Soy Candles

For those of you that have celiac disease, grain allergies or gluten intolerance, soy flour is a miraculous baking ingredient. Like other pea and bean flours, for instance chick-pea flour, it has a consistency that makes it ideal for quick breads. However, unlike the chick-pea flour’s case, its mild, non-obtrusive taste blends in beautifully with baking recipes.

Below you’ll find a recipe that’s easy and quick to follow for making a neat soy coffee cake, which will surely be enjoyed by everyone. What you must take into consideration, however, is that this particular recipe does not produce a very sweet cake. You can adjust the amount of used sugar to your taste.

Soy Coffee Cake

Things you’ll need:
- eggs: 3

- butter: 2 Tbs.

- salt: 1 pinch

- soy flour: 1 1/8 cup

- baking soda: ¼ tsp.

- soy milk, even regular milk: ½ cup

- sugar: ¼ cup

- cinnamon: ½ tsp.

- vanilla: 1 tsp.

In addition to these, you’ll need some cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on top.

Start getting the oven heated to 350 degrees. While this is happening, follow these steps:

#1 Melt the butter, add the eggs and beat. Add the vanilla, soy/regular milk and blend.

#2 Mix the cinnamon along with the baking soda into the soy flour

#3 Combine the dry mixture with the wet one (#2 and #1) and mix thoroughly until the soy flour has blended, but nothing beyond this point.

#4 Spread the resulted mixture into a buttered square 8-inch pan

#5 Sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon on top

#6 Throw it in the oven and bake it at 350 degrees for 20 or so minutes.

Some variations you can do:

Soy Cake with Cream and Fresh Berries

Bake the basic cake, two pans of it. Using fresh whipped cream that’s sweetened with sugar, layer it with raspberries, blueberries or strawberries. For variation, add slices of bananas.

Quick soy Bread with Caraway Seeds

People who are not allowed to eat regular bread are surely going to appreciate the fact that this recipe is adaptable to usage for un-sweetened quick bread. What you have to do is refrain from using sugar, or just use 1-2 tablespoons but don’t use any cinnamon. Throw in caraway seeds – 1 tablespoon. After it is done, cut it into squares and use as it with meat or cheese. You can also spread butter on it, peanut butter or cream cheese.

Besides it being useful for people who aren’t allowed to eat gluten or grains, scientists are currently studying soy for its potential benefits to health. It contains far less carbohydrates than wheat flour, thus being suitable for a low carbohydrates diet. It is also known to be of help in alleviating menopause symptoms, and has shown benefits in the fight against certain types of cancer, heart disease and cholesterol.

If you were looking for a snack food that’s nutritious and inexpensive, you’ve stumbled upon just the thing! One serving of roasted-at-home soy nuts can contain about 12 grams of protein and is also a valuable source of isoflavones and Omega3 fatty acids. Plus, nothing in the world could be easier than to make your own roasted dry nuts in the comfort of your

home.

Here’s how you go about making them:

#1 Purchase soybeans

Go out and buy a bag of dry soy nuts from your local grocery store. Soybeans are very inexpensive, plus you will find them to be really versatile.

#2 Soak the soybeans

They need to be left soaking overnight. This is done so they soften, preparing them for roasting. Fill up a stainless steel pan with room temperature water, put your soybeans in there and let them soak for 8 or so hours. To soak up any remaining water, take them out of the water and put them on a towel.

#3 Roasting the soybeans

Now comes the tricky part. Start by placing the drained soybeans single layer wise on the bottom of the baking pan. Put that in the oven and bake for about two and a half hours, 200 degrees. The pan should be checked every 30 minutes and also stirred every 30 minutes – this is to prevent the soybeans overcooking. Once your soybeans are golden brown in color, but still soft, they’re ready to be removed from the oven. They’ll reach the final crisp state after cooling.

#4 Adding spices and seasonings

These are best to be added before your soybeans have cooled. Throw some spices and salt on them. You can also try curry, garlic, cumin, chili powder, barbeque powder or even onion powder. Experimenting will show you what the tastiest one is.

It’s best for the roasted soy nuts to be stored in a refrigerator – this will prevent the oil from going rancid. These roasted soy nuts contain 1/3 less fat than it is the case for peanuts. They’re great for putting them into your child’s lunch box, carrying them on camping trips or simply eating them out of the container. They can be quite the replenishing snack in case you don’t have enough time on your hands to have eat a full meal. And if you’re going to have them anyway, it’s always nice that you got to save money by making them yourself!

In recent times, soy protein has been getting more and more popular. This is because of the health benefits it carries with it. It is a well known fact that soy protein alleviates heart diseases. Health movement supporters in many countries are currently claiming that soy protein is rock solid, definitely the best way to go. Vegetarians all over the world claim soy to be the best thing to eat, a natural, healthy alternative to poultry, meat and egg. Soy protein is obtained from soy beans. Nowadays, the consumption of vegetable protein, in particular soy foods, has risen dramatically. But why is it getting so much attention? The answer would be that soy protein is the ultimate healthy diet, containing almost every single amino acids there are. If you’re looking for complete protein, go for soy protein.

