September 1, 2009 by Stacy McDonald
Win a FREE bottle of Agave!
If you’ve been eager to try Agave in your kitchen, here is your chance!
As you may have noticed, I’ve been sharing some of my recent efforts to get our family back on track with a whole food diet. While I love to cook and feel strongly that creating a memorable, sensory experience for my family at meal time is one of the great joys of homemaking, I also believe we have a responsibility as wives and mothers to try to feed them healthy, nutritious meals that are going to help their bodies function well—all to the glory of God!
So my general plan has been to cut out white flour, white sugar, MSG, food dyes, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, and foods containing words I can’t pronounce. We are trying to get more meats and vegetables from local farmers and have switched to raw honey, agave, and maple syrup for sweetening our foods. Today my focus is agave because I have recently discovered how versatile it is in recipes, and because I happen to have a special give away just for you!
Agave is the nectar that comes from the agave plant—a plant closely related to the lily. While most agave comes from Mexico, it is also grown in the southern and western United States and in central and tropical South America. There are a variety of species; and Xagave, the type of prefer, blends the nectars from Agave Tequiliana (Blue Agave) and Agave Salmiana (White Agave) plants.
The plants used to make the nectar for Xagave are grown under strict guidelines that meet USDA organic certification requirements. They heat their agave to 117 degrees (only high enough to keep it from turning into tequila in your pantry!), and they do NOT add high fructose corn syrup to their product.
And for the record, I do not receive any sort of commission from Xagave for sharing this information with you – just in case you wondered!
While I love using raw honey, some recipes don’t taste quite right with the lingering honey taste, so agave was a welcome discovery. It is twice as sweet as sugar, so you use only half as much, and to me it doesn’t have a particular flavor (like honey or maple does). When we made our breakfast ice cream using agave recently, no one could tell we hadn’t used white sugar!
So here’s the deal! Simply share with us what inspired you to begin serving and cooking healthier foods. On September 7, at 10:00 a.m., I will draw one name to receive a free 18 oz. bottle of Xagave! Please remember to include your name and email address so I can contact you if you win.
Make your own chocolate syrup with agave!
Agave Chocolate Syrup
1 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup water
1 cup Xagave
Mix the cocoa, vanilla and hot water with electric beater until smooth. Add Xagave and blend.
CLICK HERE for more Agave recipes.
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47 Responses to “Win a FREE bottle of Agave!”
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What has inspired me to cook healthier foods for my family is the fact that we are getting older and having more health problems. I'm seeing a direct correlation between some of the horrible foods out there and our health. Since I cook healthier and choose better products to cook with, we have all felt better, lost weight and have a spring in our step! :) I just want us all to be healthier!
Thanks for doing this give-away!
God bless you!
My parents were always pretty healthy cooks, and we cooked most things from scratch. But, back in the '80s and '90s it would have been prohibitively expensive for my mom to use things like whole wheat flour or honey in place of white flour and sugar. Now that I have easier access to these things, I'm trying to make sure that my husband and children not only get GOOD food, that they don't get JUNK food along with it–even in their desserts.
What has imspired me is all the reading I have been doing.I had no idea some of the things I have been putting in my family's bodies thinking I was feeding them "healthy"!OMGoodness was I ever wrong!?!We are slowing changing how and what we eat,because I know if you do this drastic change,none of it will stick(at least not for us,lol)
tmw1223 at gmail dot com
Stacy, the main inspiration to our serving more healthful meals was due to the fact the my husband continued with downhill effects that brought us to a doctor who diagnosed him with Celiac disease. In addition, another holistic MD said a yeast cleanse of the body was necessary for the body to heal. This spurred the sugar substituting with agave. There's a great resource http://www.therawtable.com where I have used the chocolate pudding made with avocado & agave!! I really need to get back to the commitment of no compromises!
At 21, I totally agree that the wife and mother have an immense responsibility to care for the future of their families by feeding them what they need NOW. In a way, they hold the health of their family in their hands.
