6 tips to make any baking recipe healthier….part 2 of 2

Continued from yesterday. (Yes, I know people are HEALTHIER and recipes are more HEALTHFUL, and so does my editor, but we abandon that in my book titles because "Healthful Recipes" sounds so stiff and wrong.)

4. Oil

Please don't use "vegetable oil" for baking. It's highly refined, heated to high temperatures, and already rancid when it's sold to you. Instead, for baking, use coconut oil. In the summer, it'll be liquid, and in the winter, solid. It works well as a substitute for butter, shortening, or oil. We have organic, cold-pressed coconut oil in our group buy every year, but year-round you can get it here. You can read here about why this oil is far more nutritious that most and what it's good for.

You can also substitute extra-virgin olive oil in recipes that call for just a small amount of butter or oil or if you don't like coconut oil. It usually doesn't affect the flavor.

5. Organic, free-range eggs or egg substitute

If you buy only ONE thing organic, make it eggs. North Americans get far too much Omega 6 fatty acids, probably because of our high intake of refined vegetable oil, which has a toxic imbalance. Commercial eggs are 6:1 omega 6 to omega 3. Eggs in their natural state are the exact opposite, with far more omega 3 that we are deficient in--so buy organic, free range. I have a friend in my neighborhood whose chickens are fed no chemicals and range in the yard. I buy from her on the rare occasion I even use eggs. You can also pay more at Costco for organic, and most health food stores have them.

You could also use this very nutritious substitute for each large egg: let 1 Tbsp. chia seed sit in 3 Tbsp. water for 30 mins.

6. Salt

Please never use iodized, refined salt (i.e., Morton's) for anything besides homemade play-dough. For cooking / eating, use Original Himalayan Crystal Salt for a high-vibrational frequency completely unrefined crystalline whole food. My second favorites would be Real Salt or celtic sea salt.

Now in your whole-foods lifestyle, you don't have to throw out your favorite baking recipes. Make these 6 substitutions and you should have very good results!