1. Trans-Fats (from heated seed and vegetable oils)
2. Sugar and simple carbs (particularly fructose)
3. Grains (due to gluten and lectins)
4. Soy products (increases aging and slows metabolism)
5. Chemical additives (colors, preservatives, conditioners, poisons)
6. Processing (packaged food manufacturing methods destroy nutrition)
7. Overeating (a killer no matter what food you eat)

So why am I trying to make candy?...cause I like it!  Just because I am a health fanatic doesn't mean I am not a normal red-blooded Middle American boy that loves fireworks, Root beer floats, BBQ ribs, cookies, and candy.  I simply choose not to eat the commercially prepared poisons I grew up on and learned to love as a child.  Instead I am figuring out how to create the tastes I loved as a child in a healthy manner so I don't have to sacrifice my well being for the simple pleasures of childhood revisited.

When I introduced Dr Dave sugar over a year ago as a healthy way to have the sugar taste experience without destroying your body, I experimented with several candy type recipes.  They were miserable failures.  Dr Dave sugar is erythritol and stevia extract, and erythritol does not melt or caramelize like normal sugar.  As it cools down it re-crystallizes back to its original form.  I gave up on making a low carb candy from erythritol at that time.

Well three weeks ago I came across an entry on a low carb forum somebody made saying that erythritol could be made to melt and stay melted by adding polydextrose to it.  Polydextrose is a fiber I already use in my Bread Mix both for the fiber and as a pre-biotic to enhance the growth of good bacteria in the gut.  Well I have been experimenting ever since.

I made some hard red-hot cinnamon candies, some hard chocolate toffee, some almond brittle, and a couple chocolate protein bars with dried fruit and with Rice Krispies.  Then I tried to push the envelope just a little too far - I tried Divinity.  Here are a few pictures:

I have never actually made Divinity before, but I understand that it is tricky, particularly in humid weather.  In my first attempt everything seemed to be going fine until I added the vanilla, when everything just collapsed into a runny mess.  My second attempt was better as I used powdered vanilla, but the nice plump dollops of meringue candy slowly flattened out over a few hours.  I coated them in crushed nuts to keep them from forming one huge sticky blob so the end product was kind of like taffy.  So my Divinity is not quite there.

Today I made chocolate haystacks with Rice Chex.  I have made these before with straight unsweetened chocolate that I sweetened with powdered stevia extract.  This works fine, but is very high calorie as chocolate is 50% fat.  If calories are not a concern for you then I would recommend this method - gently melt baking chocolate in a double boiler keeping it under 150 degrees and add some Dr Dave 8X strength sugar (available at the office) a bit at a time until it reaches the level of sweetness you like.  If you like your chocolate fine textured then temper the chocolate and put into your molds for final setup, otherwise just throw in whatever nuts, crisps, or dried fruits you want and turn in out into a flexible loaf pan and let cool.

One absolutely essential tool you must have when making candy is a candy thermometer.  Common candy thermometers come encased in glass or as a steel probe.  I used to have a glass one, but I kept it in my kitchen drawer, and somehow between the flashlight and the rolling pin being tossed in and out it managed to get cracked...so now I have a steel thermometer.

Calories are important to most of us, as we want food value for our calories, not empty calories.  So I am making my chocolate candies with my new Candy Mix.  This will make the candy have about 1/3 the amount of calories as normal chocolate, with zero sugar (the calories come from the cocoa butter in the chocolate).  Unlike low carb chocolate from the stores made with maltitol (which still has ½ the carbs of sugar), this chocolate won't cause diarrhea like that will.  This chocolate will also have a high amount of pre-biotic fiber (as with most fiber, you may have more gas as the good bacteria in your gut multiplies, so don't eat too many per day until you system gets used to the higher fiber levels.)

Here you see the candy mix in the pan - 2 cups.  I add a small amount of water (about 3 tablespoons per cup of mix) and mix it up over a medium flame.  As you can see it mixes up nicely and will fairly quickly come to a boil.  Watch the temperature closely.  My first batch of chocolate almond bars mixed with Rice Krispies I heated the mixture to 230 degrees before letting it cool a bit and adding in the chocolate and then the rice.  Ellen loved the end result, but your Dentist would probably like it even better as they were hard as rock and good for breaking a filling on.  With this batch I let the temperature go up to 190 degrees.  The candy mix reaches the different textures listed on the thermometer about 20 degrees sooner than it says on the thermometer (based on regular sugar).  At this point I added 1-tsp. vanilla and ½ tsp. milk chocolate flavoring (a bonus flavor - use anything you like or nothing at all).  I let the melted mixture cool down to 150 degrees then added the unsweetened baking chocolate discs (shown here from Trader Joe's - 8 oz.).  Once these melted I stirred in a couple cups of Rice Chex (Rice Krispies work nicely as well).  This mixture can then be spooned onto a cooling tray or turned out as one big blob into a loaf pan and then cooled and cut into squares.  This produces a nice taffy textured deep dark chocolate candy - all sugar free and healthy as can be.

I expect to be putting my new Candy Mix in the office next week for those of you that love the candy experience.  I will share some of my other recipes for other candies and you can play with this new product and share your creations with me.  Thanks so much.         

Good Journey,

 

 

david@fairoakshealth.com

Potato chips are piling on the pounds

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About Dr. DeLapp

Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years.  He began experimenting with  medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis.  In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education.  Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic.  He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice. 
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health. 
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities. 
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth.  The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework.  Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.

Dr David DeLapp DC
Chiropractor

Ellen Flowers FGM
Spiritual Life Coach

 

Somatic Therapies

 

Lorena Morales