As the oldest child, I've taken over the meal planning/cooking of our family off and on (and esp lately, since my mom had her 8th child, my first sister!) and am finding just how hard it can be to feed everyone healthily and cheaply. (After all, 6 boys eat a lot!)And this is a skill I want to take with me when I have a family of my own. With some health problems of my own, I know that a more "natural" approach to eating is a must.
At the bottom of it all, I believe that God has created us in an AMAZING way. If we, as stewards, take care of our bodies by employing a healthy lifestyle, His creation can work the way He means for it to! And that is exciting to me. :)
The truth that we are feeding our families chemically-laden foods was enough for my husband and I to head down the whole-foods lane of life. While I've always largely cooked "from scratch", increasing our consumption of organic and/or raw foods has become very important to me. It is a struggle, though, to stay on-budget with a large family, but we are doing our best to eat healthily, as well as frugally!
This past Easter Sunday a friend of ours introduced us to kombucha, a strangely effervescent cultured tea beverage, but she didn't stop there. She kept talking about all sorts of strange things I'd never heard of, like soaking oatmeal overnight =). Eventually she brought out her copy of "Nourishing Traditions". When I took it from her hand, something inside told me I simply must ask to borrow it.
Reading it, I again recalled being at your place, listening to you talk about raw milk. At the time I knew it was an issue I couldn't afford to care about right then, living as we do in the inner city. But this past spring we were seriously considering how we could move to the country, and my mind was ripe to learn and explore more naturally healthy foods.
We're still here in the inner city, and while we don't drink raw milk yet =), we did purchase our own copy of "Nourishing Traditions," and we do what we can to use wholesome foods as far as our budget allows.
So thanks for the offer, Stacy; it proved to be the perfect excuse to tell you that story. We're thinking of you as you're preparing for the Reformation Faire. God bless ~
Pamela
I was inspired by dear friends to begin eating more whole foods. I have learned a great deal from them and have since done much reading on how many of the diseases today can easily be be prevented with a healthy diet.
Rebecca
rebecca@texastaps.com
What has inspired me to begin cooking healthier is an increase in health problems in our family. We feel better when we eat right (duh!) and notice immediately when we don't eat right.
This looks like a great giveaway. Haven't used this or looked into it. We do use raw honey, but I can see what you mean about the flavor in everything.
We have been eating healthier for several years now. We basically decided a long time ago that we were going to notice what we put into our bodies, I guess. The whole vaccine/chemicals/pesticides/hormones in food/cloning, etc. issue is something we have been conscious of for a good many years. The bad thing is that we are discovering more and more that is bad for us (like mercury in HFCS)that we have to keep avoiding more and more foods – or grow/raise our own!
Thanks Stacy!
mjdixon (at) kconline (dot) com
Several years ago I was introduced to organic and all natural food by a dear friend. Soon after, I was convicted that we should try to eat foods closer to the way God intended them for our bodies whenever possible.
I had horrible headaches for years. Right before we were getting married, a friend recommended I take calcium and magnesium to help. It worked! I dove into the natural health world at that time – went vegetarian for many years. I'm trying to be a bit more "balanced" at this point. :-)
Are you using a particular cookbook by any chance? I'm always looking for recommendations! :-)
My inspiration for serving healthy foods to my family is rooted in the desire to honor the Lord in all I do. Which in this case, means providing the best food possible for my family. I began by making our bread from fresh ground grain, the I started to get more interested as I was learning about genetically modified foods and the impact they are having on health and fertility. I started small, and gradually changed things. Now we read labels and we simply do not buy it if it contains soy, corn, canola, or any of their derivatives. We either do with out or I find a healthy way to make it from scratch at home. Although I must admit, sugar has been a bit more difficult a transition. I do buy sugar in the raw..but it is only slightly better than refined sugar. The problem is the cost of the more healthy alternatives.
I'd love to win!
Melissa
burpeefamily@yahoo.com
Some of the blogs I followed and a few friends really perked my interest in more of a whole foods diet. I started doing more research and paying closer attention to the ingredients in my grocery cart. It didn't take much convincing at all. This journey started about 2 years ago and we have noticed a drastic difference in our overall health. Praise God for the knowledge!