Best Plant Protein

It is well known that protein coming from animals is actually the complete protein, with it having most of the essential amino acids. Plant proteins, however, are rated incomplete protein sources, because they lack some of the essential amino acids. But there is one plant protein that rises above – soy protein – this includes nearly all of the amino acids that can also be found in meat.

Soy protein Products

There is a large variety of soy protein products available on the market: soy cheese, soups, soy milk, meat imitations, powdered supplements, tofu and salad dressings. Some of the best reasons why one should prefer soy protein is that it contains ridiculously low amounts of fat, lactose, carbohydrates and cholesterol, and reasonably high protein.

Active Ingredients

Some of the active ingredients found in soy food are phytosterols, isoflavones and saponins. These 3 main active ingredients enhance the immune system. They also help lower the cholesterol absorption, optimize cholesterol levels and also help the body defend itself from cancer and osteoporosis.

Conclusion

This wonderful product, soy protein, offers great benefits to everyone consuming it. These include: offering high intake of fat free protein; lowering the body’s absorption of cholesterol; improving heart condition, freeing the heart from stress.

For this, you just need 5 items that are cheap to buy, which means making soy candles is quite easy and inexpensive.

What you’ll need:

- soy wax: 1 pound per large candle

- fragrance: depends on how strong you want the smell to be, 1-2 ounces

- glass container: for storing the melted wax in

- color wax dye: anything from two to ten. Getting the rainbow’s colors is great

- cotton wicks

Once you have all the items at hand, here’s how you go about making candles:

#1 You put the soy wax in a saucepan and put it on medium heat.

#2 When it has melted, you take it off and throw in your fragrance oils. Stir with a wooden spoon until they’ve all blended in.

#3 Throw in your wax dye and blend in. If you have more dyes, divide the wax into a different metal container and color each using a different dye.

#4 Put the wax in the glass container of choice, making sure you put a cotton wick right through the middle of it. Put a pencil or a spoon across the middle of the jar’s top, so that the wick will lean against it, making sure it stays in the candle’s middle.

#5 Let it dry and chill completely. If you want to make a layer candle here’s how you go. You wait until it’s almost dried and chop all the candles into 3-4 pieces. After doing so, you combine them with each other, putting one piece on top of the other and then letting it dry.

#6 If you want to make some funky candles, it’s ok to pour in all the different colored waxes, all at the same time, but rather than stirring, rotate the container as you’re pouring the wax. It’ll get a funky aspect.

#7 Let the soy candles dry for a few hours, or overnight – to be on the safe side. After this, trim the wick to half an inch.

This is a great project to do – you’ll save money and have some fun. Plus, it’s perfectly safe. Really hot wax burns if you get drops on your skin, but that’s just momentarily, but it’s nothing serious, after a few seconds it’ll stop hurting.

What you have to be cautious about is when you’re heating the wax. Ensure you are stirring it the whole time – if it gets too hot, it will burn and be of no use anymore.

Whenever you’re at home, trying to get a tranquil mood, or a relaxing atmosphere, burning a couple of candles is the perfect way to induce the feeling of a cozy space. However, it is important to be kept in mind that chemicals and toxic fumes could be emanating from your candles assortment. Regular wax is often packed with chemicals, additives, and other elements leading to multiple health problems. If these are also put inside a small living space, your efforts of creating a cozy space might be actually doing more harm than they’re doing good.

A much healthier alternative is offered by soy wax candles. This gives you an excuse for joining the eco-friendly worldwide movement and even breathing more easily. Each year, almost $2 billion is spent on candles accessories and candles in the U.S., according to the U.S. National Candle Association. Unfortunately, many of these candles are petroleum and paraffin-based products, but eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives are also available on the market.

Such is the case of soy wax candles, which are preferred over paraffin ones for many reasons:

They’re non-carcinogenic. The fumes that are produced by burning soy wax aren’t harmful to your health. Since they’re not made using any toxic elements, they won’t endanger the lives of children or those of the elderly either.

Soy wax is biodegradable. This means that the candles can be reused and recycled with peace of mind. Some companies that produce soy wax candles are taking initiative – they’re developing programs to help recycle candles. Taking part in these programs will help you achieve your personal commitments to stay green.

Soy wax candles will burn 30-50% longer than paraffin or other candles made using synthetic ingredients. You can enjoy, at the same time, a longer lasting candle and also a longer-lasting, stronger and healthier fragrance. Plus, you’ll be saving money too !

Soy wax won’t leave any soot behind. You can enjoy a clean, fresh burn without having to worry about residue left on walls, or too much ash and soot after it completely burns. Some soy candles will also burn at a cooler rate, which makes them safer for children to be around, or pets who might touch the candle by accident.

Soy wax candles are organic. This means they’re free of any harmful chemicals and pesticides that would filter into the air you and your family breathe daily.

Soy candles are produced using renewable energy resources. To make sure of this, look for certain labels that ensure 100% natural soy beans for the main ingredient. They’re part of the world’s agriculture program that is sustainable. This way, you’ll find yourself investing in a highly valuable product that’s helping the environment.