Review: Dolcedi

Natural Low-Glycemic Sweetener From Organic Apples

Dolcedì’ is a new, all-natural liquid sweetener that’s made from 100% organic apples and is a low-glycemic* alternative to sugar and other sweeteners.

Dolcedì’ can be used any way you would use traditional table sugar or honey. Its neutral flavor enhances the taste of food and drinks without altering them. Dolcedì’ is also highly soluble in both cold and hot drinks and can be enjoyed with pancakes, on yogurt, in fruit salad, and in baking. With 25% fewer calories than table sugar and higher sweetening power (you just need ½ tsp vs. 1 tsp granulated sugar) Rigoni di Asiago Dolcedì’ is made from the concentrated and filtered sugar extracted from organic apples. It is certified USDA organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, and STAR-KOSHER.

*Dolcedì’, with a GI value of 22.5**, is suitable for those who want to eat well, following a balanced diet for a healthy lifestyle.**GI = 22.5 +/- 5, determined as set out by the standardized method (ISO 26642:2010(E); FAO/ WHO Expert Consultation 1998; Wolever et al 2008.

About
Rigoni di Asiago® is a family-owned and operated business based in the Altopiano di Asiago, a mountain plateau in Northern Italy (90 miles north of Venice). Committed to sourcing the finest ingredients, their certified organic products include Fiordifrutta fruit preserves (the leading jam in Italy), Nocciolate hazelnut and chocolate spread, Dolcedì’ natural sweetener and Meilbio, honey from the best production areas of Italy.  The company was one of the first in Europe to turn to organic farming in the early 1990s and merit the Certified Organic label.

Find Rigoni di Asiago® products on Amazon or through the "Find a Store" search on their website. 

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Our Thoughts
Being into whole fresh foods and the nutrient-dense paleo way of eating, as you can imagine, I've tried a variety of natural sweeteners - including some that are fruit-based. Dolcedì’ is made from apples - that's it, nothing else added. Organic apples, at that! (Actually their whole company focuses on organic farming - one of the first in Italy to "go organic" - and sustainable, eco-friendly manufacturing processes.)

The first thing I did was taste Dolcedì’ all by itself.  It's a clear, thick syrup. The taste is pretty neutral, as promised. 

So let's see how it worked for me: it's suggested use is for teas, baking, and any other place you'd use sugar.  I don't drink much tea in the hot summers, and I've never been a fan of iced tea, so I skipped that option. 

The first recipe I made with Dolcedì’ was one I recently created and have been enjoying this summer, an avocado and ginger coleslaw dressing. 

This is a fully raw recipe, no cooking involved. My recipe calls for maple syrup, and the substitution ratio calls for the same amount.  Maple syrup of course has its own flavor; substituting it with Dolcedì’ didn't go quite as I expected.  The dressing was missing the full, round flavor maple syrup provides and actually left the dressing with a somewhat bitter aftertaste (I find stevia to have the same effect).

Ok, next up, baking! I wanted to see if the aftertaste disappeared with the heat of baking.  We have a Harrelson apple tree and recent storms had knocked down several small apples.  Now, Harrelson's are TART and the young apples are even more so.  Storms knock some early apples down every year and I use them in a easy stovetop dessert that consists simply of apple slices, cinnamon, maple syrup, and cherry wine, cooked until the apples are soft and the sauce reduced.  And really, apple sweetener used on apples?  Should be a perfect combination!

Again, I was surprised that Dolcedì’ didn't perform as expected. While I didn't get a bitter aftertaste, I used way more than I would have of maple syrup as the Dolcedì’ did not overpower the tartness of the apples no matter how much I used.  I ended up adding maple syrup, which immediately reduced the tartness.

For me, I'll stick with my trusty maple syrup.  I do think that used raw, Dolcedì’ would perform fine in teas, and I'll try that when the cold weather hits in a few months.

I do want to note that Rigoni di Asiago® has a variety of other products that look right up my alley - a chocolate hazelnut spread that looks beyond delicious, as well as several honeys.  I wish I could try them all!  I can't even pick a favorite to try but right now it's a toss up between the Organic Italian Forest Raw Honey, Organic Italian Orange Blossom Raw & Creamy Honey, and the Organic Italian Wildflower Raw & Creamy Honey.



Valentine's Day Gift Guide - Olomomo Nut Company - #Giveaway

 About the Company

OLOMOMO Nut Company launched in Boulder, Colo. in 2008 with a simple mission: be The Good Nuts and create one of the first socially and environmentally conscious nut companies.

The innovative brand experience and products are designed to inspire people to be more nutty, good and adventurous.

 From humble origins at Colorado farmers markets – sampling one nut at a time – to a national debut on the Cooking Channel, OLOMOMO is now quickly becoming a national brand. Now selling to grocery stores by the pallet, New Hope Media picked us as “one of the top 10 brands to watch” in 2014.

