Mandi Gould a health food and alternative lifestyle enthusiast. In addition to her recipe experimentation for her own enjoyment, she also operates Health Nut, a small company purveying Specialty Nut & Seed Butters and Raw Vegan Nut Cheese. You can also learn more about her dancing and other projects at her central personal website, mandigould.com
“A friend recently called me a mad scientist when it comes to my food experimentation, but I prefer to think of what I do as research and development. I’m interested in all things related to alternative and integrative cuisine, raw uncooking and baking.”
Top priorities:
Incorporating more raw & whole foods into meals and particularly in desserts.
Replacing sugar with low-glycemic alternatives like fruit, dates, coconut sugar, agave, xylitol, stevia, etc.
Increasing the fibre and providing options for gluten-free friends whenever possible.
Omission of animal products for a more vegan-friendly lifestyle on an increasingly frequent basis.
A little bit more about me. My name is Mandi Gould, and I live in St. Catharines, ON. In 2009 I changed my lifestyle and, among other things, lost 23 pounds and created a more healthy me. My baking R&D has been part of my success and I love and embrace my new lifestyle.
In terms of replacing the sugar, I’m hypoglycemic and my father is diabetic and I’ve decided to stay off sugar, and reduce even the amount of natural sugars in my diet. As for the flours that I use, I really like to experiment to find both the best texture but also the best nutritional profile. As for exploring all that is vegan, I’m not actually vegan (I’m pescatarian) but I think that everyone can work to reduce the volume of animal products that we consume.
My experimentation has certainly evolved. I began primarily with muffins, but at this point I’ve expanded my repertoire to include all sorts of healthful goodies with my new focus mainly on raw vegan treats.
So… let the baking… and raw un-baking begin!
