Know Your Ingredients: Dende Oil


Updated 03/28/11 11:17 AM · Posted by · 6 comments

Cooking With Dende Oil

In an age when grocery shelves are stocked with everything from toasted sesame oil to coconut oil, here's a relative unknown that you may have never heard of: dendê oil. This oil, which has a distinctive orangey-red color and a thick, somewhat opaque consistency, is a recurring ingredient in the cuisines of Southeast Asia, West Africa, and Bahia, a northeastern region in Brazil. There, the very Read more

Is Palm Oil the New Trans Fat?


Updated 10/14/11 11:49 AM · Posted by FitSugar · 8 comments

Is Palm Oil the New Trans Fat?

Partially hydrogenated oil is a type of trans fat that has gotten a lot of flak, and rightfully so. This chemically altered fat is known to raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, lower HDL (good) cholesterol levels, and increase your chance of developing coronary heart disease. Many companies are replacing hydrogenated oil with palm oil, saying that's it's a healthier option. On nutritional labels Read more

Label Able: Palm Stearin


Updated 07/14/09 12:05 PM · Posted by FitSugar · 0 comments

Label Able: Palm Stearin

At the grocery store to pick up some soy nut butter for a batch of Soy Nut Butter Muddy Buddies I was planning on making, I saw a new kind made by Simple Food. Checking out the label I noticed an ingredient I've never heard of — organic palm stearin. If you're curious to know whether it's healthy or not read more Read more

Palm Fruit Oil vs. Palm Kernel Oil


Updated 01/11/08 12:57 PM · Posted by FitSugar · 11 comments

Palm Fruit Oil vs. Palm Kernel Oil

I was food shopping the other day, reading labels as usual, and I came upon the ingredient palm fruit oil. I kind of assumed that it was the same as palm kernel oil, but I was wrong. Palm fruit oil (also called palm oil) is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm tree while palm kernel oil comes from the palm seed found inside the fruit. Eighty-six percent of the fat in palm kernel oil is Read more

What We're Sweet On: The Cedar Soap That Makes You Stronger


Updated 05/14/12 9:46 AM · Posted by · 2 comments

Review of Indigo Wild Cedar Zum Bar Soap

If you love rich, woodsy scents, here's your new shower buddy: Indigo Wild Cedar Zum Bar ($4). Don't let its tough-guy exterior fool you, though. Behind the swirls of the black and white bar exist skin-softening olive, palm, and coconut oils. There's also goat's milk in the formulation, which is neither too alkaline or acidic, playing nicely with the natural pH balance of skin. And speaking of Read more

A Reader Recipe: Southwestern Quinoa Salad With Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette


Updated 04/16/12 6:32 AM · Posted by · 2 comments

Southwestern Quinoa Salad Recipe

Get your daily fiber fix with this Southwestern quinoa salad recipe from FitSugar reader For the Love of Fiber. She shared it with us in our Healthy Recipe Group in the Fit Community. This salad takes quinoa to the next level, and has been known to turn quinoa haters into ambassadors. Learn how to make this recipe after the break! Read more

Colorful and Varied: A Brazilian Food Primer


Updated 03/24/12 6:17 PM · Posted by · 2 comments

Brazilian Food

Photo: Susannah Chen For a country as large as Brazil, it's no surprise that each region has its own traditional recipes and dishes. Regional cuisines have been influenced over time by immigrants and what natural crops are available to them. In the North, you will find caruru, a dish featuring okra, onions, shrimp, peanuts, and palm oil, and in the South, you'll be able to sit down to a plate of Read more

Revamped Girl Scout Cookies: Vegan Peanut Butter Patties


Updated 02/06/12 7:25 AM · Posted by · 1 comment

Vegan Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties

Forget about the partially hydrogenated palm oil and artificial flavors — this vegan peanut butter patty, inspired by the Girl Scout Tagalong classic, has all the buttery, peanut buttery, and chocolatey goodness of the original, minus the animal products and unpronounceable ingredients. This recipe is definitely involved, but it's a fun way to test your baking skills and make something you Read more

Michelle Williams's Beaded Dress Inspires Feminine Details


Updated 01/09/12 9:25 AM · Posted by · 0 comments

Antique Look and Feminine Drawer Pulls, Door Knobs

Over the weekend, Michelle Williams glowed at the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala in an elaborately beaded dress. Her frock's beading recalled an earlier era that embraced handmade detailing. Similarly, these home decor baubles and details, which reflect Williams's dress in spirit and style, create a hand-hewn look when added to furniture or rooms of your home. Why not Read more

A Reader Recipe: Pulled Turkey Chipotle Chili


Updated 01/06/12 1:50 AM · Posted by · 0 comments

Pulled Turkey Chipotle Chili Recipe

FitSugar reader For the Love of Fiber shared this turkey chili recipe in our Healthy Recipe group. After Thanksgiving, my good friend, a girl who literally didn't know how to boil water, sent me this recipe, using her turkey leftovers. I loved the idea of pulled turkey and her fiberlicious add-ins, so had to feature it. See the recipe after the break! Read more