I do buy organic sugar… but have been using raw honey as a substitute. But like you said, honey doesn't taste good in everything. Agave sounds like a nice alternative.
I'm sure as the years go by, we will continue to tweak our diet a little here and a little there.
This is a great contest!
My health challenges over the years, especially my battle with sugar sensitivity led me to change my diet and try to live a healthier lifestyle overall. The change has been HUGE. Using agave nectar instead of other sweeteners has stabilized my moods. The difference in my skin quality is like night and day. The more results I see, the more I'm encouraged to make other changes.
I had a daughter who exhibited symptoms of allergies but no one could pinpoint what the allergens were. So I started experimenting with food first. My mother had a stone grain grinder she never used and gave that to me. It's now over 30 years old, has a cracked exterior case, but is still going strong for us.
Once I got started in researching food for her I started learning so much about the different things in foods and body care products that we now try to avoid. Things like hfcs, msg, white sugar and flour, parabens, sls, fluoride, artificial sweeteners and more.
We're not purists, as we have a few things we fudge on, but knowing that we've eliminated so many other sources of these unhealthy products allows us to have a few treats and times to eat out.
I was inspired to cook healthier for my family by a trip to France to stay with my Aunt. The food was always bought fresh from the market and cooked that day. We ate no processed foods at all, unless you count cheese (which is always made from raw milk in France.) When I got home we changed our cooking to reflect the eating style. No more chips or packages of pre-made anything. No more casseroles that take a lot of time and ingredients. I actually can cook dinner every night in half an hour.
In addition to this we have many food allergies, so we are gluten free right now too. Since I am allergic to cane sugar, maple sugar and honey, I would like to try Agave.
When my oldest daughter Abigail was a baby she was very sick and needed 60% of her colon removed at two weeks. She had/has difficulty gaining weight and absorbing nutrients from foods. So, when she was finally out of the hospital(a 9 week stay) I began researching healthy foods for all of us(nursing momma, 19 mo old son, husband, and later for Abigail).
Now we have begun looking more into whole foods and organic eating since our other daughter's leukemia diagnosis. She just came home from a 7 week hospital stay and lost a lot of weight. Not only do we want her to gain weight, but we want her to have all the nutrition she needs to be strong and healthy while she is going through chemo for the next 2 years.
Blessings,
Amanda
A lot of my reading and research has led me to want to cook as healthfully as I can and with whole foods as often as possible. Sometimes it is a matter of taking baby steps, but with raising small children, I want healthy foods to be the norm to them. I also feel better myself when replacing the white flour, sugar, etc. in foods that I make and eat.
courtney@familylifemission.org
I have always cooked healthful meals for my family. My mother inspired me as I was growing up because she loved to cook, was always experimenting with new foods and she exercised before it was in style to do so. I continue to keep healthy foods in our kitchen so my children develop lifelong healthy habits. Just because there is an obesity epidemic in this country doesn't mean we have to be part of it.
I have picked up and looked at the bottles of agave nectar half a dozen times in the grocery, but had never bought it because I wasn't sure what to do with it. Thanks for the information. I'll be getting a bottle next time (if I don't win, that is)!
I started to look at healthier eating options when my firstborn was diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago. Through our experience with her cancer that eventually killed her, my husband and I are very convicted that the choices we make in what we eat are absolutely vital to our health. Eating healthfully at our house is a work in progress. We have continued to make improvements over the past 10 years. My husband even started making our own maple syrup a few years ago! We have now moved on to getting chickens this summer (somewhat of a feat since we live on a 1/3 of an acre lot in the city!) What a joy it has been working together to stay healthy. I have been delighted to read your posts on what your family and others are doing to eat the way our bodies were intended to be fed!
What inspired me? My extreme mood swings, lack of energy, bouts with depression and reductions in my mental capacity, and the discovery that the readily available food and medicinal options may play a negative role in my children's overall health and strength and ability to resist disease – I don't want them to struggle as I do. I am overwhelmingly drawn to sweet drinks and otherwise have little appetite.
What limits my ability to implement better eating habits and to cook healthy and flavorful meals? My extreme mood swings, lack of energy, bouts with depression and reductions in my mental capacity, and my lack of an healthy appetite.
