How to get the best nutrients

Best Vegan Protein Sources

Legumes
Soy Products: Non-GMO Tempeh and Tofu
Grains
Nuts
Seeds

Best Iron Sources

Legumes: chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans
Nuts and Seeds: cashews, almonds, pumpkin, sunflower, tahini
Whole and enriches grains: quinoa
Vegetables: dark leay greens
Dried Fruits

Best Zinc Sources

Legumes: navy beans, split peas
Nuts and seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, cashews
Whole grains and wheat germ

Best Iodine Sources

Iodized Salt
Kelp Poweder

Best Essential Fatty Acid Sources

Microalgea DHA supplements
Flaxseed oil
Hempseed oil
Walnuts
Chia seeds
Best Vitamin B12 Sources

B12 fortified foods
Nutritional yeast
B12 supplements

Best Calcium Sources

Vegetables: broccoli, kale, collards, okra
Tofu
Soy beverages
Sesame seeds
Almonds
Legumes
Dried figs

Best Vitamin D Sources

Moderate warm month sun
Fortified soy beverages
Fortified cereals

 

Kitchen Measurement Cheat Sheet

If you are not a professional chef then I highly doubt you remember kitchen conversions. So here is a cheat sheet that you can use in your kitchen when you are stumped on measurements

 

Replacing Butter in a Recipe

If you need a dairy free substitution for butter in your recipes here are a few different options:

• coconut butter
• applesauce
• coconut oil
• avocado
  • How it works? Avocados are packed with essential vitamins and minerals and are a great source of healthy fats.  Swapping avocado for butter will significantly reduce the calories and fat in any recipe.  To make this switch, replace with a one to one ratio.  For example, if your recipe calls for one cup of butter you can swap it with one cup of mashed avocado.  Just remember, naturally this will tint your batter or dough green, so keep that in mind!Works best with: Cakes and cookies. With cakes, reduce your oven temperature by 25% and increase your baking time. This will help to prevent your cake from rising up in the middle or, alternatively, caving in. It’ll also prevent the cake from browning too quickly.
• coconut yogurt
• earth balance butter/shortening sticks
• Banana
  • How it works? Replacing butter in a recipe with banana results in a nice rich, dense texture which can be great for all kinds of sweets.  Substitute an equal amount of mashed banana for the butter in the recipe. If a recipe calls for 1/2 cup softened butter, for example, pack a 1/2 cup with mashed banana.Works best with: Cakes, muffins, cookies, breads. Using banana for butter may reduce cooking time by up to 25%, so keep an eye on your sweets!

Almost all butter substitutions can be done at a 1:1. If you use coconut butter be sure not to over mix or you will get a runny batter. I have not used coconut butter so I am not familiar with using it. I tend to use Earth Balance more often then not.

Replacing Sugar in a Recipe

White and brown sugars are highly processed, and not always in a vegan way (charred cow bones). But the good news is that it is quite easy to replace them.

• coconut sugar
• pure maple syrup
• raw honey (for vegetarians and non-vegans)
• organic evaporated cane sugar
• raw cane sugar
• Applesauce
  • How it works? For cakes and bakes, you can reduce the sugar content by up to half when you use apple sauce.  All you need to do is cut the sugar in half, then add the same amount of apple sauce plus about 1/3 more. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, you can use 1/2 a cup of sugar and about 3/4 a cup of apple sauce (1/2 a cup, plus about 1/3 more).  For this substitution, you will need to cut down a bit on the recipe’s liquids.  Reduce the recipe’s main liquid by about 1/4 for every cup of apple sauce added.

    Works best with: cakes, bakes and fruit dishes

I personally haven’t used much coconut sugar yet, but I hear that it has a very similar to brown sugar. It is a sugar that can be replaced in a 1:1 ratio, as is the other dry sugars.

The maple syrup, honey and evaporated cane sugar can be a little more tricky. You can sub them at a 1:1, but you will most likely need to reduce the liquid from somewhere else in the recipe, such as the milk or oil.

Replacing Oil in a Recipe

There are quite a few ways to replace oil within a recipe. But keep in mind that if you take out all of the oil in a recipe, you will get a slightly gummy end product. I highly recommend to replace majority of the oil within the recipe but leave about 2 tablespoons in so that you avoid the gummy factor. Here are a few examples of oil replacers:

• banana
• applesauce
• greek yogurt
• avocado

 

Butter —-> Avocado

How it works? Avocados are packed with essential vitamins and minerals and are a great source of healthy fats.  Swapping avocado for butter will significantly reduce the calories and fat in any recipe.  To make this switch, replace with a one to one ratio.  For example, if your recipe calls for one cup of butter you can swap it with one cup of mashed avocado.  Just remember, naturally this will tint your batter or dough green, so keep that in mind!

Works best with: Cakes and cookies. With cakes, reduce your oven temperature by 25% and increase your baking time. This will help to prevent your cake from rising up in the middle or, alternatively, caving in. It’ll also prevent the cake from browning too quickly.

 

Butter —> Banana

How it works? Replacing butter in a recipe with banana results in a nice rich, dense texture which can be great for all kinds of sweets.  Substitute an equal amount of mashed banana for the butter in the recipe. If a recipe calls for 1/2 cup softened butter, for example, pack a 1/2 cup with mashed banana.

Works best with: Cakes, muffins, cookies, breads. Using banana for butter may reduce cooking time by up to 25%, so keep an eye on your sweets!

 

And for those Vegetarians

Canola Oil —> Greek Yogurt

How it works?  Using Greek yogurt in a recipe in place of oil is one of the best ways to cut the fat right out!  The Greek yogurt replacement is barely detectable and makes recipes super moist.  To make the substitution, cut the recipe’s amount of oil by half. Add ¾ cup of yogurt for every cup of oil that you remove from the recipe.

Works best with:  Cakes, breads, cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Substituting Eggs in a Recipe

It doesn’t matter if you are allergic to eggs, vegetarian or vegan, you can still make delicious baked goods without the eggs. There are plenty of ways to replace an egg within a recipe. It is important to make the right decision depending on what you are making. My personal favorites are the flax egg and using a vegan egg replacer (it can be found in most baking aisles)

 

Here is how to make a flax egg:

Baking with Flours

There are some rules when it comes to converting from all purpose flour to a gluten free or healthier flour. There are some flour types that can be converted at a 1:1 ratio:

• white whole wheat
• whole wheat pastry flour
• spelt flour
• whole wheat flour

Gluten free oat flour and gluten free all purpose flour can also be done at a 1:1 ration, but add an extra egg (egg substitute) so that it bind better.

While some flours are easy to convert, there are some finicky flours:

• coconut flour
• almond flour

Coconut tends to soak up a ton of the moisture that is added to it, the general rule is to add 1 egg (substitute) for every 1/4 of a cup of coconut flour. For best results, mix coconut flour and almond flour together. Just keep in mind that that gluten free or grain free baked goods will never have the same texture as baked goods made with wheat all purpose flour.

*Reminder that coconut flour is not a 1:1 ratio flour. Here is a chart that is helpful when converting