon is also a raw sweetener that is pretty much no-glycemic, so it doesn’t alter your blood sugar. One of the best things you could do is to soak dates in water and use the water. People also do that with raisins…the water is a great sweetener. Raw honey is one of my favorite sweeteners also. I still use some agave, but would rather use honey or date water. I’d personally look in the yellow pages, or ask at your health stores where you can find a beekeepers locally and buy honey from them that is raw. Tell them you want it raw, not heated, and most places will sell it to you.
FYI Hippocrates Institute uses Stevia as a sweetener.
http://www.alissacohen.com/shop/Ultimate-Real-R…
http://www.sunfood.com/b2c/ecom/ecomEnduser/ite…
As a side note…read your page about yourself and my dermatologist suggested large doses of Vitamin A for acne, so instead I include foods that have high vitamin A so I get it naturally. I just noticed yesterday that my skin is getting much better. :) Also read in RawKids book that the boy that was ADD had his symptoms TOTALLY reverse when he was taken off ALL cooked grains. Now that he is older, he might have something cooked once or twice a week, but the rest of his food is raw. Glad to hear that it is working great for you and you are influencing so many people. I love derekandsara’s website, wish she had time to post more :)
Also sweet fruit is a great sweetner, bananas, berries etc…
I know people sell “really raw” agave, but to jury’s still out on that…some scientists say that if it is sweet it isn’t raw no matter what. Also people heat it at high air pressure which means that you can make syrup at lower temps, but still the cemical change has been made, lower temp or not, I wouldn’t call it raw.
Some people use mesquite and lucuma powder to sweeten things with, also stevia. I just use dates, it is easy to get juicy fresh dates over here. There aren’t many Iranian and Iraqui shops in the USA though, which is where I get mine from.
Isn’t there a great company called The Date People? I have heard they do great raw dates, but I don’t know any websites for them.
Thank you all so much. There is such a wealth of sharing and information here – it’s amazing.
So I will be trying the raw honey tomorrow. I now have an excuse to buy an expensive sweetner (something you need excuses). I’ll buy really raw honey because that seems like the type that everyone says is, really raw.
I will also try date syrup. I love dates, sometimes too much. The only organic dates I can find in bulk are pre-ground with pits, though, unfortunately – which is fine for some things I make but not others.
I just can’t take stevia except in small amounts for something like tea.
And I guess Ill go with hazelnuts instead of almonds. Sounds good.
In Another raw food chat room somebody said that along with agave not being raw, there is ALSO fructose corn syrup added. The only place to get truly raw apparently is Ultimate Raw Foods. You can get really raw almonds from a variety of places. I wouldn’t trust that hezelnuts or any other nut are raw since so many of them are pasteurized and nobody will admit it. Sources for raw almonds:
http://www.rawguru.com
http://oneluckyduck.com
Ahhh. So there are no really raw nuts that I can get by tomorrow? Are raw walnuts really raw? I don’t see a reason to heat walnuts, but you never know. How about sunflower seeds for that recipe I posted?
By the way, I feel like in a perfect world we’d be able to sue about the HFCS lol. That is not something that I want to put into my body!
The hulled sunflower seeds I get from Whole Foods are raw because they sprout. Anything that sprouts has to be raw.
cavsman—someone makes a date syrup here that is a great sub for agave. Maybe pianissima? I have trouble remembering who, but try searching the forum. pretty sure it’s just soaked dates blended w/ a little water for liquid consistency.