What inspired us to eat healthier was realizing that we need to take care of our bodies because the Lord commands us to do so. Also we wanted to avoid some of the health problems we have seen our parents and grandparents go through.
I became very ill in 2003. The "medical establishment" could not figure out what was wrong. By simply changing to WHOLE foods…my illness (candida) went away in just a matter of DAYS!
Several years ago, I learned about how foods mimic our female hormones and how they can reek havoc on us, and started moving away from processed stuff and toward more healthy food. LOVE our raw milk and gathering our own eggs. We haven't had a microwave for several years and I don't miss it one bit! Others are amazed– I use a convection oven or stovetop just like before we had microwaves :) I've not cooked much with agave nectar. Looking foward to trying the chocolate syrup recipe.
I had been careful for years about the food I feed my family by grinding my own whole wheat, using brown rice, using organic when financially feasable. However, when my husband Tom died our finances became really tight. So eating as healthy as I wanted us to was not an option. Then when my new husband Andrew and I married, I learned to cook Filipino food for him. However, last April Andrew almost died. His blood sugar was over 600…almost a coma. He spent a week in the hospital, and several months recovering from all the things that happened to his body. I still cook Filipino food, but I have changed the recipies to include whole grains rather than white. I use natural sweetners that are easier for his body to process. I also know that our children will have a propensity to have diabetes as well. It was a wake up call to go back to cooking things the hard way and using food that is closer to the way God made it.
I couldn't make my id work for whatever reason so
My email is jeanette_anteola@yahoo.com
Blessings!
Hi-
There have been so many reasons that our family has started to eat a healthier diet consisting of more whole foods.
However, after my last pregnancy, I wanted to lose the weight I had gained. I was tired of being overweight, and very tired of being unhealthy. In addition to nursing I knew that eating healthier would also help. The more I researched and learned about food, the more I wanted REAL food, not the pre-packaged kind made of things I cannot pronounce. Like you, I also felt convicted that part of my role in caring for my husband and children was providing them with nutritious meals. It's been an awesome journey! I once said that I would never buy anything organic, especially since it cost so much more and now we sacrifice in other areas of our budget so we can buy as much as we can organic.
I've lost about 65 pounds and I feel the best I've felt since I was in high school. I have so much more energy, and feel I can better serve my family as a wife and mom now. I have also been convicted that when you don't take care of your physical being, you aren't being a good steward of the life and health God has blessed you with.
In addition to better eating habits and exercise, I've been drinking at least 60 oz of water a day, and I feel so much better. I don't know how I was getting along before when I wasn't keeping myself properly hydrated. This is so important.
My mom also taught me how important it is to eat healthy and exercise, I hope I can continue to pass this onto my girls as well.
I am trying to provide the best food that the Lord has provided our family. It really is about finding out what He wants us to eat and following that. Are we perfect? Of course not. But, we are learning and trying to do the very best we can.
I first started to eat natural, healthy, and whole foods when I got married and was in charge of the kitchen.
My husband has a predisposition for diabetes, so I stopped using processed foods and mixes, white sugar and cut back on white flour and added lots of whole grains and used fruit and honey to sweeten. Also, as a young airman in the dorms, he had lived off of chow hall food, fast food, and microwavable food. We needed to cut down on the sodium and trans fats he was taking in and add in healthy fats and lots of vegetables.
I have a lot of general unhealthy issues (mild fibromyalgia, acne, sensitive skin, ovarian problems, a weak immune system). Taking chemicals out of our laundry and my toiletries did wonders for my sensitive skin. Since I started having ovarian problems, and because my hormones were already mixed up from pregnancy and miscarriage, we cut out all regular meat and dairy in favor of choices that do not have hormones. For everything else, we changed to an (almost strictly) organic diet and I am already seeing results.
We want to have children. That means taking care of myself during pregnancy and nursing, feeding them well during development, and teaching them healthy eating habits to carry with them throughout life.
Our bodies function better when we eat foods as God created them! We were very blessed to be given this burden for health so young, and Lord willing, we will have plenty of time to reap the benefits.
