[momofallboys]

Hi all,
I'm new here and I'm sorry if this has been asked before - I did a search but for some reason kept getting error messages when I clicked on the subjects.

I was just wondering why all of the recipes in George's first cookbook contained soy flour and all of the recipes in his second cookbook that required flour had almond flour listed.

Is there a reason he changed flours? Are they interchangeable?

I don't know much about soy although I have read in several places that too much soy is bad for your thyroid. I am severely hypothyroid, therefore am trying to avoid soy whenever possible.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

[George_Stella]

I am posting a letter below with answers that I wrote recently that should help explain. Geo

Dear Mr. Stella,
I purchased your first book, Livin Low Carb, last year, and I love it. In fact, it is almost falling apart from so much use. I have made some of the recipes many times. I just purchased Eating Stella Style last week and am anxious to try some of these new recipes. I am curious about a couple of things, though, and wondered if I could ask about:
1. Soy flour vs. almond flour. I noticed that almost all the baked goods in you first book called for soy flour, and now your new book calls for using almond flour. I love almonds and am anxious to try making and using almond flour, but I am curious about why the switch was made. Is almond flour superior to soy flour?

Geo: No, just different and we always want to give you options. Many peolple not only do not like the taste of soy flour and many people cannot use it due to medical conditions and medications.

Almonds also are used in recipes that they best lend themselves to, for instance, the almond flour in the Pumpkin Pound cake makes it so you do not have to add any fats at all becuase the almonds provide "healthy" MONOunsaturated fats. Also, they are great for dessert , in fact Marzipan candy is made from almond paste.

Geo: As we find out about things and use them, we write about them. And since book 1 was written, Almonds became very much the in thing, now you know about BOTH and have a choice. and you can experiment which we hope you do! We use soy flour too now,but you already knew about that. We aim to give choices and teach about the current trends.

Can soy flour be substituted in your new recipes for almond flour? I ask because it seems that it would be very expensive to use almond flour as often as I was using soy flour previously.

Geo: Most timesyou can altermnate soy for almond etc, you need to experiment. Almonds are not that bad when bought in bulk at say Costco. Also, make sure you are buying them in the right dept of your grocery store and not in the snack isle.


2. I also noticed that in the first book, it was specifically mentioned that full-fat products, rather than reduced or fat-free ones, should be used in low-carb, as sometimes carbs or sugars are used to replace the fat in those lower-fat products. Your newer book seems to say that lower-fat products are ok. Is that correct?

Geo: Please read the part in THE begining of EATING STELLA STYLE that says "Choose your best approach" all is answered there.
It is about whether you are on a fat burning approach(book 1 or 2) or a calorie burning approach which book2 ALSO allows for with lower or reduced fat options listed or used in every recipe.

And the reason we can reccomend lower fat products in book 2 is also explained in that due to food manufacturers taking notice of our demands as a society and not adding sugar when they reduce the fats in those products these days. They still do and we tell to look out for that every time, but when we wrote book 1, almost every reduced fat product had sugar added as they have for over 30 years now and is a big reason we all gained weight(while trying to eat low fat!)

Now there are many great low fat products and again, Low Carb is NOT about all high fats, it can be about low fat, low calories AND low carb, it is up to you and book 2 is the follow up for book 1 that opens up many more options to you as an individual.

I have to confess to loving the full-fat products, and am just wondering about the change.

Geo: If you are watching your carbs and keeping them low, then you are burning fat and have the full fat products , if you are eating more whole healthy grains and fruits etc and watching claories, like weight watchers, then you will appreciate the lower fat options.

It NEVER hurts anyone to opt for a lean chicken breast!

We change, the times change and we keep you informed and give you plenty of options! Wait till book 3, we will blow your mind! See Ya! George
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[momofallboys]

Oh, wow - please excuse my star-struck reply but I NEVER expected an answer from George himself, LOL! (DH is laughing at me right now because I'm so excited!)

Thank you so much for your reply.

[George_Stella]

Oh Yea, ....well I am laughing that your husband is laughing at you for laughing at me for writing back to you.

G.

stick around and read some of my early morning posts, or should I say rambles...they can be very different depending on if written BC or AC ( before or after coffee!) see ya!
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[ttech]

Well, All I can say is that after watching George do things with Almond Flour for a long time, and avoiding it because of the cost/trouble as opposed to just buying Soy flour (and not really liking it, but accepting it as a white flour standin) I have been converted. Last night I was talked into making pancakes , something I avoid as just really bad on a lot of levels in the low carb world. Soy mixes just don't do it and I know when I eat them I'm worthless because I feel just as weighed down as I feel when I used to eat regular pancakes. I suspected these hit my blood sugar as bad as flour. So back to last night, I remembered that I had seen a recipe in the On Demand section when I subscribed to it. So it was off to the store looking for Almonds and flax seed. Could only find the flax seeds whole, not ground. Figured I'd just run them through the processor too! My processor wouldn't dent them so I just dumped them in the processed almonds and made the mix. These had to be the best pancakes I ever had! The whole flax seeds softened when mixed and cooked giving the finished product a slightly nutty texture. Hey George, great recipe! And thanks for the flour!

Tom

[George_Stella]

Flax seeds can be ground best in a small counter top electric coffee or pepper grinder. But the can be maserated with a pestal.

Thanks for the nice comment! Experiment and you can use the almond flour without the flax too! But it's better for you with it! See Ya! Geo
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[jannyjo]

I would also like to add, that if you look at your local health food store's bulk bins, you can often find ground blanchen almonds. I have one near me that it is $1 cheaper per pound than the blanched almonds.
BTW George, I can't say enough how much I LOVE the new book. I have already gotten 3 other people to buy it in the last couple of weeks! I also bought my parents a copy.
My husband just loves the pancakes. I add a bit of sf maple syrup for some of the vanilla and make them just a bit bigger (2 per serving instead of 4 silver dollar ones), and freeze them. He simply cooks a sausage patty and scrambles an egg to make a breakfast sandwich to eat on the way to work some mornings instead of drive thru (think McGriddles). Thanks so much!
Blessings,
Janet

[George_Stella]

I must confess, I make them twice as big as the recipe calls for!!!

And ALWAYS eat twice as many as you might think! They are good for you!!! Tons of fiber and no sugars!!!

And I add some maple extract if I want to go that route as described in book 1.

Try leaving out the cinnamon, upping the vanilla a hair and add a few of your favorite berries after you put them on the griddle , just before flipping.

Blueberrie, raspberries work best! Now go overboard and put layers of real whipped cream in between!!!

Mmmmm......
Geo
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[shad4g2004]

I have GOT to try these! I seem to prefer waffles over pancakes. Can you put the batter in a waffle iron. Any tweaking needed? OK now, I'm hungry!
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