 The product is mainly sold through natural grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Natural Grocers Vitamin cottage in the Rocky Mountain Region, and coffee shops and smoothie shops such as Smoothie King across the country.

Connect with Olomono

 


My Thoughts

Chocolate isn't for everyone. If you're looking for  something special for the nut-lover in your life this Valentine's Day, look no further than Olomomo. They offer delicious blends of almonds and pecans that will delight your taste buds.  Plus they're a good source of protein and are gluten free. I got to try out two delicious flavors, and they were both amazing.

Chai Bliss Almonds

I love almonds, and I love chai tea, so I had a feeling these would be awesome, and they really were.  Each batch is kettle roasted then smothered in sugar, cardamom, and vanilla. It's like getting your lattes in nut-form. Speaking of lattes, they are a great snack to have with a cup of coffee or even to sprinkle on ice cream.

Cosmic Maple Masala Pecans

Pecans are my absolute favorite nut, so I enjoyed this variety even more.  It's like getting to eat a pecan pie without all the calories. You can munch them by the handful or add a few to your salad or yogurt to give it a little oomph. This is definitely the type of snack you won't need to feel guilty about indulging in.

Some other varieties available at Olomono are Mango Chipotle, Cinnamon Cayenne, Cherry Vanilla, and Plum Vinegar and Sea Salt. With so many choices available, you're sure to find something to make your sweetheart smile.

Mango Chipotle Kettle-Roasted Almonds

The Giveaway

One lucky winner is going to receive a bag of Olomomo nuts in the variety of their choice.  To enter, just fill in the Giveaway Tools form below. This giveaway will end on 3/1/15. Open to the US only. The winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to reply. Thanks again to the sponsor for offering this fantastic prize.

Entry-Form

Cavemom's Cooking

Cavemom's Cooking

simple paleo meals

Cavemom's Cooking is not only a cookbook, but my son's story: how I stopped my son's benign myoclonic seizures and awoke his sensory processing abilities, our decision to go paleo, and the simple paleo recipes that followed. When we went paleo, I never thought about writing a cookbook. But as time went on and my son made so much progress, I knew his story needed to be told. And what better way than with what helped him the most? Food! Volume 2 is currently in the works!

Paleo eating is grain and gluten free, dairy free, legume free, and nightshade free. Simply fresh, whole foods - fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, and seeds. Easy to make, tasty to eat! If you're looking to get away from today's processed foods filled with artificial ingredients, preservatives, colors, and flavors, give this a try.

168 Recipes. Full color photographs. Available both in print and e-book (PDF).

Cavemom's Cooking, E-book $9.99 
Cavemom's Cooking, Print $22.95

The author, Anne, is also the owner/creator of Greenchild Creations, which focuses on natural skin care, cloth diapers, and crafty things. Her fitted cloth diaper design was born of her son's needs.  Anne created a true OS fitted cloth diaper: each diaper is three layers of fabric with the third layer creating an inner pocket. With generous side flaps, super stretchy leg elastic, and an adjustable rise, her fitted cloth diapers will fit a range of sizes!  Anne offers pin, snap, or Velcro closure, and also makes cloth diaper covers and bamboo inserts. 

Annual July Sale!

10% off everything in the shop

(including Cavemom's Cooking) for the entire month of July! 

Enter coupon code 10OFF during checkout.

 
Excerpt from the Introduction - Kaiden's Story:

"Before I can introduce myself, I must first introduce our son, Kaiden.   Kaiden is one very special little boy; without him my view on everything would be much more . . . traditional. This cookbook is because of him: this is his story.
Kaiden has Down Syndrome, and was diagnosed with benign myoclonic seizures on September 22, 2009, when he was almost 8 months old.

Doctors told us to expect global delays and low muscle tone in regards to Down Syndrome, but they didn’t talk about dietary needs. Kaiden developed at a pretty normal pace up until his sixth month; after that things went steadily downhill. He had been 6 1/2 weeks premature and was exclusively fed breast milk; because of his prematurity he became anemic and at his six month well-visit, I was instructed to give him iron supplements and begin feeding him iron fortified cereals and solid foods whether he was ready for them or not. Unfortunately at that same appointment, even with the severe anemia, he was also given the DTaP and Hep B vaccinations. The Hep B vaccination contains yeast, and yeast feeds on sugar, which is in those infant iron supplements in some form to make them palatable. A few weeks later I went on antibiotics that were deemed safe for breastfeeding, and all of this was too much for Kaiden’s little system. The antibiotics killed off too much of his good gut bacteria, and the yeast took over. He quickly developed projectile vomiting, cradle cap, and stinky, sticky, yeasty diapers. The pediatrician we had been seeing did not feel yeast had anything to do with these sudden symptoms and laughed at me, refusing to see him; leaving me on my own to treat him. Just a few days later, the benign myoclonic seizures began.