Thank you, Stacy, for running this competition. Thank you more for reminding me why I go the extra mile for my family!
Agave give away??!! Yippee!!! About 10 years ago I began having some health problems. That spurred me on to find some solutions, i.e.: cooking with whole grains, natural sweeteners, etc. I love the fact that most agaves have a low glycemic index, which is important to our family since both my husband's and my families-of-origin have a history of diabetes; NO diabetes in our little family, though!!! Praise God! Thanks so much for this give-away, Stacey!
Blessings!
Melody
I had some health issues when I married and so dabbled in trying "whole food" despite my hubby's love of "white food". Our 2 sons developed food allergies early in their lives and I had to find alternatives for them. We have discovered agave dissolves in iced tea! Being from the South, that's very important! BTW, my hubby now prefers whole grain breads over white, and dark green lettuces over iceberg! Thanks for your blog and this giveaway!
After I had my first baby (ie. 9 months after I got married :-), I stayed home and to keep from being bored, I started researching on the internet for ways to be a better homemaker. Through that search, I found websites that introduced me to baking bread, grinding wheat, using honey, herbs, etc. All it was completely foreign to me. That was over 5years ago, and now we're working on our fifth little blessing, so now more than ever, I am constantly seeking to learn how to fix healthy and delicious meals on a small budget. It has been quite the journey, but a very rewarding one, at that! I am so thankful for your website and others like it that encourage us to be the best homemakers we can be to the glory of God!
~Rebecca
the_5farrs@yahoo.com
Hi Mrs. McDonald,
I have been reading your blog for a few months now but have not commented 'til now. I guess that this great givaway just dragged me out of the woodwork!
I am a homeschooled senior from CO, with 5 wonderful younger siblings. I have always been interested in healthy living but after taking a self-designed nutrition class for "school", I've been doing much more experimenting in the kitchen. So far I've been using honey as my sugar substitute, but I'd love to see how the agave works!
Thank you for all of you encouragement for home educators and stay-at-home daughters!
~Tayler
savedbygrace7(at)q(dot)com
i am inspired by my kids to change our eating habits. i started this journey a few years ago and i have tried agave actually. BUT i didn't have a lot of info so this post is great and winning the giveaway would be even better! when i look at my child i can't imagine giving her something that could cause health problems and smile at her at the same time!!!
Wonderful….
using Natural Sweeteners
is always fabulous!
Blessings~ Miss Jen
Initially my inspiration for serving and cooking healthier foods was for my own health,back in 1999.I felt that I needed to be in top condition in order to take care of my husband,children and home.As I started eating healthier,on top of exercising,I noticed a wonderful change.I continued doing research on the whole foods idea and came across a chiropractor,in 2005 in my area that supported healing through nutrition.I started seeing him and he put me on a "diet" plan (whole foods) along with taking whole food supplements.I then started my children on it as well.My husband was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2002 and had been suffering terribly.In the summer of 2006, the proctologist told my,then 34 year old, husband that if the colitis didn't clear up or get any better that they would remove his colon the following year.I didn't think that that was the answer,or at least thought that we should try something else before doing something so drastic.So I convinced him to see the chiropractor that I had been seeing.He was given enzymes,supplements and put on a strict alkaline diet and was told to give himself at least 7 months to heal.It was very hard for him to endure.Not only the diet change but also dealing with the pain without taking all of the drugs that he had been taking before.He almost gave up 4 months into it due to the intense pain.But I encouraged him to keep going and try to make it to the 7 month mark.He started in September of 2006 and by April 2007 he was completely symptom free!!! Exactly 7 months after starting.The colitis that had taken over my husbands body for the last 5 years was gone!My husband, who was skeptical of this ever "working",became a firm believer of how what you eat can affect your whole body.To this day he and I both still will take the opportunity to tell someone of how this changed our lives.To go from the initial diagnosis in 2002,at the age of 31,enduring the pain,sickness,the large amount of drugs he was taking for 4 years,then almost losing his colon, to doing something as simple as putting back the enzymes that he was lacking in his intestinal tract, eating healthy foods and now being a healthy man 7 years later. Praise God!