After the seizures began, I noted that when given sweet potatoes and carrots, Kaiden’s seizure activity intensified. The neurologist we saw told me outright that he was sure diet had absolutely nothing to do with the seizures. In his official report to Kaiden's pediatrician, he wrote "I doubt an underlying metabolic abnormality". 

I’d had it! I was so angry - these doctors were supposed to be some of the best, and they wouldn’t listen to a word I was saying. I decided if they weren’t going to listen to me, I was going to do it myself. Mama Bear mode took over and I began my own research. I successfully treated Kaiden’s yeast overload with probiotics specifically for candida. The seizures . . . I tried everything under the sun to find their cause. I looked at the vaccines he'd been given, the dosage of the iron supplement, the antibiotics I had taken . . . all of which had seizures listed as a possible side effect, but the details did not go into the type of seizure. It hasn’t been definitively proven, but a correlation has been noticed between infants around that age range receiving the DTaP vaccine and developing benign myoclonic seizures. Since I saw that carrots and sweet potatoes intensified his seizure activity, I stopped feeding him those foods. Online, I found some evidence that some (not most) individuals with Down Syndrome do not process beta carotene well, and came across an individual with epilepsy that said carrots did it for them.

Since Kaiden had been spitting up the iron supplements with every dosage, I stopped the iron supplements and began giving him a tiny dosage of powdered kelp for his iron instead; his hemoglobin is and remains excellent. But, the seizures continued.

The neurologist told us this type of seizure would not affect Kaiden cognitively and that he may outgrow the seizures within a few short years. So, with that knowledge and because of the possible permanent side effects of allopathic anticonvulsant drugs, we chose to go the holistic route instead. The neurologist started him on vitamin B6, but said he would most likely need the anticonvulsant drugs to control the seizures as well as further testing; repeat EEG's and a future MRI.

Unfortunately, the vitamin B6 made no difference for Kaiden's seizures. At their worst, he was having 6 clusters per day with one spasm every 10 - 15 seconds for anywhere from 10 - 45 minutes. The longer the clusters lasted, the more time between spasms until they finally stopped. He would scream and cry after each spasm. These clusters would happen at random times of the day and night. As a parent, you feel so frustrated and want to cry right along with them . . . you feel powerless to stop it, yet you can't cushion them forever. The seizures would throw Kaiden forward violently, and he would smack his forehead on his toys, hard enough to bruise. I kept my homemade salve on hand, which kept away the bruising. The best way to describe these is like taking a bow, very hard and fast, and without your permission."
___________

You can find more of Kaiden's story in Cavemom's Cooking - available in e-book (PDF format) or print copies!

Keep up with Cavemom's Cooking and Greenchild Creations at:
Cavemom's Cooking Blog
Greenchild Creations Blog
Greenchild Creations on Facebook
Shop Greenchild Creations

Love with Food - Organic and All-Natural Snacks

Newly launched startup, LoveWithFood offers subscription packages for a monthly box delivery of natural snacks and food samples. But beyond that, LoveWithFood is dedicated to making a change: not only in the industry, but in the world.

For every purchase of a LoveWithFood box, a meal is donated to a child in need somewhere in the US. LoveWithFood has already donated over 250,000 meals!

Love With Food helps you discover new organic or all-natural snacks delivered to your door every month. Our subscription membership starts as low as $10/month. Every month, Love With Food members will receive a curated box of unique, hard-to-find tasty snacks which varies based on seasonal themes.

For every box sold, we donate a meal to several food banks such as the Feeding America Network and Share Our Strength - No Kid Hungry. Join us to help end child hunger one meal at a time!

Say goodbye to boring grocery selections and start discovering your Love With Food experience!

Our Thoughts
When this box came, I couldn't wait to open it! I am a total foodie. No, seriously, really I am! I LOVE food. I LOVE the taste and textures and combinations. The kids are the exact same way. We all love trying new things and finding new favorites. The picture below is exactly what we received.

There were quite a few of the items we absolutely loved. The only two we really did not like, and it's a complete personal preference on our end, were the Pork Clouds (pork rinds) and the One Potato, Two Potato (sweet potato chips). The absolute favorites out of the box were the Praline Pecans and the Key Lime cookies. There was almost an all out fight over WHO was going to eat the last cookie! When the Praline Pecans were gone, my husband actually requested that I order more from the company because they make such a great snack! 

What I love the most about Love with Food is that when you order, they're donating meals to needy children! Who wouldn't want to order these boxes just to help the cause?

To take a look, shop and see some recipes from Love with Food you can click here. Love with Food is also on Facebook and Twitter. I really hope that you order and enjoy with the rest of us! 