Hi Stacy,
I just sent you our family "testimonial" on what inspired me to start serving and cooking healthier foods to my family. BUT, I forgot to put my name and email address…..I hope this gets to you and you can match it to my post….
Michelle Nunnally
michellen4@gmail.com
With a husband who's 10 yrs. older than me (with lots of aches and pains), I'm wondering if there's something I can do food-wise to help him feel better. So, we're ever so slowly making small changes for the better.
I felt compelled to make changes in our eating habits as a result of reading with an open mind and checking things out. There was a time when I would have thought someone like "me" was whacky to be a health-food nut; but not any more! It's just common sense. We all know that we ARE what we eat; which is why Americans are some of the most unhealthy people in the world! Because I don't want to sacrifice the health of my family members, we are eating more whole foods, cutting out white sugar and flour when we can at this stage. We still have a long way to go!
Thank you for your web-site and the example you are of godly parenting. You are an encouragement to me. My husband and I have one son and five daughters, one of whom marries next weekend! Please bog about your weddings to give ideas ok?
I have always cooked on the healthy side, gardening and canning since the summer I married.
Being told by a doctor that I would most likely end up with cancer someday made me step it up a notch. I started buying more organics in the dairy foods and started using herbs and such. I was able to turn around my female health issues much to the surprise of my two doctors ( although neither will give much clout to the dietary changes I made!).
I have used stevia for years but was recently told that it raises blood sugar levels the same as sugar. This was from a friend studying to be a doctor. I was surprised but am looking for something else to use for sweetening.
Have a wonderful day!
I've always been interested in healthy ways of eating, but what has really pushed me in the quest for healthier eating has been the difference I've seen in the way my family members behave (myself included!) when we eat healthy as opposed to "junk foods". It truly makes all the difference in the world in attitudes, as well as curbing sniffles and sickness!
Stacy, I began to see my responsibility as the manager of my home to prepare healthy meals for my family a few years ago. With God's help, I have made many changes in our eating habits over the past four years. My desire is to learn how God designed our bodies to be fueled. Please include me in the drawing.
Thanks,
Amy
mom23b@centurytel.net
Oh, thank you Miss Stacy! I have been wanting to try agave nectar, but haven't been able to because of the expense.
I have always been interested in healthy cooking and nutrition, but it wasn't until a year ago that my mother and I started to really eat in a whole foods way. I believe we need to honor our bodies because they are God's temple and it excites me to eat food the way God created it and not the distorted foods man has created. Plus it is so good for you in many ways! I think eating healthy is just another way of serving the Lord in every area of our lives!
Thank you!
Laurel Adams
ladams at fuse dot com
Inspiration for eating healthier?
The "This building condemned" sign posted on my temple of the Holy Spirit!
Seriously now, as stewards who should do all things as unto the Lord, how can we not do our best in caring for our bodies as well as our homes, marriages, children and spiritual lives? (Not necessarily in that order!)
Thnak you for your support of a woman's sacred calling.
Bummer, I think I just missed it. But having our first child, 31 years ago, inspired me to health through nutrition. I nursed her completely, and when she began solids I couldn't imagine putting all the harmful chemicals and processed foods in her. So began our journey which led to doing seminars and food prep classes for others on whole and living foods for health.
Hi Stacey,
There's an interesting discussion about the negative aspects of agave in the comments section of this article I thought I'd draw your attention to. I always thought it was just a health food, but now I see there are some hidden dangers.
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/01/my-dark-secrets.html
Hi Marcie,
Thanks for the link! Yes, I have read about the agave controversy. From what I understand, one of the biggest issues is what happens to the agave when it is heated above 118 degrees. The brand I use does not heat above 117 degrees. It has to be heated a certain amount or you'll have tequilla in your pantry! :-)
Also, some cheaper brands cut agave with high fructose corn syrup. You may want to read "Dispelling Agave Myths" here:
http://www.xagave.com/dispelling_agave_myths.php
I still think moderation in any sweetener (including raw honey or maple syrup) is important.