Beech-Nut Food Review

 Beech-Nut food for babies is made with natural ingredients. That means no artificial colors, flavors,
or preservatives. Beech-Nut takes out everything moms don’t want, and leaves in the essential
nutrients that babies need.

Moms have trusted Beech-Nut for the nourishment of their babies since 1931. They are a family owned
company with several generations of the same families working together.  Partnered with their growers, they harvest the highest quality, most nutritious, best-tasting ingredients, from their families

to yours.

Beech-Nut, the number two leading baby food brand in the U.S., is a subsidiary of Hero AG of Lenzburg, Switzerland, an international leader in consumer goods and infant feeding.

Our Thoughts:
There are so many foods out there for babies, and toddlers now, that knowing which one to choose is difficult! With Beech-Nut, there isn't any guess work anymore. You get only the foods you want: natural, healthy, and no additives.

I was so happy to get the new products for tasting! I tried them myself before I gave them to my daughter. A lot of times what you buy for baby tastes nothing like what they say it is. I found that's not the case at all with Beech-Nut, it really is what they say it is. I love that, as a mom, I am buying real food.

Each of the four jars we received were delicious, according to my daughter! She specifically loved the beets, pear and pomegranate the best! I thought the Spinach, Green beans, and zucchini was a well rounded flavor. Each was unique and gave you something out of the ordinary with baby foods. You feel like you have options, where so many times you feel like you don't!

Beech-Nut has forty new flavors including foods like pomegranate, avocado, papaya and beets. I will definitely be purchasing some of the new flavors! The new line will be available in stores, including Wal-Mart, Kroger, Meijer and Publix, in spring 2014. The suggested retail price of a 4.25oz bottle is $1.09.

Stay connected to Beech-Nut:
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Reviewed by Steph

**This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Beech-Nut and MomSelect. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone and may not represent the opinions of the sponsors.**

Snikiddy Snacks Review & Giveaway

***Product was received for free in exchange for an honest review.***

Snikiddy snacks are made from non-GMO ingredients, are certified gluten and wheat free, and do not contain any artificial colors, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, hydrogenated oils or MSG.  The All-Natural Cheese Puffs and All-Natural Baked Fries contain half the fat of regular potato chips and Eat Your Vegetables have a full serving of vegetables in every ounce! Snikiddy pairs nutrition with great taste to deliver real, delicious foods the whole family can enjoy and feel good about.

The Name 

Where did the name come from? Snikiddy® is a shortened (and let’s face it, easier to say) form of the word persnickety, which means choosy or picky. Growing up, Janet (Mary’s mom) and her siblings were known around school as the Snikiddy kids (a badge they wore proudly) because they always ate healthy lunches. Their mom (Grandma), ahead of her time with her passion for good health, would pack their lunch boxes full of locally grown produce and very simple foods. A teacher once referred to them as being persnickety and the kids’ version of the word (snikiddy) stuck.

          

 

Our Thoughts

I have to be honest here, these are my favorite natural chip/snack that I have ever tried. I have tried quite a few, but these are packed with flavor and a wide variety of choices to choose from. Snikiddy doesn't give you just one type of chip, you get a variety so it keeps things interesting. The Puffs were a definite hit and the #1 favorite of both my children and the neighbor's kids too!

My favorite textured choice were Eat Your Vegetable line, I loved how it mimicked a Doritos chip, you could easily eat them with dips or just plain. The Sea Salt & Lime and the Jalapeno Ranch were favorites for my husband! My kids liked the plain Sea Salt and I liked the Sour Cream. I was surprised by the Jalapeno Ranch, it tasted just as good as any other "normal" brand of chip. The flavor was astounding. I can't quite stress how well the flavors were spot on. It wasn't a "plain chip" and then you had a hint of flavor, this was full on flavor, and it tasted great.

Ok, my favorite favorite were the Fries! Bold Buffalo for my husband and I, that bag did not last long at all! The kids loved the cheddar (surprise!). I also really liked the Barbeque, however I did not think it tasted like a regular Barbeque chip, it did have it's own sweet/bbq-ish type of flavor and it was awesome.

So, on top of all the different chips, flavors and what not, you still have the added main benefit of it being completely healthy!!! There are not any issues if my kids ask for a snack, "sure, grab the chips" and I know it's healthy and they'll love them!

Highly, highly recommend this brand!! Check them out for yourself here:

http://snikiddy.com/products

And enjoy the Giveaway!

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Reviewed by Jackie

***Please note that I received no form of monetary compensation for this post. Please note New Age Mama is not responsible for the delivery of this prize and cannot be held accountable if, for any reason, it is not received. Furthermore, New Age Mama is in no way liable for any injuries that may result from the use or misuse of this product. ***